I can do it! on Labyrinth Gardens

Professor O'Leary

January 19, 2007 4:18 PM

Lesson 1: First and Second Years by Professor O'Leary

Clad in the usual black robes, Drake O'Leary stood in the sunshine of the Labyrinth Gardens. If anyone thought this was odd, they dared not to say anything. Arms folded, he waited for all of the students to catch up to where he stood.

Once there, he began his normal lecture, "As this is a mixed class, some of you know me, some of you do not. For those that do not, I am Professor O'Leary, the Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor. While today's lesson is unusual, most classes will be spent indoors. When in the classroom, I expect absolute silence, unless otherwise given permission. Also, regardless of being in the classroom, I demand respect at all times. Fail to do these and you will be serving detention with me and I can assure you it will be quite...unpleasant."

He allowed his dark gaze to fall across the students, seemingly scarier due to the unconventional setting.

"Now, then, today's lesson involves performing and using the Point-Me spell. I want everyone to hold your wand in your open palm, like so," Drake pulled out his own wand and demonstrated. "Then, clearly, in a commanding tone, say 'Point Me.'"

Drake's wand spun around until it was pointed North, "Now if you managed to do this correctly, each wand should be pointing North. With this spell, the wand acts as a compass, which can be useful if you find yourself lost, because for today's lesson that is exactly what you'll be."

"You will be pairing off in groups of two or three and heading into the mazes. Before you head into the maze, take one of the maps that I have provided. It will show you the start point and where you should be heading to. When you reach the location, you will find a stack of bags
containing candies. I assume that it will be motivation enough to make it the location. After obtaining the bag, use the map to find your way back out. If you get lost, point your wand up in the air and use the Spark Charm, like so," Drake said, demonstrating, "and I will come find you. Now, I want to stagger the groups, so one group head in, and then in about five minutes, another group can head in, and so on. Begin."

OOC: Okay, remember, your post should be at least ten sentences in length. The more creative the post, the more points you'll earn, so have fun with it.\n\n

Subthreads:

When there's food involved...(partners?) by Matt Santoro with Josiah Ashwood, Matt, Josaih

Ah time for the Vamp's class! Yay! by Caedence with Jaeven 'Jae' Dimitri, Professor O'Leary

Orienteering! Sweet! [tag Elly and Meredith] by Echo Elms with Elly Eriksson, Meredith Lail

Must I venture into these untamed wilds? by Lutece Anthony with Gil Idoya (with a little Leo and Cisco), Lutece, Lucas Smythe

Sounds more like a treasure hunt than DADA by Gwyneth Aquillon with Leo Idoya and Cisco Vargas, Gwyneth

Partner? Anyone? by Hyana Kamiya with Josh Santoro, Hyana, Mika

Pointing by Grail Markner and Kavin Analai with Irene Liddowe, Gray and Kavin

Wow, finally we have a class that I wanted by Hikaru with Eavan Valentine, Riley Garraway, Hikaru Kasuragi

I can do it! by Oliver Abbott with Amber Carey, Helena Layne, Oliver

0 Professor O'Leary Lesson 1: First and Second Years 0 Professor O'Leary 1 5

Matt Santoro

January 19, 2007 5:29 PM

When there's food involved...(partners?) by Matt Santoro

Matt, unlike his brother Josh, wasn't one who usually thought things out. In fact, he was one who simply liked to do what he wanted. Whenever he wanted. It was something that allowed the twins to be such a good team. Josh, who was the thinker and would learn every aspect of whatever it was that they planned on doing first, while, once all was known, Matt would then be the one to do said planned thing. They worked hand in hand with things like that.

However, they weren't so good with working together in the classroom. Josh's need to learn first and know the consequences of the subject always got in the way of Matt just wanting to do the spells, or the potions, or whatever it was they happened to be learning at the time. Which is why, whenever it came to classes, the twins could be seen usually on opposite sides of the room. Or, in this case, clearing.

Matt stood in the background with a slight grin on his face. Any class that was out of the ordinary was just fine with him. Even if it happened to be with O'Leary, probably the only man Matt has never seen smile, or crack a smile, or anything that remotely had to do with looking amused or happy. Despite the creepiness of how the Professor looked, Matt had to keep himself from rolling his eyes. Professors said the same thing every year. Dullsville.

The class lesson itself seemed decent enough. If nothing else, it would help Matt and Josh with future projects that happened to be played out in the gardens. Placing his wand in the palm of his hand, Matt said the spell as clearly as possible. He watched as his wand went spinning in his hand before finally slowing to a stop. Grinning, Matt looked up to see which way the Professor's wand was pointed. The grin faultered. Matt's wand was pointing in the opposite direction from that of the teacher's.

Frowning, Matt took a moment to shake his wand. He wasn't exactly sure why shaking it came to mind, but whenever something seemed to be broken, Matt always shook it and it would usually work again. At least, for a little while. So, after giving his wand a good shake, Matt placed it back on his hand and tried the spell again. It still wasn't pointing in the right direction, but Matt heard something about partners and candy.

Looking around, Matt found someone who seemed to be without a partner. Walking up to the person, Matt cleared his throat and grinned, "Hey, wanna partner up and get some candy?"\n\n

0 Matt Santoro When there's food involved...(partners?) 0 Matt Santoro 0 5

Josiah Ashwood

January 19, 2007 7:03 PM

Don't mind a firstie do you? by Josiah Ashwood

Josiah had never been one to be intimidated. Should someone prove scary, he would smile and/or flirt (obviously the flirt applied to scary females). Across the crowd he could see a certian blonde female with a braid that was rather scary. He smirked at her, though he knew she couldn't see him. Then he turned back to the Professor. His mother had warned him, don't be afraid of Professor O'Leary. He seems cruel, but he isn't that bad. Unfortunately, Josaih forgot his mother's words when his gaze locked with the teachers. Time seemed to stop. HE didn't know if it was a sweeping glance-over of the crowd or what, but he wished Mortemer was with him. The raven's smooth feathers would calm him down. But no, he was left with shaking legs and a great fear of the teacher before him.

He found that his voice ran away. Maybe it hid under a bush. Besides the fact that he was paralyzed. Somehow, after a moment, he squeaked "Point me!" IT wasn't too forceful, and his wand quivered a bit, but did not move. Nearby he heard a snicker and a firm "Point me!" HE glanced over at Caedence and saw that her wand pointed exactly north. He shook his head and said, this time a bit firmer, "Point me!" His wand swung slowly in the circle and pointed a bit north-west. Ah well, close enough.

Bag of candy registered on his ears. Okay, so it was a recon mission. He ran through anything he knew about muggle recon missions, which was diddly squat. Oh well, the deal was go in there and get the bag before others do. Sounds like fun! Now to find a partner...

