Coach Amelia Pierce
June 10, 2011 7:22 PM
Flying Lessons for First Years by Coach Amelia Pierce
In her 'Quidditch Coach' hat, Amelia Pierce was only responsible for teaching one class: Flying Lessons, which was given only to first years (though older students could attend if they wanted to and signed up in advance). Previously, she'd just enjoyed the extra free time that full professors did not have. Now, as Deputy Head, she'd be filling some of those hours with administration work, but mostly she was just glad she didn't have to juggle the extra load with a full schedule of classes plus grading.It was generally a popular class among the kids because there were no homework assignments or tests, and half the class was allowed to play broom tag or a pick-up game of Quidditch for most of it while the true beginners were given basic lessons. The rest were only expected to participate to the best of their ability.
As long as everyone spent the entire period sitting on a broom in the air and at least attempting to do as instructed, they passed. It was not a difficult class by any stretch of the imagination. The final exam was flying from one end of the pitch to the other and back without crashing. That got an A. If they could do in under ten minutes it was an E. Under five earned an O. Most kids earned Es and Os in her class.
"Hello," she greeted her new class of first years once they seemed to have stopped trickling in. She allowed for 'getting lost time' the first week, but she'd dock points for poor punctuality later. She was Head of Crotalus and now the Deputy Headmistress; it was practically in her job description to be a stickler for rules. "My name is Coach Pierce. I will be your flying instructor this year."
"Now, I know most of you will not view this as a 'real' class, but I can and will take House Points and assign detention if I catch any of you messing around, and I will catch you if you do. I expect you to show up on time. I expect you to behave and show each other respect. I will not tolerate insults or taunting of any form. I expect everyone to try their best." Unfortunately, she could longer assert that there would be no exceptions because this year there was. She had been involved in a debate-by-owl over the summer about whether or not one of the new students was medically capable of her class, and it was one she had ended up losing once the number of medical professionals willing to assert otherwise overwhelmed her argument that nobody had ever been seriously harmed by hovering two feet over the ground. "For those of you with parents who support WAIL, I assure you, they will not disown you for hovering on a broom and flying across the pitch."
She took a breath, and used the short pause to look around the group to make sure they were still listening. "That said, I am aware some of you already know how to fly. I offer those students the priviledge of forgoing the basic lessons and doing whatever you like so long as you are on your broom and flying for the duration of the lesson. I have Quaffles and other muggle varieties of balls available for your use. Later, once I know I can trust you, I'll allow bludgers and Snitches. If you need anything else, let me know and I'll see what I can do."
She waited a moment to let them try to imagine what other equipment they might need for more creative flying games, then added, "Just remember, this is a priviledge and if I have any problems with you fighting amongst yourselves or interferring with my lessons, you will all be down here hovering five feet over the ground with the beginners."
With that threat leveled, she expected not to have any problems with the experienced kids. "Now I'm going to call roll, and then anyone who feels they do not need basic instruction may go play. Please raise your hand and say 'here' when I call your name. Adams, Skipper." She went through the list, marking attendance, and then put away her clipboard. "Okay, that's it. If I didn't call your name, let me know. Experienced fliers, you may take to the air. School brooms are over there, if you don't have your own."
She gave a few seconds for unnamed students to make themselves known and for the fliers to get out of the way. "Everyone else, line up here." Her wand flicked out and a white line appeared in the grass. "If you have your own broom put it down beside you. To your right if you're right-handed, to your left if you're left-handed. Everyone else, just stand in front of the line."
Once they did that, Amelia started distributing brooms to those who didn't have one yet. "Put it to your right if you're right-handed, to the left if you're left-handed," she repeated as she moved down the line. Once they all had brooms beside them, she instructed, "Now hold your wand hand out over your broom, like this," she stepped over her own broom, lying in the grass, so that it was to her right. She held out her right hand over it. "Palm down. Now, in a firm voice, like if you're ordering a dog to sit, tell it to come to your hand by saying 'up' - Up!" she said, louder, in demonstration, and her broom leapt up directly into her hand.
"I'd like you all to try that. You may need to try it a couple of times to get it to work. Once it's in your hand, just swing one leg over it like this," she demonstrated climbing onto the broom, "and just hover there for a bit. Try to keep steady and not drift too much. Raise your hand if you have a question or a problem. Barring too many of those, I'll show you how to manuever once everybody gets into a hover."
OOC: Hello and welcome to Sonora. Your character earns points for their House by participating in classes, so be sure to follow the posting rules. Long quality posts earn the most points. Have fun!
