Professor Dione
April 24, 2005 8:29 PM
Time for a ceasefire by Professor Dione
As she was checking over the pretests, it didn't take her long to realize something was going on behind her back. The sound of crumpling parchment, and several somethings tapping across the tables and onto the stone floor quickly turned her attention towards the little war that had begun behind her back.A slow anger filled her being, though the only change in her countenance was the narrowing of her icy eyes, which was never a good sign in any case. Wand grasped tightly in her hand, she stepped towards the group, and shot a series of fireworks from her wand to gain their attention. Though the blast from her wand was almost deafening, her voice afterwards was at a venomous whisper, cold enough to send chills up anyone's spine.
"May I ask...what do you think you are doing?"\n\n
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Professor Dione
Time for a ceasefire
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Professor Dione
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Robbie Bates
April 24, 2005 11:10 PM
teachers always know how to ruin the fun by Robbie Bates
Robbie had ducked behind his desk and started throwing paper balls like crazy from behind its protection. He called it "desk warfare". Genius, no? Well, he thought so.Then another boy came along, Robbie didn't recognize him. He threw a paper ball at the girls, and another at him and Earl. Robbie shook his head, you couldn't just join a paper ball war and attack everybody, it just wasn't done. But wasn't there a line like that, something that wen 'Everything's fair in love and war'? Yah, it was something along those lines. So maybe it was alright to start attacking both sides. But it wasn't a very good strategy, seeing as you were now the enemy of both sides, each by themselves outnumbering him.
Robbie was just about to throw a ball of paper at the newcomer when the teacher interrupted their war. Science teachers always had to ruin all his fun. It was probably because they were so sour they had to teach such a bad subject. She asked them what they thought they were doing. Well, this could be interesting. If there was one thing he had learned from hanging around Lilly for a large part of his life, it was to be careful with your words. The teacher had not asked what they thought they were doing, but what they thought they were doing. Robbie got an idea.
"Well, I think that I am crouching behind my desk, peacefully looking at life from a new perspective... literally," he said innocently. Well, it was kind of true, it was what he was doing. Remembering the paper ball in his hand, he gave a short and nervous laugh as he stuffed it in his bookbag.\n\n
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Robbie Bates
teachers always know how to ruin the fun
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Robbie Bates
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Robbie Bates
April 25, 2005 12:20 AM
ooc-edit by Robbie Bates
just because it was bothering the authoress even though no one else probably cares:The teacher had not asked what they thought they were doing, but what they thought they were doing.
To decipher that sentence, it was mean that "The teacher had not asked what they were actually doing, but what they thought they were doing." The authoress's conscience is offically off her back.\n\n
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Robbie Bates
ooc-edit
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Robbie Bates
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Jordanna Howard
April 25, 2005 12:49 AM
Why do <i>you</i> ask? by Jordanna Howard
Jordanna stomped into the very dark and very ugly room, wondering why she had to take a pointless class like this. She didn't care about what was up in the sky, what she cared about was here, on earthy. Truly, classes like this should be optional. And forcing them to read and write in the shadow was definitely doing no good for her stone gray eyes. Wait until Daddy heard about this one in her letter.And this- could she even call this person a teacher, because she had definitely not taught Jordanna anything, and was not even bothering to teach now- wanted her to answer these questions for her stupid pretest? That was totally and completely biased, favoring bookworms and people with muggle backgrounds. Jordanna was no bookworm, and was very proud of her purely magical background. But while she truly would have loved to just skip the class, she didn't want a bad report home. She was trying to get Daddy to get her a new mattress and personal house elf after all. Bad grades certainly would not help her case. So onto the questions.
In her neat and graceful script she titled the page and started the first question. She had no idea what the answer was, but Jordanna was observant. The teacher was pretty idiotic to leave all the answers lying around the classroom. Only a dunce, or maybe a muggleborn wouldn't be able to pass this.
From her observations (not only of the room, but she had taken a quick glance at a fellow student's paper) she got the following questions:
Jordanna Howard of Crotalus
1. Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto.
2. Pluto is smallest, Jupiter is the largest.
3. Oval
Jordanna looked at the next two questions. They could not be answered by simply looking around the room. So she would have to be creative with these two.
4. If you are looking for the truth, then I truly do not care which planet is the hottest. Knowledge of which planet has the hottest temperatures does not affect my life in any way, shape, or form.
5. The Galilean moons have an illogical name. It would be more practical to just name them for the planet they orbit. I bet it was a muggle who thought to name them Galilean, they aren't very practical.
The next question was also an observation one that Jordanna could easily answer.
6. Jupiter has the Great Red Spot, but someone should totally remove it- it's ugly and totally clashes with the rest of the planet.
Jordanna looked at the rest of the questions. She didn't know them, and they weren't the observational kind either. This was so stupid- when would she ever need to know this?
7. Refer to question four.
8. This is a biased question, favoring students with muggle backgrounds. I don't know what a playwrite is, so how could you possibly expect me to answer this question correctly. This is a school for magic, why should I even know about what a playwrite is?
9. Refer to question four.
10. Refer to question four.
Jordanna didn't even bother with the bonus. Bonuses were for nerds, and she definitely was no nerd. Looking around the classroom, she saw the so-called teacher (who still had not taught anything) reprimanding Catherine. Jordanna's blood boiled- how dare she! Jordanna was definitely going to have to set things straight. Daddy always said she was quite persuasive with her words, perhaps this would be a chance to display that.
"Exuse me, Professor," she walked up to her meaningfully, just daring the "Teacher" to tell her to sit down, "But in no way do you have any right to talk to her like that. I am sure that the Headmistress would not want her employees to be so immature as to talk to a student in such a manner as you have displayed. Obviously you have no respect for your students, so why should respect your questions?"\n\n
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Jordanna Howard
Why do <i>you</i> ask?
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Jordanna Howard
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Asher Tallow
April 25, 2005 6:41 AM
I deny everything and demand proof *wink* by Asher Tallow
Asher discovered in the usual way that having long hair was never an advantage when at war. 'Course when it was usually braided back or in a pony tail, the hair was managable, but as it was now, there were bits of paper strewn all in it. Still though, her makeshift launcher worked wonderfully, and Earl Valentine had a bold red spot in the middle of his forehead as proof. Although...the red spot wasn't fading nearly as fast as the spot on her leg did. Maybe loading up the ball with pennies had been a bit much...oh well, she shrugged. It was a war after all- one that he started.She packed in another ball, this time aimed for Robbie's forehead, when a ball of paper came lobbing over from a different direction. A boy she didn't know with large blue eyes was happily chucking bits of paper at both her and Laura and the enemy. She stared for a second, wondering why the bipartisan mood, and then brushed it off. He'd be an enemy when shooting at them, and an ally when shooting at the- she shot a quick glare to remind Earl Valentine that she was oh so serious- ENEMY.
She pulled back on the band and set the ball to launch when an earcracking explosion rocked right next to her desk. Brief thoughts of read about nuclear bombs and that she didn't know the desert could spontaneously combust ran through her mind before her eyes registered the telltale sparks of a wand's use. Uh-oh. Dai Oni had finally noticed their war.
With her ears still ringing, Asher tried to look a little less mutinous. There came the brief thought that she might try to hide some of the evidence, but really, what was the point? She paper all in her hair, more of it crumbled and loaded with pennies on her desk, and a band stretched out between two of her fingers like a miniature slingshot. The proof was everywhere, and there was no way she could deny anything. Plus, Dai Oni probably already figured her for a troublemaker what with her smart alecky paper and comments. She was going to lose points no matter what. Her shoulders slumped as a second thought hit her: three of them in the war were from Crotalus! Oh cripes, they were going to lose a bunch of points!
She didn't care about herself really, or Earl Valentine for that matter (he was part of the ENEMY, after all) but Laura had already won points with her perfect paper, and it was Asher who dragged her into the whole war. This was her fault, and some friend she would be if she didn't try to pick up the blame.
"May I ask...what do you think you are doing?"
Dai Oni's words rang out like thunderclaps for all that they were spoken at a whisper, and Asher could almost see them paint themselves in front of her eyes. Cripes, she thought with a cringe, Dai Oni was scary alright. The question asked was really a stupid one, though, she decided. It completely set Dai Oni up for a smart mouth kind of answer, the sorts Asher preferred, and the ones that were really handy when you were trying to save your friend from a detention. Another quick glare to Earl Valentine, just to forewarn him that what she was about to do had absolute NOTHING to do with saving his hide.
She only half listened to Robbie's attempt at finagling out of the mess before she stood up, knocking her chair aside with a generally unpleasing screech of protest. Purposely smirking, she put her hands on her hips and addressed her teacher's question. "Well, Professor Dai- Dione, I was thinking that launching a war while finished with my work didn't necessarily break any rules, as you didn't mention any other than not being a dimwit and calling you Professor Dione. So I decided that Earl Valentine needed to be bombed and quickly. I accidentally hit Robbie instead, and so they both defended themselves, as is only natural when being clombered by a girl. Laura, though," she said, speaking a bit more quickly so that the somewhat festering looking Dai Oni wouldn't smite her into silence quite yet. "Well, Laura saw her fellow housemate and friend being attacked and jumped to my defense, but only just a second ago. That other boy, uh, I guess he thought we were finishing an assignment. So yeah, I started it all. Me."
Asher tried to make her smirk into something a little more aggravating, and slowly crossed the fingers on her left hand. Oh please, she mentally pleaded, let Earl Valentine not screw this up and get Laura into trouble, too.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
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Asher Tallow
I deny everything and demand proof *wink*
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Asher Tallow
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Juliet Lee
April 25, 2005 8:20 AM
Have the wish I wish tonight by Juliet Lee
"Well, J-Juliet, is it? Yeah...I'm glad to meet another member of my house. This year is goingto be so great, do you think? I can't wait to get this year really started. Do you think potions will be fun?"Juliet laughed good-naturedly at Dalila's obvious enthusiasm for Sonora. The academy had proved to be pretty decent so far. She had situated herself quite nicely: she had a good handful of friends, all the rooms weren't too difficult to find, the gardens were absolutely gorgeous, and besides the incident on the Quidditch Pitch )that she wished to NEVER speak of again), she hadn't made a fool of herself.
"I don't think I'll be very good at Potions, considering my cooking skills at home. I'm actually more interested in Care of the Magical Creatures. Since you get to work with animals like nymphs or maybe dragons."\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
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Juliet Lee
Have the wish I wish tonight
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Juliet Lee
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Jake
April 25, 2005 8:42 AM
Dimwits? Isn't that a nice nickname... by Jake
Jake sat in his seat moments after he spotted his sister. Had he been in a better mood, he probably would have gotten right back up and sat beside her. But, as it was, he had awoken late, missed breakfast, and now had to sit through this class.It wasn't to say that he didn't like astronomy, truth be told, he knew next to nothing about it. He just didn't want to be in class today. It was beautiful out and he hadn't been on his broom for a few days now. Plus, this classroom was dark and the professor was in a pissy mood. In fact, she would definitely be at the bottom of Jake's favorites list. Right there next to Reiner and Bulla. And even he had some respect for them. Calling students who didn't know everything Dimwits was just plain mean. That comment alone plummeted his respect for her. Weren't professors suppose to be supporting of their students and not lower whatever self-worth they had for themselves? Jake thought so.
He didn't immediately begin answering the questions. Instead, he took to looking around the room at the many graphs, diagrams, and solar systems until he noticed that the professor was actually checking everyone's work. With a sour look firmly on his face, Jake began:
1. Something with an 'M' and is also an element, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, the one with the rings, Uranus, I don't know the name of this one, and Pluto.
2. The smallest is Pluto and the largest is Jupiter
3. Erm, they seem to be rotating in a circle
4. The one closest to the sun, you know, the one that starts with 'M' and is an element.
5. Galilean moons?
6. Jupiter
7. Seems to be true.
8. I am unaware of any muggle playwright.
9. Other than the fact that the words are completely different, I have no idea.
10. I haven't a clue as to what retrograde means.
Of all the chocolate cards Jake had collected over the years, this question was, by far, the easiest for him to answer.
Bonus: Hesper Starkey
After he had finished with his pretest, Jake sat around watching the others in the room. He spotted many of his old friends, but many more first years. That included his sister and their friend Adam. Jake was rather amused by the whole "paper war" thing going on between the girls and the boys, even contemplated joining in. At least, he was, until their professor threw a hissy-fit. Honestly, was that even necessary? They were kids! Kids throw papers at each other.
Jake frowned as he listened to the Professor yell at them and the students defend themselves. He vaguely wondered if they'd ever get a teacher who knew what the word 'fun' meant. But, at this school, he highly doubted it. With a roll of his eyes, he returned his attention to the rest of the classroom.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
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Jake
Dimwits? Isn't that a nice nickname...
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Jake
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Dalila
April 25, 2005 6:18 PM
A wish come true by Dalila
Dalila's amber eyes opened in surprise. "They have a Care of Magical Creatures class here?" she asked, slightly breathless. She hadn't heard of there being one and was rather disappointed at the thought. That's why she had been interested in Potions; you had the chance of making things blow up. It was exciting and possibly dangerous."I can't wait. Magical creatures...this is going to be the best year ever! Dalila grinned even broader, if possible, and clapped her hands together. Magical creatures were so much better than either potions or astronomy.\n\n
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Dalila
A wish come true
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Dalila
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Earl Valentine
April 25, 2005 6:45 PM
Busted... by Earl Valentine
A paper ball had just been sent towards the enemy'd direction courtesy of Earl Valentine when something that sounded rather like as gun exploded in the air. Earl quickly covered his head with his hands, something he had learned to do in his muggle elementary school in case of an earthquake. This was followed by an earsplitting scream.When the noise had subsided he glanced up and saw a very angry looking Professor Dione staring menacingly at the troublemakers...himself included in that. And she had a right to be angry. Paper balls were strewn everywhere, bits of parchment fragments were in the girl's hair and probably his, and Earl had that large welt on his forehead that was turning a nice shade of purple. He was in for it now.
Earl laughed as Robbie tried to plea his innocence and doing a poor job of it. A new perspective...he could have come up with something much better. What really surprised him though, was Asher's defense. She wasn't even blaming him! And he had started it! He could see why she would want to take blame for her friend, and even for Robbie, but didn't she hate Earl? Well, he certainly thought she did...until now.
Oh, well, it was getting him off the hook. He'd have to thank her for it later, but that'll come when it has to. Earl grinned at Asher as he tried to stuff all his unused ammo into his backpack and away from Dione's icy black eyes. Maybe Asher wasn't so bad as he had thought. Maybe...\n\n
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Earl Valentine
Busted...
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Earl Valentine
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Professor Dione
April 25, 2005 9:14 PM
Except the proof is all over the room..and in your hair by Professor Dione
The professor's eyes scanned around the room before she focused directly on Asher. She had already irked her only a few minutes before, and now she had caused this unneeded distraction. Still, though she knew that she had been a part of it due to the scraps of parchment in her hair, her weak story made it clear that what she said was not really what happened."I think having a parchment ball fight would fall into the category of 'dimwit' perfectly, but if you are having such trouble figuring that out, perhaps I should make a list. And I must say that is the worst bit of fiction I have ever heard. However, I have no sound proof of what actually happened, so there is not much I can do. Miss Tallow, you will stay after class and pick up this mess. It will be then that we will discuss what actions will be taken, whether it be detention, point deduction, both...I'll have to decide."
She walked back to the front of the room, surveying the damage caused by the parchment war. It was obvious that Asher wasn't the cause. She was taking the fall, protecting the others that happened to join in the fight no doubt. It was somewhat frustrating that she would have to plan out some sort of punishment on her first day...but it had to be done.\n\n
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Professor Dione
Except the proof is all over the room..and in your hair
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Professor Dione
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Professor Dione
April 25, 2005 9:51 PM
My, a bit pushy, aren't we? by Professor Dione
Dione had little time to even glance at Jordanna's paper before she walked up to her and began lecturing her about her teaching methods. The student's cutting words did little to affect the professor's stoic glance. In fact, she almost looked bored with the girl's chatter, as if her rant was a daily routine that she would have to go through once again."I assure you that I have a great deal of respect for students until they give me reason to change that view. I am using this pretest in order to get a good idea of where to start the lesson so we won't have to cover anything that most of the class already knows. Putting 'I don't care' down for an answer makes this absolutely useless for my purposes, and that is my reason for reprimanding her."
Walking back to the seat where Jordanna was sitting in before, she looked at her pretest with a mix of annoyance and sarcasm. And she had thought Catherine's answers were horrible.
"Well, I see you also did a stellar job on the assignment. Just to answer your questions, it might concern you about why Venus is the hottest planet due to the carbon dioxide in its atmosphere. The greenhouse effect. The same could happen to Earth due to the overuse of fossil fuels. The Galilean moons were named after their discoverer, Galileo. Fairly logical in my opinion. Jupiter's Red Spot is a high pressure storm, so I doubt there is any chance for its removal. The other questions I'll save for when I go over it for the entire class. Oh, and about my being biased, if you would have looked at the bonus, it asks about a witch found on a Famous Wizard Card. Don't try to blame your lack of knowledge on the subject on me."
Placing Jordanna's pretest back at its place in front of her seat, she walked back to the front of the room to prepare to answer any questions needed.\n\n
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Professor Dione
My, a bit pushy, aren't we?
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Professor Dione
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Professor Dione
April 25, 2005 10:06 PM
I didn't call you all dimwits... by Professor Dione
OOC: This has been mentioned throughout quite a few posts, so I would like to clear this up. She expects everyone in this class to shine since they were able to enter the school in the first place. She doesn't tolerate dimwits. She didn't say the class was full of them. Also, the fireworks coming out of her wand, used to gain attention, were deafening while her question to the offending students was a venomous whisper. Dione never has big outbursts of emotion or hissy-fits.BIC
After rushing from the paper war, she looked over one last paper. It was slightly disappointing that he didn't even know all of the names of the planets, but she would go over that quickly. The simple memorization was easy enough. Some of the others were common mistakes that would be fixed soon enough, nothing much to that. So he was unfamiliar with the subject, but at least he had tried to complete it, which was all that mattered to her.
She probably would have given him some sort of encouragement, but after the disruption, her mind was focused on other things. Like how to control a class like hers. Students acting like they should be the ones teaching, paper wars...it definitely wasn't her best first day. Moving towards the front of the class, her only goal was to answer the questions, assign the homework, and somehow survive the rest of the day.\n\n
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Professor Dione
I didn't call you all dimwits...
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Professor Dione
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Professor Dione
April 25, 2005 10:08 PM
OOC: Please note by Professor Dione
The fireworks coming out of her wand, used to gain attention, were deafening while her question to the offending students was a venomous whisper. She didn't scream at all in that ceasefire post.\n\n
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Professor Dione
OOC: Please note
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Professor Dione
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Jordanna Howard
April 25, 2005 10:37 PM
only trying to get my points across by Jordanna Howard
Jordanna blinked. Was she supposed to know what a greenhouse effect even was? The teacher failed to see that there were people with lives out there, people who had better things to do then read books about astronomy. But she was forgetting, this woman "taught" astronomy- she wouldn't know people had lives, she didn't have one!She turned to Catherine, "What in the world is a greenhouse effect, what is carbon dioxide- and what are fossil fuels? How could we possibly be overusing them if I've never heard of them? It must not be worth using if I'm not using it. Who is Galileo, and why should I care about some storm in Jupiter- it's not like it's coming here?" Sitting back down in her seat, she closed her eyes in an attempt to cool off her hot temper. Take a deep breath in... and out. She wasn't going to even bother why she had given up chocolate frogs about a year ago. Jordanna had started getting acne then. She had learned the hard way that chocolate only made acne worse. So no more chocolate for her.\n\n
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Jordanna Howard
only trying to get my points across
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Jordanna Howard
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Jake
April 25, 2005 10:39 PM
OOC: Nope, never said you did either. by Jake
I know she didn't technically throw a hissy-fit, but Jake is 12 and doesn't like her all that much. He's just exaggerating.Plus, you saying that they have the potentially of being deemed a dimwit is enough to say you are calling them one. Just not outwordly.
Like I said, he's twelve and sees things in a different light. Exaggeration and imagination are how kids work. Or so I've always believed.\n\n
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Jake
OOC: Nope, never said you did either.
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Jake
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Earl
April 26, 2005 12:26 AM
Laura Keaton
April 26, 2005 10:25 AM
*points at boys and whines* They started it! by Laura Keaton
Laura tried to duck out of the way, when the boy whose ammunition pile she had just scattered, retaliated. However, the paper ball nailed her right in the shoulder. She was reaching a hand into her backpack to find another ball, when she noticed Asher’s idea of war. Laura decided then and there she would never intentionally make Asher mad; she could be vicious. Asher had loaded several pennies into a paper ball and had loaded into a hair tie sling shot. She aimed and fired, and Laura couldn’t help but feel a little bit sorry for the boy whose forehead the weighted down ball had struck. He however, after discovering Asher’s penny trick, started flinging ball after ball at Asher. Not all were so accurate, and they hit Laura as well. Throwing caution completely to the wind, Laura started throwing back just as many paper balls as were coming their direction. At one point even another kid in the back joined in, chucking a ball at both groups. Laura was ready to retaliate against him as well when Dione suddenly turned around.A deafening sound echoed through the room, and through the loud ringing that remained in her ears, Laura heard the angry rumble of a deadly question, "May I ask...what do you think you are doing?”
A very vulgar four letter word popped into Laura’s head, one that would have made her mother curse her. Did that woman have eyes in the back of her head? It wasn’t fair, but now they were caught. With a sick feeling in her stomach, Laura realized that both her and Asher were in Crotalus, and she had a feeling some was one of enemy. She could kiss those points she had just won goodbye. Then an even worse thought popped into her head, could a house have negative points? It looked like Crotalus might be the first.
"Well, I think that I am crouching behind my desk, peacefully looking at life from a new perspective... literally," Laura heard R-boy respond. What was he playing at? There were paper balls everywhere around him, and he was trying to get the blame off himself? Well, there was no way he would succeed; Laura still had the first shot of the war sitting on her desk, with R-boy’s name on it.
However, Laura never got to finger pointing, because Asher decided to speak up first.
"Well, Professor Dai- Dione, I was thinking that launching a war while finished with my work didn't necessarily break any rules, as you didn't mention any other than not being a dimwit and calling you Professor Dione. So I decided that Earl Valentine needed to be bombed and quickly. I accidentally hit Robbie instead, and so they both defended themselves, as is only natural when being clobbered by a girl. Laura, though…well, Laura saw her fellow housemate and friend being attacked and jumped to my defense, but only just a second ago. That other boy, uh, I guess he thought we were finishing an assignment. So yeah, I started it all. Me."
Laura’s mouth was hanging open in pure shock. Asher was trying to take all the blame! It was sweet of her to try to save Laura’s backside, but that also meant saving those two boys who started it. Laura didn’t care if she went down, just as long as she and Asher dragged the enemy down with them.
"I think having a parchment ball fight would fall into the category of 'dimwit' perfectly, but if you are having such trouble figuring that out, perhaps I should make a list. And I must say that is the worst bit of fiction I have ever heard. However, I have no sound proof of what actually happened, so there is not much I can do. Miss Tallow, you will stay after class and pick up this mess. It will be then that we will discuss what actions will be taken, whether it be detention, point deduction, both...I'll have to decide."
Dione was speaking again, and although she hadn’t bought Asher’s excuse, she had also admitted to having no proof of what actually had happened. Laura knew she couldn’t point fingers now, it would just prove that Asher had been lying to a teacher, which would lead to even more trouble. Instead, Laura resigned herself to staring daggers at the instigators. She waited till Dione’s attention had turned back to the other students before she leaned down and started picking up the paper balls in reach of her desk. She wasn’t going to leave Asher to have to pick up the entire mess. She shot another loathing look over at the boys, as she deliberately picked up another piece of paper and stuffed it into her back pack. She would hex both of them, as soon as she learned how, if they didn’t start picking up the paper around their desks as well.
She then turned back to Asher and said, “I’ll wait in the corridor for you after class.” She might not have gotten in trouble herself, but Laura had no intention of abandoning Asher completely.
\n\n
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Laura Keaton
*points at boys and whines* They started it!