Hey wanna partner up and get some candy? "AYE-YI-YI!" He yelped. Spinning around he saw a boy behind him who seemed older. "Gosh don't scare me like that! With our teacher I'm spooked enough!" He gave a shaky laugh, "My name is Josiah Ashwood and it would be an honor to be your partner -?" He extended a hand to shake waiting for the reply.\n\n

0 Josiah Ashwood Don't mind a firstie do you? 97 Josiah Ashwood 0 5

Caedence

January 19, 2007 7:10 PM

Ah time for the Vamp's class! Yay! by Caedence

Caedence made her way behind Professor O'Leary. She took her own sweet time, relieved that for once she was just here. No witch's duel, no street fight, just here! She never really noticed how nice it was outside. Of course being on your broom was all well and good, but when did she ever do something...not violent? That all changed when she stumbled slightly. She growled at the student closest to her, "Watch it! You nearly triped me!" without really studying who it was.

She had to roll her eyes when she listened to the Vamp's scare tactics. She was never too awful intimidated in the first place, and she definantly wasn't now. She felt a stare on the back of her head, but she couldn't see anyone looking. Oh well. She pulled her wand out confidently when he demonstrated the spell. Nearby a familiar pureblood first-year's voice squeaked a pathetic spell. She snickered at him. How pathetic, he dared flirt with her and now he was all scared of a teacher? The teacher wouldn't hurt him! "Point me!" she comanded firmly. Her wand pointed north exactly.

She listened through his next set of instructions. Just great, partners! Turning to the person closest to her, who was free, she said, "Wanna be my partner?" With mixed horror and irritation, she realised it was the person whom she had snarled at earlier. Oops.\n\n

0 Caedence Ah time for the Vamp's class! Yay! 94 Caedence 0 5

Echo Elms

January 19, 2007 9:46 PM

Orienteering! Sweet! [tag Elly and Meredith] by Echo Elms

Echo trailed along at the back of the class on their way outside and swung around to the outside front to listen to Professor O'Leary, ie. the best teacher at Sonora who also happened to be giving them candy. This class was definitely a job for the Elly, Meredith and Echo trio and as soon as people started peeling off into groups Echo begin his search for his two friends in earnest.

He spotted Brett first, but Echo wasn't interested in Brett today. He took note of his location and direction, just in case, and kept looking. Finally he began jumping up and down, thinking that would help him find a certain red head sticking up over the heads of the other kids.

Bingo.

Echo moved a few steps closer and cupped his hands around his mouth, shouting into the crowd Elly-style, "ELLY! MEREDITH!"\n\n

21 Echo Elms Orienteering! Sweet! [tag Elly and Meredith] 93 Echo Elms 0 5

Jaeven 'Jae' Dimitri

January 20, 2007 8:38 AM

Yay! That's my name! by Jaeven 'Jae' Dimitri

Jae skipped behind the Professor as he made his way to a part of the school that he hadn't even known existed. An older girl tripped, then turned around and growled at him about tripping her. Oh. He hadn't meant to trip her. He was just happy to be outside. Comec has been fun like this, too. Plus, the class had an acronym. The previous summer, Jae and his friend Nina had had a lot of fun with acronyms. Christmas break couldn't come fast enough to let him go home and tell Nina about Comec, and Dayda, and Hohos, and Mika, and Todd, who he got to keep, thanks to Aunt Marla writing to Professor K. Before he could apologise, however, Professor O'Leary began to speak.

It was a little bit scary, so Jae stood, tapping his wandstick against his bag in a pattern. Taptaptaptap. Taptaptaptap. Taptaptap. Taptaptaptatp. He listened carefully, then decided that this was going to be a fun class.

Then the girl who had growled at him earlier turned around and asked if he would like to be her partner.

"Sure!" chirped Jae, practically bouncing where he stood, still tapping. "Sorry about tripping you. I'm Jae! Except Mika and Gwyneth call me Yae. I have a kitten called Jenny, and Professor K and Aunt Marla said I could keep my Sloyka. And I'm in Pecari, like Saul. Let's go get the map!"\n\n

0 Jaeven 'Jae' Dimitri Yay! That's my name! 0 Jaeven 'Jae' Dimitri 0 5

Lutece Anthony

January 20, 2007 8:46 AM

Must I venture into these untamed wilds? by Lutece Anthony

Lutece Anthony was dressed perfectly. Thanks to the weekly updates sent by Grace and James via owl (which was still weird) and the occasional letter that was attached from her much-older sister, Melissa, she was quite up-to-date on the Maryland fashions. Lutece hoped so, at any rate. So today she was dressed perfectly: tight, short sleeved shirt from American Eagle (or so her mother claimed; Lutece was beginning to have her doubts), fluorescent mini skirt, and ragged, cutoff jean capris underneath. Flowery flip-flops, of course.

Lutece was dressed perfectly. Just not for an outdoor class.

Defense Against the Dark Arts wasn't supposed to be outdoors. She had asked some older students. It was inside. You learned to throw 'shield spells' around and keep away from creepy 'magical' critters. In other words, a purely fake class that wasn't of any use in the real world, but was still indoors, where her outfits could be duly appreciated. Not outdoors in some sort of maze where she would have to worry about stepping on things.

After listening to O'Leary briefly, Lutece turned sharply to the person next to her. "Partners." she said, not making the word a question. It wasn't as though they had a choice anyway. Even if they did, everyone but Mike, the crippled kid, would want to work with her. Who in their right mind wouldn't?\n\n

0 Lutece Anthony Must I venture into these untamed wilds? 100 Lutece Anthony 0 5

Elly Eriksson

January 20, 2007 1:29 PM

Dude! by Elly Eriksson

Defence against the Dark Arts was one of those lessons that Elly considered to be neither here nor there. She wasn’t awful at it, like charms and transfiguration, but neither did it spark the same sort of interest that potions did. She had worked with Briony last year, which had been pleasant enough, but this year their lesson was with the first years. Elly only knew a small handful of first years, most of whom she liked, so she wasn’t worried about having to pair up.

Naturally, they did have to work in pairs, but on a task Elly never would have imagined. Scary Professor O’Leary was taking them outside for their lesson. Cool! A lot of teachers seemed to be taking this tack this year, about which Elly was inordinately pleased; she loved being outdoors. He told them about the ‘Point me’ spell, which Elly had to agree was pretty nifty, especially for someone like her, who was getting quite used to being lost in the maze. She withdrew her wand from its now decidedly scruffy pouch, and attempted the spell a couple of times, but with no effect. Elly wasn’t really all that surprised; she’d never been able to get a spell right first time.

Then O’Leary told them that they had to group up and go into the maze looking for bags of sweets. Was he serious? That was a fantastic lesson plan! All of a sudden Elly didn’t find O’Leary anywhere near as scary as she had at first (though she had always suspected he wasn’t really scary, especially as he had agreed to assist Echo with his novel writing club in their first year).

Elly didn’t rush to find a partner immediately as she was still trying to get the spell to work. There wasn’t much point entering the maze without it. “Point me,” she said forcibly. Her wand did spin a little, but then span back to where it had started. “Point me,” Elly said again, with a touch more enthusiasm. This time, her wand span a couple of times all the way round and came to rest pointing the opposite direction to the Professor’s. “Come on,” Elly said quietly to herself. She was about to give it another go when a loud voice got her attention by calling, “Elly! Meredith!”

