I am a good person on Transfiguration

DH Skies

February 10, 2018 11:25 PM

Intermediates - what kind of flower is under your nose? by DH Skies

“Good morning,” Selina greeted the intermediates. She always found the intermediates vaguely stressful… They’d got over their newness and shyness, which meant some of them were getting complacent or cocky - that was, if they weren’t too busy lusting after each other (she was convinced fourth year homework was consistently the worst in the school - they were over having moved up to the big, scary intermediates and did not yet have CATS to worry about so were usually rather bored, plus they were full of hormones that meant they were constantly distracted from the work). They set things on fire less than the beginners, which was a positive, but that was always less of a risk in her class than others anyway. Beginners mostly just didn’t get anywhere if they bad at her subject. And, unlike the advanced class, none of them had chosen to be here. She supposed she could be thankful that she and Kyte Collindale no longer had to see each other, outside of academic support - a feeling that she was sure was more than mutual - but she now had a miserable and angry half-veela around all the most hormonal members of the school. She thought, if given the choice, she might trade Kyte’s complete incompetence and inability to focus and go through all that again if it meant she didn’t have to deal with Cleo. Unfortunately, the universe seemed unwilling to offer any such bargain, and so here they all were.

They were through their first lesson back, and had been introduced to the syllabus and the topics that they would cover this year. There was a lot of animate transfiguration on the syllabus, and they’d already begun to work through some theories on that. They would continue to look at those throughout the term as they progressed from plant life up to working on animal transfigurations. For their homework, they had been asked to read a chapter on defining and creating lifeforce, which offered several explanations, from the Muggle scientific MRS GREN characteristics, to the Chinese lifeforce of qi. The purpose was for them to find a definition that resonated with them, and that would hopefully make it easier to carry that ineffable quality over into their spellcasting.

“We have a practical class today,” she informed them. “You’re going to be applying what you read for homework, so hopefully one of the definitions resonated with you. You will be attempting to make tulips. In general, the spell for creating plants is their Latin name, although the verb elicio meaning to call forth can often be added. So, in this case, we need elicio tulipa with a soft flowing wand movement - think of the shape of a tulip flower.

“Third years, you will be working with plastic tulips. You don’t need to worry about form, just about function - life force. Fourth years, you’ve got wooden sticks. Fifth years, you’ve got plastic ones,” she explained, waving her wand as she described each, sending the appropriate material from her desk to land in front of the students in the given year group. Even though they were all aiming for the same result, the varying starting materials hopefully presented enough of a challenge, although she wouldn’t be surprised if some of the more capable fifth years could get it more or less straight off. “If it’s too easy for you, either move up a level or, if you’re already working with the stick, try to expand it. Give me a fully planted tulip with a root system in a pot not just a cut flower. If that’s too easy, make the pot beautiful. There’s always room to stretch yourselves,” she reminded them.

“You may talk quietly with your neighbours, and if you have any questions, ask an older student or call me over. You may begin.”

OOC - posts will be marked on length, relevance, creativity and realism. If you have any issues, please tag me in the subject line. Credit for the ‘elicio’ part of the incantation goes to Joe Umland’s author.

Subthreads:

I’m sorry. It was an accident. by Jozua Sparks, Teppenpaw with Professor Skies, Georgia Kirkly, Teppenpaw

Professor Skies – your hair! by Lily Spencer, Pecari with Professor Skies

What is happening in this class? by Isaac Song, Pecari

I am a good person by Winston Pierce, Crotalus with Emerald Brockert,Aladren

13 DH Skies Intermediates - what kind of flower is under your nose? 26 DH Skies 1 5

Jozua Sparks, Teppenpaw

February 13, 2018 11:47 AM

I’m sorry. It was an accident. by Jozua Sparks, Teppenpaw

Jozua had skipped out of his first transfiguration class of the year. It had come too soon after The Charms Disaster, and he had decided it was probably safest for everyone if he just didn’t go. It was the first day back, after all, how much were they really likely to cover anyway? He’d gotten the homework from Finn and owled Professor Skies to give his excuses and ask for the syllabus so he felt he was no worse off today than if he’d gone.

Still, he was sitting in the back, avoiding eye contact, and trying to keep his head down after his spectacular display yesterday. So far he had managed to avoid further scenes today and he hoped that continued through the rest of the day, and ideally through the rest of his life, but he doubted he was that lucky.

At least Transfiguration could always be counted on to be engaging and challenging. He was pretty sure he’d made flowers before from something inanimate but as Professor Skies said, it could always be made more complex. And Jozua had only rarely worked ahead of his grade level so tulips from a plastic rod was new, too.

