Isis Carter-Xavier
April 25, 2023 4:39 PM
Liar, liar, pants on fire! [Intermediates] by Isis Carter-Xavier
“Welcome, everyone, let’s get settled,” Isis began, knowing full well that it was always a bit more difficult for the students on days like this, when the desks and chairs were all pushed aside. That always meant a practical lesson, which some loved and others hated. It also meant standing and listening, which, in Isis’s many years of teaching experience, was not something students tended to like. At least, not until the actual instructions came, and only then if they were cool.Isis thought they were, at least. “Now, you’ll recall that when we last met, there were two spells I asked you to make sure you had memorized. Does anyone remember what those were?” she asked. Isis called on the first raised hand, and gave points accordingly to whomever was able to answer.
“Yes, perfect!” She grinned. “Today, we are going to use both Lacarnum Inflamari and Aqua Eructo in tandem on these.” As she spoke, in wheeled variously sized dummies through the supply closet door, each wearing some arrangement of human clothing. Instead of throwing out some of the clothes her children (or she and Nathan, who were probably severely overdue for a gym trip) had outgrown, ripped, or otherwise no longer wore.
“I think you can all figure out what I’m getting at here,” she said with a mischievous smile. “Pair up and take turns, and let me know if you run out of fabric. One of you light it, one of you put it out.”
OOC: Spells, for reference:
https://harrypotter.fandom.com/wiki/Aqua_Eructo
https://harrypotter.fandom.com/wiki/Lacarnum_Inflamari
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Isis Carter-Xavier
Liar, liar, pants on fire! [Intermediates]
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Christopher Brockert
May 03, 2023 7:28 PM
A pleasant-ish surprise. by Christopher Brockert
OOC: CW-Discusses Eustace related issues BIC:
If there was one academic class that Christopher was not that fond of, it was DADA. While it was obviously not nearly as bad as flying lessons had been, there were just sort of parts of it that triggered his issues about Uncle Eustace bullying him for his lack of athleticism. While perfectly magically capable of doing any of the spells they were taught, the fourth year was not what one would call fast or quick on his feet.
Also, it was a very…confrontational kind of class. Like, not in a way where it was the professor making it confrontational but because it was inherently confrontational discipline. It was all about coming up against dark magic or dark creatures or even otherwise mundane neutral magic and having to protect yourself. And when it came to fight or flight, Christopher always chose flight.
Well, metaphorically of course, as he would never ever ever choose to literally fly. To the point where he’d gone so far as to find a way to make a bridge over a giant chasm during the first Challenge year rather than use the provided broom to fly across. He was still a bit proud of his creative problem solving abilities because, more time consuming or not, Chris Did. Not. Fly. He might very well have fallen into that hole instead and ended up getting hurt anyway, so
Maybe he should call what happened regarding conflict resolution fight or flee instead of fight or flight because of the nasty associations he had with flying, Quidditch and Uncle Eustace. So, basically, Christopher fled. He escaped. Although it might actually be more accurate to say that he fled in order to avoid conflict in the first place and when he actually had to face it, he froze.
Which made DADA classes all the more miserable. The Crotalus literally could not leave, that would cause him even bigger problems such as detention. No matter how he felt about the class or what issues it triggered in him, he was not above the rules and had to take DADA until CATS. Then he could drop it-and he absolutely could not wait-but for now Chris was stuck.
And since he could not flee, he tended to freeze instead. A behavior that was utterly humiliating because he could not help but worry that his classmates were at least thinking nasty things about him and how wimpy and unmasculine he was. It did not matter whether or not he could not think of anyone specific who might feel that way that was in his class now, Christopher could only hear Uncle Eustace’s voice in his head mocking him.
Not to mention that in a situation where he was confronted with danger and froze meant that whatever was attacking would probably be successful in maiming or killing or doing whatever terrible thing it was trying to do to him. Nor would Chris likely be able to outrun a threat, come to think of it. Therefore the best strategy was to avoid dangerous situations in the first place. At least when it came to life in general. He could not avoid DADA yet, unfortunately.
The fact that all the desks and chairs had been pushed against the walls did not exactly set him at ease. There was one thing above all others that Christopher dreaded in this class-which was saying quite a lot-and that was dueling. It was everything that he hated, conflict and fighting and athletics and worrying that his classmates would mock him for his lack of skills in that area. Or for his unwillingness to do it because they thought that as a boy he was supposed to like those things. Again asked point blank he might not be able to name someone in this class who felt the same way as Uncle Eustace, but that did not mean that Chris had not internalized these fears on a deep level.
