Professor Lilac Crosby
July 01, 2011 12:37 AM
It... is alive! [Third, fourth, and fifth years!] by Professor Lilac Crosby
It had thus far been a relatively quiet year for Lilac. She wasn’t sure she liked that. This term, she felt almost disconnected with her first year Teppenpaws as she had felt a sudden illness coming on the day of the Opening Feast. Not feeling well, she had consequently asked Pippa Brockert, seventh year prefect, lead them to their common room and deliver the welcoming speech. Even this simple task was very important, and she was glad it was Pippa in whom she invested her trust.So perhaps the first years of her House did not know her as well as some of the older students. Some of that mild quietness was, as she had been the term before, a bit less distraction or whatever it was about her that bothered students. Maybe, however, a little bit of it this year was trying not to embarrass her niece who now attended Sonora. Her antics outside of school never seemed to bother Sally, but it could be different in a formal, professor-student situation.
The class for which Lilac was now preparing was not Sally’s. The third, fourth, and fifth years would soon come piling in for their intermediate Transfiguration lesson. Her straightened hair she pulled back and wrapped into a bun. After her hair was up and formal, she went behind her desk and picked up a few things for the day’s lessons and sat them on the desks of the students. For more surface space, she had pushed two to three desks together.
Not long thereafter, the students began to enter, and the brunette professor tugged at her--very teacher-y--sweater in subtle discomfort, pulling the bottom of it farther down to overlap a good few inches of her pale brown skirt. “As soon as everyone is seated,” said she to those who already were, “we will begin.”
Once all the students found themselves a seat, Lilac stood in the center of the front of the class for the most visibility. “Good day, class,” the twenty-eight year old smiled. “Before you on your desks you see a Muggle form of transportation, a model train. The black oval it sits along is called the track.”
“These trains do not move on their own accord,” continued the professor. “That is where our spell will come in. Allow me to demonstrate.” She stepped over to the train and track on her own desk and aimed her wand. This spell had no accompanying wand movement. As she incanted, the words appeared on the board. “Piertotum locomotor.”
The train began to move in the direction and at the speed her wand circled the track. “This spell brings animation to inanimate objects, allowing the caster to control its movement.” She stopped using her wand as a guide, but the train continued on. “If you have it following your wand precisely, try focusing in your mind on the motion rather than guiding the train itself. If you focus, it will continue to comply.”
Suddenly the train came to a halt. “To end the motion, simply think in your mind about the train sitting still. As we have two or three to a track, please be sure to take turns.” She certainly didn’t want anyone to miss out because their partner was selfish. “Unless there are any questions, you may begin,” concluded Lilac. She would, as usual, be walking around the classroom, in case any questions should arise.
Subthreads: ...I don't think I want sentient toys. by Sara Raines, Pecari with Marcus Williams, Sara
It is? by Ryan O'Malley, Crotalus with Jane Carey, Teppenpaw
It's the middle, the middle of my story by Nic Sawyer, Crotalus with Samantha Hamilton
The important part is, does it hate us? by David Wilkes, Aladren with Autumn Collins, Crotalus
Eeeek! by Kirstenna Melcher,Teppenpaw with Sam Bauer, Crotalus
CLASS CLOSED (nm) by Professor C.
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Professor Lilac Crosby
It... is alive! [Third, fourth, and fifth years!]
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Professor Lilac Crosby
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Kirstenna Melcher,Teppenpaw
August 03, 2011 4:22 AM
Eeeek! by Kirstenna Melcher,Teppenpaw
It was with her usual wariness that Kirstenna entered Transfiguration. She might have been perfectly comfortable riding an elephant or swinging from a trapeze or walking a tightrope, but bad people made her suspicious. And Kirstenna would definitely classify someone who wished to turn students into beetles as a threat to Sonora. Maybe not quite as large a threat as the Imposter but still a pretty large issue.She took a seat, eyeing Professor Crosby suspiciously. Kirstenna had yet to figure out what the woman planned to do with her unholy army of beetles. Maybe she just kept them as pets. Maybe she squashed them. Maybe she sold them as gourmet snacks. Kirstenna had seen a program on television about people eating all sorts of disgusting things.
Those were terrifying thoughts and the thing was, with the threat of the Imposter around, it meant it was easier for the Beetle Lady to be sneaky, as Kirstenna was so busy worrying about the Imposter.