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Laura Keaton
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Lily Collins
April 26, 2005 1:24 PM
Transylvania meets Outer Space...... by Lily Collins
Lily entered the classroom and gazed around at the sights. It reminded her a little of a planetarium. The teacher,however,reminded her of a vampire. It wouldn't have surprised Lily in the least if she actually was, that is, if there were such a thing. If there were, Lily figured Astronomy would be the perfect subject for one who didn't go out in the sunlight. After all, there was access to one of the balconies and the room was still very dark.Lily sat down by Chrissy. The Bride of Dracula began to speak as a messy blond-haired girl rushed in and plopped down at a desk.
“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.”
Nice. How very encouraging. Lily had always hated how some teachers were so arrogant and thought so much of themselves. She didn't feel they should be teaching. Period.
Professor Nosferatu than announced they'd have a pre-test. Wonderful.
1. Name the nine planets in order starting with the one closest to the sun.
Mercury,Venus,Earth,Mars,Jupiter,Saturn,Uranus,Neptune and Pluto. Easy.
2. Which is the smallest planet in our solar system? Which is the largest? Again,easy.
Jupiter is the largest and Pluto is the smallest.
3. What shape are the planets' orbits? semi-round, ovallish.
4. Which planet has the hottest temperatures and why? Venus is the hottest because of gassy clouds or something like that.
5. Name the Galilean moons and name which planet they orbit.
Europa,Io.....Calypso.
She couldn't quite remember the other one but remembered it had a G. Lily wrote down,
Galilea
After all, they were discovered by Galileo. It was fitting that one was named after him..
They orbit Jupiter.
6. Which planet is known for the Great Red Spot? Jupiter
7. True or False: The Sun is larger than all of the planets put together.True
8. Most of Uranus' moons are named after characters of what famous Muggle playwright?
Shakespeare seemed too obvious. And anyway, most celestial bodies were named for mythological things...or ancient Greek or Roman things.
That guy who wrote Oedipus, I can't remember his name.
9. Name three differences between terrestrial planets and jovian planets.
Lily had no idea what these meant and wrote.
The terrestrial ones have rougher terrain. Galileo discovered the jovian ones. One is further away than the other.
10. What does it mean when a planet has a retrograde rotation? Its going 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.
Lily had no idea, having not seen one.
She turned her paper over.\n\n
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Lily Collins
Transylvania meets Outer Space......
45
Lily Collins
0
5
Asher Tallow
April 26, 2005 3:23 PM
A Plague on Both Your Houses! Er, not mine, though. by Asher Tallow
Inwardly, Asher gave a big cheer. Dai Oni bought it! She actually bought it- hip hip hurrah. But then her inner rejoicer paused to consider those words of pronouncement. "...that is the worst bit of fiction I have ever heard." Well then, technically, Dai Oni hadn't bought Asher's story, but the end result was the same. The only points lost would be by her, and Laura wouldn't get in trouble. Still- she threw Earl Valentine a quick glower; she hoped he didn't think she had taken the fall for his sake. Really, it was he and Robbie who started everything.A bit of movement on her side returned her attention to the mess around her- the mess that she would be responsible for picking up. Asher stifled a groan: paper was EVERYWHERE. Balls were strewn around her desk, around the boys' desk, in the space between, and obviously a few had made their way to the interloper's area as well, the unknown boy with the big blue eyes. Chances were, too, that even if Asher knew how to to perform a proper Evanesco, Dai Oni wouldn't let her use it. But then, that movement occurred again, and she realized that Laura was stealthily stuffing the bits of paper around her desk into her bag.
"I'll wait for you in the corridor after class." Laura's words made an immediate grin sprout over Asher's lips.
"Thanks," she whispered back, deciding to follow in Laura's example and get a head start on the clean-up. "Sorry I got you in trouble, though. Guess I needed to show my lack of forethought early on in the year."
She continued stuffing the stray balls into her satchel, her eyes roaming somewhat unwillingly back to the instigators of the whole mess. Sure she had been a bit abrupt in the Hospital Wing with Earl, but that's just how she was. She liked activity, moving, actually doing stuff. She grew uncomfortable if left without an activity to steer her actions, and so, she bolted. It wasn't anything personal. Unlike having attacked her in class.
She scowled at the ball in her hand. She didn't like to admit it, but the paper war had still been fun. And, she thought as she took in the welt on Earl Valentine's forehead, she certainly showed them a thing or two. But...Earl was a housemate. Shouldn't there be some kind of fealty pact or something with being housemates- like a non-aggression treaty unless extremely provoked? She pursed her lips and considered. By getting Laura off the hook, she had also got Robbie, Earl, and that other guy off the hook. Technically...they owed her. Big time.
She grinned again, this time with smug satisfaction. Speaking loud enough for all three boys to hear her, Asher said to Laura, "Any thoughts on how to collect in on their," a quick thumb jerk to the boys in question, "IOU's?"\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
0
Asher Tallow
A Plague on Both Your Houses! Er, not mine, though.
1466
Asher Tallow
0
5
Earl Valentine
April 26, 2005 5:27 PM
Ha! We're in the same house... by Earl Valentine
Earl had just finished shoving every bit of paper near his desk back into his bag when a voice caught his ear. "Any thoughts on how to collect in on their to their IOU's?"IOU's? What was he going to owe her? He was already going say thanks. Of course, Asher didn't know that. He glanced down at his now clean desk for a second before risking a glance up at the two girls staring daggers at him and Robbie. Especially him.
Earl's naturally tanned skin turned the color of cafe au lait as Asher's deep brown eyes bore into his like a drill. It scared him, to be blatantly honest. He wasn't goingto let anyone know this, though. He coughed to hide his frightened expression and turned to the task of tryingto find his pretest, which he had shoved into his bag along with all the paper balls.
Every few minutes, he quickly glanced in Asher's direction, a little afraid of what might happen the next time they met.
\n\n
0
Earl Valentine
Ha! We're in the same house...
67
Earl Valentine
0
5
Professor Dione
April 26, 2005 7:36 PM
OOC: Oh, okay by Professor Dione
You'll have to excuse me. This was a product of a late night where the only things keeping me conscious were sugar and a heaping cup of coffee. Mind on auto-pilot.\n\n
0
Professor Dione
OOC: Oh, okay
0
Professor Dione
0
5
Catherine Raines
April 26, 2005 10:00 PM
Might help if the teacher was bright enough to process them by Catherine Raines
OOC:Sorry for my absense, life's as crazy as my character.BIC: Catherine looked up from her nails when Dione spoke, a touch of anger in her eyes. "Our definitions of knowledge must differ," she said cooly. "I consider knowledge something worth knowing. You, on the other hand, seem to consider it to be worthless trivia no one has any use for." Expecting the wrath of Dione to fall on her head, she was about to start working out ways to get the woman fired when Jordanna marched up and spoke,probably putting herself into bad books with Dione as much as Catherine had. The question Catherine had to ask herself was why. It could be as simple as pureblood loyalty or something more...complex.Maybe both. After the exchange with Dione was finished, Jordanna started speaking directly to her.
"What in the world is a greenhouse effect, what is carbon dioxide-and what are fossil fuels? How could we possibly be overusing them if I've never heard of them? It must not be worth using if I'm not using it. Who is Galileo, and why should I care about some storm in Jupiter-it's not like it's coming here?"
Catherine shook her head when Jordanna finished her speech. "Probably some Muggle stuff only Muggles and Muggleborns care about," she said, making a small, dismissive gesture. "Either Dione's Muggleborn or she has all the breeding of a flobberworm, given the way she talked to us. Doesn't she know who we are?" Catherine shook her head again, this time in disbelief. Even a mudblood who had been around long enough to be a teacher should have heard of the Howards and probably the Raines', too. Lowering her voice another notch, she added, "And could she be any worse dressed?"\n\n
0
Catherine Raines
Might help if the teacher was bright enough to process them
66
Catherine Raines
0
5
Nicoletta Dupree and Aricia Carrington
April 27, 2005 11:02 AM
Re: Might help if the teacher was bright enough to process t by Nicoletta Dupree and Aricia Carrington
Nicoletta looked at the questions they were to answer, as if any of it was unduly necessary. Suppressing a sigh, she began answering the questions.1. Name the nine planets in order starting with the one closest to the sun.
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto
2. Which is the smallest planet in our solar system? Which is the largest?
Mercury is the smallest, Jupiter is the largest
3. What shape are the planets' orbits?
Ellipse
4. Which planet has the hottest temperatures and why?
Mercury, because it is closest to the sun
5. Name the Galilean moons and name which planet they orbit.
Don't know
6. Which planet is known for the Great Red Spot?
Jupiter
7. True or False: The Sun is larger than all of the planets put together.
Don't know
8. Most of Uranus' moons are named after characters of what famous Muggle playwright?
Wouldn't know, I'm not muggle-born, and don't really care
9. Name three differences between terrestrial planets and jovian planets.
Don't know
10. What does it mean when a planet has a retrograde rotation?
Don't know
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.
Don't care
Nicoletta had just finished answering the questions, when Catherine and the professor seemed to get into a bit of an argument. She watched with interest to see how Catherine handled herself. She was pleased when she heard her say, 'Our definitions of knowledge must differ. I consider knowledge something worth knowing. You, on the other hand, seem to consider it to be worthless trivia no one has any use for.' She had been right to talk to her in the dorm room.
She was interested to see the professor's reply when Jordanna put in her two cents. Yes, both girls were proving to be worthy of their last names.
She listened to Catherine tell Jordanna that what Dione was trying to teach them was useless and that she didn't know who they were. She then heard her say, 'And could she be worse dressed?'
"It's already apparent that she lacks breeding in one form or another. Why should it be any suprise that she probably gets dressed in the dark?" Nicoletta said to the two girls, giving them a meaningful look.
She was about to continue when she was rudely interrupted, by a girl with blonde hair and blue eyes.
"I like the way she is dressed, and more importantly, it shouldn't be a matter of how someone is dressed, but what they are like, as a person. However, you three seem to be lacking on that perspective. Perhaps, that is what you could learn from muggles," the girl said with a frown on her face and a slight crinkle in her forehead where her brows were furrowed.
\n\n
0
Nicoletta Dupree and Aricia Carrington
Re: Might help if the teacher was bright enough to process t
0
Nicoletta Dupree and Aricia Carrington
0
5
Juliet Lee
April 27, 2005 4:54 PM
A dream is a wish you're heart makes by Juliet Lee
"They have a Care of Magical Creatures class here?"Juliet snorted in laughter at Dalila's bewildered tone. It figured that the only reason why the first year was excited about Potions was because they were her only options. She wondered if the girl was as clueless about the other classes as well. Juliet immediately felt more comfortable around her fellow Teppenpaw, knowing that it was okay to make a fool of herself or be silly.
"I'm excited about it as well. I'd really like to see a water nymphs. I read in fantasy books that they're able to walk on the surface of lakes and ponds."
\n\n
0
Juliet Lee
A dream is a wish you're heart makes
0
Juliet Lee
0
5
Dalila
April 27, 2005 7:10 PM
A heart is a wish your dream makes...lol by Dalila
Dalila stared in fascination at the Asian girl. She was nice and she was as excited about Care of Magical Creatures as she was! She listened carefully to Juliet since she was talking about something Dalila actually cared about. And she seemed to know what she was talking about too...always a plus."I'm excited about it as well. I'd really like to see a water nymphs. I read in fantasy books that they're able to walk on the surface of lakes and ponds."
"Water nymphs?" Dalila asked. "I've met one of those before. My family went to Egypt a couple years ago and there were a couple in thhe Nile River!" She exclaimed excitedly. "They were beautiful. I never got to learn much about them, though."
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Dalila
A heart is a wish your dream makes...lol
0
Dalila
0
5
Professor Dione
April 27, 2005 10:43 PM
I expected something like this.. by Professor Dione
Dione paused as she overheard the students’ comments about her breeding, and even her choice in clothing. But it didn’t even faze her. She had had years of ridicule for her views. A pureblood that openly respected Muggles? It was that very controversy that ousted her out of the pureblood high society, and even out of her family. Still, she was willing to dismiss those idiotic beliefs, even if it ostracized her from the easy life of an affluent family. She turned to face the catty young girls, and replied to them in a voice that was loud enough for them to hear, but not audible to many others.“Oh, I know who you are…Just another gaggle of vain, frivolous, malicious purebloods who would ignore any Muggle advances, even if it could end world hunger and bring immortality. A shell, a façade with nothing behind it but wasted space. Oh, I know perfectly well.”
She was about to leave the girls to mock her behind her back when she heard a voice join them that clashed with the malice. Dione stopped abruptly, and slowly turned to look at the young girl who had enough daring to go against a few pureblood snobs who had already shown their audacity by mocking her directly. Her detached blue eyes flashed with something that was rarely seen in her piercing gaze: confusion. There was no reason at all for her to have done that. There was no one that openly agreed with her that she could see, and she was only opening herself to the scorn that was currently aimed elsewhere. She had made it obvious from the beginning of the class that she wasn’t very personable, and not likely to take on pets, and she had shown no kindness to her previously. What this girl had done made no logical sense, but she had earned Dione’s respect.
“There’s no use trying to change their minds. It’s as impossible as stopping the tides. Still, your efforts are…appreciated.”
She turned and walked back to the front of the class, ignoring all other commentary that might have ensued after her blatant bashing of proud purebloods. She had seen and heard enough to know where she should start. And thankfully, she had found at least one student who didn’t loathe her for one reason or another.\n\n
0
Professor Dione
I expected something like this..
0
Professor Dione
0
5
Professor Dione
April 27, 2005 10:54 PM
That would make a pretty strange sci-fi movie by Professor Dione
As she was looking over the various pretest answers, she also watched the students in general; most weren't too content with the idea of a pretest. Heh, they should try looking over pretest after pretest and see how tedious that was. However, it was quite informative in trying to find out where to start.Professor Dione turned the parchment over to look at Lily's answers, and overall, was fairly pleased. She had not fell into the common mistake that orbits were round or that Mercury was the hottest planet. And though she had number eight wrong, she was impressed that she even knew of the play.
"That would be Sophocles, but no, that's not the right answer. Though that would be logical. Good work."\n\n
0
Professor Dione
That would make a pretty strange sci-fi movie
0
Professor Dione
0
5
Jordanna
April 28, 2005 12:12 AM
Oh, was it written in the stars? by Jordanna
She knew perfectly well? She knew perfectly well?! Merlin, she knew nothing! How dare she say she knew Jordanna Clarice Howard's personality perfectly well! If she knew her perfectly well, she would know that Jordanna could work as hard as anyone- if she so choosed. She simply did not choose to work to learn such trivial knowledge like Astronomy. How could that benefit her?Now Charms, that was something you needed to know. How else were you supposed to make yourself look good? By buying that expensive yet worthless muggle make up? Only fools did that. Charms were easy, effective, and you could do them yourselves. There was always a sense of self accomplishment after she fixed her hair just so and made herself look just right. It was more than anyone ever expected from her anyway. They all thought she would need maids to make herself look good. But by the time she got out of school, she'd let the world know she was a force to be reckoned with. She was going to be the most important fashion authority there ever was. And how would the Great Red Spot help her do that?
She tossed her hair back from her seat and gave a small smile. She was going to take this in stride. No good for nothing science teacher was going to get to her. She would just write this all in a letter to Daddy, and all would be well.
"It's obvious her family disowned her early on. It's why she doesn't realize that Howards don't let people like her just walk all over them like that. We make them pay," said Jordanna darkly. All she needed to do now was think of a way to make the teacher pay without getting into too much trouble.\n\n
0
Jordanna
Oh, was it written in the stars?
0
Jordanna
0
5
Gwenhwyfar Carey
April 28, 2005 10:17 PM
Not much, but I can learn. by Gwenhwyfar Carey
Gwen looked up from her study of her desktop in surprise when Professor Dione commented on her paper. It was the wording as much as the speech itself that surprised her. Apparently, she wasn't quite as stupid as she had thought. Maybe she could actually pass first year, one way or another."Thank you, Professor," she murmured, unsure if the teacher heard her or not. She couldn't help but be relieved when Professor Dione moved on to someone else, though. She was planning to lie low in her classes until she learned how things worked here. She had learned that it was always best for the underdog to observe until the said underdog knew the rules of the game better than the earlier players. Trying to look casual, she took in the rest of the class.
An...interesting...group. There were second years, the girl's gang from the dormitory, quite a few new faces, Anne, Gwen's friends, and some memorable moments all before the pretest review started. It would be more than fascinating to observe how time, circumstance, and other factors affected the relationships between them all. If the incident on the Quidditch Pitch hadn't been enough, the varied personalities that emerged in this class proved it. It was going to be a wild seven years. \n\n
0
Gwenhwyfar Carey
Not much, but I can learn.
63
Gwenhwyfar Carey
0
5
Rachel Tibbs
April 29, 2005 5:15 AM
Astronomy!! by Rachel Tibbs
Rachel got a good look at her working area for astronomy. lets see I have to answer questions:1. Name the nine planets in order starting with the one closest to the sun.
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupitor, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, okay not bad
2. Which is the smallest planet in our solar system? Which is the largest?
Pluto: smallest, Jupitor: biggest
3. What shape are the planets' orbits?
Ummmmm Oval? I think.
4. Which planet has the hottest temperatures and why?
Venus because of all it's gas and the fact it's so close to the sun. IS that right i hope it is.
5. Name the Galilean moons and name which planet they orbit.
DO NOT KNOW. Must find out before next class.
6. Which planet is known for the Great Red Spot?
Jupitor, no, wait opps I think thats right. Tough, very tough indeed.
7. True or False: The Sun is larger than all of the planets put together. true, duh.
8. Most of Uranus' moons are named after characters of what famous Muggle playwright?
I'm meant to know. Must study.
9. Name three differences between terrestrial planets and jovian planets.
I'm going to fail.
10. What does it mean when a planet has a retrograde rotation?
Am I meant to know this?
I'll never get this.\n\n
0
Rachel Tibbs
Astronomy!!
0
Rachel Tibbs
0
5
Robbie Bates
April 29, 2005 10:42 PM
recycling by Robbie Bates
Robbie felt more than a little guilty right now. If he hadn't screwed up his answers, crumpled the parchment into a ball, and thrown in at Earl, then Earl wouldn't have thrown it at Asher, starting this whole paper war that had landed them all into this situation. His conclusion? Lack of scientific knowledge was deadly. So it was a very bad thing that he was lacking it. And it wasn't the only thing he was lacking. Most of his paper and parchment had gone into that paper ball war. Now what was he going to write on- space?He began collecting paper and attempted to flatten each sheet out as he went along. He didn't have a strong feeling his parents would buy him more paper after this incident. And of course, he couldn't lie to them. That would be wrong. But then, didn’t that mean that he was lying by not telling the teacher the truth. She had gone now, and to say that it was his fault would only stir up more controversy- something they all really did not need.
“I’ll stay after class and help if you want, Asher,” he said quietly, stacking semi-crumpled paper onto his desk, “I’ll take the paper, by the way, I don’t think I’ll get a chance to restock for a while.”\n\n
0
Robbie Bates
recycling
0
Robbie Bates
0
5
Anne Wright
April 29, 2005 10:44 PM
Learning is the point of coming to class. by Anne Wright
Anne glanced around the classroom after Professor Dione had glanced over her paper. She was surprised to see that most people didn't seem to be taking things very seriously at all. Her old teachers would have had strokes if they ever saw a class of theirs start chatting and having a...paper ball fight?She shook her head in amazement. She had always been considered a stick in the mud for how strictly she obeyed the rules, but being a goody-two-shoes had its merits. Of course, she wasn't doing so well since she arrived at Sonora...she had hardly acted like the Anne Wright who had been Miss Prim-and-Proper teacher's pet during her flying lesson. Accidentally disobeying the teacher and getting into a fight with another student hardly counted as good behavior.
Her gaze strayed from the paper warriors and lighted on her cousin, sitting a row behind and across from her. Think of the devil... she thought resignedly. She was just superstitious enough to believe that if she hadn't thought of her fight with Gwenhwyfar, then she probably wouldn't have noticed Gwenhwyfar. She noticed that the other girl seemed to be surveying the room as well, and for perhaps a split second their eyes met. Anne groaned inwardly. She had been a jerk, and now she was going to pay for it. After making sure Professor Dione was occupied with a little Crotalus clique, Anne gritted her teeth, grabbed her things, and moved to the empty seat next to Gwenhwyfar.
"So, how'd you do on the quiz?" Anne asked, trying to inject a little amiability into her voice. "I think I did pretty well, myself. We learned some of this stuff at my old school in Charleston." If their deal was going to work out, then she had to have some kind of contact with Gwenhwyfar, and the only place that could occur was in class. Besides, it would sort of defeat the purpose if Gwenhwyfar reformed herself and Anne turned into a stuck-up little prep at the same time.\n\n
16
Anne Wright
Learning is the point of coming to class.
59
Anne Wright
0
5
Gwenhwyfar Carey
April 29, 2005 11:22 PM
That and to keep from getting detention... by Gwenhwyfar Carey
Gwen had just started mentally organizing the class when Anne moved over to sit next to her, which certainly ranked high in the formidable list of surprising things to happen that day. Directly after it was Anne's forced-sounding nice tone. Still, Anne was as good a place to start as any. It was fitting, since it was her fight with Anne that caused her to change her strategy. She smiled self-consiously, playing her pretended stupidity for all it was worth."Not so good," she admitted. "Professor Dione said it was a decent effort, but you know..." she gave Anne a meaningful look. "Adults rarely say what they mean, at least in my expirience." She glanced at Anne's paper and her involuntary reaction really was involuntary. "Morgan le Fay?" she asked incredulously. "How the heck did you get Morgan le Fay?" She winced at her loss of control. "Sorry. I didn't mean for that to come out as mean-sounding as it did. Haven't you ever eaten Chocolate Frogs?" The end result was worth whatever she had to put up with to get there. Anne held a place in the ranks of people Gwen would prefer not to deal with, but it couldn't work that way. As far as it went, they were going to be inseparable until Christmas. She could handle anything until Christmas.\n\n
0
Gwenhwyfar Carey
That and to keep from getting detention...
63
Gwenhwyfar Carey
0
5
Professor Dione
April 29, 2005 11:24 PM
Answers to the Pretest by Professor Dione
Professor Dione returned to the front of the class, rapping her wand against the board to gain her students’ attention. As soon as the talking and commotion died down, she pointed her wand at the board, and the answers to each question slowly materialized under each of the questions listed.1. Name the nine planets in order starting with the one closest to the sun. A: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, Pluto
2. Which is the smallest planet in our solar system? Which is the largest?
A: Pluto is the smallest; Jupiter is the largest.
3. What shape are the planets' orbits?
A: Elliptical
4. Which planet has the hottest temperatures and why?
A: Venus. A greenhouse effect is created on this planet due to the high concentration of CO2 in its atmosphere. Venus can reach over 740 K.
5. Name the Galilean moons and name which planet they orbit.
A: The moons are Io, Europa, Callisto, and Ganymede, and they orbit Jupiter
6. Which planet is known for the Great Red Spot?
A: The Great Red Spot is found on Jupiter.
7. True or False: The Sun is larger than all of the planets put together.
A: True; the sun is one thousand times larger than the planets put together.
8. Most of Uranus' moons are named after characters of what famous Muggle playwright?
A: William Shakespeare; Cordelia, Ariel, Portia, Puck are a few examples of Uranus’ moons.
9. Name three differences between terrestrial planets and jovian planets.
A: The terrestrial planets are composed primarily of rock and metal and have relatively high densities, slow rotation, solid surfaces, no rings and few satellites. The jovian planets are composed primarily of hydrogen and helium and generally have low densities, rapid rotation, deep atmospheres, rings and lots of satellites.
10. What does it mean when a planet has a retrograde rotation?
A: A planet with retrograde rotation appears to move 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.
A: Hesper Starkey\n\n
0
Professor Dione
Answers to the Pretest
0
Professor Dione
0
5
Headmaster Bulla
July 04, 2008 7:53 AM
This Class Is Currently Retired. (nm) by Headmaster Bulla
39
Headmaster Bulla
This Class Is Currently Retired. (nm)
2
Headmaster Bulla
0
5
Zack Dill
August 06, 2008 11:34 PM
Accosting the New Guy by Zack Dill
During the midterm break, Zack had learned that Professor Williams had left and a new teacher had come to take her place. Zack had been fond of Professor Williams, like he was of most teachers, but his greatest concern at the moment was not the class, but the subject of his booth at the cultural fair.He wanted electricity. Well, he wanted Mario Kart, specifically, but Mario Kart really kind of needed electricity. Or some kind of enchantment to simulate electricity. Or however it was that Professor Williams had gotten electrical gadgets and appliances work in her classroom.
