Professor Fawcett

June 17, 2011 10:40 PM
Feeling not unlike an over-tall, angular nanny, John didn’t so much lead the first and second years to the corridor outside of the Cascade Hall as he shepherded them. Walking behind them was not, after all, precisely an option when he wasn’t sure if even the second years knew where they were going, but walking in front of a group of eleven and twelve year olds, especially when the former were likely to be in an exploratory mood, was suicide, so he was forced to move much more than they did to keep everyone in his sights and moving in the same direction at the same time.

Finally, however, they reached the portrait of another old professor, this one with a quill in hand and a large book open in front of him, in which he kept up with the points. John nodded to him. “Good afternoon, Professor Mims,” he said. Even if he had been inclined to call the painting, which had been old when he was a student, ‘Tavarius,’ there were the students and their perceptions to consider. “I believe we have an appointment.”

Behind the portrait was a colorful vortex, normally hidden from student view. “Do not be alarmed by this,” he said. “Simply walk through it as though it were a door.”

Another complication of this was wondering whether he should lead the students in, to ensure they did not get into trouble on the other side, or hang back to make sure they all went through. “Take it in groups,” he added, to hurry them up, and, today, waited a bit, as there was no actual danger. Muggle teachers he knew would have sold him pieces of their souls to have a way to simulate reality without any danger so well. “Please gather quietly in the clearing, and don’t wander.”

He followed on the heels of the last ones and did a quick head count. “Very good,” he said once he was done and had called back one boy who hadn’t been quite in line. It was possible, however, that some of the students agreed about just how good it was.

They were all standing in the middle of a clearing in the woods – or so it seemed. He gestured to the environment and said, “We are not, despite what your eyes tell you, outside the school. This is the Mirage Chamber. Nothing here is real, and you cannot be harmed. Not even by the poison ivy.” He thought it might be possible to tweak the charms a bit and make them feel something if they touched it, at least within the duration of the spell, but had seen no need for that; it was a purely academic interest that made him ponder the point. He held out another set of papers to one student. “Take one and pass the stack,” he instructed.

On each sheet was a row of pictures, mostly of plants – asphodel, several varieties of tree, rosemary, and so on – but also of flobberworms and glumbumbles. “Your assignment for the day is a sort of scavenger hunt,” he said. “You will travel this area and locate an example of each item on your lists, identify it, and note where you found it. Your homework is to look up and write down the names of at least three potions which use the item or a derivive of it. Feel free to work together. A tone will sound when I wish for you to come back together here before the end of class, and a path will light up for you to follow back. You may begin.”

OOC: And now you have Part II. Feel free to fill in the ‘varieties of tree’ and ‘so on’ spaces in addition to what I gave you. The site posting rules – a post length of at least two hundred words, with good spelling and grammar – must be followed for posts to receive credit. Have fun!
Subthreads:
0 Professor Fawcett Beginners Lesson I, Part II 0 Professor Fawcett 1 5


Arnold Carey

July 02, 2011 10:14 PM
After the Stork Presentation Incident very early in his school career, Arnold had never been quite sure what Professor Fawcett thought of him, and had never been too sure what he thought of Professor Fawcett. Though obviously much younger, the professor reminded him a little of the Fourth: a smiling, slightly absent-minded enigma who appeared basically friendly, either as a harmless little old man or as a harmless academic, but could turn on you at any time. The analogy even fit in neatly with the way the Houses were supposed to be their families while they were at school, only slightly complicated by Arnold having actual family outside of Aladren. Jane was, after all, only very distantly related, and they hadn’t been brought up together the way she and Edmond had. He didn’t think he’d ever even spoken to her, really. Arthur had delivered their condolences on her mother’s death.

So far, though, Fawcett had proven to be a benign dictator. Sometimes the class was more academic than he liked, but he found ways to have fun with it, and sometimes, they even did things that were pretty good in and of themselves. When he told them they were leaving the classroom, though, Arnold regarded it with caution. On one hand, they could be about to do something interesting, but on the other, they could be going to the library. He had no hatred of the library, he thought it was a blood incapability of even errant Aladrens like him, but nor did he love it with the passion he’d seen in so many of his Housemates, including his own brother.

