Intermediate (Years 3/4) Lesson I: Rhapsodomancy on Faculty Room

Lysithea Dione

April 03, 2005 8:37 PM

Preparations by Lysithea Dione

Professor Dione looked around with a sense of satisfaction at the empty classroom. The third story room was bare with the exception of the desks scattered about the room and various shelves lining the walls. The red evening sun shone brilliantly through the glass doors that lead to a balcony, giving the room a fiery glow. Boxes were piled up in a corner of the room as well as her luggage. Pushing her luggage aside, she started unstacking the boxes, and unloading their contents.

Nearly two-thirds of the boxes were filled with books, and though book shelves lined two of the walls, she could not fit all the literature in her possession. Logically, most of her collection consisted of books on the planets and stars, but it did not end there. She had books on all magical subjects, and even had a few books by famous Muggle authors. With quick swishes of her willow wand, she summoned the books, and quickly sent them flying into the shelves. The books that did not fit into the shelves stayed in the boxes, which would eventually go into her office.

The boxes that were not filled with reading material were packed with various pictures, posters, and objects that had to do with the stars. Soon, her walls were plastered with pictures that were constantly revolving, twinkling, or zipping across their flat rectangular skies. With all of the animated astronomy posters covering the walls, it gave the impression that the classroom was not enclosed within walls, but was floating in the middle of space.

The remaining boxes that she had not touched were filled with one of her most prized possessions. The contents of these boxes were pieces of a scale model of the solar system. She gently raised them up to the ceiling with her wand, and the planets and stars automatically shifted into their appropriate places and orbits, and started moving about on their own. Each figure had its own glow, from the tiniest star to the Sun, which could be controlled with a slight flick from Dione's wand.

With some minor last touches, arranging the desks and placing telescopes out on the balcony, she was finally done with organizing the room the way she liked it. She swept the dust off of her plain black robes as her sapphire eyes scanned the room which had been empty a few hours prior. Proud of her work, she sat at her desk and started to plan out what she would teach the next morning...A professor's work was never done...

\n\n

0 Lysithea Dione Preparations 10 Lysithea Dione 0 5

Professor Lysithea Dione

April 18, 2005 10:59 PM

First Lesson by Professor Lysithea Dione

Professor Dione stood behind her desk at the front of the classroom, summoning various notes onto a chalkboard with her wand. It was her first teaching job; however, she was not nervous in the least. Nervousness was weakness in her opinion, a trait that she refused to have under the worst circumstances. Her third story room was strangely dark for a classroom that had access to one of the balconies. The sunlight only seemed to penetrate a small section of floor while the rest of the area was ruled over by shadow. The walls were not visible underneath the various star charts, diagrams, and posters. Planets went about their orbits across the walls while comets and asteroids zipped across on another poster nearby. Walls that were not covered in pictures were hidden by vast shelves filled with books, most of them on astronomy, but also containing just about every subject. The most astounding part of the room was the large, glowing model of the solar system floating in mid-air above the classroom. The planets rotated around the sun while comets streaked across the sky. Every once and a while, an asteroid would hit one of the celestial bodies, leaving a fireball and a crater in its wake. Tapping her wand against the palm of her hand impatiently as she watched the orbits of her mobile, she waited for students to arrive.

Though the weather was fairly warm, the professor's mien seemed to chill the air around her students. Her icy blue eyes looked over her students, trying to decipher who would be the troublemakers ahead of time. Her skin was strangely pale, but that might have been due to the fact that her plain black robes, as well as her shiny raven hair, which was always tied up in a low bun, only emphasized the paleness.

Rapping her wand against the board a few times, she waited until the quiet chatter about the room calmed before starting.

“Welcome, class. I will be your professor for the class of Astronomy. You will address me as Professor Dione. It is my belief that people are like the stars; some are bright, while others tend to be dim. If you have potential enough to be accepted into this school, I expect you all to shine brightly in this class. I will not tolerate any dimwits here.”

She paused, and after pointing her wand to the mobile, all motion stopped, leaving a clear view of all of the celestial bodies.

“We’ll be starting with the basics first, a quick overview of the solar system. For those who hope to pass this class, you might want to take a few notes. I teach the material, whether you succeed or fail is your problem. But first, let's see how much you know already. A bit of a pre-test, if you will. No, it will not be graded, but whoever gets the most questions correct might win a few house points. Number a piece of parchment from one to ten. Everyone ready? You may begin..."

With a flick of her wand, the board at the front of the room flipped over to reveal a list of ten questions, each dealing with something about the solar system:

1. Name the nine planets in order starting with the one closest to the sun.
2. Which is the smallest planet in our solar system? Which is the largest?
3. What shape are the planets' orbits?
4. Which planet has the hottest temperatures and why?
5. Name the Galilean moons and name which planet they orbit.
6. Which planet is known for the Great Red Spot?
7. True or False: The Sun is larger than all of the planets put together.
8. Most of Uranus' moons are named after characters of what famous Muggle playwright?
9. Name three differences between terrestrial planets and jovian planets.
10. What does it mean when a planet has a retrograde rotation?
Bonus: Who was the witch who studied the use of phases of the moon in potion making? Clue: She is on a Famous Wizard Card.

((NOTE: I am not looking for just the right answers here. I will also take into account the amount of effort put into the post. I will not accept a reply that just spouts the answers back. Also, I'm sure you've heard this over and over, but please, be in character while you do this. If your character struggles with a certain subject, or academics in general, show that in your replies. That's enough of my blabbing on. Have fun!))\n\n

0 Professor Lysithea Dione First Lesson 0 Professor Lysithea Dione 0 5

Robbie Bates

April 19, 2005 3:45 PM

My Very Excited Moose Jumps South Until Night Passes by Robbie Bates

Robbie walked into the room somberly. He thought that going to a magical school meant that the evils of science would be over! But alas, his science teacher was right; science was everywhere. Even in the magical world. Although, he had to admit that the room looked pretty cool. It reminded him of his room, in a way. Not by the model above his head, of course- which was cool, but the fact that the walls were covered in posters. Except, Robbie was no nerd, and his walls were covered with bands instead of astronomy diagrams. Which reminded him, his friends were going to a concert today to see one of Robbie's favorite bands without him. It was times like these he wished he was back in the muggle world.

Sitting in the front left corner of the room, Robbie was easily initimidated by the teacher's demeanor. Of course, Robbie was instinctively afraid of science teachers. But this one seemed particularly scary. He leaned back in the desk and folded his arms as he listened to the teacher talk. Something about bright stars and dimwits. Robbie had to admit he was a bit baffled. But then, the music playing on in his head wasn't much of a help either. He couldn't help it, he was easily distracted. And he liked music better than science anyway.

At some point, the teacher stopped talking, and Robbie looked at what was on the board. His face perked up- he knew this stuff! They had taught this in school last year! Not that Robbie had completely understood it all, or remembered it, but he had some idea what was going on.

Robbie proceeded to empty his book bag, which was almost as messy as his hair. Letting everything fall to the floor, he picked out some parchment and a pen. His mother, of course, had bought him some really good quills. But that didn't mean he was going to be using them. His handwriting was messy already, why factor in wet ink?

He wrote his name on the top of the page. It looked like a drunken spider had fallen into one of those ink pots and walked across the page. It was okay though, he could read it.

The first question wasn't hard, because Mrs. Tibbs, Robbie's former science teacher, had taught him a very good way of remembering the order, "My Very Excited Moose Jumps South Until Night Passes." Without realizing it, Robbie forgot to replace the words with the names of the planet. The first question now read "My Very Excited Moose Jumps South Until Night Passes."

The next question was harder. Robbie remembered Pluto was the smallest planet, and wrote that down. But he was always confused about whether Jupiter or Saturn was the largest planet. Using the precise process of Eenie-meenie-minie-mo, and a little intuition, he went with Jupiter.

The third question was also easy, the shape was an ellipse. He remembered because he had gotten this question wrong on a test, and Molly, queen of all nerds, had laughed at him. The fourth question he knew was Venus, but not why. Something to do with greenhouses. Were there greenhouses on Venus? No, that would mean there were people there, and people had only gone to the moon in 1969, the year "Sweet Caroline" was eleventh in the music charts. So he just wrote greenhouses.

Robbie held his paper up and looked back at his work, it now read:
Robbie Bates

1. My, Very, Excited, Moose, Jumps, South, Until, Night, Passes.
2. Pluto is the smallest planet. Jupiter is the largest planet.
3. Planets orbit the sun in an ellipse.
4. Venus is the hottest planet in the solar system. No people on Venus to make greenhouses. "Sweeet Caroline" number eleven on the music charts the year man went to the moon. Greenhouses.

"There, that wasn't so hard, was it?" he said, almost to himself.
\n\n

0 Robbie Bates My Very Excited Moose Jumps South Until Night Passes 0 Robbie Bates 0 5

Dalila Bastet

April 19, 2005 7:37 PM

the moon is in conjuction with polaris... by Dalila Bastet

Dalila sat in the directed middle of the Astronomy classroom, her head craning back to stare in awe at the rotating sloar system abover her head. She loved astronomy. It was one of the few things she truely excelled at. She brought herself back onto planet Earth as she heard the professor begin her lesson.

"Professor Dione...I have to remember that." she whispered to herself as she wrote the name on a scratch piece of parchment. "I'm horrible with people's names."

She jerked her head up from the paper as the board in front flipped over revealing ten questions in curling letters. "Good," she thought. "I can finish this quick and spend the rest of the time doing whatever I want."

She spent ten minutes writing fervorously on her parchment in her prefered ink color of deep orange, before finally brandishing her work with her signature swirl at the bottom and smiling at a job well done. There were many cross outs, ink splatters, and misspelled words, but tidiness was not Dalila's strong suit.

Dalila Bastet
Teppenpaw

1. ~~Pluto, Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Earth, Venus, Mercury~~ Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto

2. Pluto is the smallest, and Jupitor is the biggest.

3. ~~Eliptakle~~Eliptical

4. Venus because all of the acid clouds keep the heat on the surfice of the planet.

5. Io, Europa, Ganimede, and Callisto and they orbit Jupiter

6. Jupitor

7. True?

8. Shakespeare

9. Terrestial planets have ground and jovian planets don't.

10. ~~No clue~~It looks like it's going backwords.

Extra Credit ~ Hesper Starkey (She was my third cousin one removed)

After she finished her assignment, she let her eyes wander the room again. Her amber eyes seeking out familiar faces in the cool, darkened room, scoffing at the people who were staring stupidly at the questions on the board. "They're not that hard," she muttered to herself.
\n\n

0 Dalila Bastet the moon is in conjuction with polaris... 60 Dalila Bastet 0 5

Asher Tallow

April 19, 2005 10:55 PM

So, why again is cancer a crab? by Asher Tallow

Mars was immediately overhead, its red twirling body making her think of red hots and how they stained the teeth red. Asher shrunk down in her seat, crossing her arms over her desk and firmly planting her nose behind the crook of her elbow. With only her eyes and bangs overlooking the classroom, she watched as the professor stared down on her and the students. Professor Dione was her name, apparently, and she made Asher think of a picture of a banshee she once saw. Clothed all in black with pale skin, unworldly eyes, and dark hair- she thought absently that given time, perhaps even this stoic command of procedure might change into a shrieking shade.

The asteroid belt just past Mars seemed to tremble for a moment, and Asher ducked her head farther behind her arms.

Astronomy was entirely new to her. Her primary school, the whole of which could have fit in this classroom, stuck to the general courses: science, pre-magic, social studies, math, english, and so on. She had learned a bit about the planets and space in fourth grade, mostly because in the March of that year there was a meteor shower and her school went on a field trip out to watch. But she barely knew anything as it was. All she had were books she might have read, and it felt kind of like cheating to depend on that.

Asher read over the list of questions that appeared on the board, and her mouth instantly dropped in shock. They were only eleven! How was she supposed to know any of that- well, without resorting to her fail safe? She peered over her arms and glanced surreptiously across the room. She could see that boy Robbie from the feast scrawling happily away in the northeastern corner of the classroom, and not too far away from where she sat another girl was writing furiously, looking especially pleased.

These were not good signs, no way, no how.

Asher bent her head down to find a piece of parchment from her satchel and then grabbed a worn quill as well. Her blotter and ink well were already anchored securely on the corner of her desk, a measure she always took when using the easily spilled stuff. With her cheek supported by her left palm, she began writing.

1: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupitor, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto.

My very energetic mom just sold us nine pizzas. She remembered that from class, but then, who couldn't remember such a silly thing? Plus, she liked pizza. Question two...well, obviously, the answer was right overhead. Asher glanced at the ceiling. First she counted from the planet closest to the sun, and then stopped when she got the name of the largest planet. Still counting backward, she found the smallest planet. Simple.

2: Jupitor's the largest, and Pluto is the smallest.

Number three...she bit down on the edge of her quill. Miss Ramble definitely hadn't taught this, but, on page 213 of A Journey Through Space, third paragraph down, it clearly said: ...the planets follow an elliptical orbit. She carefully wrote out that answer.

3: The planets follow an elliptical orbit.

The hottest planet: which was the hottest planet? She hadn't read anything about which planet was the hottest. She glanced overhead again. Mercury was closest to the sun, so wouldn't that make sense?

4: Mercury is the hottest planet because it's closest to the sun.

Question number five, now: the Galilean Moons. The answer was covered in pages 302-309 of A Journey Through Space. Down went that answer.

5: The Galilean moons are Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. They orbit Jupitor.

Half way done! Asher was surprised. Of course though, she was using her fail safe, but no way could normal kids know these answers. Besides, it wasn't like she could just shut her memory off. She read something and click! the snap shot was made. She liked to think of her memory as a photo album, and what were photo albums used for if not to remember?

6: Jupitor. (It is in the middle of your classroom, after all.)

She couldn't help adding that last part. Jeez, did the professor think they were complete idiots? There was a huge model right over their heads, after all.

7: Hard to tell from the model.

Asher bit back a snicker. Something told her she and Professor Dione might not get along very well. These were stupid questions anyway, she thought stubbornly as she read the next one. Professor Dione was probably one of those adults who liked lording their knowledge and age like they were things worthy to be worshipped over.

8: Walt Disney.

Question nine was fun; she could definitely answer that one. She laughed out right this time, the sound slightly muffled as it landed in her palm.

9: Terrestrial begins with a 't' and jovian does not. Terrestrial has eleven letters and jovian has only six. Terrestrial was half of ET's name and jovian's only used by my uncle when he sees something electronic.

Finally, the last one. Asher decided to ignore the bonus as she didn't rightly care what was on a stupid card or not. Retrograde rotation- she'd shoot that one out the water.

10: On page 1,459 of the Billing's Third Edition Dictionary, retrograde rotation is defined as: 'rotation in an opposite direction from the typical rotation within a system.'

Asher threw down her quill and pushed away her paper. She flipped her head over entirely and nestled her nose in the curve of her wrist. She hoped the rest of her classes weren't going to be this annoying.

"Stupid questions," she muttered under her breath, before resolutely shutting her eyes.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

0 Asher Tallow So, why again is cancer a crab? 1466 Asher Tallow 0 5

Laura Keaton

April 20, 2005 2:45 PM

My Very Excellent Mother Just Served Us Nineteen Pizzas by Laura Keaton

Laura knew the only thing about her that could possibly be construed as girly was her effort in school. She was a know-it-all, which had been part of the reason why she hadn’t had many friends in primary school. Although she usually didn’t mean too, she often had come off as demeaning to others by correcting people and always answering questions in class. Laura, however, couldn’t help it, she was a perfectionist and competitive. Grades, as far as Laura was concerned, were like a big contest, where the teacher acknowledged who had won by complimenting a paper, or announcing to the class that so and so had gotten the highest test score. Laura was quite used to being that person, and she had no desire to allow that to change at Sonora. Hence, she had read every text book during the summer, since she had nothing better to do in the Arizona heat. Plus, that meant she would have less reading homework to do while actually at Sonora, and that meant more free time, which translated into more time for Quidditch.

When Laura entered the astronomy classroom, the first thing she noticed was the huge, moving model of the solar system above her head. “Cool,” she mumbled as she spotted Asher and took the seat beside her friend. Asher didn’t seem so keen on the model, and kept looking up at it warily.

Laura’s attention was suddenly drawn to the professor, who, Laura immediately decided, was not a woman she wanted to cross. Laura could understand how, as an Astronomy Professor, this woman would have to be outside a lot at night; but jeez, didn’t she ever go out when the sun was shining? The woman introduced herself as Professor Dione, and expressed in a no nonsense way, that she expected to be called that, and only that. She then proceeded to inform the class that dimwits would not be tolerated, which Laura hoped meant that she would openly acknowledge the exceptionally bright students.

“We’ll be starting with the basics first, a quick overview of the solar system. For those who hope to pass this class, you might want to take a few notes. I teach the material, whether you succeed or fail is your problem. But first, let's see how much you know already. A bit of a pre-test, if you will. No, it will not be graded, but whoever gets the most questions correct might win a few house points. Number a piece of parchment from one to ten. Everyone ready? You may begin..."

Points! A contest! A competition! Now the stakes had been raised even higher; there were two competitions here for Laura to excel in. Exceedingly glad for the time spent reading that summer, as well as the short lesson on Astronomy she had learned at her Muggle school, Laura eagerly pulled out a piece of parchment, her ink, and a quill. Immediately she dipped the quill too far into the ink, blackening her finger tips. Wiping them impatiently on her robes, she tried again, a little less enthusiastically this time. Despite having a witch for a mother, she had mostly only used Muggle pencils and pens to write with.

Laura read question one and immediately recited in her head ‘My Very Excellent Mother Just Served Us Nineteen Pizzas’, as she wrote the names of the planets in their order. Moving on to the next question, Laura wrote out in a whole sentence, as she had always been taught to do, that Jupiter was the largest planet and Pluto was the smallest. So far, this pre-test seemed really easy. Laura had learned all this at her Muggle school. Question three was another simple one, and Laura remembered how they had learned about the planets’ orbits by pretending to be the planets themselves. However, questions four and five were a bit more difficult, and Laura had to stop and think back to what she had read during the summer. Without realizing it, she was thinking with the tip of her quill on her parchment, leaving a large, ugly ink splotch. This caused her to have to move down the parchment a bit to continue writing, leaving an awkward gap between question three and four. Question six and seven got easier again, but eight, nine, and ten required actual thought. Finally, Laura smiled as she scribbled down the answer to the bonus question. And her mother had told her that there was nothing good about chocolate, well, all those Chocolate Frogs and their cards had just nailed Laura a bonus point.

Leaning back in her seat, Laura looked contently down at her splotchy parchment and untidy hand writing. She had written a lot, but that was her usual style. Always give more than the teacher wanted, because sometimes you get bonus points for it.

1) The nine planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto.
2) Pluto is the smallest planet and Jupiter is the largest.
3) The planets’ orbits are elliptical.

