Lawrence Marsh

May 20, 2020 8:09 PM

Magical Creatures Assistantship [Intermediates and Advanced students] by Lawrence Marsh

He was finally ready to admit he needed help. It had taken two years, multiple cuts, scrapes, a fair amount of blood, many late nights outside by himself and having to write out quite detailed instructions for Isis when he took Susan to her new preserve and her new flock. Yes, he needed help, and he felt he had a firm enough handle on what he needed to be able to ask for it.

He had learned only a few things during his time “getting help” before. The main one was, if you didn’t understand what you really needed help on, you couldn’t actually receive it, even if you ask. The other one being that men who talk at you for a living and try to get in your head gave him the creeps.

So Lawrence sat at his desk staring at the document in front of him before deciding it was ready to be put up on the board. He realized his requirements might sound scary, but he didn’t want students who weren’t ready to take this seriously. Lawrence’s scars indicated how serious something as simple as feeding a charge could be, and he didn’t want his less (though only slightly less) animalistic charges to be flippant about what he’d ask them to do.

He had a few Advanced students that he could just pull in, but he didn’t want to force their hands if they weren’t interested. He changed a word or two and nodded. Lawrence walked outside his office and tacked up the following sign written in English, followed by both Russian and German. He was not sure if the French speakers would be interested or really have any trouble reading the English, so he'd skipped it.

Magical Creatures assistantship:

Are you interested in the scaly and the scary? Do you find yourself drawn to something that is intelligent but can’t communicate clearly? Are you ok with helping clean, feed and heal all manner of creatures? Then perhaps you are just the student Professor Marsh is looking for.

Professor Marsh is in need of three good students, at least one of whom should be Advanced, in the help in the Caring for Magical Creatures.

Intermediate students will help with feeding, grooming and working with the Professor as he maintains the animals' environments.

I may take on up to two Intermediate students, depending on applications.

Advanced students can expect to work with me in the healing, birthing and socialization of different creatures on Sonora’s campus. Students can also focus on specific animals by arrangement, but will be asked to help prepare other animals for class interactions. This may include possibly maintaining the animal during class if necessary.

Come see me after class or in my office hours for more information if you dare!
41 Lawrence Marsh Magical Creatures Assistantship [Intermediates and Advanced students] 1462 1 5

Evelyn Stones

May 20, 2020 8:10 PM

Pick me pick me! by Evelyn Stones

Evelyn didn't need another thing to do. She didn't need another thing to think about. But the animals were so cute and scary! She distinctly remembered think bowtruckles were basically the best thing ever and she had a lot in common with them - or maybe she hated them? hard to remember such things - and Heinrich had had enough positive to say about his potions assistantship that Evelyn knew such opportunities could be very helpful. Also, it would give her an excuse to continue COMC into her Advanced classes even though she probably didn't need to. So after class, Evelyn lingered long enough to catch Professor Marsh before he returned to his office. She had good grades in this class as there wasn't a lot of wandwork and hard work was something that Evelyn appreciated for the fact that it forced her not to think about other things, and she hoped that would go in her favor. She wondered idly after reading the posting how many of the students who applied would be Pecari. It certainly sounded like it was made for them.

"Excuse me, professor," Evelyn said, getting his attention from several feet away so as not to get swung at if she startled him. "I was interested in your assistantship position. I'm in fifth year," she added the latter in case he wasn't sure, although the fact that she'd just been there for intermediate COMC did limit the years. She was well aware that she could have passed for younger than sixteen. "Do I uh . . . just . . . let you know? How do I apply?"
22 Evelyn Stones Pick me pick me! 1422 0 5

Lawrence Marsh

May 21, 2020 12:29 PM

...like a delousing? by Lawrence Marsh

Mz Stones was the first to come up to ask about the assistantship. If she had come to Lawrence early on in her studies he would have thanked her given her to write some small bit of something. But in the last year, and especially since the summer recess, Mz. Stones seemed to have turned from a Mooncalf into something more akin to a Hippogriff.