The thing was, nobody else seemed worried or even aware of these threats, except maybe Derry. That made things all the more dangerous. Maybe there was some sort of mass mind control going on to make sure nobody knew until it was too late. Maybe through Imperius or through the food served at Sonora. Only Kirstenna was immune for some reason.
Yes, that had to be it. Sonora's food contained magical potions that prevented the students from seeing the danger that they were in and the Teppenpaw was the one in a million who had an immunity. Derry knew too, because of the stuff with his cousin.
As for the Beetle Lady, well she might not be in on the conspiracy. She was just taking advantage of it. Of the fact that Kirstenna was distracted. The thing was, that was only what they believed. The fourth year was not distracted. She was well aware of both these threats.
But were they aware of her immunity? Kirstenna was almost certain that the Imposter knew Kirstenna was on to her. Because Brian had confronted her. That was why she had boiled Tobar. So Kirstenna would be distracted by being Quidditch captain and right in the line of fire when the Imperiused Aladrens attacked.
Right now, however, the Teppenpaw was in the position to keep an eye on the Beetle Lady. Apparently, today's lesson was about trying to make a train move. Kirstenna had to wonder what nefarious purpose it was for. Possibly some simple object moving lesson, but that would be far too simple for the Beetle Lady. She had to be up to something.
Kirstenna looked from the train to the person she was sharing it with. "You can go first if you want to." She told them.
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Kirstenna Melcher,Teppenpaw
Eeeek!
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Kirstenna Melcher,Teppenpaw
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Sam Bauer, Crotalus
August 03, 2011 7:36 PM
*Cue dramatic thunder and lightning* by Sam Bauer, Crotalus
One time, when Sam was smaller, his mom had taken him to an amusement park while he was on spring break or something and had been a little put out about how a lot of the other kids in his class had been telling (probably grossly exaggerated; he wasn’t exactly from a place where money abounded) stories about what vacations they were going to take. While there, he had ridden a roller coaster. He could still remember that pretty vividly, though he wished he could forget how dizzy and ill he’d felt once he’d gotten off it again.He didn’t usually feel off-balance and nauseous after Transfiguration, but there was a little something about the class that put him in mind of that roller coaster. One day, things might be sitting still, almost, nothing very interesting, a moment to catch his breath, but the next, it was like plunging straight down at full speed and he had no idea how his brain wasn’t going to come out of his ears at any old time. Honestly, he kind of liked that about it, even with the days when he came out feeling as though his brain actually was melting from something well above his IQ bracket. He liked feeling secure, but not totally monotonous, and classes where he wasn’t too sure what he was going to get fell into that range for him since there were certain standards of safety and sanity the professors had to observe.
Today, he wasn’t sure where the roller coaster was. Moving the train with the wand sounded deceptively easy, but moving it without was plunging straight into brain-melting territory. Maybe more from difficulty of execution than from difficulty of understanding what he was supposed to do and what it meant relative to anything, but brain melting nevertheless.
He shook his head slightly as they were told to get to work, glancing up to see who he was to work with and being a little startled to see Kirstenna. He’d…been thinking about her, lately. Right now, though, he blinked that off as something to maybe deal with later and nodded his agreement to going first.
“Sure, whatever,” he said, taking out his wand. “Piertotum locomotor.” The train shuddered, but didn’t move. “Dangit. Piertotum locomotor!”
This time, he squinted at it hard, holding his wand on it longer and willing it to move, and finally, it did. A whole three and a half inches. He sat back with an unconcerned grin, shrugging philosophically. “You want to have a turn?” he asked. “I’ll get it going in a minute, but you might have better luck while I’m warming up on erasers or something.” That last one occurred to him only as he said it, but he bent without looking away from her to rummage in his bag for something small to practice more on.
