We could use a good shrink [Years VI-VII] on Potions

Prof. Isis Carter

November 21, 2015 3:42 PM

We could use a good shrink [Years VI-VII] by Prof. Isis Carter

Isis had to admit, she was glad to get back into the swing of things at Sonora. The sense of structure here was remarkable, even for the permanent substitute, whose job was, by nature, fairly unstructured. She supposed she would miss this when (or if, since at this point it had been a full year) the school located a full-time Potions professor. Then she would probably go to actual substituting, which meant basically sitting around until something came up for a professor. Or maybe they’d let her teach an elective or something. Who knew?

It was the first day of class for the Advanced students, but given that they would have known her fairly well by now, her introduction remained short. “Welcome back, guys,” she said in total. Isis definitely liked not having to introduce herself to her Advanced or Intermediate students at the start of every year; obviously, the first years needed to know who she was, but she just always felt like it was a bore of redundancy for the second years in the Beginner level classes.

“Let’s go ahead and get right down to it, huh?” Isis smiled to her class. It was definitely a smaller one, since not every class was mandatory at this level, but the intimacy meant that those here wanted to be here. That was always good for productivity. “We’re going to brew Shrinking Solution today.” The title of the potion appeared on the board behind her to reiterate.

“This potion has a good handful of ingredients, so now is a good time to see if you have all your ingredients ready for the year. If not, you know where to find more.” Isis always kept an extra supply on the counter, available for any student of any level who had forgotten or not brought enough of anything. “Your instructions are on page 127 of your textbooks, so please turn to it and get started.”

OOC: Here are your instructions:

Juice two Shrivelfigs and add their ruby blood to your cauldron.
Stir slowly.
Gently heat your potion.
Chop four daisy roots more finely and add to cauldron.
Add five hairy caterpillars.
Add well-shaken wormwood.
Stir vigorously.
Juice four leeches and add.
Stir slowly and with caution.
Shake rat spleen and add to cauldron.
Add a splash of cowbane.
Stir slowly.
Heat on a high temperature.
Wave wand in a particular figure.

You all know the rules by now, but since it’s the first lesson of the year, I’ll reiterate: no godmodding, 200 words minimum (I’d like to see about 250-300 for you since this is the Advanced), mind realism, etc. Creative and interesting posts win more points for your Houses. And as always, have fun!

Subthreads:

You’re telling me. by Ava Fletcher, Aladren with Anonymous, Emery Kijewski-Jareau

I don't know, I think I have a pretty good handle on things. by Liliana Bannister, Pecari

That could be beneficial by Eleanor Vandenberg - Crotalus

I could think of a few things I'd like to shrink. by Leo Princeton

12 Prof. Isis Carter We could use a good shrink [Years VI-VII] 31 Prof. Isis Carter 1 5

Ava Fletcher, Aladren

November 22, 2015 9:53 PM

You’re telling me. by Ava Fletcher, Aladren

Ava was feeling kind of guilty. She hadn’t gone to find Emery after he had disappeared the previous night, instead opting to make sure Arnold had a good first dinner as Head Boy. However, she had been ridiculously stupid to think that Emery had wanted to be left alone. That morning at breakfast even though she had already been in Cascade Hall Emery hadn’t sat next to her. She had been too nervous to wave him over lest people think they were dating—before she wouldn’t have hesitated but now she was hyper aware of everything. It really hurt Ava’s feelings that he didn’t want to sit next to her and her mind raced over all the possibilities that it could have been before she realized what it was about.

The exact same thing that Arnold had been mopey about—the Head Boy badge. Ava was really beginning to hate that stupid honor, tearing apart their close knit group. It was just a stupid piece of plastic or metal that wouldn’t matter too much beyond their school days especially since she didn’t think either boy was going into the same professional field once they graduated even if Arnold didn’t know exactly what it was he wanted. She wolfed down the last bites of her breakfast when she saw Emery leave Cascade Hall—presumably for class, and she raced out after him, she wanted to get to the Potions classroom first so that she could wait outside for Emery to show up and then follow him to whichever desk he picked..

The Advanced Potions class was small, she realized, and Ava waited until she saw that familiar mop of curly brown hair. “Hi!” She said cheerily, holding her Potions textbook tight to her chest as though it could cover up the racing heart inside it, and stepping into place besides Emery. She hesitated for a second before detaching her left arm from her book and throwing both arms around him, her textbook clunking her awkwardly on the arm that wasn’t holding it. Emery had hugged her before when she was upset so she didn’t think he was adverse to such contact. How she hoped he couldn’t feel how fast her heart was racing at the contact.

