Ram, bam, thank you, ma'am [Kira] on Defense Against the Dark Arts

Prof. Isis Carter

October 14, 2016 2:00 AM

Disarm and alarm [Years III-V] by Prof. Isis Carter

“Hello, everyone,” greeted the professor standing at the front of the classroom, but it was not their usual professor. On the contrary, today, Defense Against the Dark Arts was taught by their favorite on-call substitute, Professor Isis Carter. “As you have probably gathered, Professor Pye couldn’t join us today. He’s caught a rather nasty something or another. But don’t worry, he’s shared with me his lesson plan, so we’ll be doing exactly what he wanted to do with you: starting your series on dueling.” He’d been quite a disaster at breakfast when he’d hunted her down, honestly, and she was quick to take the plans from him and send him back to bed.

“As the fourth and fifth years can attest, dueling is something you will visit throughout the year,” Isis explained, “but for you third years just now joining the Intermediate level, you will have to begin by learning Expelliarmus, the disarming spell. Now, I won’t occupy your time too much, but quickly first, watch me demonstrate the proper wand movement.” Isis produced her wand from her pocket and, without accompanying incantation, showed the correct movement, a distinct swirl. “Using this will make your opponent release whatever they are holding. In this case, you are hoping to free them of their wand.”

Isis glanced between students. “Now, pair up and do your best. Third years, stick to this disarming spell and the full body-bind curse Petrificus Totalus. Fourth and fifth years, you are free to utilize what you have learned, but don’t do anything that will take more than a counter-curse for me to fix. Please stand up and move up to the front of the classroom so that I can move the desks and free up the space for you.” When her instructions were followed, she waved her wand, and all of the desks quickly moved to either side of the classroom. “Okay, let’s get to dueling!” She knew Alfie was sad to miss their first dueling day of the year, but it was imperative for his health. Isis had seen him looking pretty sorry previously, but today he seemed exceptionally beaten down. He could sleep while she, reluctantly, watched his students blast one another.

OOC: All mentions of Professor Pye were approved previously with his author. Please stay realistic with your characters’ spell knowledge, using only curses or charms that would be appropriate to their age level, and appropriate to the situation. Nothing truly harmful will be tolerated. Aside from that, just be certain to follow all OOC site rules, and have a great time!

Subthreads:

Do I have to? by Gia Donovan (Pecari) with Jack Spencer, Aladren

Looking for a partner by Aislinn Nicolls, Aladren with Barnaby Pye

Any takers? by Sutton Nicolls with Fabian Brockert, Pecari

And possibly charm? by Gabriel Valenti, Teppenpaw with Joseph Umland, Teppenpaw

I'm closer to alarmed (Chuck) by Owen Brockert, Teppenpaw with Chuck Fintoc, Pecari

Ram, bam, thank you, ma'am [Kira] by Sammy Meeks, Pecari with Kira Spaulding, Crotalus

All of the challenges (tag Tess) by Ben the Hippo Pierce, Pecari with Tess Whittaker, Pecari

12 Prof. Isis Carter Disarm and alarm [Years III-V] 31 Prof. Isis Carter 1 5

Gia Donovan (Pecari)

October 16, 2016 7:07 PM

Do I have to? by Gia Donovan (Pecari)

Gia sat quietly in her seat taking notes of the lesson. She hated this part of learning. Dueling seemed so barbaric and when was she ever going to get into a duel outside of school? She lived in the Muggle world, she had more of a chance getting sucker punched than hexed. Not that this school really cared much for the non-magical world. This was the first year that Muggles Studies was being taught for her and she was excited to see how things were viewed. Gia understood that this was a Magical school, so they certainly weren’t going to teach people how to fight without magic, but she felt like knowing how to physically protect herself was something she also needed to learn. Of course, she probably could just ask her brother how to do that.

Jax, it seemed, had finally reached that point where he felt like he was big enough. She had only had to do a minimum of alterations on his clothing and their mother hadn’t needed to spend a whole lot of money on him as she had last year. Gia wasn’t sure why her brother felt the need to work out so much, but from the gossip she had heard over the summer from the neighborhood kids, his workouts had landed him in a few fights due to his… relationship, with Shelly. Gia never talked about it with him, but she didn’t like the other girl and even less when she heard that her brother was getting into trouble helping her.

Gia hated these types of assignments. She understood the necessity of them in some ways but she still didn’t have to like them. Gia hated have to throw hexes at other people, especially friends, and she wasn’t very good with thinking on her feet, so she typically ended up getting tossed around or acting like an idiot when a next made contact with her. This lesson was one of nightmares for her. But there was little that she could do about it because Defense Against the Dark Arts was a lesson that she would be taking until she graduated.

She stood and looked around for a partner, being sure to only catch the eyes of the fourth and fifth years. She had nothing against the third years but she couldn’t really do anything against them since they didn’t know as many hexes and she just wasn’t comfortable using her wand against them. She finally spotted someone who seemed to be willing to work with her, so she smiled and made her way over. As she walked, she tried to think of different hexes and jinxes that she could use that wouldn’t do any real harm to them and she hoped they would do the same for her.

“Hi.” She said, greeting them cheerfully even though she wasn’t all that cheered about the assignment. “Are you ready to practice some dueling spells and deflections?” She asked. She would never understand why people did this sort of thing for fun. Why would purposefully trying to hurt another person be entertaining?

6 Gia Donovan (Pecari) Do I have to? 308 Gia Donovan (Pecari) 0 5

Aislinn Nicolls, Aladren

October 17, 2016 7:00 PM

Looking for a partner by Aislinn Nicolls, Aladren

Defense Against the Dark Arts was a class that Aislinn wished she didn’t have to take. She knew that the class was mostly for safety, but she wasn’t planning on being in a field, like an Auror, where she would need to perform more advanced magic. However, she was going to be going into a field that required the class, which she understood to some degree. She needed to know how to reverse curses, hexes, and the like. She just wished that she could learn more the theory rather than practice the magic. She was more textbook than action.

With a reluctant sigh, she sank into one of the seats towards the front of the room. Taking out a notebook, she opened her Charms book and started working on homework until it was time to start class. When a different voice called the attention of the class, the Aladren glanced up in surprise. She hadn’t noticed that there was someone different. She hoped this meant that they wouldn’t have to do more than quiet study, but it was a false hope. Dueling. She hated dueling. She didn’t like battling with her fellow students. It felt completely wrong for her. Other students seemed to have fun with it, but she didn’t like the idea that she could actually hurt someone.

Looking around the room, Aislinn tried to find someone that she could partner with. Obviously, the third years were out since they were more restricted and even if she didn’t approve of dueling, she still had to get a good grade. And he was out. There were just so many ramifications that could occur if they partnered. If one of his spells went wrong, she could get hurt and she didn’t want him to feel awful about it. Worse, she could hurt him, therefore, he could end up being angry at her for that. She didn’t really want to believe he might be like that though, but she didn’t really want to know either. It was just better not to know. Or maybe he wouldn’t like that she was a better dueler or maybe he would be and be a sore winner. She shook her head slightly. No, no, it was better not to think such things.

Lost in her head, she failed to look for a partner and they were starting to go quickly. Turning to the person behind her, she asked, “Do you want to be partners?”

