Analyzing on Defense Against the Dark Arts

Professor Pye

January 12, 2015 1:46 AM

Beginner DADA-- Years 1 & 2 by Professor Pye

His first night at Sonora, Alfie had stayed in his room, asking the prairie elves to send him some simple bread and soup as he really didn’t want to have to deal with the students first thing. However, Alfie was not one to do a half-job and so he rose early the next day to finalize his lesson plans—all ones he had asked former professors to look over for him, in order to ensure they were beginner level material. He had at one point been concerned that perhaps his material might overlap with that of the Care of Magical Creatures or Charms material but he soon put those thoughts out of his mind. He wasn’t at Sonora to make friends, just there until they found a full-time professor for Defense or until he found a better suiting job—whichever came first. However, with the damage his father had done it seemed as though the former was more likely than the latter.

He’d been teaching the beginners for a week now, which meant five one hour lessons, and he was bored. The only part about his job that he liked was that on Tuesdays and Thursdays he had nowhere to be until 1:30 pm and on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays he basically had the whole day off since class was from 4:00 to 5:00 pm then. This meant that he was able to spend the rest of his time as he pleased, which meant walking in the Labyrinth Gardens, wracking his brain to figure out why it was that his old job had not been enough for his father who was a fan of those suit and tie positions. Here, however, he left his ties alone as he dressed, choosing instead to pull on dark, worn khakis and a lightweight, cream colored sweater. The weather in Arizona was hot, he had discovered, unpleasantly so and nothing like his native England. The school itself however was temperature controlled for the most part and he had made sure to make his bedroom and classroom even colder than the rest of the building. If students got cold, they could wear extra layers under their robes but he wasn’t going to swelter in the heat of a place he didn’t even want to be in. His dark hair he left unbrushed and, in one last dig at his father who thought that men worth their weight were clean shaven, he left the more-than-five-o-clock-shadow alone. He was twenty-seven years old and his father was still controlling his life, though it seemed like a small thing, each one was a victory in and of itself.

Today Alfie’s legs dragged more than usual as he walked to the classroom. It was Monday. He hated Mondays. He vaguely remembered hearing of a Muggle cartoon cat who also hated Mondays and felt sympathy towards the fat, orange creature whose name he could not remember. However, it was the start of his second week which meant there was one less week, one less Monday, and soon to be one less class that he would have to teach. Defense class was the one time during the day during which he was required to be in the same room as Barnaby and it was not a situation he looked forward to in the slightest. It was forced, awkward and uncomfortable.

He entered the classroom seconds before the period began and took his place at the front of the room, choosing to sit on the desk’s smooth surface rather than stand around like professors had when he was in school. Blue eyes stuck out of the crowd, piercing him with their intensity. Alfie ignored them. The students already knew of the no nonsense policy he had described on his first day of the class. They already knew that they ought to address him as Pye, though because of his gruff attitude, some had slipped and called him Sir when they asked questions. That, he was okay with—he just couldn’t bear to have the professor title added to his last name. Every time he thought about it was like another knife to the heart reminding him that he had lost out on the opportunity to do what it was he really wanted to.

“Quills and parchments out, notes and books away,” he said once he had finished tallying up the number of heads in the room. Full attendance or not he was going to start the class and if a student was late, then they would have to make up lost points as he had already made it clear that tardiness or absence during his daily quizzes was not to be tolerated. Perhaps one of the redeeming qualities of his class was that he assigned no homework, preferring instead to use daily quizzes on the previous class’s material as a way to make sure the students knew their material. One might say he was a little too harsh, but the subject on which Defense was formulated around was difficult and he refused to let his students slack off. A good foundation was essential to later success. He understood that they were eleven and twelve, but age made no difference to the creatures and dark wizards and witches who lurked out in the real world. “Today, your quiz is a paragraph on doxies and bow truckles. I want ten lines minimum, name, year and house at the top of your parchment. You will have fifteen minutes, your time starts now.”

While he waited for the class to finish their quizzes, he began to prepare for the lesson, taking out the various shoeboxes he had put under his desk the night before. Once the time was up, he collected the papers and resumed his tabletop space. “Today, we will be learning a spell to repel. This spell can help if someone has thrown something at you, if a small creature—like the ones we covered last class, has decided to attack you, or if something is falling towards you among other things. The first day we covered the lumos and nox charms which are considered defensive charms.” Why that was exactly, Alfie had no earthly idea. “The second years should have been familiar with them already from previous classrooms and maybe some of the first years were as well. By now all of you should have mastered it.” He had asked they all be completely able to cast that spell by the end of the first class so any student who still couldn’t execute it to his standards would have been approached and asked to stay after class on Friday. “The spell today is the knockback jink. You will have a week to learn it as it involves wand movement and direction. The incantation for this is flipendo,” Alfie said, demonstrating the wand movement with a quick wrist flick in the shape of a check mark with a hook at the end of it. “The emphasis of this spell is ‘pen’.”

“You will all have ten minutes after I’ve explained the exercise to practice your flipendo wand movements, after which I want you to all pair up. I have hidden immobilized pixies, imps, and fire crabs around the room. Your job is, in these pairs, to take turns using the lumos and flipendo spells. I will dim the lights and you will use lumos to explore the room taking care to aim down-wards so you don’t blind your classmates while your partners will use flipendo to “knockback” any creature you discover. After each creature is discovered, switch spells. If I find that anyone is using the knockback jinx to purposely hurt each other or if I believe they are then they will be severely punished. So be absolutely sure it is one of the aforementioned creatures before you cast the spell. You may begin.”

As a student, Alfie would have loved to take part in hands-on lessons such as the one he had just given the students. In reality, the various creatures would have been on the offensive, but Alfie wanted to make sure the students knew how to properly cast the spell before animating their targets. Of course the “creatures” he had hidden around the room were simply harmless plaster replicas that would most like turn into a crumbly mess if knockbacked into something hard enough but that wasn’t something he wanted to tell the students. It didn’t fall into the category of things he thought they ought to know. Besides, the lights would be dimmed enough that they would most likely not see the mess they had created and he planned on cleaning the room after the period so the other professors wouldn’t have to deal with the mess. It would give him more time on his own and hopefully would enable him to avoid conversation with the other professors at dinner.

OOC: Welcome to Defense Against the Dark Arts. Like your other classes, posts are graded on realism and creativity (I am loads more lenient than Pye). In addition to these two things, posts are also marked on length and abiding to the site rules.

However, Pye would intervene should anything get out of hand so please allow me time to respond by tagging me in the subject line if your character has any questions or is having difficulties or causing trouble.