Presumably, the new professor of the subject could do the same.
"Professor?" he called, sticking his head into the classroom, hoping to catch the new teacher before class began. "I'm Zack Dill, Head Boy and prefect for Alderaan." The man was new; Zack would take no chances that the prominently displayed badges on his robe could be overlooked or mistaken for anything but what they were.
Any other teacher would have the past six and a half years to draw from to know that Zack was a model student. For a brand new arrival, Zack had to pull out the big guns and flaunt the honors that model behavior had earned him. "Can I ask you a favor? I'm going to be hosting a non-magical gaming booth at the cultural fair, and I was wondering if I could get a Nintendo working to demonstrate Mario Kart."
1
Zack Dill
Accosting the New Guy
40
Zack Dill
0
5
Professor Huntley
August 08, 2008 10:41 PM
I feel loved. by Professor Huntley
Milo was officially unpacked. He stood in the center of his office, looking around at the asylum-clean room. He reached into his pocket at popped a Swedish Fish into his mouth. Class was soon to begin, but Milo figured he had time. He wandered back over to his desk, flipping through the papers for the day's lesson. He hoped these kids weren't going to be too difficult. One thing he couldn't stand was ignorance. First day of his previous job he gotten an inquiry as to "why couldn't muggles just use floo powder instead of burning gasoline?" Thank God Kathleen wasn't superficial. He took pride in himself for raising his daughter in such a way. He was also grateful that her mother had the sense to move to Chicago after the divorce. The fact that she'd stayed there with her sugar daddy-- Sorry, husband also helped him raise their daughter right. Ivy was quite elegant in her fancy-party ways. He had loved that about her; her finesse and social graces with those he knew she didn't care for astounded him every time. It wasn't until later that the thought occured that that quality may come coupled with Good Liar, but that he found out on his own.Milo looked around the room, running a hand through his brown hair (he chose not to see the few grays that were appearing). He wanted to make sure everything was in place. He had been about to fix the just-off-center stack of papers when he heard a call of, "Professor?" Ah, that was him, wasn't it? He looked around to his door to see a boy, clad in the school robes, looking around his door.
"Student?" he replied, waving a hand for him to enter the room. The kid introduced himself, slapping on some flare onto his introduction with "Head Boy" and "Prefect."
"Oh, I'm sorry," he said, giving a wry, but friendly smile, "Refined student. What can I do for you?"
Zack inquired a favor before proceeding with said inquiry. At the word "Nintendo," Milo's interest was increased. At the addition of "Mario Kart," Milo was fairly certain that this decorated student would do fine in his class.
"Will I be seeing you in my class?" He asked, sinking into his desk chair and reached for his Fish. "The problem with your proposition, Zack, is that there are intense spells around Sonora that keep the power from flowing. I know the previous educator," he looked to his hand where the word Williams was scribbled, "Professor Williams had substitute spells. However, the Headmaster feels very strongly about keeping the rules set. So if you don't mind, I'd like to keep this job now that I have it." Milo leaned back in his chair, turning his pencil cup so the square shape was lined with the edge of the desk.
"The idea is spectacular," he said, "Mario Kart happens to be one of my personal favorites. An idea, perhaps, is doing a magical image projection. Make it display as a movie? I'd like to show some of these kids something like that."
0
Professor Huntley
I feel loved.
0
Professor Huntley
0
5
Zack Dill
August 11, 2008 10:10 AM
I'ma Wario, I'ma gonna win. by Zack Dill
Zack supposed it was a natural question for a new teacher to ask whether a newly met student was in his class or not, so he wasn't too surprised by it. He nodded shortly, still thinking mostly about his booth and little about the class. "Yeah." He'd almost dropped it in sixth year when his schedule included seven RATS level courses as well as individual studies in calculus and astronomy, but he'd held onto it in hopes they might cover subjects he was missing by not going to a normal high school.The professor continued, explaining the difficulties of running electronics in the school, which Zack already knew about. But it was interesting to learn that Professor Williams didn't actually have electricity during her lessons - just the semblance of it. "I don't care how it works." Well, technically, that was a lie - he was very interested in how it worked. But that wasn't the point.
"I just want to give visitors to our booth a chance to experience Mario Kart at the cultural fair. It's a cultural thing, right? Playing Nintendo? I think it would be awesome to let people who never played before get that opportunity. As long as the controls work the same and the picture looks like its supposed to and we can hear the sound effects, it can run on alien pixie dust and that would be fine with me. Surely, whatever substitute spells Professor Williams used would be acceptable for this one day. I can talk to Headmaster Bulla if that's a problem. I'm pretty sure he likes me."
\r\n\r\n
1
Zack Dill
I'ma Wario, I'ma gonna win.
40
Zack Dill
0
5
Professor Huntley
August 12, 2008 10:56 PM
Rawr. (That was Bowser) by Professor Huntley
Milo nodded thoughtfully as Zack confirmed that he was a student in his class. Good, good... It was nice to have someone with a little bit of muggle knowledge. If the adolecent learners didn't pay attention to him, maybe they would get some answers from their classmate. He wasn't one to take stupid questions lightly. The response usually contained some sort of cleverly disguised sarcasm along with a hint that paying attention was a good idea. Zack began to speak, explaining that he didn't care how, he just wanted it done. Milo considered the boy carefully, twisting his spinny-chair from side to side as Zack went on explaining that he just wanted to make it happen. He didn't care how it happened. Oh yes, this student would do just fine in his class... Milo nodded, both in approval and understanding."Okay," he said, ceasing his spinning and leaning forward to his arms rested on his desk. He pulled open a desk drawer, grabbing his bag of candy Fish. He dumped several Fish into his hand, holding out the bag to the kid. "I know this reasoning is very typical-Professor, however... I can't allow you to use the substitute. As much as I want to see Nintendo being done at the fair, it's a set rule. Exceptions can't be done. Now, if you think you can present a tremendously compelling arguement, you can take it up with the Headmaster, but," he popped a Fish in his mouth, "You'd need to step it up. Compelling, Zack."
Milo hadn't thought that Zack's arguement was bad. He had definitely wanted to give the Mario Kart the stamp of approval, but he also wanted to keep the stamp of approval on his paycheck. He had to bacon to bring home.
0
Professor Huntley
Rawr. (That was Bowser)
0
Professor Huntley
0
5
Professor Lorraine Taylor
August 13, 2008 8:35 AM
Welcoming the New Neighbor by Professor Lorraine Taylor
It wasn't strictly true that Lorraine did not associate with her colleagues. After all, she attended dinners and staff meetings, all of which usually involved speaking with at least one other member of the Sonora staff. It was true, however, that Lorraine did not usually seek them out for social interaction. Then again, the woman wasn't really one to seek out social interaction anyway. It was only after the matter had come up at Christmas dinner this year that she had made a resolution (although not one particularly linked to the New Year) to make an effort at being friendly with her colleagues. The best idea for that, she decided, was to stop by and visit the new Muggle Studies professor. After Genevieve had left, Lorraine had been worried that Manfred would close down the position, but this new professor--Milo, she thought his name was--had convinced him to leave it open. As a proud Muggleborn, the Charms professor found herself appreciative of that.With this in mind, Lorraine forged her way up through the hallways in her light tan robe, sensible brown shoes, and slightly intimidating expression, finally finding herself outside of the newcomer's door. Well then, that settled it. Rapping her knuckles sharply on the door, the woman entered the newcomer's classroom and surveyed it with mild interest. She had never been in here when Genevieve was teaching, mostly because she wasn't particularly fond of Genevieve. On the same token, she wasn't particularly fond of most of her colleagues, although Lorraine was of the opinion that Manfred was a marvelous Headmaster and Tarquin could be rather nice.
Lorraine wondered for a moment where the other professor was at, then spotted him out of the corner of a watery blue eye.
"Hello there," she smiled politely in a manner that may have made more than one student nervous had it been directed at them during her class. They weren't very used to her smiling. "I'm Lorraine Taylor. I teach Charms just down the corridor. Welcome to Sonora!"
0
Professor Lorraine Taylor
Welcoming the New Neighbor
0
Professor Lorraine Taylor
0
5
Professor Milo Huntley
August 16, 2008 11:18 PM
I've always been fond of Mr. Rogers by Professor Milo Huntley
Milo was beyond bored. He had already spent every bit of entertainment he had available to him besides actually leaving his office. All papers were graded (he was usually head of the game, unless, of course, the time came for procrastination) and Kathleen already had two letter on the way to her in Phoenix. He knew that first stretch of time, that settling-in period, was the worst. The time where everything was knew, no niche was set was so trivial... However, there was something about the awkwardness the New Guy infected that made Milo smile.The brown haired, graying man was sitting, leaned back in his chair, tossing Swedish Fish up to catch in his mouth. Maybe he could rearrange his desk... He wasn't completely satisfied with its order quite yet. With a shift of weight, Milo's feet landed on the floor as he stared down the neatly organized surface of his desk. The papers were arranged into folders labeled intermediate and advanced classes. In the folders, post-its divided the papers into years, which were divided into their houses, all sorted alphabetically. Milo liked order in his life, while spreading temporary chaos (awkwardness at the least) into others' lives.
A distant knock sounded and saved Milo from his boredom, his blue-gray gaze darting over to door. A visitor? For him? He had been accosted by a student not long after arriving. Maybe it was some other ambitious kid. Didn't they have anything else to do with their lives? Not that he was complaining. He was grateful that their lack of social interest helped him out in his time of need.
Milo tossed one last fish into the air, letting the high-fructose land in his mouth before rising from the pleasantly spinny chair. He made his way to his classroom, his classic black robes moving only in the slightest as he moved. Milo entered the room, looking around for the visitor. His classroom didn't contain all too much quite yet (lie). Okay, he had worked on it a little... The floor of the classroom was a color collage of pictures, the various muggle cities and muggle events from around the world spread out. At the front of the room a large revolving white board stood between two tables. Each was topped with model cars and rockets, an iPod, and other common electronics. On the walls, things such as maps, government charts, a poster of the man on the moon, covers of famous muggle literature shared the wall space with posters of magical landmarks, magical schools and the like. He wanted to mix magical and muggle worlds. It was his opinion that there were many similarities between the two worlds. That was one major focus of his teaching. The two very seperate worlds share so much with each other.
Milo was a little surprised, and a little curious, about the woman that had entered his classroom. He approached her, hands in pockets, and a straight expression set. She offered him a light smile and began her introduction.
"I'm Lorraine Taylor. I teach Charms just down the corridor. Welcome to Sonora!"
Milo returned the smile with a small one of his own. He wasn't usually the social type (by choice). He generally didn't like most people. Except for those teenagers. Them and their I-don't-care rebellious attitudes... So fun to be around. However, this was a new place, these were new people. Lorraine seemed agreeable.
"Milo Huntley," he said, holding out a hand. "It's good to be here. Sonora isn't too far from home, so the transition hasn't been too bad."
0
Professor Milo Huntley
I've always been fond of Mr. Rogers
0
Professor Milo Huntley
0
5
Professor Milo Huntley
August 21, 2008 11:23 PM
6th and 7th year Lesson by Professor Milo Huntley
Milo let out a breath of relief as he finished the staple of the last packet. First lessons were by far his favorite. By far. They came with a price however. Extra fun meant extra work. Milo was willing to pay that price though. It was always worth it... The thirty-nine year old man swept his classroom one last time, making sure everything was in perfect order. The desks were aligned in perfect order, each twelve-page packet of papers set neatly atop each desk. Every single desk was identical to the one next to it. Milo had left the window shades open just enough to let just enough light in. This was not a happy room today. The dark room gave a dreary, foreboding appearance, one that would leave any adolescent learner misgivings of taking the class. The normally colorful floor was charmed to asylum-white, as were the walls. The normally entertaining posters were charmed to black-and-white snapshots of dreary muggle objects. As he made his last sweep of the room, Milo popped two Swedish Fish into his mouth; his sweet addiction. He wanted everything ready early. There was always that one kid that entered ridiculously early. Really kid, get a life. School isn't everything (though this was contrary to his preachings).When enough students had trickled in from the bright halls, Milo rapped his knuckles on a nearby desktop.
"Sit," he ordered harshly, keeping his very best poker face on. He waited, hands clasped behind his back, as the students scurried to their desks. He loved being the new guy. Kathleen, his favorite (only) daughter, loved to help him plan first lessons. Her mother was never one for them. Milo pointed at the blackboard behind him where the chalk had evinced: ADVANCED MUGGLE STUDIES.
"Advanced," he paused, hoping to emphasize the word. "Meaning harder, faster, and more serious. The differences between the muggle and wizarding world are a very serious subject to advance it. As an advanced class, you should be ready for essays, notes, lectures, homework. Oh yes, homework. And the word "complaint" is not in my vocabulary. You are the student. I am the professor. You will do as I teach. Now, take a look at the papers on your desk." He waited watching the students pick up the papers. The first few pages were a copy of Ronald Reagan's farewell address. The rest, however, were blank; that is, until the last page, which read: "Relax, students. I enjoy a good joke. Welcome to Muggle Studies."
Milo gave a wave of his wand, sending the blinds up, letting in some sunlight. The floor changed from blank white to an arrangement of photos, varying from muggle cities to famous muggle events throughout history. On the walls, things such as maps, government charts, a poster of the man on the moon, covers of famous muggle literature shared the wall space with posters of magical landmarks, magical schools and the like. Milo always stressed the similarities of the two worlds. It was his strong opinion that the two groups were not that different.
"Well that was fun," Milo said, putting a Fish in his mouth and leaning back onto the board. "My name is Professor Huntley. Welcome to Muggle Studies. First, I'm laying down the law. Listen when I speak, then discuss during your group work. I don't take any derogatory terms of any kind. Not here." The brown-haired (okay, maybe some specks of gray... kids do that to you) man gave a short clap as he stood to his full, rather tall, height.
"Now," he said, turning to the board and writing the words World War II. "World War II: we know about the involvement of wizards on both sides, the Nazis and Allies; protection charms around bases, healing charms for the wounded... I want to teach you about the muggle technology that forced the end of the war. What would that be?" There was a pause. "Come on, this isn't hard. Big fire, children." He pointed to the first hand in sight.
"Atom bomb, correct," He said, writing the words on the board. "Five points to you. This technology is still a bit controversial in the muggle world today. The use of the bomb is easily done by muggles. The only use of the bomb in history is at the end of WWII on two cities in Japan: Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Plane, drop," he made a whistling sound usually heard in cartoons when an anvil was present, "boom. Easy enough. The repercussions of this, though, are severe. Hundreds of thousands have died as a result. The radiation still effects Japan to this day. You all understand what it does, but do you appreciate the years of development it took for muggles to invent it?
The Manhattan Project: The code name for the development of the atomic bomb. Albert Einstein, the greatest, genius scientist of the era, along with many others, informed the current President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, FDR, of enemy, or Nazi, plans to enrich uranium. This is one major step in developing the bomb. As a retaliation, the United States began development as well. Enriching uranium is a brutal process kids, but it needs to be done. For muggles to acquire this technology without magic is an extraordinary step. From 1939 to 1945, more than $2 billion was spent during the history of the Manhattan Project. Robert Oppenheimer, write that down, was the brains of the organization. Under his leadership, the bomb was completed before the Nazis had a chance at completing theirs. President Harry Truman gave the order to drop the bomb. It led to the Allies victory, but at what price?"
Milo looked around at the students, snapping a finger at anyone who looked to be losing focus.
"Two were unleashed, and dropped in Japan in July of 1945. The explosions eliminated or damaged 90% of the buildings in the two cities. Total death rate, due to radiation as well as victims to the monumental explosion is estimated at about 200,000. Dropping the bomb ended the global terror. Many argue it wasn't worth it. Many also argue that many more Allied troops would have been lost should the war carry on much longer. There was a huge invasion planned that would no doubt result in thousands of deaths. Many generals did not want to risk their forces. Today, many muggles fear a third world war because of the general possession of nuclear bombs, as well as even more destructive bombs like the Hydrogen Bomb. They fear worldwide activity in a war would result in the use of these banned weapons, resulting in global radiation."
Milo gave a short nod, speaking again as his head drooped down, "So, what I want from you is an essay explaining your opinion of the Atomic bomb; was it worth it? What should the future of nuclear arms be? Should they be kept for security or done away with? Is the WW3 fear rational? Give me your opinions. Be forceful. I want to know. Now, you can get into groups and discuss your opinions. If you can't figure something out, don't ask me. Talk it out with your group. If you still can't figure it out, fine. Then you can bug me. I'll be over here."
Milo strode to his chair, leaning back into it and taking out his Fish. "Oh, by the way," He said, with the air that he had actually forgotten this great part of the lesson, "A presentation may be required if I think you're slacking." With a rather villainous smile, Milo popped another fish into his mouth. "Go."
OOC: Standard posting rules: Two good-sized paragraphs. House points will be awarded on post lengths and the detail of the post. Please have fun with it! Political debates/brawls are encouraged. Part Two will be up in a few weeks. Have fun.
0
Professor Milo Huntley
6th and 7th year Lesson
0
Professor Milo Huntley
0
5
Zack Dill
August 22, 2008 11:45 AM
I do so have a life (wotw) by Zack Dill
Zack arrived ridiculously early. Due to his over-stuffed course load, he had his schedule planned out to the minute, so when his previous engagement (a thirty question set of calculus problems that Professor Taylor had given him) had taken twenty minutes less than he allotted for it, he wasn't sure what else to do with the time than to go on to the next item in the schedule.He was a bit taken aback by the appearance of the room. Obviously, Professor Huntley hadn't been finished decorated when Zack accosted him earlier, but the difference now was almost literally night and day. He shrugged it off and took the seat in the front row that was two chairs to the left of center. (Front and center, obviously, was the spot for sycophants and teacher's pets; Zack was the class genius, which was completely different. So he sat off-center.)
He used the extra time before class began to get ahead in his potions assignment, so he wouldn't be cutting Quidditch practice so close later, and thus risking another telling off from Anne. He really didn't want to be subjected to that level of acrimonious attention ever again. She was just a little bit terrifying sometimes.
He was almost finished with the essay (save for some cross-referencing he'd have to do later anyway) when "Sit!" rang out over the room and Zack looked up in surprise, his quill (Zack always used a quill because it was way more awesome than a mundane pen) jerking away from his parchment mid-letter. His eyes grew a little wider as Professor Huntley continued. Zack had not expected this level of authoritarianism from the teacher. The guy liked Mario Kart, for the Great Maker's sake.
The professor's strictness wasn't the problem, though. Zack actually preferred classrooms to be run in a very organized manner. Zack's distress was caused by something much more personal. It was very rare for Zack to be wrong about anything (and even rarer for him to realize it when he was) so the sheer unexpectedness of the teaching style, after Zack had already taken his measure of the man, was very disturbing for him.
When they were directed to, Zack put aside his potions essay and shifted the previously ignored packet into its place. He read through the first couple of sentence, but didn't recognize it. Glancing to the top of the page, which he had skipped over in his hurry to get to the meat of the paper, he found that it was Ronald Reagan's Farewell Address. Not quite what he'd been expecting to study, but okay. It was definitely a mundane's speech. History and US politics from the 1980s were within the parameters of the class, even if he didn't think they had the priority to be the first topic addressed by a new teacher.
Zack settled in to read and absorb all the nuances of the speech and was somewhat started a short while later when light suddenly streamed into the room, the decorations all transformed, and his classmates began to relax. He looked around in confusion until he saw his neighbor's packet opened to the last page. Zack flipped through his and found the punchline.
"Oh." Well, obviously it was all a joke. Zack had known Professor Huntley wasn't acting in accordance to how Zack expected him to act. Clearly, it was a joke. Zack had known that. Yeah. He was a genius and not subject to such gullibility.
He wondered if he should still do independent research on Reagan and the political atmosphere surrounding his leave of office. Was that still testable material, or was it part of the 'joke' that Zack did not fall for hook, line, and sinker.
He suspected it was the later when Professor Huntley restarted his class with an introduction of first himself and then World War II. Despite still being off-balance from the abrupt change in the classroom's atmosphere, and a bit uncertain as to the relevance of Reagan, and reeling from the off-hand mentions of the wizarding involvement in the war (this was clearly what he missed by not having History of Magi...il his sixth year - he was going to have to at least triple his RATS studying on that subject), Zack was able to get his hand up to supply the answer to the question about bombs.
He was able to calm down a little as Professor Huntley got into the Manhattan Project. Zack knew all about that from mundane school. They'd covered that in sixth grade, just before he came to Sonora, and he'd written a few reports about it for the summer school crowd before Mom shut down his homework-selling business.
He could recite the arguments both for and against the weapon, but only one side rang true for him. He could defend the fission technology without too much trouble and even with no small degree of awe, but the application of an atomic bomb, never mind using it not once but twice, was just plain wrong as far as he was concerned.
But, then, he'd learned pacifism pretty early. That was what happened when one was a scrawny brainy nerd and one's younger brother by fourteen months was a big brawny bully. Even at six, when Nick already outweighed him by almost 20%, it had been clearly obvious that violence would not solve anything and only cause more problems. As soon as a fight became physical, it was already lost. The greater victory was in not letting it get to that point.
He supposed he should thank his brother for that insight, early maturity, and great wisdom, but that would require thanking Nick, which wasn't something Zack did. Zack preferred nowadays to pretend he was an only child, and Nick had the same preference. Last summer they had perfected the art of not acknowledging each other's existence. No small feat when they shared a room that was barely large enough to accommodate two twin beds, two narrow dressers, and one small computer desk.
Zack wrote down the essay questions on a fresh parchment, already composing in his mind the arguments he'd use to support his viewpoint. Essay writing seemed to be a fairly individual activity as far as he was concerned, but Professor Huntley had suggested they discuss their opinions in groups.
He decided that his course of action in these circumstances would be simple. He'd write down his outline while it was clearly in mind, and eavesdrop on his neighbors. If they said something that was wrong (or contrary to his opinion, which was much the same thing), he'd step in and correct them.
1
Zack Dill
I do so have a life (wotw)
40
Zack Dill
0
5
Anne Wright
August 24, 2008 10:10 PM
That was so many kinds of Not Amusing. by Anne Wright
Take away the pictures hanging on the walls, and the Muggle Studies room would've been the picture of a padded cell. As it was, Anne almost doubted her own feet about the firmness of the floor. It made her feel claustrophobic, enough so to forego her normal seat in favor of the very last one on the first row, the chair closest to the door. She doubted doing this made her Seeker think much of her nerve - he was still in his usual desk, of course - but she couldn't really find it in her to care. Much.She tried to take stock of the new guy, just for something to focus on besides an irritating feeling of intimidation, but couldn't find much to go on besides his dreadful taste in décor. He was neither old nor young and evidently had a face - or maybe just an emotion set - perfect for gambling for real money and that was all. Though she was already in her seat, she jumped when he suddenly gave his first order in a tone more suited to a judge ordering someone pleading for his or her life to be silent.
Yeah. She was definitely going to like New Guy. She also had a nice gold bridge somewhere in California she would sell for a knut to the next person who asked.
A wave of dizziness hit her as he finished his all-work-no-play speech and told them to look at the papers in front of them, making the inside of her skull seem to spin slowly in lopsided parabolas as she started moving her eyes along the first line of Reagan's speech without taking in a word. New Guy was a sadist, and she was fairly sure he knew it. Knew, and enjoyed. How was she supposed to do all this, on top of everything else she already had to do? It wasn't possible - between the people and the other classes and the team, Anne had already almost been at the point of acknowledging she'd bitten off more than she could chew. I cannot do this, I can't do this, there is no way I can do this -
She turned a page and clenched her jaw so hard it ached. No. This was not acceptable. She was not a weakling. She could do this, and she would do this. Let New Guy do his worst; she did her best work under pressure. The look on his face when she excelled in his oh-so-advanced classes would just be an extra perk. This place was hers, and no jumped-up new guy was allowed to ruin it for her. No, no, no. No way, no how, and if he didn't like that -
Color. Lots of it. On the floor. For a moment, she worried she'd actually lost it and started hallucinating, but that fear was laid to rest by the reactions of the others. What the...Noticing something written on what she guessed was a page very near the end of the packet on the next desk, she began flipping through blank pages until got to the end of her packet, read the message, and had to fight down a very strong urge to throw something at the professor.
