Asher Tallow
April 23, 2005 10:23 PM
You bet I did! *tag Robbie/Earl* by Asher Tallow
Asher turned to Laura, cheek shifting from elbow to upraised palm, and prepared to explain how her father had managed to prevent the learning of any hexes in the Tallow household. Her father, perhaps rather wisely, figured that five children was enough people for a minor war, and to add magic into that equation would most likely include him as a casualty. When Danny and Jamie first started going to the Aquarion Institute in Colorado, each visit home meant an immediate confiscation of their wands. The end result of these activites was that despite having grown up with magic, Asher knew very little on the practicalities of it- all of which she was about to explain when a twack cut off her words adn sent a brief annoyance of pain from the back of her leg."Hey!" Asher cried as she yanked up her leg to examine the thumb sized red mark. She gingerly touched the reddened skin and her eyes caught the sight of a rolled up bit of parchment on the floor. Her eyes narrowed as she picked it up.
"Laura, did you see who threw this?" she asked, passing over the paper ball. While she let Laura examine it, she flipped around on her chair and scrutinized her fellow classmates for a telltale smirking or snickering. Her gaze landed on two very suspicious acting boys, both of whom she knew, and one of which she knew for a fact was probably sore at her.
"Nevermind Laura, I know who threw it:Earl Valentine," she declared with a glare. She tried to pin him down with her eyes, hoping that he read the message loud and clear: You're going down!
Twisting back around in her seat, Asher grabbed a handful of parchment from her satchel and passed several sheets to Laura. "Start rolling. This means war."
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Asher Tallow
You bet I did! *tag Robbie/Earl*
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Asher Tallow
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Robbie Bates
April 24, 2005 2:09 AM
I always liked a good game of tag... by Robbie Bates
Robbie had watched Earl throw the ball at Asher, and he saw the reaction. And he just knew she knew it had come from Earl and him. If she didn't know yet, she would if she and her friend took the time to actually read the parchment. It had his name written on it! Of course, his handwriting was barely legible, but there was always the possibility one of them could decipher it.Whether or not they read the parchment, from the look that Asher was giving Earl, he knew what was going to come next. He started piling parchment onto his desk. It was a good thing his sister, Lilly, wasn't here to reprimand him about wasteful habits. She would probably consider a parchment-ball throwing war wasn't a good way of using parchment.
"So, do you think we are going to have to build up our supply of ammo? From the look on her face, we are probably going to need it pretty soon," Robbie nudged Earl. Well, he had hoped for a way for this class to get interesting, and he certainly got it. Throwing balls of paper at other people was always fun, almost like snowball fights. Already balling up a piece of parchment, he wondered how much parchment he was going to need.\n\n
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Robbie Bates
I always liked a good game of tag...
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Robbie Bates
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Earl Valentine
April 24, 2005 11:44 AM
Let the war begin! by Earl Valentine
So Asher had noticed. He wasn't as bad a throwing as he had thought. Maybe he should try out for seeker some day. He saw Asher talk to her friend and examine the ball of parchment before glancing in his direction. She gave him a stare that was so full of venom that he thought she might be part basilisk.Earl gulped. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. He felt a nudge.
"So, do you think we are going to have to build up our supply of ammo? From the look on her face, we are probably going to need it pretty soon."
Earl got that glint in his eyes back. "Yeah...get everything you've got. This is war!" He whispered vehemently as he began taking out sheets of paper and parchment, crumpling them into little balls and lining then up on his desk like soldiers prepared for battle.
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Earl Valentine
Let the war begin!