4) Venus is the hottest planet because of its thick yellow clouds which act like the covering on a greenhouse, trapping the heat on the surface.
5) There are four Galilean moons: Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. They orbit the planet Jupiter.
6) The Great Red Spot can be found on Jupiter, and is a giant hurricane.
7) True
8) Uranus’ moons are named after Shakespeare’s characters.
9) There are many differences between the terrestrial and jovian planets. Three differences include density; the terrestrial planets are much more dense than the jovian plants: the presence of rings; the terrestrial planets do not have rings and the jovian planets do: and the number of moons; the terrestrial planets have only three moons between them, while the jovian planets have over forty moons.
10) Retrograde motion makes a planet appear it is moving backwards, and is caused by the faster orbits of the planets closer to the sun than the Earth.
Bonus: Hesper Starkey

Satisfied with her work, Laura turned over her parchment to prevent any wandering eyes from stealing her excellent answers, and waited for Professor Dione to collect the test.
\n\n

0 Laura Keaton My Very Excellent Mother Just Served Us Nineteen Pizzas 0 Laura Keaton 0 5

Gwenhwyfar Carey

April 20, 2005 7:29 PM

Spearshaker and other pretest errors... by Gwenhwyfar Carey

Gwen slipped into the Astronomy classroom as quietly as she could, heading for a seat close enough to the front to hear but far enough back to keep from standing out-a completely neutral seat, in other worlds. She had a feeling that her classes here wouldn't be like the ones with her tutors back home, and she thought it would be best to hang back a little until she could learn how things worked here.

She smiled at Laura and Asher briefly before turning her attention to Professor Dione, as the woman introduced herself. She wished she had seen her friends before she sat down so she could have joined one of them, but it was too late now. Professor Dione seemed strict and not the sort Gwen wanted to have a run-in of any kind with, now or ever. The Professor's black hair and clothing contrasted sharply with her pale face, and Gwen thought she meant every word she said in her speech, including the part about not tolerating dimwits.

It took all her training in the art of masking her feelings to keep from showing how shocked she was at the pop quiz. She had learned a little about Astronomy, but hardly enough to take a test, even if it wasn't to be graded. Her mother hadn't approved of her being taught such things, and her father saw it as a rather useless branch of magic. Still, she had to give it her all.

Writing down numbers 1-10 on a sheet of parchment in her neat hand, she read the first question and tried to remember all the stress-relieving breathing excersises she had ever been taught. She knew this one. She wasn't quite sure about the order of Jupiter and Saturn, but she thought it was about right. Question two.The smallest...that was Pluto, she always remembered it because of the name, and the largest...she was going to say Jupiter, though she thought she might be getting it mixed up with Saturn again...in the end, she was fairly sure she hadn't passed, but she had done all she could.

1.Mercury,Venus,Earth,Mars,Jupiter,Saturn,Uranus,Neptune,
Pluto

2.Smallest-Pluto. Largest-Jupiter

3.a circle

4.Mercury, closest to the sun

5.

6.Jupiter

7.True

8.Spearshaker

9.

10.It turns the wrong way

Bonus:Hesper Starkey

In the end, the only one she was really sure on was the bonus, and she only knew it from her Magical History lessons. She had no idea what number five or number nine were, and she had a feeling that she had gotten the playwright's name wrong-Muggle literature had been another subject her parents didn't want her instructed in. Still, the Professor had said it wouldn't be graded, so she would have to hope that she would be able to study enough to catch up.

\n\n

0 Gwenhwyfar Carey Spearshaker and other pretest errors... 63 Gwenhwyfar Carey 0 5

Earl Valentine

April 20, 2005 7:36 PM

Don't Feed the Excited Moose by Earl Valentine

Earl ran into Astronomy ten minutes late. He had completely forgotten that real classes were to taken as well as ones like flying. He crept over to the far side of the room, hoping to go unnoticed by the professor. He sat down as quietly as can be and took out a piece of parchment, a quill, and an ink pot. What he was supposed to be doing with them was unknown, but everyone seemed to be writing something.

He looked around the classroom. There were moving planet posters everywhere. For some reason they made him feel naseous. Butthe floating Solar System was pretty cool. He glanced next to him and grinned widely.

"Robbie...Hey Robbie! What're we doing?"\n\n

0 Earl Valentine Don't Feed the Excited Moose 67 Earl Valentine 0 5

Professor Dione

April 20, 2005 10:37 PM

That's why it's a pretest. Just to see what you know. by Professor Dione

She wandered to where Gwen Carey sat, her eyes scanning over what she had written. It wasn’t too bad. She had the basics, and even knew the playwright, though a bit off. Still worth partial credit, at least. An average paper, all in all.

Dione had to admit that she had not expected such results from some of the students. After all, they were still young, but as she often discovered, it wasn’t wise to underestimate youth. With a little studying, she would learn it all soon enough.

"A decent effort. Don't worry about what you weren't able to get. We will go over those in detail."\n\n

0 Professor Dione That's why it's a pretest. Just to see what you know. 0 Professor Dione 0 5

Professor Dione

April 20, 2005 10:44 PM

These Very Excellent Answers Just Earned You Some Points by Professor Dione

As she wandered about the class observing the progress of the students, she stopped to look over Laura Keaton’s parchment. Finally…a perfect score. She had even added information that she had not asked for. Very impressive. She had obviously studied previously before coming here, and was very confident with the material, signs of a hard worker.

It made her wonder how advanced this student's knowledge of Astronomy really was. The last thing she wanted was for her class to be boring to some students because it was too easy. Then again, if she made it too difficult, those who only knew the basics would suffer. Perhaps she could make a separate class for those with a better understanding. She would have to think on the matter a bit more before deciding.

“Yours is the first perfect paper I have seen so far. Five points to your house, Miss Keaton. Remarkable work.”
\n\n

0 Professor Dione These Very Excellent Answers Just Earned You Some Points 0 Professor Dione 0 5

Professor Dione

April 20, 2005 10:52 PM

Good question... by Professor Dione

Just as she was about to look over Asher’s paper, she heard her mutter something that set Dione off like a spark on a bundle of dry twigs: Stupid questions…

The last thing she needed was some smart-alecky student criticizing her teaching methods on her first day. Though she usually tried her best to keep her snide, sarcastic commentary to a minimum, but in this situation, it was like trying to stop a leak in a dam with a piece of chewing gum: not going to happen. She made no attempt at being subtle as she took Asher’s parchment, and looked it over, commenting in an icy tone just barely audible to the student in front of her.

“Stupid questions, Miss Tallow? Astonishing for you to say such a thing…especially since you only have six right. Perhaps it’s not the questions themselves, but the one answering them…”

After placing the paper in from of Asher with a satisfied smirk, she walked on to see how the other students were doing with the pretest.\n\n

0 Professor Dione Good question... 0 Professor Dione 0 5

Professor Dione

April 20, 2005 11:00 PM

Polaris being the North Star... by Professor Dione

She continued to view how well the students were dong, going from one to the other to look over their tests. After looking at Dalila Bastet, she was pleased to see that she had done better than the one she had looked at before. Some spelling errors and plenty of crossing out here and there, but those sort of things were insignificant as long as she knew the material.

She had been looking for a different answer for the fourth question, but just the fact that she knew Venus had acid clouds in its atmosphere was enough for credit. A bit more detail could have gone into her ninth answer, but overall, above expectations. She nodded in approval, and moved on.\n\n

0 Professor Dione Polaris being the North Star... 0 Professor Dione 0 5

Professor Dione

April 20, 2005 11:02 PM

How many mnemonic devices are there for this question? by Professor Dione

As the students scribbled down answers, Professor Dione walked silently around the desks, looking over at their current progress. Yes, some of the questions were tricky, perhaps a bit trivial, but how else was she to test how much they already knew? Obviously, they couldn’t start with star charts in broad daylight, and especially if the students didn’t have a background in the stars to begin with. It had its purpose; this would show not only how much one already knew about the solar system, but about the students themselves. It was astonishing how much someone could learn from a single piece of paper if analyzed thoroughly.

As her eye scanned over Robert Bate’s paper, it was difficult for her to keep a straight face. She had never heard of the planet “Moose” before. Of course, she knew of the many mnemonic devices used to remember the order of the planets, and that this was one of them…He just didn’t replace the planets where those words should be. Looking farther down, another thing caught her eye. He had Venus as the hottest planet, which was correct, but he wrote greenhouses as the reason. So close, yet so far…He wasn’t too bad, but it was easy to tell his mind was elsewhere.

“You might want to check your answer to number one, Mr. Bates…”
\n\n

0 Professor Dione How many mnemonic devices are there for this question? 0 Professor Dione 0 5

Professor Dione

April 20, 2005 11:04 PM

More like, don't be late to my class by Professor Dione

As she walked back towards her desk after looking over some of the pretests, she turned to the entrance of her room as she overheard the sound of hurrying footsteps followed by the appearance of a student. By the look of her icy eyes as they narrowed in annoyance, she was far from pleased.

Tardiness was inexcusable in her eyes, unless something physically inhibited said person from being on time. And seeing as there was nothing wrong with him and the fact that he gave no valid excuse as to why he was so late, she expected his excuse would not be one with such merit.

“Thank you for finally taking the time to show up. Answer the questions on the board to the best of your ability. And try your best not to be late again. Next time will result in a detention.”
\n\n

0 Professor Dione More like, don't be late to my class 0 Professor Dione 0 5

The Craven Twins

April 21, 2005 2:35 PM

It's all about Uranus.... by The Craven Twins

OOC - Once again, I apologise for the twins' lack of political correctness. I would never use the word ‘retard' (or ‘gay') as an insult, and apologise to anyone who this offends - I'm afraid my characters are narrow minded, because that is, sadly, realistic. And yes, misspellings/poor grammar is deliberate in the stuff that's their writing.
Professor, how is your character's name pronounced, so that the twins can come up with a pun with which to mock you behind your back? *sweet smile*

BIC
The twins had been slightly disappointed to learn that Astronomy, contrary to all logic, was taking place during the day. It would have provided a perfect excuse to wander around after curfew AND be late to next morning's classes. These elements of fun removed, they were regarding it with as much enthusiasm as any other class. Ie, verging on zero. Dione didn't do much to help their attitude. Her icy stare could have put out forest fires, so it was hardly going to do much for already dampened spirits.

"That's not fair," muttered Ash, as Dione said she wouldn't tolerate dimwits. "It's not Sorrel's fault she's retarded." Sorrel kicked him under the table. They were lurking in the back row, so chances were the professor couldn't hear them.

They shared a look of disgust at the word ‘pretest'. Ah well, if it wasn't graded, and was only a little ‘pop quiz' type thing, they didn't have to take it seriously, and could even work together. She hadn't said they couldn't talk, or that they had to work separately. The twins were very good at making more use of what wasn't said than what was.

They both stared at the questions on the board. They had been planning to answer ‘Uranus' to all of them, but the very nature of the questions meant they couldn't. Damn it. They probably would be able to glean a good proportion of the information from the displays around them, but what was the point when this was expendable? They may as well have some fun! They'd go to the effort of cheating when it was a real test.

The names ‘Ash' and ‘Sorrel' appeared at the top of the sheet of parchment. It was about the only thing on the test that was accurate, and taken seriously (the fact that there were two names, and it was therefore a collaborative effort, made the latter a moot point).

‘1. Name the nine planets in order starting with the one closest to the sun.'

The twins glanced at each other, each wearing a look of ‘are you thinking what I'm thinking?'

"Mercury now is the one..." mouthed Sorrel.

"... closest to the shining sun," mouthed Ash, and they lodged somewhere between a giggle and a grimace, as memories of the song they'd been made to sing in a primary school assembly came flooding back. It hadn't been pretty, for either Sorrel or their teacher, who had had the ten best behaved kids dressed as the sun and planets, and attempted to dress the rest of the class in large cardboard stars. This in itself would not have been a problem except, in spite of the fact that she should have known better, Miss Thompson had chosen to make the stars blue for the boys and pink for the girls. Sorrel had been having none of it, and had viciously stomped on and kicked her pink star across the room. The song, which was incredibly irritating, was now proving its educational value by circulating non stop around the twins' heads. They refused to use the information it yielded on principle. Instead, they took turns and came up with;

‘The Moon, Earth, Krypton, That one that Ford Prefect comes from, Vulcan, Alderaan, Wherever Mariella came from, URANUS The Planet of the Apes'

"Wasn't that just Earth all along?" whispered Sorrel.

"So?"

"Means we've got Earth twice, is all."

"Yeah... Cos the rest of it's serious."

"Alright, just saying it lacks creativity."

"Had to do one more than you... What've you got that's better."

"Painerium? The planet that Painer came off?" suggested Sorrel. ‘Painer' was their nickname for Professor Reiner.

"Change it if you want," shrugged Ash. Deciding that Dione would be more likely to understand what ‘Planet of the Apes' was (altough, if she was a Pureblood, many of their fine references might wind up going to waste) Sorrel decided to leave it.

‘2. Which is the smallest planet in our solar system? Which is the largest?'

'If specieses brain size is linked, Mariellas planet is the smallest. Uranus looks pretty big from where we're sat.'

The best thing was that that absolutely could refer to the diagrams or models. Both twins bit their lips as they tried not to laugh.

‘3. What shape are the planets' orbits?'

That one couldn't really be answered that stupidly, so the twins just wrote ‘oval'. It was round, they ‘knew', but there was no way they were putting anything right.

The next question of Which planet has the hottest temperatures and why? also posed a problem. Tempting as it was to write ‘Uranus' again, they didn't particularly want to call anyone's ‘uranus' hot.... They decided to go with 'Krypton.' ‘Why' posed something more of a problem, Ash eventually writing ‘Kryptonite burned Superman, even though he's meant to be real tough.'

"Geek," muttered Sorrel. Ash punched her in the arm.

"You're the one who wrote frickin' Alderaan down," he whispered.

"We're in a year with Oatmeal guy. It's impossible not to have heard of Alderaan."

"But you knew it was a planet."

"You wrote ‘Vulcan', freaking Trekkie..."

"That proves you know what show it's from..."

"Only cos your freaky Trekkie vibes must be zapping me or something."

"What the fricking Hell's a Galilean moon?"

"Huh?"

"Next question."

Sorrel gave a cough that sounded a lot like ‘geek' before turning her attention to it.

5. Name the Galilean moons and name which planet they orbit.

"Well... It just says to name them," she grinned, "It doesn't ask for their names. Just to name them. We can do that...."

‘Sorrel', she wrote, ever the egoist. Unsurprisingly, ‘Ash' followed. Along with ‘Bob, Fred, Jimbo.'. Deciding that that was enough moons, the twins added that they, of course, orbited around ‘Uranus.'

6. Which planet is known for the Great Red Spot?

‘There's a pretty big one on'- you guessed it -
‘Uranus'

7. True or False: The Sun is larger than all of the planets put together.

‘Nothing is as big as uranus.'

8. Most of Uranus' moons are named after characters of what famous Muggle playwright?

‘Mike Judge'. The reference to Bevis and BUTThead might well be lost, but it was funny to the twins.

9. Name three differences between terrestrial planets and jovian planets.

‘Terrestrial ones have "Extras" on. They have different names.'. At any other time, Sorrel would have awarded her brother a ‘well, duh' award, but the object of this test, as far as they were concerned, was to be as goofy as possible. ‘Flying saucer shaped space ships come from Terrestrial ones, whereas jovian ones are rocket shaped.'

It was hard, they had discovered, to take the piss of Astronomy without sounding somewhat of a sci-fi geek (wow... the lesson had actually taught them something). It was a lesser evil than being a geek by trying.

10. What does it mean when a planet has a retrograde rotation?

The twins exchanged a blank look. If you were going to take the piss of a question, it helped if you at least understood most of the main words.

"Retro is that thing that everyone calls all those old clothes and stuff..." said Ash uncertainly.

As they had nothing better to go with, they wrote:

‘It's life revolves around dated clothes, cos they're "back in fashion". Mariella's planets one.'

Bonus: Who was the witch who studied the use of phases of the moon in potion making? Clue: She is on a Famous Wizard Card.

They had eaten enough chocolate frogs that they should know this. It seemed less of a crime to recall something if it was taught to you by chocolate, but they had probably dismissed whoever's card as geeky and boring. Deciding that bonus questions were for utter geeks, rather than coming up with a random singer or crazy old witch to put down, the twins leant back, satisfied with a job extremely badly done. \n\n

0 The Craven Twins It's all about Uranus.... 0 The Craven Twins 0 5

Kaylie Brockert

April 21, 2005 6:36 PM

What I don't about astronomy could fill the universe by Kaylie Brockert

Kaylie rushed to Astronomy,plopping into a seat just as the wraith-like woman in front, who Kaylie presumed was the teacher, begant to speak.

“Welcome, class. I will be your professor for the class of Astronomy. You will address me as Professor Dione. It is my belief that people are like the stars; some are bright, while others tend to be dim. If you have potential enough to be accepted into this school, I expect you all to shine brightly in this class. I will not tolerate any dimwits here.”

Kaylie squirmed a bit. She had a tendency to be one of those dim bulbs. It wasn't that Kaylie was dumb,just a bit.....inattentive. (Well ok, she was entirely unobservant in anything school-related.)She certainly wasn't a teacher's dream.

Professor Dione announced that they'd have a quiz and Kaylie cringed as the questions appeared on the board. She knew virtually nothing about astronomy. Kaylie sloppily scribbled them down,

1. Name the nine planets in order starting with the one closest to the sun.

Well this, she knew. Kaylie wrote,

Mercury,Venus,Earth,Mars,Jupiter,Saturn,Uranus,Neptune,and Pluto.

2. Which is the smallest planet in our solar system? Which is the largest? Mercury, and Jupiter.
3. What shape are the planets' orbits? Round.
4. Which planet has the hottest temperatures and why? Mercury, It's closest to the sun.
5. Name the Galilean moons and name which planet they orbit.

Kaylie had no idea what a Galiean Moon even was let alone their names or the planet they orbited.

She scribbled down,
I think they orbit Neptune or Pluto.

She had no idea what their names were so she guessed,

And their names are, Gal, Il, Ean.

6. Which planet is known for the Great Red Spot?

Let's see, Kaylie reasoned, it wasn't Mars, that was all red not just one spot....Mercury was the hottest, that would probably make it red. That must have been the hottest place on it so Kaylie wrote down Mercury.

7. True or False: The Sun is larger than all of the planets put together. True

(Kaylie loved true or false, she always had a 50-50 chance of getting it right.)

8. Most of Uranus' moons are named after characters of what famous Muggle playwright?

Gah! Kaylie didn't know anything about Muggle playwrights. Not only was she a pureblood but she didn't read much.

Adam would know, her little brother read all the time. But Kaylie would have to take a wild guess.

Monty Python?

9. Name three differences between terrestrial planets and jovian planets.

Oh,Merlin,did she ever need her brother's help! Kaylie didn't know what those were either. Let's see, she thought, jovian meant happy.

Well, the jovian planets are happier places than the other ones which have more terror. The terrestial ones have all the monsters, thats why they are less happy. The terrestial planets are in the Milky Way, (Kaylie knew that was the galaxy she was in and she figured she'd try to save herself a bit by showing the little knowledge she had.) and the jovial planets are in the Juicy Path Galaxy.

10. What does it mean when a planet has a retrograde rotation? Its going really really fast.

Bonus: Who was the witch who studied the use of phases of the moon in potion making? Clue: She is on a Famous Wizard Card

Starsky?

Kaylie turned her paper in,blushing. She knew most of her answers were probably wrong...
\n\n

11 Kaylie Brockert What I don't about astronomy could fill the universe 43 Kaylie Brockert 0 5

Earl

April 21, 2005 6:41 PM

even more like, don't get caught by Earl

Earl grimaced as the teacher reprmanded him. So he hadn't gotten away with it. At least she was only giving a warning this time. And she said something about a board with questions...