He didn’t write out a transfiguration table; he was a fifth year and that seemed a bit rudimentary to him now, but he considered what he wanted his final product to look like, and mentally noted the changes necessary to reach it. He was going to challenge himself. Make a full potted plant with roots and dirt and everything. He didn’t expect it to work on the first try; the whole point of his ambitious goal was so he could keep working on his assignment for a long time and have a reasonable excuse for not engaging in too much small talk with his neighbors.

“Elicio tulipa,” he cast and frowned in irritation at the plastic stick that was still sitting, completely unchanged, on his desk in front of him. He hadn’t expected it to be perfect, but he had expected something to happen. He might not be the world’s greatest transfiguration student, but he consistently pulled Es. And he was a fifth year. This was hardly his first plant rodeo. Something should have happened.

“Elicio tulipa!” he cast again, snapping his wand too fast and large, throwing too much anger into the casting.

His wand reacted the way it always did when he moved it too grandly. The anger and frustration made it worse. Fire spilled out, uncontrolled and unintentional for once, and Jozua jumped back, toppling his chair over backwards and letting out a startled cry. But as fast as the flames came, they were gone just as quickly as accidental magic rushed from him again, the second time in as many days, but this time at least being useful and quenching the fire before it could do more than scorch the plastic rod and his desk a little bit.

He stood still where he had startled to and stared in horror at the scorched black spots where he had been sitting. That had been an explosive burst. That could have really hurt someone if it hadn’t been put down so quickly. He felt the blood drain from his face and his hands start shaking. He unsteadily tucked his wand away into its sleeve holster, deciding he wasn’t fit to be using it right now.

He turned his head to meet the eyes of the Professor. “I’m sorry,” he said softly. “It was an accident.” And for the first time since first year, it was true.

1 Jozua Sparks, Teppenpaw I’m sorry. It was an accident. 348 Jozua Sparks, Teppenpaw 0 5

Professor Skies

February 14, 2018 10:00 PM

Was it now? by Professor Skies

Selina had remained blissfully ignorant of Jozua’s pyrotechnic display in Charms. It being a magical school, such occurrences were not unheard of, especially from him, and if the staff had had to report every scorch or scratch to her, she would have been inundated. Short of someone losing a limb or a classroom being burnt down, the incidents of the day did not reach her, unless she happened to have a casual ‘how was your day?’ type conversation with the staff member in question. She had decided that the staff had probably seen rather enough of her and been willing to both give them some space and take some for herself.

She didn’t notice Jozua’s mood - teenage boys sitting in the back row with their heads down weren’t exactly unusual. The first thing she noticed was the huge flash of fire, followed by him quickly putting it out.

I’m sorry. It was an accident.

On the one hand, Jozua did seem genuinely startled. And he’d also put the fire out straight away. But what Daniel had said to her during their conversation at the start of term nagged at the back of her mind… He might have meant to do something less serious, and put it out when he realised his little practical joke had got out of hand. And if Daniel was right that Jozua kept doing this kind of thing on purpose, he’d probably be quite good at seeming sincerely sorry about it by now. Her eyes flicked down the row he was sitting in. She couldn’t help but notice, Cleo, who seemed to have adopted the back corner. She wasn’t exactly radiating anything except misery but who really knew? And there were two other students between her and Jozua, but both were female.

“I should hope so,” she replied evenly, deciding that it was best to remain neutral. Not blaming Jozua for something that might not be entirely his fault, but not saying anything that would have him thinking he’d got away with it if there was a guilty little conscience in there that knew something she didn’t.

“I’d like to point out you are sitting next to a prefect,” she added. A prefect who wasn’t his best friend and co-conspirator. “If anything funny seems to be going on, I trust you’ll let me know about it,” she added to the girl next to Jozua. She repaired the scorch marks with a wave of her wand, and left them to it, though she would be keeping an eye on them for the rest of the lesson.

13 Professor Skies Was it now? 26 Professor Skies 0 5

Georgia Kirkly, Teppenpaw

February 14, 2018 10:30 PM

Oh geez, thank you very much by Georgia Kirkly, Teppenpaw

Georgia knew it wasn’t very prefectly to sit in the back row. She was supposed to be all responsible, keen bean, example to the rest now. But there were some days where the anonymity of the back row was appealing. Days where you felt your butt looked extra big, or your hair was doing that thing, and you just wanted to be able to rule out there being anyone giggling behind you because it was hard enough sometimes to concentrate on class without worrying that the people behind were looking at you and laughing. Today was a big butt day. She could never decide whether the school robes were her friend, in that they were kind of shape disguising, or her sworn enemy in that being made to look like a massive shapeless blob helped no one. The first few days of term had her yo-yoing between these opinions until she just stopped noticing so much, and it just became normal again to see herself in them.