0 Aislinn Nicolls, Aladren Looking for a partner 297 Aislinn Nicolls, Aladren 0 5

Sutton Nicolls

October 17, 2016 8:25 PM

Any takers? by Sutton Nicolls

Grabbing a seat in the back of the room, Sutton took out her art notebook. Classes were not a top priority for Sutton. If she had a choice, she would have been allowed to go to a muggle school with her friends, but no, her dad had to be a wizard. He couldn’t have just been some normal guy. Not that she didn’t love her dad or her grandparents. They were family. But she didn’t want their lives. She didn’t want to have to pretend to be something that she wasn’t just to earn their approval. Her wizarding family wanted her to get good grades and to either find a proper pureblood husband (not likely) or an an appropriate career, like in their hospital. She knew that Aislinn had those plans, but she didn’t want that.

Unfortunately, when the lesson started, she had to pay attention. Even if she didn’t care about the classes, she had promised her parents that she would try to do better. She didn’t want to have to spend her summer having a tutor. Last year, she had managed to pass her courses. Not stellar grades, but at least she had passed. It was worse this year, because she kept getting lectured on how important it was for her to do well in order to take Advanced classes. If it were up to her, she would be done with school altogether this year. But it wasn’t an option. She had to finish until she graduated from here. After she left here, she thought the world was open for possibilities. She could follow music or art or travel. But none of these classes provide that.

She didn’t even have the luxury of having an off day with someone else teaching. They would be dueling. Awesome. She didn’t like much about classes, but she did like dueling. It was fun. She liked being active, being able to move. Her skills weren’t the best, but the ability to be able to do more than just write a paper or to point a wand, was great. The only problem was finding a partner. She wasn’t the most social person and had failed at forming any close relationships. It made finding someone to work with difficult, because most people worked with their friends. But sometimes there was an odd person out, depending on the classes. She could try working with Aislinn. It wasn’t as if she could hope to work with Mr. Right anymore since he wasn’t in their classes anymore.

She was just about to look for her sister when it seemed she already found a partner. Darn it. Shuffling around the room, she approached a person that wasn’t taken already. “Hey, want to work together?”

0 Sutton Nicolls Any takers? 311 Sutton Nicolls 0 5

Gabriel Valenti, Teppenpaw

October 17, 2016 9:47 PM

And possibly charm? by Gabriel Valenti, Teppenpaw

Gabe blinked through sleepy eyes, suddenly feeling very awake. Dueling! Well, this was an exciting way to start the day. Gabe sat up a little straighter in his seat, which as usual was towards the back of the class. He wasn’t much of an academic, though he was proud to say that he was passing all of his classes. But dueling seemed like the sort of thing for which a kid ought to pay attention. Somebody could end up puking slugs, or something. And that was just if everything went okay.

The third year breathed a sigh of relief when the professor mentioned the extra rules for his year. Most of the time, he hated being treated like a baby. As the youngest of three he got enough of that at home. But as he ran his hand through his dark, messy curls, he appreciated the excuse to stick to disarming people today. The Teppenpaw didn’t want to actually hurt anybody. That didn’t seem like any fun at all. Sure, he was a competitive, athletic kid, but that was just in sports. He didn’t actually want to mess anybody up.

Gabe eyed the wand sitting on the edge of the desk warily. He might want to take it easy today, but his will wasn’t the only one at play. The alder wand with dragon heartstring core was not always his most willing ally. Whenever he tried to cast spells, it seemed to be pretty reluctant, like it wasn’t very impressed with him. Occasionally it caused explosions, in an apparent rebellion against its owner. Gabe hoped it would be agreeable enough during class today. Mostly the third year enjoyed a little chaos in the classroom, livening things up a bit. But not if his wand’s potential protests got directed at anybody else. Grabbing his wand, he got up from his seat and gathered his things. He would just have to will his wand to be reasonable today. And the native New Yorker wasn’t going to take “no” for an answer. He was an intermediate student now, he deserved some respect. Especially from his wand.

Professor Carter moved the desks out of the way, and Gabe put down his backpack near the wall. He wasn’t serious about many things, but he was serious about this. Today, he was going to keep his wand in check. It wasn’t going to do anything weird or unexpected. And nobody was going to get hurt. He straightened out the collar of his green robes before grabbing his wand in his left hand. Yep, he was going to be a Serious Student today. One-hundred percent Aladren.

“Good morning,” he exclaimed, bowing in full seriousness to a fellow third year, but when he looked up he cracked a crooked smile, and continued in his usual playful tone, “I challenge you to a duel!”

Maybe if he kept things lighthearted on the outside, nobody would notice how tightly his hand was wrapped around his wand, how much he was focused on keeping his magic under control for once. It would probably freak people out more than anything, to know that Gabriel Valenti was actually trying.

0 Gabriel Valenti, Teppenpaw And possibly charm? 330 Gabriel Valenti, Teppenpaw 0 5

Barnaby Pye

October 19, 2016 3:44 AM

What a coincidence, so am I. by Barnaby Pye

Jax Donovan was weird. He skulked around and, like Barnaby, he kept to himself. Unlike Barnaby, however, he seemed to have a gaggle of witches following him around whereas Barnaby had only Nevaeh. Even odder, Jax no longer lived with Barnaby and Jack, but rather with the Other John who, when it came down to it, Barnaby rather admired. It was a bit odd, but Barnaby felt a lot more relaxed now that the older boy was gone. Jax made him feel…tense. In ways Barnaby didn’t think he was supposed to feel, and it unnerved him. He had never felt like that before, it felt positively primal. The loss of a shared living space and greatly decreased this odd feelings and Barnaby was grateful. He didn’t like to be unsure about things and he was definitely unsure about Jax Donovan.

He sneezed. Normally he would have been able to locate Jax instantly. Barnaby usually always knew when the other wizard entered or left the room and where he was. It was almost like his eyes were drawn to the brooding Aladren and Barnaby had to actively work to keep his attention diverted otherwise… But Barnaby was feeling a little under the weather that day which was odd because he was never sick but something he was a little grateful for that day. They were meant to be duelling and Barnaby really didn’t want to be distracted.

Aislinn Nicolls, a rather sensible witch and the only female Aladren in their year to boot turned to ask Barnaby to partner and he smiled at her genuinely, his gratefulness at being saved from a continued search for Jax showing through. Besides, he was glad to be matched up with her and not with someone like Sammy Meeks who was not only a little bit on the reckless side as her position on Pecari’s team as both Assistant Quidditch Captain and Beater suggested but also was one of Jax’s closer friends thereby eliminating Barnaby’s ability to focus.

“Sounds good, shall I block first or would you like to?” As it was a class and not a duel, Barnaby knew that taking turns was expected. Father had taught him that in real life things were not always as cut and dry as that, but even so the exercises set to them in class would still prepare him for life outside of Sonora. Barnaby had never been one of those wizards to look up to or admire his father with shining eyes, thinking the man could do no harm, but he had (once upon a time) been of a more innocent disposition and therefore not realised the sorts of things his family enjoyed in their spare time. Now that he knew—now that he and Tarquin were finding out and Father was telling him, he knew also that he had to be prepared for retaliation. And that one of the Dempsey kids had actually turned up magical well…that meant things were going to get dicey.

As Aislinn responded and they went to take up a place to duel, Barnaby began to run a list of spells he would be allowed to use in the classroom through his head. Father had taught him a few that were on the dodgy side and he’d only attempted them a couple times so he wasn’t even sure he’d be able to pull them off without fail, but even then it was dangerous. It could prompt an external investigation and that was exactly what Father had been trying to avoid when he’d sent both his boys to America away from the prying aurors.

