Toil and trouble on Potions

Isis Carter-Xavier

January 09, 2023 4:34 PM

Mix and match [Beginners] by Isis Carter-Xavier

It was always a bit fun, really, to pop up in a classroom as a surprise to the class. It had certainly been a surprise to her, having been asked to fill in for Mary with legendary short-notice, but Isis made haste and set off towards the Potions classroom nonetheless. She supposed it was the nature of her position, and why the school kept a substitute on-hand and at the ready, but she definitely would have still preferred a little more notice. Of course, her coworkers could hardly control when an illness or personal conflict arose - and the nature of their scheduling issues were none of her concern - but if they could at least keep her in the loop, it was appreciated. A brief note by owl at the first sign of the sniffles, or something of the lot.

And so, minus a few stragglers who were likely first years still learning their way about the school, Isis was nearly last to arrive for Beginning Potions on that day.

“Sorry about that, class,” she said sincerely. “Last minute changes, so you’ve got me today.” Isis strode up to the professor’s desk and sat her messenger bag down. It was full of hastily made activities for the day’s lesson, which a flick of her wand brought out and slowly began to distribute.

“For those of you who don’t know me,” she added, aimed toward any first years outside Pecari, “My name is Professor Isis Carter-Xavier, and I am the resident substitute professor. Hope you don’t mind a day with me.”

“Currently levitating your way is an activity regarding potions ingredients and their most notable creations. Please draw a line and match each ingredient on the left to the correct potion on the right. You may work in pairs or small groups and use your textbook.” Although she wasn’t sure how necessary that was, if they’d been paying attention the first couple of lessons. Maybe the curriculum had changed, but from what she remembered Sophie O’Malley blathering on about, ingredients were the most fundamental step and often the topic for the early school year. “Let me know if you have any questions.”

Subthreads:

I hate you by Quillan Arcadius with Charlotte O'Malley

Toil and trouble by Leo Lyons with Nausicaa Scapetello

A rose by any other name would smell better than that! by Donovan Peters with Ida Stanford

*scowls* by Olaf Brockert

12 Isis Carter-Xavier Mix and match [Beginners] 31 1 5

Quillan Arcadius

January 10, 2023 3:13 PM

I hate you by Quillan Arcadius

Quillan had long suspected that potions would be a challenge. It was the class most likely to involve live reading, with serious consequences for messing it up. He had reviewed several basic beginner potions at home, having his tutor read the recipes and acting out the motions to try to get it into his head. His reading was much better when the material was familiar, and so he had familiarised himself, as best he could. He had also come up with a back up plan for the first time he was faced with an unfamiliar set of instructions. Step one, find a sweet-looking girl (he had his eyes in particular on the Teppenpaws). Step two, pretend to have forgotten his reading glasses. Step three, bemoan the likelihood of ending up with headache if forced to squint at a book over a steaming cauldron, and offer services in dealing with any of the squishy and unpleasant bits in exchange for her calling out each step. It was a solid plan, in which everything he claimed would seem quite reasonable, and he would get to offer something in return.

Professor Carter-Xavier was determined to crush all that careful preparation.

Quillan was a polite child, and did not frown - though he wished several kinds of death and papercuts on her - as she levitated the hated worksheet towards him. At least it was a limited number of words. Not like reading and essay or some such. And potions and their ingredients tended to have fairly unique names. And for the ingredients, there were pictures. Not that any of this stopped him feeling sick with worry as the letters started sliding about on the page. If she had asked him out loud, he would have known every single one. He might even have been able to do some of them without needing a multiple choice. But this? This should have been easy. The shame of the fact that it wasn't crept up his neck, making him itch.

He left his reading glasses in his bag, so that he still had an excuse for frowning at the paper in front of him. Would it cover him if he was forced to read to a peer? He didn't actually know how bad eyesight worked and how much it would trip a person up in a situation like this - his own eyesight was perfect, it was when the letters got to his brain that they got blurry. It was safer not to find out. That meant not talking to his neighbours, as talk would inevitably turn to their work, and him not being able to answer quickly enough, or worse still, making a mistake. He resented the quiet chatter that was breaking out around him, as other people got to do this as a social thing. He wanted to chat and make friends, but he was alone in a sea of letters. He had to not panic about them drowning him. It all got worse if he panicked. He joined the mandrake root to Pepper-Up Potion, because even he could pick the word 'up' out, and consigned himself to a miserable time.

He could only hope it didn't get worse. He was sure the worksheet wouldn't take all lesson, and prayed it was just busy work to keep them settled whilst she got something more hands-on ready...

OOC: Again, I am very open to social interaction even though he isn't

13 Quillan Arcadius I hate you 1570 0 5

Charlotte O'Malley

January 15, 2023 8:36 AM

Why? What did I do? by Charlotte O'Malley

Charlotte was looking forward to Potions. Her mom was an excellent potioneer and had even once taught the class here at Sonora. Plus, as she was more like her dad than her mom, although not as much as Wally, Charlotte liked to help brew potions with her as it was something they could do together and bond, and even doing them in class made her feel closer to Mom.

