Professor Kijewski
January 14, 2009 5:36 PM
1st and 2nd years Lesson 2 by Professor Kijewski
On the other side of the portrait, Kiva returned to the front of the class to address the students. Behind Kiva were a patch of trees. The setting was the exact same setting she had used while with her Advanced students before midterm except that this time around, a Chimaera wasn't waiting for them. "Okay, everyone please settle down and we'll get started." She waited a moment for all the chatter to quiet down before she addressed them and that days lesson."Because we're onto the second half of the term, we have a lot to cover. This lesson is going to combine a lot of class work together and hopefully will help you all to remember the creatures that you'll come in contact with today." Kiva lifted one of the papers that she had asked the students to take before entering the Mirage Chamber. "This is our lesson. A Scavenger Hunt." She declared, grinning at her students. When she had been young, she had loved doing these sorts of activities. It was a day of fun and exploring. The paper was a list of Creatures. Some they had already learned about. Others were completely new (at least most were new to the first years). The list read:
Scavenger Hunt
Creatures
1. Glumbumble
2. Bowtruckle
3. Clabbert
4. Fairy
5. Moke
6. Owl
7. Unicorn
8. Wood-Nympth
"This is your list that you have to follow for the lesson. There are eight creatures on this list, you have to get at least five in order to get a passing grade for the class. When you come upon the area in which the animal can be located, there will be a card full of facts and myths about the creature. You need to take one of these cards. These cards will tell me that you did indeed find the creature in the forest." Kiva held up a brightly colored card. She chose bright colors so that the students would be able to see them while in the forest.
"You are also provided a map. Use your map, the small hints provided, and your books to locate the creatures and the cards. I'll signal you when the lesson is over. If you need help, come find me or ask around. You can work with anyone you want or by yourself. That's your call." Kiva paused for a moment trying to decide if she should add on to this before deciding she might as well, "The point of this lesson is to give you a chance to see how the creatures interact within their own habitat. Use your own knowledge that you've learned and the book as a reference. The cards will be your study guide for the exam at the end of the year, so do not lose them. Please head into the forest to start the hunt."
OOC: Please remember the rules. 200 words for your posts as is the required number on your applications. Be creative and use whatever references you want when discussing the creatures or where they are located in the woods. And, above all else, have fun with it.
Subthreads: I loved these in school. by Eun Ae Song with Adelita Garcia, Euna, Juri Dahlgren, Eun Ae, Lita
Beginning the hunt (by finding a partner) by Taylor Li with Nathaniel Leon, Taylor
Scavanging for a 2nd year by Danny Nash with Ian Grimm, Daniel
Hunting for a soon-to-be Scavenger. by Quentin Melcher with Mike Song
Class Closed, but feel free to continue posting (nm) by Professor K.
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Professor Kijewski
1st and 2nd years Lesson 2
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Professor Kijewski
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Eun Ae Song
January 15, 2009 5:28 PM
I loved these in school. by Eun Ae Song
"You're on your own for this, Euna; I plan on winning," Min Ae announced, ditching her almost immediately. He quickly disappeared into a section of thick brush, and she heard him call a greeting within seconds. Eun Ae stared after him, quailing slightly at the prospects of handling the scavenger hunt on her own, or braving hunting up a partner.She had been excited when Professor K had first mentioned the Mirage Chamber. Even first years like herself had heard of the hidden room, that only the best upper classmen were given entrance to. Despite the professor's assurances that nothing in there was real in the physical sense, she imagined it would be very much like some kind of 3D movie. Once she realized that the 3D effects actually included some solidity, some of that excitement turned into nervousness. She had never liked scary movies, and always pretended an interest in a book to escape watching them.
Eun Ae held her book bag a little tighter, drawing the slim canvas close to her chest, the divied list tucked sparingly into her hand. She took three steps toward the same section of woods her brother had chosen before giving in. Even if she knew the creatures she was looking for were, for the most part, harmless and basically not real- in the normal sense- she had her doubts; doubts which were evincing themselves in the shape of pre-horror film jitters.
She grabbed a passing school robe sleeve and tugged, hoping that she had stumbled upon someone friendly. She kept her head bowed, her short height and dark hair all but obscuring her face."Do you mind working together?"