Elly grinned and turned to see Echo manoeuvring his way towards her. She was proud – she was obviously starting to rub off on him. “Echo!” She greeted him jovially, replacing her wand in the pouch. If she was going to work with Echo and Meredith, which Echo obviously had planned, she could leave the pointing spell up to them.
\n\n

0 Elly Eriksson Dude! 92 Elly Eriksson 0 5

Gwyneth Aquillon

January 20, 2007 3:18 PM

Sounds more like a treasure hunt than DADA by Gwyneth Aquillon

Gwyneth arrived at the Gardens near the rear of the group of students who had followed Professor O'Leary from the classroom to their present location. Each of the classes she was taking were so different, she wasn't sure what to expect in this one. The name of the class, Defense Against the Dark Arts, was fairly foreboding and certainly seemed at odds with their current sunny, bright location. As she listened to the Professor's introduction and directions, she was even more confused. His first class seemed more like the orienteering class she took at summer camp than some means of protecting yourself from bad guys! There was even candy as a reward for getting to the end of the scavenger hunt!

Taking her vine-wrapped teak wand from her pocket, she placed it on her outstretched palm and repeated the spell, "Point Me." Her wand trembled and wiggled a bit on her hand then lay there still. Remembering her misadventures in Charms class, she tried again in a firmer voice, "Point Me." This time the wand spun like a crazed compass needle before settling in a direction she fervently hoped was north. 'Okay, I can do the spell. And the Professor said we would be using a map. Good thing since I had trouble with those stupid orienteering directions -- go east to the river then southwest to the rocks -- in summer camp. But I can generally read a map' she thought. 'Now to find a partner.'

She looked around the group to see if any of her friends were nearby. YAY, whom she had met in CoMC, seemed to have found a partner. She didn't see Mika'el or Meri or Hyana yet. She did notice a girl who looked like she was dressed to go to the mall rather than to go traipsing through the Gardens, and in flip-flops no less! Unconciously, she compared herself to that girl. Gwyneth was wearing comfortable jeans and one of her Wildlife Conservation shirts with a wolf on it under her robes. Her shoulder-length auburn hair was pulled back in a pony-tail, as usual. 'Not nearly as fashionable as that mall rat,' she thought self-consciously.

She started to make her way through the class toward YAY and his partner. After all, the Professor had said they could work in groups of two or three. Making a quick side-step to avoid a student who was making a bee-line toward friends, she instead bumped into the person next to her. Feeling awkward and clumsy, she apologized. "I'm sorry for running into you like that. Really clumsy of me. I'm Gwyneth Aquillon, first year Teppenpaw, by the way. Would you like to try this treasure hunt together?"

\n\n

0 Gwyneth Aquillon Sounds more like a treasure hunt than DADA 0 Gwyneth Aquillon 0 5

Caedence

January 20, 2007 5:11 PM

they all come to me..how do they find me? by Caedence

Caedence all but rolled her eyes. This kid was worse than Elly when it came to the chatter department. She was not going to like this at all.

"Sure!Sorry about tripping you. I'm Jae! Except Mika and Gwyneth call me Yae. I have a kitten called Jenny, and Professor K and Aunt Marla said I could keep my Sloyka. And I'm in Pecari, like Saul. Let's go get the map!"

God, does he shut up ever? She gave an irritated mix of a growl and a sigh. "Saul...heh the only chaser allowed to stay in the game. In case you didn't know it, I am the Pecari Team's chaser. That stupid medic wouldn't let me back in. Jerk, that's what he is."

Sloyka? What in the world was a sloyka? "Are you like foreign? Because that 'sloyka' would be a puffskein if you mean what we played iwth in class," She added. Yes, now that she thought about it, she remembered this being the kid talking to the Handicapped person. Yae? Wierd name, Yae. "Anyways, come on, let's go get the map." she added irritably and motioned for him to follow.\n\n

0 Caedence they all come to me..how do they find me? 94 Caedence 0 5

Gil Idoya (with a little Leo and Cisco)

January 20, 2007 9:27 PM

I will protect you, Fair Maiden! by Gil Idoya (with a little Leo and Cisco)

It was a relief to all of the Sonoran Idoyas to learn that first and second years had their classes together; Gil and Leo, of course, would have been together anyway, but Cisco had been separated from them with relative universality, and it was beginning to weigh on the younger boy. The fact that Leo and Gil were there would be a big help, they all knew that. In fact, as they listened to Professor O'Leary's lecture, all three had a thought along the same lines. When it appeared the professor wouldn't notice, Leo leaned over to whisper to his twin and cousin in Spanish, "Let's work together!"

Cisco nodded fervently, and while Gil agreed as well, he couldn't help but glance a bit longingly at Echo and Elly; he'd been friends with them in the beginning of first year, but since they were both Pecaris and he was a Teppenpaw, they seemed to have grown apart. Without Pepper and the Quidditch team, Gil would have been awfully lonely last year; Leo was occupied with the twin stressors of Gray Markner and Nikki Ramirez, as well as Abuelo's high expectations and mysterious assignments. Their cousin Alejandro had frowned when Gil admitted his loneliness over the summer, and then said he knew the problem: though Gil was a very friendly boy, and likeable enough, he was dreadful at making the first move and never really expected anyone to want to hang out with him.

This year, Gil had promised himself he wouldn't let his friendships wither. He'd keep them up if it killed him (though hopefully they wouldn't) and he'd try to get back in with Echo and Elly.

After the lecture ended, Leo turned to the other two and seemed about to speak when the girl beside Gil turned to her and sharply commanded, "Partners."

Gil's eyes widened, and he looked back at his brother, who just shrugged. Cisco, his eyes shadowed by the rim of his Akubra, eyed the girl up and down and stifled a giggle before repeating his cousin's gesture. "See you later than, Gil," Cisco said, following Leo off. Gil could've hexed them both for leaving them alone with this girl.

...Who was still waiting. "Oh! Lo siento. I mean, I'm sorry. I'm H--" he broke off halfway through the Spanish pronunciation of his nickname; even though everyone here mispronounced it, it seemed that in English "gill" was preferable to "heel." "Gil. Gil Idoya, second year Teppenpaw. And you're..." he left the question open for her answer.\n\n

0 Gil Idoya (with a little Leo and Cisco) I will protect you, Fair Maiden! 0 Gil Idoya (with a little Leo and Cisco) 0 5

Leo Idoya and Cisco Vargas

January 20, 2007 9:35 PM

Treasure's good. by Leo Idoya and Cisco Vargas

"Gil's got a girlfriend..." Cisco sang quietly, grinning, as he and his twelve-year-old cousin moved away from the spot where Gil had been snagged by the inappropriately trendy first year. The corners of Leo's mouth twitched, and the glare he shot Cisco was halfhearted at best. Cisco just kept humming the ditty to himself; he was just glad to be outside for class, and have the opportunity to be with his cousins, as well.

His smile faded a little as they lazed onward, while the professor was ushering groups into the maze one at a time. His fingers closed around the smooth ash handle of his wand, which protruded from his pocket, then released it abruptly as if stung. He was outside, sure, but he still had to do magic... and though intellectually he was on a level with his fifteen-year-old brother, Cisco's magic was so weak that for a long time his family had been afraid he was a Squib. He'd been so relieved when he got that owl... but now he realized it just meant displaying his deficiency for all to see. And having been sorted into Aladren, the house known for its magical and intellectual talent, that was definitely not a good thing.