His eyes scanned the dimmly lit room till he found the board almost hidden in the shadows. How was anyone supposed to see that? He shrugged and wrote his name at the top of the paper before actually looking at the questions.

"Hmm...the nine planets...that's easy." he whispered to no one in particular as he jotted the down the answer in his large yet unusually neat handwriting. Next!

"The smallest and largest planets? A challenge would be nice..." He continued his way down the questions in this fashion for the remainder of the time. Some he wasn't so sure about, others he was positive. Either way he didn't really care abou this class, but he'd do the work and hopefully drop it in the coming years.

Earl Valentine

1. Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto
2. The smallest is the moon and the largest is the sun
3. round
4. mercury or venus....I can't remember
5. io, ganymede, and I can't remember the rest. They orbit Jupiter though.
6. Jupiter...you really like that planet don't you?
7. True
8. Haha...Uranus. Shakspeer
9. You tell me what they mean and I'll tell you the difference
10. It likes to disco. Or it looks like its going backwards.
Bonus: You?

It was better than not doing it at all. He turned the paper upside down and poked Robbie in the arm. "That was easy, huh?"\n\n

0 Earl even more like, don't get caught 0 Earl 0 5

Dalila

April 21, 2005 6:48 PM

And the North Star being int the constellation Ursa Major... by Dalila

Professor Dione stpooed to look at Dalila's answers. After stopping for a moment she nodded her approval and wandered away. Dalilia sighed. This was one of the few classes she'd actually be trying in.

Her mother was, after all, studying ancient astronomical methods in Egypt and how to use them for modern purposes. That was the title od the thesis her mother had written. Dalila remembered it. Her parents would be disappointed if she came home with anything below an Outstanding in this class. The others really didn't matter.

She got bored really quick and began doodling on her practice test, making littles stars and planets in the corners in her deep orange ink. When she had covered up every inch of free space on the sheet, she turned around and slapped te paper on the desk of the person behind her.

"Cool, huh?"

\n\n

0 Dalila And the North Star being int the constellation Ursa Major... 0 Dalila 0 5

Catherine Raines

April 21, 2005 9:04 PM

And why do we need to know this? by Catherine Raines

Catherine tapped her nails against the desktop, listening to the rhythmic sound disrupting the quiet and watcing the steady movement of her hand. Her hands were certainly nicer to look at than anything else in this classroom. The posters were hideous, and the model made her think that the teacher must be one of those adults who never got past an infantile love of playing with bizzare toys.

She sternly repressed a laugh when Professor Dione gave her little speech. Did she really think she was intimidating anyone at all? Of course, some of Catherine's classmates probably weren't bright enough to realize that the woman had no choice but to put up with dimwits if they just so happened to be in her class. Catherine was altogether certain that if Dione went to the Headmistress and asked to have people removed from her class because they were stupid, even crazy old Marnett would tell her to take a hike.

She came back to the reality of being a Sonora student as soom as the Dione said the words "pre-test". Whether or not she liked her classes was as insignificant as Dione said their passing or failing was to her. What mattered was how she performed in these ridiculous classes. Astronomy would never be worth anything to her, but she knew her father would be furious if he recieved a report that she was failing anything. Pulling out a sheet of parchment, she wrote her name, the date, and her House at the top of it and looked at the questions on the board.

This was ridiculous! All of the questions on the board were completely stupid, and question eight was downright offensive! She was a pureblood. The absolute last thing she was going to do with her time was study Muggle literature or Muggle anything else.

For a moment, the immaculate mask of her face dropped and if looks could have killed, there would have been corpses piling up. With an effort, she pushed down murderous fury, her face falling back into it's usual unreadable lines. She was calm. This so-called professor was just a wierdo who couldn't make any kind of proper place for herself in the world. A small, derisive smile played on her lips as she began writing in answers.

1-Earth, Venus, and some others.

2-The one right over me and the one next to the blue one

3-the Latin word for round

4-no idea

5-Galileo

6-no idea

7-false

8-no idea and no desire for one

9-no idea

10-no idea

bonus-Hesper Starkey

She dismissively at her paper. Good enough, for now. If she told her father the teacher wanted them to know about Muggles, he would be happy if she was failing, and she would say it. Catherine had always known how to look out for her own interests. Having completed her quiz, if she could be said to have completed it, she turned the parchment over and started studying her nails, hoping none of the pale opal-tinted nail polish had chipped while she was tapping them against the desktop.\n\n

0 Catherine Raines And why do we need to know this? 66 Catherine Raines 0 5

Professor Dione

April 21, 2005 9:58 PM

Why do you ask? by Professor Dione

As Professor Dione walked through the room, she noticed a piece of parchment that was turned over. The owner of this parchment, it seemed, was more concerned with her outward appearance than any sort of brains whatsoever. Her assumptions were confirmed as she turned it over and looked over the repeated “no idea”s that graced the page.

What caught her eye, however, was her answer for number eight. No idea and no desire for one. Another arrogant Pureblood who thought worth was measured by one’s family tree. Even though she was a Pureblood herself, her views on the matter were far from what they deemed to be right. This girl, this…Catherine Raines, her views on Muggles were clear with that answer. And she would make sure that she would make herself clear on her view of her.

“’Don’t care to have one?’ But the whole point of being in a class is to open your mind…Then again, from the looks of this paper, knowledge doesn’t seem to be one of your strong points anyway.”
\n\n

0 Professor Dione Why do you ask? 0 Professor Dione 0 5

Professor Dione

April 21, 2005 11:23 PM

Like that could happen by Professor Dione

After she had checked over the rest of the students, she walked over to the one who had entered late to check on his progress. Some of the questions were correct, or at least partially so. But Earl Valentine's answer for number two was a bit more than confusing...the moon and the sun? They were not even planets! He knew that Uranus' moons were named after Shakespeare characters, and that planets in retrograde motion appeared to be moving backwards, but didn't even name planets for the answer to number two?

His answers to numbers six and the bonus piqued her interest, however. He had been observant enough to realize that Jupiter was an answer to at least three of the questions. The bonus answer just amused her; though she was very knowledgeable in her subject, she was still fairly young. Still, it was nice that he had thought she was capable of making such a discovery, even if it was a wild guess.

"I wish I would have been able to make such a discovery, but no. But you are correct in your guess that I happen to like the planet Jupiter. It's my favorite planet actually, for various reasons."\n\n

0 Professor Dione Like that could happen 0 Professor Dione 0 5

Asher Tallow

April 22, 2005 4:56 AM

So is there an answer? tag Laura by Asher Tallow

Asher's reaction was immediate and bristling: a determined scowl of dislike. Oh yeah, Dione and her weren't going to get on at all! And the questions were stupid- stupid to be asked of a bunch of eleven and twelve year olds. Not to mention a good portion of them could be answered simply by looking up at the ceilng where the huge model floated, or by glancing at one of the posters on the wall. Besides, Dione obviously was using her little test as more than just a plain old 'pretest.' Or had Dione only wanted to make her mad, insinuating she was an idiot for not knowing all those answers- which, by the way, she wasn't supposed to know all of the answers of in the first place?

Asher thought six out of ten was pretty good considering her total lack of learning in the area of astronomy. Pretty darn good. She crossed her arms and scowled all the more fiercely at her paper.

She glanced over the classroom: Earl was receiving a scolding for being late from the Ice Queen, Robbie looked just as content as before, Gwen was working industriously, another girl near the doorway looked minorly panicked, there were a pair of second years toward the back who seemed unfairly tickled about their paper, Laura, beside her, was sitting smugly after Dione announced her perfect paper- Asher gave up her scrutiny and returned to the comfortable placement of her chin on her forearm.

She turned her head slightly to the right and considered whether or not the Ice Queen would strike her down with brimstone if she started talking with Laura. Her brain gave a mental shrug of 'who cares?' and so, without bothering to whisper, she asked easily:

"Think the rest of the professors are going to be as anal as her?"\n\n

0 Asher Tallow So is there an answer? *tag Laura* 1466 Asher Tallow 0 5

Jim Dickens

April 22, 2005 6:01 AM

You forgot all about Alfheim shakes head sadly by Jim Dickens

Jim beamed brightly, making sure to bare his teeth enough to flash his blue colored braces. He had discovered, if aimed properly, he could reflect sunlight off his teeth and make people squint, a significant accomplishment in his mind. He'd also discovered, to his great delight, that he could make a whistling sound by pressing his tongue up against his front teeth and saying the word 'flamingo.' He was tempted to show that particular feat, however the Dione lady from the library who sadly knew nothing about the Ginnungagap, was talking and pointing her wand.

He heard something about stars, about dimwits (Emeline used to call him that, but that was before he read the little red book she kept under her pillow and made a copy of it), and then the neat balls overhead (some called them planets, but he knew better) stopped moving. When Jim finally straightened his neck, the Dione lady had flipped over the black board. A pretest- neat.

Eagerly, he pulled out his blue lined paper and an especially dulled blue coloring pencil.

Jim Dickens

The eraser-less pencil tip went squarely into his mouth, and he bit down on it thoughtfully. The first question was hard, because he knew there were twelve lands- not just nine, and he definitely didn't think there were all round like the ones on the ceiling were. Still, Jim was determined, and he solidly set to answering.

1: Muspelheim, Yggdrasil, Midgard, Vanaheim, Jotunheim, Bifrost, Nidavellir, Niflheim, and Hel.

Back in went the pencil. The smallest and biggest lands- well, the land of dwarves was pretty small, after all, little people lived there. And the land of the giants would have to be big since all the people are big. Down went the pencil.

2: Nidavellir is the smallest, and Jotunheim is the biggest.

Jim set aside the blue coloring pencil carefully and dug into his shorts pockets for another color. His random selection was a nicely sharpened red one, and with it grasped he turned to the third question. Orbit...he tried saying the word with his tongue pressed up against his teeth, but it wouldn't whistle like it did with flamingo. Orbit, orbit, orbit...sounded kind of like a frog's ribbit, Jim noted thoughtfully.

3: It makes a leaping shape, like a frog.

To further illustrate his meaning, Jim carefully drew the requisite frog leaping gracefully over a flamingo. Satisfied, he moved on. Oh good, another easy one.

4: Muspelheim, because it's the land of fire, and fire's really hot. You'll get all burned up if you stay there too long, unless you come from Niflheim because then you can put out the fire when you melt.

Jim read the next question and his face immediately scrunched up in confusion. Galilean moons? Unless- he gave the Dione lady a careful glance- unless, she was trying to be sneaky and really meant Asgard, because then he knew the answer. He watched for a second as she moved around the classroom, her black robe swishing and making his nose itch. He scratched his nose and decided. Asgard it was.

5: Asgard has Valhalla, Bilskirnir, Valaskjalf, Folkvang, Glitnir, and some others.

Time for a new pencil, he decided after having added a small picture of Muspelheim next to question four. His hand went down into a different pocket and out came a purple pencil. Purple like his favorite sneakers. He beamed and tried saying Galillean with his tongue up against his teeth. Nah, still no whistle.

6: Bifrost is covered by a bunch of red flames to keep the unworthy from crossing. But it's not a spot. It's a stripe.

The seventh question made Jim pause to untie his shoelaces. This was another sneaky question. He peered up from under his flop of hair to the Dione lady. She was sneaky, all right. But he wasn't about to be tricked. He had his astronomy badge after all, and that made sure he couldn't be tricked. Sneaky teacher lady.

7: Neither.

He grinned proudly as he finished the last letter. Almost done! He gave the next question a double blink. Uranus? What was that? He gave it the usual try against his teeth: just a bit of a buzz, no whistle. Maybe that was another name for Svartelfheim, home of the dark elves. In that case, this was another trick question.

8: Svartelfheim was named by Svartelf.

Two left, but Jim liked his current pencil choice. He decided to give it a rest though, and focus on re-tying his shoes. His brown eyes quirked this way and that as he struggled to not break the already threadworn laces. He didn't recognize anyone much, having spent most of his time searching for dinosaurs. The sick girls he met on the quidditch pitch, Ni-co-let-ta and Syria or something, weren't there yet, but they had seemed kind of mad for some reason, so maybe they were hiding. He could always go look for them later.

His shoelace snapped and Jim considered whether he should try to fix it with a spell or not. The Dione lady rounded by his chair and he tucked his sneaker back under his seat, foot included, and turned to his last two questions.

9: Terrestrial planets have terre and jovian planets have jov. But Yssdrasil probably has both, so, they're the same thing.

That made sense. He flexed his fingers and carefully wrote out the digits for ten.

10:-

The pencil tip snapped, and Jim sadly set aside his purple pencil. Another search through his pockets produced a green one, but it was hardly as good as the purple one was. Plus 'green' didn't even buzz against his teeth or make a strange squishy sound. It just sounded clumpy and 'green.'

10: -It's probably sick, but vitamin b12 works really great, so it should take that and then it'll be all right again.

Jim gnawed on the edge of the pencil and spit out the few bits of wood that came out in his mouth. No splinters this time, he noted happily. The last question was a bonus, which he knew meant extra special. That's what his mom always called him: her bonus boy. But his mom also said chocolate was bad for you, and the only time he had it was when his cousin Farah melted a bunch of chocolate once and threw in a bunch of sticky cherry stuff that made him dizzy and sing really loud. He agreed with his mom after that.

Extra-special question: Chocolate makes you sick, especially if you eat it melted and with sticky cherry stuff called lee-core. You shouldn't eat it, Ms. Dione.

Feeling much better after having given the teacher lady that valuable advice, Jim set down his pencil and went back to considering how to fix the broken purple one. His sharpener was back in his room, right next to his emergency package of matches and kool-aid mix. He finally settled on using the edge of his desk to sharpen it and settled in to his task, a concentrated grin steadily in place.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

0 Jim Dickens You forgot all about Alfheim *shakes head sadly* 0 Jim Dickens 0 5

Tally

April 22, 2005 9:35 AM

it's a whole other world to me... by Tally

Tally walked into the astronomy room chatting merrily amongst her friends. Astronomy was the new subject, and, therefore, they had a new professor. Actually, thinking about it, they had quite a few new professors, but some of the old slightly boring ones remained. Except Bulla, Tally still held him at her highest respects. Now though, this professor was new and so, Tally would tread cautiously until the professor had made herself known. Whether she would be a cool professor or another one to which the students will silently hate during class and then talk about behind their backs had yet to be decided.

Her green eyes trailed around the room at the many diagrams and the moving solar system. She never gave space much thought. Even though she was a half-blood, her father and placed her in a muggle primary school. There, she learned the basics of astronomy. But, she didn't think she could do so well if diagrams were involved. She wasn't one for math.

She sat towards the back of the classroom, figuring the first years would sit just about everywhere else, and she definitely wasn't going to sit in the front. Teacher's pet she was not. She listened intently to the Professor as she introduced herself and then called people dimwits. Dimwits? That was a bit harsh. Not everyone could be geniuses and it shouldn't matter either way. Still, Tally frowned a bit, but shrugged it off. There was a pretest. Great. She looked over the questions on the board and the frown only increased. How was she suppose to answer half of these? She took out a quill and parchment and set to work on answering the questions.

1. Name the nine planets in order starting with the one closest to the sun.

Okay, she knew this one. This one was the easiest.

Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto

2. Which is the smallest planet in our solar system? Which is the largest?

Again, she could do this one. Plus, it's not like she couldn't just look around and figure it out.

The smallest planet in our system is Pluto, while the largest is Jupiter

3. What shape are the planets' orbits?

Okay...she kind of remembered what this was...

Oval shaped

4. Which planet has the hottest temperatures and why?

Isn't this one a bit obvious?

The hottest planet would be Mercury because it's the one located closest to the sun

5. Name the Galilean moons and name which planet they orbit.

Whatever happy feeling Tally had from being able to answer the first four questions quickly fell away as she reached question five. What in the world was a Galilean Moon? She hadn't ever even heard of that word before. Was that even English?

I have never heard of the Galilean Moons and cannot answer this questions. Though, I am aware that Jupiter and possibly Uranus have more moons than Earth, so these Galilean Moons will most likely orbit one or both of these planets.

6. Which planet is known for the Great Red Spot?

HAHA! She knew this one.

Jupiter is the planet with the giant Red Spot.

7. True or False: The Sun is larger than all of the planets put together.

She knew the sun was a star and that was about all. However, as she glanced up at the model, she was able to gather that the sun was infact larger than the planets.

This statement is true.

8. Most of Uranus' moons are named after characters of what famous Muggle playwright?

Even though she has lived all her life within both worlds, Tally had no idea what this answer was. So, she took a guess.

Uranus' moons are named after Ernest Hemmingway

9. Name three differences between terrestrial planets and jovian planets.

She knew that terrestrial (other than space beings) meant land. But she hadn't a clue as to what jovian meant.

Terrestrial planets are ones with land. I'm not exactly sure what a Jovian planet is or the difference between the two.

10. What does it mean when a planet has a retrograde rotation?

This one she knew. Mainly because she had to learn it for other things as well. Though, at the moment she couldn't remember what the devil for.

It means that something is or appears to be revolving backwards.

Bonus: Who was the witch who studied the use of phases of the moon in potion making? Clue: She is on a Famous Wizard Card.

As this was a bonus and something she was unfamiliar with (chocolate frogs she never ate. They reminded her too much of her precious T.J. so, she didn't know any of the Wizarding cards), she wasn't even going to attempt to answer it.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

0 Tally it's a whole other world to me... 0 Tally 0 5

Professor Genevieve Williams

December 05, 2006 10:26 PM

Lesson One: An Introduction by Professor Genevieve Williams

Dressed in fine black robes with wildly curly red hair neatly bunned, Professor Genevieve Williams had prepared herself a good 15 minutes in advance for the day's class. Needless to say, Professor Williams was at the ready when her class commenced. The day was bright and sunny, a fact that was slightly shadowed over by the numerous whirring gadgets and gizmos lining the windows and covering any available counterspace in the room. Genevieve watched and took careful note of the students entering her classroom. Muggle Studies was, afterall, an elective. The types of students taking the course would give her some kind of indication as to how the class would go over.

As soon as the students had settled down into their seats, Genevieve decided to begin. She stood from her seat behind her desk and approached the class with a warm smile.

"Students," she began as a signal for them to quiet down, "Welcome to Muggle Studies. I am Professor Williams, and I will be the instructor for your course. This is, of course, an elective, so I expect to have the students most dedicated to learning the intricacies of muggle culture."

Clasping her hands together, Genevieve began to make a slow circuit about the room. She touched certain objects as she passed- spinning weather vanes and running her slender fingers across the leather bound spines of her muggle literature collection. The ecclectic feel of the room greatly reflected the course material- everything and anything about the muggle world would be covered over the duration of the course.

"Those of you who are here to learn more about how "the other half lives", welcome. I hope you take away things you did not know before. Those of you who just signed up for this class to play with muggle toys- I welcome you most of all. You're the ones who will have the most fun in this class," she added, grinning, "Anyway, enough talk. Let's get right down to it. Today's class is an introduction. A crash course in muggles, if you will. Now I need all books, quills, and parchment away please. We're examining artifacts today."

Genevieve made her way back up to her desk where there sat a large crate full of assorted muggle objects. She reached a hand into the plastic container and pulled out a muggle hairdryer, displaying it as though it were a prize in a muggle gameshow. With a sudden "Head's up!" she tossed the muggle appliance to one of the students sitting in the front row. Genevieve continued passing out artifacts ranging from toasters to walkmans and even an ancient pair of unspelled bifocals.