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Eun Ae Song
I loved these in school.
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Eun Ae Song
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Adelita Garcia
January 19, 2009 8:22 PM
They are rather fun to do. by Adelita Garcia
Adelita was so excited to hear that their Care of Magical Creatures class would be meeting in Cascade Hall. It was so rare to ever divy from their normal routine and when they did, it was like a whole different world to her. She realized that people probably thought her a little strange with her thinking, but she never minded it too much. Besides, she had her group of friends and that’s all that mattered. And, she was going to be able to go inside the Mirage Chamber! She was so excited! She didn’t think lessons would be this fun. Any of them. Even History of Magic was interesting.She took a piece of paper as she made her way through the opening and into a field through the other side. Lita was aware that all of what she was seeing wasn’t really real. She knew it, but at the same time, just standing there made it seem like there was no possible way that this place could be fake. Just no way. Even the breeze felt real. This was amazing! Adelita had grown up with magic all around her. Her parents were magical, her grandparents were magical, her friends were magical. She knew magic, but she didn’t know all of what magic was capable of doing. And being here at Sonora made her open her eyes to all that magic had to offer.
Professor Kijewski began the lesson and for the first time, Adelita took a moment to actually look at the paper she had taken. Scavenger Hunt. Oh, that sounded fun. She had done an Egg Hunt at Easter, which was sort of the same. If you were able to get the Golden Egg, you won a huge price. Adelita never got the Golden Egg, but she did get the Silver Egg, which basically was the same to Adelita. She was five, she was allowed to disregard the obvious at that age.
She was completely excited about seeing a Unicorn. Fake or not, it was a Unicorn. But a wood-nymph would be cool to see. She’s seen Owls, Bowtruckles, and Fairies before. A moke would be cool even though Lita wasn’t a fan of reptiles and a Clabbert she had read about in books. Yes, this hunt should be all fun. Well, so long as she found five of them.
Being dismissed, Adelita looked around for her friends. She wasn’t sure if they wanted to work in a group or what. Lessons were hard to determine whether they wanted to stay within their own crowd or branch out. Walking around though, someone decided for her. Looking, Adelita saw a girl whom she’d seen around but never spoken to. If Lita recalled correctly, the girl had a brother in their class too. What were their names again? She couldn’t remember.
Adelita was a small girl and will always be a small girl. Her mother wasn’t even 5 feet. Her dad was only 5’6. And her aunts never grew passed 5’1 except for her Tia Sofia who was using her height to her advantage. So, Adelita had accepted her fate as always being a small person. Made it easier to dance with a partner though. Still, looking at another girl’s head because she was looking down felt a little bit odd. “Oh, sure.” Adelita answered, realizing the girl had spoken to her. “I don’t think we’ve met yet, I’m Adelita Garcia, Lita for short.” She used her nickname with the girl because she was a girl as they seemed more accepting of such things. “Is there a creature you wanted to see the most? We can try to figure out how to find that one.” Lita offered the girl, smiling politely to her.
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Adelita Garcia
They are rather fun to do.
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Adelita Garcia
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Euna
January 22, 2009 4:06 PM
Birthday party ones are the best. by Euna
Euna felt a wave of relief wash over her. It was so nice to be greeted with such ease- something she was growing increasingly familiar with at Sonora. The separation- that sense of difference- that she always met with her classmates before in elementary school wasn't present here. Sure, she felt a little off when around her brother's friends in Pecari, but the rest of the houses seemed like a good fit. Aladren in particular; it was as if she was born to it, and every time she stepped into her common room, it was with a sense of homecoming."Hi. . .Lita," she replied, smiling somewhat shyly. "I'm Eun Ae Song, but please, just call me Euna."
"A particular creature? I don't know. . ." She bent her head, giving her scavenger list its first real genuine look-over. The list seemed fairly straight forward, most of the names striking a chord of familiarity with her. She was at least two weeks ahead in most of her classes, the materials outlined neatly in highlighted rows and columns. The notebook for CoMC sat carefully in her bookbag, and after some careful consideration, she placed a finger next to her choice. "How about the glumbumble? They shouldn't be too hard to find- they like nettles, so maybe. . ."