He was jolted--quite literally--out of his thoughts as someone lurched into him. Distracted, he lost his balance and staggered, his Akubra hat falling back off his head and catching around his throat. He staggered back to balance and quickly readjusted the hat over his sun-browned face. "No, it's all right, really," he said as she apologized. When she introduced herself and asked if he'd like to join her, though, he glanced covertly at Leo, who gave him an almost imperceptible nod.

"Sure, that would be great. Mind if my cousin joins us, too? Oh, sorry--I'm Cisco Vargas, first year Teppenpaw, and this is my cousin Leo Idoya, second year of Crotalus."\n\n

0 Leo Idoya and Cisco Vargas Treasure's good. 0 Leo Idoya and Cisco Vargas 0 5

Hyana Kamiya

January 20, 2007 10:22 PM

Partner? Anyone? by Hyana Kamiya

Hyana caught up with the rest of the class, out of breath. She had ran the whole way; she was very slow when she walked. Professor O'Leary started speaking, and Hyana decided about this teacher. He's...s-scary! She thought. His swept his gaze around the students, making her shake.

She stopped when she remembered Caedence. She was in this class too. If Caedence saw her acting like this, she'd be dead. So she got herself to stop shaking, and payed more attention to the Professor.

He said something about saying a spell. It didn't register with her until she saw all of the other students taking out their wands. Turning red for being so slow, she pulled out her wand and muttered, "Point Me." Her wand spun around for what seemed like the longest time, after everyone else's stopped. When it stopped, it was finally pointing North. Sighing with relief, she let her arm fall to her side. At least she did it right.

Begin. The scary Professor said. She saw that Caedence and Josiah were paired off, and couldn't see any of her other friends. That made her feel wonderful. She sighed and looked around. She finally walked up to someone, and said, using all the courage she could muster, "W-would you like to be m-my...partner?" She glanced at her feet, but quickly corrected herself, turning her gaze upon the person she was talking to.\n\n

0 Hyana Kamiya Partner? Anyone? 0 Hyana Kamiya 0 5

Matt

January 20, 2007 11:12 PM

Shrugs as long as I get candy. by Matt

Matt, who had been expecting a 'sure, let's go', was in for quite the shock when, instead, he got a boy who screamed. For a moment, Matt blinked. And then, despite his trying to not laugh, laughed. Loudly.

Matt didn't think he had snuck up on anybody, he didn't think he was ever quiet enough to do such a wonderful thing...unless it was Sofia, who was so stuck on herself she never noticed when Matt was around, which gave him ample opportunity to scare the wits out of her. Course, now that she had moved out, Matt couldn't really do that anymore.

"Ah, I wouldn't worry about O'Leary. His bark is worse than his bite." I think, Matt added to himself. He hadn't never crossed O'Leary's path to know whether or not his bite was just as bad as his bark. This boy was kind of weird. Matt shook his hand with ease before looking around. "Mateo Santoro, but everyone calls me Matt. Come on, let's go get the map and then get some candy." Matt said already heading towards where the maps were located.

"By the way, I'm not so good with the spell yet, so we might have to rely more on the map then anything else." Matt explained. "Course, if the map doesn't make much sense, then we'll end up getting lost, but no harm, no foul, yeah?"\n\n

0 Matt *Shrugs* as long as I get candy. 0 Matt 0 5

Lutece

January 20, 2007 11:26 PM

Fair Maiden? Does that make you a Gallant Knight? by Lutece

Oh. Great. Another foreigner. He looked Mexican, though, and at least he wasn't in a wheelchair. Unfortunately, the kid started speaking Spanish at her. Another good thing about attending Sonora: no need to learn something useless like another language. It wasn't even taught here. Lutece did live in America after all. The language was English; the people who lived here should speak it, and that was that. The other Mexican boys had scuttled off to work with someone else, and Lutece was left with this one. A Teppenpaw. Gil Idoya. At least he had a normal name, when he wasn't speaking another language.

"Lutece Anthony, first year, Crotalus," she said. Her voice was marginally more friendly than she would have used for someone her age or female. After all, Gil was a second year and a boy, and working with her. Older boyfriends were a definite plus, at least according to Melissa.

Unzipping her purse, Lutece pulled out her 'wand' with two fingers. Thus far, she had used it to 'levitate' a frog in Charms and attempt to curl her hair. That hadn't gone over well, but she still couldn't find a plug in which to put her electronic curler. This 'magic' stuff was absolute nonsense. This whole school was meaningless, save Quidditch.

"Right," she said, her tone only mildly sarcastic. "feel free to make 'magic' at any point."

Magic didn't exist. All the 'proof' at Sonora was fabricated, somehow. It was just part of some elaborate revenge her father was pulling, she was sure of it. Maybe it was a reality TV show. See how the normal, well-adjusted preteen survives in her first year in the world of the delusional.\n\n

0 Lutece Fair Maiden? Does that make you a Gallant Knight? 0 Lutece 0 5

Jae

January 20, 2007 11:37 PM

It's the magnetic personality by Jae

So the girl was in his House? That was good! She was a little bit grumpy, but Jae could tell between grumpy and mad. Nina was grumpy sometimes, and Aunt Cheri was grumpy a lot, but when they were mad, it was a good idea to get far, far away. Grumpy worked.

But the girl was talking about a Chaser and a Stupid Medic, and a bunch of other stuff Jae didn't understand. So he sort of stood there and nodded, fiddling with the small diamond stud in his ear, sticking the wandstick behind his ear, with his bag. Jae followed the girl dutifully when she said they were going to go get the map. He was actually fairly proficient when working with maps and hands on activities. That was one of the reasons that the teachers at his elementary school had let him and Nina be in the same class for so long. She could usually keep him entertained and on task.

"No, Mika said they were called Sloyka," Jae asserted, nodding as he followed his partner. "Mika's really smart. He's read books about a place called Narnia, and some about talking horses. I like horses. Do you like horses? I have a horse called Chester. Well, at least, he's halfway mine. Nina's taking care of him while I'm at school 'cause she's going to Fairview instead of here. Aunt Marla said it was because Nina didn't get a letter for here, so I would have to not tell her and keep Sonora a secret, 'cause otherwise she might be upset and get mad."\n\n

0 Jae It's the magnetic personality 0 Jae 0 5

Grail Markner and Kavin Analai

January 21, 2007 10:48 AM

Pointing by Grail Markner and Kavin Analai

Gray and Kavin finally had found out that the DADA class would include the both of them in the lesson. This was good for Kavin, who had not seen his sister in a while, and had no companion in case of a partnering lesson. Since Kavin pretty much, didn't talk to people other than any of his (possibly) millions of siblings, and Gray. Who was half-sister to two of his own half-siblings.

Gray was glad to have Kavin with her for DADA because of last year's incident. She had a feeling that Echo didn't like her (which was okay, she didn't like him too much either) and that Ginger was a bit wary of her and Adam since both of them had a bit of a breakdown last year. With Kavin, Gray already had a set partner, a partner who wouldn't dislike her for a breakdown. She was also glad to have someone with her, so she could talk to the boy while not listening to the voices in her head.