“How are you doing today?” she asked earnestly as they entered the Potions classroom, hoping that he would be in a mood to talk to her and not hate her too much for havin stayed back to eat dinner with Arnold instead of checking on him. It wasn’t just that she wanted to keep Arnold company so he wasn’t alone, she was quickly realizing as she took in the stormy face of her friend. She didn’t like the idea of Emery being unhappy—he already had a lot of stuff going on his life, Angel wise, and she hated that he had this to worry about now too. Last night, when she and Arnold had been talking about art club as though nothing had changed she had been able to pretend as though nothing was wrong and it was just another first day back at school—no stupid badge to mess things up.

“Hey, want to be my partner for Potions this year?” she whispered under her breath as Professor Carter started the class, taking care not to be too loud so that they wouldn’t get in trouble for talking in class.

OOC: Bits about Arnold & Emery's careers provided by their authors.

10 Ava Fletcher, Aladren You’re telling me. 0 Ava Fletcher, Aladren 0 5

Anonymous

November 22, 2015 9:55 PM

[tag: Emery, oops!] (nm) by Anonymous

0 Anonymous [tag: Emery, oops!] (nm) 0 Anonymous 0 5

Emery Kijewski-Jareau

November 23, 2015 8:59 PM

Too bad, I don't give a quack. by Emery Kijewski-Jareau

Emery was too busy working things out in his own head to really pay any attention to the people around him, so he didn’t notice Ava until she greeted him in a rather cheery voice. An emotion that he was not feeling at the moment and therefore, did not appreciate coming from her. Emery was upset and he felt like he had every right to be upset. Ava acting like nothing was the matter only swayed to anger him all the more. Before he could really get away, Ava was hugging him. Emery was caught off guard by the sudden contact and even though he wanted to maintain his anger, he felt it slip a bit as his arms wrapped around her. He wanted to hold on tightly and not let her go. He loved the warmth of her body and the smell of her shampoo. She felt reassuring in his arms.

And then she was gone and Emery felt empty as the cold air wrapped around him again.

Emery shrugged at her question. How was he supposed to feel? His friends abandoned him when he needed them the most and the school basically told him it didn’t matter how hard he tried, how involved he was, how studious he was, none of it mattered because of his blood. How was he supposed to be knowing this? He wasted six years trying to earn a badge to help him with scholarships into decent universities. It was extremely difficult to get into Veterinary school and he knew that the badge would have shown his dedication, his ability to lead, his perseverance. Now he had nothing.

He had nothing more to say about that question or that subject. Especially not with anyone who cared enough to not bother asking him how he was doing until the next day. No matter what feelings Emery had for Ava, that had hurt deeper than she could ever realize. How often was he always there for everyone else in his life but not one person could bother to be there for him? His mother always taught him to be find to others and to help those who needed it, but what good did that do when it wasn’t reciprocated?

Emery glanced at Ava when she asked him to be her partner for the year. Again he shrugged. He would have to be partners with someone and Ava was probably the best candidate. Her dream of becoming a healer was similar to his to be a Veterinarian and they would have similar studies. Potions was one of the bigger subjects.

Thankfully, Professor Isis didn’t take long with her introductions and Emery could busy himself with the ingredients. “Where would you like to begin?” Emery asked, it was always polite to ask instead of assuming.

6 Emery Kijewski-Jareau Too bad, I don't give a quack. 259 Emery Kijewski-Jareau 0 5

Ava

November 24, 2015 7:30 PM

Well, I do. by Ava

Ava let out a tiny sigh as she let go of Emery, mourning the loss of his warmth, the feel of his arms around her, and her forehead scrunched as he shrugged in response and didn’t elaborate any further in response to her question. Her heart panged as she remembered the empty seat she had seen and how she hadn’t gotten up to go to him, instead having a nice conversation with Arnold about art club, planning on looking around for him after they were done eating. Of course she wouldn’t have been able to find him—according to Emrys who had stopped by her and Arnold, presumably on his way back from the dorms, he had gone straight up to his room and his bed where she wasn’t allowed to go.

She stayed silent, walking into the room without talking, but as they sat she made a sad face and squeezed his arm reassuringly, moving her hand up and down softly, keeping her grip firm to let him know she wasn’t going anywhere. “I voted for you,” she said quietly. “I wanted you to win. And I know Chloe and Emrys probably did too. And—” she cut off, sighing quietly and squeezed his arm again before letting her hand fall into her lap. “I looked for you during dinner, but one second you were there and the next you weren’t and then Emrys said you were in the boys dorms so…” she trailed off shrugging.