Subthreads: Indifferent by Nora Dobson with Perdita Rothens
Flying on brooms...Like real witches! by Katrina (Kitty) McLevy - Aladren with Dusk Nysell [Pecari], Kitty
I'm not putting that between my legs by Linus Macaulay with Sullivan Quincy, Linus
I'm flying, but feel like I'm walking a high wire by Paul Bennett with Solomon Asa Davies {Teppenpaw}, Paul
Woo-hooo!! (Tag Coach Pierce!) by Jhonice Trevear with Coach Amelia Pierce
Ladies do not fly by Sally Manger [Aladren] with Mellie Goodwin, Pecari, Sally
E.T. Fly Home by Bosko, Charity with Michael Grosvenor, Cherry Bosko, Amelia Pierce
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Coach Amelia Pierce
Flying Lessons for First Years
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Coach Amelia Pierce
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Nora Dobson
June 11, 2011 7:48 PM
Indifferent by Nora Dobson
When Nora had found out that the first class she would attend at Sonora was Flying Lessons, she was extremely disappointed. For one thing, she knew all she had any desire to about the subject. Nora's parents were not too strict and had let her fly before but it really did not interest her very much. The first year generally preferred more intellectual topics and even reading about broom types or the mechanics of flying did not interest her much.Nor was she interested in playing Quidditch in the least. She didn't mind watching a game here and there but generally Nora preferred things that were based on intelligence not athleticism. The only mildly interesting thing regarding Quidditch or flying was the utterly ridiculous idea that it made girls into lesbians. The psychology behind those who started WAIL was fascinating as was the psychology of those who wanted to play but other than that Nora had no use for the topic.
The Aladren would much rather be studying just about any other subject. Something that might be useful to her or at least interesting. She would much rather learn out to do even the simplest transfiguration then fly.Nora would not need it for transportation when there were portkeys and floo powder and apparation.
She listened to the speech given by Coach Pierce and debated with herself internally. Nora was certain she would be capable of getting her broom up quickly, she knew what to do and was not really a beginner. Nor did she really care to make herself look stupid by acting like one even though this was not an academic class and Nora did not care about doing more than passing it.
On the other hand, the first year did not really want to play Quidditch or any form of it. To her, there seemed to be something slightly foolish about playing the game. Who with their intelligence or sanity in tact would consider a game where you had metal balls whacked at you fun ? Though it could be entertaining to watch and if there weren't people stupid and/or crazy enough to want to play, those who didn't wouldn't have that form of entertainment.
Right now, however, Nora supposed she could fly just enough to pass the class even though she would have rather spent it getting to know her classmates better or at the very least observing them. Nora would do the lesson but she was not going to be forced to play Quidditch when given an option not to and if Coach Pierce had a problem with her not putting forth quite the effort that she could have just because she didn't happen to enjoy playing the game and valued her life, Nora would go ahead and-much as she really did not want to and did not want it to come to that-call her on it.
Once she had grabbed a broom and was hovering in the air, the Aladren turned to her nearest classmate. "Hey, I'm Nora." She introduced herself. Nora might not have had the best attitude in the world when it came to flying lessons but she wasn't completely unfriendly.
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Nora Dobson
Indifferent
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Perdita Rothens
June 12, 2011 5:07 PM
Excited. by Perdita Rothens
Alright, so it didn't involve textbooks and parchment, but was that so bad? Perdita approached the pitch. Sure, she's never flown before, well, excluding airplanes, and it didn't involve essays and whatnot, but it could be really exciting. Learning to fly would be something different. And no matter what the class, Perdita was always aiming to excel.Now, to actually pull it off was a whole other matter. She wanted to fly, even if it was only a few feet off the ground, so she could tell her father in a letter. Perdita had promised him that she would tell him everything, and of course, explain it to her best ability. Perdita pursed her lips.
She stood next to her broom and commanded, "Up!" It flew into her hand. Perdita breathed a sigh of relief. Thank Merlin. She would have been so embarrassed if she had failed. Perdita climbed on top of the broom, almost falling, and held on tight as she rose into the air.
"Hey, I'm Nora." Perdita turned to the girl and smiled brightly.
"Hello! I'm Perdita, pleasure to meet you."
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Perdita Rothens
Excited.