And, of course, thinking about her mother made her think about the new baby, which the Teppenpaw could not be happier about. She was so excited about having a younger sibling, she would really like a baby sister, but she would love a little brother just as much. Either way, Charlotte hoped they would be close despite the age difference. She was optimistic about it though. After all, her brothers were six years older than her and she was close to them and her dad was close to Aunt Peyton, and there was an even greater age difference between them than there would be between Charlotte and the new baby. She could not wait to help take care of her new sibling.

Anyway, when it came to Potions, the Teppenpaw felt like she had a leg up. Not that she cared about being the best in class or anything but it was nice to feel like she was going to do well in something. It was the same with Transfiguration.

Also, Charlotte really liked to create things, whether it be a potion, a delicious meal or desert or a craft. She both enjoyed the process and the result. There was just something special about something you created.So, she was really overall looking forward to this class.

However, she was admittedly a bit disappointed by their assignment today. A worksheet like that would be terribly easy for her, which was not a bad thing but she had really hoped to do some actual brewing. Which was much more fun and satisfying to do than a worksheet.

Still, the Teppenpaw understood that not everyone came from the same background in the subject, even those who’d been raised in magical households. Not everyone grew up assisting their expert potioneer mom. Besides, Mom had always said that ingredients were the most fundamental step. So, even though Charlotte knew her ingredients and had for some time, she understood why this assignment was important for others.

However, it still meant that the first year completed the worksheet pretty quickly. She had brought a book with her but honestly, she would rather try to make a new friend. So, she turned to the boy next to her. “Hi, I’m Charlotte O’Malley, of the Colorado O’Malleys.” Still wondered if she was supposed to say Boston O’Malleys.

11 Charlotte O'Malley Why? What did I do? 1573 0 5

Quillan Arcadius

January 17, 2023 1:11 AM

No. Nonono. Nothing. Not you. by Quillan Arcadius

Quillan was using every single strategy Ms. Faulk had given him - looking for short, easy, familiar words, or identifying the starting sound and thinking of as many examples as he could in order to predict or make intelligent guesses. He had not yet resorted to any of his own self-devised strategies, such as guessing wildly or accidentally setting the material on fire through sheer frustration. He was glad of the latter, which would have brought the wrong kind of attention to him, but was getting more and more tempted by the former. Ms. Faulk's strategies were good. He had a strategic brain. He could beat the thing if given time. But he only had as long as it took for him to not stand out. Then he might as well stab in the dark or set it on fire because he'd already be attracting bad attention. He was about halfway through the worksheet when the person next to him spoke

"Quillan Arcadius of the Illinois Arcadiuses," he returned her greeting, with a polite incline of the head. He had noticed Charlotte O'Malley around, of course, and been keen to make her acquaintance. He only wished it could have happened under better circumstances, or ones that were slightly more flattering to him than losing a battle against a piece of paper. The last thing he wanted was to lose face in front of someone proper. He was torn between the impulse to do his classwork (because he was an Aladren and a good student) and to make small talk with Ms. O'Malley (because she was pretty and the worksheet was torture). He thought it might be terribly rude not to chitchat at all, which easily tipped the scales in the direction he was already favouring.

"How's Teppenpaw treating you?" he asked.

13 Quillan Arcadius No. Nonono. Nothing. Not you. 1570 0 5

Leo Lyons

January 21, 2023 11:44 PM

Toil and trouble by Leo Lyons

Leo liked school so far. The classes weren't terribly difficult, everyone was decently friendly-even those students that weren't in Teppenpaw- and Donovan had signed up to try out for Chaser, just like Leo. Leo may have been nervous when he was first settling in, but the longer he was at Sonora, the more he was looking forward to the upper grades. He thought he might look very handsome indeed with a shiny Prefect badge on his robes.

As much as he enjoyed his classes, Potions was one of his least favorite. So far all they had done was talk about ingredients and safety. While Leo understood the need to know how to handle emergency spills, the information wouldn't actually come in handy until they actually started brewing. The classroom was windowless, and although Professor Brooding had explained straight off the bat that the dimness helped preserve the ingredients within, it felt mildly claustrophobic to Leo. He'd at least like to gaze at the sky while he daydreamed, for goodness sake.

He and Donovan normally sat together, playing rock, paper, scissors under their desks in the very back row, but today someone else had taken their spots, so the dynamic duo had found themselves separated. When the worksheets had been handed out, Leo had tried to telepathically communicate to the back of Donovan's head how boring he thought this class was, but it didn't work. Pressing his lips together in a 'guess-I'm-stuck-with-it' sort of way, he started the matching exercise.

As he worked through, Leo realized just how little he'd been paying attention in this class. He only knew half of the answers, and those were iffy at best. Panicking, he looked to his neighbor to see if he was the only one struggling.

"Say," he said, trying to play it cool, "Did you get the Moondew one yet? I'm stuck."