Well, voice, it was only Ariel here today. Going on trying to give Gray "confidence" so not to break down again like last year. Didn't the headcase realize that it was the fault of the voices in her head that made her breakdown? If Ariel was a part of her head, shouldn't she know this? Gray sighed and turned to Kavin to drown out the sounds.

"Looks like we're going to the Gardens..." Kavin muttered before Gray could say anything. Grail was a bout to question Kavin's statement, but then saw that Professor O'Leary was indeed leading the students outside. Gray didn't know whether outside was a good thing or a bad thing, but she nodded anyway and followed Kavin and the others out.

The two made meaningless small talk on the way there and while waiting for O'Leary to start. The kind of things like, "the weather is nice" or "how's Sonora treating you?" and other such things. It was good for the two of them to detach from the world a little and be calm and collected instead of how they usually were. Cold and worried, or scared and emotional. The small talk took both away from their thoughts (and even made Ariel stop talking for the second) and into a more casual world.

When the teacher started, both stopped their meaningless talk immediately and turned to listen. Gray struggled to pull a notebook from her tote, but stopped and just set the bag by her feet, settling with just pulling her wand out. Kavin already had his.

When instructed, both stated the words "Point me" clearly, but in softer voices than most of the class. There wands did, however, point the direction it was supposed to and both Kavin's and Grail's pride surged. They listened for a second to the instruction of mapping their way through the maze, and Gray turned to Kavin.

"I suppose we're partnering up?" she grinned. Kavin shrugged and shuffled his dark brown hair.

"Of course," he stated simply, and ran up himself to get a map to bring back to Grail. Grail waited calmly and looked around. Since O'Leary said they could have a larger group, she was looking for anyone else who seemed lonely or such. Even if Kavin didn't want to talk to people, Gray would. And she didn't really want some poor kid being left out.\n\n

0 Grail Markner and Kavin Analai Pointing 0 Grail Markner and Kavin Analai 0 5

Josh Santoro

January 21, 2007 11:49 AM

Sure, I'll be your Partner by Josh Santoro

Josh liked the idea of Defense Against the Dark Arts as being outside. Not because he didn't like having classes indoors, that never bothered him, but because with O'Leary, the classroom always seemed a bit stuffy. Someone seriously needed to put a cheering charm on that man. Hm...that was actually a good idea, Josh would have to remember that for future references.

He remembered reading about this 'Point Me' spell in a book somewhere. He couldn't recall which book or why he had been reading it, but the spell itself never really caught his attention. It wasn't likely he would ever really need to use it, but so long as he knew it, it didn't really matter in the long run. Besides, how would knowing where North was really help if he was lost? If he was lost...he wouldn't know where to go, whether he knew the direction of North or not.

Of course, in situations like these, where one had a map and knew which way to go in order to get the prize, North was a necessity to know. Treasure Hunting. He had loved this game growing up. His family played it all the time during the holidays back when everyone was still little. Now only the newest generation of Santoros, Chavez, Garcia, and whatever others there were, were the ones playing the game.

The concept was that the adults would hide candy, gifts, or various other prizes around the house and yard. Each had someone's name on it. Everyone got ten items. They had exactly one hour to find each item. In the end, everyone helped each other out so that all ten items were found before the hour was up. So, really, Josh had no idea what happened if an hour came and went and one still hadn't found all of their items.

"Point me." Josh said firmly to his wand and watched it spin around in his palm. When it finally slowed, Josh glanced around to find that it wasn't pointing due North, but it wasn't terribly off either. With a shrug, Josh pulled out his book to make sure he had done everything correctly. While reading about the spell, Josh failed to notice the arrival of a girl. Her words cut through his thoughts causing him to look up rather quickly and nearly drop his book.

"Wha...oh, yeah, Partners." Josh mumbled in surprise. "Yeah, I'll be your partner. I'm Jose, but everyone knows me as Josh." Josh introduced himself.\n\n

0 Josh Santoro Sure, I'll be your Partner 0 Josh Santoro 0 5

Josaih

January 21, 2007 2:42 PM

giving candy to josaih, not a good idea by Josaih

Josaih laughed a bit. "Yeah, maybe when I get away from him I'll see your point. For now, the guy scares me worse than a Hungarian Horntail with a thorn in its foot!" He laughed again. Walking over to the maps he picked one up. He made sure to stay as far away from teh teacher as possible.

When he joined back up with Matt, he said, "Well, I'm okay with the spell. Just... I don't think fear helps at all." He looked warily at the professor before stating "Point me!" His wand still refused to point to North, instead overshooting it and pointing north-east. "See? I guess I'm just not to good with spells. Maps, I can read, and I don't think it'd be easy to get lost. I mean I have been in the maze before without geting lost," He laughed a bit again, "So ready?" he added.\n\n

0 Josaih giving candy to josaih, not a good idea 0 Josaih 0 5

Gwyneth

January 21, 2007 5:19 PM

especially at the end of a rainbow by Gwyneth

She felt like such a clumsy oaf. She nearly trampled not one, but two other students by not watching what was going on around her. The boy she fell against introduced himself and his cousin. "Cisco," she looked at him quizzically, "yes . . . I thought I recognized you from the Common Room. And, Leo, nice to meet you," she said with a nod in his direction. "Cousins, it must be cool to be in school with each other. Wish I had family nearby, sometimes."

In response to Cisco's request that his cousin join them, Gwyneth responded, "Yeah, it would be great to adventure through the maze with both of you. Hopefully, three heads, in this case, will be better than one!" Gwyneth chuckled, "I really ought to warn you both, I've got a fair to middling sense of direction and map skills, but only so-so 'spell casting' ability. But between us, we shouldn't need to send up that signal flare spell the Professor mentioned."

As she talked, she noticed that they needed to pick up a map and head for the maze. "Do you think this is truly just to practice finding our way using the directional spell? You don't think he's put any traps or creepy things in there, do you?" What seemed like a relatively simple task took on new undertones when Gwyneth remembered what class she was in.

\n\n

0 Gwyneth especially at the end of a rainbow 0 Gwyneth 0 5

Hikaru

January 21, 2007 9:44 PM

Wow, finally we have a class that I wanted by Hikaru

Hikaru sighed as he walked into the Labyrinth Gardens, this was another one of the rare times were he could just come and work on something normal for a change. He moved his hands through his hair and sighed as he listened to the Professor explained the spell to them and Hikaru practiced the spell while he explained the entire point of this excersise.

Hikaru looked in his small spell book for basic defensive spells that would help fight off any creature that they might come across. He tried the spell again and it worked effectivly. He looked around for Riley hoping that she or Hyana might show up soon Hikaru muttered the spell once more.

Hikaru muttered the spell once again and looked around for anyone that he would know but, the only one was Caedence he sighed and sat down on the ground waiting for anyone, anyone.
\n\n

0 Hikaru Wow, finally we have a class that I wanted 0 Hikaru 0 5

Eavan Valentine

January 23, 2007 1:16 AM

Re: Wow, finally we have a class that I wanted by Eavan Valentine

Eavan couldn't have been more thrilled when she realized that their DADA class was being held outside. Unless of course, you add in the fact that doing a good job resulted in candy. Eavan gazed eagerly at Professor O'Leary and his maps and his demonstration. She could do that. Eavan took out her wand, laid it on her flat palm and said "point me" as clearly as she could. It seemed to be an easy spell because her wand suddenly spun in a few quick circles before settling in the same direction Professor O'Leary's wand had ended at.