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Earl Valentine
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Professor Williams
April 29, 2007 5:08 PM
A Lesson in Muggle Government by Professor Williams
The day's lesson plans were involved in muggle government and its history, some of the more academically oriented coursework that she had planned. Genevieve prepared herself for the groans. Her previous classes were mainly more hands-on type learning, something she found when she was a student to be helpful. Nothing taught a class more about static electricity than using a Van de Graaff generator to demonstrate its "hair-raising" potential. However, she knew that hands on learning had to be backed by some more hardcore class work- ergo, her lesson plans for the day.She watched complacently from her chair as the students filed in, feet crossed and propped up on her desk. That day called for special wardrobe, thus her curly red hair was pulled up in a half-ponytail tied with red, white, and blue ribbon. Genevieve’s robes were covered by international flags of all the countries recognized by the Muggle United Nations. Each flag waved in place on the fabric, an easy distraction for any student who had a propensity for that sort of mental wandering. If necessary, the flags could be easily charmed into taking up stationary positions on the fabric. Upon her desk were numerous volumes of law books- everything from the English Magna Carta to the USA PATRIOT Act, a recent American Muggle document.
"Class," she addressed the students sitting at the desks before her while getting up from her seat, "Please take out your quills and parchment, we will be taking notes today.
"The subject of discussion today is Muggle Government. First, I will introduce you to a few of my personal favorite forms of government that muggles today use, then you will break up into groups of three or so and research a historical document that pertains to the law. So, government forms," Genevieve said, tapping a blackboard just to the left of her desk.
Across the black surface, different categories began to appear, writing themselves in narrow, looping characters. Listed were: REPUBLIC, MONARCHY, OLIGARCHY, DEMOCRACY, COMMUNISM, ANARCHY, and SOCIALISM. Each had space enough for notes underneath each category, a deliberate move in order to have space for the real note-taking section of the lesson.
"Alright, let's see how much you know about each of these, shall we?" she asked, twirling her wand slowly between her slim fingers, "The Republic: first discussed by the Ancient Greek, Plato, in his aptly titled work, The Republic, the basis of government for the city-state of Athens. The United States, too, is a loose mix of the republic and democracy- a Democratic Republic, if you will. I'm assuming we all recognize that the magical community was responsible for most of the success and foresight of the Greeks- Greek fire, that military ammunition which could not be doused by water alone, was a magical invention. That is to say, I don't mean to discredit the muggles in any way, of course, they did their fair share of thinking in this ideological revolution. Aside from that point, is there anything else we know about this government form?"
She left the question hanging in the air for a moment as she directed her wand back at the board, where it quickly and efficiently took down her dictations. 'Greeks--> Plato's The Republic' made its way across the board with a sub-point 'City-state of Athens', as did the rest of the notes that came from her discussion. For now, she wanted to quickly finish up the notes on government and move onto their real project. Genevieve quickly touched on each government and gave examples of functioning historical models for each until the board was filled with examples and white chalk markings.
"Now, for the real part of this lesson," she finally said, coming back around and sitting on top of her desk, facing the class, "As I said, You will pair up in groups- two or three, please- and research particular documents that have changed the face of governmental ideas over the ages. Here-" she tapped the board, the white marks disappearing and replacing themselves with a list of documents, "are some of the options you have. Feel free to choose one that does not appear on the list, as long as it is pertinent to the subject and you feel you can write a full report on it and its significance."
The list that appeared was seemingly random: everything from the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution -Women's Suffrage- to the Oath of the Tennis Court -the famous oath of the French Revolution- appeared on the list.
"Feel free to use any of the books around the room, as they've got lots of information to share," she said, gesturing back around the perimeter of the room to the bookshelves lining the walls, "Begin, please."
(OOC: Alright kids, let's see some creativity! I'm looking for the academic side of you all, so please make an effort to pick an interesting topic- preferably something you know a fair amount about. That being said, please also keep in mind most of your characters are roughly thirteen to fifteen, so write accordingly. Groups should also make an effort to work together as best you can. As always, have fun and enjoy yourself!
-Prof Genevieve)
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Professor Williams
A Lesson in Muggle Government
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Professor Williams
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Nicodemus Sawyer, Crotalus
February 25, 2011 2:56 PM
Glutton for Punishment by Nicodemus Sawyer, Crotalus
As a third year now, Nic was allowed to choose his electives. The options were Astronomy and Divination. Astronomy was too nerdy for the reputation he was trying to build for himself, so he discarded that option immediately.Though he honestly had much less interest in divination, that was far harder to refuse. Most Aladrens avoided it, so it had none of the 'extra course work' and 'trying to look smart' associations he'd applied to Astronomy which therefore meant his reputation didn't outright reject it as extra work. If anything, people took it to boost their overall averages with an 'easy' grade.