“I’m sorry,” she said again after they started their first assignment for the year. “I should have gone to check on you but seeing you so upset hurts and I think I wanted to pretend that everything was okay. It was selfish of me, and I’m sorry, and I care about you and I don’t want you to think that I don’t,” She shrugged, mimicking Emery’s movements. “We can start wherever but I should probably start keeping count of ingredient usage.” Since it was the beginning of the year each of their potions kits should have been full which meant they didn’t necessarily have to take inventory but Ava did anyway, beginning to carefully count of some of the ingredients. It was good practice for Healing school, she thought, and for her later profession when she’d likely have to make up potions for her patients.

As she took out a shrivelfig, one fell out of her kit and began to roll away so she reached out, her arm brushing against Emery’s as she did so, her cheeks flushing lightly. “I can juice the shrivel figs,” she said when they got to that part of the steps. “If you want to stir, I mean.”

10 Ava Well, I do. 0 Ava 0 5

Liliana Bannister, Pecari

November 25, 2015 7:17 PM

I don't know, I think I have a pretty good handle on things. by Liliana Bannister, Pecari

Ugh, potions, Liliana thought as she sloughed off to her first class of the year. She wasn’t a huge fan of the meticulous class but after looking at the requirements for becoming an auror she realized that she would have to take both Potions and Transfiguration. She hated each one, albiet in different ways and for different reasons. At least she always managed to get by alright in Potions—certainly she was able to complete her homework and write essays with ease.

However she often found herself getting distracted or being unable to fully concentrate on the potion at hand in the one class and though she tried she couldn’t quite always get the theory behind Transfiguration. Since her first year, however, she had made progress in Transfiguration and she was hoping that with sufficient studying she would be able to pull off a high enough mark in each during her Advanced classes in order to qualify for the auror program.

As such, in addition to the grueling Quidditch schedule she had made up for her biggest priority, Liliana had also, suddenly and overnight, become a well-organized student. She had spent the night after returning from the Opening Feast putting her desk into sorts and outlining study time for each class in between meal times, classes, and Quidditch. She wasn’t going to mess up her Advanced years, she was determined to be successful and make strides so that when she graduated she could go on to complete her dream career. When she arrived in the Potions classroom, she choose a seat near the front, something that she was sure would astonish her classmates since she had never been known for liking the front seat before, having always favored a back row desk in previous years. But Liliana was serious about succeeding and she wanted her professors to know that.

When Professor Carter let them start on the potion without much older up and grimaced and opened the heavy book to the correct page. After a once over of the ingredients in her potions kit and the ingredients required for the potions—a step she had taught to Joella in the year previous and which she herself had found came quite in handy, Liliana turned to her desk partner.

“Would you like to split the ingredients we’re using down the middle?” It was, perhaps, an odd way to do things but Liliana wanted to conserve her ingredients as best she could because she planned on practicing her brewing outside of class so that she could refine her techniques. She was allowed enough pocket money to be able to afford the various things that she needed—the new baby hadn’t taken that away from her, but she also didn’t want to spend extra money on school supplies unless she could help it, preferring to spend her money on one of her bigger interests like Quidditch.

“I’m excited for this year, are you?” she asked conversationally as she started to juice one of the shrivelfigs. “I can’t believe we’re in Advanced classes already! I’m a little nervous but I’m also completely determined to do well, I’m not going to let the higher level of classes keep me from getting to where I need to be.” This goal of hers and Quidditch (and also Theodore, now that she thought about it) were probably the only things keeping her from completely falling apart over Atlas and her new brother, the little demon.

10 Liliana Bannister, Pecari I don't know, I think I have a pretty good handle on things. 274 Liliana Bannister, Pecari 0 5

Emery

November 26, 2015 7:52 PM

You're the only one. by Emery

Emery looked at her hand as it moved on his arm. He was sure she meant that to be comforting, but he just found it frustrating. He liked Ava, more than he was willing to admit, and her little gestures were enticing and confusing to him. She was a friend and that was all that she was and it bothered him. His friends all had relationships. Chloe had one over the summer with Ben, but Emery was once again, left behind. He wasn’t good enough for anything or anyone.

What was so wrong with him? Why couldn’t he just have one thing go well for him? Why was he always the one to lose what was important to him?

Her admittance to voting for him only upset him more. Even his own friends wanted him over Arnold and yet, Arnold still wore the badge. Stupid school and stupid voting system. His merits deserved it, not Arnold’s and his friends knew this.

“Yeah, well, you looked like you were having a good time celebrating with Arnold, so I’m glad I didn’t ruin the evening for you.” Emery commented when she mentioned going to look for him, an edge in his voice that was normally never there. Like he hadn’t seen them? He left shortly after the food had arrived. No one had bothered to look in his direction long enough to see if he were okay. So he left. “Must have really taken a lot to pull Emrys away from his darling Charlotte, especially since I didn’t go to the dorms right away.” He was being spiteful, he knew it, but he was feeling like his friendships were all one-sided.