She reluctantly took a seat next to Jozua. Him spraying Lily with sparks hadn’t gone unnoticed, but it was the only back row seat left, and - as Lily had seemed fine afterwards - she thought she’d take someone who might shock her over feeling like she was being eyed and found wanting by everyone in the class. She was pondering her tulip, when Jozua took up his wand, and - Georgia leapt back with a ‘yeeshk!’ as he sprayed the desk with both fire and water in quick succession.

And then Professor Skies was there, and Georgia was literally head down minding her own business and trying to pretend the person next to her wasn’t getting a grilling, or at least something less than absolute trust and sympathy, because if it had been her on the receiving end of Skies’ unimpressed face, the last thing she’d have wanted was anyone in the room to acknowledge that it was happening, but then Skies had the nerve to go and drag her into it. What the hell? First off, what was she supposed to do? She had no idea how to stop Jozua setting fire to things or tell if it was on purpose or not. And then, she was being asked to nark on a classmate. Were teachers so oblivious? Did they not remember their own school days, or were all the people who went on to become teachers people who hadn’t hated school and found the whole thing totally awkward? Way to foster fun and friendly relations with her classmates.

“Being prefect just keeps getting better and better,” she mumbled once she was sure Skies was out of earshot. She eyed Jozua nervously. “What’s up with you?” she asked.

13 Georgia Kirkly, Teppenpaw Oh geez, thank you very much 346 Georgia Kirkly, Teppenpaw 0 5

Jozua

February 15, 2018 11:43 AM

A Danger to Himself and Others by Jozua

Getting dressed down for fire related infractions was old hat for Jozua, but it was somewhat easier to look miserable and contrite when it really was an accident. He’d been hold his wand, even if it hadn’t been used it for the dousing, when the water poured down, so it probably looked like he had done that part on purpose at least. It was different from the sparks of yesterday, when he had clearly been out of control. Sure, the fire hadn’t been intentional, and hopefully nobody thought it had been (though he thought he might be detecting a bit of doubt on that point from Professor Skies now; he guessed fifth year was probably getting too old to get away with it much longer) but that was a thing that his wand just did. It had always been like that. The wand maker had warned it had a volatile combination of wood and core. Nobody was going to think any less of him for the fire than they did already. So it was all good and well concealed, but Jozua was still concerned.

That water hadn’t been a conscious reaction. It hadn’t gone through his wand. It was a good thing it had happened, he would never dispute that, but it hadn’t been controlled even less than the fire had been. What in bloody Merlin’s name was going on with his magic this year?

It was a question that was echoed out loud by Georgia Kirkly, who Skies had been very blatant in reminding him was a prefect sitting one desk over. That didn’t really bother him at all. First of all, if the teachers, even Professor Nash, couldn’t tell for sure what he was doing on purpose and what was an honest mistake, he doubted someone his own age could. Secondly, he didn’t intend to make any more trouble today or even this month in any case. He had made enough scenes already this year and his magic was acting much too weirdly to trust with that kind of intricate tomfoolery.

In answer to Georgia’s question, he just groaned and shook his head. “I don’t know. I mean, my wand and fire has always been a thing, if I get irritated and swish it too wildly, but that was a lot of fire, even for me. And yesterday,” he shook his head again, not sure how to explain that and knowing that needed the explanation more. “I don’t know. My magic control seems shot for some reason,” he admitted in frustration.

He set his chair back upright and sat down into it, frowning at his plastic stick but making no move to draw his wand again. “Don’t worry, you won’t need to tattle on me. The only bad thing I intend to do for the rest of class is refuse to do the lesson, and she’ll be able to see that for herself well enough. But I really don’t trust my wand or my magic at all right now, and I don’t want to burn down the school by mistake. My grandad literally blew up our house last summer, so that’s actually a thing that happens in my family.” He opted not to mention that he lived in a Phoenix House, which was a bit more flammable than most, or that his grandad was an inventor who enjoyed pushing the limits of fire magic, because those details weakened his point, which was that he really wasn’t blowing this whole thing out of proportion.

1 Jozua A Danger to Himself and Others 348 Jozua 0 5

Georgia

February 16, 2018 8:26 AM

Yeah, I'm getting that vibe by Georgia

“Wow. That’s incredibly unreassuring,” Georgia deadpanned, when Jozua basically said he was wildly out of control and had no explanation. “And… kinda sucky. Hope it gets better,” she added, feeling she should offer some sympathy, even though her main emotion was freaking the hell out.