If you want a class schedule, you can find that here

Subthreads:

I think I have decided this is not my favorite class by Ginger Pierce, Teppenpaw with Scarlett Brockert,Pecari

Regrettably finding a partner. by Jax Donovan, Aladren with Sutton Nicolls, Pecari, Anna Clarissa Cooper-Flemming

Eagerly searching for a partner. by Gia Donovan, Pecari with Diana Carey, Pecari

Why are partners necessary? by Aislinn Nicolls, Aladren with Andrew Carey, Teppenpaw

Defending in the semi-dark. by John Umland, Aladren

Analyzing by Savannah Brockert,Teppenpaw with Caelia Lucan, Crotalus

10 Professor Pye Beginner DADA-- Years 1 & 2 30 Professor Pye 1 5

Ginger Pierce, Teppenpaw

January 13, 2015 3:38 PM

I think I have decided this is not my favorite class by Ginger Pierce, Teppenpaw

After one week of classes, Ginger Pierce felt pretty certain of one thing at least: DADA was not going to be her best class. No homework was not really worth a quiz every single class, in her opinion. Homework, for one thing, could be worked on together if they proved difficult. And, somehow, even though it was only one week into the term, DADA was already looking difficult. Mr. Pye was very particular. At least on Mondays, she had an hour between Potions and DADA to review the material and practice the spells they'd worked on previously. Weekends would have completely killed her grade otherwise. She sighed heavily and put away her notes as Mr. Pye had them get ready for the daily quiz.

Ginger Pierce,
1st Year,
Teppenpaw

Ginger filled out the top of her parchment the way she was already becoming accustomed to doing, then began her paragraph.

Doxies and bowtruckles are both magical creatures. Okay, yes, obvious, but she was hoping for at least partial credit if she got everything else wrong. At least she knew they were creatures, right? That counted for something, she hoped. Fortunately, her pre-class study session did remind her of a few more facts regarding the two critters. Bowtruckles live in trees and are really good at ~~cammoflawge~~ ~~cammoflauge~~ blending in. They can also poke your eyes out when threatened but are usually pretty peaceful, as long as you don't try to bother its home. It is super protective of its tree. That should cover most of the key points on bowtruckles, she thought. Which left doxies. Doxies are meaner. Like bowtruckles, they are mostly humanioid, but instead of looking like twigs, they look like a four armed fairy and aren't too interested in blending in anywhere. They have ~~venamus~~ ~~venomus~~ poisonous teeth and infest people's houses. They lay eggs which can be used in potions. She couldn't remember anything else, so she hoped that was enough and turned it in. She'd learned to write big for these things, so it did make it to ten lines, barely.

As Mr. Pye explained the day's activity, Ginger's expression grew worried. She didn't want to get her eyes poked out or be bitten by a poisonous fairy creature - or whatever it was that pixies, imps or fire crabs did when they attacked. She was okay with the lumos and nox spells, now that she'd practiced them endlessly last week, but she wasn't sure she'd be able to get a repelling spell to work under pressure. She practiced diligently for the given ten minutes for that sort of practice, getting the pronunciation and the wand motion down, but she still hoped for a second year to partner in case the immobilized critter mobilized and attacked them. Older back-up would be good for both her confidence and her well-being, she thought.

Approaching somebody she didn't think she remembered seeing in Flying Lessons - and therefore probably wasn't also a first year - she asked hopefully, "Need a partner? I'm Ginger Pierce." She made no mention of branch, kind of hoping anybody who cared about that kind of thing would mistake her for the kind of Pierce they got along with, just to simplify diplomacy and improve her likelihood of surviving this class. Though, of course, anybody who was really into that kind of thing probably already knew the New Hampshire branch did not have any children of an age to begin at a magic school this year.

1 Ginger Pierce, Teppenpaw I think I have decided this is not my favorite class 302 Ginger Pierce, Teppenpaw 0 5

Jax Donovan, Aladren

January 13, 2015 9:23 PM

Regrettably finding a partner. by Jax Donovan, Aladren

Today had been a long day for Jax. He did not like school. He did not want to be in school. He did not want to be away from his mother or separated from his sister. This wasn’t because he was scared to be by himself or anything remotely like that. He was afraid of what would happen to them without him around to keep them safe. These few years of constant travel had taught him a lot about the harshness of the human race and he wanted to keep his mother and sister away from all of that. It was his fault they had to live through it in the first place; he had to make sure he didn’t mess up and force them out on the road again.

The first week of classes, Jax had been able to keep mostly to himself. His roommates seemed to respect his solitude (so far) and he hadn’t had to worry yet about them asking him questions about his life, so that was a bonus, but he knew eventually that would not be the case. Gia had an easier time fitting in. Her cheery personality made her an easy person to like, which was probably why she ended up in Pecari. After spending the week with his classmates and eating with Gia at her table, the Pecari group seemed to have a lot of personality. By the end of each day, Jax ended up with a gnarly headache and a desire to never see a human’s face ever again.

He had felt revived somewhat after the weekend, but now that he was at the end of his Monday, Jax was exhausted. Each day that grew closer to the stuff of nightmares, the more energy seemed to seep from him and the more agitated he became. This was another reason why Jax didn’t like being near people. He didn’t want to snap at them for things that weren’t really their fault, but just something he couldn’t help. He also didn’t want to cause an issue for his sister while they were at the school, so maintaining a nice distance from people was his safest option.

Defense Against the Dark Arts was going to be his favorite class. Or, at least, his best class. Jax had been reading books about this subject since the day his father was killed. He was obsessed with learning all that he could on the different creatures and ways to protect himself and his family from them. Every time they moved, he made sure to study the magical creatures in the area so that they didn’t run into any problems. He learned some hexes and made his mother show him some protection charms that she regularly casted around their home (not that he could do them himself, but he at least knew the incantations and wand movements for them). He would be an absolute expert at this class and the daily exams that the professor gave out were proof of his abilities.

After finishing his daily exam and handing in his work, Jax sat back and listened to the Professor give their day’s assignment. By the knowledge of his roommate’s last name and the professor’s last name, Jax could assume they were related in some way. He was not sure if ‘Pye’ was a popular name or not, but he would not voice his thoughts in case he was wrong. Jax cringed when the word ‘partner’ was mentioned and immediately looked to his sister but she pointedly ignored him. Gia wanted him to make friends even if he didn’t feel it was necessary. This was her way of forcing it out of him. He gave her a glare and stood up gloomily when they were dismissed to do the work. His blue eyes gave a steely glance around until they came upon someone walking towards him. Although he did not smile, he asked in a quiet and polite voice, “Would you like to partner up?”

6 Jax Donovan, Aladren Regrettably finding a partner. 296 Jax Donovan, Aladren 0 5

Gia Donovan, Pecari

January 13, 2015 10:27 PM

Eagerly searching for a partner. by Gia Donovan, Pecari

Gia was absolutely loving school. For the first time since she was a small child and lost her father to a terrible event, Gia felt like they could be normal teenagers. She felt that her brother could finally relax and her mother could have some peace. They had been running around for so long and constantly on edge that someone would find out or something terrible would happen with Jax that Gia didn’t grow up like everyone else. She lived most of her life like a nomad. They traveled from place to place and only just recently settled down in Seattle. Gia wanted to have fun. She wanted to make friends. She wanted to be free of worrying. But she knew she still have to be on top of her school work and not cause her mother and problems while she was at Sonora.