It was all a joke. The room, the speech, the assignment - it was all New Guy's idea of a good joke. She was falling over herself laughing. Did New Guy not realize the danger of having a stroke his sense of humor had put her in? The last time Anne's blood pressure had been this high, she'd been shaking hands with Sorrel Craven. Or pacing the hall while she waited to be called in for her CATS practicals; she wasn't sure. A good joke? Ha! What had New Guy to get the rent before this, arrange funerals?
She dug her fingernails into her palms, as much to stop her hands from shaking as to channel some of her feelings. They were shaking from anger, not some bizarre mix of terror and relief. Of course they were. She just didn't want New Guy - who she might or might not hate more now than she'd thought she would before - to see that he'd put her off-balance. To further this aim, she focused hard on the memory of beating Pecari for a moment. That memory couldn't always completely reverse her mood, but it never failed to soothe.
Once he finished with the real rules speech - she wondered if the derogatory terms rule had come up because every one of his students had at least twelve they could think of at any given moment to call him - they went to business. Anne only felt the tiniest bit happier to see that the topic of the lesson was something she knew something about. Neither of the World Wars was a favorite topic - her interest kind of waned after the time period of the Vampire Wars - but a closet history geek could hardly escape knowing something. The things he said they probably knew about summed it up.
As New Guy - petty and childish as it was, it made her feel better to deny him his name - went on, Anne decided she was not going to forgive him his 'joke'. Having a crud sense of humor was one thing, but being a condescending jerk with it did not speak well for him simply being tasteless. Finally, however, they got to the assignment. At least that had some point to it; if the Muggles blew up the world, the magicals would suffer for it, too. She had put together enough about radiation between History and Charms to know it was not one of the ways she'd prefer to die.
Moving to sit on the edge of her desk so she could see the seats beside and behind her without twisting, she gave the first piece of her loose hair she found a hard yank before pushing it back over her ear. Zack was nearby and would've been a valuable addition to the team even without Sadist's threat of presentations, but he seemed to avoid her during the school day for some reason. She wasn't sure why, since he surely couldn't still be sore about that time she'd had a fit when he chose a particularly bad day to show up late to Quidditch practice; that had happened ages ago, and she hadn't had any major flip-outs since. She guessed she just lacked whatever was needed to understand a genius, and she couldn't really do anything about that. No reason to dwell on it.
"So," she said, looking around at the nearest people before they could run off to find other groups. "What y'all think? To blow stuff up or not to blow stuff up?" She doubted they would catch the reference even if they were all Muggleborn, but it amused her. One thing Muggles definitely did right - not that there wasn't other stuff they could do right, but this was just the one most applicable to her - was write. A highlight of the Williams era had been the Muggle books the room had held.
If New Guy had and would let her borrow some she hadn't yet read, she might actually start to dislike him a little less than she did right now.
16
Anne Wright
That was so many kinds of Not Amusing.
59
Anne Wright
0
5
Professor Milo Huntley
September 21, 2008 11:39 AM
Thrid through Fifth years: This is your lesson. by Professor Milo Huntley
Milo had left the room in it's colorful order today. The floor was its usual arrangement of photos, varying from muggle cities to famous muggle events throughout history. On the walls, things such as maps, government charts, a poster of the man on the moon, covers of famous muggle literature shared the wall space with posters of magical landmarks, magical schools and the like were placed. He didn't want to repeat the same prank twice. It just wasn't done in his book. No, today he had something different planned for the young ones, apart from the actual lesson. The not-middle-aged-quite-yet man was doing his usual round of the room, fixing a desk or a photo here and there. He stopped at his desk, taking a frame into his hands and examining it. It seemed impossible to him that Kathleen was nine already. It also seemed impossible that she could appear so much like her mother. Sadly, he had to see that comparison every holiday when they went to spend the Christmas, Easter, Kit's birthday with Velure and Wesley. Damn them. Isn't that how everyone wanted to spend their holiday? With they ex-wife and her holier-than-thou husband who awkwardly ask questions like "Oh, Milo, have you met anyone special yet?" It was at times like these when he was grateful to be the favorite parent because Kathleen would look around and say, "You think I let him have time for that?"Milo reached into his pocket where his bag of Swedish Fish was stored. Catching a hold of a few, he popped them into his mouth, his eyes darting to the clock for a moment. The students should be arriving any minute. Milo put on a only mildly serious expression as the room filled. His poker face wasn't necessary for this lesson. The Intermediate years took their seats and Milo took out some notes of absolutely no importance. They were merely a distraction to keep himself from looking at their faces when he dropped the bomb. He could hold a straight face, but, hey, he was human.
"Early morning," Milo greeted, rather than using the custom "Good" morning. An early morning was not a good morning. "Welcome to Muggle Studies. I'm going to take a stab in the dark and assume you kids know the basics of what this class is about. If not, you'll figure it out soon enough." He placed his hands on the desk behind him and leaned back. "My name is Professor Huntley. Call me what you wish, within reason, and due to some demand for respect please have Professor in front of it. Now, let's get started. I expect you to have your summer assignment finished, so if you could please put it on my desk..." Milo tapped the surface of the desk and looked down to his notes, as if studying a lesson guide.
"Are there any questions on the homework?" He smiled to himself as a few hands shot up. "How many of you were unaware of the assignment?" Many more hands rose. "That's because there was no assignment. Anyone who has a completed assignment needs to get a summer life. Doing unassigned homework? Really kids..."
Milo carefully placed the notes neatly on his desk, beside the folder specifically labeled for this class. He straightened up, giving his wand a wave causing the markers to write as he spoke.
"Today we're going to start with Muggle transportation. How do wizards get from place to place? Floo powder, Apparition, brooms, Portkeys, all magically powered ways. Muggles, of course, can't use magic. They are left with finding efficient alternatives, which they have done. They have developed cars, subway stations, planes, jets, and, if you want to get high-tech, space shuttles. Let's start with cars..." Milo gave another wave of his wand and the marker began to scribble a (rather nicely detailed) picture of a common compact automobile.
"Muggles use gasoline to make their cars, planes, jets, run. It's like liquid magic, without the magic. It's a limited resource, found underground, mostly in the Middle East for those who don't know. There's a supply of oil around the U.S., but not as much. Cars are a lot slower than apparition, but for Muggles, it's the fastest way around. Not much is quicker than getting in your car and jumping on the road, except for planes. But those are mostly for long distance travel. Taking a plane can cut your travel time immensely. A car trip to... Let's say Seattle, from Phoenix would take a good 22 hours. Taking an airplane though..." He waved his wand and a picture of a plane appeared on the board. "Would only take two, two and a half hours. Amazing, huh?"
Milo tossed a Fish into his mouth and reached below his desk to retrieve a box. He gave it a small shake, letting the contents rattle around for a moment. "Here I have a mix of airplane and automobile, that's a fancy term for car children, models. They're pretty life like. So, pair up. Take one of these. Take it apart. First to pinpoint the fuel tank, engine, and... oh, let's get a hard one... the suspension springs earns their house ten points." He watched their faces, wondering how many of them had even heard the term 'suspension' before. Milo took a seat behind his desk, reaching for his Newsweek. "I'll be over here if you need me. Try not to, I'm very busy." He flicked open the magazine and called out, "By the way, homework: An essay on the problems that using oil can bring up and the solutions we can use. On my desk next week. Go."
OOC: Standard posting rules. Two to three good-sized paragraphs. House points will be awarded on post lengths and the detail of the post.
0
Professor Milo Huntley
Thrid through Fifth years: This is your lesson.
0
Professor Milo Huntley
0
5
Saul Pierce
September 22, 2008 10:20 PM
Fifth Year: This is my post. by Saul Pierce
Saul arrived bright-eyed and bushy tailed to muggle studies. Though he'd never be mistaken for a good student, he did have basic background knowledge of muggle things due to his family living in the in-between of muggle and magical societies. It gave him enough of an advantage that he'd at least been passing the class with Professor Williams. Plus, it was kinda fun when they were given the chance to use muggle objects and he got to watch the pureblood try to figure them out.It also helped that he was a morning person. He was also an afternoon and evening and night person. He was just generally a person all the time. He grinned as the Professor deemed it an 'early' morning and sat up straighter in his chair, finding it irrationally cheering. He felt the same way whenever he got to 'help' his cousins wake up, too. Plus, there was loads of opportunity in the invitation to call the new teacher 'Professor Whatever'. Saul made a mental note of it and started thinking up possibilities.
His grin faded though, when they were instructed to turn in their summer homework. Granted, they hadn't had Muggle Studies yet this year, but summer had been ages ago. If Professor Williams had assigned something - which he couldn't remember her doing, but, then, neither had he remembered the last assignment Professor Taylor gave either - he certainly didn't do it. He looked around at his classmates to watch them pass their work forward like he did in Charms, but for once they all looked like they had no idea what the new professor was talking about either.
Saul took great comfort from that. There was a chance it wouldn't be counted if he wasn't the only one who didn't do it. And if it did still count, then he wouldn't be that far behind the rest of the class. Then Professor Whozzit revealed he was pulling their collective chains.
Saul was gonna like this guy.
Interest and hope that another joke or prank might be forthcoming kept him paying attention even as Professor Smart Alec delved into the lesson proper.
While Saul was not exactly well versed in the inner workings of a car or airplane engine, his family at least owned a couple of minivans and an RV, all of which tended to break down, so the concept of an engine wasn't entirely foreign to him. And while he hadn't personally ever flown in an airplane, he knew people who had.
He went up to the front of the classroom and collected one of the model cars. "Hey," he he greeted the first familiar face he came across and held up the miniature vehicle. "Wanna dissect a pickup truck with me?"
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Saul Pierce
Fifth Year: This is my post.
82
Saul Pierce
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Prof. Huntley
September 22, 2008 10:44 PM
OOC: Attention! by Prof. Huntley
*facepalm* I have just realzied that this is second semester. My bad. I get confused due to Milo's recent introduction to Sonoran society.Make that MIDTERM assignment.
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Prof. Huntley
OOC: Attention!
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Prof. Huntley
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Saul
September 23, 2008 10:09 AM
ooc by Saul
Oh, but summer was so much more obscure.So can we assume Prof. Williams was still teaching for the first semester then?
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Saul
ooc
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Saul
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Prof. Huntley
September 23, 2008 4:05 PM
Another OOC by Prof. Huntley
Rearrange obscurity for your own writing pleasure then ;)Sure, that seems like a safe assumption.
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Prof. Huntley
Another OOC
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Prof. Huntley
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Saul Pierce
September 23, 2008 4:26 PM
Fifth Year: This is my revised post. by Saul Pierce
Saul arrived bright-eyed and bushy tailed to muggle studies. Though he'd never be mistaken for a good student, he did have basic background knowledge of muggle things due to his family living in the in-between of muggle and magical societies. It gave him enough of an advantage that he'd at least been passing the class with Professor Williams. Plus, it was kinda fun when they were given the chance to use muggle objects and he got to watch the pureblood try to figure them out.It also helped that he was a morning person. He was also an afternoon and evening and night person. He was just generally a person all the time. He grinned as the Professor deemed it an 'early' morning and sat up straighter in his chair, finding it irrationally cheering. He felt the same way whenever he got to 'help' his cousins wake up, too. Plus, there was loads of opportunity in the invitation to call the new teacher 'Professor Whatever'. Saul made a mental note of it and started thinking up possibilities.
His grin faded though, when they were instructed to turn in their midterm homework. Granted, they been having Muggle Studies with Professor Williams for the first half of the year, but they had a new teacher. If Professor Williams had assigned something - which he couldn't remember her doing, but, then, neither had he remembered the last assignment Professor Taylor gave either - he didn't think it should apply. He looked around at his classmates to watch them pass their work forward like he did in Charms, but for once they all looked like they had no idea what the new professor was talking about either.
Saul took great comfort from that. There was a chance it wouldn't be counted if he wasn't the only one who didn't do it. And if it did still count, then he wouldn't be that far behind the rest of the class. Then Professor Whozzit revealed he was pulling their collective chains.
Saul was gonna like this guy.
Interest and hope that another joke or prank might be forthcoming kept him paying attention even as Professor Smart Alec delved into the lesson proper.
While Saul was not exactly well versed in the inner workings of a car or airplane engine, his family at least owned a couple of minivans and an RV, all of which tended to break down, so the concept of an engine wasn't entirely foreign to him. And while he hadn't personally ever flown in an airplane, he knew people who had.
He went up to the front of the classroom and collected one of the model cars. "Hey," he he greeted the first familiar face he came across and held up the miniature vehicle. "Wanna dissect a pickup truck with me?"
1
Saul Pierce
Fifth Year: This is my revised post.
82
Saul Pierce
0
5
Professor Huntley
November 04, 2008 12:47 PM
Classes Closed (nm) by Professor Huntley
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Professor Huntley
Classes Closed (nm)
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Professor Huntley
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Professor Milo Huntley
December 05, 2008 11:58 PM
Advanced Muggle Academy Zat Involves Nuclear Gadgets-AMAZING by Professor Milo Huntley
Why can't he have a normal daughter? Why? Why does Kathleen insist on being so much smarter than everyone else? In all actuality, Milo was insanely proud of how smart his offspring had grown to be. Obviously, she learned from the best... Katie always had a book in her hand. She had read To Kill a Mockingbird by the time she was eight. Every week during the school year he got letters, asking if he could send along a book with his next letter. But it wasn't the book smarts that he minded. No... The smarts that he had to deal with was the insight Katie had to his relationship with her mother. Velure was never the one to be rude, but not necessarily nice, or even civil for that matter. That use to be one of the things Milo loved about her. Velure's high-society persona was intoxicating at first. Now he had other, more straight forward ways, of intoxication. Katie, and her smarts, knew the whole situation. Somehow, regardless of his careful avoidance of the divorce around her, she had figured it all out and more. He blamed her mother.The divorce was one of the best worst things of Milo's life. He was thirty-nine (not forty yet!). He had signed his name on the dotted line about nine years ago, when Kathleen was one. Velure had married in purely out of spite to her parents. He was her rebellion. Marry the muggleborn, piss off the parents. And it worked pretty well for her. They were fuming when they found out their daughter had eloped. A few years later, when they informed her that she had been disowned, Velure pretended not to care. "I don't need their money," she had said. He didn't see the doubt behind her eyes. She was an amazing liar. It wasn't until later that she had told him about the nice Pureblood man she had met. She was over her rebellion (Him) and was moving on, gaining her fortune back. She told him she would allow him to have custody of Katie. Maybe Milo was just bitter, but he didn't think she wanted to handle the hassle of their brilliant daughter. Katie was smarter than her already. Hah. Taught her well...
Milo entered his classroom, the walls having been restored to their usual, obnoxiously busy form. The posters of various wonders of the world covered the entire right wall. Closer to the front, a bookshelf held classic novels and texts, all alphabetized, of course. He reached into his pocket, taking ahold of the few Swedish Fish left in his pocket. Damn. All out. Must return to the office.
Milo took a deep breath. His office smelled like clean. Just how he liked it. All of his classic novels were exactly where he left them, alphabetically. The new Costco-pack of Swedish Fish had replenished his stash, thank God. Milo put down the recently taken picture of his beautiful daughter, already feeling that guilt for leaving her. In a few years they would see if she would be joining him at Sonora, but a year was a long time to wait... Kathleen was ten now, which meant that 1) Milo was getting old and 2) he might have to start tutoring his daughter in something more than long division.
The almost (but not yet) forty-year-old man strode into his classroom, his excitement hardly contained. This year pranks were harder to pull. The older students were aware of his shenanigans now so he had to be sneakier... Of course, with a fantastically creative mind like his anything was possible. Milo was going for a classic this year. He took a step towards the door and waved his wand. A clear, plastic wrap substance shot out of his wand, wrapping itself around the door frame from top to bottom. Not one of his best, but he wasn't expecting too many kids for this lesson. But... just in case... Milo flicked his wand once more and the blank stack of papers in front of him suddenly became not-so-blank. It read:
Dear Professor Huntley,
It has become a concern, now that exam results have arrived, that the performance of the Muggle Studies students and the grades they are receiving are not adequate. It has become a priority to increase expectations for students, especially those of the Advanced class. Extra essays are to be assigned and additional dicipline will be inflicted if neccessary. Please keep these new standards in mind as you plan further lessons.
Sincerely,
Headmaster Bulla
Pure genius.
Milo looked up, just in time to see the first student plant their face into the plastic. He hid his grin by popping a candy fish into his mouth and turning towards his lesson plans. By the time he had turned around all students were seated. A grave expression on his face, Milo handed the letters out to the students.
"This is a copy of a letter I recieved. I want you all to be aware of what is expected. And don't rebel, because it's not my fault." Without additional questions, Milo began the lesson.
"Microwaves." Milo paused, reaching beneath his desk for an old broken microwave. "Muggles use microwaves to reheat their food. Some teenagers decide that they want to microwave other completely inappropriate items, like spoons. Metal and microwaves just don't work and the reasoning for that is the focus of this lesson." Milo turned to the board and wrote the word MICROWAVES on the board. "Now microwaves," he paused, giving a jerk of the head to the contraption, "as well as being an object used for heating, are also a science thing. Microwaves heat by using microwaves. Think of that like the sun's rays, only in this box." He tapped the top of the thing to give some emphasis.
"Tracking back a bit, who wants to take a guess why metal shouldn't go in the microwave? First hand up gets five points." He pointed to the first hand. "Exactly! Microwaves cannot penetrate metal like they can with a biscuit or something like that. So... the rays bounce off the metal and back to the contraption which..." He flicked his wand and the microwave gave a bright spark of light. "That, which happens to be the reason why this one is broken..." He turned away with a guilty shuffle.
"So the microwaves hit the food when it is placed inside and warm it up from the inside out." Milo gave a nod and turned to the board. "Homework: I want an essay, three feet will do, on the uses of Microwaves, their efficiencies, and drawbacks. If you think back to the World War II lesson from last year that should help you with some of the cons."
"I'll be over here, reading a comic book disguised behind an important looking text book. If you have any questions, see if your neighbor knows." He sat down, giving his chair a spin. As he revolved, he called out to the group,
"Oh! Before I forget, that letter was made up. April Fools." Ignoring the cries of the actual date, Milo called out once more, "Work. Get to it." He made a sound of cracking a whip before turning away, hiding his grin from the younger minds.
OOC: For those of you who skimmed over the lesson (we've all done it), that letter in italics was a joke. If Milo gets fired, I blame you. Anywho, standard posting rules, two decent paragraphs etc. etc... Feel free to have students attack Milo in outrage. Points are awarded on creativity and the overall awesomeness of the post.
Go.
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Professor Milo Huntley
Advanced Muggle Academy Zat Involves Nuclear Gadgets-AMAZING
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Professor Milo Huntley
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Anne Wright
December 17, 2008 7:16 PM
Guess the joke's on me. by Anne Wright
After months of resistance, Anne had finally given in and started using the daily planner Helena had gotten for her last birthday after only a few days as a seventh year. It was currently lying open on top of an armful of texts for her Potions class, coming dangerously close to falling to the floor on a few occasions, and the sight of the little page had her biting her bottom lip without noticing.Muggle Studies was her next class, which she'd already had in her head and been anxious about, and it wasn't even the last of the day. After it, she had two hours marked off as Quidditch practice, another hour devoted to discussing the practice with Geoff, and notes to start on her first paper for Schmidt, review for Ancient Runes, and finish the page of problems she'd been set for Transfiguration. If she had been someone who needed, rather than just liked, to get in a lot of sleep, she would be hopeless. As it was, Anne did not have a good feeling about the shape she'd be in by the end of the year.
Stealing Gray's cookies and making it a meal was always an option, but Anne wasn't sure if she needed to take it yet. Going to bed by midnight sounded great, and she could pull if off if she skipped supper, but the odds were on that it would just end in her lying awake again. Practice did that to her; she had trouble making herself stop thinking about it afterward, and without her books in front of her, doing so became impossible. She would go to supper, and then -
The blue-and-black planner (Helena knew her Anne) and all the books tumbled to the floor as Anne walked into a wall of plastic instead of the door of her classroom. She came close to following them, only just grabbing onto the side of the doorframe before she could lose all of her balance and go down. Pressing her lips together, Anne gathered up her things, trying to ignore the burning heat in her face and the existence of everyone on the entire corridor.
Shoving past it once her books were back in her arms, Anne bit her bottom lip hard to keep from giving Huntley, whose sweets seemed to concern him more than the chance that she would sue him for the damage An Encyclopedia of Potions Theory had done to her foot, an extra-vitriolic sample of her thoughts on him and what she suspected was supposed to be a joke. She had only done that to a superior once in her life, and since it had been over a Quidditch practice, Zack had actually been her subordinate at the time. As the professor was not on her team, all she could do was bite her tongue and slam her books down on her desk just a tad too hard for it to be missed, which she did.
Anne's initial reaction to Huntley handing out a letter was that he was playing another one of his vile jokes on them, but her stomach still clenched as she scanned over it. Was that what the Headmaster's signature looked like? She had, she knew, seen it before, but couldn't remember details to save her life. She'd done the best she could on all exams, but...
Microwaves. Grabbing the first piece of parchment she could find, Anne began scribbling down every word she could catch feverishly, barely understanding a word. They heated things with themselves? No...Something about light, she was sure a class had mentioned it, maybe Professor Taylor's...He asked a question, but she couldn't think of the answer, which did nothing but make her more upset and less able to think.
She bit back a laugh when Huntley admitted why the heating object he was using as a model was broken, but that was as far as her humor went. Three feet wasn't a lot, but making a good essay out of that would take a fair bit of research and time. She would have to start immediately. Anne's head was already bent low over her textbook when she heard 'by-the-way' and looked up.
For a moment, she thought she was actually speechless, but one simple fact overrode both stunned outrage and her will to keep her mouth shut and prosper. "It's September!" Anne screeched. She was both relieved and even further irked to be ignored, or as good as ignored. The directive seemed to be for the whole class. Luckily, she always read her books with her head close to them, which allowed her to hide her scowl.
After a few minutes of reading and note-taking, minutes she rapidly went from irritated to frustrated during, Anne laid down her quill and rubbed her temples, which felt as though they should be pounding even though they weren't. The ideas wouldn't come together properly; everything she pulled had, to her mind, the sound one would expect from the exact type of pureblood girl who'd mastered a few Muggle concepts just to irritate her traditional family, a type Anne hated being associated with. Scholarship was scholarship, and belonging to Aladren meant her origins shouldn't have had anything to do with her concept mastery.
Since it apparently did, it was a good thing Anne was now fairly sure she wasn't going into Muggle Relations after Sonora. When even Geoff said she might not have the right temperament for it, she was inclined to believe it. Between her pride in her ability to manage everything and the rate she had started changing her mind over things at lately, though, she still needed to pass. Sweeping back a lock of hair she'd been absently playing with, she picked her quill back up from the desk.
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Anne Wright
Guess the joke's on me.
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Anne Wright
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Professor Milo Huntley
February 19, 2009 3:39 PM
Intermediate Muggle Studies Lesson- Years 3-5, here! by Professor Milo Huntley
Getting back into the swing of things after midterm was always a challenge for Milo. Everything looked so out of order, what with Christmas presents, new pictures, new lessons, old lessons… Too much clutter. Milo gave a sigh and waved his wand, causing the papers to flutter into their specified drawers.“Good enough,” he said, gathering the day’s intermediate lesson plans and turned towards the classroom. As he entered, Milo murmured a spell and waved his wand. His brown and gray hair turned to a steel color and shrank into his head to the point where he was now bald on the top of his head. His stubble beard changed to the same color and lengthened so he had a short gray beard. He waved his wand again and the ever-so-youthful skin began to crease, his veins becoming more prominent. Milo now looked about double his age. With another wave of the wand, the deep voice of Milo Huntley became worn and elderly. The kids would never see it coming...
In a corner at the back of the classroom, Pat Jenkins raised an eyebrow at the antics of Professor Huntley and scratched out a few notes. He didn't do anything further, however, but rather stayed put to see what would happen next. He was here, after all, to observe. And from the door there was the sound of approaching students.