“It was selfish of me, and I’m sorry, and I care about you and I don’t want you to think that I don’t,”

Was she trying to make herself feel better or him? “Whatever, it doesn’t matter anyway. What’s done is done.” He said, mumbling to words and sitting hunched over his book in order to avoid looking at her. He didn’t like feel angry, especially towards Ava, but he felt betrayed and reject by a school that he had put so much of his time and energy into. More so than that, he felt abandoned by his friends when he had really needed them and the excuse was that he had been in his dorm room bed.

“Yeah, that’s fine.” Emery commented when Ava suggested she did the juicing while he stirred. While he waited for her to do her part, Emery made sure the next step of the potion was set out and ready to go. This was the first potion they were going to be brewing that year and he didn’t want to mess it up because he hadn’t been prepared with all the steps. If Emery had taken a moment to look at Ava, he might have realized that she was blushing and his confusion over her would have only deepened. After all, what would she possibly have to blush over?

6 Emery You're the only one. 0 Emery 0 5

Ava

November 27, 2015 10:30 PM

So don't push me away. by Ava

There were very few things that could get Ava to feel down. First and foremost, her father’s death day. Second, her problems with her mother. And third, being rejected by someone she thought as her friend. And, since it wasn’t any time close to her father’s death day and she had all but blocked the issues with her mother from her mind in an ill-thought-out attempt to be okay with the situation, the thing that was getting her down in that moment was Emery.

The caustic tone to his voice caught her off-guard and she was completely taken aback. Unable to react for a few moments, Ava’s mouth remained open from what she had been about to say before closing it and blinking a couple times as Emery continued, mumbling something about it not mattering and what’s done is done. “Okay,” she said quietly, her voice cracking. She wanted to say more but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. The corners of her eyes prickled but she refused to give into the temptation to cry. She couldn’t give Emery the satisfaction.

Logically she knew that he was speaking out of his anger at the situation, not at her. Yet a small part of her couldn’t help but wonder if he was trying to send her a different kind of message about their friendship. Suddenly she wished she hadn’t asked him to partner with her for the year. She didn’t want to force him into anything that would make him even more unhappy than he already was because of the head boy situation.

So she didn’t respond and turned away from him slightly hugging her arms around herself, her shoulders hunched. Just the smallest of gestures, it was 100% an unconscious move on her part as though the barrier of her arms around her stomach would quell the nauseous feeling growing inside her, as though she could somehow physically protect herself from any other rude remark Emery felt like casting in her direction.

Nevertheless, he acquiesced to continuing their work on the potion and the arm brush still caused her to blush. Ava hated herself for that. Didn’t she have any self-respect or dignity left? She didn’t think so and so she silently squeezed out all the juice of the shrivelfigs and picked up her wooden stirring spoon and began to slowly stir the potion as required by the steps. “After I heat this you can add the daisy roots if they’re ready,” she said flatly, feeling rather stony.

She hadn’t been this at a loss for words in awhile. Arnold had been much easier to cheer up the night before, she thought as she silently stirred the potion. But she couldn’t be cheerful just then, everyone else was talking just fine but Emery didn’t really seem to be in the mood for conversation and Ava didn’t particularly blame him. Yet she had already done all she could, the rest had been out of her hands, there wasn’t much for her to do other than let Emery come round on his own.

10 Ava So don't push me away. 0 Ava 0 5

Emery

November 30, 2015 7:22 PM

It doesn't matter anyway. by Emery

Emery knew that he had caused issues with Ava because of his attitude. He could tell it in her voice and her body language. It was obvious. There was a part of him that really wanted to turn to her and apologize for his behavior, but there was a bigger part of him that felt like he was entitled to his anger and to his own feelings of hurt. Of course, being Emery, knowing the selfishness of his feelings only made him feel guilty in the first place. It wasn’t Ava’s fault that Emery lost. She had even said that she had voted for him. But there were just too many Purebloods who didn’t like anyone else to have successes in this school and with the Headmaster being the leader of them, who knew whether or not the votes had been tampered with.

And even with knowing that it was the Pureblood vote that bet him and not so much as Arnold, Emery still blamed the other Aladren for his lose. Arnold had everything already, including the money to get into college without worry of being a financial burden to his family. Why did he have to suddenly stick his nose into things and purposefully take away the only thing that Emery had worked so hard to achieve since he was eleven years old? This feeling that he had about his own friend was startling to him, but it was there and Emery could finally understand why it was the Chloe felt the way she did about Ji-Eun.