Ending up in front of Professor Mims confused him, since he couldn’t see what a dead Arithmancy teacher had to do with anything, but then the picture swung away from the wall. He had to admit that was cool. Going through just behind Arthur, he was even more impressed to end up in what looked an awful lot more like the sort of woods you’d find back home than anywhere near Arizona. The Gardens were the same way, but he was willing to bet, now, that they were still inside, since there was no point in having a secret door to the outside behind Professor Mims when, well, there were plenty of normal doors out.

He resisted, though, the temptation to wander and soon had things explained to him. The homework conjured up images of lots of time flipping through at least one book if he couldn’t get Arthur to do it for him, which he almost never could, but what they were doing was okay.

He began to look for Fae, thinking this would fall more or less under his obligations when class took them outdoors, but she was walking off on her own for some reason. He blinked, a little…confused, he guessed, though that wasn’t the exact word, and then looked for Kitty, who was talking to another first year. Arthur was talking to one, too. It looked like he was on his own.

His jaw set. Well, fine, then. He could manage without them. No problem. He walked off into the trees, passing two of the things he was supposed to be looking for before he began to pay attention to his surroundings and found some asphodel.
0 Arnold Carey Here at last 181 Arnold Carey 0 5

Jhonice Trevear

July 04, 2011 11:32 AM
Jhonice was excited for her first potions class. Not because it was potions, but for the same reason she was excited for all of her classes, to see who would be in it with her. She arrived early and picked a sear near to the back of the classroom, this was simply so she'd have a better view of the door, or rather the people walking though the door, and then the places they sat and who they sat with and what they were doing while in class... etc. Classes were a great learning experience. If she was lucky, she may even pick up something about making potions as well.

The professor started talking and passed out papers once everyone had been seated, she glanced at the papers very briefly then went back to her people watching. There were definitely some interesting people to watch in this class. Suddenly everyone starting standing up and walking for the door, the professor seemed to be herding them that direction, so they weren't dismissed already. That would have been a short class. She decided she'd better get up and follow suit, this may be an excellent time to 'mingle.' Unfortunately she got caught walking near to some of her less 'interesting' classmates, and by the time she had worked her way though the crowd they were standing in the Cascade Hall. What in the world were they doing here? They just had lunch not long ago.. now what?

Once the portal behind the portrait of the really old guy was revealed, her attention was riveted. What was that? Where did it go? The professor started sending the students through, claiming it was safe. Excellent, she would find out. Andrew never said anything about a portal in the Hall, did he even know about it? Ha! She'd know something about the school that he didn't! Awesome!

She hopped though and looked around the forest setting. This was cool, she had also landed next to someone 'interesting.' One of the Carey boys. Excellent. She wasn't sure which was which yet, was this one Arnold or Arthur? She would find out. She was handed a piece of paper and didn't bother to look at it. The professor had said something about wandering around now, a scavenger hunt? Hmm... people spread out, forest setting, this could be perfect. She waited just a few moments. The Carey boy looked around at a few of the other classmates, then seemed to set off on his own. Awesome! Jhonice pulled out her note book and started taking notes as she followed the boy, attempting to be discrete.

[Blank] Carey (she'd have to fill in the first name once she figured out which one he was)
Independent - he headed out on his own to complete the class assignment
Perceptive - he spotted the an item on his list of the class assignment very quickly (will have to be careful)

2 Jhonice Trevear as am I, following closely 209 Jhonice Trevear 0 5


Arnold

July 04, 2011 3:30 PM
It didn't take Arnold very long to realize that going off on his own was perhaps not the best idea he'd ever had. He was completely surrounded by green stuff, most of which didn't look the same to him, he could see, but didn't look particularly like anything, either, and was abundant enough that his eyes kept slipping from one thing to the next without taking in everything in the middle. That wasn't too good when he was supposed to be looking for specific green things for the hardest professor in the school.

He should have interrupted Arthur and the first year, was what he should have done. There had been no rule saying they couldn't go as three instead of two, and the girl, not Arnold, would have quickly become the tagalong. Sure, he would have arrived to the arrangement third, but he and Arthur were twins. Half their cousins mistook a good grasp of each other's expressions and a mutual shorthand and set of phrases they didn't much use with others, combined with Arthur's habit of beginning conversations in the middle after following some line of thought not immediately apparent to others for a while and Arnold's habit of just going along with him when he did this, for some kind of telepathic bond. The only problems would have been...