The class began to file in and Milo shuffled to his desk, looking as ancient as humanly possible. Looks of confusion passed on some faces, while others seemed not to notice. Oh how Milo loved pranks... Normally they were performed in the beginning of the year, but he couldn't let this idea wait! When they had all taken their seats, Milo stood shakily up. His eyes gazed around blearily, noticing all eyes on him. He reached into his pocket and produced some faux glasses, sliding them onto his nose. As the disguised man looked around he beamed obnoxiously at each student who caught his eye. Standing in the corner, however, his attention was caught by a strange man. Who is that..? Oh, right. Him.
"Good Morning, children of the sun!" He cried cheerfully. "Welcome to Muggle Studies, a happy class!" He watched the expressions of the thirteen to fifteen-year-old students change to either amusement, surprise, or creeped out. "I am Professor Nicholus, your new Professor! Professor Huntley unfortunately cannot join us today due to a new career overseas, but, most fortunately," Milo held his wrinkled hands out to the corner where Patrick Jenkins stood. "Mr. Jenkins can! Not to worry, not to worry. He is only here to observe. I must say, when I took the job there was nothing in it about Council investigations, I mean my goodness! The trouble you teenagers get into... It's the hormones, am I right? You kids and your sexual shenanigans..." He winked and wagged a finger before turning to the board and giving his wand a flick.
Pat jotted down a few more notes, slipping into the chair behind an empty desk to ease the task. He nodded gravely to one of the nearby students who turned to look at him, but otherwise kept the majority of his attention on Huntley and the reactions of the class to their professor's antics. Did the man think that he worked in a circus? A travelling sideshow?
"Now," he said as a picture appeared, "This, children, is an American Muggle dollar!" The old man froze, his eyes widening, his right hand creeping up to his left arm. Some children ceased their bored doodling, looking up at the intriguing figure. Milo did his best to hold his laughter as he let his legs fall out from under him with a shuddering gasp, allowing him to disappear behind his desk for a moment. Hidden from view, Milo flicked his wand, returned to his normal state of appearance, and straightened up. He lightly brushed off his coat and turned to the board, all seriousness regained.
“So sorry. What was I saying? Ah right,” He pointed to the picture of the American one dollar bill. “Rather than using Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts, Muggles use different forms of money. Here in America, Muggles use dollars and cents. In Europe, Muggles use the Euro, but for now we’ll focus on American currency. Now, forget everything you know about Magical currency. It’ll just confuse you.” He turned to the board and wrote:
Currency in Change
The penny. $0.01 = 1 penny 100 to a dollar.
The nickel. $0.05 = 1 nickel 20 to a dollar.
The dime. $0.10 = 1 dime 10 to a dollar
The quarter $0.25 = 1 quarter 4 to a dollar
Paper Currency
$1
$5
$10
$20
$50
$100
Milo turned back to the class. "There you have it. That is the American Muggle money system. It differs around the world, from country to country. Everyone has their own system. And now for your homework," He grinned and gave a thumbs up. "I want the amount of pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters in every currency. By that I mean, how many pennies to a nickel? How many pennies to a dime? How many nickels to a dime? Give me the change amount of every cash form. If you want to get started in a group, do so... Now." Milo turned to his desk, rifling a few Swedish Fish from his pocket.
"Need any help, find an Aladren, and if that doesn't work, find me. You know where I'll be." He took his seat at his desk, and observed as the small little wheels in the kiddies heads began to turn.
In the back of the classroom, Patrick continued to watch and make the occasional note. But when the class ended, he intended to have a word with Professor Huntley.
OOC: Standard posting rules, two decent paragraphs etc. etc... Feel free to have students attack Milo in outrage. Points are awarded on creativity and the overall awesomeness of the post.
Anyone from the other side of the Atlantic, I tried my best to make it make sense! Currency can confuse us sometimes... If my instruction fails, Google ;D
Go.
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Professor Milo Huntley
Intermediate Muggle Studies Lesson- Years 3-5, here!
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Professor Milo Huntley
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Holly Greer
February 26, 2009 4:29 PM
I'm having flashbacks to my math class by Holly Greer
Holly had decided to take Muggle Studies largely because it didn't sound scary and she needed a few more classes she was willing to continue after she took her CATS. So far, that was proving to be a wise decision, the professor's tendency towards pranks notwithstanding. Practical jokes were not something she generally approved of, but she was a Pecari (as much as she hated to admit it) and she was able to adapt. Professor Huntley was certainly preferable to several other teachers she could name, and his subject did not involve violent deaths, terrifying claws, disgusting animal parts, or any of the other things she had come to dread about most of her other classes.She took in the stranger in the front of the room with only mild interest, taking him for another substitute. There was evidently a virus going around. Professor Flatt had been sick, and she'd heard people in the commons and at the cascade hall coughing and sneezing. Professor Huntley apparently had more sense than Flatt when he got sick.
She sighed and rolled her eyes when the sub turned out to be a complete loon, but Huntley would be back when he got better - or . . . no. No. Come on. This guy had to be a thousand years old and utterly senile. Why did Professor Huntley leave them? He hadn't seemed to dislike teaching. He - oh.
She slouched in her chair and drank down a vial of her calming draught. She hated Professor Huntley. She really did.
But not enough that she wanted the creepy geriatric back.
Today's lesson, though, was refreshingly boring. It reinforced her suspicion that she should probably be taking Wizarding Studies instead of Muggle Studies. Counting muggle money was as familiar and nearly instinctual as speaking English. It was the galleons, sickles, and knuts that were utterly baffling.
She wasn't going to complain though. She had come to appreciate boring. And this was like math class, back at her old private school. She had liked math. She imagined she would like it even better now.
Holly took out a piece of paper and quickly wrote out - without any need of help from an Aladren, thank you very much - the amounts of coins in each larger denomination. She even used some of the more obscure coins and dollars to show off.
BILLS
$2, $5, $10, $20, $50, $100 bills:
coinage: See $1 and multiply by 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, or 100.
$100 bill:
2 $50 bills
5 $20 bills
10 $10 bills
20 $5 bills
50 $2 bills (but $2 bills are really rare, so you're not gonna see 50 of them unless you ask specifically for them at the bank)
100 $1 bills
$50 bill:
2 $20 bills and a 1 $10 bill
5 $10 bills
10 $5 bills
25 $2 bills (you won't see 25 of them either)
50 $1 bills
$20 bill:
2 $10 bills
4 $5 bills
10 $2 bills (not gonna see 10 of them either)
20 $1 bills
$10 bill:
2 $5 bills
5 $2 bills (you might see that many in your whole life)
10 $1 bills
$5 bill:
2 $2 bills and a $1 bill (vaguely possible, but you have any at all, you're more likely to have 1 $2 bill and 3 $1 bills)
5 $1 bills
$2 bill:
2 $1 bills
COINAGE
Dollar:
100 pennies
20 nickels
10 dimes
4 quarters
2 half dollars
1 whole dollar (bill or $1 coin)
Half Dollar:
50 pennnies
10 nickels
5 dimes
2 quarters
1 half dollar
Quarter:
25 pennies
5 nickels
2 dimes & a nickel
1 quarter
Dime:
10 pennies
2 nickels
1 dime
Nickel:
5 pennies
1 nickel
Penny:
1 penny
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Holly Greer
I'm having flashbacks to my math class
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Holly Greer
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Lucie Dupree
March 14, 2009 7:16 PM
Never would have thought to find me here by Lucie Dupree
Muggle Studies wasn’t a class one would expect Lucie Dupree to take, but here she was just the same. Her reasoning to her parents for having registered for the class at all was that in order to defeat the enemy one must have an understanding of the enemy and in order to do that one must have knowledge of the enemy. Of course, she didn’t actually view muggles or muggleborns as the enemy the way her family did, but it was the easiest way to get her way about taking the class. Her private reason for taking the class wasn’t far off the original.Simply put, she wanted to learn as much as possible. If she hadn’t been placed in Teppenpaw, she certainly would have been placed in Aladren. Well, at least she thought she would have been. Being wrong about that was quite possible since she wasn’t a genius by any means, but she did achieve high marks. This may have been due to the fact that she had a million and one tricks for remembering the material they learned. It was a really good thing to since otherwise she had a tendency towards daydreaming, which just wouldn’t do.
Gazing at the professor, she wasn’t surprised to see a professor that didn’t look like the beginning of the year’s professor. After all, how many times did a new professor appear? They had ended up with a new Potions professor, which hadn’t lasted very long before they ended up with the substitute professor. Then, there was the fairly new Transfiguration professor. And Professor Huntley hadn’t been here at long, so to the elderly man that now stood in front of the class, Lucie didn’t blink even an eyelash at. She did however feel a little sorry for him.
In the room was Mr. Jenkins who she had seen in a couple of her other classes observing. If it were her first time teaching at a new school, she wouldn’t have wanted to have someone else judging her. It would have made her a little nervous. Though, all thoughts of this became null and void when the professor mentioned sexual shenanigans, which left Lucie with her mouth hanging slightly open. How embarrassing! While she fought against it, some proper standards stood and not daring to mention, even joking, such things was one of those.
Thankfully, class had moved along to the actual lesson to which the professor pulled out what looked like a piece of paper and called it a dollar before he plummeted to the ground. Her blue eyes went wide and she half stood up from her seat before sinking back down in relief when it turned out to just be Professor Huntley. She was vaguely reminded of the boy that cried dementor. Only this was the professor that cried heart attack. It was crude in her opinion and with the way he played pranks, one day something was going to go wrong and no one would believe him.
At least he finally got to the actual lesson and what they would be doing. It sounded a bit odd and she didn’t really understand why muggles didn’t use something easier like what they had, but to each their own she supposed. Pulling out a sheet of parchment, she began working slowly so as not to confuse herself.
100 Pennies to a Dollar
20 Nickels to a Dollar
100 Pennies = 20 Nickels
100 divided by 20 = 5
5 Pennies to a Nickel
10 Dimes to a Dollar
100 Pennies = 20 Nickels = 10 Dimes
100 divided by 10 = 10
10 Pennies to a Dime
2 Nickels to a Dime
4 Quarters to a Dollar
100 Pennies = 20 Nickels = 10 Dimes = 4 Quarters
100 divided by 4 = 25
Twenty-five Pennies to a Quarter
Each Nickel equals 5 pennies, so 25 divided by 5 = 5, 5 nickels to a Quarter
A Quarter = .25
.10 + .10 = .20 does not equal .25
.10 + .10 + .10 = .30 does not equal .25
2 Dimes can go into a Quarter but does not make a Quarter
$1
100 Pennies
20 Nickels
10 Dimes
4 Quarters
$5
5 $1
100 times 5 = 500 Pennies
20 times 5 = 100 Nickels
10 times 5 = 50 Dimes
4 times 5 = 20 Quarters
$10
10 $1
2 $5
500 times 2 = 1000 Pennies
100 times 2 = 200 Nickels
50 times 2 = 100 Dimes
20 times 2 = 40 Quarters
$20
20 $1
4 $5
2 $10
1000 times 2 = 2000 Pennies
200 times 2 = 400 Nickels
100 times 2 = 200 Dimes
40 times 2 = 80 Quarters
$50
50 $1
10 $5
5 $10
No $20
1000 times 5 = 5000 Pennies
200 times 5 = 1000 Nickels
100 times 5 = 500 Dimes
40 times 5 = 200 Quarters
$100
100 $1
20 $5
10 $10
5 $20
5000 times 2 = 10,000 Pennies
1000 times 2 = 2000 Nickels
500 times 2 = 1000 Dimes
200 times 2 = 400 Quarters
Finished, she looked over her work. She wasn’t sure if she missed anything or not, but she had done her best. Satisfied that it looked okay, she pulled out another piece of paper to copy the information down on with the idea of writing a story about a very confused man all because of the issues of currency conversions.
0
Lucie Dupree
Never would have thought to find me here
114
Lucie Dupree
0
5
Jane Carey
June 18, 2011 6:29 PM
Unsettling conclusions by Jane Carey
Her mother had been an intellectual being, who seldom left home and never had people over, but she had raised Jane with the idea that she would be a more social creature than Julia had been. Jane had learned to sew, dance, play piano, paint china, estimate the mood of a room, and how far, if at all, to curtsy to persons of different rank all before she ever came to Sonora, and still studied etiquette and music even at school, and had been instructed last August to take Divination as an official class as well.Serious divination – long trances, entrails, hours of patient and careful study – was for people with a Gift, or with a serious problem they were willing to do anything to solve. She would learn everything that was put in front of her, because it was something to do and would let her say she had done well in every class Sonora had to offer, but that wasn’t why Jane was in the class. She was there because it was expected for a lady to know some things for all-female gatherings – party tricks with cards and tea and apple peels, that sort of thing. Though she couldn’t help but think that her mother would be either deeply amused or absolutely horrified if she knew how Jane was learning those tricks. Miss – now Professor – Diaz seemed, from what Jane had seen here last year, and in the library, to be nice enough, but her appearance just wasn’t that of someone who taught the kind of things Jane was absolutely required to know.
When they were told to take notes, Jane opened the journal she used for notes in this class to the place where she’d placed the ribbon on the first clean page and dipped the end of her quill in the ink in preparation for the speech. When it began, she began to write at once, only pausing briefly to clean and re-ink her quill before transcribing what she remembered from that interlude and writing a little faster, her handwriting getting less precise for a line or two, to catch up.
Near the end, though, Professor Diaz said something that made her stop writing and look up at the older witch. It wasn’t exactly in astonishment, or horror, or anything she could put her finger on. It just was.
“Horoscopes assume that those born within the same zodiac will endure similar fates, as the astrology reading will be the same for one as for the other.”
A quick moment of reflection, and she realized that this was something she should have deduced on her own. The premise of divination was that time was more or less immutable, something supported by experiments involving it more directly. There was something almost comforting about that, knowing it didn’t really matter what decisions she made, because, in a way, she’d already made them. As for the circumstances that meant she was in a position to have to make the decision that lead to all the other decisions, though…she had never heard it put quite like that, so bluntly, and for some reason, it was making her mind go blank.
Professor Diaz said that theoreticians now thought this might be an error, but any comfort that might have brought was wiped away by the next part, where it was only off by a few days. So she was still stuck, then, with whatever caused her to be born on a specific day – lumped in, too, with everyone else born in that range of days.
She copied down her homework assignment and bit the tip of her tongue to steady herself up. She was being silly. She was being too emotional about putting something together. That happened, sometimes, whether the conclusion she reached was good, bad, or neutral. It was a weakness, something she needed to work out. She turned to another student. “Good day,” she said. “Shall we work together? My birthday is May 12.”
0
Jane Carey
Unsettling conclusions
160
Jane Carey
0
5
Renée Errant {Crotalus}
June 19, 2011 3:23 AM
I predict that I will get a reply. by Renée Errant {Crotalus}
Darting into Cascade Hall and then out again, Renée sunk her teeth into the blood plum that had been offered, three more settled in her bag. 'Three... is that enough? Only three?' Darting back in, and back out again, Renée hurried for her first ever intermediate lesson in Divination, excusing her gluttony as having been written in the stars, two more blood plums rolling in a heap at the bottom of her bag, beneath her textbooks and parchments. She slowed down her pace, shying into the nearest bathroom and sunk her teeth into the plum, raising her red stained mouth and widened bright dark eyes, grinning at her reflection of long dark curly hair and guilty pleasure. 'So good.' Everything that was delicious had to be grasped to. Life was about to be getting pale, brown, gray, and ugly. The flashes of color she could find she made brighter, stretched them thin and clung hard, darkly tanned hands growing white at the knuckles.The first plum was finished, and she threw the pit away, hurriedly wiping her mouth and exiting, now rushing with greater excitement toward Divination. She already knew Professor Diaz moderately well after signing up for Library Assistant last year, and was of the mind that were she actually late she would be excused because of that familiarity. 'But why test it on the first day?' She grinned to herself and quickened her pace. People were just taking out quills and parchment when she hurried in, fluidly sliding into the nearest open seat, opened her bag, pulled out her materials and looked up at Professor Diaz intently, as if she had been sitting there and focused all along.
'Focus... focus... focus...' Her quill idly moved, mocking the motions of writing down notes. Blinking, she looked down and realized she hadn't dipped it in ink. Setting her quill down, she reached back into her bag for a bottle, unscrewed the cap, dipped the quill in, and began hurriedly writing; trying to simultaneously remember what Professor Diaz had already said as well as pay attention to what she was saying now. 'Scorpius... something hemisphere... something summer.' There was mention of Babylon and then dates, but Renée's ears liked the sound of that name. 'Babylon.' It was a very pretty sound to hear, and as she scratched out the word, she began to doodle around it, making the words curl more, curve to her liking, created trees around the letters and rough images of birds. The melodic tune that Babylon played wore out and steadily Professor Diaz' voice returned to air. 'Oh Merlin! Something, something zodiac, scopes, fate - the heck is she talking about? Ah, whatever. Eclipses, lunar calendar, okay okay, scopes... astronomy readings... okay, great. Good. Got it.' She let the quill fall, flexing her wrist and was resolved to pay attention to the current assignment.
Read each other's horoscopes... Renée blinked. The future? What an odd concept. It was hard for her to categorize life beyond "once there was a time when I wasn't around, and now there is a time when I am around." Beyond that, time was meaningless. Unless, of course, when she was in school and running late to class. 'Maybe someone can tell me if I'll be late again.' The future only made sense in the confines of Sonora. Not when it extended to the real world. She grabbed a textbook, flipping to page seventeen and glancing up with a vague smile toward a classmate. "Partner? I'm August 15."
0
Renée Errant {Crotalus}
I predict that I will get a reply.
0
Renée Errant {Crotalus}
0
5
Alessa Hinckley, Aladren
June 19, 2011 7:20 PM
Maybe your future holds positive things. by Alessa Hinckley, Aladren
Like many pureblood girls, Alessa took Divination because it was expected for her to know for party tricks. She didn't however, put much stock in it. She did not need Divination to know her future. Alessa would marry Wally and have pureblood babies and go to pureblood parties. It had been decided practically since birth, aside from at that time, not knowing exactly who Alessa would marry.The idea that she had to also attend female only gatherings did not thrill her. She wouldn't really consider herself shy, but was not a social person by nature. Alessa preferred generally to do her own thing and had little interest in topics most people seemed to find fascinating. She was not interest in fashion or cosmetics. The Aladren had some interest in what was going on in society, but that was largely because she wanted to keep geneaology records accurate. Alessa liked being accurate and people had seemed to be impressed that she could correctly identify their lineages. It was her own special party trick.
But apparently, it was deemed necessary for her to have more than one. Alessa supposed knowing how to read tarot cards and the like was preferable to making small talk. The Aladren was terrible at it and felt her attempts seemed forced and formulaic, which she hated.
She sat listening to Professor Diaz give the lesson. The professor had almost lost Alessa at the word 'mathmatical' but regained it at the mention Evangeline Adams. She thought the laws the muggles had arrested her on were ridiculous. Why on Earth would fortune telling be illegal? Unless someone had the Sight, it was nothing but a game. It would be like saying Exploding Snap was illegal. The muggle world sounded like an awfully silly place.
It sounded like one of those laws that her father said muggles came up with in order to prosecute those they suspected of being wizards except that they rarely ever affected real magical folk and were used as political moves against those who were different or enemies of those in power. Honestly, for all that muggleborns accused purebloods of being prejudiced-and some were-it seemed like the muggle world had an awful lot of prejudice of its own from the little Alessa understood about it.
As far as Astrology itself went, the Aladren could see certain things about it that were true. She was a Virgo and had looked it up last year in relation to this class and some of the common personality traits fitted Alessa ideally. She didn't really think it would be accurate in predicting her future though. How could she have the exact same future as everyone else born within the same time frame?
She noted down the assignment, which sounded interesting enough and turned when the student next to her spoke. Alessa was pleased to note that it was Jane Carey, someone respectable and intelligent-and not irritating. So many people annoyed Alessa with their inability to sit still or be quiet. Constant motion was something that bothered the Aladren immensely. "Certainly. My birthday is September 13."
Jane was a Taurus so Alessa flipped to the appropriate section in the Astrology text she had with her for this class. She had more Divination books than were actually required. Alessa's mother was aware of her daughter's inability to make natural small talk and wanted her to be able to do as many party tricks as possible.
11
Alessa Hinckley, Aladren
Maybe your future holds positive things.
150
Alessa Hinckley, Aladren
0
5
Sam Bauer, Crotalus
June 20, 2011 8:19 PM
Looks like that was a good prediction. by Sam Bauer, Crotalus
Sam still wasn’t entirely sure why he was taking Divination. Just something to do, he guessed. Merlin knew he didn’t need the extra work, he was doing well to keep his Es in a few of his actual required subjects on some days, though he thought more of that was due to a lack of aptitude than a lack of intelligence. He was mediocre with a wand, maybe a bit better on a good day in Charms, but never above that in Transfiguration. Transfig was hard.Divination didn’t involve a lot of using a wand, though, and it was kinda fun, and it established that he was smart enough to bother with adding electives, and he knew a bunch of people who took it, and all that had combined to lure him into the class. That the librarian who’d become the teacher was awesome didn’t hurt things any. He still didn’t know how much he believed in straight divination as opposed to the Sight, but he thought he did as well as anyone besides the ones with a strong talent for it, maybe even better than some, and that was reason enough to keep the course. More CATS and RATS, his mother always said, were better; he needed to show that he was not only a well-rounded person, but also one familiar with a great deal of magic. Every little bit would help.
And she was right, of course. No one in his mother’s family had ever made much of him- or herself, and he hadn’t even known his dad’s last name a month ago, so while Uncle Jake did have some friends who could possibly help him out in the world and, unlike Uncle Isaac, would be willing to call in a favor on his nephew’s behalf, Sam was going to mostly have to get by in life with his own skills and drive and ambition. He had thought more, since meeting the other family sorta, about how things might have been if Michael Ballard hadn’t gotten himself killed before Sam was born, but that didn’t really matter. The past was the past. It was now, how things were, that he had to work with.
The lesson featured a good bit of how things had been, but it wasn’t too boring, so he copied it down in reasonably good cheer. The assignment, though, made him frown a bit; he was in Astronomy, too, but it still sounded hard.
He glanced up when Crazy Renée asked him to be partners. Though thinking of her by that nickname reminded him why he perhaps shouldn’t use it anymore. Though again, being so mad about a sport last year and dropping it this one could qualify as its own special kind of crazy, so maybe she was Crazy Renée for life. “Sure,” he said. “If I can figure out what the heck we’re doing. ‘M February twelfth.” Sam flipped through his textbook, trying to discipline his reluctant brain for actual work. “If you work out anything about dark secrets, though, I don’t wanna know.”
16
Sam Bauer, Crotalus
Looks like that was a good prediction.
163
Sam Bauer, Crotalus
0
5
Rachel Bauer
June 20, 2011 8:54 PM
What's in the stars today? by Rachel Bauer
Rachel had started taking Divination for three reasons.The first was that her mother’s family was allegedly cursed. Momma had done all right for herself, but her parents’ marriage had broken up when she was sixteen, she had lost all track of her mother and baby brother for almost as many years again, she’d had to fight her way to the top after a rash decision to marry Rachel’s father and have three kids with him, she’d found her mother just in time for Gramma Claire to die after escaping from a cult, and her half-sisters weren’t even a subject for polite discussion at least partially as a result of her tracking down her father and brother. Her brother wasn’t much better off, either. He was the one who’d called it a curse in front of Rachel, telling her that she was inevitably doomed to unhappiness, failed relationships, and becoming – to paraphrase; his exact language had been rougher – a really unpleasant individual. He’d said it like it was a joke, but Rachel doubted that was how he’d meant it, and, as unlikely as she thought it was that she’d get one from this class, the chance of having some forewarning seemed like a good thing.
The second and third were simpler, though related: it gave her a frilly subject to discuss around people she needed to believe she was a pureblood lady, and Veronica, her main tie to the world of pureblood ladies, was in it, which had the additional benefit of meaning she had someone friendly around for the party. Those were really the reasons. The first was almost a joke to her, too. She didn’t like the thought that she was doomed from birth.
For that reason, the contents of the lecture didn’t really appeal to her that much. It sounded a lot like Miss Diaz was saying that yes, she really was fated somehow. It might be somehow good instead of Uncle Geoff’s “Layne curse”, but it was still kinda set-in-stone sounding. That didn’t appeal at all, especially given all the evidence in favor of the Layne curse that Uncle Geoff had been able to present without preparation and, seemingly, off the top of his head.