"Now I want you to explore your object. If you have an appliance that requires electricity, there are plugs about the room- if you need assistance with plugging things in, I can help. I want you to play with your things, test them out. I want you to press buttons, flip switches, play games." Genevieve stopped and became serious for moment, "Listen, I highly doubt any of your other professors give you such chances to have fun in class. Don't ruin this course by being foolish. If you choose to be foolish, you will be punished. Disobey my rules, and there will be consequences. Other than that, have fun. Explore."

With another congenial smile, Genevieve returned to her desk, looking around as the students began playing with their objects.

(OOC: Alright now kiddies, this is a fun class. Let's see some creativity with your object selections and your character's reactions. Be realistic in your responses, and remember, this is Muggle Studies. People don't die here, so don't be dramatic. Other than that, have fun!
-Prof Genevieve)\n\n

0 Professor Genevieve Williams Lesson One: An Introduction 0 Professor Genevieve Williams 0 5

Chris Dupree

December 06, 2006 9:19 PM

Looking for Kaylie by Chris Dupree

Once Chris entered the Muggle Studies classroom, he immediately searched for Kaylie. Part of the reason that he was taking this class was to spend more time with her. The other part was that he wanted to know more about Muggles. Unlike the rest of his family, who simply thought Muggles should be nonexistant, Chris was fascinated by them. What did they use all those strange things for?

Spotting his girlfriend, he quickly took a seat next to her. He was so lucky to be with Kaylie. He thought she was absolutely perfect. She was pretty, like Quidditch, was fun to be around, and nice. What more could one ask for?

He gave her a charming half grin and a slight squeeze of the hand, before pulling out parchment and a quill in preparation for class to begin. Not unfortunately, he had to almost immediately put them away. The professor told them that they were going to get to have fun.

His curiousity peaked, he glanced over at Kaylie, wondering if she was just as excited. When Professor Williams started throwing out items, Chris grabbed one for himself and looked to see what Kaylie caught. He thought it looked quite strange.

Attention drawn back to his own item, he tried to figure it out. It looked like a mouse, but wasn't real. Now, why would someone need a fake mouse? What was wrong with a perfectly good, live mouse? He poked at it some, wondering if it would come alive, but alas it didn't. He turned it over in his hand. Not only was it fake, but it appeared to have four wheels.

Now, why would a fake mouse have four wheels? What was the purpose? He studied it closer. What was this...a button? Eagerly, Chris pressed it. The mouse sprung into action, as the wheels began to move. Chris put it down and it zoomed off his desk and under Kaylie's chair before stopping.

He had figured out how to make the item work, but still, what was its purpose? He pondered this, as he got down on his hands and knees to retrieve the mouse. When he got back up, he checked to see how Kaylie was doing with her item.

Touching her arm gently, trying not to disturb her, Chris asked, "How far have you gotten with yours? I finally figured out how to make it work, but I'm still clueless as to what it's for."\n\n

0 Chris Dupree Looking for Kaylie 0 Chris Dupree 0 5

Zack Dill

December 07, 2006 10:28 AM

Perhaps this isn't the class for me by Zack Dill

Zack had arrived early to the classroom and claimed his normal position in the front row, off to the left. He made sure the prefect and Alderaanian House badges were prominently displayed on his robes because both ought to mark him as a 'good student'. This was not false advertising. He was a good student. He just preferred that everyone know it just by looking at him.

He took out his three ring binder and his ball point pen and snapped some pages of looseleaf into the rings. This completed, he wrote out the heading on the first page. His name was written out in English. The class name he adjusted because he had a philosophical objection to referring to mundanes as 'muggles'. What he wrote in place of the subject were the Klingon words for Science and Technology Studies. He also dated the paper in roman numerals and wrote the professor's name in English.

This complete, he looked around the room, recognizing some but not all of the random junk Professor Williams had strew around the place. He began to have his first doubts about whether or not he should be taking this class. He wasn't sure he could stomach a lesson devoted to flying a kite or something equally ridiculous.

When she began talking, his doubts only grew. He didn't need to learn about the mundane world's culture. He grew up in the mundane world. He had mundane culture dripping out of his ears. He knew perfectly well how 'the other half lived'. The other half that Professor Williams was talking about was his half. He lived it for eleven years and every summer since then.

Unless, of course, she meant the rich folks, in which case, he just knew what he'd seen in books and movies.

Then she mentioned playing with non-magical toys and that made Zack sit up in interest. He'd been so close to completing Oblivion when he had to go back to Sonora. Of course, all his saved games were still on the computer in Detroit, but maybe he didn't have to wait until next summer to play video games again. That was the only drawback Zack could find to living most of the year here in Arizona.

Announcing that they were studying artifacts today, Zack became even more excited. Would they see Egyptian Canopic jars? Tools from early Native Americans? Pottery from Ancient Greece?

He stared in confusion at the hair dryer she brandished proudly. He gaped in bafflement at the electric shaver that was tossed in his direction. He caught it (barely) and wondered what in the world he was supposed to do with it. He didn't need it. He'd already shaved off his thirteen chin hairs that morning. And who needed a razor this complicated anyway?

Zack looked around and saw other people poking and prodding their own objects and decided that if he was supposed to be figuring out how it work, he'd really figure out how it worked.

He removed the shaver from its cleaning/charging station and started disassembling it.\n\n

1 Zack Dill Perhaps this isn't the class for me 40 Zack Dill 0 5

Saul Pierce

December 07, 2006 12:25 PM

Skidding in by Saul Pierce

He was late. He was really late. He'd gotten the first years to their Care of Magical Creatures class with less than a minute to spare. They had barely had time to find seats in the outdoor classroom and get settled in before classes began.

Saul certainly hadn't had time to dash all the way back to the school building, run through the halls to where the classrooms were, get yelled at by no less than six different portraits for running indoors, get yelled at by another three for not being in his classroom when classes were supposed to begin, and then actually find the Muggle Studies room.

When he finally did locate the classroom, which wasn't even in the corridor he thought it would be in, he was out of breath, sweating a bit, and kind of red-faced after the scolding a portrait of some old guy had given him for not knowing which classroom he was supposed to be in. He opened the door and hurried inside, skidding a little bit when he stepped on the strap of somebody's bag.

Catching his balance, he caught the professor's eyes and blushed brighter. It was the first day right? Yes, he was a third year, but he'd never gone to this class before. He tried a portion of the truth as his excuse, "Sorry, I got lost." If he had to, he could probably get Professor K to confirm he was also late because he'd been helping the first years, but he didn't think that was neccessary yet.

His attention catching on the toy one of the other students was playing with, he asked in interest, "What are we doing?" This looked like it was going to be a way cool class.\n\n

1 Saul Pierce Skidding in 82 Saul Pierce 0 5

Kaylie Brockert

December 07, 2006 4:42 PM

Found me! by Kaylie Brockert

Kaylie sat in her seat in Muggle Studies with her brother in the seat next to her. They'd both agreed to take all the electives so they could finally be in the same class. Besides, Muggle Studies in particular, was something neither knew anything about.

Her eyes widened with delight when Chris entered the room and sat down next to her. She blushed as he squeezed her hand. Chris was such a great guy and Kaylie was so glad to be with him. She could tell Adam was not too happy Chris was there, however. Kaylie frowned. If Adam would give him a chance, she knew they'd end up being friends, but it would take time. Adam was just hurting right now and needed time to get over the blow.

Kaylie jumped as she was nearly hit in the head with her object. Fortunately, it didn't look like anything hard enough to hurt if it hadn't missed. A puzzled look came over her face as she examined it. It had a light blue covering and a white...string made of some hard material coming from it. At the end, it widened into some shape she couldn't really describe with two metal pieces coming from it. There was a white snap on it which Kaylie undid. She peered inside to discover a white rectangular...thing, made of something she couldn't identify. The odd string seemed to be attached to it.

She was about to examine the other side when Chris spoke. " I don't even know what this thing is." Kaylie replied. "It's strange. I can't imagine what it's used for." She flipped it over to see the words "Heating Pad". Kaylie turned back to Chris. "Perhaps it's used for cooking." She suggested. She gazed at his mouse. "Yours looks like a toy or something."\n\n

11 Kaylie Brockert Found me! 43 Kaylie Brockert 0 5

Jennifer Zucchero

December 07, 2006 8:25 PM

This counts as a class? by Jennifer Zucchero

Jennifer wasn’t sure what had prompted her to take Muggle Studies. Possibly it was supposed to be a fairly easy class, if one knew anything at all about muggle lives, or wasn’t averse to learning, which a lot of witches and wizards probably were. Possibly because it sounded interesting, which it did. Or maybe she was just crazy, because, beyond a few of the basics, she knew next to nothing.

She hadn’t mentioned taking this class to her mother during any of the letters during the summer. She had come to the conclusion that that particularly course of action wouldn’t have been particularly wise. Her father had thought it was a marvelous idea, but he was far more liberal than most of his crowd.

She also wasn’t sure what to expect from the course. At first glance, it had looked like it would be pretty cut and dry, mostly lecture and the like. When she arrived at the classroom, though, the large amount of strange objects lying around seemed to disprove that. Unsure now what she was supposed to do, she’d just found a desk to the side of the classroom, and waited, trying as hard as possible not to scan the room constantly with every new movement. She was an upperclassman now, and therefore was too mature to behave like that. Supposedly.

Before much time had pasted, the professor actually started the lecture, which caught Jennifer by surprise. They were just supposed to play with the toys? She put away her things with reluctance, and then examined the object that had tossed to her. It was perfectly ordinary looking box, a rather shiny shade of blue, with gameboy imprinted on one side. Upon closer examination, Jennifer realized that it would open, and found herself facing a blank screen, a mess of buttons, and a smaller rectangle that slid in and out of the larger contraption, labeled “tetris.” She had no idea what that meant, of course, but it didn’t seem to be important, so she left it out.

Once again, though, she was stuck. What was the point of a shiny box with a blank screen and a bunch of useless buttons? Then, of course, she remembered Williams’s instructions to mess with it until something happened, so she pressed all the buttons tentatively with her forefinger, with the object lying on the desk. Nothing happened with the buttons, but then she discovered a switch on the side, one end labeled ‘on,’ and one labeled ‘off.’ Feeling incredibly triumphant, she pushed the switch to the former, and then bit back a gleeful cry as a light went on and the screen lit up.

Her excitement was short-lived, however, as the screen stayed in the same position, white with the words “gameboy advanced” written on it. She continued to try and press buttons, but nothing worked. A fat lot of good it was to anyone, if it did nothing. And it certainly wasn’t going to help her grade in this class if she couldn’t manage to operate something with so simple an appearance.

Still, maybe someone else would have a clue as to what was going on. Turning to the person next to her, she asked, rather hopelessly, “You wouldn’t have any idea how this thing works, would you?” She didn’t have much hope, but at least one muggleborn was in here, and maybe others with some sort of previous knowledge would have signed up as well.
\n\n

0 Jennifer Zucchero This counts as a class? 48 Jennifer Zucchero 0 5

Jake Santoro

December 07, 2006 9:48 PM

...No, not at all. by Jake Santoro

The only reason why Jake was taking this Muggle Studies class was because his mother told him he had to get serious about his academics. She had told him that Quidditch wasn't the only thing in the world and wouldn't be something he could do forever.

Blasphemy.

He would play Quidditch forever. He just might not get paid for doing so. And there laid the real problem. But Jake had no idea what else he was good at aside from Quidditch. He was rubbish at Potions, somewhat decent at Transfiguration. Care of Magical Creatures wasn't something he saw a future in and Charms, though useful in everyday life, didn't really offer much for jobs.

So, Jake was at a standstill with what to do about his future. And just about everything else that was happening (or not happening) in his life.

Upon entering the classroom, Jake immediately stopped halfway into the room. There sat Jennifer in one of the desks. For a moment, Jake just stared at her, unsure of what to do. His conversation with Lizzie came back that it felt much like a punch in the gut would feel. He could feel his face grow hot with those same foreign emotions he had felt back in the gardens. After another moment, Jake looked away and walked to the opposite side of the room Jennifer was sitting at. He was trying to be okay with the idea that Jennifer was...might be...dating some guy, but he couldn't get himself to that point just yet.

He haunched over the desk, keeping his head low for a moment while trying to keep his eyes on the professor and not on Jennifer. For the most part, he was successful. Though, he clearly hadn't been paying much attention to the Professor's words because he jumped in surprise when she tossed an object at him.

Jake rolled the thing around between his hands. It was smallish in size, small enough to fit in his hands. It was silver in color and folded in half. When he opened it, he discovered buttons. There were buttons with numbers on it ranging from 1-9, two buttons had symbols on it. There was a green button and a red button, an 'ok' button and arrows.

He pressed a few buttons, but nothing happened. He shook the object, but nothing happened. Jake frowned as he studied the little thing. What in the world would Muggles find useful with this thing? Jake sighed, his mind just wasn't into the work. It had been a mistake to take this class. How would it have helped him anyway?

Tossing the thing down on the desk, Jake slouched low in his seat, staring at nothing. This was going to be a rough year.\n\n

6 Jake Santoro ...No, not at all. 42 Jake Santoro 0 5

Zack Dill

December 07, 2006 10:52 PM

I heard that! by Zack Dill

Zack had just finished disecting his razor to its component electrical parts when he sat up straight and looked around the room alertly. He had heard a sound. A very specific and probably trademarked sound. The sound of a very particular thing turning on.

Leaving the mess of razor parts where they were he stood up (with everyone else sitting down, this actually helped) and scanned the other students. There. Jennifer Zuccero. If he had ever talked to the girl before, he didn't recall the details, but right there in her hand was every reason in the world to break that four year silence.

She was leaning over to talk to the person next to her, but Zack had eyes only for the blue item. He was beside her desk before he consciously realized he had moved. "A Gameboy Advance," he whispered reverently. "I wanted one of those for so long." They were way more than his parents could afford though, and Zack had opted to put what money he earned into a desktop, PC games, D&D books, and Magic: The Gathering cards.

The Gameboy had remained out of reach. Until now. Now, it was right there in Jennifer Zucchero's hands.

\r\nOOC: I don't own a Gameboy Advance. I did have the original Gameboy, though. That made a sound when it turned on, or at least, I think I remember it making one. If the Advanced doesn't, my apologies.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

1 Zack Dill I heard that! 40 Zack Dill 0 5

Jennifer

December 07, 2006 11:37 PM

Feeling bombarded by Jennifer

OOC to Zack: I don’t have one either, but I’m fairly certain it does make a sound, so it’s all good. BIC

As soon as Jennifer had asked her neighbor the question, she regretted it. Not because of the person it was, of course, but because it was immediately after she had made her inquiry that she spotted the person she’d been meaning to talk to since they’d both gotten back to school on the other side of the room. Sure, she’d probably have another chance to talk to him, but it would have been so convenient to do it now, with this class being as unorganized and freeform as it seemed to be.

Then a voice emerged from beside her. She looked up to spy Zack Dill standing there, looking at whatever it is that she had gotten. She didn’t know him all that well, didn’t really know anything besides the facts that he was pretty good at most of their classes, a muggleborn, and was the Aladren seeker, but his preoccupation with her gadget seemed to fit into the plan that was forming in her mind quite nicely.

“Do you want to see it?” she asked him after he mentioned that he’d wanted one for a really long time. From the way he was looking at it, she could only assume so, and, as she had no idea what she was doing, it seemed almost cruel to not give it to him. So she did, handing both the box and the little thing that had come with it to Zack, apologized for bothering her neighbor, then tried as inconspicuously as possible to make it over to the other side of the room.

She reached the desk next to Jake just as he tossed whatever it was he had been granted unto his desk. Sitting down, she raised a skeptical eyebrow, and said, “Having a bit of trouble, Jake? I lucked out with mine, Zack Dill apparently knew what it was, and really liked it, so I let him have it.” She grinned sneakily. “It’s probably not what Professor Williams intended, but it was the easiest thing to do. So, how’ve things been with you? It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

\n\n

0 Jennifer Feeling bombarded 0 Jennifer 0 5

Zack Dill

December 08, 2006 5:11 PM

You're the best, Jennifer. by Zack Dill

"Do you want to see it?" Jennifer had asked as if there was any remote possiblity that Zack wouldn't. He (barely) held back the 'mine, mine, mine,' that was bubbling on the tip of his tongue and kept his response to a sedate nod (well, an eager nod) and held out his hands.

She gave him the gameboy and the game cartridge and he very nearly burst with excitement when he saw it was Tetris. "Thanks," he managed to say before she inexplicably left without learning the wonders that was the Gameboy Advance. For a moment, he stared, dumbfounded, at her back as she made her way over to the Teppenpaw Quidditch Captain, then he shrugged and figured that just meant more Gameboy for him.

Returning to his own seat, he ignored the razor pieces and turned his full attention on the Gameboy instead. He turned it off, put in the Tetris cartridge, turned it back on, selected level 0, then began playing. It was so much better playing from a chair instead of standing in front of the whole display panel in Best Buy.

Who'd have ever thought he'd get to play Tetris at Sonora? This was the best class ever.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

1 Zack Dill You're the best, Jennifer. 40 Zack Dill 0 5

Jake

December 09, 2006 8:40 PM

That's a matter of opinion by Jake

Jake was so completely lost in his own misery, that the arrival of the one person Jake would have rather not have seen surprised him completely. Jake blinked up at Jennifer with what seemed to be best described as a 'deer in headlights'. At the mention of Zack, Jake's eyes moved off of Jennifer to the said Aladren over on the other side of the room. Whatever it was that Jennifer had been given, Zack seemed to have really liked it.

Jake looked back at Jennifer, but the painful leap that his heart gave made him immediately turn his gaze to the object that sat on his desk. He should have taken a different elective, but he honestly didn't think Jennifer would have taken a class like this. Not with how her mother seemed to be. Avoiding Jennifer in just the regular lessons was already difficult, but this was getting downright impossible.

He shrugged and frowned slightly at Jennifer's question. "Things are alright." He mumbled while toying with the muggle object the Professor had given to him. He spotted the word verizon on it, printed in small letters that he hadn't noticed the first time he looked at it. "Didn't expect to see you in this class." Jake commented. He flipped it open again and pressed a few buttons while his mind tried to work out what to do now that Jennifer was actually sitting next to him and making conversation.

Sighing quietly, Jake closed his eyes for a moment. It was strange. A few weeks ago he had been all about to confess his feelings for Jennifer and to ask her out, but now he was avoiding her at any and all costs. The very sight of her caused so many emotions to rush through that Jake wasn't sure what to say or do. And yet, she looked and seemed happy. This Felipe must be some guy.

Slowly Jake opened his eyes again and looked around at Jennifer. "Listen, I haven't been feeling very well lately. It's probably best just to stay away for awhile." Well, it was only a partial lie anyway.\n\n

6 Jake That's a matter of opinion 42 Jake 0 5

Jennifer

December 09, 2006 10:23 PM

Entirely fact by Jennifer

As Jennifer watched Jake, who seemed intent on not meeting her gaze, something strange struck her. Their class size wasn’t all that big at Sonora. The student number itself wasn’t all that large, compared to some. The school and grounds might be large, but it still was pretty hard to not see someone for any length of time. Yet she couldn’t recall seeing him at all outside classes since the beginning of term, at the welcoming feast.

She toyed with possible scenarios that would explain Jake’s strange behavior as he fiddled with his object. She raised one eyebrow skeptically as he claimed things were alright, but said nothing. He certainly didn’t sound fine, mumbling as he was. Jennifer couldn’t recall a single other time when he’d been this…dejected acting while he was talking to her, or anyone, really.