...Would have been that Arthur could be insufferable, irritable and prone to lecturing,  when he thought Arnold was using him to get out of work, of course, and that he wouldn't have wanted people thinking he had no choice but to always tag along with his brother, an odd fellow whose clothes were always perfectly - in contrast with Arnold's loosened tie, lack of a jacket, and, under the robes, unfastened and rolled back shirtsleeves; he had been writing earlier, and had a way of ending up with ink on his sleeves if he didn't do that  - proper and in order, and whose glasses, now that Mother forced him to wear them, were the little, old-fashioned kind, and who was a second year who'd already claimed a library table as his own, where he forced Arnold to join him for hours every Saturday to do all their homework, even things over lessons they hadn't had yet if they knew they were coming. He'd look stupid and unsociable following Arthur with some first year girl in tow. Better to fail with a little dignity and make it up on the homework. 

Once the asphodel was recorded as well as he could manage, Arnold looked around, wondering which way he was supposed to go next, and spotted a girl a little way behind him, writing something. Behind his position, in a spot, if he hadn't totally lost his sense of direction in here, he'd already passed. Typical. "I missed something, didn't I?" he asked. "Asphodel's here if you haven't seen it somewhere else yet."
0 Arnold I see that 181 Arnold 0 5

Jhonice

July 06, 2011 7:20 PM
Who was he talking to? Jhonice looked around, but didn't see anyone other than him in the area. Was he talking to himself? She had heard that really smart people do that; she had also heard that crazy people do it as well, but he was a Carey so that couldn't be true. From her research she had found out that the Careys were a very traditional pureblood family, so naturally he must have been taught how to behave properly in social situations. She was fairly certain that 'crazy' was not proper social behavior. So it only logically followed that he must be really smart. She made a note in her notebook to that effect.

She looked up from her notes to see what he was doing next, it was strange, he seemed to be looking her direction. That was strange, was his brother behind her? No, she had looked just moments ago. Peculiar, what was he looking at? A sudden thought struck her, could it be? Was he? No... She fumbled around just a moment for that paper that the professor had handed out after they arrived in the forest. He had said something about Asphodel, and there it was on the list. She didn't have to scan the rest of the list to far to find Bubotubers, and she was standing in a small patch of them. That was what he was after, and now he might be on to her, she should get out of here now, flee, run! This was becoming to risky, but... she glanced around her feet again. How had she gotten in here without setting any of them off? These things were filled with horrible smelling puss. She was trapped!
2 Jhonice You do? Uh-oh 209 Jhonice 0 5


Arnold

July 06, 2011 8:46 PM
How he’d missed a nest of bubotubers, Arnold didn’t know, but a closer look back in the direction he’d come from revealed that he’d done just that. Stupid walking off on his own, without someone who paid attention and pretty much listed school as their main life interest around to make sure he didn’t do stupid things, like completely overlook what was right in front of him…He rubbed his eye irritably, then realized that not only had he overlooked the bubotubers themselves, he’d failed to notice that they had a girl in the middle of them.

Well, that wasn’t good.

He went back, half wanting to just record their location and get out of there before she set the things off – it was comforting, in a way, to think that he could never be quite at the bottom as long as there were non-Aladren firsties running around; they could beat him for not knowing quite what was going on or how to avoid pitfalls on any day – but knowing he really couldn’t. Maybe some people didn’t do it right, they did things they weren’t supposed to, but there were Rules.

“Look on the bright side,” he suggested when he drew level with her. Yes, definitely a first year. “You found one of the things on the list.” Easier said, he’d discovered, than done. Fawcett could have been from one of the disreputable lines of the family, to make it look like he was giving them an easy day because they’d just come back from their holidays and then it really turn out to be this. “Do you need a hand out?” he offered. It might be just possible for her to step back out the way she’d gotten in, whatever that was, but it would be least likely to set off the stupid things with a long step, which might require such assistance.
0 Arnold 'Uh-oh' sounds about right 181 Arnold 0 5

Jhonice

July 07, 2011 8:15 PM
Jhonice had to face facts, she was going to have to change tactics. The Carey boy had come right up to her and spoke to her directly, not only that, he had even offered to help her. Her stealth approach wasn't working. He had spotted her. She was going to have to try something else. She would have to interact directly with him. She was a little unsure in this approach, her previous attempts at it with some of the other interesting people in the school hadn't gone very well. She had little choice at this point.