The homework assignment sounded easier than the class assignment, which was a little weird to her, but she would go with it. She turned to someone with a bright smile. “Do you have someone to work with yet?” she asked.
16
Rachel Bauer
What's in the stars today?
154
Rachel Bauer
0
5
Samantha Hamilton
June 22, 2011 8:51 AM
I'm hoping for good news by Samantha Hamilton
She still wasn't entirely sure about divinations as a subject, but Samantha had originally began studying it out of curiosity (and because, as an Aladren, she had extra allowance for taking all the classes on offer; it was practically expected of her). Some of the techniques she found more plausible than others, and she quite liked giving all the methods a go to see what her own attempts at fortune telling produced. Mostly she thought it was probably a waste of her time, but it was still more profitable than the hours she'd spent over the summer watching her brother play Xbox, so she decided to keep taking the classes and enjoy them where she could. Besides, now Miss Diaz was taking the classes, and Samantha liked her.Today there was some proper note-taking involved, which Samantha valued in its contribution to fulfilling her academic quota for the class. So long as she felt like she was doing real schoolwork she could overlook the fact that it was about horoscopes. Her mom read her horoscope in the glossy magazines that littered their coffee table, and they were right about five percent of the time. From what Miss Diaz had said, the Muggle way of reading the stars probably wasn't any different at all form the way that witches and wizards did it. That meant that either the magazines hired an incompetent charlatan, or this was the sketchiest form of magic that had ever existed.
"Do you have someone to work with yet?" a voice drew Samantha from her thoughts. She looked up and smiled at Rachel Bauer, at once relieved that she was wearing her heeled balck boots with a tartan skirt today, so Rachel could see she was using the charms she'd been taught, and also worried that she hadn't done anything with her hair after she'd brushed it that morning.
"No, nobody to work with yet," she replied. "Was just thinking that I'm not sure I've ever read at accurate horoscope. Maybe today I'll have better luck."
0
Samantha Hamilton
I'm hoping for good news
159
Samantha Hamilton
0
5
Rachel
June 22, 2011 3:33 PM
Aren't we all. by Rachel
Rachel let her eyes flick discreetly from Samantha’s face to her outfit for a moment and so observed that the dressing up hadn’t just been a first day thing. The shoe-cushioning charm Rachel had taught her last year was almost certainly in effect, too.She didn’t know what to think about that, really. On one hand, it was definitely in Samantha’s own best interests, as well as Rachel’s if they were going to be seen associating with each other, that she learn how to dress and still not be in hideous discomfort now. In the real world, women especially had to dress sharp if they wanted to get anywhere in virtually every arena Rachel could think of. T-shirts, jeans, and sneakers didn’t really cut it here; outside, they wouldn’t do at all, and there really wasn’t anything to do about that. On the other, though…for some reason, it made her feel almost sad, for the other girl and for herself, too.
It didn’t take long to compartmentalize that, though, and shove it out of the way. It didn’t make sense, and it wasn’t helpful, so she had no use for it.
“Maybe,” she replied. “My family doesn’t think too much of this stuff, really.” She laughed. “I don’t think Granddad would allow it.” Her maternal grandfather hadn’t been part of her life until she was eleven, but the more she saw of him, the more clear it became exactly where Momma got, er, just about everything from. Her opinion that their fates were what they made them was his opinion, as was her opinion that if they had a destiny, it was to climb to the top.
“Personally, I've never thought that much about it. My birthday’s June 12, anyway, though,” she added. “Maybe if it’s bad, I’ll actually be in for a good month.”
16
Rachel
Aren't we all.
154
Rachel
0
5
Renée
June 23, 2011 2:31 PM
Now I'm going to predict... Crotalus wins Quidditch Cup! by Renée
She giggled a little, grabbing another textbook and pulling that toward her. "I never thought you for one with dark secrets." She hadn't really thought much on Sam at all outside the pitch. He passed, and he shot, and he flew and he seemed overall calm. He seemed nice, he smiled, he frowned and that was pretty much all there was to him in her wandering mind. Renée found a chapter on February. "Your flowers are the Violet... and the English Primrose. Ooh, and your birthstone is the amethyst." She stumbled a little on the word, having never sounded it out before. "You must be pious, humble," She smiled. "spiritually wise, and sincere." She picked up the book and turned it around so he could see the stone. "This isn't really what we're supposed to be doing, is it?" She laughed and set the book back down on the table and continued flipping. "I just thought it was interesting."Trying to actually work now, her eyes ran over several different symbols, looking at when certain stars and constellations showed up in February, particularly February twelfth. "Ah, okay. Virgo shows up..." She read the description, a faint rush of heat beneath the darkly tanned skin and she bit her lip to keep from bursting into laughter. She calmed down within desperate seconds and continued reading. Some of the myths surrounding Virgo were vague but she was able to grasp the idea. "And your star is Spica. Okay," She shut the book and brushed stray hair off her forehead and out of her eyes grabbing another book. "I have little to no idea what I'm doing."
She settled her elbow beside her, angling her body so that she could easily look up occasionally to see how Sam was doing, and looked down now at the text. "If you find any dark secrets of mine please let me know." She grinned and continued trying to try to read. Stars, constellations, symbols, countries, myths, what was she looking for? She had expected a crystal ball and some magical potions to aid her in figuring out how to predict each others futures. She should have known that with a librarian teaching the class, they would be delving into books. It almost made the class less... magical, but Renée wasn't all too upset about it. A few myths surrounding February were actually rather amusing. She continued trying to figure out if they were going to help her predict things about Sam.
0
Renée
Now I'm going to predict... Crotalus wins Quidditch Cup!
0
Renée
0
5
Kirstenna Melcher,Teppenpaw
June 24, 2011 9:11 PM
The quotes around your name make me suspicious by Kirstenna Melcher,Teppenpaw
Divination had to be the best thing ever! Well, okay, maybe not the best, as when Kirstenna had told Quentin that, he had pointed out to her that she'd made similar statements about other things, such as the circus and Glee and that they couldn't all be the best thing ever, but it was definitely one of the best things ever. Probably the best class ever, though Kirstenna was also quite fond of the ones where she got to use her wand.Besides, if Kirstenna took Divination, perhaps she could predict the Impostor's movements. What her nemesis would do next. And if she could predict it, she could stop it! Or at least take precautions. Kirstenna just knew it would be something foul, though she didn't know what could be fouler than boiling Tobar.
What if the Impostor got a hold of time-turner somehow? What if she went back in time and made sure Kirstenna was never born ? The possibilities of what that evil being could do were only as great as one's imagination and Kirstenna had a pretty wild imagination so those were some pretty scary possibilities and the Teppenpaw wanted to thwart her if possible.
Unfortunately, the fourth year had yet to predict anything Impostor-related. At least anything that had come true thus far. Perhaps, because what Kirstenna had predicted, she had been on guard for, forcing the Impostor to change his or her mind and come up with an alternate plan.
Of course, that lead to the terrifying thought that the Impostor was reading Kirstenna's mind and Kirstenna didn't know how to use leglimency to prevent this woman from doing so. And obviously Headmaster Regal was unaware of the evil beings on his staff. Or he was working with her. The Impostor's elevation to Deputy Head could be an indicator of them either being in cahoots or the Impostor using some sort of dark magic on the Headmaster. Also, that the previous Deputy had gone the way of Tobar and the real Jannette Wolfe.
It was surprising that none of the firsties were dead from poisoned Sorting potion.
Kirstenna focused now on the words Professor Diaz was speaking. The fourth year was convinced that the woman was a true Seer. Her appearance was very much that of one whom had the Sight, though Kirstenna really thought she ought to camoflauge it better, so she would be more inconspicuous to bad people like the Impostor and the Beetle Lady. Hopefully she was using her Sight to protect them and that something would alert her to the presence of the dangers posed to the students of Sonora.
Once the assignment was given, Kirstenna turned to the person next to her and asked "Will you work with me?"
11
Kirstenna Melcher,Teppenpaw
The quotes around your name make me suspicious
161
Kirstenna Melcher,Teppenpaw
0
5
Samantha
June 28, 2011 7:56 AM
Apparently so by Samantha
"June twelfth," Samantha repeated, making a note of it before pulling her textbook towards her. "I've read mine from time to time," Samantha commented on horoscopes - she was avoiding the part where Rachel's Graddad wouldn't approve because it was still baffling to her how close some of the families at Sonora were, and how much stock they took in the opinions of their grandparents - "but only in Muggle magazines." She looked down the chart in her book to ascertain that this birthdate made Rachel a Gemini. "I think it was only right one time when I was a bridesmaid and it said I would be receiving compliments all day," she explained with a smile. It just went to show how infrequently the reading was right, considering she remembered the one time clearly."My birthday is October fifteenth," she told Rachel, so her partner could start looking, too. It seemed to be a fairly complicated process, but Samantha thought that as long as she could make it into a logical process she'd be able to accompish it. therefore she decided the most logical place to start would be to see where everything was positioned at Rachel's birth, then she could establish moment and relative positions of the sun and moon to her house, and finally write down what all this meant. She began at the beginning, pulling out a star chart from the back of the textbook. "I was wondering when this would come in handy," she said aloud.
"Ah," she spoke after a couple of minutes of peering at the star charts and making scribbled notes underneath where she'd written Rachel's birthday. Venus is on the cusp of joining Mars in your sign," she said to Rachel. She looked up with a dubious smile, and said, "If that means you're on the cusp of finding Mr Right then I'm giving this up as total nonsense." She had been referencing the Men are from Mars concept, but then she re-heard herself and realized her comment might have been misconstrued as doubting Rachel would ever find Mr Right. "Um, it mean it'd be too obvious, not that it wouldn't happen," she clarified with a laugh that could have been less nervous-sounding. She'd only recently begun to make friends with Rachel, and she didn't want it to go up in flames already.
"You having any luck?" she asked, her attempts to take the focus off herself perhaps more obvious than she would have liked.
0
Samantha
Apparently so
0
Samantha
0
5
Rachel
June 28, 2011 3:30 PM
If all else fails, make something up? by Rachel
Rachel nodded. Muggle magazines weren’t something she’d seen too much of even when her parents were still together, since even Dad was mostly a wizard, but she was familiar with the concept Samantha was talking about. “I’ve seen them in the paper,” she said. “But it’s always about coworkers, or romantic interests, or other stuff, you know, I haven’t got.” She frowned a little. “Though I guess I could equate coworkers with classmates,” she acknowledged. “But it’s still usually pretty inaccurate.”She nodded again when Samantha told her what her birthday was. “October fifteenth…Libra,” she said aloud, though more to herself than to the other girl, as she wrote that down, more so she would remember to greet Samantha appropriately and maybe produce a card in October. Remembering for a lesson was easy enough, but for a month wasn’t, and people liked people who made them feel special better. “Gotcha.”
Samantha finished first, which wasn’t surprising. Numbers had never been Rachel’s strong suit, and the star charts and calculations were a little off-putting. “I figured out that you’re controlled by Venus and Mercury,” she said, privately thinking that Samantha’s projection for her sounded more like she was going to figure out who Mr. Right was while they were sparring in Defense class and then have a contentious relationship. God of war fit in okay with the family, but she really hoped it didn’t mean she was gonna marry Edmond Carey or something. Nice enough guy, but a little too unattractive and classic brainy for her taste, not to mention, after last year, potentially a little on the crazycake side. She’d stick with Sawyer for now, if it was all the same to Fate. And she figured out what was actually up with that, including such minor details as whether or not she actually liked him. “But I think Neptune is trying to get in the game, like, right now instead of in general. How did you get your Venus-Mars thing?”
16
Rachel
If all else fails, make something up?
154
Rachel
0
5
Sam
June 28, 2011 4:19 PM
Now you're just tempting Fate. by Sam
Sam surveyed Renée as she began listing off things about February, keeping, with a little effort, his face completely straight. “What,” he said, “I never told you that I, pious and humble and spiritually wise and sincere, am all about the primroses and my bed at home is carved out of a giant amethyst?” And was really good at disguising it, since he didn’t like purple, the bed appeared to be fake wood and have been bought in a flat box with a ‘Some Assembly Required’ label on it in a Muggle store ten years ago, and the only plant life around his home were two potted plants his mom kept on the kitchen windowsill. One was an aloe plant; the other, to his annoyance since it made things less funny, was actually an African violet, though he very much doubted that had anything to do with his birthday. “I thought everyone knew that.”He cracked a smile when she admitted that this wasn’t what they were supposed to be doing. “I don’t think it is, nah,” he agreed with her. “We’re supposed to be starting out nice and simple with horoscopes.” At least, he thought he remembered the teacher saying that a few minutes ago, though looking at the section in the book made him think either he was remembering wrong or she might have been about as sincere as he’d been while discussing his love of primroses, and he didn’t even know what a primrose looked like.
She announced she didn’t know what they were doing pretty quickly, but he couldn’t really fault her for that. What did Aries have to do with anything? He thought that was another sign, not something that affected Leo…Besides, he could tell Renée’s future without any help at all from the stars. It was, based on past observations and an ear for what was going around the school, a given that she was going to annoy at least one person a week, and weren’t interpersonal reactions what these things usually talked about anyway? “Yeah, I’m lost,” he said finally. “You did hear the title of this class was Intermediate Divs, right? We didn’t walk into the Advanced class by mistake or something?”
16
Sam
Now you're just tempting Fate.
163
Sam
0
5
Kate Bauer, Teppenpaw
June 28, 2011 4:51 PM
This assignment makes me baffled. by Kate Bauer, Teppenpaw
Kate hadn’t really wanted to take any electives, since she wasn’t that great a student, but her mother had insisted. No one would think well of someone who just did the bare minimum, and members of their family didn’t do the bare minimum anyway. They did one better always, all the time, without fail. Rachel was taking both of Sonora’s official electives.With that in front of her, Kate had picked Divination because Astronomy was full of Aladrens and, presumably, taught on an even harder level than it had to be because of that, to cater to their needs and interests and whatever else it was that was catered to in elite groups, be they official or not. Divination took in all kinds, from the ones who were just messing around to the Divination oddballs who really got into it and wore scarves too much to actual Seers to…people whose mothers were making them take an elective, but who were intimidated by the sheer number of Aladrens in Astronomy and didn’t have the drive for an independent study. It felt friendlier, somehow, even if the librarian was teaching it. Normally, such a person was firmly aligned with the Forces of Alderaan, but this one was kind of cool, or at least cool-looking and not too uncool-seeming when Kate happened to pass within visual distance of her.
Appearances, though, could be deceiving, and Kate wondered if Professor Fawcett had taught Professor Diaz and been a surrogate-father-mentory-person to her when she was a kid, because the introductory portion of the lesson reminded her of his classes. Lots of information, lots of books, and even the homework assignment put her in mind of him. In ten years, Diaz was going to be wearing ties and giving people severe looks over glasses and occasionally making attempts at humor that went over the target audience’s head, she just knew it. She took down as much of the notes as she could and gave the rest up as a bad job.
Examination of the section on their assignment for the class didn’t seem too likely to be much of a better one. She looked up, already feeling mournful, when Kirstenna asked if she wanted to work together. Now she got to look stupid in front of her Quidditch captain, right after she became the Assistant Captain. Great. “I should probably be the one asking,” she said. “I have no clue what any of this means.” She tapped the open pages of her book for emphasis. “So I might not be a good person to work with for your grade in here.”
16
Kate Bauer, Teppenpaw
This assignment makes me baffled.
170
Kate Bauer, Teppenpaw
0
5
Renée
June 29, 2011 3:46 PM
If I bribe it with chocolate, do you think it'll let us win? by Renée
For a moment, the words Sam uttered settled in her mind and she actually believed them. She laughed at the imagery, delighting in this new interesting side to Sam. But reality reared its boring head and she settled down a little, continuing on with figuring out the lesson. Still, the idea of Sam sleeping in a giant amethyst was an appealing one. She'd have to suggest it to her mother, ask very nicely and reasonably if she could sleep in her birthstone (Marianna would no doubt reflect on how odd it was that that wasn't the oddest request Renée had ever made). "I'm very much out of the loop." She grinned. "I would have especially never guessed the wise part."She followed his lead in looking at horoscopes, but she was finding it difficult to make sense of it all. 'Okay, I think I can safely predict Sam will be alive tomorrow, and the next day... yep, and the next...' What he'd be doing she really had no idea. 'Breathing probably, going to class,' She avoided thinking about Quidditch. 'Eating, sleeping - pfft, this predicting stuff is not so hard.' She looked up, having almost convinced herself, and smiled at Sam agreeing to owe up to herself as well. "Either this is advanced, or we're just very very behind. A great way to start off the semester." She looked over at Professor Diaz and then back at her pile of textbooks. "Ummm, okay... I'm not sure if I'm reading right. Well, I'm definitely not, but here goes."
She was looking at pages of symbols, dates, and star situations. "Virgo is really not around this month, like, it's not bright. Ah... but Mars is a visible, though faded. And this constellation here is big, and it comes out this 23rd so... something about family," She flipped the page. Water showed up, that meant fluidity and change. "Yep, there's a great change happening in your family." One of the stars that showed up signified a birth, but not specifically a baby birth. "Alright, your mom is either pregnant, or something new is going to happen to your family. And... Venus might be seen soon, so it's probably good new." She looked up, face a little heated but she smiled through it. "How convincing was I? Because I swear I almost knew what I was doing."
0
Renée
If I bribe it with chocolate, do you think it'll let us win?
0
Renée
0
5
Sam
June 29, 2011 5:08 PM
I'd rather not risk offending the random goddess. by Sam
“Your stage face needs work,” Sam said automatically when Renée asked him about her level of convincingness. “Too uncertain. You’ve got to spook it up and be vague if you don’t know, you know?”Normally, he might not have been so blunt, but he was actually now a little creeped out. His family was about the way it always was, with his mom worrying about money and bugging him about his grades and Uncle Isaac running for the Worst Father of the Year Award for like the twentieth time and his cousins, except maybe Kate, not so much being from Dysfunction Junction as having built an impenetrable underground bunker there and locked themselves inside with machine guns pointed at the doors in case anything did try to get in there after them, but…stretch the definition a little, and it went with the summer pretty darn well. Especially since he knew there was no way, ever, on any plane of reality, that his mom was pregnant.
The sticking point was the something good part. He guessed that was just Renée screwing it up the way they were all, being kids without a clue, going to screw it up today. Thom was an okay guy, and Amy – well, okay, Amy was weird, but it wasn’t her fault, and she’d been really nice once they got those initial incidents cleared up, but he couldn’t see how finding out they were all related to each other was good for any of them, really. It was definitely way too late in their lives to start being all brother-and-sistery, so there wasn’t even the element of having someone to count on down the road, was there? They could get on okay, maybe exchange cards on birthdays or whatever, but there were no similarities there for them to become kin now.
“So, yeah,” he said, looking back at his stuff for a minute. “I’m not even gonna try, sorry. I mean – try to be convincing. You can do what you want to with it…if I get anything in the first place.” He rubbed his left eye for a second.
“Mars is with you,” he said, trying a little to play it up without meaning to. “So you’ve got conflict with someone, maybe more than one. This…Is this thing right side up?...I think you’re going to have to make a decision, a big one, soon, too, and the impact on you is going to be – dangit, I sound like Mom’s magazines. She reads these things aloud at the breakfast table. You get the idea, though.” He realized his knee was bouncing up and down and made it stop. Fidgeting wasn’t good. Helped him think, but others thought it meant he wasn’t paying attention. “I’m sure your insert-list-of-positive-traits-here nature will help you flourish in the face of adversity, though,” he added. “They almost always put that in at the end of ‘em.”
16
Sam
I'd rather not risk offending the random goddess.
163
Sam
0
5
Samantha
June 30, 2011 8:15 AM
Sounds good to me by Samantha
Rachel's experiences of horoscopes matched Samantha's own, which wasn't doing a great deal to warm her to the class. At least they would be able to avoid all the co-worker references when they offered predictions to each other, which was only a dim silver lining, but it was there nonetheless."How did you get your Venus-Mars thing?" Rachel asked. Samantha was torn between pride at being asked something about classwork by an older student, and concern that she'd gotten it wrong and rachel was about to correct her. She pulled her star-charts towards them both so she could go over it again, for her own benefit as much as Rachel's.
"Well I looked up where things are on your birthday, and then where they are now, in relation to your sign, which is Gemini," she pointed out the constellation. "So Mars is already over here," she pointed out the labelled planet, "and Venus is coming in here. I'm not really sure whether the relative position of the sun and moon make any difference if they're not in your House, though..." she trailed off as she read a bit more, then remembered she was supposed to be predicting Rachel's horoscope and looked back up with a smile. "Sound about right?"
"So what gives me, hang on," she found the part in her textbook that helped translate the movements, "is this. Mars' presence means you should start thinking about things differently, checking out alternatives or looking at things from another point of view. So, um, if something's not working out for you, try going about it a different way?" Samantha suggested, horrified that she was sounding no less vague than the glossy-magazine versions she'd recently been slandering. "Um, Mars in Gemini means you should be focussing on Eris-themes, which," she flipped the page to find out, "are to do with status or success." She paused to wonder whether or not that meant Rachel should be looking at success issue from a different perspective - if the two meanings of Mars interlinked - but then she remembered the announcements in the Opening Feast. "Maybe that was to let you know you've been made Prefect or something, and we're a few days out with the prediction," she suggested, prefering to believe the dubious methods were flawed rather than perfect.
"Venus moving in means you're... desireable," she wrinkled her nose at the word, "but actually it doesn't specifiy that's in a romantic way," she added, relieved by this revelation. It was probably one of the most-circulated snippets of gossip that Nic Sawyer was Rachel's stalker, and the Mr Right comments had been too close for comfort as it was; if Samantha had to think about Nic sawyer finding Rachel desireable she might have to claw her own brain out. "While Venus is around you should apparently be more sociable... though I'm not sure if that's a suggestion or a prediction," she peered more closely at the textbook and decided she didn't care enough. "Either way, be chatty," she suggested - if nothing else this would make her preciction correct by proxy.
0
Samantha
Sounds good to me
0
Samantha
0
5
Renée
July 01, 2011 3:21 PM
... by offering chocolate? by Renée
She crinkled her nose. "Like muggles do?" She paused and revised that, because anybody who pretended to have the gift adopted those "vague and spooky" tones whether or not they were muggle. "Ah, I think I'll just stick to being unconvincing then." She shook her head and smiled a little, continuing to flip through the pages. Obviously she'd completely got Sam's all wrong. Though invariably lazy with classes she didn't much care for (Care of Magical Creatures was of course amazing and she labored enthusiastically for that class) she got by with excellent grades so far do to natural talent (she'd like to attribute all her success to that) and the fact that David rambled constantly and long enough that his lectures on different magics involuntarily sunk in.She shifted a little as he began talking, lifting her head from her book to wait interestedly for his attempt at predicting her future. A soft giggle escaped her lips at the first prediction. "Sam, that's so obviously you just listening to gossip." She'd been rather blissfully unaware of Eliza Bennett's assembling of an army against her in the beginning of last year but had become rather informed since then. It was a constant source of flattery and amusement and apparently common knowledge in her year. The fact that Mars was with her was not at all shocking, though she liked the phrasing and decided to assume that would mean she'd win. Sam continued on, and she blinked a little. "Yeah, I get the idea." Big decisions... yeah right. That implied she'd have a choice. She didn't. The decision was already made.
"Ah, I think we both need work on this." She turned away from him, annoyed to have to think about Quidditch again. Couldn't her brain just once listen to her? She flipped through the textbook a little more. More symbols, more stars, more constellations. She looked toward her bag and reached down, feeling her hand close on a plum. The coolness was still there and it would stay fresh for after class. Too messy to eat now. Her hand wandered and she pulled out a ink bottle instead. She began scratching a few notes on parchment on the subject, a few questions she had and would look up later. "So, was anything I said close to the truth?" She asked him, gazing over the text. "Any happy news coming up?"
0
Renée
... by offering chocolate?