Euna lifted her gaze to the environment around them. The nettles back home normally grew around fence posts and in between sidewalk cracks. Her mother used to force her and Min Ae to carry a small bundle of dried nettles in their raincoats during hurricane season to protect them from lightning. Theirs was the only house without the rough patches marring the mailbox or backyard. Nettles also liked high places- at least, that's what she had read, somewhere.
"How about we try up there?" she asked, pointing toward the only rise in elevation in the increasingly expansive Mirage Chamber. A small knoll rose above a cropping of trees, and to her eyes, there faintly shimmered the haze of insects and thick air.
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Euna
Birthday party ones are the best.
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Euna
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Juri Dahlgren
January 23, 2009 6:25 PM
Am I interrupting? by Juri Dahlgren
Having been at the magical school for half a year, the fact that they were standing outside a portrait didn’t faze Juri in the least, but then not many things were known to, except his parents arguing. That’s all they had done over the entire break. It was all about how much time he was going to spend and with whom. The Judge had wanted him to go to church with him and the Executioner for the holiday. His mother had disapproved of the idea for multiple reasons, some selfish, some not.She wanted her only son, her only child to spend Christmas with her, as they had always done. However, she disapproved of Juri being forced into a religion that he may or may not choose on his own. Of course, being the free spirit, she disapproved of the entire concept of organized religion. In the end, it had been Juri’s decision, each parent wanting to be picked. Not wanting to disappoint either (though, he suspected this turn in his dad had something to do with saving him from magic), he had been his logical self and opted for a Christmas Eve service and Christmas day with his mom.
Though, it hadn’t stopped the continued arguing. It was a relief to find himself back at Sonora, even with its oddities like entrances behind portraits. Juri followed in the midst of his classmates into the area to wait for the professor. While waiting, he fiddled with the paper that he had taken at the beginning, folding it this way and that, as he thought about his next project and the small issue with technology. Maybe if he…? No, no, that wouldn’t work. Or if he…? No, still wouldn’t work. Perhaps, he should consider going to the library and looking into some form of magic that could be used to work around the problem.
Juri was so lost in solving another dilemma that he created a new one for himself by missing what they were doing in the class. Glancing down at his hands, he saw the paper for the class. Unfolding it and looking at the creased words and map, it was easy to deduce that they were to be finding the creatures on the list. It was also easy to figure out by the way people were forming small groups that they could do that. Seeing two girls nearby, Juri figured this might be the easiest group to join. Getting closer, he caught the tail end of the question, but ignored it since it wasn’t said to him. He did apologize though for interrupting, “Hey, sorry, but do you have room for one more?”
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Juri Dahlgren
Am I interrupting?
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Juri Dahlgren
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Adelita
January 26, 2009 10:45 PM
Never! by Adelita
Eun Ae Song. Eun Ae. Eun Ae. Euna. Adelita repeated these names in her head just as they left Euna’s mouth. It was an interesting name and Adelita vaguely wondered if it represented something for her. Adelita’s name meant Noble and mixed with her middle name, Maribel, her name meant Nobel Rebellion, which her parents found highly amusing. Her sister’s name combined meant Sweet Flower, which, one would have thought based on their personalities that their parents had a wicked sense of humor. Adelita made a mental note to ask Euna if there was anything behind the name when she felt they were more friends than just classmates.While Euna consulted the list for a creature, Adelita looked around the chamber. It was still amazing to her how it could look so real and not be real at all. Once Euna decided that she wanted to look for the glumbumbles, Adelita’s gaze went from the forest, to Euna, to the overpass that Euna had pointed out. Oh, this would be so much fun! This was sort of like hiking only without really being bitten by bugs or worry of real animals. This was definitely going to be fun. “Yeah, let’s start with them and then make our way down and into the forest to look for the other creatures. Everyone seems to have scattered straight into the trees, so this will give us a start without any problems.” At least, that was Lita’s reasoning for it.
She was about to head off when someone came into their conversation rather politely. Looking, she realized it was another boy. She had seen him around much like she had Euna but had never spoken to him. There seemed to be quite a few boys around. Unlike Daniel or Nathaniel, this boy seemed rather quiet. Of course, he had only said one thing to them. Without thinking, Lita smiled and nodded, “Of course!” It never occurred to her that Euna might not have wanted someone else in their group.