Her roommates seemed like nice people. One of them had a very difficult accent for Gia to understand. English was her second language and although she spoke it well, her experiences with the different accents of the country were limited. Communicating with that roommate would be a challenge considering both had their own accents and understanding of the language, but Gia was willing to try. Gia was enjoying being around females her own age. Living with only her brother and mother for company, Gia was starved for some girl time. She loved her brother, but he was needy in a sense that he felt like it was his duty to always be there.

Gia took her seat in Defense with a frown. She hated having to learn all of this stuff. From personal experience, she understood why they needed to learn it, but she also felt that eventually, there will be a biased opinion of the creatures without really understanding their nature. It bothered her. Yes, some creatures had a twisted way of living, but that was their nature. It could not be helped. It was good to be informed, but she felt that this class would teach the students to hate rather than adapt. But, it as only the first week and it would be a long time before they would be faced with anything really in depth.

She also hated this class because of all the tests they had to take. Every day? Why? Gia studied routinely (it was a miracle she also didn’t end up in Aladren like her brother), so she knew the material, but she’d almost prefer homework over the stress of getting something wrong on the test. Grades were important. She wanted to reassure her mother they were doing great at school. If she failed these daily exams, she would fail her mother. That just couldn’t happen.

Once her test was handed in and her anxiety was back to a reasonable level, Gia took notes on the lesson for the day. At the mention of partners, Gia pointedly ignored her brother. She could feel his eyes on her, but she didn’t want to be his crutch and she wanted to make friends for herself. Moving around the room after she was done practicing, Gia tried to find someone who didn’t have a partner. Her black hair was pulled out of her face, showing off her long prominent nose and light blue eyes, matching looks to her brother. Gia gave a friendly open look to anyone who looked in her direction. Spotting someone who seemed open to a partner, Gia smiled brightly and made her way over to them. “Hello! Would you like to be partners?” She asked, her English tainted lightly by her Greek accent.

6 Gia Donovan, Pecari Eagerly searching for a partner. 308 Gia Donovan, Pecari 0 5

Scarlett Brockert,Pecari

January 17, 2015 1:08 PM

Yeah, me too. by Scarlett Brockert,Pecari

Pie was a sweet yummy treat. Pye was not. Scarlett didn't much care for the substitute DADA professor. The daily quizzes were bothersome and he was so uptight. And the quiz wasn't even multiple choice! She despised essays and could tell full well that the professor wasn't going to appreciate her sense of humor if she didn't know the answer. She did, but not in any detail. Not the kind of answers that would be satisfactory. Scarlett could only hope that someone more fun was hired as a regular professor soon.

Bowtruckles are ugly but usually harmless stick-like insects. Doxies are poisonous and look like fairies. They lay eggs that are used in potions. Neither is really something you'd want around the house. .

Yeah, that didn't take up half the requirement even if she wrote big, which she had. Not going to be impressive. Not going to get her a decent grade. Scarlett couldn't think of anything else though. She was certain Savannah would write something incredibly intelligent but this wasn't the Pecari's forte.

At least the practical part of the lesson didn't sound too terrible. Besides, she never knew when she might run into such creatures when she was out making late night excursions around the school. Scarlett was hoping to do a little bit more of that this year than last. If only she didn't have to sit through essay questions on quizzes and Mr. Pye's demeanor, she might actually enjoy this class. Somewhat. Actually, all classes could be approved upon if they could eliminate the boring theory parts. She would certainly do better in them.

Before Scarlett could find a partner, one of the first years approached her. "Sure." She replied. "I'm Scarlett Brockert, of the Western Brockerts." She introduced herself properly but neglected to curtsey. The second year already knew Ginger wasn't one of the New Hampshire Pierces, given Kelsey moaning about the amount of improper girls in her class. Scarlett figured working with Ginger would probably horrify her cousin which was a plus.

11 Scarlett Brockert,Pecari Yeah, me too. 293 Scarlett Brockert,Pecari 0 5

Sutton Nicolls, Pecari

January 18, 2015 5:23 PM

It's not that bad. by Sutton Nicolls, Pecari

Defense Against the Dark Arts was going to be both Sutton’s favorite and least favorite class. She loved that there was no homework, because this meant that she had more time for other activities. On the other hand, there was a quiz everyday and she wasn’t much for looking over the material so everything she wrote was based on what she could remember. Brushing her light brown mess of hair out of her eyes, she stared at her paper as if it would suddenly provide her with some answers and she squinted angrily at it when it didn’t. Gripping her quill, she began writing down a mess of an answer for whatever came to mind.

Sutton Nicolls, 1st Year, Pecari

Doxies are pests. They are blue and have two arms and legs. They are poisonous. An antidote has to be taken if bit. They look like a fairy, but aren’t.

Bowtruckles are peaceful. They look like sticks. They live in trees. They eat wood lice. They protect the tree and will attack someone harming the tree.

Sutton chewed on her thumbnail. It wasn’t very long, but it was at least the ten required sentences. She couldn’t remember anything else so it was going to have to do. Shrugging, she turned in her paper. It wasn’t like she was trying to get the top grades, but she still wanted a passing grade. If she didn’t, she knew that she wouldn’t be allowed to play deck hockey over the summer. Her mother had already told her so.

Once she was seated again, she took her notes out. There really wasn’t much in them, which might have been why she wasn’t really able to recall anything. Her notebook was more of a series of doodles and cartoons than anything else. Well, she had drawn a doxy if that counted for anything. Maybe that’s why she had remembered what it had looked like more than anything else. Pulling her leg up to rest her chin on her knee, she always was one for weird positions; Sutton scribbled the spells they were learning down. The actual spells were far more interesting than the creatures.

After practicing the spells a bit, which also proved easier to remember, she stood up and stretched from her cramped position. Sutton glanced around the room looking for someone that was alone, which turned out to be quite easy when she spotted a boy by himself. That worked for her. She preferred working with guys anyhow. They were easier to get along with. All the girls she knew were all about drama. They pretended to be best friends and then talked about each other. It was too much.

Leaving her stuff, she took only her wand, tucked it behind her ear, and made her way over to the boy. She opened her mouth about to ask him to partner when he beat her to it. “Yeah, sure,” she answered, sitting on the desk in front of his, her feet resting on the seat. “I’m Sutton. What’s your name?” She had seen him around, but hadn’t actually talked to him yet. “This lesson seems pretty easy, don’t you think? We should be able to get right into it.” She was actually looking forward to the casting of the spells. It was much better than all the theory.