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Sam Bauer, Crotalus
*Cue dramatic thunder and lightning*
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Sam Bauer, Crotalus
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Kirstenna
August 09, 2011 9:20 AM
And ominous music by Kirstenna
Kirstenna grinned when she realized she was talking to Sam Bauer. She liked Sam and sort of considered him a friend. And as Brian was gone and Sophia seemed more interested in spending time with Renee Errant, the Teppenpaw was feeling kind of alone. Like she needed more friends. Of course, Kirstenna was afraid the Imposter would get them, kidnap or boil them or some new and horrifying thing but she couldn't isolate herself and let fear rule her life. She needed others to hang around.In fact, Kirstenna was worried about her friendship with Sophia. She was afraid they weren't as close as before and it had nothing to do with the Imposter. Unless Renee was an agent of the Imposter. That was entirely possible. She wasn't a Carey or a member of the Aladren Quidditch team but she was a Crotalus and therefore, it was easy for the Imposter to get to her. Either she was a threat on her own or she was Imperiused as well. Or Renee was secretly the Imposter's daughter. Kirstenna was pretty sure the Imposter was old enough to have a thirteen year old.
Or Renee wasn't really Renee either and she was the Imposter's accomplice who was posing as a thirteen year old girl. Either way, Kirstenna was sure the third year was part of the Imposter's schemes one way or another, willingly or not. The Imposter was, of course, the one who wanted to take away all Kirstenna's friends and leave her alone and defenseless. She kidnapped Brian and now she was finding away to take Sophia away too. Why the Imposter did not kidnap or boil the Pecari was beyond Kirstenna.
Possibly because she'd already done that and wanted to try something new. Yes, that was it, Renee was some dark creature who would corrupt Sophia to become something twisted and eventually killing her or at least driving her to insanity.
Quentin would be next, Kirstenna was sure.
She watched as Sam gave the spell a try. Kirstenna was still trying to figure out why exactly they were doing this particular lesson. It didn't seem to have any connection to turning people into beetles. That was the thing about the Beetle Lady, she had one single specific goal in mind. Turning people into beetles. Not like the Imposter who was capable of anything and liked to vary her (or his) methods of torment.
The fourth year wasn't sure which was worse.
"Good job." Kirstenna complimented Sam when he got the train to move. She drew her wand, said the incantation and did the appropriate wand movements. The Teppenpaw could feel Sam's gaze on her and heat rose to her face, for reasons she didn't understand. It didn't feel nefarious of course. She was pretty sure Sam was a good guy.
The train began to move, surprisingly fast and Kirstenna looked back at her classmate. Suddenly, the train shot off the tracks and landed upside down on the floor. "Perhaps I should get that." She got up and grabbed the train, sat back down and placed it back on the track. "Your turn, I guess." She looked back at the train. "If I didn't manage to somehow break it." She felt just slightly embarassed as she looked over at Sam, blushing. Kirstenna really did not want to make a fool of herself in front of him.
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Kirstenna
And ominous music
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Sam
August 10, 2011 11:08 AM
Gotta have some mountains and black cloaks, too. by Sam
Practicing on something other than the intended object wasn’t as straightforward as it sounded, of course. For one thing, there was no track, so his circles were erratic. For another, a semi-live eraser was a little different from a semi-live train. He thought it might be less intelligent.That was what this was, he thought. He had vague memories of reading about it in the textbook while bored one day. It was hotly debated if these things were really alive – chess pieces, defensive statuary in some old, rich places – or had been however many ages ago the book was written, but they could move and interact a little, at least to following directions they were set with. Though maybe those could be more complicated, if it was a strong wizard who knew more than the lot of them, than just “go around in circles.” He wasn’t much of a chess player, but he was guessing there were a lot of potential moves on the board even without the way some of them tried to advise the player on chess strategy, and defensive ones would have to be able to account for what the other guy was doing and know the moves to deal with that, so….
Yeah. Bunch of stuff that was over his head, but it seemed to make a level of sense that the more complex the thing the spell made the other thing ape was, the harder it got. A train had parts that moved, so it was smarter than the eraser, which was easier to get moving but which there was no point in animating. Making something that looked like a person, like a chess piece or a fighting suit of armor, would therefore be harder than making the train go, because people were more complicated than trains. Or something like that. He’d never really planned to study magical theory for a living.
He was startled out of these unusual thoughts by a sudden clatter, and he jumped and looked around for a second before realizing Kirstenna had, he hoped inadvertently, sent the train airborne. “Maybe,” he agreed when she said she should maybe get that, then laughed when she added the part about how it was only his turn if she hadn’t broken it. “It looks fine,” he said, though he didn’t know if he really had the authority to say so. What did he know about trains and how they were supposed to look? It had a lot of wheels and boxes to it. “At least you got it going, right?” He pointed his wand at it, wondering if his insights were going to help or hurt, and tried the spell again.