Grinning proudly, Eavan went over and grabbed a map. As she turned back around to find a group to be with, but then spotted a boy sitting on the ground. Upon closer inspection, she realized that this boy was a first year in her own house. She had seen him around, but she couldn't remember his name. With map and wand in hand, Eavan walked up to the first year and bent down to meet him at eye level.

"Umm...do you need a partner?"\n\n

0 Eavan Valentine Re: Wow, finally we have a class that I wanted 86 Eavan Valentine 0 5

Riley Garraway

January 24, 2007 3:22 PM

The professors just seem to get more and more interesting. by Riley Garraway

Riley found her Defense Against the Dark Arts class in the Labyrinth Gardens. She thought this odd, reflecting on her images of the class being held in a dark and forbidding room, with a professor to match. Well, her expectations concerning the professor seemed to have been fairly on the spot, but the class? Professor O'Leary really seemed out of his element, standing in the sunny glow and surrounded by the green seasonal flora of the Gardens. Doubly so with his dark robes and the somewhat daunting impression he was giving her of his character. Nevertheless, she stood at attention with the other students while he spoke, and once he'd finished she peered over her peers' heads, looking for a familiar face.

She spotted Hikaru a second before he disappeared beneath the sea of people. She made her way over to where she'd last seen him, finding him sitting on the ground. There was a girl there with him, kneeling down to be at eye-level with him. "Hikaru!" She came up beside him, dropping down too, a wide smile stretching her face. "Hey there." She looked at the other girl, tilting her head and still smiling in greeting. "And hello to you, too. I'm Riley Garraway." With Hikaru's presence, her usual social insecurities seemed practically nonexistent, like a bad dream she was just waking up from. The thought made her smile inch a little bigger.\n\n

0 Riley Garraway The professors just seem to get more and more interesting. 0 Riley Garraway 0 5

Hyana

January 24, 2007 3:23 PM

Thanks^^ by Hyana

Hyana sang the hallelujah chorus in her mind. She was so happy to have a partner. He introduced himself as Josh. She felt bad that she had startled him, but also kind of amused. She never really snuck up on him...she was just there. Remembering that Caedence might be watching, she took a deep breath and spoke.

"My name is Hyana Kamiya. I really appreciate you being my partner Josh." She said without a stutter. That made her so proud. She looked around and saw some of the others going to get the map. "Josh, let's get that map and finish this treasure hunt." She smiled. She waited for his response, not wanting to go ahead and leave him behind.\n\n

0 Hyana Thanks^^ 0 Hyana 0 5

Caedence

January 24, 2007 3:32 PM

Hah, you don't know me then do ya? by Caedence

Caedence found every last nerve in her body about to snap. She formed a mental image of herself going crazy. Then she saw her Head's face appear, frowning at her. Dissapointed. Great, what a time to get a Concious, Caede, she thought to herself. Okay, beating up the kid really was out of the question. Maybe a little hex? No, no hex. She sighed, how would a "normal" happy-home-flowers-and-kittens type person act? Conversation. Great, if there was anythign she didn't like it was talking alot. Fists said all that you wanted to get across.

"Well, Yay, did you say it was? I have never actually ridden a horse myself, "She mentally added, 'father wouldn't even let me have a cat!' "We live in the city, so I guess it's like against the law or something. Father took me to the fair once. I think there were horses, I don't remember, I was like four. That was almost eight years ago." Hey, she was getting the hang of this conversation thing! "I don't have any pets of my own," She continued, "But I want the puffskein that we were messing with in class. Father would never say 'yes', but mum might."

It took her awhile before she realised that they were facing a dead end in one direction and a fork down the road in another, "Umm, I think we took a wrong turn...hold on" She drew ehr wand, "Point me!" it spun..and pointed to the right fork, "Next spell its your turn," she said with a smirk before taking the right.\n\n

0 Caedence Hah, you don't know me then do ya? 94 Caedence 0 5

Jae

January 25, 2007 5:45 AM

No, but I will! by Jae

"Oh," Jae said when the girl explained that she didn't have a horse and she lived in the city. "I sort of live in the city. Not really. Aunt Marla and Aunt Cheri and me live outside of Boulder in Colorado by the mountains. Nina lives next door." He was sort of hopping and skipping to keep up with the girl as she travelled down the path. "Do you have a little brother or a little sister? I think it would be fun to have a little brother or a little sister, even if you didn't have pets. Nina has a little sister. She's cute. Sometimes she tags along with us, only not when we go on trail rides 'cause she's too little to ride Chester."

The girl did the spell that Professor O'Leary had been showing them. She headed down one of the forks in the path, informing Jae that it would be his turn next. Yay! He would get to try a spell!

"That's AWESOME!" he said, hugging her from behind as he tried to keep up. She was taller than he was and moving faster than he normally did. "It's supermadcoolawesome! I can tell Mika and everyone that I did a spell! Can I try it now? Please? Pleasepleaseplease?"

Jae was grinning from ear to ear, almost literally. His blond dreadlocks were all over the place and the diamond stud in one ear sparkled. Bouncing up and down after releasing the girl from the hug, he kept his green eyes locked on her, occasionally saying "Please?" like a small child begging for a sweet.\n\n

0 Jae No, but I will! 0 Jae 0 5

Hikaru Kasuragi

January 25, 2007 6:11 PM

At least he isn't an Inferi!! by Hikaru Kasuragi

Hiakru smiled at the girl "Thanks! I'm glad to work with you, my name is Hikaru Kasuragi! Its a pleasure to meet you!" He beamed at her with a gleam in his eyes. Hiakru saw Riley and helped her up from the ground and proceeded to hug her "Yay! Finally someone I know!" He let go and ran a hand through his hair "I think this should be a fun challenge, don't you?"

He turned to the girl who had just spoken to him "I'm sorry to be so rude, but what's your name?" He shook his head a little and tied it back up with his new black hair-tie. He cracked his knuckles a few times and spoke softly "Remember that hex, if theres anything nasty in the maze, it should beuseful if we get into trouble..."

Hikaru turned to the girl "I don't think you're a fist year so what do you think the teacher is going to throw at us in the maze? I don't want us to get into trouble but I just wondered..."\n\n

0 Hikaru Kasuragi At least he isn't an Inferi!! 0 Hikaru Kasuragi 0 5

Matt

January 25, 2007 8:26 PM

Is it Josiah or Josaih? Cos, Josiah is the way I've seen it by Matt

Matt shrugged. Perhaps Matt just had a way about seeing others in a way that everyone else couldn't quite grasp. Sure, the Professor could be rather scary if in a bad mood. Or, if in his dark classroom amongst the dark things, with his pale skin and beady eyes. But Matt liked to look past all that. Had Professor O'Leary ever punished someone? Not to Matt's knowledge.

This kid sure was strange. Such a weird metaphor for an eleven year old to say. Then again, Matt didn't make it a habit to spew out metaphors. For some reason, he thought that just made him look like a wanker. He'd rather not look like a wanker.