0 Sutton Nicolls, Pecari It's not that bad. 311 Sutton Nicolls, Pecari 0 5

Aislinn Nicolls, Aladren

January 18, 2015 6:16 PM

Why are partners necessary? by Aislinn Nicolls, Aladren

Aislinn sat primly in her seat. All that was on her desk was her quill since she was already aware of the routine of Defense Against the Dark Arts. Quizzes and no homework. Even though, there was no homework, she still made homework for herself by reviewing the material and sometimes, doing a little further research into what they were learning. She liked to be prepared and more importantly, she had only one goal in every single class and that was to get the highest grade. She wanted to be just like her father. Her paternal grandparents always bragged about how he had been the top student in his day. Now, he was a well-known Mediwizard, working in the hospital that her grandparents owned. One day, she was going to work there too, but that would be then and this was now. Trying to be neat and thoughtful, she began her quiz.

Aislinn Nicolls, First Year, Aladren

Doxies are referred to as the biting fairy due to their distant appearance of being blue with wings. However, upon further inspection, they are quite dissimilar. The doxy has two sets of arms and legs. The body is covered with coarse black hair. The wings are shiny and beetle-like. The most significant part of the doxy are the double row of sharp venomous teeth, which are poisonous. If bitten, an antidote should be taken immediately. Those living in Europe and North America should be most aware of the Doxy since this is where they inhabit and can often take up residence in houses. As such, they are considered a household pest. Doxycide can be used to get rid of them. It paralyzes the doxy in order to safely remove them.

Bowtruckles are known as tree guardians. They are usually peaceful creatures, but will become violent if they think their tree home is being invaded. Often, they will choose trees that are used for wands as their homes, which can make it difficult to gather wood from. The bowtruckle can be distracted with wood lice or fairy eggs, which they eat. It is difficult to spot the bowtruckle, because it is about the size of a hand and appears to be part of the tree. It appears to be a flat-faced stick with twig-like fingers. The fingers are used to dig wood lice out of the tree, however, if provoked; the sharp fingers can be used as a weapon by attacking the foe’s eyes.

Aislinn read over her work for a couple minutes and added a little here or there. Once she was satisfied, she turned in her paper and then took her seat once more. She made sure her robe was tucked neatly under her before reaching for her books. She turned to the Defense Against the Dark Arts section in her binder and flipped to a new sheet of paper. She wrote the date on the top and then folded the sheet in half. On the left half, she proceeded to write everything the professor stated about the lesson. She would use the right half later to include research and personal notes in regards to the lesson.

Once they were released, she practiced the wand movement a bit. Once she felt confident enough in her ability, she found the first person that didn’t have a partner. “Do you want to be partners?” She really hated having to ask someone to be her partner, but it was the requirement. She preferred working by herself, because there was no inhabitance to the work as well as the avoidance of general awkwardness. She wasn’t really good at understanding the workings of people. She didn’t understand all the gray areas since she saw things more in black and white. Hopefully, the person that she asked would require little effort in the social area.

0 Aislinn Nicolls, Aladren Why are partners necessary? 297 Aislinn Nicolls, Aladren 0 5

Anna Clarissa Cooper-Flemming

January 18, 2015 7:31 PM

Hoping to make it less regrettable! by Anna Clarissa Cooper-Flemming

So overall after a week of classes, Anna Clarissa was beginning to develop Opinions on her professors, which was new and kind of exciting. She'd only ever had one teacher a year before, plus electives teachers, and had never really had strong opinions on any of them. They'd all been nice enough and if they sometimes had to call her parents in for conferences about how she was easily distracted, that wasn't really their fault. Anna Clarissa knew that there were Rules to Follow, she was just particularly bad at minding what she was doing enough to remember to follow the rules. Or break them, really. Or remember them. It was never malicious, her own brain just tended to bring up really important questions that she got distracted by.

Professor Pye, though, Anna Clarissa was pretty sure she didn't like him very much. He didn't seem very interested in teaching them which seemed a little bit silly because she wasn't sure why someone would want to teach things that were boring. If they were boring for the teacher they were probably boring for everyone else, and then everyone was bored. It was confusing. Plus, the Pecari wasn't super sure why they had to learn Defense Against the Dark Arts anyway. Were the Dark Arts particularly prevalent? Weren't there wizard police to do the defending for them?

Sonora seemed to be full of people who were really keen on giving homework, which Anna Clarissa was not a tremendous fan of. Professor Pye in particular - who they were not to call Professor, even though he acted just like a professor in a cartoon or movie all the time - was interested in making sure they kept studying all the time because he gave a quiz at the beginning of every single class. Anna Clarissa wasn't usually late for things so she didn't mind the check on tardiness, but she did mind having to spend so much studying for one class.

Picking up her quill pen to start writing the quiz essay on doxies and bowtruckles, Anna Clarissa managed about seven lines before getting distracted and starting to sketch a bowtruckle in the margins, which meant she ran out of time before finishing the quiz. She scowled slightly, but let it go without comment, already contemplating the merits of scouring the Labyrinth Gardens to see if she could find a real bowtruckle and see if she could make it a pet.

Today they would be basically playing hide and go seek but with the little pest creatures they had learned about, which quickly dispelled Anna Clarissa's less than fantastic mood. She really loved games like that. Plus, overall the best part of all the classes so far at Sonora was that the professors really liked making them do stuff during class instead of just sitting, which meant the curly haired Pecari got to meet lots of new people, was really fun.

There was one person in particular though who she'd been meaning to ask if they wanted to partner with her, but who she'd been a little bit shy of doing so. Gia, one of her roommates, had a brother who sat at the Pecari table during meals (but who Anna Clarissa was pretty sure wasn't a Pecari). He was quiet but seemed really nice, but the thought of interacting with him gave the hazel-eyed first year the same flippy-floppy stomach feeling that riding roller coasters did. As a rule, though, she liked roller coasters - Anna Clarissa wasn't usually someone who backed down from things that made her a little uncomfortable. So for today's lesson, she decided to finally go ask Gia's brother to work with her.

However, as she walked towards him he actually spoke first!

"Yeah that would be super nifty!" Anna Clarissa enthused. "I'm Anna Clarissa," she introduced herself, since she hadn't ever directly talked to him before and it seemed polite. "Your eyes are a really good blue color," she added, because she thought that they were.

0 Anna Clarissa Cooper-Flemming Hoping to make it less regrettable! 0 Anna Clarissa Cooper-Flemming 0 5

Ginger

January 21, 2015 12:07 PM

We just need to survive until we get a real DADA teacher by Ginger

"Pleasure to meet you, Miss Brockert," Ginger replied politely, recognizing the surname as coming from not just a proper family but the Headmaster's family. Scarlett seemed kind enough despite surely knowing Ginger was from the mixed California clan, so Ginger saw no reason not to demonstrate that she was at least familiar with proper etiquette even if she didn't have the bloodline to require its frequent use. Besides, if Ginger got along nicely with most pure bloods, hopefully Jemima would feel comfortable being friendly with her outside just roommate relations.

She hesitated a moment, uncertain if her next invitation was appropriate yet or not, but given that danger may loom in today's exercise, it would be better to be addressed by a name she was sure she'd respond to. "You may call me Ginger, since we'll be working together."