“Yes. Hello Evelyn. I know what year you are in, but thank you for the reminder,” he said with a slight smile. He didn’t always feel his smile, but he knew that some could find him intimidating or scary if he wasn’t actively trying to appear otherwise. He knew Evelyn to be a bright student, who seemed to thrive outside, though that might be more the Pecari trait than a general observation at this school. She was also a leader, as her Prefect title indicated.

She then asked a very good question, and Lawrence paused for a moment. He played with his beard hair as he thought.

“To be fair Evelyn, you are the first to ask me. Let’s walk to my office and discuss it a bit more.” He turned quickly and he walked the few short steps to his office. He continued with his thought as he walked, “I have three main questions for you, that I’ll write the answers to.” He waved his wand and a quill and parchment lifted up to take notes.

“Right. So. Question one: Can you do manual labor? I know Professor Skies will want to make sure I’ve asked. Rules are rules after all. When working around animals, it is always better to be safe than sorry.
Question two: What other time commitments do you have that we’ll have to work around? I want to make sure you can still complete your other school work.
And Question three: What creature would you like to work with most? I can’t guarantee you will work with them, but it will help me better assess where you could help.”

Lawrence had seen Evelyn play Quidditch so he knew she was involved in at least one extra-curricular, but he wanted to make sure he didn’t overwork her or that he’d have an absentee helper, thus the second question. But he figured it would be a good one to add to anyone coming to be an assistant. It would help him plan how to use them better, especially if they were going to help him with creatures during classes.
41 Lawrence Marsh ...like a delousing? 1462 Lawrence Marsh 0 5

Evelyn Stones

May 21, 2020 3:59 PM

Exactly like delousing. by Evelyn Stones

Evelyn smirked a little, amused by Professor Marsh being so much in the habit of playing with his hair that he did so even now that it was short. She followed him to his office and nodded in acceptance of the process of answering three questions. It felt a little bit like a job interview she supposed, and that was fun. Good practice if nothing else.

"Yes, I can do manual labor," she smiled. "I . . . am sort of small? Like I know I'm not the strongest student at Sonora, but I work hard and I workout, so I'm stronger than I look. I've got good endurance." Wasn't that the truth.

The second question was harder, and she counted them off on her hands. "I'm taking some elective classes, including astronomy which is at night. I'm hoping to be on the Quidditch team, and I am in the game club, and the dueling club, and I'm co-leading the gardening club, and I have private lessons with the defense professor once a week or two weeks and occasional private lessons with Professor Wright." Wow, that was a lot of fingers. "But this matters to me," she promised. "I want to make time for this, and I can on the weekends or evenings that aren't free, or between classes."

The third question was the best one and she smiled but only for a moment because this required some serious thinking. "I really like bowtruckles," she said. "But also big animals. Dragons of course. I'd also really like to get better with boggarts."
22 Evelyn Stones Exactly like delousing. 1422 0 5

Lawrence Marsh

May 22, 2020 11:25 AM

Even though I may be hairy, I'm not an ape. So maybe, take a shower? by Lawrence Marsh

Lawrence tilted his head to the side looking at Evelyn. She said she was small, and she was, well, smaller than him, but that didn’t have anything to do with manual labor. The prairie elves were smaller than most humans, and they were the best manual laborers around and usually massively overlooked. That could be a help in some ways as well. Lawrence nodded.

“Endurance is key to many things Evenlyn. It is an often overlooked trait for those who succeed where all others have faltered.”

Lawrence raised his eyebrows at the list of things Evelyn was doing. It was varied to a large degree, and Lawrence couldn’t figure out the main point of commonality other than possibly getting rid of energy. Was this overloading common amongst all Pecaris? That seemed more like a Aladren characteristic maybe. Also two different teachers giving private lessons. Part of Lawrence was a bit hurt that he hadn’t been asked in his two years to give private lessons. Then again, he worried about why that might be necessary and shook it off.