She was slightly surprised when he commented about how he hadn’t expected to see her in this particular class, but then realized, with the way she talked about her mother sometimes, it was a bit of a shock. “I thought it sounded interesting,” she replied simply, not really thinking about what she was saying. “And I didn’t have to tell my mother about it. I probably wouldn’t have been able to take it if that were the case. Still, you never know, she was pretty pleased ever since I g-”

She stopped abruptly, realizing what information she had been about to release.. “Since I gave up being quite as much of a wall-flower, and actually started branching out,” she finished belatedly. True, yes, but Christine Noire’s pleasure in finding out that her only child had finally dated anyone of pureblood descent, even if the social standing wasn’t as high as she might have wished. Considering Jennifer’s current company, the one boy she really wanted to date, however, mentioning the summer fling probably wasn’t a good idea.

She grew even more surprised when Jake finally did look at her, and told her that he wasn’t feeling well, and thought that she should stay away. Now, everyone did have off days, and maybe even off weeks, were they just wanted to be alone. But this…something wasn’t quite right. After all, she and Jake were really good friends, or so she had always thought. Generally, one didn’t avoid one’s friends, unless…

“Jake, are you angry with me about something?” she asked suddenly. Yes, it was blunter than anything she would normally say, but this was ridiculous. “I mean, it seems like you’ve been…I don’t know, avoiding me, or something,” she laughed a little, since it sounded ridiculous to her, and she was probably blowing the situation way out of proportion, but at least if she started with the most improbable scenario, she could make sure everything thing was okay. “Anyway, if I have done something, could you please tell me what it is, so I can apologize for whatever I’ve done?”

As she sat there waiting for him to laugh, or crack a joke about her paranoia, or do something to lighten the mood like he always seemed to do, she mentally went through all the things that she could have done to make him upset with her, in the unlikely event that that was the problem. They’d been fine when school had ended last term, and, since she hadn’t seen him since the start of school, she couldn’t have done anything there, so there was nothing, except…

She was going to kill Elizabeth Lavine.
\n\n

0 Jennifer Entirely fact 0 Jennifer 0 5

Jake

December 09, 2006 11:01 PM

Oh dearest Professor by Jake

Jennifer's actual admittance to not telling her mother came of no surprise to Jake. Rarely did teenagers tell their parents anything...especially if said parent weren't likely going to allow the teenager to do something. Still, as Jennifer continued to talk and then suddenly stopped talking, Jake couldn't help but to glance her way.

His eyes narrowed almost dangerously during her momentarily lapse in conversation. He wasn't so thick headed, he knew what she had intended on saying. For whatever reason, Jennifer seemed to be refusing to actually admit to having a boyfriend. Maybe she hadn't wanted Jake to know from the start, maybe she thought she was sparing him or something. Or, maybe she was waiting for the best moment to rub it in that she had found someone better than him.

Jake slouched even further into his chair when Jennifer started to ask him questions. Was he mad? Yes, but he wasn't sure if it was directed at her or not. Was he avoiding her? Yes, but because whenever he saw her everything became confusing and he didn't like that at all.

"Don't worry about it, Jenny." Jake said, using Lizzie's nickname for her in a manner that suggested it wasn't a good thing to be called. "I'm sure you're too busy with Felipe to bother with me anyhow." Jake exclaimed. He gave Jennifer a hard look and rasied his hand, "Professor Williams, I'm not feeling all that well, can I go see the Medic?"\n\n

6 Jake Oh dearest Professor 42 Jake 0 5

Jennifer

December 09, 2006 11:44 PM

And now back to you, Zack by Jennifer

Correction. She wasn’t simply going to kill Elizabeth Lavine, she was going to destroy her. There had been an incredibly good reason that Jennifer hadn’t wanted anyone to know. This kind of thing was it. This…this was on par with Jennifer telling Ash the way her best friend felt about him, or something. This was betrayal.

Even the hurt of Lizzie breaking her promise paled in comparison to the way Jake’s response was making her feel, though. As soon as he began to speak, her breath caught in her throat, and she had to fight to keep the tears that had started to form from leaving her eyes. This…this wasn’t Jake. This couldn’t be Jake.

Even feeling as though she was going to be sick herself, the one logical part of Jennifer’s mind pointed out that there had to be something good to be found in the situation. After all, he really didn’t have any reason to be upset. But Jennifer really didn’t care about the whys of the current situation. He had no excuse, no right whatsoever to be behaving as he was.

The rational part of her mind was still pleading for her to show a little sanity, though, and in the struggle one point was raised that stopped everything: Jake must have thought that she and Felipe were still dating. After all, no one would be ‘busy’ with their ex-boyfriend, would they? And with that knowledge, Jennifer would hopefully be able to make him feel as awful as he had made her feel.

Even as he asked Williams to let him leave, she returned the hard look he had bestowed upon her with a slightly cruel smile, to match the venom now in her voice. “I suppose you’re right,” she whispered across the aisle before the professor replied to his query. “I do have Felipe now. Why should I waste my time on you when there’s someone so much better?” She shot one last contemptuous smile at him, and then moved to the vacant chair next to Zack, who was still fiddling with the ‘gamechild advance,’ or whatever it was called.

“I’m sorry about rushing off like that,” she said, careful not to display any emotion of her face. “I had something that I really needed to take care of, but it’s not important anymore.” She glanced at the screen, where Zack seemed to be manipulating random blocks into forming lines. “So, how does this thing work?”

She may have just learned her best friend had betrayed her, she may have just been verbally and mentally sucker-punched by the one guy she really liked, and she may have just ruined any future friendship between the two of them, but she didn’t have to show it. She could cry, scream, or do whatever else was necessary later. Now, she had a point to prove, and she could not, would not, show any sign of weakness.

She was, after all, her mother’s daughter.
\n\n

0 Jennifer And now back to you, Zack 0 Jennifer 0 5

Jake

December 10, 2006 12:12 AM

Have fun with that by Jake

Jake knew that the moment the words left his mouth how spiteful they sounded. Really, he was trying to be big about all of this, even if it meant that he would have to be without Jennifer for awhile. But soon his guilt slipped away as a strange smile spread over Jennifer's face.

For a moment, Jake just gawked at her. For a split second he had truly thought she was going to laugh at him, he almost hoped for it, and tell him that he was completely wrong about Felipe. That she wasn't or had never dated him. That Lizzie had only said it to get up all upset and riled up. He wouldn't have put it past Lizzie to have done such a thing.

But that was blown out the door as soon as she started to speak. Jake's usually open and friendly face grew cold. His eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched to keep his anger in check. How dare she. How dare she rub it in his face that he would never be good enough. That he wasn't good enough.

Why?

Why would she say that? How could she have been so cruel? So hurtful? Didn't she know? Didn't she understand? Jake stood quickly from his seat and grabbed his bag. Whether or not the Professor was going to allow him to go to the Medic or not, Jake didn't care anymore. He just couldn't be in the same room with Jennifer any longer.

"He must be everything your mother ever dreamed of to allow such a union." Jake hissed. "I bet you wouldn't have it any other way considering you're her happy little puppet." He knew he was crossing the line when he said that, but he didn't care. She had hurt him in a way that no one had ever done before. She had told him he wasn't good enough and he wanted her to hurt, to feel like nothing like he did.

Jake flung his bag over his shoulder and stomped from the room, slamming the door as he left. He didn't care if he got a zero for the class or not, he just didn't want to be there any longer. He didn't want to see Jennifer ever again.\n\n

6 Jake Have fun with that 42 Jake 0 5

Zack Dill

December 10, 2006 6:51 PM

It's a Gameboy, of course she'll have fun by Zack Dill

He was doing pretty well. He'd gotten to level 2 pretty fast and he still had less than half the screen filled. A long one came and he dropped that down in the well left for it. The screen flashed and a victorious beep trilled as the four lines disappeared. "Ha!" Zack crowed right along side the beep. The next was a square which he didn't really have any place available for, so he put it down so it created a gap that he could fill the next time an L or a T came up.

Two Ls (one of which he slid into the empty gap) and three ziggers later, Zack was marginally distracted by Jennifer claiming the empty seat beside him. He turned the screen so she could see it as he put down another square on top of the previous one, and then finally got another long one. He dropped that down into the cavern again, this time only scoring three rows because he'd made a misjudgement on a zigger a while back.

The next shape up was a T and he had a few choices for where to use that, but he paused the game so that he give Jennifer a quick tutorial about the game, the system, and how it worked. "This," he told her turned the blue casing around so she could get a good look at it, "is a Gameboy." Zack stopped, frowned, then corrected himself, "Actually, it's a Gameboy Advance. The Gameboy was an older model that was bulkier and didn't have any color to it."

He turned it so she could get a good look at the game cartridge. "Right now, we've got Tetris inserted into the game slot, so that's what game I was just playing. There's lots of different games that you can play on the Gameboy. To play a different one, you just take out this cartridge and plug in whatever other one you want to play."

Turning it back over so the screen and buttons were visible, he pointed to the display that said only PAUSED. "Right now I have the game paused, which is why it doesn't show anything interesting. The start button," he pointed to the appropriate one without pressing it, "both starts a game and pauses and unpauses it. The other buttons, A, B, and the control pad," he pointed to each button as he mentioned it, "are used to actually play the game."

Given how she had turned the Gameboy on without a game inside it, he figured she probably wasn't familiar with the Tetris itself either, so he continued, "The object of Tetris is to place the shapes that appear in as tight a formation as you can manage. Once you complete a row across, it disappears and you get points for it. The more rows you get at a time, the more points the row is worth. The game continues until you fill up the screen and no more shapes will fit at the top."

"The controls are pretty intuitive. The control pad moves the shapes. Pressing the left arrow makes it go left, pressing the right arrow makes it go right, pressing down makes it fall faster. You don't want to press up, though, because that's an instant drop. The A and B buttons rotate the shape. Right around here," he pointed to right side of the screen, "it tells you what shape comes next so you can do a limited amount of foreplanning."

The last and final part was the hardest to say, "How about you watch how it works while I finish level two - I just need three more rows - then you can give it a try?"\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

1 Zack Dill It's a Gameboy, of course she'll have fun 40 Zack Dill 0 5

Mia

December 12, 2006 4:56 PM

Practice makes perfect, doesn't it? by Mia

Saul sounded half interested when he spoke, but Mia could feel his presence closer over her shoulder watching her game. Obviously he had to be a little interested. Mia leaned the PDA a little to the side so they could both see clearly. Mia didn’t know how much he knew about muggles (that word always sounded strange to her) but it became more obvious how much he knew.

“Is that the Gameboy?” Not a lot.

Mia didn’t hold it against him or anyone who grew up in only magic families. There were times when she was a little jealous because she loved magic, but she thought about it and figured she might just feel the same way, but vice versa, if she had grown up with only magic around her. Then again, after seeing some other witches and wizards from all magic families, she wasn’t too sure. She had heard wizards questioning how muggles could live without magic and she questioned how wizards could live without certain muggle “artifacts.”

“This is a PDA. A palm pilot.” Mia clarified. “It can do a million things besides games. You can put your schedule in it to keep organized. You can put in addresses, phone numbers, and stuff like that. I’m pretty sure you can get on the web with it too. But I just like it for the games." she laughed.

"What Zack has is a Gameboy. A Gameboy Advance. The original gameboys were bigger and didn’t have as good games or graphics.” She would’ve pointed again, but she didn’t want to look up from the game. She made it to level three and still had two balls left. She also somewhat forgot that some of the things she mentioned might not make sense to Saul. It just flowed so naturally like a conversation with her friends back home.

"My family lives sort of in the fringes between magical and muggle,” He mentioned. Now Mia was the confused one.

“You mean, like, you have a parent from both?” She asked, unsure of how to interpret ‘in the fringes between.'

After losing another ball past the block, the game waited for her to tap the screen again. She looked at Saul.

“You want to give it a go? It’s easy. Just keep the stick,” she wiggled the small stick between her forefinger and thumb “on the screen on top of the block on the bottom. You have to keep the ball from falling past the block and try to get rid of all the blocks on top. They disappear when the ball hits them, but the ball starts moving faster. That’s about the gist of it.” She didn’t remember which of the special items that fell from the eliminated blocks did what, but he could discover that on his own. It would be funny if he got the multi-ball one.\n\n

0 Mia Practice makes perfect, doesn't it? 0 Mia 0 5

Lily Collins

December 12, 2006 7:24 PM

Behind the 8 Ball? by Lily Collins

Even though Lily had spent the first twelve years of her life in a Muggle environment-and one she didn't particularily care for at that-she had decided to take Muggle Studies. For one thing, the class should be a piece of cake. Even though Lily put forth more effort in classes then she probably would have if she were at a Muggle high school, if she could do something without much effort put forth, she would.

The other aspect that made her want to take this class was that despite the fact that Lily had hated living with her mother, there were a few things she missed about the Muggle lifestyle. Like television. Computers. Video games. (Her mother had been reluctant to get her video or computer games but Lily pointed out that such things were signs of affluence and that all the rich spoiled brats at her school had them.) Obviously, her father didn't have such items because being a wizard, his house lacked electricity.

She listened as Professor Williams began to speak. As a teacher, Lily found her to be rather alright so far. There wasn't anything negative or out of the ordinary she could really comment on.

The items began to be handed out. Lily looked enviously as a GameBoy Advance was tossed Jennifer's way. She had hoped to get something like that herself. Then a "Magic" 8 Ball landed on her desk, much to her satisfaction. Sure, it was no video game, but it certainly could be fun. It was another item, much like the beanbag chair she'd sat on in Charms, that Lily wanted but never got. This one, because of its very loose association with magic and witchcraft. This was something her mother found more objectionable than hippies, of course. Lily found this more than just a tad hypocritical because her mom had known her dad was a wizard when she married him. She'd wanted him to use his magic to make her wealthier. However, after the divorce, her mother had been maniacal about anything relating to witchcraft and magic, as if she wanted to eradicate any trace of Lily's dad and his influence on Lily. Ironically, it was her that Lily now denied any relation too.

She turned her attention to the 8 Ball, wondering what she should ask it. Lily looked around the room, at the various students. Ah, yes, what excellent subjects to ask the 8 Ball about. First her eyes settled on her cousins and the Dupree boy. Adam seemed none too happy about Chris's presence. Lily silently asked the ball "Will Adam snap and lose it and inflict his rage on Chris?"

The fifth year Crotalus looked at the object for a reply but found that there were too many bubbles for Lily to read it. That had probably happened when it was thrown to her. Mentally, she cursed, took out her wand ,muttered a spell to make the bubbles go away, and asked her question again.

The 8 Ball replied "Most unlikely."

"Minus the inflicting of rage?" She inquired.

"It's a possibility"

Lily would have snickered but she actually felt a bit of pity for Adam.

Before she could look around the room for another person to ask about, another question came to Lily's mind.

"Will Earl be knocked off his broom by a bludger during Quidditch?"

"Ask again later"

She waited approximately two seconds and thought, It's later!" Lily repeated the question.

"Signs point to yes." She could only hope.

Her eyes drifted to Mia Kerova speaking to the third year that Gwen had nearly killed. A small smirk crossed Lily's face and she asked the Ball. "Will Stephen smash Mia's heart into a million tiny pieces?"

"Signs point to yes" This time Lily couldn't help snickering, though the mocking was more directed at Stephen than Mia, since he actually annoyed her more than she did.

Her attention was diverted from playing with the 8 ball, by some words Jennifer said to Jake. Lily frowned. Her friend sounded less like herself and more like a stereotypical Crotalus.

It was too bad Lily couldn't ask the magic 8 Ball what was up with that. \n\n

11 Lily Collins Behind the 8 Ball? 45 Lily Collins 0 5

Saul Pierce
December 12, 2006 9:02 PM

Saul Pierce
Alumnus
House: Pecari
Written by: Nathan

Age in Post: 13

that's what I'm told by Saul Pierce
"Oh, so that's what the PDA looks like," Saul said in revelation as she corrected his Gameboy misconception. He'd heard of palm pilots, too, but, like the Gameboy, had never seen one in person before. He also hadn't know it could play games, but then he hadn't

He looked around for 'Zack' but wasn't entirely sure who that was and was consequently unsuccessful in figuring out what the Gameboy actually was. It didn't really matter anyway, particularly when she expressed confusion about his family.

Saul grinned and shook his head, as she kept doing something with the ball and a block, "Actually, my parents are both magical, which is kind of a rarity in my family. We're a mixed bunch, mostly, about half magic, half muggle. We keep up with the Wizarding World's current events, and Simon's Dad ran for the President of the Magical Cabinet a few years back, but we actually live more in the muggle world than not."

Saul shrugged, watching as a few more blocks disappeared as the ball hit them. "The family has jobs working rennaissance faires and folk festivals, mostly. Some of my aunts and uncles, especially ones with divinations talent, gamble and bet on sports. Most of us live in tents except Aunt Regina, our matriarch, who lives in an RV. So, no electricity, no web, no permanent address. We've got some cell phones, though."

The ball fell off the bottom of the screen. Nothing else happened. Saul guessed that the ball going away was a bad thing. This was confirmed when Mia explained the rules.

"Um, okay," he agreed, accepting the palm pilot and the little stick thing. He touched the stick to the screen and another ball appeared. He moved the bottom block to bounce the ball back up. He moved the bottom block back and forth, catching the ball the next time but missing on the third descent. He winced as the ball disappeared. "I'm not very good."\n\n

1 Saul Pierce that's what I'm told 82 Saul Pierce 0 5

Chris
December 13, 2006 9:44 PM

Chris
Peripheral
Written by:

*glowy happiness* by Chris
"How odd!" Chris exclaimed, as Kaylie suggested her object was for cooking.

He glanced around the room, as he kept turning what Kaylie had suggested was a toy in his hand. The professor had said something about plugging things in. He wondered if this was one of those things. It looked like the end things would fit into the other things around the room.

"Maybe you should try putting it in one of those things the Professor said, around the room?" He suggested out loud. "I don't think mine uses those. But you're probably right about it being a toy. Thanks for the info."

He rewarded her intelligence with another grin. Well, if it's a mouse and a toy, then he would bet it's for a cat. And if that was the case, boy, did muggles treat their pets strangely!\n\n

0 Chris *glowy happiness* 0 Chris 0 5

Professor Ichabod Linn
April 16, 2010 5:27 PM

Professor Ichabod Linn
Peripheral
Written by:

Intermediate (Years 3/4) Lesson I: Rhapsodomancy by Professor Ichabod Linn
First days were always nerve wracking, even with the ability to See. This past spring, 34-year-old Ichabod Linn had Seen himself standing in this very classroom during the middle of a date with his girlfriend. The Sights kept coming, showing more and more until there was no doubt in his mind where he was meant to be: Sonora Academy. Why the future nudged him here he was curious about but tried not to question, since reasons always had a way of revealing themselves through time.

A moment before students were to start coming in, he stood up and in front of his desk, putting on a warm smile he had Seen himself wearing. He also had on the same dark purple robes he saw himself wearing, too, and cleaned his rectangular glasses for a while to ensure they’d shine in the dim lighting from the candles on the walls and the glow of the Crystal Ball on his table, just as Seen. When the students finally poured into the room, he stretched out his arms. “Feel free to sit anywhere, though please keep it two per table.” The Sight he’d seen, after all, had them in twos.