At her request, Emery made sure the daisy roots were as finely chopped as he could get them before dropping them into the cauldron and adding in the hairy caterpillars shortly after. He looked through his kit for the wormwood, but he couldn’t find any (granted, he wasn’t in the right mind to really think about his ingredients). “Do you have any wormwood?” Emery asked Ava, his voice held a hint of confusion in it as he searched his kit. He was getting frustrated that he couldn’t find his ingredient and in a small fit of frustration and anger, Emery shoved his kit away with an angry grunt.

This year was not going as he had wanted to it and it all started last night at the opening feast. Emery dropped his head into his hands and rested it there for a moment. After taking that moment and rubbing his face to try to easy the oncoming headache, Emery sat up with a sigh to focus back on the potion at hand. “I’m sorry for being rude to you.” Emery said, no longer having an edge in his voice, but sounding more like he had no purpose anymore. “But I spent so much of my time being there for you guys and it just seems like, when I needed someone, no one cared until it was convenient. It just… puts things in perspective.”

6 Emery It doesn't matter anyway. 0 Emery 0 5

Eleanor Vandenberg - Crotalus

November 30, 2015 8:32 PM

That could be beneficial by Eleanor Vandenberg - Crotalus

Eleanor was pretty happy with how thing were going right now. She had a nice wizard who liked her and didn't have to think about stupid Leo all the time. Not that she did, of course. The summer had been pretty exciting. She and her parents had moved from Surrey to London, a big change for the small family. Nell had felt very out of place in the city and it also meant giving up her horse, but after a few weeks she really liked it. There were lots of things to do in London now with her parents working at the hospital most hours and her roommate lived in the city too. Though Charlotte was quieter and shyer than she, Eleanor kind of liked that about her.

Nellie had initially been disappointed that she hadn't been voted Head Girl, but she convinced herself that it was too much responsibility anyway and she just wanted to have fun her last year here. She'd have a ton of fun hanging out and actually dating a boy if Tristan hadn't moved on already. Pureblood boys were pretty flighty, at least from what she'd heard, so she was hoping to grab at least one of them before she graduated so she would be secure.

Potions was not her strongest subject, but Nell enjoyed the challenge it posed. According to her grandmother, the half-brother she had never met was really good at Potions and could brew up the best Shrinking Solution around. Then again her grandmother was pretty biased towards Laurence and, as Nellie had only known about her older half-brother existed this past year, she didn't know how much of it was actually true. She still didn't know if she ever wanted to meet him. Laurence had inherited most of the fortune her grandfather had left behind after his death and made Nellie a little bitter towards him even though she didn't really know anything about him. It just made it all the more important that she marry well.

Today they were brewing a Shrinking Solution and Nellie was planning to be the best. She laid out her supplies and ingredients and looked over at her desk partner. "Do you want to work together?" she asked. "Could you turn to the instructions in the textbook? I've read up on it before, but I don't think I can remember it all step-by-step."

As she started to juice the two Shrivelfigs, she turned back to her neighbor. "Did you have a nice summer?"

0 Eleanor Vandenberg - Crotalus That could be beneficial 0 Eleanor Vandenberg - Crotalus 0 5

Ava

December 01, 2015 6:48 PM

So negative. by Ava

Ava blinked as Emery threw a fit over the missing wormwood in his kit and reached over to bring the offending box back to him before pulling some wormwood from hers. She measured out the appropriate amount of wormwood into a small, empty vial and began to shake it ‘well’ so that it could be added to the potion as Emery put his head into his hands. A moment later her pulled it up and apologized to her for his earlier behavior, his voice carrying a significant amount of defeat. Was it designed to get her to feel sorry for him? She wasn’t sure, but her heart panged just looking at how sad he was. Yet despite this, she couldn’t help but feel annoyed.

“That doesn’t mean you have to snap at me,” Ava conceded, her voice sounding hurt but also concerned. She felt a little silly now thinking that his anger had been about anything other than the head boy badge and the situation that had evolved from that. However, she was also a little irritated now. How dare Emery think that they weren’t there for him too? There had been so much more than just him that night. Ava still remembered Arnold feeling bad about something he should have felt good about, she remembered Emrys’ girl drama aside that, she remembered seeing Chloe leave after a brief conversation with Ji-Eun and listening to Emery talk about how they didn’t care about him, it made her want to pinch her nose. It seemed like she was the only one in the group who wasn’t angsty about something and it made her want to scream. She couldn’t take the drama anymore. All she had wanted was a nice, cheerful last year with her friends. And now…now everything was ruined.