On the plus side, he had actually offered to help her. He was very nice, and brave and heroic, she'd have to write that down.... once he wasn't looking. She had noticed that the interesting people didn't seem to like her scribbling notes about them in her journal while they were around. That was another reason the stealth approach worked so well. She didn't have to remember as many things, she could just write them down. Maybe she could work out some system of making those notes while working on the class assignment. First things first though.

She smiled widely at the Carey boy. "Thank-you so much!" she said as she accepted his help and cautiously stepped out of the bubotuber patch. She only jostled one in the process, she held her breath but it only swayed gently then calmed down again. Now, he was a Carey, they were brought up with all sorts of manners and such, if she was to talk to him, she'd have to 'speak the lingo' so to say. She bowed slightly to him once she was clear of the patch, "I'm sorry to be a bother. Thank-you so much for your assistance, I don't know what I would have done." Now what information could she get using this tactic... "Oh, my name is Jhonice, Jhonice Trevear."
2 Jhonice You have no idea 209 Jhonice 0 5


Arnold

July 07, 2011 9:25 PM
For a minute, it looked like they were going to be in trouble when her foot grazed one of the bubotubers, but then it worked out anyway. Arnold felt almost as relieved as he imagined the girl did at the escape. He could have jumped further out of the way of the mess than she could have because he was further from it, but it still wouldn’t be pleasant to land on his back, possibly on rocks, definitely on something hard. Just because he voluntarily played Seeker and caught a lot of Bludgers, accepting the pain, didn’t mean he liked crashing into things.

He thought, anyway. It was rational to not like crashing into things. And while it could be a little exhilarating in the moment…well, that didn’t account for the after-the-moment, and he was spending way too much time talking to Coach Pierce at school. That wasn’t good.

“It’s not a bother,” Arnold assured her. It wasn’t really. Professor Fawcett would no doubt have used a cleaning spell before sending them back into the school, or something, but it might not have taken out all of the smell. That would be bad. “It was bad to be stuck there.”

She said her name, an unusual one. He kind of liked it. It sounded, especially the last name, like something out of one of those old books – medieval stuff and all – that Arthur sometimes asked him to read aloud while Arthur was sick. “Pleased to meet you,” he said. “I’m Arnold Carey.”

He glanced back at the bubotubers. “Now, writing this down…I guess I just walked right past it the first time.” He scribbled a few notes onto his worksheet. “Did you get anything else going back that way?” he asked, waving his hand in the direction from which he knew he had and was pretty sure she had come. “I walked right past these, guess I wasn’t paying attention.”
0 Arnold I might have if you'd stepped on that 181 Arnold 0 5

Jhonice

July 09, 2011 4:25 PM
Arnold! This one was Arnold, which meant the other one had to be Arthur... unless there were actually triplets, and not just twins. She knew there was some sort of strife around the 'twins.' It messed up their lineage or something, she'd have to look into it more. Her mother would know about it. If that were true however, the family would probably have tried to cover it up. Lineage was everything, therefore it was only logical to assume that if the family claimed that there were twins, it was because there already was a cover up going on. The only logical thing was that instead there had actually been triplets. Where was the third one though? Maybe he was in hiding... maybe they all rotated in and out, taking turns, swapping names just to try and keep things looking 'normal.' She would have to investigate.

She would have to start here with 'Arnold'. Then she would have to talk with 'Arthur' later. Yes. First, 'Arnold'. She kept smiling at the boy. "It was a rather bad spot, I'm not even sure how I got into that patch." She should probably scribble down a few notes for class as well. That would make her look more inconspicuous. She tucked away the notebook she had been writing in and began to scribble in her class notes. "I didn't see anything else as I walked over here. Maybe we should try out that direction a little farther." She pointed out away from the rest of the class. If she was going to test her theory she would have to separate 'Arnold' and 'Arthur' as much as possible.
2 Jhonice Living on the edge has its price 209 Jhonice 0 5


Arnold

July 12, 2011 5:44 PM
“Sometimes things just happen,” Arnold said when Miss Trevear said she didn’t even know how she’d ended up where she was. “And this is school magic, so…” He searched for a way to end that sentence, since it had begun without him knowing all the way where it was going. “Maybe, if you miss something, it appears around you.”