This time, it moved. A little jerkily, true, but it moved almost all the way ‘round before it slowed down to the point where he gave it up and let it stop. “Now on to the hard part,” he said. “Your turn.” He started concentrating on his eraser. It didn’t move. “So, what do you think of all this theme stuff the headmaster’s talking about for this year?” he asked, hoping to put off having to try wandless magic a few seconds longer. If he couldn’t get the eraser going easily, the train was not going to be a successful experiment at all. Plus, he really did wonder what other people thought about it. It seemed kind of weird to him, and he was kind of annoyed by the ball theme. No way was he’d be able to acquire Renaissance outfits for it, so he expected to end up looking kinda idiotic.
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Sam
Gotta have some mountains and black cloaks, too.
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Sam
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Kirstenna
August 19, 2011 2:11 PM
And maybe some mysterious fog and dark shadows. by Kirstenna
Kirstenna grinned. She rarely took herself too seriously, so propelling the train of the track wasn't a big deal. Especially as Sam was laughing as well and it didn't seem to be at her. She liked making people laugh, making them happy.That was the Teppenpaw's problem with certain people. Her grandparents and uncle seemed to have absolutely no sense of humor for one thing. Their rejection tended to make Kirstenna sad until she had let it go, cleansed herself of it at last year's bonfire. Though the fourth year wasn't sure how well it worked. She'd had nothing of them, nothing to represent them. They didn't give Kirstenna gifts, and if they ever had given her anything, that would have meant they cared a little at least and there wouldn't been any sort of problem. So Kirstenna had simply made a vow to herself not to dwell on it.
She also could have let go of what had happened to Brian but how could she? He'd been her friend and the Imposter had taken him away. Kirstenna didn't know if he was alive or dead. The Imposter needed to be stopped for the good of everyone. She (or he) had so far killed the real Jannette Wolfe,stolen her identity, kidnapped Brian, poisoned Headmistress Powell, killed the real Amelia Pierce (who had been evil too), stolen her identity, Imperiused the Aladren Quidditch team, boiled Tobar alive and unleashed a dark creature in the form of Renee Errant upon the school. The Imposter needed to be stopped before she (or he) could do anything else! Kirstenna couldn't let that go, she never would!
The Teppenpaw smiled, relieved. "Right." Breaking the train would have been a very bad thing. The Beetle Lady might have gotten angry with Kirstenna and turned her into a beetle. And she'd made it move as well, so it wasn't as if it did nothing at all, so that was good.
"Good job!" Kirstenna exclaimed as Sam managed to make the train move almost all the way around the track. She drew her wand and did the movements and said the incantation once again when her classmate told her it was her turn. This time the train moved halfway around the track jerkily but at least it didn't become airborne again.
"Hmm..." The fourth year considered Sam's question. "It might be fun but I'm not sure where we'd get old clothing. The town of Tumbleweed is nearby. Maybe we'll be allowed to go there and get costumes. And I'm sure the wealthy pureblood children will get fancy custom made costumes from home too. I mean, I have custom made costumes as well, but those are more for circus performances and are definitely not what people wore in the sixteenth century." Her circus clothing was easy to tumble in and very colorful. People in the sixteenth century wore a lot of fancy, impractical stuff that would get in the way for trapeze acts. Plus, people from that time period would have been shocked at how much skin trapeze artists showed.
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Kirstenna
And maybe some mysterious fog and dark shadows.
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Kirstenna
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Sam
August 25, 2011 6:27 PM
Definitely. by Sam
OOC: So, class is closed and midterm is over, but since this is one of the few threads I actually meant to go somewhere with...Here it is, for social purposes rather than points ones. BIC:“Yeah,” Sam agreed to Kirstenna’s evaluation that what she wore to perform in the circus probably wasn’t what would have been considered appropriate. He had a vague notion of court jesters, and knew it was only a vague one, but their costumes still didn’t sound very likely to be what Kirstenna would wear to perform in a modern circus.
That was something he couldn’t quite get his head around. He had an idea of the circus, enough to know that he didn’t get the point of clowns and that the acrobatics were really impressive, but it was another thing entirely to have the idea of a pretty girl he happened to know being in one. He’d gathered that Kirstenna’s family was a bit…odd (as though it had possessed another option when her some-kinda-relative Quentin was in it), but a fourteen-year-old girl performing in the circus? He guessed it would make all the gymnastics easier, since people did the Olympics in that when they were really young, but….