10 Barnaby Pye What a coincidence, so am I. 298 Barnaby Pye 0 5

Jack Spencer, Aladren

October 19, 2016 2:00 PM

Whenever you're ready. by Jack Spencer, Aladren

Duelling was entertaining to say the least, but Jack had never tried it with anyone before. When his older siblings were in school, Jack had been too young. Now, he wasn't allowed to use magic at home and he highly doubted his siblings would be willing to exchange hexes and jinxes with him no matter how harmless they were. It was exciting, this new lesson, but a bit nerve-racking as well. He didn't want to be on the receiving end of anyone's wand. Though he seemed brave for playing a sport like Quidditch, in reality Jack much rather preferred playing it safe rather than being sorry later.

However, this was their class assignment for the day and Jack had to participate and receive an O. He looked around for a wizard he would be comfortable duelling. It looked like Barnaby had already found himself a partner, and a witch at that. It was strange, what was happening in their dorm room, and Jack didn't really understand Jax or why the wizard had moved out. But he really could care less. Jax's brooding presence wasn't particularly missed.

Jack was still looking around when his fellow Prefect approached him. Surprised, for a moment he contemplated whether or not he should reject her. It wasn't fair, duelling a witch, and Jack thought it only proper to be a gentleman and let her win - if this was a real duel. It wasn't going to be as fun, duelling with less interesting spells so he wouldn't hurt her, but it wasn't right to reject her either. "As ready as I can be," he replied. Though he'd never really talked to Gia except about Prefect duties, he'd heard about her and saw her in class often.

"Why don't you go ahead first?" he said politely, readying himself to deflect whatever spell she cast. "Do your worst, it'll be good practise in defending myself." He grinned, trying to keep the mood light to make her feel a bit more comfortable. It couldn't be easy trying to 'hurt' a classmate. However, Jack was quite confident in his reflexes and spell-casting and didn't think she would get one past him.

40 Jack Spencer, Aladren Whenever you're ready. 299 Jack Spencer, Aladren 0 5

Aislinn

October 20, 2016 12:53 AM

Then, partners we shall be. by Aislinn

Aislinn offered the other Aladren a quick smile. “Uh…” She looked around again for him.. He wasn’t here. Oh. It was like a light bulb went off. How could she have been so stupid? Of course, he wasn’t here. She felt like such an idiot. Worrying about him, his reaction, was like a knee jerk reaction. But he wasn’t here. So, logically she should have realized that and not have had such a reaction.

Yet, she did. She felt like she was losing her mind. Focusing on her partner, Aislinn answered, “You can go first.” She would have normally gone first, but right now, she couldn’t think. She wasn’t even sure she was going to be able to successfully defend herself at all. She had to stop thinking about him. Well, it was more that she was attempting to analyze herself and why she seemed to turn into one of those silly girls that just stood there smiling stupidly.

“I’m ready when you are,” Aislinn said once they were in place. Her mind was racing. She had to look at her problem logically. How could she get back to normal and concentrate on her studies? The answer was so simple. It was staring her right in the face. But if she did that what would be the ramifications? She bit on her lip. If she did this, then that could occur. However, if she choose that route, then this would occur. She didn’t know if it was what she should do or not. Honestly, she was a little scared of what could happen if she did. What was she going to do?

She felt like screaming. Was she trying to be too logical? Aislinn liked knowing that what the cause and effect would be. It’s why she liked classes. She liked facts. Maybe she should try looking at the facts. Fact: He didn’t know that she existed. Or at least, she didn’t think he did. Fact: He might have a girlfriend. She wasn’t sure if he did or not. If he did, that could be messy. Fact: It was a small school and she wouldn’t be able to avoid him. Fact: He could hate her. It would be humiliating. Fact: Her entire fantasy that she built up could be destroyed and she could be left with a broken heart. The mere thought tugged on her already delicate emotions. She would not get upset. This was not the time to do so.

0 Aislinn Then, partners we shall be. 297 Aislinn 0 5

Gia

October 20, 2016 7:43 PM

Are <i>you</i> ready? by Gia

Gia smiled at Jack, relieved that he was willing to be her partner, although she supposed if he didn’t, she could just ask one of her friends or her brother instead. Jax was always willing to work with her over someone else, even with dueling. He always tried to get her to learn because he worried about something happening to her, but Gia always refused. She didn’t want to point her wand at someone else without reason. Today was a reason, but she had no ill will towards Jack so she did not want to cause him any harm. That wasn’t to say that she wasn’t capable of it. Gia was diligent on learning her magic. Although she was a Pecari, she had the mind of an Aladren. She studied relentlessly and practiced well into the night to ensure that her spell work was perfect. She just wasn’t good at thinking of various spells while trying to dodge them at the same time.

Jack Spencer was one of those people that Gia always intended on getting to know but since they didn’t run in the same circle of friends, she just never had the chance. Jax always spoke nicely about his former roommate and after leaving the room due to Barnaby, Jax had felt guilty for leaving Jack behind to have to deal with Pye on his own. They weren’t friends that much she knew as Jax never spent any time in the dorm room except to sleep. He didn’t want to give Barnaby any further ammunition if he could help it. Of course, because Barnaby had tried to worm his way between them and their friends and nearly destroy everything that they had worked so hard to achieve by attempting to blackmail and expose them, Jax just couldn’t take it anymore and he had to leave. Thinking about it now, Gia really needed to thank John Umland for being so kind and letting Jax stay with him.

Gia took her place across from Jack and curtsied to be polite. She thought that’s what they did in formal duels, but she couldn’t say for certain. Really, who found pleasure in such things? Throwing curses at one another with the intent to harm just to be told they were winners? Gia looked thoughtfully at Jack when he told her to throw the worst she could think of at him. But, she thought she would start out easy and then work her way up to something more dangerous. This way, in case he wasn’t any good, he won’t be injured by her. And with that, Gia threw the hive jinx his way with a quick swish of her wand. Direct, precise, perfect.

6 Gia Are <i>you</i> ready? 308 Gia 0 5

Jack

October 21, 2016 4:24 PM

Hit me with your best shot. by Jack

To match Gia's curtsy, Jack quickly bowed. He didn't have any experience with duelling traditions, but it seemed only proper. Continuing this pure-blood facade of prestige and good upbringing required faux formality in most situations even if they didn't completely understand why. Maybe it just looked nice and respectful to the audience watching. Jack didn't take his eyes off of her as he bowed before straightening himself. If he'd learnt anything over the years, he knew keeping one's eyes on one's opponent was essential. It applied in any competitive activity, particularly in Quidditch.

Jack readied himself again and waited for her to send one at him. He tried to keep his grip on his wand loose and natural, but his heart was beating quickly. He didn't know what to expect from Gia or what sort of witch she was. What if she sent a really awful hex or tried to play dirty? Was she that sort of witch who seemed proper and nice on the outside but was vindictive and fierce inside? Jack didn't know much about his opponent, but right at this moment he wished he did just to anticipate what sort of spell she would cast. He liked knowing what he was going to face.

Her spell was spot-on, but Jack deflected it with a quick flick of his wrist. The spell shot up to the ceiling and made a crash against the stone, but luckily didn't break anything. "Your wand work is brilliant," commented Jack, impressed, as he sent a singing jinx back at her directed at her middle. The adrenaline of sending spells at each other was getting his blood pumping. It seemed as though Gia was going to be a competent partner and he was very glad for it. "Do you duel at all in your free time?" he asked. Someone ought to start a duelling club at Sonora after this class.