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Perdita Rothens
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Nora
June 15, 2011 3:37 PM
Good for you by Nora
Nora couldn't help but laugh a bit. She hadn't apparently paid attention to whom she was next to. Perdita was one of her roommates. "I think we've met." Nora replied, grinning. "But nice to meet you again." She really couldn't see anything wrong with Perdita thus far.By which she meant nothing wrong as in the "irritating, I don't want to live with this person for seven years" sense rather than in the "there is something psychologically wrong with her and she is fascinating" sense. Nora found human psychology extremely interesting. What made a person what they were? Sometimes it was easy to figure out. Like her uncle drank a lot because Nora's grandfather had been cruel to him when he was younger. That was simple. Grandfather had been less cruel to her mother and favored Uncle Oliver, therefore, they did not drink so much. Simple cause and effect.
On the other hand, there were things that were not so clear, like why Grandfather had gone so evil to begin with. Nobody else seemed that evil, at least in Nora's immediate family. Uncle Oliver was the very picture of the kind of pureblood wizard that made purebloods look bad and his son, Oliver the Second, was a major brat but they weren't actually evil. Though Nora supposed Little Oliver could end up that way, maybe it was too soon to tell with him, as he was fairly young. It would be interesting to see how he developed.
As for her roommate, Nora hoped Perdita would both be pleasant to be around and at least relatively quirky. She might like the other Aladren if she wasn't the latter but it wouldn't make her as interesting from a learning point.
"So, how are you liking flying so far?" Nora asked. "Personally, I can't wait to get to the real subjects. Like Potions and Transfiguration. That's where you get to learn real magic. The kind that you need for everyday life." One never ever really needed flying. Other forms of transportation were so much more convenient.
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Nora
Good for you
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Perdita
June 16, 2011 9:58 PM
Depends. I just may have a heart attack from all of it. by Perdita
"True," Perdita replied, wobbling a little in the air. She was only two feet from the ground but she still didn't want to fall. "It's definitely not something you can learn from a book, but I think that is what makes it fascinating. It's something that relies purely on instincts. Besides, I never miss the chance to excel."Which was true. Perdita loved being above the norm in class averages, she loved pursuing something and then accomplishing it. It wasn't that she was afraid of failure, she understood that in order to learn one had to, naturally, fail and learn from their mistakes. A person doesn't generally get it right the first go around. To be sure, Perdita didn't want to fail. Her father would be rather disappointed if she did. And Perdita hated disappointing her father. He was all she had left.
"But, from what I have read, the theory is simplistic enough." Perdita wobbled again and dared to go a little higher. Three feet from the ground. Well, she wouldn't gain a neck injury, that was for sure. "Putting it into practice is a whole other matter entirely. And I am not willing to try it, honestly."
She glanced at Nora and smiled. "What class are you looking forward to? Personally I want to try my hand at Potions. It's a bit like cooking, or so I've read, and I simply love cooking. Only, I don't think the potions will taste pleasant."
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Perdita
Depends. I just may have a heart attack from all of it.
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Perdita
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Nora
June 18, 2011 3:47 PM
That would be bad by Nora
Nora nodded. She was all for doing her best in classes though she wasn't thrilled with having to put forth the effort in such a trivial, useless, non-academic like flying. "Personally, I prefer the stuff that you can learn from a book. Flying doesn't do much for me." There was also something to be said for what one could observe about a person and their behavior in a situation but Nora kept this to herself. Her mother had told her that it was rude and off-putting to mention such a thing."Of course, it's pretty much nothing new to me. I only stayed with the beginners because I don't care to play Quidditch." Nora continued. She had no use for the game, and on the other hand, did have use for the multitude of body parts that could be injured while playing. "My cousin Hope said the games here are brutal and my other cousin, Hope's sister, Kaylie got hit in the back with a bludger when she played. Not that I see that happening during this lesson."
She smiled when Perdita said she wasn't interested in putting the theory of flying further into practice. "You really don't need to." Nora assured her roommate. "There are so many better ways to travel using magic. Like Apparation and the Floo network. Those are much more convenient. Broom riding is impractical long distances."
The Aladren continued. "Transfiguration." Those in her family had a natural tendency towards it, her uncle Marshall was especially amazing at it, as Grandfather's magical power combined in him with Grandmother Rosemary's genetics to make him a prodigy. Nora didn't expect to be quite as good as him, but she expected to do well at it nonetheless.
"Potions sounds interesting too, though." She laughed. "And they don't all taste pleasant, but then, neither do all foods. I've never cooked a thing in my life and I can assure you, if I made something, it would not taste good. We have house elves for cooking and cleaning." Nora was starting to assume that Perdita might be a muggleborn. Not that the first year had a problem with that. Maybe she could learn something about them that way. Besides, Perdita seemed pleasant enough and they seemed to have a bit in common.