His guess didn’t quite work, since he had been as oblivious to the bubotubers as Jhonice, but maybe she would miss that part. Merlin knew most potions ingredients weren’t things the average person would want to step in, so maybe that happened at random with some of the worse ones, to give them a little start if they weren’t paying close enough attention. He hoped he could remember that long enough to pay attention and not end up in the middle of something through the rest of the game.

Or whatever it was. Now that he thought about it, Professor Fawcett hadn’t mentioned any prizes for winning, or even the idea of winning in the first place. It might just be an activity. Either way, though, he was going to pay attention. It all sounded really complicated, like the papers would have to be charmed to know which ones they’d seen if there was more than one of anything so they didn’t get attacked by something they’d already seen, but who knew. Maybe Fawcett was feeling complicated today.

He was momentarily curious about why she put one notebook away and started in another, but was then distracted by her suggestion that they go out farther in search of items on the list. “All right,” he said, guessing they were working together now.

“You’re a first year, right?” he asked, since it was awkward to just walk along with someone without saying anything, as he looked around for things that looked familiar. “I’m second. Dandelion.” He realized this last word sounded a little out of place. “Sorry – I mean, I think that’s a dandelion. Grandmother rants about them….” Grandmother was very particular about her gardens. No dandelions allowed in the public sections. “Sorry to interrupt you.”
0 Arnold Very true 181 Arnold 0 5

Jhonice

July 26, 2011 11:17 AM
Jhonice thought about Arnold's suggestion for a moment. "You may be right there. Whatever this area actually is, we are still inside the school, so all of this," she gestured around at their surroundings with her hands, "is magically generated. That means it could just change whenever. The professor could be doing it as well I guess. I wonder how much control there is over this area?"

"Yup, first year." She smiled at him as they walked, "but I've got an older cousin here who's been telling me all about it." Okay, that was a slight exaggeration. Andrew didn't really talk much about school when she got to see him, despite her efforts to get information out of him. She had learned some from him, and it sounded better than just being a know-nothing firstie. It did however give her the chance to ask plenty of questions. She was about ready to let loose with them, when he brought up family. Oooo... there she had some real questions.

Start subtle, don't lose him now. She looked at the flower he had indicated, "Yeah, that looks like a dandelion to me. Your grandmother rants about them? Is that because she likes them or because she doesn't? What is she like? My only grandparents are over in Europe and I don't get to see them very much."
2 Jhonice It really is. 209 Jhonice 0 5


Arnold

July 26, 2011 8:39 PM
Arnold smiled automatically, almost fondly, when Miss Trevear began to speculate about their surroundings and how much control Professor Fawcett had over the room because of how her manner reminded him of his mother. “It’s probably all in some old book somewhere in the library,” he said, thinking that Arthur had probably read that book, too. Both of their parents were well-read, too, though Arnold thought Arthur got it more from Mother than from Father. Mother had often said many things in her life would have been more comfortable if she were not so very curious about so many things. Father had once joked that she’d only married into the Careys in order to study them.

He nodded when Jhonice said she had a cousin who told her about Sonora. “That must have been helpful,” he said. Edmond and Jane had both been here years before Arnold and Arthur, but they weren’t close kin, and he didn’t even really know Jane in passing, as he did Edmond. Edmond’s real sister had turned up at their letter party, but even Arthur wasn’t crazy enough to corner Morgaine Carey just to ask her things about a school she’d left three or four years before that day. There hadn’t been, as there was for his cousins, someone to interrogate about the workings of the school.

He was pleased to discover he was right about it being a dandelion, though he hoped he hadn’t lost all credibility by admitting to knowing about a flower….looking thing. “Grandmother’s all right,” he said in response to her question. “She’s the heir’s wife, so she’s very busy, but she says it’s important to keep an eye on your own house, and dandelions don’t go in the formal gardens.” His tone betrayed some of his lack of comprehension of the world of women and the mysterious rites and customs they had, but also his acceptance that his grandmother was, of course, right about this, even if he didn’t grasp the particulars or details or whys of the situation. Things simply were what they were, and if his grandparents didn’t think that dandelions belonged in the formal gardens, then they didn’t belong in the formal gardens. “Where in Europe are your grandparents?” he asked, thinking it was interesting that all four would be. His family had been in this country so long, no one, even the Fourth, remembered anything else.
0 Arnold It seems to be working at the moment, though 181 Arnold 0 5