Once everyone had settled, Linn clapped his hands together and stood straight up. “Welcome, class, to your – and my – first lesson of Divinations.” Linn had never seen himself as a teacher before his Sight, so he hoped he was doing alright. “Divinations is to the wizarding world what magic is to muggles – something that is very real to some and very misunderstood to others. With this in mind, I would like everyone to keep an open mind with the course and give it your best efforts, regardless of Seer abilities or preconceived notions concerning the topic.” Linn was well aware that Divinations had many people skeptical (something he thought narrow-minded and ignorant on their part, but he digressed) and knew that it wasn’t taken quite as seriously by everyone in his class as he hoped it’d be, but he hoped everyone would give it a fair shot and take it seriously. Though, as he Saw, this wasn’t going to happen. Still good to try to get the idea out there, though.

“To introduce everyone to the idea of getting a peak into the future, I figured the first lesson would be fair for everyone: instead of relying completely on your own personal abilities to See, you can also rely on The Fates.” Linn tapped his wand and let supplies he had hovering in the thick smoke on the ceiling drop down onto each table. “You should all have received a poetry book and two dosing pebbles. These will help you with today’s lesson, which is Rhasodomancy.”

Linn wrote the word on the board. “Rhapsodomancy is the Divination art of predicting the future through any form of literature. The form of literature today is a poem from the book given – you may choose any that you like from it. From there, you are to record the title of the poem as well as who wrote it on a piece of parchment and choose your crystal. To randomize where the crystal lands on the page, place it on the page and simply tap it four times with your wand and say Alea Sollicito . The pebble should land on a verse on the poem you have laid open.”

“Record the verse you have landed on and what you think it predicts about your future. You may do it as many times as you like, but be sure to at least do it once and hand it in by the end of class. Feel free to work together and share results, too.” He smiled at them all. “If you need any help, feel free to ask. Otherwise, you may begin.”

OOC: Keep all typical posting rules (i.e. length of at least 200 words, grammar, spelling) in mind while posting. The longer the post, the more House Points! Tag me if you have questions.

For the assignment, you may choose a poem of your choice (within reason and site rules for posting, of course) as well as the verse it lands on and what it predicts. If you can’t think of any poems, here’s a poetry site you may find helpful: http://www.loc.gov/poetry/180/p180-list.html”> poems .

If you’re curious on how the room looks, the previous post http://disc.yourwebapps.com/discussion.cgi?disc=243615;article=2;title=Divination”> here describes the room in detail. Otherwise, enjoy posting!

0 Professor Ichabod Linn Intermediate (Years 3/4) Lesson I: Rhapsodomancy 0 Professor Ichabod Linn 1 5

Cassy Brooks

April 17, 2010 2:16 PM

Well this is certainly different. by Cassy Brooks

Caspia walked forward into the Divinations class room first (another goal of hers accomplished! Yes!) and slumped down into a chair in the back. Her bag, which had been previously slung over her back, was now on the table and taking most of the space.

She didn't particularly care for school, or work, or lessons, but she decided that taking Divinations might actually be fun. Her mother had always been interested in the future, and though she could never show her mother she knew how to see into the future (figuratively speaking of course. She wasn't too confident in 'Seeing' anything.) it would be nice to say she did this for her mum.

Yawning, Caspia scratched her messy black hair. She had charmed the tips to be green today, because she was just in a green sort of mood. Besides that, it reminded her of Quidditch. She loved Quidditch. If only she could be playing right now! Swooping in the air, commanding her broom as she beat the Bludgers down and back to the other team... it called to her.

Cassy grinned to herself. She could feel the wind in her hair, hear the crowds cheering her on as she 'accidentally' hit the other team with a Bludger. She grinned, but noticed that not only had someone moved her bag, but they had sat down beside her. She glanced at the person before turning her attention to the professor, listening as he spoke and digesting the information.

She groaned. She has never been the poetry type of person. She didn't even like books. You could never find her in the library, at all, project or no. Cassy glared at the book, hoping it would magically disappear so she didn't have to do the assignment. Much good that would do, considering one could just summon it back.

When Professor Linn was finished, Cassy decided to get out some parchment and get the assignment over with, setting her quill and ink bottle down before looking through the book.

As she grabbed her bag, which was in front of her (how could she not have noticed?) she opened it up to see her books and parchment and quills- which were, all in all, in complete disarray. She grabbed a crumpled piece of parchment and did her best to smooth it out before grabbing her ink bottle and setting it aside. When she grabbed her quills, she noticed that, not some, but all were broken. She was out of quills! Groaning, she turned to the person next to her.

"Hi, I'm Caspia Brooks, but please call me Cassy. Can I borrow a Quill? Mine are broken."

0 Cassy Brooks Well this is certainly different. 0 Cassy Brooks 0 5

Daniel Nash II, Aladren

April 18, 2010 4:03 PM

Here I am, so my sister won't know something I don't. by Daniel Nash II, Aladren

Daniel had heard about Divinations. Very little of it had been good. Less of it suggested it would be something Daniel would like or excel in. But Holly had taken it when it was Yuma's class and Holly was taking it again now that Sonora was offering it again, and Holly could not be allowed to know anything that Daniel was not fully apprised of, so here he was. Ready to learn all about telling the future through tea leaves.

If it wasn't complete bunk it may even prove helpful. The future was not looking particularly clear to Daniel of late. Heck, even the present was full of questions he didn't have the answers to anymore.

He took a seat at a random table, a little too distracted by the smoke on the floor and the round two person tables in leiu of desks to really pay his seating arrangement as much mind as he maybe should have. He was already sitting down before he realized the person at his table wasn't immediately identifiable.

He nudged aside her bag a little to get a better look at her face, but it didn't help really. He still didn't know who she was. One of the transfers, then, he supposed.

That was about when the professor began speaking, so Daniel turned immediately toward him and paid close attention to everything he said, as a proper Aladren ought to do, regardless of what the subject was. His notes were every bit as precise and neat as they were for Transfigurations or Defense Against the Dark Arts. If he remained unable to tell the future by the time he graduated, it not be through a lack of proper methodology.

At the instruction to begin trying to divine his future through poetry (already, his successful transformation into a prophet was not looking promising), he gamely but pessimistically pulled one of the books closer to him. He'd just begun flipping through the pages to find a poem to struck him as a good one to use for the assignment when the tranfer girl spoke to him.

He frowned at her collection of broken quills and wondered if he was dooming his own if he leant her one, but he supposed he had enough to spare one even if she snapped it. He reached into his own bag's front pouch (where everything was exactly where it belonged and spells prevented any of his supplies from breaking or spilling out of place) and pulled out his oldest, least favorite quill. He only still had it because it was in too good condition to justify getting rid of it, even if it was one of the first ones he'd bought.

He offered it to the girl with his own introduction "I'm Daniel Nash the Second," he told her. "I go by Daniel." The condition of her quills suggested she likely wasn't a high class pureblood, which opened up the danger that she'd recognize him as a television actor. Though, if he was really lucky, even if she did recognize him from Street Beat - where he was credited with the diminuitive 'Danny Nash' - the formal name (which could almost sound snobby pureblood-ish to those not already snobby purebloods) and school robes might distract her into thinking he couldn't be the same person.

All the old Sonorans were used to him by now and this was what he hated most about meeting new people - the uncertainty of whether or not they already thought they knew who he was. Oh, being famous was fine back in Hollywood, but this was school. In school, he just wanted to be another (brilliant, top-of-the-class) student. His acclaim here should come from his grades, or possibly Aladren's success on the Quidditch Pitch, not from what he did over the summer. It bothered him, to a perhaps irrational degree, if someone from the wizarding world saw him as Danny instead of Daniel. He'd put a lot of effort into keeping those lives separate.

"You can keep it," he added as he gave up possession of the quill to her questionable custody. "I have more than enough extras." He could afford them, certainly, and he looked every bit as wealthy and well-dressed as what most wizards and witches associated with 'purebloods'. He was, after all, quite rich in his own right, even before considering both of his parents were also big names in the acting world. His robes were brand new, of highest quality fabric, and perfectly tailored to him, like all his clothes were. He could easily spare a quill. Like most of his belongings, he would have thrown it out anyway the minute its condition became anything less than pristine.

1 Daniel Nash II, Aladren Here I am, so my sister won't know something I don't. 130 Daniel Nash II, Aladren 0 5

Adelita Garcia (Crotalus)

April 18, 2010 5:16 PM

Reading between the lines (tag Charlie) by Adelita Garcia (Crotalus)

Adelita had decided to take Divinitions simply because it was something different. She was glad that History of Magic was no longer being offered at this time because it had been difficult and well, boring. But she had tried her best at it even if she didn’t always understand what exactly their assignment was about. She even managed Averages for grades in the class (a feat she was rather proud of all things considered). But, she was glad that it was gone none the less. She wanted a class that left things opened and didn’t make her feel completely stupid.

She only hoped that Divinations was that class for her.

Lita only knew the basics of Divinations and what ‘Seers’ did. Her family wasn’t necessarily believers (at least, not her Grand Papa Santoro side), but it wasn’t to say that they shut down to it completely. Lita, herself, wasn’t necessarily sure if she believed that a person could see the future and comprehend it enough to interpret what it was that they were seeing. She believed that dreams represented something of the subconscious and déjà vu. She believed in the possibility that our subconscious minds gave us feelings or visions in order to try and tell us something, but they were so obscure that we are unable to understand the messages.

She just wasn’t sure if she believed that someone had the ability to see the future in completely clarity.

Maybe this class would prove that it was possible.

Walking into the classroom, Lita had to blink in surprise. The room was… purple. Very purple. And the floor was a gray cloud. Frowning, Lita gently put her foot through the cloud, making sure there was floor beneath it. Once she touched the familiar solid form of the ground, Lita continued on her way to find a seat at the table. That wasn’t too difficult considering Charlie would be taking this class and Lita was looking forward to working with her.

Taking a seat, Lita pulled out a parchment, quill, and ink to get herself ready for the lesson. Smiling at Charlie when she appeared, Lita leaned over, “Do you think the floor’s going to start raining on our feet?” She asked, semi joking. She had seen random clouds form in charms and rain on people, Lita wasn’t going to ignore a floor that was an entire angry looking cloud.
Giving her attention to the professor when he began the lesson, Lita still wasn’t exactly sure what to make of the class. She found it weird that the professor was a male. She had heard before that most true ‘Seers’ were female (of course, maybe that was just a rumor), but more than that, she was thrown off that he was a male professor who decorated his classroom purple. Oh well, at least it wasn’t the typical blue that most classrooms seemed to be.

Picking up the book that the professor indicated, Lita flipped through the pages until she found a poem that seemed somewhat relevant. Well, not relevant now, but perhaps to her future.

The Summer I was Sixteen by Geraldine Connolly. Picking up a stone, Lita placed it on the page with the poem and tapped it as instructed and said “Alea Sollicito.” She watched as the stone spun for a moment before falling onto a spot on the poem.

A frown formed immediately as she read the line, but wrote it down just the same. ‘We did not exist beyond the gaze of a boy.’ Lita glanced at Charlie, “I think I got your future in my poem.”

0 Adelita Garcia (Crotalus) Reading between the lines (tag Charlie) 0 Adelita Garcia (Crotalus) 0 5

Charlie Abbott

April 19, 2010 5:29 AM

Finding some lines to read by Charlie Abbott

She truly and honestly didn't have the time for another class, but Charlie was too taken with the idea of reading the future to be able to pass on the opportunity to study divination. So she made her way to class, equally excited by the prospect of new magic, and daunted by the knowledge that homework would inevitably follow.

Hesitating just a fraction of a second at the doorway to the unusual classroom, Charlotte smiled as she stepped on deceptively solid ground and took up a seat next to her best friend. "Do you think the floor’s going to start raining on our feet?" Lita asked. Charlotte chuckled, appreciating the joke yet at the same time thankful she'd not worn suede shoes today... just in case.

making breif notes on the class, Charlotte tried to study the professor. He seemed okay, as far as first impressions went. He either had to be a little mad, or entirely genuine, to be teaching divinations. It was charlie's opinion that professors who taught this class were either ture Seers, or true frauds. She wondered which of these Professor Linn would turn out to be.

Picking up one of the books on her desk, Charlotte began sifting through its pages, reading the top line of each poem before moving onto another, trying to find one she wanted to use. Lita was apparently being less picky (or had been luckier in finding a suitable poem straight away) because she was already beginning her reading - Charlie watched out of the corner of her eye as the stone spun around and then came to rest. "I think I got your future in my poem," Lita said.

Reading the line, Charlie gave her friend a rueful smile. "Very funny," she said dryly, but she was in no way offended. It was true that Charlie did like to be around boys, but she obviously had plenty of other interests besides. "Maybe it does mean your future, and you'll just come around to my way of thinking in time," she quipped back to her friend.

"Oh, I give up," she said, shutting the book, still unable to find one she wanted. "I'm just going to pick one at random." Closing her eyes, Charlie selected a page with her finger nail, and opened the book up onto that page. Opening her eyes, she read the title of that she had selected: The Licorice Fields at Pontefract by John Betjeman. "Liquorice fields?" she queried aloud.

0 Charlie Abbott Finding some lines to read 0 Charlie Abbott 0 5

Jose Hernandez

April 19, 2010 12:32 PM

Bohemian Rhapsodomancy by Jose Hernandez

Jose believed in the subject of divination more strongly than most wizards did. However, he was equally well aware of how easy it was for quacks to pretend to be gifted Seers. His family, after all, catered to both types. His uncle, Bo Pierce, was one of the real deals. Guy was a little eccentric, but Jose chalked that up more to the drugs and the Sixties than the Gift.

Aside from the fact that he was a sixty year old hippie, Bo wasn't too strange. He dressed in blue jeans and fake leather Native American vests and carried on perfectly normal conversations about poker and sports and track racing and gut feelings almost as though he thought he had just as much chance of guessing wrong when he gambled as somebody who didn't have his talent. He never mentioned Third Eyes or Inner Sight or prophetic dreams or anything funky like that.

Bo left that all up to his wife, Aunt Lo, who didn't have an ounce of any kind of Seer's Gift but dressed and acted like she did. Jose was pretty sure Bo understood Lo less than anyone else did. It was the only reason he could see why the guy would have married her. Oh, Lo was fine when she wasn't in character, but those times were few and far between in Jose's experience, especially since she'd been the one to taught him and his cousins everything they knew about the arts of astrology and tarot and the other kinds of things you didn't actually need a real Gift to use. And she was really in character then.

As Jose took down sporadic notes about Rhapsodomancy, he figured this fell into that category as well. He supposed that made sense. After all, you actually needed a Gift that most people didn't have to be able to read Bo's 'gut feelings' or whatever it was real Seers had. Since Jose hadn't shown any signs of inheriting anything like that from his Mom and his dad's family barely had magic never mind Seers, Lo's kind of lessons would probably be much more useful in this kind of setting anyway.

Besides, it wasn't all fake. There was a reason Lo had a loyal following of Muggles who came to her for advice. Granted a lot of it was reading their subtle clues, and some of it was prompting for answers they offered without realizing it, but some of it was real inspiration from the cards or the stars or the crystal ball or whatever it was she was using. She'd been very clear on that.

Don't make things up. Actually read the signs. They're there to guide you. You just need to learn how to read them.

So he and his cousins learned how to read them, because some day it might be important that he know how, and besides, it was as close to magic as Jason and Karen were going to get, so they kind of enjoyed it, which helped Jose like it more, too. Even if it did hurt to look at the garish colors Aunt Lo wore.

Pulling a pebble and one of the poetry books (he was sure he'd seen worse things used as fortune telling props, though at the moment, he couldn't imagine what they were) towards him, he flipped open the book to page 147 (an entirely random choice which was a little closer to the end of the volume than he'd intended to go, but he would go with it - that's how the fates worked in readings like this; you just don't impose your will on anything even remotely related to the fortune-telling process) and dutifully recorded the poem name and author.

Tuesday 9:00 AM, by Denver Butson

He closed his eyes and held the pebble over the open page and dropped it. And then opened his eyes when he heard it bounce onto the floor.

Looking underneath the table, he spotted the pebble underneath his table-mate's chair. Sitting up again, he tried to catch his companion's attention, "Hey. Could you get that pebble for me? It rebelled against telling me the future and took sanctuary with you."

1 Jose Hernandez Bohemian Rhapsodomancy 149 Jose Hernandez 0 5

Cassy Brooks

April 19, 2010 5:05 PM

Nice way to learn new things. by Cassy Brooks

Cassy looked down at his bag and her jaw dropped when she saw how clean it was. How in the world could he keep it so... so... so... clean?! And neat? And... she sighed. Maybe she should listen to the lessons from her step mom. She was certainly in need of a few cleaning spells. Then again, she'd rather die then become of one of those pureblooded snobs she was forced to be related to. Well, not to say she hated all purebloods, her dad was wonderful and kind, and some of his friends too. It's just the women that got on her nerves.

She took the quill offered to her, and she couldn't resist asking. Honestly? She had a big mouth. She didn't tend to think before she spoke, which often got her into a lot of trouble.

"How in the world do you keep your bag so clean?!" She asked in amazement. Her stepmother must have covered some spells for that sort of thing, but she always zoned out during summer lessons.

"Oh, and nice name by the way. Pureblood, right? I don't think I know any halfbloods with second or thirds... but in any case, I'm a Pecari, and a halfblood. My dad is a pureblood, my mom is... was, a muggle. Oh! And thanks for the quill." Cassy said. She took the book in front of her and opened it up to some random page, while at the same time grabbing a pebble as she said this.

Turning to her book, she looked at it and found the poem to be 'A Dream Within a Dream' by Edgar Allen Poe. Well, this was interesting. She happened to love Poe. He was dark and his works were a bit demented, but at the same time they were unusual and different. She liked different. Plus, she would read the demented stories to her sisters when forced. They screamed when they listened to the 'Tell Tale Heart.' They had nightmares for weeks. She laughed to herself as she recalled the memory.

Cassy took her wand in hand, it was oak, eleven inches, and the core was filled with, ironically enough, unicorn hair. She hated unicorns. Pointing at the stone, which was on the page, she said "Alea Sollicito." The pebble landed on the verse,

'I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore'

Cassy wrote the details on the parchment she had smoothed out and added, 'Obviously, I will hear the roar of the awe-struck crowds in quidditch as Pecari play, but will be hurt somehow.' Smiling in satisfaction, Cassy put the quill, carefully, into her bag and bottled her ink before doing the same. She turned to Daniel, wondering if he said something. She couldn't remember.

0 Cassy Brooks Nice way to learn new things. 0 Cassy Brooks 0 5

Daniel Nash II

April 19, 2010 8:01 PM

I'm well motivated at least. by Daniel Nash II

"No, not a halfblood," Daniel agreed when she guessed 'the Second' meant he was a pureblood rather than a halfblood. It wasn't worth correcting the assumption, and she was already going on about the blood statuses of her parents and then jumping back to the subject of her new quill. This was why he didn't like Pecaris.

Still, Daniel began an attempt to answer her question about how to keep her bag as tidy as his own - she clearly needed the information and it would make him feel better to know the disaster in her bag was going to be seen to - but about halfway through the description and history of the charm he used to protect his things from breaking, he realized she was working on her assignment and not paying any attention to him.