She blinked as Jozua said… a lot of things. That he was prone to fire (which she kind of knew). That he was going to flat out refuse to participate (which was bound to become her problem too as soon as Skies noticed, which she wasn’t looking forward to but she could also see the merit in not being on fire). And that his house had got blown up.

“Crap. That’s…. Jesus,” casual swearing seemed about the most articulate way she was going to be able to react to that news. So had he been like… homeless then? Or could his family just magic it all better? She was curious but decided that now was not really the time to ask. Jozua looked sort of pissed off about everything, and apparently he himself had no idea what might set him off like a firework again. Or just cause him to set things on fire.

“You’re kinda scary,” she decided. “And by the way, I wouldn’t. Tattle, I mean,” should she have said that? If he was doing it on purpose, he’d now feel like he could get away with it in front of her. But from how he was reacting, he either really had no idea what was happening or deserved an Oscar.

She turned to her own project, trying to focus. At least if Professor Skies came to yell at Jozua again, she might have something to show, which would hopefully excuse her over not galvanising the stubborn boy beside her to work. The first thing was to focus. Which was easier said than done. But probably easier than if Jozua had actually been swishing his wand about.

“Elicio Tulipa,” she cast. The plastic rod rippled and went green and… bumpy. It was a fairly horrific start. She blamed him entirely.

13 Georgia Yeah, I'm getting that vibe 346 Georgia 0 5

Lily Spencer, Pecari

February 17, 2018 3:06 AM

Professor Skies – your hair! by Lily Spencer, Pecari

If Lily had been more academic, she would’ve searched the library for any answers to her best mate’s predicament. She might’ve asked professors or older classmates instead, but the incident was quickly forgotten by the next day. Instead, she thought about the ball and their ‘date’ and the consequences of her somewhat impulsive decision. It wasn’t impulsive, really, but there wasn’t a better word to explain the revelation she’d had right in that moment that she now regretted a tiny bit. Regret wasn’t the right word either, but lately Lily had been at a loss for words to explain her thoughts towards Jozua.

She just told herself it’d all sort itself out, and she stuck firmly to those words to give her an excuse not to think too hard about it. If possible.

Lily was beginning to find these courses easier, much easier than they’d been during her third year. That was a good sign; it meant all the studying she’d loathed doing was paying off. The bad bit was that she’d have to continue doing it to keep up for another two years or so. This last chapter had been an absolute horror to get through. She really cared very little about life forces and scientific terms in different cultures. The only thing she remembered from her skimming was the Chinese term qi, which was more interesting only because it was foreign and she’d practised saying the word many, many times whilst she read.

After Professor Skies told them their homework was going to be used during their lesson, Lily felt confident as she ran through the terms in her mind. She plucked her plastic stick out of the air and imagined – with a flick of her wrist – transfiguring it into a live tulip like fake magicians did. Muggles were so silly with their illusions of magic. Real magic was hard work and they had no idea.

Before Lily could even begin, Jozua seemed to attract everyone’s attention by lighting an enormous flame and then putting it out just as suddenly. She stared, gob smacked, her jaw hanging open. She was very glad she wasn’t Georgia right now, sitting there. Those sparks in Charms were nothing compared to that. There was something very odd going on, but if Jozua’s explanation was to be believed – that anxiety ignited accidental magic during puberty – then she really didn’t have anything to worry about. It just matched Jozua’s background that he’d be prone to more dramatic episodes than anyone else.

She listened intently to the talking to Jozua was receiving from Professor Skies, and Lily immediately felt upset by it. It’d been rough the way Professor Wright had practically ordered Jozua out of Charms class, but at least they’d had their chat out in the corridor. Here, Professor Skies was doing it in front of everyone, and it was obvious most everyone was going to watch. Then she brought Georgia into the conversation and that just wasn’t fair. Didn’t she know that anxious adolescents had bouts of accidental magic? Clearly, he hadn’t done it on purpose – though his track record to date wasn’t very good, actually – but why did she have to bring a prefect into it as if her position as Deputy Head wasn’t enough? Adults were always throwing authority into their faces, and of all of them, Lily had never really liked Skies because of how strict she was. Also, because she reminded her so much of her mother. Since there was nothing else she could do about it, Lily rolled her eyes at her whilst Skies’s back was turned and returned to her tulip. But she quickly did a double-take and her mouth dropped open for a second time.

In a split second, Professor Skies’s hair had gone completely pink. Tulip pink.

Lily tried, but she couldn’t hold it in. She burst out laughing, wondering what genius had the audacity to aim a colour-changing charm at their professor during class. It was either brilliant or idiotic, she couldn’t decide which.