“I’m Adelita-“ Once again, she skipped her nickname for fear that the boy would not enjoy it, and gestured to Euna, “And this is Yoon-Aye- Ah.” Lita had an accent being a Latina girl living with a Spanish-speaking mother and living much of her childhood in Spain, Mexico, and Los Angeles on top of her home town of San Francisco, and trying to say Euna’s name as carefully as she could seemed to only butcher it all the more. “Or just Euna.” She glanced apologetically to the other girl. “Sorry, I thought I’d give it a whirl. Any way, we’re heading up to check the glumbumbles up there. Like a hike. Want to come with us?”
Well, it would have been obvious to her that he did since he asked to join, but Adelita was too excited to pick up on the obvious.
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Adelita
Never!
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Adelita
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Eun Ae
January 27, 2009 12:30 PM
Join the hunt! by Eun Ae
Euna nodded, pleased with the easy agreement, and returned the smile. She made a total of two steps in the direction of the (hopefully) grumblebumbles when stopped. She recognized the boy- he was a house mate of hers after all. Juri, she remembered was his name. She tried to shrug off the slight pang when it seemed clear that he didn’t return the recognition. She supposed she did rather blend in. Most of her free hours were spent in her dorm room or the Gardens; she wasn’t one for lounging in the Aladren common room, or joining unfamiliar groups in the Cascade Hall during meal times. For the most part, she ate with her brother and his friends, or on her own. Beyond her ethnicity, there wasn’t anything terribly noticeable about her.“Ah, no, you did just fine,” Euna reassured once Lita had finished with the introductions, nodding in confirmation of the direction. “And please, just Euna,” she told her housemate, not quite lifting her eyes, and then hesitantly: “You’re Juri, right? We’re in Aladren together.”
Without realizing it, she moved to the take the lead, her feet comfortable with directing themselves through pathless ways. Key Largo was the largest of the Florida Keys, but at 33 miles long, it made for few thoroughfares beyond the main highway that connected the Keys. There were no buses for school, most bike paths ended abruptly, and outside of the nature trails, it was an open canvas. She stepped over a small hedge made up of ferns and exposed tree roots and then paused, peering into the shaded sunlight. There was the faintest remnants of dampness in the earth and cautiously, she placed her foot down, wincing as her sturdy mary janes immediately sunk a good inch into the ground.
“We’ve got mud,” she announced, regretting rather earnestly having used her shoe to test the ground. She still wasn’t sure why, when so far from her mother’s eyes, she continued to wear the uniform of her elementary school days: starched skirts, opaque stockings or knee socks, collared blouses, and stuffy sweaters. The one pair of tennis shoes she owned had only been worn once since arriving at Sonora back at the beginning of the year, and that was only because Min Ae had stolen her mary janes over breakfast and hidden them.
“It should be okay if we stand on the tree roots,” she suggested, eyeing the expansive web that wove through the underbrush. It reminded her of pictures she had seen of the circulatory system, the many veins and arteries that wound through the body. “We might see a clabbert in here; they have webbed feet, right? So maybe they like the damp?”
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Eun Ae
Join the hunt!
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Eun Ae
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Juri
March 07, 2009 2:05 PM
Joining incredibly late by Juri
OOC: Sorry for the late reply. Real life and all that.BIC:
Relief washed through Juri as the girls accepted him easily enough into their group. He wasn’t sure why he had been worried about it at all. He had been friends with everyone in his class at school, so why should now be any different? But then it was different. He had known his friends back home since the first day of kindergarten if not before. Here it was an entirely new world with entirely new people, ones that may not be so accepting of him, which brought about a memory of the Executioner’s family.
She had a sister who had two kids around his age and when he had met them, they had looked at him like he was some sort of freak, especially Angela, the older of the two. Of course, this might have had something to do with the fact that odd things seemed to happen when he was around, which he didn’t even understand himself since it was before he knew he was magical. As for the younger, Brian seemed fairly oblivious to what was going on around him other than to take the lead from his sister.
At the time, Juri hadn’t put much stock into what they thought. He had his group of friends, ones that liked him and didn’t think weird things occurred because of him. But now, being separated from all of that, it was like taking away the one security he had ever known and leaving him on slightly unsure footing. Luckily, he was a relaxed enough person that his unsure footing didn’t do something horrible like leaving him in paralyzing fear. No, it merely left him with a mild nervousness that probably most felt around someone new.