40 Jack Hit me with your best shot. 299 Jack 0 5

Gia

October 25, 2016 7:12 PM

This is my Fight Song by Gia

Gia watched as Jack easily fended off her spell and she gave him a small smirk. It was eerily similar to the smirk that her brother gave to people when he was slightly impressed but didn’t want to show it. “Thank you.” She said in response to his compliment. Gia was rather confident in her spells once she had practiced them long enough. Her first time actually attempting the spells were never quite as good, but she was a devoted student and eventually she got the end result.

She flicked her wand and sent a deflective spell into his, causing both spells to ricochet off one another and sail towards the ground. Gia returned his gift with a gift of her own in the form of the Tarantella spell. “I do not believe in dueling.” Gia answered him with a slight shrug of her shoulders. This was one of her least favorite lessons that Professor Pye gave. She loved learning defense and discussing dark creatures and the like. She spent plenty of time pouring over books regarding the nature of the Dark Arts and why creatures were associated with it due to her brother’s curse.

“I am strict with learning my spells properly.” She explained. “So that if and when I have to duel or take an exam, I can do so with confidence.” She explained, waiting for Jack to send her another one. “Do you duel?” She asked for conversation.

6 Gia This is my Fight Song 308 Gia 0 5

Jack

October 27, 2016 5:44 PM

We Got the Beat. by Jack

Jack grinned as he deflected her next spell. He shot back a Jelly Legs jinx, faster this time, with a little twirl to it. He didn't quite understand how one could not believe in duelling, but he didn't comment on it. It was typical of a witch to say something like that, he surmised. After all, witches weren't raised to pick fights or protect their loved ones. Duelling didn't support that, obviously, but it did train one to be ready whenever trouble did come.

Jack would never admit that discussing dark creatures made him nervous, but he'd never want to face one if he could help it even in the classroom. The thought of going up against a dementor for the sake of learning the Patronus Charm in the advanced courses was enough to make him ponder whether or not he should drop the class next year.

"I can see that," he said, still grinning. Finding a competent partner pleased him. "No, I don't duel," he replied. "Not regularly, anyway, but I'd join a Duelling Club if there was one." He was involved in so many activities already Jack wasn't sure if he could squeeze in another, but he'd decided not to join Book Club this year so he could spend more time in Science Club and commit to his Prefect duties. "I do practise on my own though. The MARS room is particularly helpful." He liked to go to the sports room sporadically and use the dummies there for spellwork. It might not be allowed, but no one had stopped him yet.

"How do you usually go about learning your spells properly outside of the classroom? You're involved in loads of different clubs as well, aren't you?" he asked, always interested in the study habits of others. If there was a better way to cram knowledge into his brain Jack always had a listening ear. "We've got our CATS at the end of this year; nervous at all about it?" Jack didn't want to think he'd fail, but he had been extra diligent in his studies so far this year.

40 Jack We Got the Beat. 299 Jack 0 5

Gia

October 29, 2016 8:27 PM

I Won't Back Down by Gia

Jack had sent his jinx much faster than the last time and caught Gia off guard. She had been expecting a moment of readjustment as they had the last round. Gia hadn’t enough reaction time due to her surprise, so she could only throw up a shield charm to protect her rather than a deflection spell. Her shield was one of her stronger spells due to her brother’s influence. Once they had learned how to do it, he had made her that she could do it without a second thought and that it had so much strength behind it that it would take a powerful spell to break through it. Gia had thought her brother was being ridiculous, but she had still learned and days like today made her happy for the lessons.

His spell bounced off her shield easily and Gia immediately sent another one his way. She didn’t even really think about which one it was only that she wanted to keep herself on her toes and him as well. She listened to him explain how he enjoyed dueling and practiced on his own. She wasn’t exactly sure how he could duel a dummy. She had practiced throwing spells at one plenty of times both in and out of the classroom, but could the dummies throw spells back in a dueling fashion? Well, if it worked for him she would not argue logistics with him. “Do you think there would be enough interest in such a club?” She asked curiously. She knew dueling was a popular sport, but she wasn’t aware of many students being interested in it. Of course, she could be quite wrong with this. Maybe there were quite a few students who enjoyed such things?

“I am a member of a couple, but not too many.” Gia admitted. She was now helping to run a club, which took up a lot of her free time since she was sewing outfits for people, but she did most of her homework during lunch and dinner, so she could use any extra time for practicing and then her evening sewing. It was working out pretty well for her so far. “I usually work on my spells after dinner with my brother. If it’s small spells, we’ll practice on each other or objects either in MARS or outside. If they are more complex, we’ll use the dummies in the MARS sports room to practice on.” Gia explained, not losing her focus on the task at hand. She shook her head at his question though, “Not yet. I am trying to think of them as just regular exams we take every year.”

6 Gia I Won't Back Down 308 Gia 0 5

Barnaby

November 05, 2016 2:28 PM

Well then, now that that's settled, shall we begin? by Barnaby

Barnaby didn’t know a lot about Aislinn, but he did think it was odd the way she was looking over her shoulder after having been the one to ask him to partner with her. Maybe someone had put her up to it? His old roommate and his friends didn’t seem to like Barnaby much for reasons Barnaby wasn’t entirely sure of, but he had seen the way they talked to each other and he didn’t think them particularly capable of doing something as mean as that. Although the idea of Jax spending that much effort to mastermind something like that with the sole purpose of derailing Barnaby’s day did make Barnaby feel oddly comforted.

He bowed low and turned his back to Aislinn, walking a few steps away, turning back around to face her once he reached a safe duelling distance as was customary during a proper wizarding duel. From talks with Father, Barnaby was certain that he’d probably be ending up in some duels with less than gentlemanly wizards who likely wouldn’t hesitate to use ill-mannered techniques, but Barnaby wasn’t going to try and worry himself with that just yet. He just wanted to be a normal boy wizard for the day, one who didn’t have to worry about his older brother’s friends throwing his father into prison or nefarious gang members chasing after any of them to obtain what they believed was owed to them.

It was Barnaby’s first time duelling a witch, and although he knew that some in society would go easy on them, he didn’t feel that was fair at all. They were not having a physical altercation, it was a magical one, and he knew as well as anyone else who had their head on straight that a witch could be just as powerful if not more powerful than a wizard and visa-versa. Magical abilities had nothing to do with sex or even with blood type—something he knew that some would disagree with but he felt was inevitable. Through a lot of research Barnaby had proven this. Even their own Head Boy was evidence enough. Both Clark Dill and his best friend, John Umland were the least pureblooded wizard Barnaby thought he had ever met, yet both proved to be exceedingly intelligent beings. No, blood and sex had nothing to do with ability.

There were two obvious routes to go in a wizards duel. One was to disarm the opponent, this was a smart move as a wandless opponent was close to useless unless they were of superhuman strength and speed. The second was to petrify the opponent which was rather clever because this would render his partner immobile no matter what their physical or magical abilities—unless they could perform mental magic in which case Barnaby was certain he would have already lost. He could also attempt one of the various other offensive spells which they had learned over their two and some years of Intermediate Defense class, and as Aislinn was someone who Barnaby respected when it came to intelligence and classwork he was certain she’d be able to keep up. But the question was, did he want a true practice or did he want to lie low and not stand out as an extraordinary spellcaster?

He took the middle route of using spells they’d learned in class and raised his wand quickly and cast a stinging hex towards her the shoulder opposite of her wand hand. Barnaby knew his wandwork was very precise and he could have targeted her wand hand itself, but felt such a cheap shot to be un-sportsman-like. And besides, if Aislinn was as proficient as Barnaby thought she was, he was certain she’d be able to block the spell and then have it out for him even more for such a needless attack.