40 Lily Spencer, Pecari Professor Skies – your hair! 357 Lily Spencer, Pecari 0 5

Isaac Song, Pecari

February 17, 2018 9:29 PM

What is happening in this class? by Isaac Song, Pecari

Things were fun in Intermediate classes this year. Now Isaac was in the middle year and performed magic that was a lot more interesting, but not as hard as the fifth-years. If he wanted to challenge himself, he could always do what the older kids did, but most of the time his grade-level work was enough in this class. Other classes, like Charms, were a breeze and he liked those a little bit more cause he was good at them.

Isaac sat by someone he knew and greeted them as he took out of his pen and paper to take notes. He prided himself on being pretty organized even with his note-taking skills. Living with many really neat women did that to a person.

"Wasn't it crazy what happened in Charms yesterday?" he said to them before class started. "At least nobody got hurt." Isaac kind of wanted to see something happen in today's class too, to see if that guy Jozua Sparks would prank the class or do something crazy again. It couldn't be accidental cause he was so much older and supposed to be better, and Isaac hadn't had seen anything like that happen since before school when he and his magical friends hadn't known how to control their magic.

Transfiguring sticks to live tulips would definitely earn him brownie points with his family on Valentine's Day and their birthdays. His mom and Lauren loved flowers and Isaac could save a lot of money making bouquets this way instead of buying them at the store every year. As the only boy in his house, he had a lot of responsibility during that lame holiday.

After reading about life forces, Isaac didn't really know which explanation stuck out to him the most. It was good to get a feel for all of them, but he hoped just using the scientific way helped him perform the spell even though he was applying it to magical principles. "Do you think wooden sticks still have life in them?" he asked his classmate. "Probably not, huh."

Isaac heard the sound before he saw it, and he looked up just in time to see Jozua Sparks putting out a crazy fire. "Whoaaa," he said, his dark eyes wide in shock. "That was insane! I didn't see where the fire came from. Do you think he meant to do that?" he asked his classmate, still registering what had just happened.

19 Isaac Song, Pecari What is happening in this class? 375 Isaac Song, Pecari 0 5

Professor Skies

February 18, 2018 11:29 PM

Act. Your. Age. by Professor Skies

She had just finishing dealing with Jozua Sparks when there was an uproar of laughter. The timing, and volume of laughter, didn’t suggest it was to do with seeing a classmate getting a dressing down, which would at best raise a smirk and a giggle. And, when she turned to see who was causing the commotion, she found it was Lily, who was very unlikely to be laughing at her best friend. Unless she was laughing because she knew Jozua was doing it on purpose…

“And what exactly is so funny, Ms. Spencer?” she asked. Selina’s mid-length blonde hair was always tied back into a ponytail during classes, meaning that she currently couldn’t see it. “Whatever it is, I really expect a prefect to set a better example,” she glared. Of course, Lily had rather earnt her status as prefect by default, being the only member of her house and year. The only time such candidates were skipped over were if they were deemed extremely unsuitable. Lily was certainly flighty and immature, but she had been deemed capable of the basic minimum skills needed to be a prefect, although Selina had to say she was currently doubting that.

She happened to glance up at that point, and caught sight of her own reflection. Really! This was getting ridiculous. A quick ‘finite’ had her back to its usual blonde but did nothing to reduce her mounting irritation with the intermediate class.

“Right, everyone,” she called, getting their attention, “Enough is enough. You are intermediates, now behave like it. I don’t want to hear any more ‘it was an accident.’ You are all old enough to control your magic, and that excuse is not going to fly. If anything else happens in this class, you will receive a group detention. Maybe that will motivate you all to work out who the trouble makers are, and then they might not seem so cool and so funny anymore," she knew it was pointless to test their wands - whoever had coloured her hair, if they had any sense, would have immediately done the class spell afterwards so that they couldn't be caught out by priori incantatem. "Now, get on with your assignments.”

13 Professor Skies Act. Your. Age. 26 Professor Skies 0 5

Winston Pierce, Crotalus

February 21, 2018 12:19 PM

I am a good person by Winston Pierce, Crotalus

Winston wasn’t sure what was going on this year, but he blamed Jozua Sparks for it. He’d been the center of both the Charms episode and now the Transfiguration episode. One would think a guy who runs a dueling club would have a bit more self-discipline.

And then someone had the gall to color the professor’s hair pink, which resulted in all if them getting threatened with detention! Winston scowled around at the Pecaris and Teppenpaws nearby, figuring it was unlikely a Crotalus would do such a thing to their own Head of House, and most Aladrens seemed too study-happy to show such disrespect to a teacher.

In an effort to prove he was above such childishness and had the maturity well beyond what some of the fifth years were displaying this year, Winston turned back to his assignment in a somewhat pointed fashion that was meant to convey, ‘See me working? I am a good person. Unlike some of you lot.’