“I couldn’t help sitting next to Arnold. It’s not like I moved after I heard the news, I was already there,” she said, putting down the vial of wormwood. “I might l—but you know he’s my friend too,” she quickly amended, covering up the near slip she’d had in telling Emery she liked him. “And besides, you’re the one who looked away from me after the announcement,” she added in a rush, picking up the vial again and shaking it as she ranted. “What was I supposed to do? It seemed like you wanted to be left alone. And after that I had to cheer Arnold up because he was being all sulky which, you know, probably has to do with none of his friends voting for him because I have a feeling he knows we like you more” —well, perhaps not more, but the majority of them were closer to Emery than Arnold— “Then all of a sudden you were gone, and then Emrys gave me this look like ‘oh, don’t worry, I’ll handle it,’ and then he was gone and then he came back and said you were in bed already so really how was I supposed to come comfort you? It’s not like I could go up the stairs and climb into bed with you without some sort of consequence. Plus then Charlotte was gone and Emrys was mopey.”

“You boys really need to just get it together and stop being so melodramatic!” she wanted to say. “I wish that ridiculous badge had never existed in the first place or that there was some other overqualified person to have deserved it equally to have gotten the thing!” She hated that poisonous award that had infiltrated her special safety bubble. It was almost as if the Satori were back at Sonora stirring up feelings of resentment and mistrust amongst them—could Satoris do that too? She wasn’t sure… Ava also wanted to add the bit about worrying for Chloe and Ji-Eun but she didn’t know how much Chloe had told Emery about the situation and she didn’t want to betray her trust and so instead she said nothing. After all, Emrys had openly moped when he got back and they were no stranger to his mini-drama concerning the Crotalus girl and she thought that Emery ought to know that Arnold wasn’t the malicious sort. “The wormwood is ready,” she said as she added it into the potion. “You can stir it now, if you like.”

OOC: Mention of Charlotte leaving the table as discussed in an email with her author in which the author said Charlotte wouldn’t have waited that long for Emrys to come back even though she really likes him.

10 Ava So negative. 0 Ava 0 5

Emery

December 06, 2015 7:02 PM

No, just reality. by Emery

Emery felt like laughing. Not a good laugh, but rather, one of those bitter – I can’t believe this is happening – sort of laughs. He had to defend himself for looking away? At the most humiliating moment of his entire life, he didn’t want the girl he had feelings for to see him feeling so low and that he is to be blamed for? That is the reason she didn’t bother leaving Arnold (was Emery supposed to feel bad about Arnold’s feelings?) to come talk to him? What sort of nonsense was that? Emery wasn’t allowed a moment to deal with his loss before having the expectation that his friends would come to him to make sure he was okay? But none of them came until they found it a convenient moment for them to do so. And what exactly did Arnold have to be mopey about anyway? He got the damn badge. He was set for life. It was Emery who had to figure his own stuff out now that he didn’t have that to help him.

But the mention of Emrys being mopey did bring out a scoff in Emery. The two people who had everything they wanted were upset because of what exactly? “Sorry, but, I’m not going to feel bad for them. Arnold got what he wanted, he had no right to be upset. It didn’t really matter who voted for him, the badge was his whether he wanted it or not. And Emrys is always mopey about Charlotte. Why stop on a night where other people have bigger issues to deal with?” Emery stated. “And gee, Ava, so sorry that I didn’t want you to see me at the very moment of utter humiliation, so I didn’t keep eye contact with you. How utterly rude of me, I guess I’ll have to keep continuous eye contact just so you know that I’d like company.” Emery was angry again. She was making him out to be the bad person for expecting people to care enough about him to step outside of their happy bubble to spend a few minutes checking on him and then getting angry at him for being angry at them for not doing it?

“You know, you really don’t seem to understand how important this whole thing was for me.” Emery said. “Do you know how difficult it is to get into a decent University, especially one that has undergraduate programs for Veterinary school? You have to have top marks, plenty of extracurricular activities, and that something extra that stands out. On top of all that, it was going to help me get a scholarship because, unlike Emrys or Arnold, my family isn’t made of money.” Emery’s voice was low, but there was urgency to what he was saying. “They only have one income and most of what they have goes towards Angel’s medications, potions, and Healer visits. They have Ayita in college and me and Chloe going next year. I need that scholarship so that they don’t have to worry about paying for my education anymore. But that’s gone now because I’m not a God damn Pureblood Elite.”

He was packing up his kit and putting his notes in his bag while he was speaking. “I guess that really is the difference between you and me, isn’t it? Because I would have dropped anything and anyone to make sure you were okay.” He stated matter of factly, not caring if it made his feelings towards her more obvious. “I would do anything to make you happy. Stupid of me, right?” Emery stood up. “I’m going to work on this alone, you can have this one.”