64 Leo Lyons Toil and trouble 1568 0 5

Nausicaa Scapetello

January 22, 2023 10:56 AM

What is going on here? by Nausicaa Scapetello

Nausicaa was really, really beginning to downright despise these 'beginner' classes. As far as she was concerned, their target did not seem to be 'beginner' but 'remedial'. How much more basic could you possibly get for some of these topics? It was downright infuriating and insulting. The answer was always along the lines of 'the Muggleborn don't know these things.' Well in her opinion, but muggleborn should then have their own remedial class that didn't slow down everyone that already knew what they were doing... or maybe have an entire separate school somewhere that catered entirely to the muggleborns. Last year was bad enough, but she could tolerate it, but now to do it all over again? Ridiculous! On the plus side, it did at least give her time to work on her real mission at the school since any out of class work she had she could do in her sleep.

Professor Brooding-Hawthorne was one of those types of people that Nausicaa could hardly stand to begin with. The woman seemed to be to concerned with things that didn't really matter; where her potion ingredients came from, what alternate ingredients could be used for people who thought those creatures actually mattered, all that sort of nonsense. It was almost a relief to see that she wasn't in class today. Although, what would happen if the professor never arrived for class? How long before they were allowed to simply leave and pursue other objectives? Or were they supposed to sit here and use the time like a study hall? Well, she could do that better in the library.

When the substitute teacher arrived at the absolute last moment, she groaned internally. So close to actually being productive. Professor Carter-Xavier (what did these women have with the hyphenated names? It was a ridiculous practice that couldn't work beyond a generation or two before you had names like Susan Carter-Xavier-Brooding-Hawthorne-Maxwell-Smith-Brockert-Jones.) was head of Pecari and any association with that house was not a good sign. Her tardiness and apparent unpreparedness did little to dissuade Nausicaa's opinion of the house or any of those associated with it.

Nausicaa nearly went livid when she heard the substitute's activity for the day. They were drawing lines between pictures? For a lesson? It took all of her considerable willpower and poise to not gather her things and walk out of the classroom to do actual work. Oh, she certainly had questions for the 'Professor', but none that she was actually willing to voice just yet and risk loosing any level of influence she may have gained among the staff or students. So she did her best to keep her calm and proper facade in place.

The paper landed in front of her and she glared at it for a moment. How simplistic could you get? They were even allowed to consult their books for this? Oh what a relief, she thought sarcastically to herself. A moment later and a few quick strokes of her quill, she had connected the pictures and completed the assignment. She could have done this when she was eight, her tutors had covered potion making basics long ago. Once that was done, she pulled out her potion book to review brewing techniques that they had touched on at the end of last year and had better get to soon this year.

Nausicca was disturbed by the boy next to her. Right, she had sat here in theory, to try talking to yet another one of the first year boys. She wanted to see if he would be a potential valuable asset, or someone to be avoided. From the sound of his question, he may fall into the latter category but there was always the chance he might be good for something other than potions. "Wiggenweld Potion" she responded casually while flipping to the next page of her book and not looking up from it. It was used for other things as well, but they didn't show up on the sheet.

While still not looking at the boy, Nausicaa asked an innocent question, "What do you think of this class so far?"

2 Nausicaa Scapetello What is going on here? 1561 0 5

Leo Lyons

January 22, 2023 10:26 PM

Nothing interesting by Leo Lyons

The girl beside him didn't even look up from her book to answer him. Nausicaa Scapetello; one of the second year students. Leo noticed that her paper was all filled out already. He rolled his eyes. Of course he would end up next to a know-it-all. He tried another telepathic message to Donovan, but Donovan just scratched his nose.

"I see where I've gone wrong," he told the girl, or rather, the side of the girl's head, "I had salamander blood down for the Wiggenweld, but I suppose that one is more 'crucially' used in the Strengthening Solution. My mistake."

There, now she might not think he was an idiot. He certainly wasn't going to ask her for any more help. He'd rather get every answer wrong on the dumb worksheet.

Just when he thought she was going to go back to ignoring him, she spoke.

What did he think of the class? In a word, boring. Leo squinted at her, trying to gauge what sort of answer Nausicaa was looking for. He could be blunt about it, but if she liked Potions, she might not take it well. On the other hand, it seemed like she was as disinterested as he was, although the fact that she apparently knew all the class material already might be the reason for that. Clearly, he could not use the same excuse.

"Truth be told," he said, picking up his page and fluttering it through the air, "I'm not much of a 'worksheet' guy. I want to actually make potions. It might hold my attention better. At least in Herbology we got to walk around while we filled out the paper."

Leo didn't know how his comments would land, but the corner of his mouth curled up to have said it aloud. This class sucked. In Flying, they actually got to ride broomsticks; in Charms and Transfiguration, they were practicing spells already; same for Defense Against the Dark Arts. The only class that the first years were still doing solely bookwork, was Potions.

Logically, he knew that the teacher had her reasons for not unleashing the first years on a bunch of volatile ingredients on day one, but Leo couldn't help but think that surely by now, she would be willing to risk a small cauldron explosion. Not that it was the sub's fault- judging by the way she was one of the last to reach the classroom, their regular professor had given her little warning. Still, Leo was impatient, and, sans Donovan, he was looking to gripe about it.