Admittedly, making a tulip wasn’t really an assignment he could really set to with very much passion and gumption, but he did his best to rally them anyway, to make a point. He was going to make the very best tulip Professor Skies could imagine. Well, the very best one Winston could imagine, he supposed, the limits of transfiguration being what they were. His final product would have far more in common with his own imagination than anyone else’s.

Still, he set to with great purpose and diligence, determined to get a good mark despite the professor’s obvious and perfectly understandable sour mood. He had taken a wooden stick, as the fourth years had been instructed to do, and while he doubted he could quite pull off a potted tulip with roots and everything, he did have what he thought was a good idea for expanding upon the given assignment.

After a few tries, he had it. A single tulip, wrapped in florist paper, with a little water tube on the end so it didn’t dry out and die too quickly. He wrote a little note note and tucked it inside, placing it so the words could still be read, “For Professor Skies, who is a wonderful teacher.”

It was perhaps unfortunate that the color of the tulip was the exact same shade of pink that someone had used to to color the teacher’s hair, but that had been an unconscious choice based on having just seen it, and Winston himself did not make the connection. He just thought it was a pretty color girls and women would like.

1 Winston Pierce, Crotalus I am a good person 370 Winston Pierce, Crotalus 0 5

Emerald Brockert,Aladren

February 22, 2018 12:36 PM

Good for you. by Emerald Brockert,Aladren

This was the last year that Emerald would be able to get away from Topaz for the majority of the year. Next year, the little monster would be attending her first year at Sonora and she'd probably be in Aladren too. Ugh. So much ugh.

At least they would never be in the same classes. Emerald took a seat in Transfig and waited for the class to begin. Like a lot of Brockerts, this was one of her favorite classes. Actually, she really liked all her classes. Learning was one of the best things about Sonora and one that would still be here next term when she'd no longer have the other best thing.

Professor Skies began the lesson and Emerald received her wooden stick. Last year, she'd completely mastered the plastic tulip and didn't expect to have too much trouble with this either. She would start out easy though, with a solid color tulip. Emerald wasn't inclined towards flashy displays in the first place, nothing wacky. She was going to pick a color for her tulip that was actually found in nature.

She was trying to decide between red and yellow when a commotion arose. Emerald rolled her eyes. Jozua Sparks was always creating a commotion with what seemed to be gross incompetence. Of course, his incompetence wasn't as gross as his taste in friends.

And for Emerald, judging the fifth year as incompetent was actually being nicer than the alternative, which was that he was being disruptive on purpose.

Her attention was diverted further when Professor Skies hair went pink. She was pretty sure what had happened. Lily Spencer had either persuaded Jozua to create a diversion or taken advantage of him being generally incompetent to throw a color changing charm towards the professor's hair. The Pecari had given it away with her laughing. It would figure that Lily was the sort who thought she was just so super funny and clever that she'd laugh at her own tricks. Even though she was literally the dumbest person Emerald had ever met. Which made the Aladren inclined to believe that there wasn't a plan. Which was a crappy way to treat a friend really as you shouldn't take advantage of someone's faults that way especially someone you supposedly cared about. How very Topaz of Lily.

Which figured. Along with being the dumbest, Lily was also the most disrespectful person she knew. The fifth year clearly thought she was entitled to do whatever she wanted for reasons Emerald couldn't fathom. She didn't think it had to do with how the girl was raised or her blood status since there were other purebloods who were perfectly respectful people, including Emerald herself and Lily's brother had been in Owen's class and as far as she gathered from her cousin, didn't act this way.

Then there was the fact that she was a prefect! Okay, yes, it was by default-Emerald assumed that was the whole reason because she couldn't imagine anyone less suited for the position, except maybe Topaz as Topaz with any sort of power was a disaster waiting to happen-but still, one would think that being given such a responsibility would make someone more inclined to behave in mature fashion.

And now they were being threatened with a detention because of her (and possibly Jozua). Emerald resisted the urge to glare at Lily. After all, as someone from a big family, she recognized attention seeking behavior when she saw it and she wasn't about to give the older girl the satisfaction.

"This is ridiculous" Emerald muttered, louder than she intented but just loud enough for Winston Pierce to hear next to her.

11 Emerald Brockert,Aladren Good for you. 358 Emerald Brockert,Aladren 0 5

Jozua Sparks

February 22, 2018 2:57 PM

I am kinda scary by Jozua Sparks

“No kidding,” Jozua muttered when Georgia told him he was not reassuring her. At least she seemed to understand that he couldn’t do the lesson after that . . . whatever that was. “Thanks,” he added when she wished him luck in sorting it all out.