OOC: Barnaby’s thoughts on Aislinn’s abilities are just his/my own based on how Aislinn has mentioned being super dedicated to her school work.

10 Barnaby Well then, now that that's settled, shall we begin? 298 Barnaby 0 5

Jack

November 05, 2016 2:53 PM

Beat It. by Jack

Gia continued to impress him, particularly when she managed to respond quicker than last time. Jack deflected it once again, thrilled, and responded in kind with another singing jinx. “I’m sure many of the athletes would be interested,” replied Jack about the duelling club. “It’s a great, active way to practise spellwork.” The wizards would no doubt be interested, but the witches who played Quidditch were bound to be interested as well. His sister would certainly not pass up a chance to join, to be sure. His friend Ruby would’ve liked it as well, if she’d attended Sonora. “I hope someone starts one,” he continued. “I don’t have the time, really.

“It must be nice having a sibling your age you can practise with.” Jack wondered what that would be like, having a twin. Having a sibling even a year or two older or younger would have been loads of fun. Lily was too much of a pest and Adam and Charlotte had each other. Jack would’ve liked a companion like that, particularly a brother with whom he could relate. “Have you and Jax always been close?” he asked. He was curious to know if sibling rivalry happened even among twins.

“I think CATS are over-emphasized anyhow,” said Jack casually. “They seem like practise exams for the more important ones at the end. Not to say that I don't take them seriously, of course. They do matter if one decides to attend university afterwards, which I plan to do. Do you have any plans for university?"

40 Jack Beat It. 299 Jack 0 5

Gia

November 06, 2016 6:36 PM

Fight for your Right by Gia

This time Gia was prepared for his hex to be sent back quickly and thus was prepared with a deflective spell that hit his and sent it sailing away from them. Within the same twirl of the wand that was at the tail end of the deflective spell, she shot a body binding spell his way. She was hoping that with no break between her spells, he would be caught off guard and knocking him down. She didn’t want to hurt him, of course, but she really didn’t like dueling and she wanted it to end sooner rather than later. Of course, she could sacrifice herself to his spell, but than that would end in her possibly getting a bad grade. It was out of the question.

Gia’s brows furrowed slightly when Jack mentioned Jax and her being the same age. Didn’t he know that they weren’t? He shared a room with her brother for nearly four full years, hadn’t that come up at all? Of course, her brother wasn’t one to actually talk about his personal life with people, so she supposed she ought not be surprised if Jack never knew that they weren’t twins. “We aren’t the same age.” Gia amended. “Jax was born almost a full year before me. It was just after September first and I was just before September first, so we ended up in the same year.” Gia explained.

“But, yes, we have always been close. When our father died, Jax took over the role, so he’s basically kept me safe and helps me when I need it.” Gia said. They didn’t normally talk about their father’s murder, it was something they only discussed amongst one another, but sometimes it was necessarily when explaining their dynamic. She knew that her family life was an odd one and they specifically didn’t talk about how they were in hiding and that their lives would have been very different had their father not been killed, but no one needed to know any of that anyway. What point was there to live in the ‘what ifs’ of life?

“You think so?” Gia asked him, surprised to hear an Aladren think so little of the CATS exams. From what Gia had gathered, how one did on those exams would determine what advance courses they would be permitted to take, essentially determining their future careers. If she wanted to be an Auror (which she did not), then she needed to pass the Defense CATs exams in order to get into Defense to further her chances of getting into that program. “I haven’t really thought about it, if I’m being honest.” Gia admitted. “Have you thought about it?”

6 Gia Fight for your Right 308 Gia 0 5

Jack

November 07, 2016 2:53 PM

Everybody Wants to Rule the World. by Jack

Gia's spell almost caught him off-guard. Jack only had time to dodge it and it crashed into something behind him. His body heat had erupted at that surprise, but he was thrilled with the adrenaline now pumping through his body. He sent a disarming spell at her and couldn't stop smiling.

Jack was embarrassed that he didn't know anything about Gia and Jax, but he didn't spend much time in his dorm room except to sleep. Most of his days were spent on the pitch, in class, eating or in his extracurriculer activities. "Sorry," said Jack. "That is an interesting situation though." It wasn't as though Jack would have ever cared to ask even if Jax still lived in their room.

"Sorry to hear about your father," added Jack regretfully. He couldn't imagine what life would be like without his dad. Adam would play the father's role well, but nothing would be the same especially with his emotional mum. His dad was the only one who could stand her emotional outbursts.

"I want to be a Transfiguration professor," he said. "I've always wanted to be a professor and Transfiguration is the most interesting to me. For quite a while it was a toss-up between professor or professional Quidditch player. My cousin's in the professional leagues though, and it's not the sort of lifestyle I'd like." Rupert was much more adventurous than Jack and from rumours he'd heard his cousin's life sounded too wild and unstable for Jack's personality.

"What sorts of things are you interested in?"

40 Jack Everybody Wants to Rule the World. 299 Jack 0 5

Gia

November 08, 2016 9:52 PM

Fighting my way back by Gia

Gia winced as Jack fell back and crashed into a desk behind him as he attempted to dodge her spell. This is why she hated dueling. Someone was going to get hurt and it would be her fault. Gia couldn’t stand people getting hurt, whether it was at her hand or not (but it was much worse when it was at her hand! Even if she was doing it only because the lesson required her to do it). But despite the possible injury, Jack was smiling and it only confused Gia.

Having been momentarily worried for Jack, Gia had not prepared herself for a return spell, so once again the shield charm was quickly thrown up to protect her as his spell crashed into it and disappeared. Gia threw the babbling curse his way and re-steadied herself to be prepared for his next move. She hoped that Professor Pye was paying attention to them because, all things considered, she thought they were holding up pretty well. They didn’t have to run around and deal with other people throwing spells at them too, but they were keeping themselves going and she thought that was an accomplishment. She didn’t know if she would get points off for using her shield charm instead of deflecting, but she was protecting herself first and then worrying about the lesson. She thought that was somewhat the point of dueling.

She wasn’t sure why her situation with her brother was interesting. They were simply trying to survive. Their mother had been forced from her home, her country, shortly after losing the love of her life and had to raise two children on her own. Gia loved her mother and thought she was one of the strongest women she had ever known and would ever know, but she didn’t think their lifestyle was interesting. It was just how things came to be for them.

“Thank you.” Gia replied. She had been four (only just) when he had died so she really didn’t remember him and she was certain that Jax really only remembered the night that he had died, but she never really asked him about it. “It was a long time ago.” She added in case he thought this was a recent development in their lives. Her grief for her father usually settled in the back of her mind, she never really liked to think about it because when she did, it would flare up and the pain of the grief that she remembered after all this time overwhelmed her and sometimes consumed her. It usually only happened whenever she found her mother clutching a photo of her father and sobbing into an empty glass of wine.

She was surprised by how certain he was with what he wanted to do with himself. Gia had honestly not thought about it. She wasn’t really sure why she never had before, but she was always just more concerned about what was going on now rather than what would happen in the far future. Of course, now it wasn’t so far away anymore. “You’ve always known you wanted to be a Professor?” Gia asked, a bit surprised. Her mind was a bit fickle about things that she could hardly say she wanted one thing more than another.

“Oh, er…” Gia hesitated. What was she interested in? “I enjoy sewing and creating garments as well as embroidery.” She replied, knowing that those probably would not interest Jack. “I also enjoy singing. But I know that is not a career that I would do well in.”