64 Leo Lyons Nothing interesting 1568 0 5

Nausicaa Scapetello

January 26, 2023 6:29 PM

I concur completely by Nausicaa Scapetello

Nausicaa largely ignored it as the boy tried to explain away his ignorance, it didn't help. While his response was somewhat reasonable, it betrayed his lack of examining the assignment in its entirety before beginning. She would have thought that was more of a Pecari trait, but anybody other than an Aladren would... she stopped herself mid-thought. How horrible, she was starting to identify with the structure this place has forced upon her. Yes, obviously the other houses were not Aladren, but the entire premise of anything at this school being worthwhile was not one she wanted to entertain. She got the best of a terrible situation, which was still terrible.

His fluttering of the paper caught her eye and she looked towards him, and he finally said something sensible. She allowed just the smallest bit of a smile for him. After all, one must do what one can to encourage good behavior. Although she really didn't needed reminded of that Herbalism assignment. "Quite right," She commented, "Making potions would be a much better use of our time here. However I might guess that the ones we would be allowed to brew would not be very interesting. But it would be much better than..." she shot her own worksheet a disgusted look, "these."

It seemed to her that he at least was dissatisfied and had little problem with voicing such opinions. That was something that she liked about him as well. Perhaps she could encourage that as well. After verifying that Professor Carter-Xavier was not nearby, Nausicaa decided to try an experiment. "I suppose this is what happens when you bring in the head of Pecari in to substitute. I'm sure, from the lateness of her arrival it was a last minute thing, but still... one would think that even the substitute would know a simple potion that us beginners could handle."

2 Nausicaa Scapetello I concur completely 1561 0 5

Leo Lyons

February 11, 2023 12:03 AM

Oh, really? by Leo Lyons

Nausicaa gave the barest hint of a smile as Leo was complaining, looking at him for the first time since he'd opened the conversation. She sat, perfectly poised, on the bench next to him as she confided her own disappointment with the curriculum. She was probably right in that beginners wouldn't be doing very interesting potions, if they were allowed at all. Still, Leo was glad he was in good company in finding Potions class...well, stifling. There wasn't even a window to look out of while you daydreamed about playing Quidditch. Something about preserving the light-sensitive ingredients that lined the shelves; it had been mentioned in one of the first classes.

What was the point of preserving them, if you weren't ever going to use them? Leo wondered. He nodded along with Nausicaa, the corner of his mouth lifting into a cheeky half-smile. Whenever things got too boring back home, he and Donovan would put a snake in the teacher's desk.

This is what happens when you bring the Head of Pecari in to substitute.

It was jarring to hear the prejudice come out in her voice, a sneaky backhanded insult so innocently spoken that Leo almost missed it. Smirk frozen in place on his face, Leo thought about how to react. His eyes flicked up to the back of Donovan's head. Donovan was in Pecari, and he was great. He was Leo's best friend. Through thick and thin and wild flying wagon rides that made you hurl. Why should it matter that he was in Pecari?

He could jump up and tell the professor, but that wouldn't accomplish anything besides hurting her feelings. He could argue with Nausicaa, but if Leo was being honest with himself, she was a little intimidating, and he wasn't entirely sure he would come out on top in a verbal fisticuff. Still, he couldn't let it pass without saying anything.

"I'm sure she has to follow the lesson plan," he said in defense of the professor, hoping it to be a reasonable enough statement to ward off an argument.

"Besides," he continued, "If we were making potions, it wouldn't give me the opportunity to do this."

With that, he pulled his wand out of his robes and, checking that the professor wasn't looking, covertly picked up the jar of pickled frogs from the shelf adjacent that had been staring at him this whole time. If Nausicaa was bored, he could stir up some excitement. And it wouldn't include putting other people down.

"Cover me," he murmured, although he didn't know if she could do it as well as Donovan could.

He knelt down beside the desk as though he was tying his shoe, hiding the jar beneath his robes as he struggled to crack the lid. The pungent smell made his eyes water, and he hoped it wouldn't spread too quickly through the classroom.

" Wingardium Leviosa! " he whispered, sending stinky frogs floating into the air in front of him. He hastily lifted them up to the ceiling, trying to spread them throughout the classroom evenly. Where the frogs touched the stone arches, they stuck, their tacky bodies lending them a natural adhesive. Leo quickly replaced the cap on the remaining frog liquid, shoving the jar into his satchel to dispose of later before taking his seat.

"And now," he said, picking up his worksheet and pretending to point something out on it to Nausicaa, "We wait."

OOC: I'm guessing they've got about a minute before frogs start raining down on the classroom.

64 Leo Lyons Oh, really? 1568 0 5

Nausicaa Scapetello

February 11, 2023 5:44 PM

You doubt me? by Nausicaa Scapetello

Nausicaa eyed Leo carefully, yet discretely as she watched his reaction to her experiment. He didn't miss it, as she thought he might, that was a good sign, at least he had some intelligence in that head of his. He froze however, she could almost see the cauldron in his mind bubbling away, trying to brew up the correct response.... or just let it go. He did not take the easy way out though and just let it go. His response was also in defense of the teacher whose class he had just been complaining about. Interesting, and a tad disappointing. She had definitely found that the prevailing attitude about the school was one of 'niceness'. Everyone seemed so concerned with being 'nice' and 'thoughtful' about each other that nothing else could get done. That is why this place was a stagnant mess with them stuck filling out childish worksheets as an excuse for a lesson. 'Nice' never got you anywhere.