"Ah, don't worry about the spell." Matt stated shortly after Josiah returned from grabbing a map. "We'll get it as we go through the maze." Matt didn't see how Josiah could never get lost within the gardens. It was a Labyrinth. They were designed to get people lost. Perhaps the kid just stuck to the paths that he was familiar with. "If you've never gotten lost, then you haven't really explored it yet." Matt commented with a grin.

"It looks like we're free to go in. Let's go."\n\n

0 Matt Is it Josiah or Josaih? Cos, Josiah is the way I've seen it 0 Matt 0 5

Caedence

January 26, 2007 7:26 PM

you sure like your hugs don't you? by Caedence

Caedence was begining to get he hand of this conversation thing. Talking wasn't one of her usual things if it didn't involve threats, but more and more since coming to Sonora she was becoming...docile. It was weird, nice, but wierd. "No I don't have any siblings, though I'd like one. It would be fun. I don't have any friends like Nina at home. My friend is Elly. I guess she is like family since I live with her in our dorm."

She was about to continue when the kid hugged her from behind. Her first instinct, duck and hit him with a shoulder. Not a good idea, so she didn't do it. Besides, he was young. Instead she stiffened like a board and balled her fists. Only a madman would dare hug her. Not even her mother did.

'Relax,' said a soothing voice, her new-found concious, 'he's young and excitable. You'd be like that too if you didn't have the life you did. Happy kid. Let him have his happy moment' God, she was begining to hate her concious, but she obeyed adn stopped her hands from pummeling him. They fell limp at her side, but that was the only thing limp about her. She stayed stiff. Talking good, hugs bad.

"I can help you with the spell on one condition. Don't ever do that again. All you have to do is let the wand know you're boss. Command it. Taht is the best way to get the spell to work. It is an order, you're ordering it to point you. Let the tone of your voice say 'point me the right direction or else!' and it will. Like this" she put the wand in the palm of her hand, "Point me!" she commanded it. It spun and pointed the way they were going. She glanced at the map. According to this there was a fork up ahead. Good, a chance for the kid to try his stuff.

"Okay, your turn Yay," she wasn't sure that was his name, but oh well.\n\n

0 Caedence you sure like your hugs don't you? 94 Caedence 0 5

Josiah

January 26, 2007 11:03 PM

yeah sorry, I make lots of typos by Josiah

Josaih laughed, "I wasn't too far into the maze. I have my raven, Mo, he guided me as far as I went into it. He knows a neat trick called fly-by. He will tell me if there is anything up ahead with caws and using his feet. Lifting them. Then I heard some people up ahead and I went towards them," He said as they walked.

He looked around and could see what Matt meant. It was pretty much the same all around. All the hedges looked the same. He hated silence, so he struck up another conversation, "So your name, it sounds kind of spanish or something. DO you like live in Mexico? That would be really cool! Mother says we can take a trip there, later. I want to like do all the fun muggle things there. Like pinatas and tacos and stuff. Mother says they are stupid muggle inventions that I shouldn't worry about. She's real prejudiced, but I'm not. I like muggles, muggleborns, halfbloods and purebloods all the same. A person's a person no matter who their parents are. Oh sorry babbling..." he faded off.\n\n

0 Josiah yeah sorry, I make lots of typos 0 Josiah 0 5

Jae

January 27, 2007 8:46 AM

Why, yes, I do. by Jae

"Okay!" Jae chirped excitedly. The girl said he wasn't to do that again, so he stopped bouncing and kept as still as he could. It worked for a minute or two, but when she said it was his turn to do the spell, he jumped a little bit, then ran ahead. They were at a fork in the road. There was one that went left and one that went a sort of squiggly right. This was when he was supposed to be commanding the wandstick, right? Jae decided to give it a shot.

He frowned at his wandstick. "Okay wandstick. You're going to do what I say. Right? Okay. Um. POINTME!" The wandstick twirled around in his hand, but before it was done, something small and brown ran across the right squiggly path. Yelping, Jae dropped his wandstick on the ground and ran after the brown thing, down the squiggly path. When he got to where it had disappeared into the hedges, Jae dropped down on his knees and peered under the hedge. With that movement, his robes and cargo pants acquired permanent dirt stains on the knees. Not that Jae noticed. He was too busy staring at the brownish thing that looked sort of like a potato. Maybe it was another pet, like the Sloykas? Maybe someone had lost it! They would be sad.

So Jae reached in and patted the brown thing on the head and gently scooped it up. "Bad," he said firmly as the thing tried to bite him. It looked at him in bewilderment, then went to bite him again. "Bad," Jae repeated, tapping it sharply on the nose. It stared at him again.

"Girl!" Jae yelled, realising that he didn't know his partner's name. "Partnergirl! What is it? Where does it belong? Can you make it stop trying to bite me?"\n\n

0 Jae Why, yes, I do. 0 Jae 0 5

Caedence

January 27, 2007 1:59 PM

I noticed ^_^ by Caedence

Caedence sighed, this kid was more excitable than Elly. And Elly was the one with the huge grin. She stared up at the sky waiting for the kid to do the spell. A flash of movement caught her eye. 'Oh no!' she thought as the kid ran after it. "STOP! YOU DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S THE RIGHT WAY!" she yelled.

Bad. Bad oh no, now he was talking to it like it was a pet. She picked up the fallen wand and went over to him. "That is called a garden gnome. Oh and I am called Caedence, not girl," She let the faintest hint of irritatioin creep into her voice. "It belongs in its ground hole. That is its home. A little burrow. But do you know what is fun? Spin it around and around, toss it as high up as you can and watch what happens. But for now Immobulus" She pointed her wand at teh gnome. The spell didn't work as well as she hoped. It just slowed the thing's movements so it was biting in slow-motion now. "The spell will wear off in a bit. Let's see if we're going the right way, shall we Yay?"\n\n

0 Caedence I noticed ^_^ 94 Caedence 0 5

Josh

January 27, 2007 3:02 PM

You're Welcome by Josh

Josh blinked at the girl. She seemed awefully formal to Josh. Reminded him of all the girls he had been introduced to at random parties his parents had taken them too. Josh's family was never formal unless they absolutely had to be. Luckily, those moments were extremely rare and something Josh hadn't had to go through since he was a little kid.

So, the fact that this girl was so formal during a regular lesson had Josh speechless for a moment or two. "No need to be so stiff, Hyana." Josh mused, smiling at the girl. "Come on, this is actually a fun lesson. And we get candy, which is even better." Josh added, dropping his book back into his sack and lifting it over his shoulder.

He set his wand on his open palm, remembering the words of both the professor and the book, Josh spoke the spell with confidence and firmly. Watching with mild interest, it was no real shock to him that the spell pointed North. So long as he knew everything about the spell, it should always work. Or, that was his thought about it.

"Yeah, alright." Josh said in agreement. Moving quickly, Josh grabbed a map and turned to the entrance of the Labyrinth. "Have you ever played Treasure Hunters before?" Josh asked Hyana. It was a silly game him and his siblings used to play when they were younger. He wondered if all children grew up playing it.\n\n

0 Josh You're Welcome 0 Josh 0 5

Jae

January 27, 2007 3:27 PM

I'd be a bit worried if you hadn't by Jae

Jae stared at Caedence, aghast. Spin it around and toss it as high up as he could? Why would he do that?! That was mean!