As if Divination was easy. Nic knew better than that.
But his parents. His parents would be so upset if he didn't take it. And, well, it would probably be better to learn the basics the classroom way before visions started and he didn't know what to do with them.
With a muggle psychic and magical divinator as parents, the chances that he wouldn't develop some form of the Sight were practically nil. Especially given the way both of his parents had looked at him that summer and recommended, in that way that wasn't really a recommendation so much as a Warning of Things To Come, that he "should take Divinations this year. It'll be good for you."
And maybe they had known that would be enough to convince him, or maybe he was reading into it too much, but after that they 'left it up to him'. His parents, more than any others he'd ever heard of, seemed to enjoy providing him with the illusion of free will. But he knew when he was told to do something under the guise of 'making an informed decision'.
So here he was, despite his misgivings and his general dislike of all things divination. The very room it was held in put him on edge and made him grouchy.
So when the substitute rhetorically asked, 'Aren't substitutes fun?' Nic was sullenly answering, "No," in a low mutter even before he realized he was thinking it.
He slouched down lower in the back of the room and tried to turn invisible, but this was not yet a magical skill he knew how to accomplish, so he remained large and entirely too noticeable due to excessive height. He didn't appreciate the man's skepticism on the subject he was trying to teach, so Nic didn't particularly feel bad for making the comment now that he had.
Picking up the tea leaves when they were allowed to begin the class work, Nic kind of wished they'd be doing this the old fashioned way. He'd sat on his mother's lap and watched her read tea leaves as often as he'd sat on her lap and watched her read children's books to him.
Still, he doubted the images and interpretations were terribly different regardless of whether the leaves had been burned or immersed in water. He held his leaves near the flames, and watched them darken, char, and even burn through in places. Feeling that he'd let them burn enough, he took them away from the flame and set them down in front of him.
The images jumped out immediately to him, and he grimaced a little at how little effort it took to find them. He wondered if he even could pull an A in this class. Normally, he didn't have any problems getting perfectly average grades once he'd given up trying to get straight 80 percents every single time, but he didn't know if it was possible to dumb himself down enough in something he knew so well.
Sure, he could lie, and give false predictions on purpose, but that just felt wrong. He didn't like lying.
So he scowled down at the sleigh and the sofa. "Somebody's getting a head cold," he remarked out loud. "Better not be me."
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Nicodemus Sawyer, Crotalus
Glutton for Punishment
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Nicodemus Sawyer, Crotalus
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Demelza Eagle
February 27, 2011 9:29 AM
The future hates us--Stupid Omens! by Demelza Eagle
There was only one reason why Demelza continued to take divinations through her fourth year: it was an easy O. Honestly, the subject was really stupid and had yet to prove useful. Last year, Demelza made up some pretty interesting predictions that had absolutely nothing to do with what she saw, yet she still got an Acceptable. Heck, better to have at least one class where she knew she couldn't fail. She was taking the minimum amount of classes she was forced to take, all of which were either easy or she was actually not so bad at. What would it matter in the end? She was going to be a rich and famous Quidditch player someday. Psh, who needed education?In a very exuberant and bouncy mood, Demelza wore a yellow tank top over a white one, with jean shorts under that, and skipped to class. She wasn't a fan of robes (being incredibly clumsy, she often tripped over the hem), so in most circumstances she didn't wear them, but today she at least had an excuse, which was that hey pigmy puff, Maxwell, had eaten the right sleeve off of her silver school robes. Demelza had no idea that her cute fuzzy ball of joy could do such a thing! Still, it amused her, so she didn't get mad at him. She loved Maxwell!
Taking a seat in the dreary classroom, Demelza wasn't at all surprised to see that there was a substitute. It was rather prevalent for the Divinations teacher to not be present, which was dumb, because Demelza totally showed up to class 70% of the time. She probably kept seeing bad omens in her crystal ball or something. The substitute, one Demelza had definitely seen before subbing her favorite class, Care of Magical Creatures, was, as she recalled, a decent sub. And for once, Demelza was slightly interested in today’s lesson.
