Professor Fawcett
August 12, 2008 10:12 PM
Lesson Two for Sixth and Seventh Years by Professor Fawcett
After a quick look-around to make sure the tiny group of upperclassmen was still intact, John closed the room off and cleared his throat to get the group's attention. The room was fascinating, but looking at its current setting without listening to the lecture was like staring at the pages of Heart of Darkness without a good grip on English: both were pointless, and both would leave those who tried them looking foolish. As he lacked anything to point at, he used his pointer to gesture as he spoke."Today," he informed the sixth and seventh years, "we are beginning a unit on dragons. They are among the Wizarding World's most dangerous creatures, so while those you view here cannot harm you, I would advise any of you who don't plan to work with them for a living to avoid them outside this room." That remark was punctuated with an especially violent movement of his pointer. "In the normal course of things, there's ten different breeds of dragon. To permit you to absorb all the information, I've broken the ten up into smaller groups. Your grade will come from tests over each group, a paper on each pure breed, and a final paper over either dragon reservations or dragon cross-breeds. I will distribute more detailed handouts after class."
Fairly sure he'd have a reputation for sadism before dinner time - giving students a taste of what post-primary studies were really like tended to earn a wizard that - John turned his pointer toward the Chamber. "And now, we enter and meet three of my favorites - the Antipodean Opaleye, the Chinese Fireball, and the Romanian Longhorn."
John lead them to the first display, where a medium-sized dragon sparkled under an imaginary sun. "This an Opaleye. Many people consider them the most beautiful dragons." He was inclined to agree with those people. "They originated in New Zealand, but some migrate to Australia if they run short on land at home. The name comes from the eyes." The things did not have pupils, which John, at least, found a bit disturbing to look at. "Their favorite food is sheep, though they will sometimes attack larger animals."
Deciding to leave questions until after all three of the day's breeds had been shown, he moved them along. "These are Chinese Fireballs. The Fireball is the only dragon from the Orient, and - ah, there we go!" A Fireball had thrown its head back in annoyance and sent mushroom-topped streams of fire into the air. "Now you see where Magizoologists got that name from. Beautiful eggs - you can see a clutch just over there - and highly prized for use in certain areas of Chinese magic. They're unusually tolerant of other dragons, and it's not unknown for them to share territory with up to two others. They're also happy to have pigs and humans enter their territory, as those are their favorite foods."
Leaving the Fireballs to roar in time with the Opaleye, he steered the group toward the Longhorn, whose scales almost matched their robes. He quite liked the way the long horns contrasted with the hide. "And the Romanian Longhorn. This is one of the more endangered breeds of dragon, and that's in large part because of its horns. The dragon uses them to gore its prey, and wizards use them, ground into a powder, as a potion ingredient. It's legal for the moment, and the experts at the reservation on their territory work to keep Longhorn levels acceptable. The reservation is one of the most important in the world and houses a variety of breeds."
Lowering his pointer at last, John pushed his glasses a bit further up his nose and looked around at the upperclassmen. There were some kinks to work out - it had been too long to simply expect to step back into his 'professor shoes' as if he'd just taken them off - but he thought he might actually end up enjoying this stint. "You may observe the exhibit as you wish for the remainder of class," he told them. "Do any of you have any questions for me now?"
OOC: Remember, come in at about ten sentences to a post, use good spelling and grammar, and - most importantly - have fun!