One could not combat such a system directly. She knew that to do so would get that foolish person ostracized and unable to affect anything any more. So she just gave his response a hint of a smile, "Of course." He had been sorted into the nicest of the houses, so his reaction wasn't completely unexpected. She arched her eyebrows in curiosity as he continued. What was he doing? She was beginning to think talking to him in the first place had been a mistake.

In a flash he had something from the shelf and... Cover him? What sort of thing was that to ask of a proper young lady such as herself? Something of an indignant look crossed her face as he bent to his task with the jar he'd taken. Before she could do much else, his jar was open and she was hit with a ghastly smell and then he made foul smelling frogs float up to the ceiling! What was he doing? Based on the smile on his face, she figured he must be thinking this was a great way to liven up the class period. She quickly verified, thankfully that there was not a horrid frog directly over her own area and whatever his mischief was, it should affect her to much. She was getting the impression that this boy may not have been sorted correctly.

As far as she could tell, his plan did nothing but generate mischief. It would not advance their potion lesson at all. She was bored and unsatisfied with this lesson because they were not learning anything useful. He was apparently bored and unsatisfied with this lesson because it wasn't raining frogs. Nausicaa was beginning to have serious doubts about being able to work Leo into her plans. Not to mention his potential mental instability. Still... she couldn't resist, she just had to know. Was there more to this than chaos? Was there some grander scheme that she couldn't fathom? She doubted it, but... While appearing to read from her text, she asked the question quietly, "Are there more steps to this scheme of yours?"

2 Nausicaa Scapetello You doubt me? 1561 0 5

Leo Lyons

February 12, 2023 9:13 PM

Never, my liege! by Leo Lyons

His remark in defense of the teacher seemed to go over…well, it went over. It passed without much more than an affirmative from Nausicaa, however insincere it may have seemed. She didn’t smile much, he noticed, and when she did, it was only as much of a smile as was polite, although most of the rest of the time she had a look on her face like she was disgusted to be here.

Leo wondered why Nausicaa had chosen to sit next to him, if he was so terrible. Although, come to think of it, she sat with someone different almost every week. Doesn’t she have friends, he wondered. Considering it, maybe she didn’t. She wasn’t the friendliest person- the way she spoke reminded Leo of a princess-too good for all the ‘peasants’ she was surrounded by, always prim and proper and detached. She seemed very…political. Anyway, it was weird, the way she kept hanging around the first-year boys. Like she was trying to get them to worship her or something.

With that thought in mind, and the comment she had made about Pecari still swirling around in his brain, Leo devised a plan to see if she was as cool as she was pretending to be.

In his time at John Henry Elementary School, Leo had learned how to tell the people he wanted to hang out with, from the people he didn’t. The chill people were the ones who knew when you had done something, and kept their traps shut. The others would squeal. Jilly Anderson had taken the shed snakeskin he’d left in her desk and made a bracelet out of it. When Madison Tucker had gotten a dead mouse, though, she shrieked and carried on like she was dying and Leo had ended up in detention.

The disgusted look on Nausicaa’s face when he asked her to cover him left Leo wondering if she would turn out to be a tattletale, but she didn’t immediately stand up and shout, so he continued. He was sure any moment, the professor would turn around and find him floating frogs as quickly as possible up to the ceiling, but his luck held out a few more moments.

Once the deed was done, and he had made sure Nausicaa hadn’t had any of the stinky things directly above her, she asked him if there was more to his plan.

Well, yes, there was. But he wasn’t going to tell her it was a test of her .

“Watch everyone’s reactions,” he said, his quill moving meaninglessly across the parchment on his desk, “You can learn a lot by how people react to a shock. It might be quicker than trying to gauge people individually like you’ve been doing.”

And all it costs is a detention, he added to himself. There was a zero percent chance he was going to get away with this prank; his hands smelled like frogs.

What he’d said was true...ish. It was just a broader stroke of what he was doing with Nausicaa, really. He’d hazarded a guess about her intentions with the first-year boys. If he was wrong, it was easy enough to backtrack with a ‘misunderstanding’ line, but if he was right…he might just earn a little respect. And if he had her respect, maybe he could start trying to change her mind about Pecari.

As he smoothed his parchment across his workbench, he heard the slightly wet THWAP of the first frog dropping.

64 Leo Lyons Never, my liege! 1568 0 5

Donovan Peters

February 12, 2023 10:24 PM

A rose by any other name would smell better than that! by Donovan Peters

When Donovan walked into the Potions classroom, he was not prepared. He'd forgotten his satchel in his dormitory and didn't have time to go back for it. Therefore, he was doubly disappointed when he and Leo ended up sitting separately. He begged a quill off his best friend before taking his seat. However, the longer he sat there, the more he wondered if he ought to just go and grab his bag. Despite his tendency to be forgetful, or perhaps because of it, his satchel was packed with everything he might need- textbooks, quills, extra ink, extra parchment, a hairbrush, and a dumb little maze game he got at the dentist's office where you had to maneuver the little silver ball into the hole.