Of course, he couldn’t quite be sure of that with the girl that had introduced herself as Adelita. She seemed excitable and talkative. She reminded him of his best friend, Seth. He was always full of energy, always bouncing, always keeping Juri grounded to the world outside his thoughts. And then there was Euna. He wasn’t surprised to learn that they were in the same House, merely because he didn’t have a clue to anyone that was in his House other than his roommates, a price for not paying attention, he supposed.
He liked her immediately though. She had a sort of quiet way about her that felt akin. Though, he was a little surprised when she started leading them. He would have thought that leading would have fallen more to Adelita, but Euna could always be one of those strong, but silent types, even if she were a girl. He was happy enough to allow her to do so. He had been raised on pathways of concrete, each place having a set destination, an address. He wasn’t used to the expanse of nature having only been limited to parks.
Juri’s blonde head tilted in thought at Euna’s mention that clabberts might like the damp before smiling a bit. It was very reasonable to think. Most muggle creatures that had webbed feet like ducks and frogs liked the damp. To get a better view of the creature they were seeking, he agilely hopped up onto one of the larger roots, barely making a sound. His hand placed on the trunk of the tree for balance. “I read that their head flashes scarlet when they feel in danger so we should be careful about posing a threat,” he said, hoping not to see any red as he looked around.
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Juri
Joining incredibly late
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Juri
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Lita
March 12, 2009 9:59 PM
So long as you joined! ^_^ by Lita
Adelita tried to hide the smile on her face when Euna assured her that she had done a good job with pronouncing her name. But, even Adelita knew she was failing at it. She loved getting praised. Even if she knew that she hadn’t done her best or someone was only humoring her. It was the thought that counted. At least, to Adelita. It showed that they were paying attention to her, even if only a little bit.“Oh, I’m grouped with Aladrens.” Adelita commented mainly to herself. “We’ll totally get this lesson then.” She hopped along happily behind Euna, allowing the other girl to do the leading as she figured Euna knew where she was going. She was, after all, in the smart house. Her feet led her gracefully over the terrain as they walked. Her body usually always moved fluidly, a product of her dancing probably. She stopped though, when Euna announced that there was mud.
A frown formed on her full lips while her eyes glanced at the land before her. She knew it was all magic and not real, but she didn’t know if when she left this room, the mud would leave her shoes too. It seemed reasonable to think that the mud would disappear the moment she stepped back into the real school, but Adelita hated getting dirty. Fake or not, mud was never attractive. She blamed her mom for that. Her mom hated it when they made any sort of mess in the house. It wasn’t as if Lita hadn’t ever gotten dirty, she just preferred not to.
“Aren’t Clabberts tree creatures?” Lita asked them. She had heard things about Clabberts and people getting in trouble for them. Her family was full of lawyers, so she was always hearing the gossip about who got in trouble for what. For some reason, Clabberts came to mind. But, she wasn’t about to act like she knew what she was talking about. “It’s sort of weird, isn’t it? That they have webbed feet like those who swim, but hang out in trees. It seems a little wrong, doesn’t it?” Adelita asked her two partners. “To have something special liked webbed feet designed to be the best swimmer and instead, climb trees.”
Her feet touched each tree root gently before guiding themselves to the next one. Her father had been quite ecstatic when Jorge was born. Lita and Dulce weren’t the rough and tumble type girls, nor were they alike in any way. Their father always took them on the trails when they stayed at the country house in Spain and though both girls loved the hike that was about as much as they would do. Lita was a true girly girl in all that she did. She loved pink. She loved cute little fuzzy things. She loved giggling and gossiping. She loved dancing. Dulce didn’t like pink, she didn’t care for fuzzy little things, and she rarely laughed. But she wasn’t a tomboy either. She was merely quiet and detached. She lost herself in her music and in her day dreams. But now that Jorge was around, their dad had someone else to play with.
“Oh, I see cards!” Adelita declared, spotting a nice bright blue not far ahead. “I think we found one!”
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Lita
So long as you joined! ^_^
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Lita
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