Subthreads: Lost in thought. by Dalila Bastet with Dillon Welsh, Dalila
Breathtaking creatures, really by Nicoletta Dupree with Bella Santoro, Nicoletta
Puff the Magic Dragon? by Earl Valentine with Mia Kerova, Earl
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Professor Fawcett
Lesson Two for Sixth and Seventh Years
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Professor Fawcett
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Dalila Bastet
August 15, 2008 5:59 PM
Lost in thought. by Dalila Bastet
As Dalila waited for the class to begin, she fiddled with the hem of her sleeve and wondered why she was even here. She had spent the last week or so, wondering a lot of things about herself. Most of what she had done or decided on doing had been directly related to her mother. She had wanted to go into researching astronomy because that's what her mother did. Or maybe Magizoology because part of her research had been related to it. But now she looked at her notebook for Care of Magical Creatures and wondered if she really was interested in them or if she was just doing it because her mother had wanted her to.She entered the Mirage Chamber clouded with doubts about who she was and what she wanted which was not conducive to listening to the temp professor's lecture, though she vaguely pondered where Professor K could be.
The only thing that could've drawn Dalila from the inner workings of her brain was some giant monster attacking the class. Luckily, there happened to be several, though they weren't actually attacking. Dalila gasped at the first dragon. It shimmered in the fake sunlight, and after a brief gaping stare, she hurried to write down what the pretty dragon looked liked, wishing profusely that she had a camera on her. Suddenly her brain was fully on the professor (she never had gotten his name).
The next two dragon's were equally as beautiful, though in different ways. She took as many notes as she could while still staring openly at the dragons. Halfway through trying to figure out how to describe the Opaleyes's strange eyes, she made her decision: she did like Care of Magical Creatures. And she probably still liked Astronomy too. Dalila grinned. She may not be doing research alongside her mother anymore, but that doesn't mean she has to rethink everything.
Dalila stopped writing for a moment and chose to look up at her classmates. Normally she didn't like doing this because when she did, her gaze magically landed on either Adam or his new girlfriend...sometimes both. And Dalila found it easier to be happy for them if she didn't have to see them. Luckily, when she looked up, she saw normal people. Nic was apparently out of her view at the moment. Someone grumbled a homework assignment. Did she miss that?
Now officially angry at herself, Dalila turned to the person closest to her.
"Did you happen to hear the homework assignment?"
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Dalila Bastet
Lost in thought.
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Dalila Bastet
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Dillon Welsh
August 17, 2008 10:02 PM
I hope they're good thoughts by Dillon Welsh
Considering the fact that Dillon planned on becoming a veterinarian after college, it was needless to say that he was quite excited to begin his last term of his Sonora career with Care of Magical Creatures. He frowned slightly at the sight of the substitute before remembering that Professor Kijewski had told them that they would be getting a substitute this half of term. Interesting. The guy seemed to have the look of someone who knew what he was doing. The sort that screamed 'Professor' or 'Accountant'. Whichever. He actually reminded him much of Dillon's father when it came to the outfit. But, his dad was a Math Professor, so looking stiff seemed to be a requirement.But, all thoughts of the professor were lost when they entered the mirage and the source of their lesson became evident. Dragons. Dillon felt like a little kid in a candy shop. With his notebook out, Dillon immediately began to write down everything the professor said as well as adding in all of his own observations. Over the course of the seven years that Dillon had been a student at Sonora, his notebook on animals had grown tremendously and most of it was from his own observations and time spent in the library. He was careful to learn everything that he could for his entrance exams into college.
Dillon quietly wrote down everything that his hand could handle while they walked, being careful to take interest in the dragons' movements, their eggs, and the habitats. He enjoyed the way the color of the Opaleye shined off from the sun or how the eyes looked rather creepy when one noticed that it had no pupil. He also enjoyed the beauty in which the Chinese Fireball flame shot forth or the color of the eggs. And, although the Longhorn seemed rather plain compared to other dragons, but offered more with their horns.
Halfway through his personal notes, the Substitute ended the lecture part of their lesson and asked if anyone had any other questions. Thus far, Dillon didn't have any, but that could change after he sat down and read up on these specific dragons. Dillon didn't actually like to ask things openly in front of others because some of his questions could have been common sense to those who had always been raised in the magical society. Last thing he needed was people to laugh at him for his lack of experience.
"Did you happen to hear the homework assignment?"