OOC: Emery’s thought regarding the money status of Arnold and Emrys is only his opinion, I do not know if they are, in fact, rich.

6 Emery No, just reality. 0 Emery 0 5

Ava

December 06, 2015 9:08 PM

Since when did reality become so negative? by Ava

Ava had never really seen Emery so bitter before in her entire time of being friends with him. He was wrong, so wrong about everything. She did care about all her friends equally (to a certain extent), that was true, but she would have done anything to make him happy, and that’s what she’d thought she’d done. She’d thought he’d wanted to be alone, she thought she’d expressed that to him twice already during the conversation. Didn’t he know how much it hurt to see him upset? Furthermore the way in which he spoke to her caused the tears to come back but she squeezed her eyes shut real tight because she really didn’t want to cry in class anymore than she was excited about making such a big scene in front of everyone on the very first day.

As he stood up to leave, Ava reached her hand out, against her better judgment, tugging at his sleeve, urging him to take a seat beside her once more so that they could finish their conversation. “You can’t just leave class!” she exclaimed, incredulously, not wanting him to throw away his entire year because of a simple badge. The Emery she knew didn’t leave class before the assignment was done, he didn’t skip at all. And, because had spoke in an urgent whisper, she replied in kind, her annoyance gone and replaced with vague concern and exhaustion.

“Anyone who doesn’t want you is an idiot,” she said, trying to catch Emery’s eye. “So what if you don’t have the scholarship? I don’t have it either—I mean, I didn’t particularly want the badge, but my family doesn’t exactly have a lot of money either. My mom’s a Healer but spends most of the year doing volunteer work around the world, she rarely gets paid for it. My grandfather doesn’t work anymore but when he did, he was a fisherman. We’re living off a retirement pension and volunteer work so I know what it’s like to be struggling for money even if I don’t have a large family or lots of siblings like you.

“And trust me, I know exactly how hard it is to get into a decent university—I’m applying to Healer school, remember?” she asked, her eyes bright with tears. “I spent all of last year studying for the SATs to please my grandfather even though I don’t want to go to Muggle university. And—anyway, this is all besides the point. There will be other scholarships, other opportunities. Just because some school has their nose shoved so far up the pureblood asses doesn’t mean you’re worthless. You put down all of that feeling into your entrance essay, you’re in, you’re diverse. Schools like that. And, and—you, you’re well, you’re pretty much perfect the way you are. You’re an idiot if you don’t see that, they’re idiots for not seeing that. Please…please don’t be mad.”

She hated herself. She was practically begging him not to leave her, she hadn’t even told him that she liked him and already she didn’t know how to handle his being mad at her. Emery hadn’t been like this in all their years of friendship. It all came back to that badge. In the end, it was still that badge. And then the potion overboiled, because she hadn’t been paying it enough attention, just like their friendship. “Of course,” she said with a sigh, throwing up her hands and feeling completely defeated now. She’d known that their friend group was just too good to be true, the overboiled potion was like a stupid visual representation of how south all the friendships were heading. “Evanesco,” she cast, clearing the cauldron of the now useless potion and she turned back to her potions kit, going to take out two more shrivel figs but finding that some how she only had one left. Where had the others gone? It was only the first class of the year! Perhaps she hadn’t fully or properly stocked her kit?

10 Ava Since when did reality become so negative? 0 Ava 0 5

Emery

December 07, 2015 7:55 PM

When people voted for blood and not merits. by Emery

Emery halted in his spot at Ava’s declaration. She had said it rather loudly and Emery hoped that no one was paying them any attention over their own potions. His green eyes glanced around quickly but he didn’t see anyone really looking in their general direction. Even so, he felt his ears heating up from embarrassment at the idea that they had been loud enough to draw anyone’s attention. There were certain people in this class whom Emery did not want knowing about how he was feeling over the loss of the badge.

Her reaction was a little more than he felt necessary. He was only planning to move to an empty table and start a potion from scratch, not actually leave the class altogether. Emery wanted to graduate with all the necessary requirements in order get into a college. He might not have the badge, but he still planned on going to college, even if it meant that he would have to go part time and work a full time job just to pay for the bills.

To prevent any suspicions from Professor Carter, Emery sank back into his seat while Ava explained how she understood where he was coming from. Emery knew Ava’s history and her family life, but he never really considered her to be one of the struggling. Of course, thinking back on it, he probably should have. He knew her mother was a travel Healer in third world countries, so making money that was minimal. His mother had been a traveling Magizoologist who was part of a small research group that traveled around studying remote creatures. She said the pay had been nonexistent, but they didn’t do that work for the money. He should have realized that Ava would be in the same predicament that he would be, come the end of the year.