She picked up her wand from its place on her desk and took a deep steadying breath, as she prepared herself to start going after the paralyzed beasties. "So, do you want me to cast lumos or flipendo to start with?" As Scarlett was older, it only made sense to let her lead their team through the lesson.

1 Ginger We just need to survive until we get a real DADA teacher 302 Ginger 0 5

Jax Donovan

January 24, 2015 3:28 PM

Tying both posts together. by Jax Donovan

Jax should have been paying better attention to the people around him because no sooner had he asked someone to partner with him for the lesson, two girls responded. Both girls were Gia’s roommates. Somehow they had both answered his question and didn’t think twice about the fact that there were two of them and one of him. Wouldn’t it have been better for the roommates to be partners with one another? They shared a room after all and Jax presumed that they got along. Gia didn’t suggest otherwise about her roommates, but it had only been a week with them, so who was to say?

Both girls agreed to work with him at the same time and kept talking. His eyes glanced between them and he had to wonder if the professor would be upset if they had a group of three instead of two? But, of course, someone else could join them or there might just be an odd number of people so a group of three was inevitable anyway. He just wish it hadn’t been him in that group. Or with girls for that matter. Before he could address any of them though, the one named Anna Clarissa made a comment that had him stare at her for a moment, uncertain as to how to respond. “Er, thank you.” He finally stated, he features remaining blank at the compliment. He had the same eye color as his mother and sister, his sister and himself taking after their mother’s Greek heritage rather than their father’s Irish one, so it never occurred to him that someone would find any of his coloring remotely interesting.

“It is nice to meet both of you.” He said. “I am Jax Donovan.” His English was accented by his first language of Greek, but his words were clear and easy to understand. “I think it will be alright if the three of us work together. Someone will have to do the lumos spell twice to allow the third person a chance to use flipendo. Or we can just take turns each time we go around.” Jax commented as he thought this through. His voice was quiet, but confident and a little thoughtful. Jax was never one to be outwardly rude to people, but he kept them at a necessary distance.

“I think this lesson will be decent.” He stated, both girls seemed excited for it. He wasn’t really sure why. Lumos was the easiest spell to learn, flipendo might be more challenging, but not by much. He supposed they could look at this as a game. That might make it somewhat entertaining. “Do either of you need more time for practice or should we start?” He asked the both of them.

6 Jax Donovan Tying both posts together. 296 Jax Donovan 0 5

Diana Carey, Pecari

January 26, 2015 5:42 PM

Accepting the offer by Diana Carey, Pecari

They had been working on it for about as long as, if not a little longer than, Diana had been alive, but the Carey family had a reputation for meddling in the dark arts. Not many of her ancestors and their relatives had ever gotten deeply embroiled, and those few had gone insane, done things to hurt the family, died, and were only ever mentioned as cautionary tales to the rest of them now, but she had overheard her oldest brother explaining it to her closest brother, telling him how he needed to always give right answers in this class.

In her first year, Diana had concluded that either her relatives or the people Jay thought had opinions of her relatives were as crazy as the people in the cautionary tales, if in a different way. Most of what they had studied in Defense in her first year involved filth and misery. That anyone kept such an unpleasant subject up past CATS was a mystery to her. If she ever needed something unpleasant done to someone, she’d decided as a first year, she’d get one of her brothers to do it for her.

The addition of daily quizzes had not done much to improve her opinion of the subject. With homework, she could at least daydream about wheedling the answers out of other people. Really doing it wasn’t likely, she was too proud to do it with her roommates or any relatives but Bran, who wasn’t the best source for answers, and while wheedling answers out of the Aladren in her year might have worked under other circumstances - from what she’d seen, he seemed like the kind who wouldn’t be hard to get talking - Umland wasn’t really the kind of person she could afford to be seen speaking to, for any reason, much less one that implied he might be superior to her in any way. It was bad enough living with her older sister’s reputation when she was more comfortable with guys than with other girls anyway, so she thought it would be unbearable if she ever got caught hanging around the wrong sort. Daydreaming about winding Umland around her finger and making him do all her homework for the next six years, however, was allowed - in her other classes. With daily quizzes, she couldn’t procrastinate and look up what she’d forgotten; she just had to do the assignment off the top of her head. Definitely not an improvement to the class, even if bowtruckles and doxies were a lot less malignant than some of the things Professor Valson had subjected them to last year.

Once she finished writing about them, she took more interest in the spell. The ability to make things fall out of the air was not without uses in her family, or at least it hadn't been. Peter and Cecilia, her younger siblings, had disappointed all her older siblings terribly when they turned out respectable and boring and hadn’t tormented Diana and Brandon the way Diana and Brandon and tormented Theresa, Jay, Henry, and their cousins when they were younger. Still, though, it could have some uses when they annoyed her and Brandon even now, especially if it had a little range on it, so they could hide and still use it to send objects flying away from the older ones….

She practiced the spell movement several times and then smiled brightly at the first year, one of her House’s new girls, who approached and asked if she would like a partner. “Sure,” she said, rising. “I’m Diana,” she added. “Which spell would you prefer to start with?”

0 Diana Carey, Pecari Accepting the offer 0 Diana Carey, Pecari 0 5

Andrew Carey, Teppenpaw

January 26, 2015 5:47 PM

Because we can each only cast one spell at a time? by Andrew Carey, Teppenpaw

I wish you didn’t have to take this class, Mama had said when she took Andrew to buy his schoolbooks. Study very hard anyway, she’d added, and that was all that had been said about it.

She’d had that sad look, though, which Andrew had known since he was small meant that she was thinking about his father. Dad had died before Andrew was born, and all Andrew really knew about him was that they looked a bit alike, that Dad’s real name had been Andrew Carey, too, and that Dad died because of his cousins who had only paid attention to the second part of this class’ title when they were growing up. That was all the adults ever said; he’d heard more detailed accounts of Dad’s death from his older brother Malcolm, but he never knew if Mal was telling the truth or just making something awful up to upset him during one of Mal’s moods. Andrew had always enjoyed his brother’s company the best of anyone in his tiny family’s except Mama’s, but Mal could be mean, sometimes, when he had one of his moods, and when he’d asked his mother, all she’d said was that the details didn’t really matter. What mattered was that he always be good and stay away from anyone who wasn’t.

He also wanted to make sure no one could ever hurt her and take her away, too, so he had resolved to work hard in Defense Against the Dark Arts. So far, though, the class hadn’t exactly impressed him. Lighting his wand was a useful thing to know, but not really what he’d need if someone ever tried to hurt his mother, and he was pretty sure they didn’t really even have doxies in North Carolina - it was too hot. He left that out of his quiz paper, though, since he thought Mama wouldn’t think mentioning that was being good, and waited to hear what they were going to do today once he finished writing everything else he could think of about the creatures.