6 Gia Fighting my way back 308 Gia 0 5

Joseph Umland, Teppenpaw

November 09, 2016 5:45 PM

But of course. by Joseph Umland, Teppenpaw

Professor Pye was, it had to be said, a Very Serious Fellow, at least in the classroom. Joe knew nothing about his thirst for knowledge, but in demeanor, at least, his intensity made him seem like he was probably a good fit for Aladren, though Joe did question whether being like an Aladren was a good qualification for being Head of House for Aladren – or, for that matter, any House. However he did as a Head of House, though, he seemed very serious about his job with students, so when he saw Professor Carter in the Defense classroom instead, Joe felt it was safe to assume that the room’s normal occupant was on death’s door.

If this was so, though, it didn’t show from Professor Carter’s introduction to the class. She made it sound like he had a stomach bug. Joe supposed only time would tell which was true. He was completely distracted from the issue at any rate when Professor Carter announced that, Pye or no Pye, they were going to start dueling today.

Joe tried very hard not to think about being upside-down. Tried very, very hard. That was not going to help him now.

He looked for someone he liked, thinking that was another thing that might make this less nerve-wracking, and someone meeting that description found him first. That was good. Joe was not sure if the specific identity of the friend who challenged him was as good. Gabe had improved a lot over the years, of course, as they all had in so many ways, but Gabe was known for being kind of…explosion-prone. Joe did not like the idea of an explosion coming right in his direction….

Still, third years had two spells. How wrong could those two go? Joe put on an exaggerated, ridiculous scowl. “I accept your challenge,” he said, as theatrically as possible and flourishing his own cedar wand. “Prepare for defeat, sir!”

16 Joseph Umland, Teppenpaw But of course. 329 Joseph Umland, Teppenpaw 0 5

Owen Brockert, Teppenpaw

November 11, 2016 1:18 PM

I'm closer to alarmed (Chuck) by Owen Brockert, Teppenpaw

When Owen heard what today's lesson was going to be, he couldn't help but grimace. The idea of dueling rather bothered him. First of all, he just plain wasn't fond of violence or potentially hurting someone period. Secondly, well, there was nobody he was all that okay dueling with. He didn't feel right dueling with girls, especially Jemima as he'd never ever forgive himself if he hurt her even by accident. Dueling girls, even though there were some-Jemima's sister Ingrid and Kira Spaulding readily came to mind-that could most likely beat him just made him feel like less of a gentleman, no matter what the girl's background was. Similarly, he didn't want to duel third years because while Owen was far from the best at this-having moral objections and asthma would do that-he was two years ahead of them and they were limited in what they were allowed to do. He'd feel wrong going against them.

On the other hand, he...didn't really want to duel the other guys either. Ever since Theodore had cornered him last year, he'd been really worried that Jemima's family didn't approve of him. Actually, Owen had always rather worried about that, but it was worse now. He was not athletic at all of course and while he supposed he was smart enough and got decent grades, he was more of a dreamer than an intellectual. Though he did care about charities and helping people, and her family did those things too. Maybe there was that? Still, he was constantly worried that the Wolseithcraftes would rather Jemima be with Jack Spencer because he was a Quidditch playing Aladren and Jack's older brother was friends with Jemima's older sister and if not him, Alistair Johnson who at least played. He couldn't risk coming across looking bad compared to them.

He knew he couldn't just plain refuse to do it based on moral objections though Owen assumed Professor Carter would take that better than Professor Pye would have. He'd heard of people doing that before, mostly in relation to animal things like not transfiguring them or using them in potions, but he didn't have the nerve to do that here. Besides, even if he could get away with it with Professor Carter, Professor Pye was sure to yell at him and he'd be humiliated. The other students would laugh at him and it might somehow affect Jemima too which was something he couldn't have happen. Owen truly believed that she'd never ever turn against him but he didn't want people making fun of her too for being with a wimp like him.

Nor was his other possible out something he wanted to do. He was not about to use asthma as an excuse for why he couldn't duel or pretend to have an attack now to get out of it. For one thing, that would make him look like a wimp too. Secondly, Owen just felt wrong about it, the same way but to a lesser degree that he felt wrong about dueling girls and third years. Plus, well, he wasn't sure he could get away with that either. Like he couldn't have an asthma attack every time he attempted to duel someone, especially as he'd been able to take flying lessons. Unless dueling genuinely made that happen which was a possibility.

The third option was to just "go to the bathroom" and not come back, but he didn't think he could get away with that long term either. Or just plain skipping class in the future. However, that would result in a failing grade and potentially being sent to Uncle Mortimer's office. Owen loved his uncle but he knew full well that he did not want to face the man's wrath. Especially given that he'd be more irritable than usual if he had to deal with a student besides Emerald. Even if that student was himself or Angelique.

No, he was just going to have to do it. Even though the thought made Owen feel slightly queasy. Unfortunately he was somewhat limited. No girls, no third years, no Quidditch players. Fabian was a viable option, but he already had a partner. So did Barnaby Pye, not that Owen was enthused about working with him anyway, given he wasn't exactly friendly and for all the Teppenpaw knew, he was a master dueler who learned everything he knew from their professor because they were brothers.

So, he looked around for one of the few remaining options and spotted Chuck Fintoc first. Owen didn't know the Pecari well-they were in the same year but seemed to travel in different circles and while he was on the same wagon as Owen, he seemed better friends with Kira- but he seemed one of the more pleasant choices left that fit Owen's criteria.

He approached the redhead. "Hey Chuck, will you work with me?"

11 Owen Brockert, Teppenpaw I'm closer to alarmed (Chuck) 300 Owen Brockert, Teppenpaw 0 5

Fabian Brockert, Pecari

November 15, 2016 5:08 PM

Sure, why not? by Fabian Brockert, Pecari

Though Fabian was hardly the most studious person-the addition of Herbology had not sat well with him, not because he didn't see the use in it because as someone who loved the outdoors, he felt he needed to learn about plants in case he was ever out in the wild and needed to survive, but because it was yet another class-but he did like Defense generally speaking. While Fabian didn't enjoy competitive sports like Quidditch-because people were too competitve and not just the Aladrens, his own house was really just as bad honestly from what he could tell-it wasn't as if he was totally physically inactive. He loved archery for example, as if one was camping and ran out of food, or the world as people knew it basically ended and food was hard to come by, he could always use a bow and arrow to hunt.

The addition of Herbology did create another issue though and that was what he was going to take after CATS. He'd already been unsure whether or not to take COMC or Charms, while he was keeping DADA and Transfig for sure. Scarlett's remarks about the research assignment they had in Charms had been an arguement for COMC, but Herbology was now in the mix too and that was useful. And Fabian was not taking more than three advanced classes.

Not that he had to worry about it right now. The Pecari wasn't someone who really thought much about the future. He was a live in the moment kind of guy and the last thing he wanted to think about was what classes he was going to take after a big important test that he also didn't want to think about so he could be a responsible adult, which sounded terrible to him. Fabian was fourteen-though he'd be fifteen in December-and he still felt it was too soon to worry about stuff like that given he was only a fourth year. Besides, thinking about and planning for the future seemed to stress people out and they missed out on a lot of fun moments, both because they were too busy working for future goals and because they let the present pass them by.

Like right now. Right now Fabian was in Defense and Professor Carter was subbing. He smiled when it turned they would be dueling. That was kind of fun, so long as his opponent wasn't taking it too seriously, even though he tended to prefer the lessons that would help in defeat dark creatures he came upon outside rather than human enemies. He didn't think he would ever really be in a position to be attacked by another person outside a classroom setting. Still, Fabian did find dueling in itself to be fun.