A disembodied voice asked Dillon. Looking up from his notebook, Dillon looked around to find the Teppenpaw Chaser, Dalila, standing next to him. Homework? "No, he said that we'll be receiving our grades tests over each group of dragon, a paper on the pure breeds, and a final paper over either dragon reservations or dragon cross-breeds." Dillon advised the younger girl. It was a lot of work for him to do with the R.A.T.S. exam looming ever closer, but since his classes were limited, Dillon had faith that he could get it all done.
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Dillon Welsh
I hope they're good thoughts
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Dillon Welsh
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Dalila
August 18, 2008 4:34 PM
If they were I'd be flying by Dalila
No? Dalila could've sworn she heard someone grumbling over the homework assignment. But then Dillon, continued his explanation and Dalila's frown of confusion turned into one of worry. For some reason it took till that very moment to realize just how much she had to do this year. being a sixth year was somehow worse than being a fifth year, even though there were no exams this year."Merlin," she said to herself, but loud enough for Dillon to hear. "That's a lot of work." She scrambled to write it all down before she forgot everything and then stared at the assignments she had written down. "This guy's insane. How am I supposed to do all that AND everything for Charms and Transfiguration? And the newspaper! And Quidditch!" Dalila sighed in exasperation. She sorely regretted joining the newspaper and decided that she wasn't going to do it next year. It was just too much. She turned back to Dillon.
"You don't seem nearly as freaked out as me and you have RATS coming up soon. How do you do it?"
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Dalila
If they were I'd be flying
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Dalila
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Dillon
August 19, 2008 9:46 PM
Without a broom? by Dillon
Dillon had paused in his note taking once again when Dalila reacted to what he had informed her of. Although he could understand where she was coming from with the workload that they had been given, he couldn’t actually hide the smile that appeared on his face while she ranted on about how hectic her schedule seemed to be.And, he would admit, her schedule really did seem rather full.
His own schedule was going to be tight, but he had created a table of what he needed to do everyday in order to make it all work for him. Granted, he certainly didn’t have the extracurricular activities that she seemed to have, but Dillon was involved in quite a bit of classes in order to ensure that he was prepared for his next level of education of Veterinary school. He knew that school after Sonora would be a hard trek (especially if it were anything like Muggle Veterinary school) and Dillon wasn’t going to fool himself into thinking anything else.
Dillon laughed when Dalila posed her question to him. “Time management. But, I’m not necessarily what you would call a ‘social’ creature.” Dillon informed her. “I don’t have any extracurricular activities to keep me busy like I used to when I was on the Quidditch team. I have plenty of time to workout what needs to be done.” His freckled face remained open with an amused look.
“You should really start a chart of your lessons and work out what your priorities are. I find it’s the most efficient way of keeping track of what needs to be done. You seem like the sort of girl who has enough energy to last a lifetime. I’m sure you can handle it just fine.”
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Dillon
Without a broom?
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Dillon
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Dalila
August 21, 2008 2:35 AM
All you need is faith and trust...and pixie dust by Dalila
Dalila was expecting more of a generic answer than time management. In her experience, most people answered with things like "I don't know" and "It's not that hard". So when Dillon said "Time management" Dalila's looked up expectantly, her notes on dragons completely forgotten.Like Dillon said, it probably helped that he was social and had quit Quidditch, but his idea of a chart seemed feasible. That is if she could follow it. She laughed out loud at Dillon's assertion of her energy level. "Well, energy means nothing if I don't put it to good use. And I can't put it to good use if I'm buried under my workload. I like your chart idea, Dillon." She grinned at him while ripping out a piece of notebook paper and proceeded to try and draw a schedule. What she ended up with was a sloppy interpretation of a Tic-Tac-Toe board. Dalila sighed and crumpled the paper into a ball.
"This would be so much easier if I had my computer," she said, thinking of that wonderful table tool in Word. "I wonder if there's a spell that makes tables..."