Flipendo. It sounded like the word ‘flip’ and he wondered if whatever he hit it with would really flip over in the air. ‘Knock back’ made him picture someone staggering backward like they’d been punched, not flipping over. If the handful of spells he had learned in his other classes so far were anything to go by, though, he didn’t think that would get in his way. He practiced the wand movement, feeling like he got the hang of it quickly but knowing he wouldn’t know for sure until he tried to cast the spell for real on one of the creatures they were going to have to work in pairs to defend themselves from, a thought that made him bite his bottom lip, a bit nervous. Now, it felt like, they were really beginning what they were here for.

He looked around for a partner after that and smiled when a girl spoke to him first. “I’d be happy to,” he said. “I’m Andrew.” It still felt a little odd to call himself that out loud. Only his brother and the house elf had ever called him Andrew. ‘Andrew’ was normally just what he wrote on papers; the name he’d always answered to, however reluctantly, was ‘Baby’ because no one had liked using Dad’s name. “Carey,” he added, since that was important. He left off the rest of the formal introduction, both because he wasn’t used to using it, either, and because he had gathered that most purebloods were going to recognize his last name anyway. “Where would you like to start?” he asked.

0 Andrew Carey, Teppenpaw Because we can each only cast one spell at a time? 0 Andrew Carey, Teppenpaw 0 5

John Umland, Aladren

January 27, 2015 12:47 AM

Defending in the semi-dark. by John Umland, Aladren

John had been surprised when the new Defence teacher started giving daily quizzes instead of homework, but he had quickly realized that he didn’t mind it. They were easy, demanding no more of him than that he stay awake in class and skim the relevant notes or book pages before class (an easy thing to do when three days of the week, including today, he had an hour free for teatime after Potions and had lunch right before the class on Tuesdays and Thursdays) to refresh his memory of a topic, they made the class go faster, and they meant he wasn’t wasting his time putting the effort into writing things out for homework when he doubted the teachers even read half of their work anyway. This way, the teacher got something to smack a grade on and John got to take notes however he pleased, without consideration for the rules of complete sentences or using only terms other people would understand, and to take them on more of what he wanted. Since the format of most of the quizzes meant the professor necessarily had to have much lower standards than he would on homework, too, John honestly thought that everybody won this way and assumed most of his classmates were as happy as he was about the change.

Since he was confident enough that the professor was not going to break pattern to have left his wand and book in his bag, he was ready with pen and paper and inkwell well before the day’s topic was given. It was an easy one, at least for him; Care of Magical Creatures was one of his favorite classes and he had all but memorized the textbook, in which both of the creatures Professor Pye named appeared, last year. John Umland, Year Two, Aladren, he wrote on the top of the paper, just as he had every other time, and then closed his eyes for a long moment before launching into everything he could remember about doxies and bowtruckles.

Doxies are four-armed, four legged magical creatures with beetle-like wings which make them capable of flight. They have two rows of teeth and their bite is venomous. They bury very large (up to 500) numbers of eggs underground, and these eggs are also toxic. They prefer colder climates in Europe and North America, which their coat of black hair makes them more suitable for.

Bowtruckles are native to only a few forests in England, Germany, and Scandinavia and are insectivores with excellent natural camouflage. They live in trees and look like they are made of bark. The book didn’t say if different groups resemble the bark of different trees; bowtruckle trees are used as wand-wood trees in countries that have them, wandmakers distracting the bowtruckles with fairy eggs or wood lice (their major foods), and there’s a lot of different wand woods from trees that really don’t look that much alike. Their limited range means they really might not have much variety, though, and they have another means of self-defence - sharp fingers or claws they use normally to dig for wood lice but can use to stab you in the eye if you disturb them without bringing a gift. They aren’t aggressive if left alone, though.

Both creatures look a little humanoid, but their behaviour is insect- or arachnid-like. Doxies almost seem like a species of flying spiders - eight limbs, venomous, some spiders are hairy, and some spiders (I’ve read a little about tarantulae and jumping spiders in genus Portia, there could be others) are actually very intelligent for the size of their brains. They could be relatives, or magical hybrids of spiders with another species? Wings and humanoid form suggest convergent evolution with fairies - are both/either ‘natural’ species, or wizard-made? Is a bowtruckle’s ‘bark’ an exoskeleton, armour, or soft? (these are questions for myself)

He added this last bit as an afterthought and then, remembering he was writing for an audience instead of taking notes and then deciding after his first attempt to fix it that he didn't know the professor well enough yet to guess how he'd take it, drew a line through his questions, hoping the professor would ignore them even though John himself would still be able to read them through the cross-out when he got the paper back. He intended to transfer the questions to his notebook later and look them up at his leisure, but forgetting by the time he could get to his notebook wasn’t impossible and he really did want to know the answers at some point now. He considered crossing out his notes about possible bowtruckle appearances, too, but decided to leave that in. Once the time for the quiz was up, he watched as the professor showed them the wand movement for the new spell. The official uses didn’t sound very impressive, but since it was a jinx and the professor also gave them warnings about not using it on each other, John decided to assume it might be useful if someone attacked him, too. If it was powerful enough to knock a person onto his back, then John could see it; flat on one’s back wasn’t a good place to be during a fight. Someone on his back who didn’t flip over very quickly was just presenting all kinds of soft targets and practically asking the person who was still standing to kick or further jinx them…

They didn’t usually try out spells on each other, though, so John figured he would just tie things together in his room until he had something roughly his own height and weight and see if he could knock it over with the jinx later. The crashes that would happen if it worked would definitely not be the strangest sounds the third years had ever had the chance to hear coming from his room, and the first year guys might as well get used to it now as any time if sound really did travel through the walls in the Aladren dorms. Having a whole room to himself had unnerved him at first, but he had quickly discovered the advantages: he didn’t have to speak to people first thing in the morning and could stay up as late as he liked on the weekends, leave his books wherever he wanted, and test things he thought of out without worrying about setting other people’s property on fire or getting in trouble. The only thing it lacked as a lab (besides either proper equipment or even any of the trappings of a proper mad scientist lab, anyway, restrictions that were really starting to get on his nerves) was how easily it was linked to him, so he still was always on the lookout for a secret passage or hidden room he might use as a lair for any long-term stuff he might need to disown in a pinch someday, but for now, it was working pretty well, and his neighbors hadn’t complained yet.

For now, the assignment...well, it would have been a lot better if they had been mobile pixies, imps, and fire crabs (just hitting something that was already a non-threat felt like cheating, or like being the kind of ass that was his age but sometimes picked on kids the size of his little brother), or at least realistic simulations (he wondered if there was a way to time-delay a locomotion charm, or make it triggered by some kind of ward like a motion sensor...it was magic, surely there was a way), but it probably wouldn’t be the least fun he’d ever had in class, especially without good lighting. If, of course, partner work worked out. He looked around for someone unpartnered and offered a small smile when he made eye contact. “Hello,” he said. “Partners?”