He looked around for a partner, preferably one who wasn't an Aladren. As much as the fourth year might enjoy hexing one, he couldn't deal with their insufferable know-it-all attitudes though here he felt he could really hold his own. Nor did Fabian really want to work with anyone who took Quidditch too seriously, even if they were people whom he otherwise didn't mind. If they took that too seriously, whose to say they wouldn't be super competitive when it came to dueling?

That's when Fabian was approached by Sutton Nicolls. He didn't know much about the other girl at all beyond that she was in his house, a year older, had a twin in Aladren-which made him feel sort of bad for her but he'd of course never insult someone's family to them, especially twins who tended to have a tighter bond in general and after all the only Aladrens he liked were some of his closer relatives- and didn't seem to be involved in all that much. In short, that was enough for him. "Yeah, okay." Fabian replied.

11 Fabian Brockert, Pecari Sure, why not? 321 Fabian Brockert, Pecari 0 5

Sammy Meeks, Pecari

November 16, 2016 1:32 AM

Ram, bam, thank you, ma'am [Kira] by Sammy Meeks, Pecari

Dueling days were pretty rad. Sammy wasn’t overly or dramatically attached to them, but lessons on dueling in the previous years of Intermediates had always been fun. There was sort of an intrinsic guilt to shooting crap at a bud, but really, it was no different than her Beating position in a Quidditch game. Yeah, her aim was technically to do something uncool to another kid, but they knew signing up what they were getting into, and it was never personal. Plus, magic could heal, like, anything, so at the end of the day, by the time her “““““victim””””” (note the billion quotation marks) crawled into bed that night, Medic Eir, crazy though she be, would have already fixed them all up. No worries.

Not that Sammy had any intent of doing much damage in this setting. For someone so fiery, her hexes were honestly a bit weak. But maybe it was fitting, since she was better at defensive spells. She’d never been very defensive in her own regard, but she was one hell of a protector. Fiercely loyal and never backing down. Nobody puts baby in a corner. Heck yeah.

It was just too bad their normal professor wasn’t here (not that she really thought calling him “normal” was quite apt, but he was usually the one teaching.) Barnaby Pye may have been a total dumpster fire, but his professor brother was hot in all sorts of other, more desirable ways. Namely the booty. Mm-mm. Still, Sammy had a feeling she’d get over it for today, because Professor Carter was also pretty dang hot in her own right. This was the advantage of enjoying both sexes: she was never disappointed.

When it was time to partner up for dueling, the Pecari glanced about eagerly to find her friends. Gia seemed to be paired up with Jack Spencer, and she couldn’t locate Laila and Jax through the crowd, which she assumed meant they were together or something. Even Chuck seemed to be taken, which counted out all of her usual friends. But, as the girl in question passed into her vision, Sammy was struck with a solution: why not young Kira, with whom she had chatted on the wagon ride this year? She was a year below Sammy, but if memory served from prior classes and yearbook awards, that probably would not be an issue.

“Hey, friend,” Sammy greeted as she approached the Crotalus, offering her signature friendly smile. “Looking for a partner?”

12 Sammy Meeks, Pecari Ram, bam, thank you, ma'am [Kira] 310 Sammy Meeks, Pecari 0 5

Ben the Hippo Pierce, Pecari

November 18, 2016 3:37 PM

All of the challenges (tag Tess) by Ben the Hippo Pierce, Pecari

The clock ticked. The sound was the loudest thing in the room. That and the scritch-scritch of everybody else's quills writing the answers to Pye's daily quiz. Ben's quill was not scratching out any answers. Ben did not have any ideas for how to recognize the difference between a Hippopotamus and a Gravalus because he had no idea what a Gravalus was nevermind how it differed from a hippo, though the fact that the question was even being asked made him guess that a Gravalus had more in common with a Hippopotamus than the last two letters of their names.

"Time's up!" Professor Pye declared, and Ben groaned, quickly scribbling in the otherwise blank space that 'I don't want a Gravalus for Christmas,' and turned in his paper with a horrible sinking feeling that there went any chance for impressing his parents on his next report card.

When he woke, he'd been concerned enough to check in his textbook to see what a Gravalus was - it apparently was a figment of his own dreams - but not enough to study the unit they were actually working on before class. He was half ready to fail a real test as he walked in, but when he saw they had a sub he only barely contained a cheer of joy.

On top of not having a quiz, the lesson even sounded like a good one.

Dueling was pretty cool, and clearing all the desks out of the way was definitely a promising start that this could only be awesome. Ben was a strong proponent of not using desks. Of course, as a third year, he was stuck with the easiest version of the lesson, but even that sounded plenty active and exciting.

Now to find a partner. Probably another third year so he didn't need to worry about the more advanced spells an older student might throw at him. He looked around and grinned when his spotted his nearest home-life neighbor. Sweet, he'd been wanting to check in with her and see how her baby sister was doing.

"Hey, Tess, need a partner?" he asked.

1 Ben the Hippo Pierce, Pecari All of the challenges (tag Tess) 339 Ben the Hippo Pierce, Pecari 0 5

Kira Spaulding, Crotalus

November 19, 2016 1:44 PM

Uh...you're welcome? by Kira Spaulding, Crotalus

One wouldn't normally expect someone like Kira to enjoy Defense. She was quiet, meek and unathletic. Admittedly, that last bit did make it overall less appealing than Charms or Transfiguration, the latter of which Kira could do-and had done-in her sleep. The Crotalus wasn't particularly fast and she was kind of clumsy. However, the fact that DADA meant wandwork and basically that was the only thing she was even remotely good at made it more appealing. It was like everyone was alotted a certain amount of talent overall and she was given one extraordinary one in exchange for being either mediocre or downright awful at everything else. Therefore any wand based lesson in any class made her happy. Kira never got to feel good about herself for any other reason.

Of course, she did like Potions too but only because of Sophie. That was literally the only reason Kira intended to keep it after CATS.

On the other hand, she didn't love dueling. First of all, there was the active part. Secondly, it put Kira's lack of desire to hurt people in conflict with her desire to do excel at something and feel good for awhile. However, even if she lacked desire to throw a hex at someone, something that tended to make spells not work as well, hers still ended up being pretty strong so maybe it was a good thing that Kira didn't actually want to harm someone. If she was overall more enthusiastic about hexes for any reason than in any sense but being happy that she was capable, she'd probably do some real damage.

The only mistakes she ever really made in this class were overshooting a spell if she felt threatened and backed into a corner-which admittedly was kind of silly because they were in a classroom setting, so not in any real danger and she was getting better on that one-or misaiming a spell and hitting someone else who was in the line of fire. This occasionally still happened.

Once they were released to duel, Kira looked around. There were three people she considered her friends,even though they all had people they liked more and would probably prefer to work with. She doubted anyone else-except probably Fabian, who she noted was pairing with one of the Nicolls twins, probably Sutton, Kira didn't know which one had cut her hair, but she did know how her cousin felt about Aladrens, unless of course he was willing to duel one so he could hex them, so it was likely Sutton-would want to work with her.

And she didn't feel at all right working with a third year, so that left out Daniel. Not that Kira thought he personally was going to do poorly, but the third years weren't allowed to do much. Chuck was apparently being approached by Owen which surprised her since Owen seemed to prefer to be with Jemima. Maybe he didn't want to hex her. That left Caelia who Kira considered her closest friend because the older Crotalus had made an effort to befriend her and seemed genuinely interested in her. If only she wasn't friends with Kelsey too, which not only put the fourth year in competition with her cousin yet again but made her suspicious that Kelsey had put Caelia up to befriending her in the first place. If that was the case, she doubted her cousin's motives were to help make the very slightly younger and much shyer girl make friends but to make sure Kira didn't make the wrong friends. Still Caelia was sweet, even if she didn't always get where Kira was coming from.