“Noted. I do need help in the evenings and weekends as well. Though, I will check with your teachers to make sure you are keeping up with your studies and private lessons.”

Lawrence gave a smirk at the beginning of the last answer. Bowtruckles. You either loved them or hated them. They could be gentle to those who were gentle to them or they could turn and be… mean wasn’t the right word, protective. When you were a small creature you were protective of yourself, of your family, of your home. This would showcase itself in one of three ways you froze in the hopes of disappearing, you ran really fast, or you were a ferocious fighter. Bowtruckles would try the first and if that failed, would often turn to the last option. The second not being as viable of an option. Dragons, everyone loved Dragons, but then few ever dealt with them close up. But Dragons were one of the few creatures that sparked the imaginations of even those born and bred in the Wizarding world. If Lawrence remembered correctly, Evelyn was sort of raised in this world. He couldn’t remember much about her home life, but it didn’t matter really. Still the last animal held up Lawrence’s breath in his throat.

He could feel his heartbeat in his ears and could feel his body slow down. He closed his eyes as he knew they were tunnel visioning. He swallowed deeply.

“We don’t have those here Evelyn. At least, not under my care. Have you had to deal with them often?”

If she had, then she had more endurance than Lawrence. He’d only had to deal with a bogarts cousin. And once at that. It left him scared in a way that wasn’t as apparent as his or Mz. Stones arms. He slowly reopened his eyes, having regained control of his heart beat and lowering the adrenaline. He took a deep breath and let his quill finish its last points on the paper. He’d decided, no matter the answer he was going to have a talk with the more interesting Professor Brooding-Hawthorne, just to make sure.
41 Lawrence Marsh Even though I may be hairy, I'm not an ape. So maybe, take a shower? 1462 0 5

Evelyn Stones

May 22, 2020 1:18 PM

Ah, yes, sir. by Evelyn Stones

Evelyn beamed up at Professor Marsh when he spoke of endurance so kindly. She had rather few real positive traits but she thought that endurance - both in the physical and emotional sense - was undeniably one she possessed. It was nice to have that recognised. Professor Marsh needing help on evenings and weekends drew a determined nod from Evelyn, who understood the need for checking in with other professors even though she wasn't a big fan. Professor Wright, she thought, would have more trouble than Professor Hawthorne, since their lessons were more private in nature. Still, she wasn't too worried about anyone sharing information she didn't want them to, and if they did it was probably because they needed to. Although she was a bit amused to imagine Professor Wright passing over a report card that talked about how well she'd been meditating recently.

Then something went wrong. Evelyn couldn't describe it and she wasn't exactly sure what it was she was seeing or feeling to make her so sure, but she definitely was sure that Professor Marsh was remembering something the way Evelyn did sometimes. When people said the wrong words or brought up the wrong thing or there was a smell in the room that reminded her of a different room and a different smell. She wanted so badly to ask. She wanted to know that she could grow up and be something as successful as a professor, even if she wasn't sure how to let go of the things she'd lived yet. She'd never seen adults get that look in their eye before, and it made her think that maybe she could be an adult, even if that look didn't leave her eye for a while yet.

"We work with them in intermediate Defense Against the Dark Arts," she said quietly, searching Professor Marsh' face for anything to give her an in to ask a question she knew she probably wouldn't get to ask. "I don't imagine that I'll face a lot of them after graduation but . . . my magic has had a habit of failing me when I've been afraid. Professor Brooding-Hawthorne is helping me work on that, but defending against creatures and caring for them have some overlap, so I thought I'd bring it up here too." She blushed nervously in realising that she probably couldn't ask him questions but he could ask her. That was the nature of such relationships as professor-student; she was expected to answer in one way or another, and he was not. "I think that I'll be afraid more often then I'll face boggarts," she said a little more quietly.
22 Evelyn Stones Ah, yes, sir. 1422 0 5