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Dalila
All you need is faith and trust...and pixie dust
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Dalila
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Dillon
August 22, 2008 10:43 PM
And a happy memory. by Dillon
Dillon felt as though he had said something that most people wouldn’t usually say by the look on Dalila’s face. He knew he was pretty inept when it came to casual conversation and that his mouth may say things that other people didn’t necessarily pick up on, but he was fairly certain how he manages things wasn’t completely out of the ordinary. Then again, maybe it was for a 17 year old. It was hard to say. Dillon was his father’s son and liked to do things on time and diligently. He supposed his mother was quite like that as well. Made one wonder how in the world Les ended up being such an artist when neither parents had a flare for it.Okay, she seemed to get the idea of the chart, and was eager to begin making one (Dillon had meant to do it after class, but to each their own), but her response to his energy compliment seemed to suggest that she didn’t get all of his meaning. While she worked on her chart, Dillon elaborated. “What I meant with her energy was that you can put it to use with doing your homework and doing your extracurricular activities.”
She finished with her chart, but it wasn’t nearly as immaculate looking as his seemed to be…although, he actually had a table back in his dorm that he used. He chuckled lightly behind his hand when he looked at it. It was clearly not something that she was used to doing. Most people just went with the flow of things and procrastinated with their lives. Dillon just couldn’t handle living life like that. “Here, let me.” Dillon took out a piece of his notebook paper (there were some things in the muggle world that Dillon would never part with. Notebook paper and a pen were only just two of them) and laid it flat against the hard surface of his book.
Proving, once again, that he was his parents’ son, Dillon made near perfect straight lines before blocking off a column for every day of the week and then sections for an hour of each day. Beginning at eight in the morning and ending at ten at night. “I don’t know how many classes you have or how often you practice or have your meetings. You can work that out later. What I usually do is block off an hour or two after lessons for just homework. It really depends on the lessons and how long the essays are.”
Dillon handed her the chart he had made. “If you need any help with anything, I usually have free time or whatever. I’m sure we have a couple other classes together.”
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Dillon
And a happy memory.
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Dillon
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Dalila
August 24, 2008 10:21 PM
But which to choose? by Dalila
"Yeah, I guess all this energy is useful for getting things done. I think it's the only reason I haven't collapsed from everything yet. Then again, things are bound to get worse as the year goes on. Thanks!" Dalila said, watching Dillon draw her a basic table and taking it from his hands and scrutinizing it when he turned it over to her. "I apparently can't draw a straight line if my life depended on it."Dalila immediately grabbed her pen and wrote in each of her classes and Quidditch practice and then stared at the empty spots. "Some of the classes are crazy. Did you hear about the essay the fifth years have to do in History of Magic? It's supposed to be 20 feet or something. I'm really glad I didn't sign up for that." Dalila grinned at Dillon. No matter how nerdy someone was, a 20 foot essay wasn't fun.
"I'd love some help. Potions is killing me. I mean, how do you study for it??
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Dalila
But which to choose?
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Dalila
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Dillon
September 03, 2008 10:27 PM
Do you have many? by Dillon
Dalila, although full of energy, also seemed to have this pessimistic side of her too. That surprised Dillon slightly. From everything he knew of the girl (granted, that wasn't much), he had always assumed her to be the sort of girl who saw the silver lining all the time. Not one to let a few bumps in the road get her down. But, the more he conversed with her, the more it seemed the Dalila was the sort who became weighed down and frantic at the first sign of something negative.Of course, he was only basis all of this on their current conversation. For all he knew, Dalila could just be having a bad day and really was the optimistic girl he had always labeled her as. "My Dad's a science professor and my mom's a math professor at a local university. I used to help them with charts and graphs when I was growing up." Dillon explained.
He watched her as she took the chart from him and proceeded to fill in her schedule. This girl simply couldn't wait until after class to do all of this. Perhaps she was as overwhelmed with trying to figure out her schedule as she was coming off as being. Dillon tilted his head as he watched her, torn between being amused by her or feeling sympathetic. He could certainly understand where she was coming from as he could remember feeling overloaded with everything, but eventually he had learned how to cope with it all.
