Asher Tallow

January 10, 2006 5:14 PM
Asher's ears flushed warmly with the heavy rush of embarrassment. There was a good reason she didn't like Dai Oni, and having yet again been made an example of by the teacher hadn't improved that feeling in the least. She could have handled being dismissed so obviously, what with how Dai Oni proceeded to ignore her almost immediately and take on with the lecture.

But that Dai Oni had insinuated that she was some sort of cheat! That was something Asher couldn't handle in the least. Tallows didn't lie- at least, not when it counted. Not when they had promised something, or agreed to something. Lies were only used when absolutely necessary, and in those cases, the lies were no longer lies, because deceit when needed implies a good end. And everyone knows that lies only lead to bad things.

Obviously.

Logically.

Her ears were still burning once Dai Oni had finished her unimaginative and equally uninteresting speech. Asher squared her shoulders and proceeded to provide the asked for information, as well as any further details Dai Oni might request of her later. Naturally, Asher did so in as speedy a manner as possible.

"Mercury's orbit is highly eccentric; Venus has no magnetic field; 71 Percent of the Earth's surface is covered with water; Mars appears to lack active plate tectonics-" Asher paused to glare meaningfully at Dai Oni, daring her to disagree with anything Asher said. It was all being quoted word per word, after all, from the text. Not a single paraphrase in the whole of it. "-Jupiter radiates more energy into space than it receives from the Sun; Saturn is the least dense of the planets; Uranus is composed primarily of rock and various ices; Neptune's winds are the fastest in the solar system; and Pluto's equator is at almost right angles to the plane of its orbit."

With a barely controlled exhalation, Asher sat back down. She had finished her "assignment" as Dai Oni had requested, so there couldn't be any more assignations thrown about by the professor in regards to Asher's word. After all, Tallows never lied. . .at least, not really.\n\n
0 Asher Tallow You do? Funny, I meant to cause the exact opposite. 1466 Asher Tallow 0 5


Professor Jera Valson

January 20, 2014 3:21 PM
Professor Valson greeted the third, fourth and fifth years in the intermediate group by explaining that she would be taking the class today in Professor Chambers’ absence. Those who did not already know the substitute professor would perceive a young, dark-haired witch of smart appearance in her dove grey robes, with a trim figure and bounce in her step. While Muggle Studies was not one of Jera’s stronger subject matters – she’d rarely had any need to deal with Muggles in her life so far – the enthusiasm she’d found for teaching and her renewed familiar with Sonora since she began her post after midterm had buoyed her spirits and her confidence.

“Today we’re actually going to start a new topic,” she told the class, and was disappointed on Professor Chambers’ behalf that she wouldn’t be there to share this with her students, but then she would presumably be back to see the rest of the topic progress, “of Muggle transportation.” Jera then encouraged suggestions of modes of transport rom the class (some more mundane, some more unusual) and she wrote all of them down on a large noticeboard in two columns: one for methods of transport that were also used in the wizarding world, such as bicycles and steam trains, and the other for transportation that Muggles alone had use of, including airplanes and the subway. When there were a decent number of suggestions written on the board, Jera ceased any further contributions. “Okay, we have enough for the time being. If you think of any others then write them down in your notes, you may find it useful later.”

“Okay, so Muggles have different ways of getting around. As per the proverb, necessity is the mother of invention, so Muggles have generated methods of travelling that do not involve magic, such as Floo powder or apparition. The harnessing of electricity – a force that isn’t compatible with magic – has encouraged increasingly more varied means of transportation that witches and wizards cannot use them without making serious structural adaptions.” The substitute professor had read the initial pages of the textbook chapter on the topic, and paraphrased the relevant sections in her lecture.

“Your assignment for today is to work in pairs to explore one mode of Muggle transport. Either choose from this column,” she indicated those that witches and wizards might also use, “and explore what differences Muggle varieties might have, such as different features or qualities, and how Muggle use or reliance upon this mode of transport might differ from our own experiences of it, or choose from this column,” she indicated the ‘Muggles-only’ side of the board, “to explore why this mode of transport is efficient for Muggles, how it is used, and its defining features.” Having finished with the board for the time being, Professor Valson made her way to sit behind Professor Chambers’ desk as she finished detailing the instructions for the class.

“Your findings must be submitted next lesson, although the format is up to you. Some suggestions Professor Chambers made are as a co-written essay, as a poster that can be displayed in the classroom, or as a spoken presentation in front of the class.” Jera looked up again from the notes she had just been checking to make sure the students were still paying attention, and that there were no questions. “You are encouraged to use chapter seven in your class textbooks, and are welcome to use any of the other books in the classroom,” she instructed, “but if anyone wants to go to the library for more information this will have to be completed in your on time as part of your homework allocation.” As substitute, she was only temporarily responsible or the class, and was not familiar enough with the students to let them leave her watchful gaze to go to the library without supervision.

“If anyone has any questions at any point during the lesson you can ask me and I’ll do my best to answer,” she assured them with a smile. “You can begin whenever you’re ready.”

(OOC: Please remember to stick to site rules when you post, including those concerning minimum post length, realism, and godmodding. Feel free to tag Jera in your subject heading if you need her, otherwise have fun, be creative, and earn lots of points for your house.)
Subthreads:
0 Professor Jera Valson Intermediate Muggle Studies: Planes, Trains and Automobiles 0 Professor Jera Valson 1 5


Rupert Princeton, Pecari

January 22, 2014 10:01 AM
Seeing a new professor in Muggle Studies had confused Rup slightly, but he took her presence in with a grain of salt. As long as she taught the class well, Rupert didn't mind who taught it. This was his favourite class, no question, and he had learnt more here than in any of his other courses for the past school year. When his marks came out and showed where his true interest was, Rup didn't doubt he would be locked up in a tower and forced to endure lectures on the importance of good breeding for hours on end all summer. His parents were very much afraid that he would bring home a Muggle girlfriend one day and tarnish the good Princeton name. They deserved it, he supposed, being so prejudiced against Muggles in the first place.

The subject of television and film that they had studied last term had so intrigued Rupert that he had done some more research on his own. It was such a strange concept, television, but Rupert could spend hours just watching those silly stories and cartoons play out on the screen. It was similar to the photographs he was used to, only these were different in a way. They didn't move about by their own free will, cartoons, as illustrations in magical picture books did. It was fascinating how Muggles could be entertained by television and equally fascinating how addictive television shows were.

But they were learning something new today and Rup was looking forward to it. Professor Valson introduced the subject of transportation, one that Rup was slightly more familiar with from the cross-usage between the Muggle and wizarding world. There were still, however, new modes of transportation Rup had never heard of. There were something called airplanes and the subway and his dark eyes widened in interest. Rup wrote down the modes he was not familiar with to further his research later on.

Luckily they were going to research one of these modes of Muggle transport in class and Rupert quickly decided which topic he was most interested in and turned to his partner. "Hello, mate. Would you like to pair up? I'd really like to research aeroplanes, but I'm easy if you're dying to research something else." Rup looked back at the board, his dark eyes bright with excitement. "Muggle transportation is fascinating, isn't it? How do they travel without the Floo Network or Portkeys? Merlin, it would take me ages to get to school if I didn't have magic."
0 Rupert Princeton, Pecari Oh my! 0 Rupert Princeton, Pecari 0 5