Donovan had just talked himself into running back to his dorm when Professor Carter-Xavier finally walked in. It was pretty cool that his Head of House was the substitute; she was putting that Pecari-adaptability-thing to good use. It must be tough to have to teach a class that you don't normally teach, with little to no notice. His worksheet fluttered down in front of him and, despite his admiration of Professor Carter-Xavier, he found himself sighing. He hadn't studied at all, and it was too late to retrieve his book.

Guessing is better than leaving it blank had become something of a motto, and either he knew more than he thought he did, or he was just extremely lucky, because he'd managed average marks so far. He hoped today would be the same, while making promises to himself that he would study next time.

He pored over the parchment, trying to make educated guesses. Pufferfish eyes were probably the Swelling Solution, although the Asphodel root had him stumped. When he had finally guessed his guesses, he passed the paper to his neighbor.

"Would you look this-"

He was interrupted by a smell. It was a smelly smell, like someone had farted in a jar of pickled eggs fifty years ago and had just let it out. Trying to breathe gingerly, Donovan coughed.

"Sorry, I've got a frog in my throat. Would you check this over for me?"

Donovan coughed into his elbow, taking the opportunity to discreetly glance over his shoulder. Leo was knelt down in the aisle a couple of rows back, doing something with one of those ancient jars that lined the classroom. No wonder it reeked. Donovan turned to face the front; if Leo was going to get caught, it wouldn't be because Donovan was staring at him. That stench was enough to give him away without any help.

However, Donovan would be asking Leo what the heck he was thinking after class. It wasn't as though they made a habit of getting into trouble, but if one of them was planning something juicy, they were supposed to tell each other so they could either help or get out of the way. Getting into trouble and back out was supposed to be a team effort, and maybe it was just the stinging in his nostrils, but Donovan was a little miffed.

Donovan coughed into his elbow again, but Leo had finished whatever he was doing and was back in his seat. At least he'd gotten rid of the foul jar, and the smell had somewhat dispersed. Blinking his watering eyes clear, he took his paper back from his neighbor.

"Thanks," he said, "I'm a little behind on my studying."

64 Donovan Peters A rose by any other name would smell better than that! 1569 0 5

Olaf Brockert

February 16, 2023 4:25 AM

scowls by Olaf Brockert

Olaf was glad to have the Challenges over and behind him. This year he would have more time to read and study and have to put up with far less forced socialization, which for him was the only kind of socialization that existed. Regardless of the fact that most of his teammates had been about as tolerable as other people could be-most of the time his distaste for other human beings wasn’t personal-he still very much preferred to do his own thing.

Besides, Olaf needed to enjoy not being forced to socialize while he still could. He knew that in a few all too short years, he would have to start attending society parties. Which even Isla, someone much more positive and sociable than he was-not that that was saying much-had found dreary. He had felt nothing but sympathy for his sister in this situation-just because he didn’t like to be around other people much did not mean he was incapable of empathy. He wasn’t Topaz . Being introverted and admittedly misanthropic was not the same as being a psychopath or sociopath.

Also, Olaf specifically empathized with Isla in this situation because he didn’t like to be around other people much. A lot of the time they were dull and boring. Or at least chose to talk about the least interesting things possible even if they did have other things to talk about that would be more so. Which was arguably worse than just being a person who genuinely had nothing of interest to say because you could have just brought up a more intriguing topic and chose not to.

Of course, some people-like Isla-were afraid to bring up the more unique facets of their personalities. Most people were probably not that into puppets and Olaf had always thought it was weird just how much his sister liked them. However, that was one of those odd quirks that made the older Aladren less…cookie-cutter. Like, regardless of what you thought of a person’s specific unique interests and hobbies, at least they made for conversations that were different. Or it would be if people did not have to fit into a very specific, very narrow box of what was socially acceptable and filter things down to the lowest-as in most mundane and banal, not crudest or most disgusting-common denominator. Conversation that could not possibly be interesting to anyone.

Although, Olaf supposed it was even worse than that when you considered someone like Uncle Eustace, who genuinely thought that the most inane and uninteresting topic imaginable-Quidditch-was interesting . And being that the second year was male, it was likely that it was a topic he was going to have to endure hearing about much more than Isla did. Of course, even worse than that was that Uncle Eustace not only found Quidditch to be the most interesting topic ever, he also was incredibly critical of anyone who disagreed, especially if they were a boy, and by critical, Olaf meant that he mocked them and demeaned them.Though that was a different problem altogether and not limited to society balls.

For now, the second year was glad to be back at school. Classes were interesting at least.Well, usually anyway. Today’s Potions lesson was an exception. A worksheet about ingredient identification? Really? How utterly boring and ridiculously easy. Olaf scowled. Honestly, this was the problem with Beginner classes, especially as a second year. He was in classes with the new first years, some of whom were completely new to magic, which meant dumbing it down to basics that maybe Honora, his youngest cousin, didn’t know yet, but Miles, the next youngest, had for a few years now.