0
Renée
0
5
Kirstenna
July 02, 2011 7:18 PM
Usually I'm the one who causes that effect. by Kirstenna
Kirstenna frowned. Not because she didn't want to work with Kate, after all, Kirstenna was the one who'd asked, but because Kate seemed rather down on herself. The fourth year didn't look down on people with low self-esteem but she didn't like to see someone unhappy. Well, maybe the Impostor.Of course, if the Impostor was unhappy, that might be a very bad thing because Merlin only knew what she (or he) would do then. But the point was Kirstenna didn't want Kate to be unhappy. She thought the younger girl was a kind friendly person which in Kirstenna's opinion was a very important thing to be. The third year was a pretty good Seeker. It wasn't her fault the Aladrens were Imperiused and that Marissa Stephenson had more experience.
"It's all right." Kirstenna assured Kate. "Academics aren't my strongest thing either." The fourth year was pretty decent at spellwork, but things like Potions bored her to tears. Kirstenna was not a logical person. Well, she thought she was, but others, like Quentin, did not get her logic. Which was fair enough, as her older cousin often was painfully logical which tended to confuse her often.
"Besides, there are more important things in life then how well you do in school, especially Divination." The older Teppenpaw went on. "Like being a good person. Plus, even my academically obesessed grandparents think Divination is a bunch of balony." They had given up on their granddaughter a long time ago, largely because she was a halfblood, and she had given up on them too. It was what Kirstenna had put behind her at last year's bonfire.
Kirstenna glanced at her assistant captain. "All you can really do is try your best." She hoped that would make Kate feel better. "Anyway, my birthday is February second. I'm an Aquarius."
11
Kirstenna
Usually I'm the one who causes that effect.
161
Kirstenna
0
5
Jane
July 02, 2011 11:26 PM
I'd like that very much by Jane
Alessa Hinckley – a year above her, Aladren, she believed she’d heard that the other girl was engaged – was willing to work with her. Jane smiled pleasantly at her. “Very well,” she said. “Mine is May 12.”For her first two years, that had been an inconvenience, since she’d had classes on her birthday and not been at home with her parents. Last year, it had seemed like a higher power looking after her. She didn’t know if she could handle being at home, without Mother, on her birthday even now, but was sure, as sure as she was that night followed day, that something unpleasant would have happened if she had attempted it then. Knowing that Edmond’s birthday fell the day after Christmas and the anniversary of Mother’s death five days later was enough to make her want to stay at school for midterm, though she knew she couldn’t do that. She truly thought Edmond would understand, but people would talk.
Besides, she had to move on. There wasn’t really any alternative. Mother wasn’t coming back, and the family was…troubled, right now, everyone was still on edge after Gwenhwyfar had come back with Merlin alone knew what agenda if it wasn’t just causing as much trouble as she possibly could, and then there had been a Reunion, and Edmond being stuck in the middle of all this meant she was at least on a side. She was no one very important in whatever it was, but she was afraid it might take attention and effort to remain unimportant, and becoming important in her family was not something she wished to do.
Alessa, it seemed, was a Virgo. She didn’t know the other girl that well, but she did not strike Jane as a particularly fragile orchid. Flipping back to what the book had to say about her, Jane also did not think she was quite that good of a strategist.
Though truthfully, she’d never had to plan before. Her life had always been laid out before her, neat as a well-sewn seam on a dress. A time to get up, breakfast, morning lessons, lunch, afternoon lessons and exercise, supper, a bath, family time, sleep. At school, it was get up, breakfast, morning lessons, lunch, afternoon lessons, free time, bath, sleep, with the original pattern recurring during the summers and to a lesser extent midterm holidays. There was no need to plan for tomorrow, because it was essentially identical to today. The disruption of that way of living had made her think it was logical and proper to attack a superior enemy with a candelabra. So perhaps this wasn’t completely strange.
“Well,” she said after some examination, “your ruling planet is Mercury, which is….” She frowned at her page. “I think I’m going to have to recalculate this angle here, I’m sorry.”
0
Jane
I'd like that very much
0
Jane
0
5
Sam
July 06, 2011 12:08 PM
Yeah, she might not like being bribed.... by Sam
Sam gave Renée a sharp look when she made a face at the idea of being similar to Muggles, wondering if he should read something into that – she was a Crotalus Girl, and even though her fellows rejected her pretty much as a unit, it still meant there was a very good chance that she was at least of the opinion that folks with Muggle blood (like, for instance, just an example he’d come up with from thin air, someone whose only established parent had two Muggleborn parents) were categorically inferior to herself – but he decided not to argue it. For one thing, he wasn’t the sort to start something in class, and for another, if he did, Rachel would kill him. Admitting he was barely even a half-blood would be to cast doubt on her not-that-great-anyway lies, and considering how she’d reacted when Katy had just started playing Quidditch….“Your call,” he said instead. “You’re the one who asked if you sounded convincing.”
He managed a convincing innocent expression when she accused him of basing the whole thing on gossip. “Good,” he said when she indicated she got it. “But I’m offended by your first suggestion.” His tone was light, not really offended. “Dude, where am I going to hear gossip?” he asked. “Who do I know?” This was a valid point, he thought, for someone who roomed with Nic Sawyer. Maybe Nic was secretly the social chronicler of the year, but if he was, he kept it ‘secretly’ with James Bond-level skill. Nic didn’t talk about much at all. He and Sam got on great possibly partially because of that, especially since Sam had trained himself not to ramble on about whatever was in his head too much in deference to his roommate’s dislike of communication.
Of course, with some of the gossip that was going around this year (what, he was just sitting in classrooms minding his own business, how could he help it that he heard what other people were talking about before the professor told them all to shut up and concentrate) he didn’t mind having to do that at all, because communication between them when Nic was supposedly stalking, dating, or stalking and dating Sam’s cousin. There were things that the man known as Samuel Bauer was not meant to know, and stuff about Rachel’s love life was on that list. He didn’t really care what Rachel did or with whom, but he would rather not hear the details, and it was something he thought he should have cared about and would have to pretend he cared about if it came up, so it was better for everybody that it just not be discussed.
“Doubt it,” he said just as casually when she asked if she’d been right. “My family’s the same as always. Full of crazy people.” He felt something like guilt when he said that and realized, to his horror, it was because of Amy. Besides, relatives turning up every so often wasn’t really happy, it was just something that happened sometimes. After what he’d heard from Kate about her mother’s family, and the sort of gossip that went around about the pureblood families, he thought this must really be a normal part of life. It was a little weird to realize that he was more likely to be categorized as the relative people hadn’t known about, since there were two of them and one of him and he was the one whose mother hadn’t been married to anybody, but he didn’t think about that too much. “What about you? Going to take up arms against any enemies?” He caught himself just before he would have said Bennett and given himself away.
16
Sam
Yeah, she might not like being bribed....
163
Sam
0
5
Renée
July 06, 2011 1:25 PM
I'm comfortable with risk. by Renée
Like many other - most other - practically all - interactions between her and another Sonora student, there was that constant feeling of being analyzed. Words twisting to just barely fit into decency when the other person clearly had something else to say. Still somewhat amused by it, Renée could nevertheless no longer believe herself to fully enjoy it. People never said just what was on their minds, and she could no longer bring herself to fully be herself out of fear. Not out of what other kids would do, but of her family. She couldn't even recall what life had felt like before Oro and Soledad had settled into her life. Obviously there had been a feeling of flight (she'd given that up) and it had been before she'd been a woman, gold hoops both comforting and mocking as they brushed her cheeks.In any case, Sam's conversation had started to run the way of most other interactions. Arthur Carey had at least expressed his dislike and confusion, and James Owen had never held back. Those times were more gratifying than the games other students played. 'Can't really expect honesty, when I'm not truthful myself.' She ignored Sam's sharp look, trying to focus her mind on the words he said and not the non verbal communication she always so dearly wanted to engage in, forcibly drag all those indicative gazes she received into the light. She raised a brow when he seemed to be saying he had no friends. A curious smile fell on her lips, but she let it slip away without comment. Most people at school seemed to only have only one really close friend (she thought happily of Sophia) but Sam struck her as someone who would actually have a few more. She wasn't in the habit of really noticing him outside the pitch, so she never had the chance to be disproven. "Sorry," she laughed lightly. "You're right. You must have the Gift."
Scratching notes on the text, she was continuously being informed that she really knew nothing at all about Sam. And though she really didn't like the non verbals, there was no stopping them, and her interest couldn't help being peaked by him. Something to grab onto in the class. "And you?" Her eyes brightened in curiosity. "Are you crazy as well?" She wasn't quite sure what "crazy" meant. She just liked the sound of the word, how it curved over her tongue. That slight hiss of the "z." She lips spread into a wide smile she actually tried holding back, but a laugh spread them apart even further. "No." She shook her head and turned back to notes, tucking curls behind her ear. "The enemies that I like address me in the open. I don't go seeking for people in the dark." Scratch, Scratch, Scratch. She continued writing, nearly delighted with her own words because they were true. But then she remembered that even if she held up those ideals, it was Soledad who would have prevented her from ever seeking out a fight. Renée couldn't claim anything anymore. Her brow furrowed and she tried to pass off the frustrated feelings as stemming from trying to figure out the text.
"You know, I may just surprise everyone here." She wet her lips, glancing up at Sam and then down again. "Just go to class, do my work, keep quiet." The words were so stale. She wanted to sink her teeth into one of the plums. She needed flavor, color. "That is what everybody here likes, right?" She struggled to keep a casual tone, levity in her voice. She didn't want to have the challenge in her tone. She did not want to care what anybody thought. She looked up again at Sam, and then again back down at her text, silently admitted to herself that she wasn't truly concentrating, and then looked up, leaning back a little in her chair. "I'm sorry, nevermind." She bit her tongue and focused on the wall. The dullness and aches that she felt these days were no one's fault but her own. She was a woman, she was responsible for herself.
0
Renée
I'm comfortable with risk.
0
Renée
0
5
Kate
July 07, 2011 10:18 AM
Maybe you'll cause it later. by Kate
Kirstenna’s speech reminded her a little of Rachel on a good day, but Kate thought it would be better not to say that. For one thing, she wasn’t sure it would be taken as a good thing, since Rach did such a good Crotalus Girl impression on the surface. For another, she wasn’t even entirely sure it was a good thing. In her experience, people talked about how important it was to be a good person when they couldn’t see anything else to compliment someone about, though she acknowledged that could be more to do with being Emily Layne’s daughter than with any actual phenomenon. Momma had her own notions of success.“Yeah, Momma doesn’t think too much of it, either,” she commented to Kirstenna’s grandparents thinking the whole subject was lunch meat. “She just wanted me in an elective. Probably just to show up her half-sister.” She hadn’t thought of that before she said it, but it made sense. They hadn’t seen Aunt Helena in years, not since the midterm of Rachel’s first year, but Kate remembered that she’d been quite proud of finishing school despite all their ‘family problems’ with good grades and a decent number of classes where Momma, in a similar situation nineteen years earlier, hadn’t. She’d just used the word, but was sure that the dramatic age difference was not the main reason why she thought no one seeing her mother and her aunt together would ever guess they were sisters.
She glanced in Rachel’s direction. Surely, no matter how tense things got because of Rachel and Alicia’s delusions, she and her sisters wouldn’t end up like that ever. They were all about the same age, and had grown up together, and shared two parents instead of just one. It couldn’t come to that for the three of them.
“Aquarius. Right. I’m November 15 – Sagittarius, I think.” Or was it Scorpio? Yeah, it definitely would have helped to have at least read the beginning of the textbook or something before she jumped in.
16
Kate
Maybe you'll cause it later.
170
Kate
0
5
Sam
July 07, 2011 3:30 PM
Then by all means.... by Sam
“I just read the map,” Sam said with a shrug when she joked that he must have the Sight – or he hoped she joked, anyway. He was doing well to see a few feet in front of him, never mind into the future.That was the thing about this class, though. He was never completely consistent, and realized he wasn’t consistent, about what he expected out of it. A lot of the stuff that could come out of a viewing or a reading or an other-thing-of-the-day-ing could be vague, open to interpretation. Some stuff would only make sense after the fact, or interpreting it one way and acting on that could make it (usually, he’d noted, a bad ‘it’) happen, and some stuff, he was willing to bet, was just going to remain permanently vague. Maybe it happened, maybe it didn’t.
He thought he believed in the general idea, though – that some of it was for real. Not all of it, some of it was always going to be people just making stuff up for fun, or to con somebody, but some of it worked. He just hadn’t completely made up his mind yet on whether or not it would ever work for him, at least enough to be useful in any practical way.
“Me? Crazy as a loon,” Sam said amiably when asked if he shared the family trait. Really, he thought he was generally pretty sane, but in-depth discussions of his feelings and thoughts on the matter weren’t really something he was going to have with Renée. Their relationship was that of people who passed the Quaffle to each other. Besides, if he wasn’t completely sane, nor was he as far out as some of the people he was sorta connected to. Kate said her maternal grandfather and his wife both seemed to seriously think their family was cursed. Sam reckoned that was just silly. Why would anyone bother cursing nobodies like Aunt Emily’s dad? They had a little bit of rank on the Bauers, sure, but really….
He decided, in the interests of keeping the tone of this conversation light, not to point out that ignoring the enemies in the shadows was just asking the enemies to pick the time and place where the fight would happen, or even begging them to just stick a knife in one’s back at their convenience. For one thing, that was way too melodramatic to ever say out loud, the product of dealing with too many jerks in primary school and listening to too many dramas and reading too many comic books. Real life was usually nice, safe, and boring, which was about how he liked it….
…And how she seemed not to like it, really. “It’s about how I like it,” he said, sitting back in his chair as she started staring off at the wall. “Uh – you okay?”
16
Sam
Then by all means....
163
Sam
0
5
David Wilkes, Aladren
July 07, 2011 3:43 PM
Let's hope there's not too much horror in the horoscopes.... by David Wilkes, Aladren
He wasn’t exactly sure how, but at some point along the way in the past two years, David had picked up that there really were actual psychics in the Wizarding World, people who could read one’s mind and see the future, as well as ways that the average Joe could learn to do some of the same things. On one level, that made him nervous, because he’d really not have other folks snooping around in his business and/or head without his permission, and there was only a very low chance he was going to grant much in the way of permission, there was another where he thought it sounded kind of cool as it didn’t pertain to him directly.He guessed it was a combination of those two factors that put him in the Divination class. At least he could know what the tricks were, even if there wasn’t anything to do about them, and being able to know ahead of time how he was going to do on that Potions essay or Transfig exam or whatever would greatly improve his quality of life.
Horoscopes fit into that idea pretty well, though he wished that Professor Diaz had made some comments about how – from his vague memories of elementary school, and from listening to his mom and Annabeth talking – some people planned their lives around what the horoscope said. Was that just part of some big pattern, like in some of the books, a pattern of the universe, or did they make their circumstances by planning things that way, like breaking up if they read about a romantic disappointment? She had said it was imprecise, so maybe that suggested the second theory, he didn’t really know. He guessed that kind of thing was what he was here to figure out.
He copied down the notes with a regular pen. He preferred pencils even to pens, but the lead smudged too much to be read after a while, and anything beat quills. His handwriting, when he was writing fast, was nearly illegible even to him at the best of times, but with a writing instrument he’d only started to learn two years ago…Yeah, no. He hoped he was able to figure out what all this said later, though, because not only was it interesting, but it pertained directly to the homework assignment, so he wouldn’t have to try to figure out who the subject of the homework, Evangeline Adams, was all over again. That could be…time-consuming. Really, really time-consuming.
Splitting into pairs was always just a little awkward, there was always the slight fear of interaction, but he’d been doing it so often at Sonora for the past two years that it wasn’t so bad now. He had always wondered what the Muggle school system would think of Sonora’s emphasis on partnering, which was far greater than even their own, but there was the problem of not being able to ask legally that he guessed was going to keep him from ever knowing. He kind of nodded to the person next to him. “Partners?” he offered. Making himself be the one to offer instead of waiting for someone to offer had been one of last year’s more notable achievements.
16
David Wilkes, Aladren
Let's hope there's not too much horror in the horoscopes....
169
David Wilkes, Aladren
0
5
Alessa
July 09, 2011 6:39 PM
Most people would by Alessa
Alessa nodded sympathetically. She didn't really like complex math like calculating angles. It was her least favorite part of Divination. Of course, if there was some sort of statistical stuff that she wanted to know, she would but for the most point Alessa was more interested in facts that used words, like historical stuff and geneology. She was not quite as good with dates and was more likely to remember someone's exact lineage than their birthday.She consulted what her book had to say about Taurus. "Your ruling planet is Venus and Taurus is considered to be an 'introvert sign'" Alessa would not say it was a negative sign. The idea that introversion was considered negative was borderline offensive to the Aladren. She would probably consider herself an introvert, because she hated small talk-which was why Alessa had a tendency to get right down to business on an assignment-and often liked to do her own thing. Granted, Alessa could talk for hours on things that interested her.
"Introvert signs are also considered feminine signs." Another reason that Alessa would not consider them negative. To suggest that being a girl was negative was insulting too. The fifth year was no feminist, but as an Aladren, she was becoming increasingly aware of her house's mysogyny. Alessa was certain if there had been an Aladren boy in their year, Veronica would not be prefect, as all others in recent history had been male.
"Taurus is a fixed, Earth sign. Fixed signs are associated with stabilization, determination, depth, and persistence.They are powerful and willful in all they do, often achieving much more than the other two qualities. On the other hand, they can also be inflexible, rigid, stubborn, opinionated and single-minded. These traits are often paired with the need to be "correct": they will ruthlessly fight on behalf of their beliefs, regardless of any contrary beliefs deemed sufficiently credible. Only during moments of importance or necessity would they consider changing an opinion, usually with only half-success. In loose social terms, these signs tend to "not like admitting that they're wrong."
Alessa went on. "Earth signs tend to be practical and down to, well, Earth." And the Aladren could not see what was negative about that. She looked back down at the book again. "Hmm...your horoscope suggests that there may be some tension in romantic relationships due to overinflated egos. You may be feeling more argumentative than usual and small disagreements could escalate into major ones."
OOC-Information on fixed signs is taken from Wikipedia and the Tarus horoscope is paraphrased from www.horoscope.com
11
Alessa
Most people would
150
Alessa
0
5
Nic Sawyer, Crotalus
July 10, 2011 6:02 PM
There's horror. Possibly not in yours, but it's there. by Nic Sawyer, Crotalus
Nic returned to his second year of Divination class reasonably secure in the knowledge that nobody knew what his parents were. Professor Diaz might - she seemed to know what she was doing, so if she ever made a reading about Mr. and Mrs. Sawyer, she could have found out, but Nic doubted she would have bothered. He didn't try to stand out as an exceptionally talented seer or anything. Quite the opposite. He made stupid mistakes so nobody would think that.He knew better than most what people - even wizardkind - thought about Seers.
When Professor Diaz introduced the day's topic as horoscopes, Nic felt relieved. There were two ways to do horoscopes. One was simple, easy, and wrong. He'd use that method. Minimal chance of accuracy that way. More importantly, minimal chance of anyone recognizing that he might actually have a Gift.
A Curse, morelike. He didn't want to be a divinator.
Nic didn't think he was going to have a choice. Not with his parents being what they were. Mom wasn't even a witch, and she was every bit as accurate as Dad was.
He noted down the homework assignment about Evangeline Adams wondering if she did the same kind of work his parents did, if the psychic fortune-telling and herbal potion business they ran out of their living room would have once run the risk of sending them to prison. For a moment, he even wondered if it still did, but he dismissed that thought when he remembered he was thinking about his parents.
He did wonder, though, if it was all this Evangeline Adams lady's fault that his parents were totally embarrassing. Already, he didn't like her.
First, however, before he could find out the woman's role in destroying Nic's early childhood, he was going to have to find someone to do a horoscope reading on. Fortunately, he did not have to venture far, seeing as the kid sitting right next to him spoke first and made the offer to be partners.
"Yeah," he agreed readily, then provided the two pieces of information the kid would need as his horoscope reading partner: "Nic Sawyer. December twenty-ninth."
1
Nic Sawyer, Crotalus
There's horror. Possibly not in yours, but it's there.
165
Nic Sawyer, Crotalus
0
5
Kirstenna
July 15, 2011 5:56 PM
Most likely by Kirstenna
Kirstenna nodded sympathetically. "My dad doesn't really get along with his brother either." Her father and her uncle were very very different people. Uncle Warren was the perfect example of what everyone in the Melcher family was supposed to be. Very proper, serious, intellectually based. Her father was...not. He had chosen to join the muggle circus and marry her mother, breaking both family norms and magical law by performing as a magician.The Teppenpaw was sort of glad about it. Kirstenna couldn't imagine growing up in an environment as...stuffy as that of her grandparents. She couldn't imagine living with such people who didn't value creativity or kindness and only valued grades, academic achievement, blood purity and propriety. They didn't approve of anything about Kirstenna, from the fact that she played Quidditch-they definitely didn't care that she was Captain of her house team-to her less than perfect grades to the fact that her mother was a muggle.
Of course, Kirstenna couldn't imagine a life completely without magic either. Whether it was the magic that she possessed or the magic of the circus. Life would just be so boring without it. She'd been raised very differently from anyone in school, whether they were pureblood, muggleborn or halfblood like her.
"Scorpio actually." Kirstenna replied. Astrological signs were something that she had actually read about, though just about the basics. Divination held a little bit more interest for her. Well, she supposed most magical subjects interested her, other than potions. Kirstenna enjoyed the practical part, involving wand work and as for Divination, she would love to be able to predict the future.
It would help her stay a step ahead of the Impostor and Beetle Lady. Actually, Kirstenna was still pretty distressed about the Beetle Lady dating her distant cousin. Maybe it was all a plot to get to her. Even though Kirstenna didn't even know the man. Or they working together. Yes, that was more likely.
"Let's see. Scorpio is a fixed water sign. Water signs tend to be very emotional signs. Some traits associated with Scorpios are being loyal, passionate, resourceful, dynamic and observant. On the other hand, they are also considered jealous, obsessive, suspicious, manipulative and unyielding." Kirstenna never would have guessed most of those things for Kate. At least not the negative traits.
The fourth year continued. "They are fiercely independent, not really social butterflies. Their friendships are complicated like all their relationships. Scorpios make excellent doctors, surgeons, scientists and leaders." Kirstenna paused. "I guess that's why you make a good assistant captain."
She turned back to the book. "Scorpios are also considered ambitious,determined and power-hungry." To Kirstenna, these did not really sound like very good traits, and she did not see them in Kate at all. "However, they are very misunderstood. Scorpio is a sign of intensity and condradictions and Scorpios are very deep people."
"Now to calculate your horoscope." Kirstenna made a face. She didn't like this part, it involved math. Math was boring and the Teppenpaw was not all that good at it. Thank Merlin, she would likely never need to use it. She was going to be either in the circus or singing.
"Okay this might be off by a few days. I'm not so good at calculations, but it says that your amorous feelings and passions are strong and compelling at this time, and you tend to be very demanding of a lover's energy and affection. Tensions may erupt in close relationships because one of you feels that you have been giving more and not receiving enough in return, or one of you is more amorous than the other. Frustrated love desire can easily turn to anger or irritability at this time." Kirstenna paused. "Sometimes these things don't make any sense whatsoever. Of course, it might help if I weren't off by a week or so."
OOC-Sorry for the wait. The horoscope is stolen from this site http://www.homepagers.com/daily/scorpio.html and the Scorpio personality from this one http://zodiac-signs-astrology.com/zodiac-signs/scorpio.html
11
Kirstenna
Most likely
161
Kirstenna
0
5
Rachel
July 18, 2011 7:08 PM
Always good to find consensus. by Rachel
“Yeah, yeah that sounds about right,” Rachel said, putting her hands just over her face for a second, then pushing her fingers into her thick blond hair for a second when she heard that the trick was something relatively simple. “Okay. Time to focus, Bauer, and do some work.” She smiled wanly at Samantha. “I choose to believe you Aladrens have days where you just don’t want to work, too,” she informed the younger girl. “It helps my self-esteem.”She prided herself on being pretty smart. Not a genius or anything, in that game she wouldn’t even place last, but smart. She made good grades in her classes, all with more effort than most of the people who did just because of what it took to keep up her appearance and keep the whole…situation under control in addition to what she put into her work. Academic work was almost a break, sometimes, from the rest of it. But not always, and today was a day when it was just something else to do, and she was having trouble working herself up to do it.
That, and everything else, if she was touching her face and messing with her hair. Those were things she had learned never to do by the time she was eight years old. Time to snap out of it for sure.