Tea leaves were pretty boring, especially since Demelza despised tea. However, using fire to scorch them... well, that was a bit more fun! She remembered in her first year when they got to play with salamanders in COMC, and she accidentally burned one/made smoke emit from the scales. That was fun, even though she felt kinda guilty. Bring on the fire! Mel quickly grabbed a sage leaf and pointed her wand at it, muttering a spell that would set it on fire, but a controlled one. Then again, Mel often had terrible control of things. She accidentally burned three of her fingers, so she shot water from her wand to cool them, but they still kinda hurt. Ow. However, it wasn't serious, so Mel would just suck it up. No need causing a commotion for nothing. Then she looked at her leaf and tried to find shapes. Hmm. That kinda looked like an airplane. And next to that was probably a snake. Cool. She made a mental note not to visit her brother in Australia any time soon.
"Someone's getting a head cold," A third year boy next to her said. "Better not be me." Mel looked at him with green eyes and smiled. Head colds were not fun.
"Yeah, well, I wouldn't go to Australia anytime soon. Might get bitten by a snake...or something like that," Mel guessed, and then tossed her leaf aside. What did a leaf know anyway? "I don't believe in this nonsense anyway...do you?" She asked the boy, tucking a long strand of chocolate brown hair behind her ear. His name was Nick, or something along those lines, she was sure. Ever since her amnesia, she had a hard time remembering people's names. She looked at him expectantly, waiting to see whether he agreed with her or not.
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Demelza Eagle
The future hates us--Stupid Omens!
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Demelza Eagle
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Nic Sawyer
February 28, 2011 10:40 AM
Mostly, I blame genetics. by Nic Sawyer
Nick looked over at the person seated nearest to him. She didn't have her uniform robes on, so the House crest was not available to help him determine her House affiliation. Assistant Quidditch Captain, though, judging by the badge, but not one of the ones he'd played against in his only game. So, not an Aladren. Not surprising in this class.He had hated his own school robes at first, thinking that robes were kind of dorky and even a little girly, but he'd mostly adjusted to them now and didn't mind them so much anymore. The dark forest green wasn't as good a solid black robes would have been, but they were dark enough give a dramatic foreboding air to his looming, he thought. Plus, they helped hide just how annoyingly skinny he was most of the time. One just didn't look as beanpole ridiculous when surrounded by voluminous folds of fabric.
Anyway, the other girl's leaf had a serpent - illness again! Was there going to be some kind of outbreak of head colds? And a whale was a sign of personal danger that caution could prevent. In combination, the assistant captain might get sick - or have some other bad luck or spiteful enemy - but it was preventable if she was careful.
He wasn't quite sure what Australia had to do with her reading - there wasn't an A anywhere on the other girl's leaf - but he frowned at her outright skepticism. It was people like this that made Miami so difficult to live in.
Just for that, he wasn't going to correct her on her interpretation and she could have the illness, misfortune, or spiteful enemy. So there. Spite. And she said it was all bunk. Hers already came true. Nic wouldn't have had a problem with her if she'd just been careful about throwing around her unwelcome doubt. And now she was faced with spite. Just like he could have warned her about if she'd only had an open mind about these things.
He hoped she'd get the head cold, too.
But he said nothing of that to her. He just frowned a little and gave the same response he gave to the neighborhood kids who may or may not have known that the house with the 'Psychic Readings and Love Potions!' sign out in front of it was his.
"It's stupid."
There was no way on Earth he was telling anybody who didn't respect divination what his parents did for a living, and even less chance he'd admit he would probably develop the Sight himself. If he hadn't already. He didn't think other people were having quite as easy a time picking out and recognizing the relevant symbols from the burned leaves as he was.
But 'Seer' was the very last thing he wanted people thinking when they looked at him. 'Tall' was fine. He could work with 'tall'. But 'seer' was impossible. There were far too many misconceptions and he didn't like any of them.
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Nic Sawyer
Mostly, I blame genetics.
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Nic Sawyer
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