Oh well, at least Olaf could finish quickly and get back to reading his book. Which was precisely what he did…until he heard something land on his desk with a huge splat. He lowered his book to see a dead frog lying there. How…?

Then another dropped, and another. It was suddenly raining frogs. Olaf scowled and quickly shut his book, shoving it back in his bag to protect it.. Apparently this was a prank . He found that more disgusting than any dead slimy creature. It was immature and disrespectful. The second year might not have thought much of today’s lesson specifically, but Professor Carter-Xavier was still deserving of respect as an educator. Also pranks were the lowest form of humor possible and Olaf didn’t find them funny in the least. He would claim that only the most infantile minds would, but that would be insulting to infants. It wasn’t his way to carry on but he sincerely hoped that whatever moron did this would be quickly caught out and given a detention.

11 Olaf Brockert *scowls* 1564 0 5

Ida Stanford

February 16, 2023 8:54 PM

Most definitely! by Ida Stanford

Ida thought she was getting a good grasp on how this whole 'school thing' worked. It was quite a bit different from how she had been living, but it wasn't too difficult. She liked the structure of the schedule, it didn't vary much, it was nice and stable. As such, Ida was in her seat and ready for class on-time as usual. The odd thing was that there didn't seem to be a professor present. Perhaps Professor Brooding-Hawthorne was just finishing up some preparations for class.

After a few more minutes, Ida was beginning to worry. It was nearly time for class to begin and… Professor Carter-Xavier came in with explanations. Okay, everything was fine, these things happened. It was a good chance to see how the school handled such situations. So far, it seemed a little chaotic, but there was a plan in place and that was good.

Ida received her worksheet and looked over it while the Professor described their task. It didn't seem to difficult, but perhaps there were some tricky parts in here for her to find. There was a boy next to her, Donovan if she remembered correctly, he started working on the sheet by himself so she did likewise. He seemed to be going at it without consulting his text. That seemed like a good way to begin, then once she had figure out what she knew she could use the book to see if she was right and to figure out the rest of the answers.

About the time she was ready to consult her book, Donovan addressed her while holding out his paper. A strong, sharp smell seemed to cut through the room as well and seemed to affect the boy. Ida wrinkled her nose at it, it smelled like vinegar? Well, it was a potions room, there were odd things about. Perhaps that was for another part of the lesson once these sheets were completed.

"Sure," She took Donovan's paper to examine, and briefly considered giving hers to him to look at, but he seemed awfully distracted by that smell. At a quick glance she could see that he had connected all of the items, and some of them were different than what she had on her sheet. He seemed to have recovered so she handed the sheet back to him.

"I didn't mark anything, but some of those are different than what I had. I was going to consult the book next to see what it could tell me." She noticed then that he didn't actually have the textbook anywhere about him that she could see. "Maybe we could consult it together and see what we can find out?" Ida opened her book between them with a smile. It froze in place when something about the size of a preserved dead frog dropped upon her head with something like a splat and then began to ooze-slide down her hair and the back of her neck.

2 Ida Stanford Most definitely! 1571 0 5

Donovan Peters

February 20, 2023 3:16 AM

Trying not to hurl by Donovan Peters

Although his nostrils still protested whatever the heck Leo was messing around with, Donovan was happy to see that Ida was beside him. She would be sure to have a spare of whatever he might need, minus a textbook. Truthfully, Donovan didn't know why anyone would carry around a spare textbook, so he wasn't going to let that bog him down. Still, the girl offered to share. Donovan nodded, mirroring her soft smile with his own grin.

It was kind of nice, to have friends here other than Leo. Even if this one was a girl, and Donovan seemed to only get the chance to talk to her when he needed a quill. He had noticed that she'd signed up for Quidditch after their chat in Herbology. He was about to mention it when he noticed something grayish-green splat down on Ida's head.

As the thing slid down the back of her hair, Donovan heard similar splats happening throughout the classroom. One of the girls squealed.

"Hold still, I'll grab it," Donovan said bravely, although he did not want to touch it. As he reached for Ida's neck, where the object was oozing, a splatter on his own workbench caught his eye.

Donovan made a noise somewhere between a groan and a gag. He could handle frogs, and most manner of creepy crawlies, for that matter, but this one was staring at him with big bulbous eyes, and the stench was so thick Donovan could almost see it rolling off of the amphibian. And Ida had one on her!

"I've got it, don't panic," he said, speaking as much to himself as to Ida. The frog had managed to get tangled in her hair as it oozed down, so it wasn't a simple grab-and-fling like he'd anticipated. Donovan was doing his very best to keep a calm exterior, but the subtle squishiness of the frog's body was almost as bad as its pungency, and it took more tries than he'd like to admit to make himself grab ahold of it properly.

Once the frog was finally clear of Ida's head, Donovan checked the ceiling above to make sure there weren't any more surprises. Inside, he fumed. Leo could have at least spared his best friend a frog attack! And poor Ida would have to wash her hair! Donovan was suddenly glad that he wasn't sitting next to Leo today, if he was going to be embarrassing and dumb.

"Are you alright?" he asked Ida belatedly, scooping the two frogs to the far edge of his desk and covering them with his worksheet. He didn't want to look at them anymore, and he didn't want them looking at him, either.