He guessed it was because it was work. His mom would have to get a sight poorer than they actually were one way or another before she’d have him working during the summers right now. Maybe in a year or two, but not now. Maybe Kirstenna’s family didn’t see it that way, though. He had a vague notion that circuses could also be family affairs.
“You’re still doing better than me, though,” he offered. “I don’t think I even own regular store-bought dress robes.” He smiled at her and decided, hey, why not. “Want to be the anti-theme couple there?” he offered.
Then his brain caught up, and he realized he’d just kind of asked her out. Oh. Well, then. Maybe she’d think it was a joke. Yeah. That could work, he thought.
Still, though. The things he’d do to get out of taking his turn in a hard lesson. He thought he might need to re-evaluate his priorities if asking a pretty, accomplished – well, she was Quidditch Captain, and he wasn’t even Assistant yet, if he ever would be anyway – girl if she’d go out, even on one occasion, with, er, a guy who was probably shorter than her was easier than just going ahead and trying to move stuff with his brain. That, he was sure, was not remotely one little bit normal. Not the remotest or littlest bit, even, maybe.
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Sam
Definitely.
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Kirstenna
August 27, 2011 2:00 AM
And a particularly evil villain watching our every move. by Kirstenna
She knew it was a bit different to be part of the circus and when one considered what was known in pureblood society about the Melcher family, conventional serious intellectual beings, it seemed even more bizzare for Kirstenna to take part in the greatest show on Earth.But her father at a young age had snuck away to see the circus perform and fallen in love with it, so much that he had decided to join it upon his graduation from Sonora. Her grandparents had not approved. They still didn't.Never would.
Honestly, what had they expected her father to do though? He was a second son, Uncle Warren would be the one inheriting the school their family had run for generations. Her father had to do something . Her grandparents wouldn't have approved of him just being idle rich. It was just that they didn't approve of what he'd chosen to do instead either.
And, of course,her mother's family had been with the same circus since it was created. Her entire maternal family performed in one capacity or another, except her uncle who was paralyzed in an accident but he worked taking tickets still.
Kirstenna couldn't imagine her life without it. It was in her blood, just like magic was.
Her mouth opened when she realized what Sam had just asked and she blushed slightly. "That sounds great!" The Teppenpaw exclaimed excitedly. "So how do we want to be anti-theme?" Kirstenna asked. She was so happy, Sam had just asked her to the ball. "Dress completely modern? Or even futuristic?" Either way would be super fun.
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Kirstenna
And a particularly evil villain watching our every move.
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Kirstenna
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Sam
August 27, 2011 1:58 PM
From a dark tower, or it doesn't count. by Sam
…And he’d been taken seriously. Okay, then. He could go along with that. It was all good.The idea of futuristic, though, just going completely the other way from the theme instead of just staying with their own normal dress clothes, made him laugh. “I can just see the look on Regal’s face if Captain Kirk showed up with Princess Leia,” he said, naming offhand an old Halloween costume he had at home and ignoring Kirstenna’s hair color. Considering his appearance, there was no reason why Leia couldn’t be blonde if she wanted to. A society advanced enough to come up with gigantic space stations surely had something that could be used for effective hair dye, even if the Force wasn’t enough like magic to just Transfigure it.
Actually, though, he had no idea what kind of look would be on the Headmaster’s face. He might be really amused, really surprised, or really ready to stick on a Darth Vader helmet and react in character to their impudence. He’d seemed, on the feast occasions Sam had really noticed him at all, like a cheery enough kinda guy, but there were probably limits to that. If he was really into his history project…eh.
“’Course, I guess part of it’s what we can come up with over midterm,” he said, then realized that wasn’t completely clear. “I mean, like – what kind of clothes we can actually get our hands on.” It felt a little awkward to implicitly acknowledge that his mom had no money, but he shrugged it off. He figured most of the Intermediate class had noticed enough of a difference between how he dressed and how his cousins dressed that, with the fact that Rachel was very blonde, they had concluded that some of the school’s Bauer population wasn’t related.
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Sam
From a dark tower, or it doesn't count.
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