"20 feet? That seems impossible for anyone to be able to do." Dillon stated, surprised that any professor would suggest such an assignment. History of Magic came around after Dillon became old enough not to have to take it. He had toyed with the idea of making it part of his daily schedule simply because he was curious to know the magical history as he already knew the muggle one, but it just hadn't worked out for him. And now, hearing this, Dillon was rather grateful for that.
"Well, it's hard to actually be able to recreate the potion when we aren't in class. Really, the only way to study is to mimic the movements while going over your notes and the book. Is potions your worst class? I'm usually pretty good at memorizing things, so I can help you get the feel of certain potions. Once you know the rhythm, everything else just falls into place."
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Dillon
Do you have many?
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Dillon
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Dalila
September 08, 2008 11:52 PM
Plenty. Don't you? by Dalila
"Oh wow, cool," Dalila exclaimed. "My mom does, or did, research in astronomy. But the only charts she ever filled out were star charts," she gave Dillon a fleeting grin, but her mouth refused to stay that way, falling into a hard line. Layla was awful at organizing. It was why she had hired an assistant. Dalila just wished Layla had hired a female assistant. If she had, her mother might not be trying to find an apartment with her Brazilian boyfriend now."Well, did you ever meet the History professor? He's a total grouch. And I think it was supposed to be a year long project. At least that's what I heard," Dalila said nonchalantly. Maybe she had it wrong and the person she overheard the news from had been exaggerating.
A huge grin broke away from the frown. Dalila desperately needed help in potions. Layla had told her to try it because Dalila needed another class to fill in her schedule. It was a decision she deeply regrets now.
"Yeah, it's my worst class. And that's my problem; I can't just make potions in the commonroom. But I've been helping my grandmother with her potions since I could reach the counter. I'm great with measuring and everything, but it's the memorizing that's got me. If I could have a book during the CAT then I'd be golden." Dalila slipped her new schedule into the pocket of her notebook.
"You have no idea how grateful I'd be if you helped."
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Dalila
Plenty. Don't you?
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Dalila
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Dillon
September 21, 2008 1:11 AM
I have a couple. by Dillon
Dillon wasn't really sure that there was anything cool about what his parents did for a living. Most people he knew that their careers were rather banal. Not that he could blame them. Saying 'Math Teacher' wasn't something like saying 'Firefighter,' so someone thinking his parents were sort of dull wouldn't be all that surprising or offensive. Dillon certainly took after their analytical mindset, but he could still see why everyone would think that.But, to have someone actually say that she thought their professions were cool was not something that Dillon was all that used to hearing, or prepared for. But, without having time to respond, Dillon merely raised an eyebrow while Dalila spoke about her mother's profession. Astronomy wasn't his strong suite, but Zoey really seemed to like it. Though, she was the dreamer of the two, couldn't get her head out of a book when they were growing up.
Watching Dalila, Dillon didn't miss the change of her facial features. She was quite an open book. Either her mother was no longer of the living and the grief was still present for Dalila, or the relationship between the two of them had been altered greatly so that grief of some sort was the end result. If Dillon was more of a friend to Dalila, he might have questioned the look on her face, but, as it were, they were merely acquaintances and former teammates.
"I've seen him around, but never met him personally." Dillon admitted and not for the first time glad that he was never given the chance to do so. The man looked old. Too old to still be teaching and, if he were anything like Dillon's grandfather, he could completely understand why the students thought so poorly of him. Dillon hoped that if he ever got to be that age, he never became a grump like most of the senior citizens he seemed to know.
Dillon smiled at Dalila's delight with his gesture of help. "It's no problem. I don't mind helping if I can. And it'll help that you're in the same house as me. Less hectic to try to locate each other."
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Dillon
I have a couple.
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Dillon
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