He blinked, uncertain if he should be offended that she was blowing him off or mortified that a Pecari was doing the lesson while he - an Aladren - talked about something completely unrelated to the project at hand. He'd obviously broken character, and badly.

Horrified with himself he looked down at poetry book and found it was open to a page already. Decided that was as much fate-chosen as one could get, he wrote down the title and author onto a fresh piece of parchment.

My Daughters in New York
by James Reiss

Not exactly the poem he probably would have chosen, seeing as Daniel had no daughters (possibly would never have daughters, if he took after Dad as much as he was beginning to fear he did) and he lived in California. Still he held his wand up with one hand and the pebble up with his other hand, and cast "Alea Sollicito."

Despite himself, he found himself holding his breath as the little stone swirled around in the air before coming to rest on a stanza of the poem. With a sense of foreboding (he prided himself on his pessimism, so a sense of foreboding was the only way to approach the future) and moved the pebble aside read the line underneath it.

"What footloose new/ freedoms allow them to plow through all stop signs?" Daniel read aloud, mostly to himself. The feeling of foreboding increased.

He dutifully copied that down onto his sheet as well, and circled 'footloose' and 'stop' since those were the two words the pebble had partially covered. Frowning down the line, he couldn't imagine what it might mean in specifics, but it was clearly a bad thing.

He looked over at Cassy and found she was looking at him oddly. Had he been muttering? He hoped not. Being related to Holly was already more evidence than he wanted to give his classmates that maybe he wasn't entirely mentally well-balanced.

"This class should come with a warning for pessimists," he stated. "There is no way this is not ominous," he told her then read the line: "'What footloose new freedoms allow them to plow through all stop signs, careening at corners, hell-bent for the road to blaze straight?' It outright states I'm trying to destroy myself." He shook his head and frowned at the poetry book as he added, "And the line right before it was: 'that pinball goes bouncing off light posts & lands in a pothole, on to pop up & roll in the gutter' - That's the definition of futility, isn't it? I'm desperate to throw myself into the path of disaster and there's nothing I can do to stop it from getting worse."

He sighed and realized that didn't sound at all like something he'd do, but it did sound remarkably familiar. "Oh, God. It's about Mom and her marriages and divorces. I told her not to marry Anton. I told her."

1 Daniel Nash II I'm well motivated at least. 130 Daniel Nash II 0 5

Cassy

April 20, 2010 5:47 PM

At least that makes one of us. by Cassy

Cassy snorted at his words. Really, it was kind of funny. They were almost in the same boat parent wise, except for the fact he was a pureblood, and it was his mom, not his dad, who had married someone horrible. Well, at least that's what she understood. Cassy looked down back at her work and her crumpled piece of paper. She didn't think the Professor would appreciate it, and to be quite honest she didn't care, but she was bored. If only she could fix it...

And that is when she smacked herself in the forehead. Really, how couldn't she have thought of it before? She was half-blood, true, but really, she wasn't this forgetful, was she?

... Okay maybe she was.

In any case, Cassy quickly grabbed her wand and pointed at her parchment and said, "Repairo." She watched with satisfaction as it smoothed itself out, and then she went about repairing her quills. It was a good thing she didn't throw them out. When they were all fixed, she wondered briefly if she should give him back his quill. Well, no, he did say she could keep it. It wasn't like he didn't have plenty, and besides, he was pureblood. He could afford a million more. Well, she could too, but that was beside the point. She wasn't going to ask her stepmom for anything.

"You know," she said, after some thought, "I don't think it means you are going to destroy yourself, or even your mom. Maybe it literally means you are going to have footloose and fancy free daughters who just don't care?" She snorted at the thought. "Then again, this is poetry. It's never meant to be taken literally. But whatever, you are the Aladren."

0 Cassy At least that makes one of us. 0 Cassy 0 5

Daniel

April 20, 2010 7:40 PM

Never underestimate the power of a good sibling rivalry by Daniel

While Cassy was repairing her quills, Daniel was writing down the beginnings of his essay about what the poem meant about his future - or, more accurately, his mother's future. How she'd ignored all the past signs (the stop signs) that told her that marrying Anton wasn't going to work any better than her marriages to Michael, or his dad, or Holly's dad, or Luke's dad, or any of the other guys in between. That she was hell-bent on trying to prove she could be happy in a marriage and it could last more than a year, and not learning that trying again after falling in a pothole only dropped her into a gutter.

(Not that Anton was horrible or anything; he seemed like a nice guy, but that was probably just going to make it that much worse when they broke up and divorced.)

He was trying to decide how to phrase his prediction of how devastating it was going to be for everyone when Anton left without making it sound like he was the doomsayer everyone at the wedding accused him of being when Cassy started talking to him again. Seriously, the girl had to have some kind of attention disorder. She'd just spent five minutes fixing everything in her backpack, and now she was talking to him again as if they hadn't ever stopped.

And her suggestion . . . Daniel stared at her in horror. As if the explanation he'd already come up with hadn't already been dire and dreadful enough.

"I certainly hope it's about my mom, because if it's about any potential daughters I might have, then I must turn out to be an awful parent. I already know my mother is a hopeless romantic who is fundamentally incapable of maintaining a stable relationship. Please don't destroy my illusions about my future children, assuming I can even have any."

1 Daniel Never underestimate the power of a good sibling rivalry 130 Daniel 0 5

Cassy

April 20, 2010 8:25 PM

Sibling Rivalry- a fun way to pass the time. by Cassy

Cassy snorted. "Okay, Mr.Perfect," she grinned. "I won't spoil your delusions." She could kind of tell he didn't like her much, but that was fine because she wasn't an easy person to like. She was competitive, moody, and easily angered, but hey- she was darn stubborn when it came to her friends. She would die and kill for them, if she ever had to.

Cassy watched him as he worked, bored. She could go and speak to someone else, and she had no doubt he wouldn't mind that, he would probably be pleased, but she liked the guy. Not in a 'OHMYGOSHPLEASEBEMYBOYFRIEND' kind of way, she was certainly not her sisters. She barely knew him. But he was kind of blunt about things, and honest. She liked that in a friend. Critics were good- they could always tell you where you went wrong with something, and sometimes they were even nice enough to tell you how you could possibly fix it. She had the feeling he was the type. Either that, or she was just annoying him so he was rude to her hoping she might go away.

"You know," she said after a moment, "just because parents make mistakes doesn't make them bad. My mom loved unicorns and surrounded me with them, in result I hate them, but she was still a good parent. My dad made the awful mistake of marrying Vivian Fernand, a french pureblood woman focused on nothing but fashion and what other people thought about her. There's a word for it, I'm sure, but I can't think of it right now... Anyway, my dad's still a good parent." Cassy sighed, leaning her head on her cheek. "But I'm sure you, Mr. Perfect, know this already." She said this teasingly, but she didn't know how he would react. Probably be annoyed, if anything.

0 Cassy Sibling Rivalry- a fun way to pass the time. 0 Cassy 0 5

David Lancaster

April 20, 2010 10:45 PM

Rhapsodomancy in Blue! by David Lancaster

Since he could remember, David Lancaster had felt more comfortable away from conscious thought than in it. Accused of lack of focus and labeled unmotivated, he shrugged away from those words, preferring the ideas and worlds created behind his eye-lids, in those moments of not-slumber. He could go an entire morning, walking from class to class, participating (if half-heartedly) in the lessons, and remember nothing of it but for the blurry image held in the corner of his mind. Encapsulated cities spun in gold, daunting rescues of detail-less loved ones, journeys through forests etched in charcoal and drenched in liquid fire-- who could blame him for preferring the imaginary to the supposedly real?

He didn't think for a minute that he had any sort of gift, not the sort that the word 'divination' alluded to, but he didn't believe his dreams were entirely without meaning. Somewhere, caught between the transient thoughts sifting through his consciousness, there was a greater meaning.

He hoped that a year of Divination and Professor Linn would prove him right in his belief.

Even if the dreams only meant something to him, it would still be something.

The frank admission that this was Professor Linn's first class was a pleasant change from the normal adult-condescension David was used to hearing. And the idea behind Rhapsodomancy further intrigued him. For the first time in a long time, he found himself genuinely interested in the lesson. It was a bit fluffy, this idea of a poem and a stone providing insight into the future, but he figured the real meaning came from whatever he thought it to be. A sort of self-fulfilling prophecy, driven by a foreign inspiration.

Plus, David liked poetry, and as if calling to him, he let the poetry book fall open to a page a third in. Camille T. Dungy's What to Eat, And What to Drink, And What to Leave for Poison. Forgetting entirely about the partner sharing his desk, he placed his dowsing stone on the page, and, closing his eyes, said the incantation. First one brown eye opened, and then the next.

Reading out loud, he spoke the verse slowly, cautious. "The brightness calls and you follow because you want to taste, because you want to be welcomed inside the code of that color: red for thirst; green for hunger; pink, a kiss; and white, stain me now."

The meaning behind the words teased at him, and yet David pulled away from it, reeling from the strength of the verse and not wanting to grant it truth or real consideration. Deliberately, he placed the dowsing stone a second time, and a second time, the charm resulted in it landing on the same verse. Incredulous, he went to try for a third time and found himself stopped by a question.

Overly thankful for the interruption, David bent to retrieve the dropped stone. "No problem; here you go." Still doubtful regarding his own attempt at the lesson, he continued, more to himself than to Jose, in a low voice. "No real chance of sanctuary here, my stone seems pretty sure of itself."

As if to cement his words, the dowsing stone slipped through David's fingers and landed, minus the spell's assistance, on the same verse. "And. . . third time's the charm. I give up."

0 David Lancaster Rhapsodomancy in Blue! 0 David Lancaster 0 5

Daniel

April 20, 2010 11:27 PM

For some reason, Holly doesn't agree. by Daniel

Daniel blinked the first time she called him Mr. Perfect, but decided to attribute the name to his obvious wish for well behaved children and the apparent criticism of his own mother. He didn't see the later as such, of course; it was merely a fact he'd come to accept. If she wasn't a hopeless romantic fundamentally incapable of maintaining a stable relationship, he wouldn't have had eight step-fathers over the course of his fourteen years.

Nine if he counted Barry, but Barry was Dad's boyfriend and they weren't legally married, so Daniel wasn't including him among that number. Even if Barry was the longest standing significant other either of his parents had ever presented to him and far more of a father than Michael or Anton or any of the earlier six were ever likely to be.

The second time she called him Mr. Perfect he realized that was how she was planning to actually refer to him from then on, and he wasn't quite sure what to make of it. It also provided a lot of other avenues for how she'd come up with the name, and he honestly wasn't sure if she was being sarcastic or just pointing out that she'd figured out he was a perfectionist. (It wasn't a hard conclusion to reach - he'd long since self-diagnosed himself as having mild OCD and it came out in everything from how neatly he kept appearance and bag to his precise penmanship to his excellent posture to the level of exacting detail he put into his every class assignment.)

In any event, she wasn't being fawning about it, so he took it in stride and gave her a crooked smirk that said he was meeting her mockery and raising her an ego. "I did know that," he agreed, and smirked a little more. "I turned out perfectly, didn't I? Also, the word you were looking for was 'reputation'." He wasn't trying to be rude, but it was absurdly satisfying to act as though he were even more snooty than he actually was. He had no idea if she'd be able to read through him that he was joking with her or not - that was one of the disadvantages of being a really good actor - but he was enjoying the role of 'Mr. Perfect' for now.

He affected a hint of a British accent and stiffened his spine to an even taller posture than he normally aimed for, to make it more obvious that he wasn't actually like this in real life, as he continued in a truly haughty tone (okay, maybe, maybe, he got why Holly liked to pretend she was a princess but he would die before he told her as much), "Though, honestly, dear, Ms. Vivian sounds like a lovely woman; I cannot comprehend what your tiff with her is all about. Also, I say, despising unicorns? Poppycock. Next you'll be saying this fog on the ground isn't splendidly glorious."

Both of his parents were actors. He'd been in his first movie when he was little more than a toddler and ever since he was nine he'd played a large enough part in Street Beat that his name was featured during the credit song of every prime-time episode he was in. He'd been raised to believe lying wasn't a sin but a profession, something not done with words but with his whole self.

He held onto the pompous air perfectly even as he looked down his nose at the Pecari and wondered if he'd taken it a step too far.

Cassy was not familiar with Daniel. She didn't know he was a muggleborn actor. She was still forming her first impression. This could backfire horribly.

1 Daniel For some reason, Holly doesn't agree. 130 Daniel 0 5

Cassy

April 21, 2010 4:05 PM

My sisters do, they love besting me at everything they do. by Cassy

Her first instinct? Smack him upside the head. She hated haughty people. Her sisters were haughty- even though they were well three years younger than her, they acted like they owned her, their father, (whom of which had been her father first.) and the very house they lived in. (The house she has lived in all her life.) and she hated them. At one point she had been excited to have little sisters (Even though she hated Vivian.) but that was ruined when they were turned to rotten spoiled brats who lived to torment her. And that wasn't the normal sibling thing- oh no, it was much more then that.

Her sisters hated her because she received attention from their father. True, her father loved them all, but he liked to spend more time with her in the summer. What they didn't understand was that she was gone most of the time during the year, and she only saw her father for the summer and holidays. Other then that, she never saw him. They tried their best to beat her in everything that she did so they could receive their father's attentions.

She had to admit, they were perfect ladies. They could entertain tea parties at the age of eight and knew three languages at the age of nine. They could draw and write, and their calligraphy was near to perfection at ten. But she wasn't one of them. She liked jeans to dresses and quidditch over tea parties. The part she hated the most about having pureblood sisters and stepmother was the fact she would never belong in that world.

Shaking her head, Cassy turned her thoughts to Daniel, AKA Mr. Perfect. There was something.. funny about the way he was acting...

Caspia grinned. He wasn't being serious. She was glad, too, because if he was she really would have smacked him upside the head. And that would be the end of their new found friendship. Or acquaintance, she wasn't sure. She snorted, but then that snort turned to giggles, and that bubbled into laughter. He was good, she had to admit. He almost had her there. Cassy grinned.

"Of course, Monsieur Parfait," she said in a horrible french accent, "Madame Vivian iz vonderful person. Absolutely parfait. Az ah you." With the straightest face she could possibly muster, she added, "And don't you zink zat ze fog iz vonderful this time of year? Iz absolutely lovely, chilling to ze bone." She grinned at the end. Her acting skills certainly weren't up to par, and she knew that. Her step mom wanted her to put up a front in front of the guests, pretending to be the perfect child and a happy older sister. Of course, she wasn't. She was terribly blunt about things more or less, brutally honest to a fault, but she couldn't help herself. If something was wrong, she would say so. It was just how she was. She was more like her mother in that aspect, she thought, sad.

0 Cassy My sisters do, they love besting me at everything they do. 0 Cassy 0 5

Lita

April 22, 2010 8:34 PM

Not too easy though. by Lita

Laughing lightly at Charlie’s less than pleased response to Lita’s quip, Lita returned her attention to line of the poem. “Yeah, maybe…” Lita commented in response to Charlie’s suggestion, although her tone of voice indicated that she found that to be highly unlikely. Lita was a complete romantic. She felt that she would find the one guy that would make her heart do jumping jacks without having to kiss a million frogs to find him.

What exactly did this mean anyway? That she only existed in the eyes of the boy? That she would only matter to him? Or that she would become so consumed that nothing else mattered? Or was it that this boy would see her in a way that no one else could or ever would?

Lita sighed inwardly. Now she was just putting this whole line into a fairytale. This was probably just some random boy who Lita had minimal contact with who probably had some weird obsession with her and she would be completely unaware of it. Great. Some future.

Lita was sitting quietly staring at the line in the poem trying to figure out exactly how this played out for her future when Charlie had evidently picked out a poem. “Yes please, but only if they are red licorice fields and not the black ones.” Lita joked before glancing at the poem Charlie had her book opened too. “I’ll never understand poetry. They just seem so random.”

Lita poked the other stone, indicating to Charlie to pick it up. “Let’s have it. What is doomed to become of you?” Lita was actually really excited to find out if anything actually came from these poems. How awesome would that be that they were able to find a little bit of knowledge of the future just by dropping a stone?

0 Lita Not too easy though. 0 Lita 0 5

Jose

April 23, 2010 12:45 PM

Rhapsodamancy in Red? by Jose

"Thanks," Jose said, accepting the pebble back, and then looked over at the verse David's stone kept landing on. He gave the other third year a grin and a shrug. "Well, it's good to be colorful, right? It beats being drab."

He held up his pebble again and remembered just before he tried dropping it again that the professor had given them a randomizing spell that ought to prevent the bouncing issue Jose had already discovered when that step of the process was disregarded. He checked his notes and found the incantation and its notes scribbled down in the margin.

He put the pebble down on the page and tapped it four times. "Alea Sollicito."

The small stone danced around on the page and then came to rest on the line: "His shoes have begun to melt." Jose frowned. He looked over the rest of the poem and decided that he'd managed to find the least destructive line in the entire thing.

He looked down at his own foot, clad in Jude's shoes that were now his. They'd traded. Granted, they weren't as new as they had been when that trade had been made, but they weren't melting or one preservation charm away from total disintegration, like his own had been when Jude claimed those.

Maybe his old shoes were the ones that were about to fail, not that Jude would mind at all. Jude didn't want any shoes which is why Jose's ancient ones had been preferable to him over the strangely stiff newness of the sneakers Jose had gotten out of the deal.

He scratched his head, trying to make sense of what the fortune was trying to tell him. "Okay, all I'm getting about mine is that it involves my roommate. Or maybe just his shoes. Shoes, or lack of shoes more accurately, means Jude."

0 Jose Rhapsodamancy in Red? 0 Jose 0 5

Alison Sinclair

April 24, 2010 1:31 AM

At least I wasn't expecting good omens... by Alison Sinclair

In the Muggle world - or at least the portions of it that Alison's shiny, modern parents and two perfectly ordinary brothers occupied - Divination was a joke. Her father was fond of saying that no one could have an impact on anyone else without that person's permission, making each person solely responsible for how his or her life turned out.

Alison, hearing it over the summer after Aunt Lauren told her to stay in Philly, had thought that was the stupidest comment she'd ever heard.

She had believed in fate and ghosts before she believed in witches and wizards. When Tessa had begun leading them all away from what Greta thought they should learn and to what they wanted to do, it hadn't taken Alison long to begin to really believe in the Sight. Too many things had happened, especially to Iris, in the attic for her to not believe in it. As she sat down at one of the two-person tables in the Divination classroom, Alison wondered if she was the least skeptical person there.

She also wondered why, exactly, she was taking the class, since a few experiments had proven to her that she didn't have the Sight herself and thus was restricted to methods she could learn just as easily out of a book if she chose to look into the future. The problem compounded itself at moments when she realized just how wary of doing that she was. She'd finally decided it was a mix of wanting to get under her parents' skins and wanting to feel like she was still doing something unconventional, exploratory, and at least a little dangerous. Regular school was too safe and orderly now.

As the professor, whose glasses she liked, talked, Alison played with her necklace, feeling the roughly-carved runes under her fingers. Runes were an experiment that had gone well; if they did a unit on rune casting, she'd be able to ace it without really trying. Rhapsodomancy, however, was new; she didn't think she'd even heard of it before. A welcome change from the rest of her first week of classes. Ignoring her partner more by oversight than intentional rudeness, she opened the book and placed the pebble on it, then tapped it four times with her wand and repeated the incantation.