16 John Umland, Aladren Defending in the semi-dark. 285 John Umland, Aladren 0 5

Aislinn

February 02, 2015 9:10 PM

Minor details by Aislinn

Carey. She had heard that name before. It had only been in passing here and there, but she had definitely heard of it and knew enough to know that it was somehow significant even though she didn’t know why. “Aislinn Nicolls,” she introduced herself. She hesitated to add the rest of the introduction, because he hadn’t. Was he like her? Did he carry a pureblood name without actually being pure? Even though, she wasn’t, her grandmother insisted that she use proper introduction, because she was still a Nicolls and represented their family. She had heard her grandparents talking once about how the sins of the parents shouldn’t reflect on the children. Now, she wondered if that had referred to her and Sutton. She knew her mother wasn’t welcome in their home and never really had been.

Regardless of any familial history, Aislinn moved on to the more pressing matter of schoolwork. “I suppose that we should start by ensuring we understand the spells and how they work. Have you had any trouble with them? I think that I have the theory down. Well, lumos is fairly easy to perform. At least, I thought so.” She hoped that Andrew hadn’t had too much trouble. If he did, it meant that their performance would be hindered. Of course, she didn’t want him to be better at the spells than she was either. If he was, then perhaps, it meant that she wasn’t as smart as she thought and she couldn’t imagine something so terrible.

No, Aislinn couldn’t think like that. She was going to be at the top of the class. She just had to focus on one thing at a time and being the best at it. “Do you want to start with flipendo or lumos?” She wasn’t sure if she would prefer to perform flipendo first or second. If she tried it first, it would give her the chance to really try out the spell. On the other hand, if she went second, she could see how her partner performed. Of course, if he performed really well, then she would have to live up to that or do better. But if she went first and then he outdid her, then she would be absolutely humiliated. She really hated working in groups. She much preferred to perfect her work away from any scrutinizing eyes.

0 Aislinn Minor details 297 Aislinn 0 5

Scarlett Brockert

February 04, 2015 3:40 PM

It'll all be okay soon. by Scarlett Brockert

Scarlett agreed. "Pleased to meet you too." She'd feel a bit ridiculous calling someone not a member of her social circle Miss Pierce. Had Ginger been a New Hampshire Pierce, it might have been a bit different. Besides, it always seemed a little ridiculous to call people her own age Miss and Mr. So and So anyway. There were aspects of adulthood she looked forward to, with exciting parties, travel and dashing men, but she wasn't there yet and to address people around her age as such seemed a bit silly. "And you can call me Scarlett."

Besides, despite Kelsey fully believing that those not part of pureblood society should show their betters proper respect, Scarlett knew they weren't going to understand society's rules, and well, she couldn't force something on them that they would inevitably flub up as it was something they weren't used to. Her mother had taught her and Savannah that that sort were far more informal and didn't learn the proper rules of etiquette. Personally, the Pecari didn't mind a bit. She far preferred her first name. It was made her an individual and with a school full of Brockerts including her identical twin, Scarlett very much wanted her own identity.

"Hmm.." The second year thought. "I suppose I should do the flipendo ." Much as she would have preferred the easier spell, the easier grade, she had to admit it wouldn't be very fair to that to one of the firsties. Scarlett would be downright annoyed if one of the second years had stuck her with the more difficult task last year and lumos was something that Ginger probably knew quite well given how they'd all had to practice it to Mr. Pye's satisfaction.

Merlin, did she ever hate teachers like that. Scarlett swore that her house-elves had it easier. What happened in this class was probably a little slice of what it was like to be Chaslyn and she'd never felt sorrier for her cousin. Mr. Pye would likely drive her over the edge if he stayed around too long.

The room darkened. "I suppose the fun really begins now." The Pecari told the younger student. "As opposed to, you know, the daily quizzes." Scarlett made a face that she didn't really care if Ginger caught or not.

11 Scarlett Brockert It'll all be okay soon. 293 Scarlett Brockert 0 5

Professor Pye

February 11, 2015 11:51 PM

Intervening--sorry guys! by Professor Pye

Alfie wasn’t there to be liked. In fact, he was well aware that many of the students probably had him down as their least favorite professor there. And just as well—he wasn’t permanent and nor did he have any intention of staying. What the students didn’t seem to understand, though, was that everything he was doing, he was doing for their own good. He had to be harsh on them, they were young but they still needed to learn how to follow directions, how to be on the top of their game, and how to be ready for any situation. As he monitored the class practicing their charms together, he noticed that some students in particular had decided to group up in three. Alfie had counted the students in his class the first week of school. There were 42 students when both the first and second year classes were added together and a group of three meant that another student would have to work alone. In the Auror field, a lone agent was far more susceptible to a failed mission or to be ambushed (a particularly gruesome memory of what happened when his partner had abandoned him surface and Alfie shuddered, remembering the resulting hospital visit) and Alfie was not about to let this happen to an unsuspecting beginner year, no matter how much he expected from them in terms of school work.

So, he headed over—his long strides allowing him to cross the room quickly. “Hi,” he said, his deep voice low so that it didn’t carry over to another group. “I may have miscounted, but I think there are three of you here?” He raised an eyebrow, giving them a second to think about why he might be upset before continuing. “I know you all are probably friends and want to work together, but I specifically said pairs because there is an even number of students in this class. Grouping up in threes might leave someone out—you wouldn’t want that, would you?” His voice was kinder than it’s normal stern tone of his lectures. Though he was annoyed that the students had taken it upon themselves to disobey his direction, he decided that to take a kind tone here would get him farther than a disciplinary one. Besides, they could have all just been hard of hearing and not hear him right.

“I’ll let you decide who is going to switch groups,” he said as he called over a nearby student who was, as of yet, partner-less. “You will get to work with—?” He let the student say their name, not having bothered to learn all the names just yet.

OOC: Got the class number from the current list of first and second years on the website. Sorry, I wouldn't normally have intervened but Pye is a strict teacher, he would have said something.

10 Professor Pye Intervening--sorry guys! 30 Professor Pye 0 5

Gia Donovan

February 13, 2015 9:30 PM

Thank you for volunteering! by Gia Donovan

Gia smiled brightly when the other girl agreed to work with her. “Hello, Diana, I am Gia.” She introduced, being sure her name was spoken clearly as ‘Guy-ya’ due to the fact that she had some people calling her all sorts of random things if she mumbled too much in her speech or her accent grew too heavy on her when she was tired or too excited. She didn’t want to spend the next seven years trying to correct the way people spoke her name. Her brother got the easy name. it was pronounced exactly as it looked and no one ever had trouble with it. Her mother sometimes said that she had wish she had gone with the traditional Greek spelling of her name but Gia didn’t think that would have actually helped people know how to pronounce it correctly.

She supposed it was just something she was going to have to live with just as she was going to have to live with the fact that people were going to believe that she and her brother were twins when they were anything but that. There were many things about her life that she was going to have to get used to or not discuss or any other such thing. Such was the way of life for her and her family. One day, she hoped that would no longer be the case.