He couldn’t help a quiet bitter laugh when she informed him he was a bit scary. Yeah. That was him. Jozua Sparks, the spitting image of Grandad when he was a boy and just as hazardous. He’d hoped coming to Sonora where Grandad was unknown, and where he just looked like any other unathletic round faced kid, would divorce him from associations of mass destruction, and being sorted to Teppenpaw had helped with that for awhile, but he guessed there was no avoiding it. He was a Sparks.

It had been his wand at fault at first. For the first couple of months, the fire really was an accident, caused by the unfortunate synergy of a volatile wand core and wood combination and a beginner’s tendency to make wild and exaggerated wand motions.

He eventually figured out how and why it was happening and tamed himself down. But at the end of first year there was the yearbook survey and the category Most Likely to Cause an Explosion. His name was literally ‘Sparks’. It would hurt his family pride not to earn it. That was when he started doing it on purpose.

He’d been so careful though. He didn’t want to hurt anyone. He practiced and practiced, making sure it only ever happened when he wanted it to, always under perfect control. He studied potions harder than anything, and figured out what could cause smoke or flames, and how much he could add to get the desired effect without actually endangering anyone nearby. He had always prided himself on how much control he had over all of it.

And now: you’re kinda scary.

And he really couldn’t argue it. He was only now coming to realize exactly what kind of legacy he was leaving for himself to clean up. He was scary. He regularly blew up his potions, and that meant he was either incompetent or some kind of firebug. He set things on fire with his wand, and again, that could only be explained by poor wand control or pyromania. And Professor Skies, and probably Probably Nash, too, we’re likely beginning to realize there was nothing wrong with his wand control.

He supposed it was time to stop.

He slouched down in his chair in misery. Who was he, then, if he wasn’t Most Likely to Cause An Explosion? He had taken that award and internalized it. It felt like tearing a piece of himself apart to denounce it.

But clearly there was something wrong with him, something that was feeding of his desire to spark and fire, and it wasn’t healthy or controlled or safe. He wasn’t healthy or controlled or safe. He was a danger to himself and others.

He was kinda scary.

He sat up and raised his hand. When Professor Skies returned (his misery and self examination had been so all consuming that he had completely missed the pink hair incident and subsequent threat to the class at large) he asked contritely, “May I go to the MARS dueling room to practice? I think there might be something wrong with my wand, and I don’t want to flame out again.”

It wasn’t the wand. It was him. He was broken. But maybe he could practice himself fixed again. Find his lost control. And until then, at least the dueling room he had set up in the MARS sports room was fireproof.

1 Jozua Sparks I am kinda scary 348 Jozua Sparks 0 5

Professor Skies

March 03, 2018 12:27 AM

That's not an excuse by Professor Skies

Ok. Hair back to normal. Class back under… something approaching control, she hoped. Jozua raised his hand, and she made her way over. It didn’t escape her notice that there was still nothing but a plastic stick in front of him.

“No, you may not,” she frowned. Send him off to the duelling room to practise? And what, just trust that he - a student who had just disrupted her class - was going to get on quietly whilst unsupervised. She wasn’t even sure whether he meant practise his classwork, or practise duelling to deal with his ‘wand issues.’ Did he really think that would work? Cause so much trouble that he was sent out for some free time. Not likely. It was such a bizarre suggestion that she wondered whether it was merely a diversion, and she tried to keep an eye on the rest of the class, “Unless you’ve been severely mistreating your wand, it’s very unlikely to have developed a fault. And, if it has, it would be incredibly dangerous to leave you without appropriate supervision.

“If you don’t feel properly in control of your magic, you can do the fourth year assignment - or even the third year one,” if he was going to be childish, she was more than willing to treat him like a child. Perhaps the embarrassment of doing work two grade levels beneath him would make him buck up his ideas.

13 Professor Skies That's not an excuse 26 Professor Skies 0 5

Winston Pierce

March 14, 2018 1:13 PM

You’re a Good Person(TM), too by Winston Pierce

Winston put his tulip aside for later grading once Professor Skies was done dealing with the more troublesome members of the class. He smiled in commiseration toward Emerald who he had been lucky enough to get as a desk neighbor today. Emerald was a good person, too, and he was glad he wasn’t as unfortunate as poor Miss Kirkly who was finding her self in charge of keeping Jozua Sparks in line. As if that was possible. She might be a mixed blood, but today, Winston felt nothing but pity toward the Teppenpaw prefect.

“Utterly ridiculous,” he agreed verbally, in case the smile didn’t convey the fullness of his concurrence. He heaved a heavy put-upon sigh. “And I had hoped this year would be a pleasant one, with my sister starting and the ball coming up.”