Who is the third who walks always beside you?
When I count, there are only you and I together
But when I look ahead up the white road
There is always another one walking beside you
Gliding wrapt in a brown mantle, hooded
I do not know whether a man or a woman
- But who is that on the other side of you?
What is that sound high in the air
Murmur of maternal lamentation
Who are those hooded hordes swarming
Over endless plains, stumbling in cracked earth
Ringed by the flat horizon only
What is the city over the mountains
Cracks and reforms and bursts in the violet air
Falling towers
Jerusalem Athens Alexandria
Vienna London
Unreal

Finishing the stanza, Alison blinked and, for a moment, seriously considered reading the entire poem. Then she realized it was over four hundred lines long and decided against it. She had a feeling, though, that she'd still be missing something even if she did an explication of the entire thing and a report on the author to boot.

One thing was sure, though: it wasn't cheerful. "Huh," she said, looking at her partner now. "If you can get anything out of mine, you ought to win a prize."

OOC: Quotation taken from T.S. Eliot's "The Waste Land," part four, "What the Thunder Said," lines 363-380.

16 Alison Sinclair At least I wasn't expecting good omens... 140 Alison Sinclair 0 5

David

April 26, 2010 2:11 PM

Rhapsodomany in Plain Yellow by David

"Maybe it's not meant to be taken so literally," David suggested. Granted, he wasn't the biggest reader of poetry. He preferred his fantasy stories and gothic tales to the fuzzy intangibles of poems. But his mother, the engineer-poet, had spent enough of his childhood forcing them down his ears that David had learned that rarely were poems meant to be taken at their word.

A shoe was a shoe, yes, but it was also a means for travel, a source of protection for a vulnerable part of the body, or even, at a stretch, a house of sorts. A melting shoe could mean all sorts of things. "Like maybe it means you need to change something in your life, something that has to do with the direction you're traveling. Shoes are for walking, and it'll be difficult to take certain paths if your shoes are damaged."

David preferred to not focus on what possible meanings the verse his stone had picked for him might have. There was too much of the violent, of the potentially volatile in the verse's words for his tastes. It suggested that still waters run deep, and hidden there in the water's depths was a dangerous current, pressing for drowning and hopeless struggle. It was the sort of meaning that tiptoed in the back of his mind, whispering when he leaned too far over a tall building's balcony, or neared a train track. David like light and softness, gentleness and day-dreaming.

He did not suffer from anger or frustration.

He was happy.

"Or it could just be that you need new shoes." David closed his poetry book with a dulled thud; he wasn't about to give that poem another try.

0 David Rhapsodomany in Plain Yellow 0 David 0 5

Mike Song

April 26, 2010 3:53 PM

I wasn't expecting omens at all. by Mike Song

His mother considered half of the things he studied as blatant evil, so Mike thought throwing in something as ill-sounding as 'Divination' to his course study would provoke her to finally showing her anger. Mike was certain it was there; his mother might turn all of that negative emotion on his sister, but he knew it was meant for him. Every haphazard slap, every short word, every lecture and half hour spent kneeling before the altar-- his sister might live through it, but Mike knew it was meant for him.

So, he signed up to take Divination without hesitation, and sat, waiting in relative boredom, for the first lesson to commence. He glanced twice, during the lecture, to his desk-mate, a girl from his house that he had managed only passing exchanges with. She actually seemed interested in the greater workings of the lesson, which to Mike's ears, sounded rather convenient. Basically, he was spinning a stone and then granting whatever words it landed on some supposed importance. He had dealt with enough boardwalk fortune tellers to be skeptical of whatever mystical power the stones and poetry had.

Nevertheless, Mike did as directed and flipped open his poetry book to a random page, dropped one of his dowsing stones, and performed the incantation. He read the line once and then twice, and the whole of the poem, feeling his heart tightened in chest.

--their hiding places, but the car kept coming
up, the car in motion,
music filling it, and sometimes one other person
who understood the bright altar of the dashboard
and how far away
a car could take him from the need
to speak, or to answer, the key
in having a key
and putting it in, and going.

Mike read over the title slowly, his finger tracing the author's name. The Sacred by Stephen Dunn. He didn't want to believe it, didn't want to put faith in the circumstance and accident that led to that particular poem, and those particular lines, and so, fitfully, he pushed his attention to Allison and her stone.

Mike read over the proffered page and made no attempt to hide his confusion, glad and grateful for the distraction from his poem of cars and escape and hiding places. "I dunno," he admitted. "It sounds like it has something to do with mourning, though, I guess. That part about 'maternal lamentation'-- maybe grieving?"

He vaguely remembered something about the lost city of Alexandria, or maybe it was a library, but he supposed that didn't need mentioning. It wasn't like he was giving this whole rhapsodomancy thing any credo, after all.

0 Mike Song I wasn't expecting omens at all. 0 Mike Song 0 5

Alison

April 27, 2010 12:56 PM

Guess that's an argument for not having expectations, then. by Alison

Alison barely suppressed an unladylike snort of laughter at the mention of grieving. "Guess I'm going to break Mother's best vase this summer," she remarked, taking care to say it as 'vah-ze.' Once, Alison had found Mrs. Daniel Sinclair at least a little awe-inspiring; now, she usually merely found her ridiculous. "I'm pretty sure that's the only thing that would cause maternal lamentation around her house."

And speaking of Houses, she was pretty sure her partner was in hers. All of the names and faces she was trying to learn had started to blur together, but she'd put extra effort in for the other fourth year Pecaris. She liked Dana, felt far less affection for what she'd seen of Cassy, and had yet to form a definite opinion of...Mike. Yeah, that was right. It was both easier and harder to remember because it was close to her brother's name; if she wasn't careful, she might end up calling him Michael, which might lead to either making a pompous ass of herself or mentioning her Muggle brother in public. Neither option appealed.

"You're Mike, right?" she asked, trying to make it sound as little like a question as she could manage. Her entire life strategy revolved around avoiding asking questions that she couldn't find the answers to on her own. She blamed genetic factors; her father was a little like that, and he preached it more vociferously than he practiced it when the mood hit him. Her mother was no better; Terri's main strategy was to just not ask questions at all. "What kind of cheerful message did you get?" It was a prevailing belief of Alison's that things were usually deemed literature on the basis of how much pointless death was in them.

16 Alison Guess that's an argument for not having expectations, then. 140 Alison 0 5

Marissa Stephenson

April 29, 2010 7:33 PM

Giving it a try. by Marissa Stephenson

It must have been delirium. Madness. Temporary insanity. A decision made at three a.m., when she was so tired that it was hard to see straight and had consumed so many sodas it was impossible to sleep and easy to feel her bones dancing anyway. There was no other explanation for why Marissa had thought it was a good idea to take Divination.

It wasn't as wand-based as, say, Charms, but a skimming of the textbook had let Marissa know that it involved magic a few times. It wasn't something her family approved of - or really something Marissa even knew if she believed in. But here she was, sitting down at a two-person table and doing an impressive job of finding different ways to say she was crazy and an idiot. Even if she could manage the spells in here - something she wasn't likely to be able to do - how, exactly, was she supposed to juggle the workload? She felt strained to the limit at exam times as it was.

She had to know, though. This was a reputable educational institution, which meant there had to be some validity to the subject, and Marissa couldn't just refuse to try. She had to know if there was one area of magic besides history she had any aptitude at all for.

No sudden knowledge of whether or not she did came down on her as it happened, but Marissa did feel herself warming to the professor as he talked. Not only did the way he put his response to the skepticism surrounding his subject make her feel as though he 'got,' in some way, what it was like for her juggling her worlds, but he was beginning them with a lesson involving literature. She jumped slightly when the supplies fell from the ceiling, but recovered quickly and went on with her note-taking.

There was a spell involved, but if worst came to worst, Marissa thought she could throw the crystal with her eyes closed in such a way that it would land on the page more or less randomly. Hopefully, though, it wouldn't come to that. She opened the book at random and placed the crystal on the very top of the page, in the white section. Then, having to remind herself to breathe, she tapped it with her wand and said the incantation.

When she opened her eyes, it was resting on a stanza, and not the first one on the page. It had actually worked. She had made the spell work.

"Yes!" she cheered, clapping her hands and flushing with pleasure. She had done it. She had made a spell work all by herself. Admittedly, it wasn't a world-shattering feat, but...How many times had she ever managed to do that during the relevant class period? She didn't care if it was real or not, or if Professor Linn was for real or not; Marissa officially loved this class. "Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!"

She noticed the person sharing her table staring at her a little oddly. "Sorry," she said, still smiling. "I just never get spells to work the first time. I got a little - ehm - overexcited."

16 Marissa Stephenson Giving it a try. 147 Marissa Stephenson 0 5

Charlie

May 01, 2010 11:23 AM

None of this is easy by Charlie

Lita didn't sound convinced by Charlie's interpretation of her poem line. "What?" she said, faking innocence. "I'm surprisingly sensitive to divining the future, you know," she teased. "Did I not see you talking to Juri at the feast?" Maybe that was taking the joke too far. Actually, Charlotte did feel guilty leaving Lita to talk to Juri while she met Dmitry at the feast. "I am sorry about that, by the way," Charlie said in a more serious tone. "I know Juri can be a real loser. You didn't have to talk to him, you know."

Once she'd found a poem, Charlie was pestered by Lita to find out what it meant for her future. "Okay," Charlotte said, smiling as she picked up the stone and placed it randomly on the page. "Here goes nothing." Holding up her wand, Charlie cast the spell as instructed. She watched as the stone span and came to settle covering two lines towards the end of the poem.

'Oh love! for love I could not speak,
It left me winded, wilting, weak,'

Charlie wrote the lines down on her parchment and read them aloud to Lita. "Well that sounds ominous." Frowning, Charlotte read the rest of the poem, her eyebrows raising as she reached the end. "You know what? I'm no genius at poetry, but I think this is a little bit X-rated," she contemplated as the read between the lines of what exactly had happened in that licorice field. "Remind me to avoid any and all fields containing any hint of licorice, red or black," she said.

0 Charlie None of this is easy 0 Charlie 0 5

Mike

May 06, 2010 3:32 PM

I can't believe I missed the chance for Gaiman references. by Mike

Idly, Mike ran over the list of things he had purposely broken that belonged to his mother. There were a few items he had broken repeatedly, like the frame holding a picture of his father on the altar. He'd managed to smash it at least a half dozen times, each time with greater relish and significantly less guilt. He felt none of the healthy violence he normally did when he considered that photograph. It was interesting what meeting one's dad did to a guy, especially when said father closed a door in his face.

Mike cocked an eyebrow and pretended injury when Alison attempted proper introductions. "That's nice. Share a house with a girl and she doesn't even know my name. Good to know I matter."

The attempt at banter sounded slightly flat, and he frowned. He used to be better at this, the whole teasing, flirting game he liked to play with girls. He had practised enough in the past; perhaps it was that he hadn't practised lately. His summer on the run hadn't really provided ample opportunity to trade quips with pretty girls; normally he preyed on the daughters of the visiting tourists who would linger around his family's food hut on the boardwalk. As he got older, the girls would linger longer, giggling over their cans of coke, twirling their umbrella straws behind folded hands, and order refills on their baskets of grilled shrimp and kebabs. His cousin liked to claim responsibility for the increase in business from the teen girl demographic, but Mike knew where the real draw rested. He had mirrors, after all, and in his dorm room, he had one that whispered the best sort of compliments.

It was a little strange, though, to hear such words come from a voice that sounded quite a bit like Mr. Rogers.

"Cheerful doesn't seem like the right sort of word for it," Mike said, shoving his book over. He didn't really give the whole Divination thing any real credit, but the poem was uncanny. It bothered him how quickly and easily the words touched him, and it made him feel rough. He re-read the poem as he waited for Alison to browse through it.

--how far away a car could take him from the need to speak--

Christ, but that was apt.

He struggled briefly and then righted himself with a smile that spoke of ambivalence and disregard for any sort of portent or meaning the poem might actually have for him. "So, any ideas, oh housemate that doesn't know my name?"

0 Mike I can't believe I missed the chance for Gaiman references. 0 Mike 0 5

Lita

May 06, 2010 7:35 PM

Reading poems? by Lita

Lita burst into a fit of giggles at Charlie’s comment. Despite trying to be open to the whole thing, Lita just couldn’t grasp the idea that a person could see the future clearly and even less so with Charlie. Lita’s giggles died down a bit though with Charlie’s apology. Lita and Juri’s relationship was a bit odd. He could easily set her off in a fit of anger (which he often did in their third year) but at the same time, they could easily hold a conversation for long periods of time. Lita still didn’t know what to make of him, but she considered Juri a pretty good friend just the same.

“No need to apologize, Charlie.” Lita commented, waving it away. “I know how important boys are to you and Juri really wasn’t such a horrible companion to have. I mean, I didn’t end up hating him by the end of the feast, so that’s a step up. I think.” Lita said lightly. Adelita was still trying to figure the whole ‘romantic, relationship, boys’ thing but figured it would work itself out in time. There was no point in rushing, she was only fourteen after all.

Watching Charlie perform the spell, Lita couldn’t help but be a little excited at what the poem might reveal. Only, she wasn’t really sure what it revealed. Lita made a face for a moment of utter confusion. “Okay, that either means you were swept of your feet with a rough love or… you had your heart broken.” Lita wasn’t sure either of suggestions were good suggestions.

“What?” Lita asked, surprised by the revelation. “How can licorice fields be dirty?”

0 Lita Reading poems? 0 Lita 0 5

Charlie

May 11, 2010 5:32 AM

That too by Charlie

Charlie was far from offended at Lita's giggles; the idea that she could see the future was, after all, ludicrous. But hey, they were in divination classes, and given a year or two Charlotte might be able to make predictions. Maybe. Possibly.

"Definitely a step up," Charlie agreed. Not hating someone was generally an improvement. Charlie didn't hate Juri herself (except when he was mean to Lita, then she could just kill him). He was kind of attractive in a mysterious, moody sort of way, but there was something about him that put her off. Arrogance, maybe.

Interpreting her lines, Charlie had only come to the conclusion that someone had broken her heart and left her a dishevelled wreck. Lita seemed to think it could mean one of two things. "I hope it's that I get swept off my feet," Charlotte said, writing down some notes. "Sounds much more fun than getting my heart trampled on."

"How can licorice fields be dirty?" Lita asked. Charlotte turned the book round so Lita could read the poem more easily.

"This line, here - Her sulky lips were shaped for sin. Then it goes on about her legs... I dunno, I think there's more going on in that field than we're being told," she surmised, pushing the book away almost as if it had offended her by keeping its secrets. "I'm trying another poem," Charlie declared, grabbing a book from the next desk over. "For the practise," she laughed, trying to provide a logical reason for wanting a different reading. "How about you? Going to give it another go?" she asked Lita.

0 Charlie That too 0 Charlie 0 5

Alison

May 12, 2010 1:59 AM

I admit to kinda hoping for one after I noticed posting that by Alison

"That's nice. Share a house with a girl and she doesn't even know my name. Good to know I matter."

The tone was a little off, but the statement was just a bit too over the top for Alison to think it was totally serious in nature. Or at least for her to hope that was the case at hand. "Hey, show some pity to the new girl," she admonished lightly. "This year's the first time that I've been around more than six people in a day since my sixth birthday."

Not technically true, but close enough, and she liked the parallelism. Alison thought of herself as pretty tough-minded, and her House placement confirmed what she'd always suspected about, despite her reluctance to do so, her skill for adjusting to new circumstances, but she'd almost gone crazy her first night in that dorm room. She had shared a room with other girls before, that was no big deal, but the part where she didn't know the other girls bothered her. No one she didn't know and know well needed to know how she looked before she was conscious enough to straighten her hair.

"Sounds better than 'so, how does the poem say you're going to die,' though," Alison observed as the poetry book was pushed over to her and she began to read. "Huh."

She wanted to pull out her notebook and jot down what was going through her head as far as interpreting this went - it was easier to keep track of her thoughts that way, and then pull them into a coherent whole - but doubted it would be received well. It seemed a tad...personal, really, to jot down associations she could then refer to later about what might be someone else's future. Instead, she tried to visualize a sheet of notebook paper instead. The figurative key to having a literal key, cars moving away....

Her thought process was interrupted after a moment by Mike's question. She did, indeed, have some ideas, but wasn't sure how much they were being influenced by her situations, which made her reluctant to say a lot. "Not really, o Established One," she half-lied. "Maybe that someone's really good at getting away with not having to answer for stuff, from the key to having a key to get away in the car thing, but I've been told that my literary criticisms are weird on a good day, so make sure to take all that with a spoonful of salt."

16 Alison I admit to kinda hoping for one after I noticed posting that 140 Alison 0 5

Lysithea Dione

Preparations by Lysithea Dione

Professor Lysithea Dione

First Lesson by Professor Lysithea Dione

Robbie Bates

My Very Excited Moose Jumps South Until Night Passes by Robbie Bates

Dalila Bastet

the moon is in conjuction with polaris... by Dalila Bastet

Asher Tallow

So, why again is cancer a crab? by Asher Tallow

Laura Keaton

My Very Excellent Mother Just Served Us Nineteen Pizzas by Laura Keaton

Gwenhwyfar Carey

Spearshaker and other pretest errors... by Gwenhwyfar Carey

Earl Valentine

Don't Feed the Excited Moose by Earl Valentine

Professor Dione

That's why it's a pretest. Just to see what you know. by Professor Dione

Professor Dione

These Very Excellent Answers Just Earned You Some Points by Professor Dione

Professor Dione

Good question... by Professor Dione

Professor Dione

Polaris being the North Star... by Professor Dione

Professor Dione

How many mnemonic devices are there for this question? by Professor Dione

Professor Dione

More like, don't be late to my class by Professor Dione

The Craven Twins

It's all about Uranus.... by The Craven Twins

Kaylie Brockert

What I don't about astronomy could fill the universe by Kaylie Brockert

Earl

even more like, don't get caught by Earl

Dalila

And the North Star being int the constellation Ursa Major... by Dalila

Catherine Raines

And why do we need to know this? by Catherine Raines

Professor Dione

Why do you ask? by Professor Dione

Professor Dione

Like that could happen by Professor Dione

Asher Tallow

So is there an answer? *tag Laura* by Asher Tallow

Jim Dickens

You forgot all about Alfheim *shakes head sadly* by Jim Dickens

Tally

it's a whole other world to me... by Tally

Professor Genevieve Williams

Lesson One: An Introduction by Professor Genevieve Williams

Chris Dupree

Looking for Kaylie by Chris Dupree

Zack Dill

Perhaps this isn't the class for me by Zack Dill

Saul Pierce

Skidding in by Saul Pierce

Kaylie Brockert

Found me! by Kaylie Brockert

Jennifer Zucchero

This counts as a class? by Jennifer Zucchero

Jake Santoro

...No, not at all. by Jake Santoro

Zack Dill

I heard that! by Zack Dill

Jennifer

Feeling bombarded by Jennifer

Zack Dill

You're the best, Jennifer. by Zack Dill

Jake

That's a matter of opinion by Jake

Jennifer

Entirely fact by Jennifer

Jake

Oh dearest Professor by Jake

Jennifer

And now back to you, Zack by Jennifer

Jake

Have fun with that by Jake

Zack Dill

It's a Gameboy, of course she'll have fun by Zack Dill

So is there an answer? tag Laura by Asher Tallow

You forgot all about Alfheim shakes head sadly by Jim Dickens

glowy happiness by Chris