Her compliments were making him feel uncomfortable. These feelings weren’t terrible ones, he was flattered and embarrassed, but they were all around pleasant feelings. He just didn’t want to feel them right at that moment and he didn’t know how to respond to Ava telling him that he was prefect. His mom told it to him all the time, but she was his mom and he hardly took her to her actual word. But Ava… that had a completely different feel to it, especially because of his feelings for her.

He watched her while she took care of the ruined potion. He felt a little guilty about it since he was what caused her to lose her focus. Emery took pity on her and pulled his kit from his bag. “Here.” He said, giving her his shrivel figs. He smiled, the first one he had had since the start of the feast the night before. “Are you okay?” He asked. She had seemed rather upset when she ranted at him, he wanted to make sure she was okay.

6 Emery When people voted for blood and not merits. 0 Emery 0 5

Leo Princeton

December 08, 2015 3:05 PM

I could think of a few things I'd like to shrink. by Leo Princeton

Leo could hardly stand his own room-mate for reasons known only to him. When they were in the same room Leo merely nodded at him or made short conversation only when directly addressed. He disliked America and everything about it. The only wizard that Leo could actually tolerate at this horrid school was Isaac Douglas. Though his marks had improved drastically once he’d outgrown his mischievous stage along with the threat of being disowned if he didn’t improve, he didn’t particularly enjoy any class or subject. He’d received decent marks on his CATS, but it wasn’t enough to get him a job in the Ministry or anything of the sort. If he really wanted to, he supposed brewing potions for a living wouldn’t be that bad.

Over the years Leo had learnt how to interact and socialise like a respectable wizard instead of a petulant child. He was sure he’d burnt bridges with his peers here, but attending annual balls and social events had helped increase his social circle. Whilst his brother Cepheus was engaged and faithful to his betrothed, Leo was developing his own charm and had no one really to hold him back. He had a witch mad for him back in Dorset whom he’d met over the summer whilst visiting his brother, and another in Italy whom he’d met during a family visit to see his future sister-in-law.

Neither witch had really captured his heart and he hadn’t expected them to. He wasn’t the romantic sort like Rupert or the duty-fulfiller like Cepheus. Leo had always done whatever he felt like and that hadn’t changed. But there was something dull about sitting in classroom now after travelling a decent amount during the summer and meeting new people.

As he walked down the corridor from the Crotalus common room, he thought about who would be in this class. Nellie would, certainly. He hadn’t really spoken to her since she and Tristan started dating, if that’s what they called it, and he didn’t like it. He didn’t know why or what to call these emotions, but it made him feel like a monster and he didn’t care. Sitting in Potions last year, one of the few courses he’d decided to stick with as an Advanced student, and seeing her face everyday had always put him in a sour mood. He was much better at hiding it than before, but the gloom always seemed to follow him around until she disappeared from his presence.

Leo braced himself as he entered the classroom, but when he saw her sitting there already he became self-conscious again and his eyes lingered as he grew angry – the normal process for him these days. He tried not to look at her, but his head was swimming after an entire summer without her presence. It was annoying, these emotions, when he couldn’t really understand them. Sure, she was pretty, but that didn’t mean he had to blooming think about it all the time. The other witches he knew were just as lovely and much nicer.

Leo slid into his seat and stifled a yawn as Professor Isis welcomed them back. She introduced the potion for today and he flipped lazily to the right page. Shrinking Solution. The instructions seemed simple enough and Leo went about preparing his ingredients, wondering if Nellie was watching him as she once had when they were children. He was too proud to admit he regretted how he treated her, and at the time he’d been disgusted with her constant attention. Now, well, he hated seeing how she treated Tristan with that same admiration.

He glanced over at her as he stirred his juiced Shrivelfigs, not noticing that the more he stared the more irritated he became, and the more irritated he became the faster he stirred. The Shrivelfig juice began to curdle under the medium heat and rapid stirring, but Leo was imagining Nellie and Tristan cuddling together and kissing and the hexes he’d use on them if he caught them in the act. He almost wanted to catch them just to have an excuse to hex the both of them, or at least just Tristan. Maybe if he marred his room-mate’s face Nellie wouldn’t fancy him nearly as much as she seemed to right now.

Someone was saying something to him and Leo had to tear his eyes away. “Sorry, what was that?”

OOC: Mentions of Eleanor approved by her author.

40 Leo Princeton I could think of a few things I'd like to shrink. 263 Leo Princeton 0 5