She started out towards Caelia when Sammy Meeks approached her. Kira blinked a little when the fifth year greeted her with the word friend. They were friends? Really? They'd had a nice chat despite Kelsey who'd started lecturing Natalie on the importance of befriending the right people which Kira knew full well was aimed at her as much as at her younger cousin, yes but friends?

But maybe Sammy wanted to be friends with her? But that didn't make sense, Kira wasn't anything like Sammy's other friends who were mostly rather social people save for Jax Donovan. And she literally had nothing going for her that someone like Sammy would appreciate other than possibly magical ability as she doubted the Pecari cared about wealth and pureblood pedigrees. Unless maybe Sammy wanted to irritate Kelsey or Chuck had encouraged her to reach out.

Still, Kira was not going to refuse her. That would be rude and besides, maybe Sammy really did find something in her to like even though Kira couldn't fathom what. Whatever the reason, she couldn't help but be pleased that someone actually wanted to work with her. "Sure!"

11 Kira Spaulding, Crotalus Uh...you're welcome? 320 Kira Spaulding, Crotalus 0 5

Sammy

November 25, 2016 5:10 PM

What a pair we make! by Sammy

Sammy’s smile stretched. “Great!” she beamed happily. She was glad Kira wanted to be her partner. Kira seemed like a nice kid, even if the world she came from seemed a bit screwy. The Pecari could hardly imagine growing up like these Pureblood kids did, so proper and constraining, seemingly demanding children to be tiny adults. Their events were formal balls and fancy dinners. Sammy went to baseball games and football rallies. When she was young, she got to play in sandboxes, her Wonder Woman and Captain America action figures (her two favorites, and damn the Marvel/DC separation) searching the imaginary dessert for a mysterious item that would save the day. She threw a baseball or a frisbee back and forth with her big brother. Meanwhile, kids like Kira probably sat inside in lacy, uncomfortable dresses, looking like dolls, listening to their parents drone on about boring adult things.

Still, it hadn’t seemed to affect Kira too horribly. She was pretty quiet, but Sammy couldn’t really tell if it was an outdated “children should be seen at not heard” outlook on her parents part, a kind of shyness intrinsic to her as a person, or some combination of the two. Some Purebloods had problems with people like Sammy based on prejudice, somehow deeply troubled and offended by her parents’ lack of magic (and, she imagined, if that kind of thing bugged them, they probably weren’t keen on her two moms or her own interest in girls), but Kira didn’t seem to be like that. They hadn’t talked too much over the years, but Sammy liked to assume the best in people. Plus, she was Laila’s roommate, and while she understood that the two Crotali were not close, there didn’t seem, as far as she had heard, to be bad blood on that front.

“I feel like a real ‘duel’ might be too intense for us,” Sammy stated, offering air quotes around the word duel. “So let’s just kinda go slow, taking turns attacking and defending. You can go first with attacking, too, because I prefer to defend. Is that cool?”

12 Sammy What a pair we make! 310 Sammy 0 5

Tess Whittaker, Pecari

November 26, 2016 5:48 PM

Getting in a couple myself by Tess Whittaker, Pecari

Tess walked into the DADA classroom, a smile on her face, feeling much more like Tess-of-old than usual. She’d received a letter from her mother at breakfast that had brought more optimism to her always-hopeful heart and, whilst it had brought back the usual longing to see all her family, even that couldn’t put a damper on her spirits.

Dear Tess,

Lovely to hear from you, as always, and I hope you’re still having lots of fun! Things are fine here (other than Henry complaining about his homework, but then what’s new?).

As you know, Emma had another check-up at the hospital yesterday, and I’m so happy to be able to tell you that it went very well! The doctors said she’s coming along marvellously, given the situation, and that she’s a healthy weight and size despite being premature. It’s all very relieving, as every little bit of progress will help in January. Obviously we are by no means out of the woods yet, but let’s look for the positives wherever we can!

Oh, and just the other day she laughed for the first time! She and Daddy were playing with Socrates, and…

Tess was sad to have missed Emma’s first laugh, but it made her so happy to hear normal updates, as if Emma was just like any other little girl. She was also cheered up by the mention of Socrates - she still found it amusing that her dad had decided that Socrates was the perfect name for a teddy bear!

The day got even better as Professor Carter announced that they would be duelling. Tess enjoyed practical classes, and duelling was good fun, even though she didn’t actually want to hurt anything. But it wasn’t as if they were able to use lots of dangerous spells, so there was no risk of that. She was just looking around for a partner when Ben came up to her, which was very much appreciated. Ben was great, and yes, she might have a little bit of a crush on him, but who wouldn’t? He was clever and fun and comforting and not bad looking, either!

“Oh, I suppose I could work with you,” she replied, grinning at him. “If you think you can take on the amazing Tess Whittaker?” She was joking, of course – Tess knew she wasn’t bad at spellcasting but it wasn’t as if she was some kind of wizarding (or should that be witching?) prodigy. However, she was confident that she could remember the spells they were to use, although successfully using them was another matter!

Picking her wand up from the desk, she positioned herself vaguely defensively (and hoped she didn’t look too ridiculous). “Are you ready?” she asked.

9 Tess Whittaker, Pecari Getting in a couple myself 338 Tess Whittaker, Pecari 0 5

Chuck Fintoc, Pecari

December 01, 2016 4:35 PM

Welcome to the wizarding world. by Chuck Fintoc, Pecari

The truth was, Chuck could live without most classes, Care of Magical Creatures aside. But even so, he did want to be able to make good, varied use of his wand by the time he left school. Duelling was a pretty decent topic of study since it involved so much practical work (theory was definitely not Chuck's forte), although given his natural build and physical strength Chuck's fists had always served him well.

“Sure,” Chuck nodded when Owen approached him to pair up. “Don’t fancy giving your girlfriend a chance to show you up?” he added with a grin to show that he was only joking. The fifth year meant nothing by it, although if he gave his casual jest any thought, he might have realised that Jemima probably did have a fairly good chance of kicking Owen’s butt were they to go up against each other. For all his qualities, it had to be said that Owen was probably the wimpiest guy in the year.

“Don’t worry, I’ll go easy on you,” Chuck couldn’t resist another teasing remark as he got into position. By now his classmates should have been used to his lack of seriousness and so Chuck didn’t even consider the possibility of Owen not playing along with the super mild trash talk. It wasn’t as though he was Alistair, who actually said these kind of things for real because he was under some strange delusion of great importance.

In reality, physical strength was not really a factor when it came to duelling. It was about spell-casting ability so there was a chance that Owen might show him up but Chuck was just messing - he didn’t have enough of a competitive streak to really care about the outcome of the duel. That didn’t mean he wasn’t going to try, and hopefully have a bit of fun doing so, especially since Owen was his partner.

Girls were all good and well and Chuck was happy to be friends with so many, but it had to be said there was nothing like banter between lads. Chuck missed spending time with his uncles and cousins on the ranch and he knew he needed more guy friends at school. Making friends was never a difficult task but finding guys in his year who didn’t take themselves too seriously was a little more of a challenge.

8 Chuck Fintoc, Pecari Welcome to the wizarding world. 309 Chuck Fintoc, Pecari 0 5