“I think you should try the new spell first and I’ll keep with Lumos until you’re ready.” Gia offered. Gia had seen Diana in the commons of the Pecari house but as they did not share a dorm room, Gia knew that Diana was older. If she was older, she would want to attempt the newer spell . Gia was perfectly fine with allowing this time to pass until she was able to try it herself.

OOC: Sorry for the long delay and short post. Still trying to get into the head of these new ones and it’s much slower when I’m rushed for time. I’ll keep working at it.

6 Gia Donovan Thank you for volunteering! 308 Gia Donovan 0 5

Savannah Brockert,Teppenpaw

February 14, 2015 7:47 PM

Analyzing by Savannah Brockert,Teppenpaw

As she sat waiting for DADA to begin, Savannah couldn't help but wonder why Mr. Pye had such an aversion to the title of professor. Why would someone choose a career and not want the title that went along with it? It wasn't as if he was the sort who wanted to be their friend and allow them all to be on a first named basis with him-though there was apparently another Pye in the first year class, whom could be anything from a sibling because siblings could have wide age differences as Ryan and Peyton did to a very distant cousin-his demeanor suggested that he didn't even like them much.

So that served to make Savannah further curious. The obvious motive for going into teaching when you didn't like students was power. She had a feeling that was Headmaster Brockert's reason for it. However, wouldn't Mr. Pye lord it over them by making them call him Professor then?

There had to be another reason, something she had not thought of yet, and it had piqued her interest. One thing she and Scarlett did have in common was they were both genuinely curious people, they just went about it in different ways. Savannah might have done well in Aladren actually, but when it came down to it, she was glad she was where she was. She'd take Aiden over John Umland any day. The Reinhardts too really, though she didn't know them well, just that Liac was good to Chaslyn.

Savannah was not really surprised by the daily quiz. They were, after all, daily and being a pretty good student she managed to write down a pretty decent amount of information about both bowtruckles and doxies, including any similarities between the two, which she knew was useful in case she ever had to transfigure one into the other. Why she'd want to do that was beyond her, but it might be a valuable exercise in animate to animate transfiguration and one never knew what professors would do in the future. (Well, other than they'd surely have another quiz next lesson and Scarlett-and probably a lot of other people- would not be happy about it. Another reason why Mr. Pye was obviously not the "let's be buddies" type of teacher, that sort would only rarely give a quiz, let alone make an extremely unpopular decision to have them every day.)

After the quiz, came the practical part of the lesson. Savannah listed carefully for instructions. She did not want to end up on the wrong side of either dark creatures or Mr. Pye. She wasn't exactly cowering in fear from the man but it was just good common sense not to make professors, especially seemingly grumpy ill-tempered ones, angry at you. Besides, DADA was not a place to be reckless even if your teacher was the more warm and fuzzy type. Of course, Savannah reasoned, that wasn't the sort of person who'd want to teach DADA most likely, unless they had some sort of save-the-world mentality.

She rose and went about the task of looking for an unattached person. Finding such, she asked "Would you like to work together?"

11 Savannah Brockert,Teppenpaw Analyzing 286 Savannah Brockert,Teppenpaw 0 5

Anna Clarissa

February 21, 2015 7:58 AM

Experiencing an Intervention [New partner needed!] by Anna Clarissa

Although Anna Clarissa didn't like Pye very much, when he came over the the group of three she'd accidentally ended up in and explained that they needed to only work in pairs to prevent leaving someone else out, her eyes widened and she nodded vigorously in response. Even though she personally didn't have trouble making friends, the first year Pecari knew that it was very hard for some people and she would never want to make someone feel left out! That would be a really mean thing to do, and Anna Clarissa didn't like being mean. It was never something she did on purpose and even when it was on accident she always felt terrible afterwards.

"I'll switch groups," Anna Clarissa said assertively, turning to Jax and the other girl as Pye called another student over to the trio. "I'll work with you guys in another class!"

The new student came as Pye called them over and Anna Clarissa smiled welcomingly and bounced up and down a little bit as they introduced themselves.

"I'm Anna Clarissa!" she said. "I'm super excited to work with you! How do you want to start?"

0 Anna Clarissa Experiencing an Intervention [New partner needed!] 0 Anna Clarissa 0 5

Caelia Lucan, Crotalus

February 24, 2015 12:47 AM

Anything but. by Caelia Lucan, Crotalus

Defense kind of sucked. Caelia was not really a smart girl and though Emrys helped her to complete her homework and worked either her twice a week for their regularly scheduled tutoring sessions, it wasn’t enough. The seemingly endless number of quizes she had to do for Defense angered her—if Pye had just given out homework like any normal professor, she would probably be scrapping by with good marks. Instead, she had a range of grades, from Es for her in class wand work to Ps for the quizzes. So, when the class was instructed to get ready for their daily quiz Caelia narrowed her eyebrows and felt like running up and throttling Pye. However, young ladies did not behave in that manner and so instead she put away her books, taking one last peek at her notes and trying her hardest to remember everything she could.

Her quiz itself was a reflection of her inner-mind. Neatly laid out in girlish script but also quite sparse in terms of actual information. The doxie is a faerie that that is really tiny. It likes to live in wand trees. This means that the wood of these trees make wands. They guard these trees.They are covered in dark hair and have shiny wings. A bowtruckle is not a faerie but a little treeman. They eat insects and look like trees so they camouflage well. They also can bite humans. These bites are poisonous so you should get a Healer as soon as possible. They are classification XXX but Doxies are classification XX. Satisfied that her scribbles had met the requirement of ten lines, Caelia turned in her paper. However, after looking at her notes afterwards, she groaned to discover that while she had gotten at the least their appearances correct the rest of the information was horribly mixed up. “I hate this class,” she said to herself quietly.

At least the assignment for the day involved the lumos spell that they had learned the previous week. Caelia had been able to complete the wand work rather quickly. Both lumos and nox weren’t too difficult and were easier to keep straight than some of the other spells she had to learn for her other classes. She rose from her desk to look for a partner and was delighted when one approached her. “Sure,” she said. The girl asking the question was one of the two Brockert twins in her class. She had figured out by now that they were amongst the right sort of Brockert but wasn’t positive which twin was which—though she was good with names and status, Caelia could not tell twins apart, even if they were fraternal. “Caelia Lucan, of the Massachusetts Lucans.” In a classroom environment, Caelia felt awkward curtsying and so instead offered her new partner a hand and a smile. The Lucans were still relatively new to America—she herself was only the third generation there and the second generation to be born in America as well as the second child to attend Sonora (Emrys being the first), so she didn’t expect all the families to know who they were. She did, at least, hope that they recognized her last name as being vaguely proper and of the Right Sort especially since her brother had been at Sonora for five years now.

“Would you like to go first with trying the flipendo spell?” Caelia offered the older student, double checking her notes with a surreptitious glance downwards so that she didn’t embarrass herself in front of a society witch.

10 Caelia Lucan, Crotalus Anything but. 307 Caelia Lucan, Crotalus 0 5