She thought about things not working out her way, but right now, things were holding pretty steady. The only way to change her circumstances for the better was to commit murder, and Raines was, as he and apparently his parents liked everyone to know, a Raines on his mom’s side, so she doubted she was a smooth enough criminal to get away with killing him and magically destroying the body so he became a boarding school legend. Plus, the jerk would probably come back as a ghost just to tell on her, then haunt her while she rotted in prison, so that was a waste of time all around. So that was out. And status, well, she was prefect, and the next step up was going to be up to the audience, so to speak. Was it maybe telling her to campaign harder? Or was Samantha right, and they were just a few days off?
“Could be,” she said.
She laughed at the aside about how she wasn’t necessarily romantically desirable. “I thought I was always desirable,” she said lightly. “But I’ll do my best to talk more.”
Now it was her turn. Great. “Okay…Libra’s the scales,” she said. “So I guess you’re either totally well-balanced or completely unbalanced, depending. The new moon is going to play a part in you intuitively knowing how to handle…” she laughed, remembering their previous conversation. “Career matters,” she finished. “I guess that’s relating to position here, like the library thing and being prefect next year and Head Girl after I’m done. Or we can say it is anyway. The stuff Mars is doing in Gemini means you should be eager to explore the world and learn, and the Mars-Venus stuff means your social life is going to be activated, congratulations. And you should have fun with your friends this month.” She looked up. “Anything there sound good?” she asked.
16
Rachel
Always good to find consensus.
154
Rachel
0
5
Kate
July 18, 2011 7:33 PM
You've succeeded. by Kate
Kate blinked at the list of pretty unflattering adjectives, only softened slightly by Kirstenna’s claim she was a good assistant captain, being stuck on her by the sign she’d happened to be born into. Really, she thought this whole astrology business didn’t account enough for personal difference. Obsessive and manipulative? Really? “Sounds like my grandfather,” she said, trying to make light of the situation. “I’ll have to find out when his birthday is. Maybe he drew most of it and I just got the good parts.”It occurred to her belatedly that she maybe shouldn’t have said that, clearly stating that her grandfather wasn’t really that good a guy – pleasant enough, generally, but seriously screwed up in how he determined what he thought was best for his family, though it seemed he was doing a little better about that these days – but it was already said now, kind of like how she’d admitted to not knowing a close relative’s birthday. Well, she’d been too little to read when her mother had married her stepfather, and she still didn’t know Jeremy’s birthday, either, so she was hoping that would be written off as her being generally forgetful. It was entirely possible someone had told her when Mark Layne’s birthday was, and she really had just forgotten about it, rather than never knowing at all. Birthdays had really become a little meaningless since she’d come to school and gotten separated from most family occasions during the year.
“And if I was even wanting to date,” Kate added when Kirstenna said it might help with her predictions if she wasn’t off by a while. “But close relationships…My sister’s got a date to the ball, so maybe it means we’re going to fight about something again. Probably why I don’t have a date to the ball.” Rachel was pretty consistent about regularly bringing up what a shame it was that Kate wasn’t more feminine and didn’t even look the part of a girl who was interested in guys. Kate had occasionally pointed out that she wasn’t really interested in guys, so that made sense, but Rachel seemed not to hear such remarks. Momma had taught her firstborn well in the art of not hearing things she didn’t want to.
“Okay, so, you’re Aquarius…original, visionary, idealistic – “ she pronounced each word with a slight exclamation point after it – “but sometimes detached and stubborn. I guess I can see the first part. And your horoscope…bear in mind I suck at math…” She really hoped she did this right. It was too early in the year to start really botching things. “The sun, Mercury, and Venus mean you’re going to be good at training your staff, so I guess that’s good for our chances in Quidditch. Mars going through Gemini and Venus jumping into Cancer for a few days means you’re going to become attracted to someone. Fun times,” she interjected with a grin. “But Saturn’s in Libra, and somehow, that’s going to be bad for your educational plans, so, um, I’d say don’t tackle some hugely ambitious project for Professor Fawcett if you believe in this stuff.”
OOC: Borrowed your source, thanks.
16
Kate
You've succeeded.
170
Kate
0
5
David
July 18, 2011 9:25 PM
Here's hoping it's not mine, then. by David
Straight to the point. David could respect that, even if, half a second later, it occurred to him that this could have something to do with the slight rivalry last year had produced between the Crotalus and Aladren Quidditch teams. This was, after all, the guy whose head had nearly gotten knocked off at one point, though David subscribed to the “that wasn’t intentional” school of thought for his own sanity and sense of safety around the other guys. Maybe it was why he was sideline-guy, but David thought really trying to hurt the other guys ought to be left to the professionals. Going onto the field was asking someone to try to disable one, that was just strategy, but…yeah.“David Wilkes,” he replied. “July 13.” A certain amount of affection for his birthday was one reason why David had never really been that fond of the idea that the number thirteen was unlucky. He kind of liked it. His birthdays were usually pretty good, anyway. There was cake, and since he was the one person in the family who preferred buttercream frosting to whipped and so got it that one day, he actually got to eat some of said cake. That was always a plus.
He looked through the list of zodiac signs until he figured out where December twenty-ninth fell, in Capricorn. Somehow, to him, that just sounded like a summertime sign, something with lots of sun and yellow, in one moment, and like it should be in November because it sounded a little like Cornucopia in the next, but it was late December through the middle of January. He began reading the attributes, then, out of curiosity and mild skepticism, skimmed for his birthday and read that description to decide how much weight he should give to Nic’s predictions.
He flipped around, looking at star charts and fiddling with concepts, until he thought he had something approximating a decent answer. He wouldn’t put any money on it being accurate, but he thought it would do for a first try, get his relationship with the professor off on the right foot. Maybe not a fantastic foot, since he wasn’t that great at math and was a little fuzzy still on how some of this went together, but it would do. There was less stress about grades when his family couldn’t understand them even if he told them, not without him providing the key, which he had no intention of doing.
“Have you got anything?” he asked Nic, not sure if he should check his work over because he’d finished it too fast or not done enough or something and wanting to gauge his performance against someone else’s.
16
David
Here's hoping it's not mine, then.
169
David
0
5
Renée
July 19, 2011 7:19 PM
Not that I needed your permission. by Renée
She restrained a shudder at his admittance, able to keep herself moderately still. The benefits of being true to herself (half-blood, half black, half Jewish, half-sister, half Spanish) were the ranges of experiences she was privileged to enjoy. The contrasts of her different lives exposed her to tumultuous conflicts, confusing discussions that thrilled her, a life where normal meant insanity. She could be happy at Sonora because there were moments of insanity within the grounds that helped her last the months she spent there. Even if the students were generally quite boring, or, like Sam, preferred the simple mindless routine of class, work, and quiet, the school itself was not quite as routine."Si, I'm fine, gracias." She meant to dismiss him with her voice, but the rebellious heat she felt inside couldn't burn hot enough for the sparks to make it up her chest, through her throat without diminishing. Her voice was perfectly polite, betraying her feelings toward her former teammate, which resented him for currently representing all she disliked at Sonora. 'Merlin, I hate when they ask things they don't care about!' And yet she answered dishonestly, no matter how small the lie. Lies were lies; a small cut that festered, infecting and spreading the bloodstream until she was consumed in deceit, pumping it toward her heart, her heart to her brain, her brain dictating her actions.
'This work isn't going to get done right now, is it?' She glanced at her textbook. 'I'm going to say something stupid, aren't I?' She was going to reveal something very stupid about herself, she was going to be very very stupid. 'Abuela will kill me.' She glanced up at Professor Diaz who didn't seem to be looking her way, before sliding out of her seat to bend down toward her bag, sneaking out two blood plums and slipping them into her robes pocket, trying her best for discretion. "Excuse me," she gave as her general excuse for leaving. "Be right back." They were acting as partners, true, but a few minutes of being on her own wouldn't prevent their already dubious progression of mastering the material. Anyway, she needed to get herself under control, regain that momentary happiness she had felt in the beginning of class. 'It had been happiness, right? I can still feel that?'
She walked only a little further down the hall from the classroom (if Professor Diaz saw her she'd hopefully just assume Renée needed to use the bathroom) before she stopped, taking out one of the blood plums and bringing it to her mouth, taking a moment to just breathe the fragrance of the fruit in. It was fresh, it was ripe, ready to be taken in by her. Her lips parted, teeth grazing the purple-red flesh before sinking in, red staining white, the juice dripping onto her tongue, little puddles forming within her mouth. 'Is this happiness?' It was as close as she was going to get, probably all year.
0
Renée
Not that I needed your permission.
0
Renée
0
5
Jane
July 20, 2011 12:13 AM
I imagine that's so by Jane
Jane listened to Alessa’s recitation politely, her expression neutral. Venus was all right, she supposed she had some level of appreciation for beauty and did value relationships, but the rest…at first, it didn’t sound completely right, and then she could almost see it, but then it was all wrong again. She really didn’t know what to make of all of it.The horoscope, though, was just crazy. “Um…I don’t really know what I should think about that,” she said, almost laughing, at hearing about romantic relationships. “I don’t have any romantic relationships.” She blinked, suddenly noticing the plural. Relationships. Was the implication there that she was…Jane felt herself starting to blush. That was…oh, dear, that just wasn’t something she’d ever do. It was improper, both technically and morally. “I…don’t really think I’d say I’m ruthless, either, or so inflexible…”
She realized that could sound like she was criticizing Alessa’s work, which really wasn’t something she wanted to do. “Though it’s an inexact field,” she said quickly, smiling at the other girl. “I’m sure your work is fine.”
Hers, she was fairly sure of. She enjoyed mathematics, though she usually had to look at something twice to be absolutely sure of it. The precision of it appealed to her, so that was what she was focusing on. She’d made an error in one calculation, but was now sure they were right. They might not offer any meaningful insights into Alessa, but they were accurate in terms of following the instructions.
“You’re a Virgo, so your ruling planet is Mercury, which stands for communications, intelligence, and change,” she read. “Virgos are analytical, attentive to details, and can be critical perfectionists. Also sometimes modest and prudent.” The description sounded a lot like an Aladren generally, except maybe the modest part with a lot of them, and certainly more like her brother than the Capricorn description did. Edmond was indeed stable and dependable, but ambitious, practical, and materialistic? She just…didn’t see it. At all.
“For the horoscope…if you’re considering doing something, and it looks like the path is clear, you might want to research that and finalize all your plans. Things have been going well, and Jupiter’s influence today might smooth the way on a project, but tonight’s lunar aspect with Saturn can cause a lot of change, so if things aren’t settled, then they might end up…not how you expect.” Now to see if she’d gotten any closer to something that made sense to Alessa than Alessa had for her.
0
Jane
I imagine that's so
0
Jane
0
5
Sam
July 25, 2011 5:10 PM
...All right, then. by Sam
“Sorry, then,” Sam said when Renée claimed to be all right. “That’s good.”He guessed he’d read her expression wrong, though that surprised him a little. He wasn’t bad with facial expressions. When he’d been in Muggle school, being able to read people’s faces had been the best way of looking out for himself without drawing the ire of the government, since it was usually just possible to tell when someone was thinking of something they would find fun which would involve him really, really not having much fun at all. Still, he hadn’t had to worry about getting beaten up too much at Sonora, since the population was generally agreeable or at least had targets it much preferred over him to focus its aggression on, so maybe he was losing his eye for that kind of thing. He should really work on that, especially with all the crazy stuff that allegedly sometimes went on in Crotalus. He didn’t want to get tangled up in something wacko.
Well, more wacko than his family, anyway. There was no denying they were a little on the crazy side. But he was okay with that, because they weren’t that kind of wacko, at least not generally. Mrs. Ballard didn’t count. She wasn’t his family. Neither were her kids, come to that, they were just sort of…connected. Except they weren’t. Except…
He was distracted from trying to figure out the complexities of a situation he was still a little annoyed with his mom for telling him about by Renée suddenly…deciding to leave? He blinked, a little confused, and noticed her slipping something out of her bag. Great. Now he was going to speculate about that.
“Now what?” he asked no one in particular, looking vaguely toward the professor and wondering if he should report this. They had done the work, he guessed, so they could have gotten away with not doing too much besides refining for the submission, but without his partner here, he was clearly at loose ends. If he didn’t call the professor, then he might get called down, but if he did, he’d draw attention to himself. Looked like he lost either way. He felt a distinct twinge of annoyance toward Renée.
16
Sam
...All right, then.
163
Sam
0
5
Samantha
August 03, 2011 4:11 PM
I'll agree to that by Samantha
"We have those days," samantha reassured rachel that even Aladrens let work get the better of them from time to time. Samantha had never felt like a real Aladren, anyway. She did extra reading and took extra classes because she was in that House, but probably wouldn't have taken them if she'd been sorted into a different House - Aladren was shaping her, she hadn't been that way to start with. Then again, she wouldn't have worn the clothes she was wearing now to start with, either, but then she'd met Rachel. Perhaps fate really did exist? If so, she supposed she was in the right place to learn about it."So I guess you’re either totally well-balanced or completely unbalanced, depending." Then again, maybe divination was still the load of baloney Samantha had always thought it to be. "The stuff Mars is doing in Gemini means you should be eager to explore the world and learn, and the Mars-Venus stuff means your social life is going to be activated, congratulations. And you should have fun with your friends this month," Rachel finished her prediction.
"It's about time my social life was activated," she commented. She'd never been hugely social as such - impressing teachers and other authority figures had always seemed more important while she was growing up - but she wouldn't exactly turn friends down if they came knocking. She guessed she'd count Autumn as a friend, and hopefully Rachel, too. She worked with the Other Sam a lot, but she didn't know if they were really friends, same as David Wilkes in the year below, who Samantha only really knew in a Quidditch capacity, despite sharing some classes from time to time. Maybe now she was putting more effort into her appearance she would get more social calls, but if that wasn't a depressing state of affairs then she didn't know what was.
"As for being eager to learn..." she trailed off and shrugged. "I guess I didn't get stuck in Aladren for my good looks," she concluded with dry humor. "The only part of the world I'm eager to explore right now is anywhere that's not this divinations classroom." She shut her book, Rachel's reluctance to work apparently rubbing off on her. "I conclude this stuff is nonsense," she said. Then, to be fair, the fourth year added, "Though if you're only a couple of days out, I'll be sure to let you know." She managed an ironic smile.
0
Samantha
I'll agree to that
0
Samantha
0
5
Jeremy Reddington
April 25, 2012 9:28 PM
Intermediate Muggle Studies: Communication by Jeremy Reddington
Jeremy strutted to the new room, admitting that it was quite a feat in searching for it. Then he insisted on opening the door the muggle way, with a key.He turned to the left with the key, and then to the right, turned the key even upside down and then just before he whipped out his wand, he noticed there was a set of two and looked behind him to see if anyone had spotted the mistake, and straightened.
"I knew that..." he muttered to himself, and the door was opened. Jeremy though let out a cat-wailing squeal and recoiled back.
One would expect such a reaction from him, if the room was filled with dead animals or smelled of rotten old food, but no this reaction was simply caused by seeing an ugly dark room, with no light or colour to it.
"No wonder the poor little souls had no fun when they previously took this subject... subjected to a room of this style. Then again, who knows... it could've been months since the last professor graced this room."
He paused and looked around again, like someone might be watching, "I wonder if I should sing... every good Hollywood movie has done it. But in Hollywood, if a kid walks in, they usually sing and dance along too... reality... reality they might actually run away and report me for insanity."
The finishing touches had the room nicely styled with executive black leather computer-like chairs, and black desks.
Then he felt he was ready for them...the herd... the noise! But the door was shut. He had closed it when he entered, and if he had no easy luck in finding the room, how would he expect kids to be able to. So smiling widely, he summoned up a spell and wrote Muggle Studies, enter. It hang like Christmas lights, in mid air, flashing bright colours.
He turned on his heels and headed to the nice posh leather chair at the front. He didn't opt for a desk to hide behind, he wanted to see all the eager faces and interact with them.
Their were just two last finishing touches the room needed, the walls became jarrah wood, and sparkled of new varnish, and long tables rested up against them, filled with heaps of technology from the muggle world.
0
Jeremy Reddington
Intermediate Muggle Studies: Communication
0
Jeremy Reddington
0
5
Brianna Japos, Crotalus
April 26, 2012 8:49 PM
I hear it's key to everything. by Brianna Japos, Crotalus
When Brianna heard that they were offering Muggle Studies this year, she eagerly accepted that for her elective. She wasn’t really sure why considering she was a Pureblood, but since she was the lowest of the low in the Pureblood world according to her peers back home, there was no saying who Brianna could fall in love with (if such a thing were to ever happen to her) and it was good to know all she could about both her world and the Muggle world. And, if she were being quite honest with herself, Brianna was a little curious as to how the other world really worked.Her parents didn’t know anything about the Muggle World or about the Muggles, except for what they read in books or experienced just by walking into that part of the city without intention, but either way, their knowledge was limited and books could only tell her so much. She wanted to know how they lived without magic. How they cooked or worked or even got around. She knew that they had trains and buses just as the Magical world did, but how did they get across oceans? What sort of toys did kids play with? What types of jobs did the adults have?
She found the classroom easily enough (it helped that there was a sign with lights all around it) and opened the door to find a very different sort of classroom. It had wooden walls and black desks with what looked to be very comfortable chairs. This was new and not at all displeasing. The professor sat in a chair at the front of the room and Brianna gave him a small smile when she noticed him. “Good day, Professor.” She greeted politely as she took a seat. She didn’t want to bring too much attention to herself, but she didn’t want to be rude either.
Sitting, Brianna waited quietly for others to arrive and for the lesson to begin.
0
Brianna Japos, Crotalus
I hear it's key to everything.
0
Brianna Japos, Crotalus
0
5
Derry The Fourth in Fourth, Teppenpaw
April 26, 2012 10:11 PM
I've heard that too. Either that, or it was Alohomora by Derry The Fourth in Fourth, Teppenpaw
Derry had been taking Divination last year for his elective, but then Professor Mather left and this year it wasn't being offered any longer. He was somewhat disappointed by this, but the subject that was replacing it would probably be far more useful to him. He wasn't sure he would have taken Muggle Studies last year, but now that his parents had divorced and Mom had moved him to muggle Boston, there wasn't even a decision involved. There had been so many things this summer that hadn't made sense, and learning about those things during the school year would almost certainly make next summer easier.He arrived with only a couple wrong turns to a classroom helpfully labeled in bright lights as the muggle studies classroom. Going inside, he smiled and nodded in greeting to the people he knew (which by this point was pretty much everyone) and took an empty seat next to Brianna. She wasn't one of the people in his close circle, but that was no reason not to sit next to her and the empty chair next to her looked super comfortable. Well, in truth, they all did, but that one caught his eye first. It probably wasn't a divination Sign, but if he'd learned only one thing in last year's elective, it was that Signs were difficult to recognize. Still, even if it wasn't, he could see no downsides to going with his first instinct, so he took a seat.
"Hi," he said cheerfully to Brianna. That was the friendly thing to do when sitting down next to somebody, and Derry was proud of his sorting into the friendly house. The amount of yellow in most of his colonial era clothing was quite indicative of that as well. He'd forgotten his robe somewhere. He'd have to check the Charms classroom later to see if he'd left it there. The good news was that his tricorner hat was still safely perched on his head.
He glanced over to the Professor to see if the class was starting yet, but the man didn't seem about to launch into a lecture so he asked his new companion, curious to see where some of his classmates stood on the muggle-familiarity scale, "So do you know anything about muggles already?" Then he smiled, his eyes brightening in proud excitement as he added, with a thumb jabbed against his chest, "I've played baseball."
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Derry The Fourth in Fourth, Teppenpaw
I've heard that too. Either that, or it was Alohomora
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Derry The Fourth in Fourth, Teppenpaw
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Maximilian Joshua McLachlan, Aladren
April 28, 2012 6:51 PM
Communicating is not my strength. by Maximilian Joshua McLachlan, Aladren
The only reason Josh was taking this class was in the spirit of rebellion. He didn't have a rebellious bone in his body unless it was for a cause he truly believed in. What had caused him to take this elective was not for his uncle to have a fit and kill someone, but to really learn more about muggles and to learn why they were so hated by his family.First of all, he thought it was ridiculous that muggle-borns were disliked in society especially after having befriended a muggle-born at his old school. The fourth-year transfer was glad that they had a muggle studies course here. It would give him some insight and be another secret to keep from his Australian uncle and guardian.
Josh put his things down on an empty table in the back. He was a lonely boy by choice, having transferred here unceremoniously this year. He wasn't very friendly, having grown up in an unfriendly environment, but had thrown himself into sharpening his brain and wanting to be the best in everything that he did. As of now, he wanted to be an apothecary or a Potions Master; anything with potions, really. He unpacked his bag as he waited for class to begin, wondering what all this technology was. Josh's observant and unfriendly grey eyes scanned the room, appraising first the professor, and then the technology itself. Strange.
He recognized a couple of people in his year in this class, having properly snubbed them without meaning to create any harsh feelings. Of course, it would be better for him to stay lonely even if it caused a bit of unrest inside of himself. His being didn't matter, though, as did the safety of others. Being a McLachlan, a family infamous for their dark magic in both Europe and America, he didn't have much to offer in friendship. Besides, the friends he'd had back at the New Zealand Academy of Magic had been put in danger, and then turned their backs on him after the Incident. She, of course, had understood and had promised to stand by him when he'd been moved to this school. If only he could say it was completely forced.
Anyhow, she was the reason why he was here in this class at this school, and as of now, his fourth-year was going smoothly. No hiccups or bumps in the road yet, and he was grateful. Josh would pay attention and stay focused on his academics. Perhaps his next goal should be to become a Prefect, though he wasn't sure if transfers were allowed to. There would be a lot of competition and hard feelings between his roommates too, whoever became the Prefect. Josh wanted to avoid getting caught in the mass of unrest and tension that seemed to arise whenever they were all in the room at the same time, though it seemed inevitable, him being the odd new one who didn't seem to speak. Very intelligent, but mute.
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Maximilian Joshua McLachlan, Aladren
Communicating is not my strength.
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Maximilian Joshua McLachlan, Aladren
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Brianna
April 28, 2012 10:50 PM
That's the key for doors, not relationships. by Brianna
Brianna didn’t have many friends at the school and that was something she had accepted a while ago. She supposed Attoria had thought that they could be popular Pureblood girls who everyone wanted to be around when they had first begun their time here, but Brianna had realized how awful she felt for lying about her family and, quite frankly, it was exhausting to keep up with it all. So, instead, she had adopted a new way of dealing with things… keeping to herself. That wasn’t to say she wasn’t friendly with people, Brianna saw no point in that sort of behavior, but she tried to stay as invisible as possible when it came to her peers.So, it was this thought in mind that had her rather surprised to see Derwent Pierce the Fourth sitting beside her and greeting her as though they were old friends. He was a Teppenpaw, so Brianna wrote off his friendliness as nothing more than a true character of his house. “Hello Derry.” She greeted in return, her own (slightly shier) smile showing on her lightly freckled face. Brianna could say that Derry was probably one of the more popular students of her classes. He seemed to always be surrounded by friends. Brianna had Attoria (sometimes), Valerie, and she’d like to say that Linus and Gareth were friends too. But that was about all she had. It was enough though.
When Derry asked his question, the New Transfer had entered the classroom. Brianna’s brown eyes followed the guy until he sat down away from them. She had seen him in their other lessons and he was always alone. Although Brianna tried to stay invisible, she wasn’t so sure she felt that was the best thing to do if she were new to the school. It gave him a mysterious feeling to him that Brianna knew would drawl all sorts of attention. It didn’t help that he was a McLachlan. Although Brianna wasn’t a rich Pureblood like her classmates, she knew that name. She had heard it before from her parents when she was studying. They were of ‘bad blood’. Not in the same sense of her, but because they were known for being dark. Brianna didn’t plan on finding out if that were true.
Turning back to Derry and his question and statement, Brianna looked at him for a moment. “My parents didn’t really have me learning that while I was growing up.” Brianna admitted to him, “And I was never allowed in the Muggle part of the city, so I couldn’t experience anything for myself.” Brianna a small shrug, not really finding this all that strange in their world. “I’m not really sure what ‘baseball’ is but was it fun to play?” She asked him, curious to know what this was.
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Brianna
That's the key for doors, not relationships.
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Brianna
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