64 Donovan Peters Trying not to hurl 1569 0 5

Charlotte O'Malley

March 04, 2023 4:23 PM

Oh, good, that's a relief by Charlotte O'Malley

“Pleased to meet you, Mr. Arcadius.” In general, Charlotte was not a formal person. Her family was very much informal. Because Mom didn’t like all that pureblood stuff much, the Teppenpaw and her older brothers hadn’t had to do all the pureblood lessons unless they wanted to. So, she had not done that as much as most purebloods. However, she really did not need etiquette lessons to know that she should be kind and polite to everyone. It was just that she did not want to offend people, which meant the confusing worry of whether or not to give the Pureblood Introduction when she did not know whether or not the other person was one. Some people who weren’t got offended at their introduction and thought people like Charlotte were being snobby.

Which was unfair, since it was just how they had been trained and it was habitual.And it was a silly thing to be offended by. It was equally silly when people like Kelsey got offended and looked down on someone who didn’t do that. Like, if a pureblood didn’t, Kelsey would think they were improper and not the sort of people that she wanted to associate with. Or, if she didn’t recognize the last name-like, of course, there were pureblood names like Brockert that were instantly recognizable-she would assume they were not purebloods and snub them big time. Kelsey was absolutely her least favorite of Dad’s cousins.

Still, Charlotte felt like a lot of purebloods just introduced themselves that way either out of habit or the fear that if they didn’t, it would somehow make other purebloods think less of them and their family,even though that was totally petty. She did not want that, really. Her family was incredibly important to her and she would never want to do anything that might hurt them in any way, regardless of how little her parents actually seemed to care about this kind of thing.

The point was that they were eleven years old and Charlotte would prefer to be on a first name basis with her classmates regardless of their blood status. Although going by the roll call, the first years at least seemed to be purebloods. However, she was not one hundred percent sure which kind of Pierces the twins were and aside from the Headmaster, who was a fairly distant relative-her biological grandma’s first cousin?-and a scary grouchy old man in a position of authority, she certainly wasn’t calling her relatives by a title,regardless of her overall impressions of Olaf and Desmond. Charlotte felt silly calling anyone Miss or Mr. Brockert or O’Malley or Jamison or any other close relative. “You can call me Charlotte.” She told Quillan. It was less of practical thing overall for her-since Aunt Peyton got married, the only other Miss O’Malleys were some relatives of Grandpa Jeffery’s and the aunt they did not talk to or about-but she wanted to be…friendlier and she hoped her classmate would return the courtesy. Also, since as far as she knew that aunt was still Miss O’Malley, so that would be another reason that Charlotte would rather be Charlotte. Besides, she liked her name, which was after Aunt Valerie’s-who was actually another distant cousin-middle name. It was a pretty name and, unlike that aunt she wanted to distance herself from, she adored this particular “aunt”.

“Teppenpaw’s great!” She replied. “I mean, I don’t have a roommate but that’s really okay.” It was not as if this had been a big thing that had been too influential with anyone in her immediate family. Dad and Stanley hadn’t had them either, Mom had not been close to hers-from what she knew, Mom’s roommate had been sort of Kelsey-ish, although since Mom had been a Pecari, that seemed extremely strange-and Wally’s roommate was closer to Lavender than him. “And my cousin Piper, who's been like the one I was closest to growing up, is a Teppenpaw too, and I’m really glad to be with her.Although she has this tight group of friends with her year and housemates so I do want to find my own group of friends too. My uncle Tommy and my cousin Ian are Teppenpaws too, but they’re much older.”

She continued. “So, how’s Aladren? One of your roommates, Desmond, is a distant cousin of mine but I don’t know him all that well.”Her overall impression of him was that he was sort of uptight and snobby, like at best he really needed to relax, have fun and enjoy being young while he still could and at worst he was either like Kelsey or the sort of Aladren that Dad’s cousin Fabian hated, the hypercompetitive intellectual snob sort. Charlotte hoped that wasn’t the case and that Desmond was being nice to Quillan and his other roommate.

“ Do you have family here too?” The Teppenpaw asked. Family was very important to her and she could not imagine how hard it was to go away to school and be all alone. She felt so bad for anyone in that situation, especially those who had a hard time making friends, people like her dad. Although in Dad’s case, he’d been lucky because Uncle Seth had been working here and he’d met her mom. Plus, he’d had a terrible home life and he was better off not being there, whether he was at school or with other family members.

Anyway, Charlotte really did hope that wasn’t the case with Quillan, both the difficult home life-she wouldn’t wish what Dad went through on anyone and she was pretty sure she didn’t know the half of that-and the potential loneliness of not having family around, the latter of which could certainly be helped by making friends. And either way, unless Quillan was the sort of Aladren that Fabian disliked or was otherwise unpleasant-and she would give him the benefit of the doubt that he wouldn’t be, despite knowing that there were bad people in the world, she did not go around assuming people would be so-Charlotte would hopefully become friends with the Aladren.

11 Charlotte O'Malley Oh, good, that's a relief 1573 0 5