Professor Carter-Xavier started the class and he actually breathed a sigh of relief. This was the sort of DADA lesson that Christopher actually didn’t mind. Casting spells on training dummies and not being attacked by anyone in any manner? Not having to be especially quick on his feet? Oh thank Merlin. Although he still didn’t entirely trust some of his classmates around fire.
Now he had to find a partner. Approaching someone that he did not think would give him a hard time about anything-a deeply ingrained habit in the Crotalus by this point, regardless of what the assignment was- or set him on fire, he asked. “Would you like to pair up?”
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Christopher Brockert
A pleasant-ish surprise.
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Winston Randall
May 06, 2023 1:20 AM
If there ever was such a thing. by Winston Randall
Winston fidgeted anxiously, his long-time habits manifesting even more as he entered the famously stressful classroom. With desks pushed up to the walls, he didn't even have any nearby wood to knock on to ensure good luck, and that was proof that he was right in his mind. Instead, he maneuvered as best he could towards a wall, a pillar, a beam... he almost contemplated sitting on the floor. He had to knock on wood. What was he going to do if he didn't? He didn't bring salt to throw today (he tried not to do that in front of other kids) and with his bag on the floor he didn't even have easy access to any of the four-leaf clovers he kept on hand for situations just like this. Just like this!He had hardly even gotten out enough fidgets to properly listen to their instructions from Professor Carter-Xavier before they were over anyway and then someone was approaching him and oh merlin he really didn't know what they were meant to be doing. Plus it was someone younger than him which meant he was supposed to know what he was doing. And worse than that, they were in his own house, which meant he couldn't avoid them forever if he did terrible today. It was then that he realized...
"Sure," he said with a nervous smile, holding up his wand and rapping it gently with the knuckles of his other hand. "Who goes first?"
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Winston Randall
If there ever was such a thing.
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Christopher Brockert
May 08, 2023 3:20 PM
Well, it could be worse. by Christopher Brockert
OOC: CW-A little toxic masculinity and implied homophobia BIC:
Christopher did not know Winston Randall very well, despite the fact that the other boy was only a year older and in the same house as he was. However, Chris generally tended to be on the observant side regarding the other students around him. It wasn’t because he trying to spy on them and be creepy-not that anyone would try to be creepy, at least not in that way, Liesl obviously took great pride in being so, but not in a spying on people, invading their privacy and overstepping their boundaries sort of way-and he would be absolutely mortified if anyone thought that he was being creepy in that way.
However, Christopher still felt the need to study his classmates, for the sake of his own self-preservation. For his own protection and well-being. His own boundaries. To avoid situations that could lead to conflict and him being bullied. Those were situations that the fourth year needed to avoid at all costs. So, it wasn’t as if he was, like, trying to find out personal information on them or being a pervert, he was trying to just be cautious so he knew who was safe to be around. If someone was going to make fun of him for being unathletic and “unmasculine” or think he was a bad person just because he was a pureblood or something, Christopher would prefer to avoid them.
Winston, however, gave him the impression of someone who was pretty shy and nervous, not completely unlike Chris himself. Therefore, the younger Crotalus found him pretty non-threatening, which in his opinion was a very good thing. Especially in DADA, an area where Christopher was especially lacking in confidence. The last thing he wanted here was to pair off with an aggressive alpha male like Uncle Eustace.
To be fair, currently, he couldn’t name one that he actually had class with. Alexei and Fortune didn’t qualify as such, really. Amethyst would have had nothing to do with the former if he was, pureblood boy from a good family or not, she didn’t want to end up like Aunt Helena and the third year had just never struck him as such. As for Xavier, there had been a lot of tension between him and Jasper last year during the Challenges, and the fifth year probably still wouldn’t be Christopher’s first choice for partner but he was sort of….well, maybe not as bad as the fourth year’s cousin had thought. At least, he wasn’t as bad as Uncle Eustace. Then again, nobody really was and to be honest, Xavier was probably actually someone his uncle would want to beat up.
Although in terms of pairing off with the Pecari when it came to dueling, well, he wasn’t all that good at magic, so Christopher might actually have had a chance and not gotten hurt. However, recently, Xavier seemed to be using excessive force. He didn’t know why, but with his own aversion to conflict and any sort of thing that involved being athletic, it was something to avoid.
On the other hand, Winston was a great choice. And fortunately-so fortunately-they weren’t dueling. “That depends.” Christopher replied. “Do you want to set fires or put them out?” The older Crotalus had never struck him as the type who got a kick out of burning stuff or at all careless-Crotali were cautious by nature-but as this was the assignment, he would not be unhappy if the fifth year chose to do so.
OOC: Comments about Xavier and excessive force based on things said in his posts.
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Christopher Brockert
Well, it could be worse.
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