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Nora
That would be bad
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Perdita
June 23, 2011 8:29 AM
Terrible, so it's a good thing I wont be. by Perdita
Perdita nodded in understanding. House elves. She had read about them. She couldn't understand why someone would want to serve people like house elves did, but it was an entirely different culture and world. House elves were different from humans, so obviously they didn't have a human's way of thinking. Which was likely a good thing, because humans could be terrible people sometimes. Perdita shook her head. Imagine if House elves did have a human's psyche. There would be revolts and wars, because from what Perdita understood, House Elves had a sort of magic that wasn't available to wizards and witches. They could apparate and disapparate wherever they pleased; wards couldn't stop them. It would be much like the Goblin Wars she read in the history books in the library. Terrible stuff.Having house elves would make chores at home so much easier though. She could cook fairly well, or at least so her father told her, but Perdita knew having a house elf would help with mundane things that she hated. Like cleaning her room. Perdita hated it so much she kept it spick and span just so she wouldn't have to clean it. Everything had a place in her room. Honestly though, if they weren't in their proper place she started to panic. Her father had misplaced a book of hers once and Perdita almost had a mental break down. It hadn't been pleasant. At all.
"We don't have house elves, unfortunately, though I'm sure they make things so much simpler at home." Perdita told Nora. "My father is a muggle and wouldn't know what to do with it, and probably wouldn't understand that it wouldn't be like having a maid or cook. Or the clothes thing. I only know so much about them because I read about them. I tried reading everything I could on the magical world before coming to Sonora, so I wouldn't feel left out." Perdita admitted.
She hadn't told anyone that before. She didn't like to feel different. She hated it, actually. The children at her muggle school had despised her because of her intelligence and supposed swotty attitude. She'd been different. But an entire knew world had been opened up for her when she had arrived to Sonora, a world of magic and people just like her. Aladren, especially. People who liked books and classes and learning. She almost felt at home.
"What is having a magical family like?" Perdita asked the girl. "If you don't mind my asking, I don't mean to be too forward- I can get a bit like that sometimes. When I'm nervous, I mean."
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Perdita
Terrible, so it's a good thing I wont be.
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Perdita
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Nora
June 25, 2011 10:03 PM
Indeed by Nora
"Understandable." Nora replied. Who wanted to be left out? She herself didn't really know what it was like but she had heard that Nina had some problems with it because her roommates played Quidditch and Nina wasn't allowed to. It had a lot to do with why Nora's once outgoing and spirited cousin had become more subdued over time.Being left out and/or feeling rejected could have quite an impact on someone's life. Nora's cousin Adam had felt rejected at Sonora and now he was pretty bitter about the experience. Her grandfather had rejected her uncle, and her uncle was a drunk. So certainly, Nora could understand why Perdita would not want to be rejected.
Of course, whether or not Perdita would actually be left out depended more on the make-up of the class rather than not knowing much about magic. Chelsea had had the good fortune to be part of a class full of people just like her whereas Nina, while in a class with similar people was left out simply because she wasn't on the Quidditch team. "If our class has a lot of others with non-magical backgrounds, I doubt you'll be the odd one out." Nora assured her roommate.
"Besides," The first year continued. "If you like reading," or are a complete psycho on the Quidditch Pitch "you should fit right into Aladren." Nora thought she and Perdita and possibly Sally would get along fairly well. Kitty was the one who was different. She'd probably fit in pretty well with the Pecaris though if the ones in their class proved to be like the house stereotype. "I personally love to read all kinds of things, fiction and non-fiction."
"It's all right, there's no reason to be nervous." Nora told Perdita. She thought for a moment. "Well, I mean, I don't know what it's like to not have a magical family, so I don't really know what the differences are but there are some defininite things that are different in magical society as a whole. Purebloods-which are those from completely magical backgrounds-tend to introduce themselves very properly. I sort of forgot to, but I'm supposed to introduce myself as Nora Dobson from the South Dakota Dobsons. We have lessons in not just academic subjects but in etiquette and such as well prior to coming to school at eleven. Wealthier families tend to use house elves for menial tasks rather than doing them themselves but the poorer families can still use cleaning charms."
Nora continued. "I suppose though it just depends on the family. Not every magical family is alike, just like I'm sure not every muggle family is alike. It sort of depends on who is in the family." She paused. "Also, most prominent wizarding families tend to be headed by a patriarch, who tends to generally be the oldest male in the family."
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Nora
Indeed
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Nora
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