Winston wasn’t entirely sure who he was going to ask yet to the ball, but he felt he had a good shot at finding someone with the right kind of pedigree who was willing to say yes. Emerald herself was definitely on the short list, though he doubted Transfiguration class was the appropriate venue for asking, even if he was fully decided and had cleared it with Simon and Victor to make sure neither of them were secretly crushing on Emerald and would resent Winston for asking her to the dance first.

“Have you thought about what you’ll wear?” he asked, hoping this was a topic most girls would find pleasant and cheering, as his intent was to divert Emerald to a more pleasant topic than Lily and Jozua and their improper antics. “I’m looking forward to getting some new dress robes, though I haven’t decided which ones yet. My cousins have a fashion line with quite a few very fine choices. Have you heard of Ann & Ann Apparel?”

And if he could drum up some extra business for the Anns, they might be willing to design him something even better than what they already had available. The Anns might have other problems, but their understanding of good clothes was not one of them. Well, it wasn’t one of Annabelle’s issues anyway, and she kept her sister in line in that regard.

1 Winston Pierce You’re a Good Person(TM), too 370 Winston Pierce 0 5

Emerald

April 05, 2018 6:35 PM

Aw, thanks. I appreciate that. by Emerald

She was pleased to hear Winston's agreement. When the initial conflict had happened, two older students acted like Lily's behavior was perfectly okay. How would they have felt if it had been a member of their family that she was mocking? That was what had really upset Emerald. She didn't really care what Lily looked like, it was just the easy thing to say when she was angry. And she had rather meant the part about the Pecari getting in trouble with her mother. It would have served her right to get in trouble after being so disrespectful.

And that she felt she had the right to do it! If she had least apologized or looked a bit ashamed. That was what bothered Emerald most. It was one thing not to conform to proper standards-that was Lily's problem-but to think she could go around treating people in whatever way she wanted showed that the fifth year had no regard for they felt. It showed a tremendous bit of ego and entitlement and quite frankly, wasn't that different from Topaz.

Of course, Emerald didn't think Lily was as manipulative as her little sister. That would take intelligence. Whatever else Topaz was, she was bright. Lily was not.

And okay, so Winston wasn't exactly supporting her on that particular issue as he didn't know and she wasn't going to bring it up. She did want to put it aside generally speaking because the Pecari didn't really deserve her energy but the older girl did tend to spark something visceral in Emerald because of it. And right now, her classmate agreed with her about Lily's (and possibly Jozua's) current antics. That was enough.

The Aladren smiled at Winston. "Not really. I'm pretty sure my sister and my cousin have been planning for months though." Emerald wasn't really a girl who was that into fashion but Ruby and Angelique loved and those were the two relatives closest in age that she was around much so she had sat their quietly-and somewhat bored-when they'd get into the topic. So, she had heard of Winston's cousins' line. "Actually, I have seen their stuff. It's quite lovely. I know some of my relatives have dresses they designed."

11 Emerald Aw, thanks. I appreciate that. 358 Emerald 0 5

Jozua

April 10, 2018 3:55 PM

I’ll take that zero and detention now by Jozua

Jozua stiffened his back as Professor Skies not only refused to allow him to leave, but also suggested he try the third year assignment. Didn’t she understand that he was too dangerous to trust with any magic right now? He wouldn’t even trust himself to practice Wingardium Leviosa around other people right now, nevermind anything in the intermediate range of lessons!

He crossed his arms defiantly, his wand nowhere in reach, because that piece of wood was not blameless here either, even if it wasn’t the main cause of his problems as he’d suggested. “No,” he refused outright. He wasn’t normally one to disobey a teacher’s direct orders or talk back to one, but the safety of the whole school was potentially at risk here. A detention or getting sent to the Headmaster’s office was well worth knowing he had protected his classmates. “I refuse to participate at all.”

If she didn’t believe him, that was fine. He wasn’t in any kind of position to claim a high road here. But he knew the difference between his normal casting ‘problems’ and what was happening today, and that was enough to scare him away from attempting any part of today’s lesson. He couldn’t explain it without implicating himself in four years worth of troublemaking though, so he just scowled belligerently, like he was some kind of angry teenager instead of the deeply shaken and frightened young wizard he was.

She could force him to sit here if she chose, that was her prerogative as the teacher, and Jozua was well aware that he had earned some kind of disciplinary action for what he’d done already, accident or not, but he could not in good conscience lift his wand again this class period, and so he would not, even if that compounded his original offense.

“Go ahead and give me a failing mark.”

1 Jozua I’ll take that zero and detention now 348 Jozua 0 5