"Why?" he asked his partner, reproachfully. "That's not nice. How would you like it if someone spun you around and threw you? That would hurt. And it might make you dizzy." Jae put the gnome down and patted it on its head. The little creature looked at him oddly, in slow motion, then managed a halfhearted 'Gerroff?' that was more a question than a complaint. It began to slowly make its way back to its burrow.

Jae took his wandstick from his partner, and looked at it. The wandstick had spun before. So he had done something right, right? Jae looked down at it firmly, then looked up at Caedence and down at the wandstick. "Point me?" he asked. It spun halfheartedly, then stopped, pointing at the gnome.

"No, point me." Jae explained patiently. The wandstick twirled around a couple of times, then pointed to the gnome again. "Um....POINTMEPLEASE?" Jae tried. The wandstick spun around quickly, turning and turning and turning until it finally ended up pointing to the left, right down the path they hadn't taken. \n\n

0 Jae I'd be a bit worried if you hadn't 0 Jae 0 5

Irene Liddowe

January 27, 2007 4:32 PM

Room for one more? by Irene Liddowe

Irene walked into the gardens very late. She was sure she had missed a huge chunk of the lesson but was very relieved when Professor O'Leary started the lesson a minute later. She tucked some of her brown hair behind her ear, taking a seat on the ground.

Professor O'Leary seemed to be very intimidating. Note to Self: Control sarcasm when near this one. She thought to herself.

The "Point Me" charm seemed pretty simple, but as she has learned with the other spells, never judge too quickly. The task of getting through the maze, though, presented more of a challenge. Professor O'Leary instucted the students to organize into groups or two or three.

Irene sat up a little straighter. She loved meeting new people. Pushingherself off the grass, Irene stood and looked around for a lone person around her. Most people had gathered into their groups already but, after scanning the grounds a little more, Irene spotted a pair. She dusted off her uniform and walked straight towards them.

Irene tapped the girl on the shoulder and smiled.

"Hey, room for one more?"\n\n

0 Irene Liddowe Room for one more? 106 Irene Liddowe 0 5

Eavan Valentine

January 28, 2007 4:49 PM

How do you know? by Eavan Valentine

Eavan smiled. She had her group, though they looked to be first years and she knew neither of them. Oh well, there were plently of other opportunties to see her old frinds. She shouldn't be too worried.

"I'm Eavan Valentine," she said quickly after Riley introduced herself before turning to Hikaru and answering his question. "And you're right, I'm not a first year. Second year, to be exact, but I have no idea what's going to be in there. The professor, he's...well, he's...unpredictable," was the best way to describe it. "He likes to keep people on their toes, but I doubt there will be anything dangerous. There might even be nothing at all, since we are learning a compass spell and not a defense spell."

Eavan breathed, not used to talking so much. She was more of a listener.\n\n

0 Eavan Valentine How do you know? 86 Eavan Valentine 0 5

Riley Garraway

January 28, 2007 8:08 PM

I guess we don't, do we? by Riley Garraway

Riley smiled at Eavan, sparing a glance in the direction of their professor. "He does seem to be a little unpredictable...and maybe a bit scary. But it's good to hear that we probably won't have to face anything dangerous! I don't think I'm up to risking life or limb over anything yet."

Riley drew her wand out and balanced it on the palm of her hand. "Point me," she commanded, and her wand spun a few times before slowing, swiveling for a minute, and then laying still. She could only assume that the tip was pointing north, since she really had no idea where north was. She assumed she could tell by the sun... how did that saying go? The sun rises in the east and sets in the west? Something like that.

"Well, when do you think we should start?" She looked around at the rest of her group. \n\n

0 Riley Garraway I guess we don't, do we? 0 Riley Garraway 0 5

Hikaru Kasuragi

January 28, 2007 9:49 PM

But we need to be careful just in case! by Hikaru Kasuragi

Hikaru smiled at them "Well Eaven, its an honor to meet you and I do hope we don't need that spell." Hikaru shuddered just thinking about the amount of trouble he would be in! He beamed at Riley "Good Job with the spell Riley!" He practiced his the spell as well "Point Me!" the wand spun around violently and pointed to what he thought was North.

Hikaru looked into the edge of the maze and motioned for the other two. "Alright! Lets head into the Maze, I'll take the lead, Riley in the Middle, Eaven in the back...remember the spark charm if we get into trouble!" He walked into the Maze with the other two (hopefully) following behind and him and muttered the spell under his breathe as he walked ahead carefully.\n\n

0 Hikaru Kasuragi But we need to be careful just in case! 0 Hikaru Kasuragi 0 5

Mika

January 29, 2007 12:56 AM

pant pant Room for Another? by Mika

Mika had been back at the group, which made it a struggle to follow what the Professor was saying, because he couldn't see what he was doing. When they were supposed to partner up, he started looking around for someone he knew. Yae, Gwen, Hyana, Ebony... just some one he had at least spoken to before.

He spotted Hyana with someone he didn't know, and by the time he maneuvered his wheelchair around the other students, they were already at the head of the labyrinth.

"May I join you?" He asked Hyana and the other boy. "Yae already is in there, and Gwen already has two partners." he told Hyana, by way of explanation. He brushed a stray strand of black hair out of his face, tugging at his pony tail a little nervously. He was pale, and skinny, but sat straight in his wheelchair. His wand was stuck through his ponytail for safe keeping.\n\n

0 Mika *pant pant* Room for Another? 0 Mika 0 5

Oliver Abbott

January 29, 2007 4:28 PM

I can do it! by Oliver Abbott

Oliver’s first ever Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson found him in the gardens, just outside the maze of hedges than these Sonoran folk referred to as the labyrinth. It was quite sunny, so Oliver was glad he’d decided to keep his sunhat in his bag with him. His school robes would cover his skin nicely, but he didn’t have his sunglasses with him, so he hoped they wouldn’t have to stay out in the sunshine for too long. If he found a bit of shade that would be okay, but Oliver’s eyes didn’t like the sun.

The professor was a bit eerie, and he seemed stricter than all the other professors Oliver had met so far. Still, he didn’t have anything on Mr Sherwood, his old maths teacher, otherwise known as the scariest man alive.

Professor O’Leary told the class about this pointing spell that showed you North. When he realised the other students were trying out the spell for themselves, Oliver took his wand out, too. He laid it in his palm and tried to remember Jordanna’s instructions for performing spells.

“Point me,” Oliver said clearly and with enthusiasm. His wand did exactly as it was supposed to, and turned neatly to point in the same direction as the professor’s had done. Oliver felt smug; he looked around to share his triumph, but sadly it appeared that nobody had been watching him. Why did it always happen like that?

Not to worry though – they had to get into groups and go round the maze together. That sounded like fun, plus it meant Oliver could show off his new spell to other people. He would do it subtly, though, so he didn’t look like he was showing off, because that wasn’t tasteful.

Now the only issue was, once again, to find a partner. At least this time the older students were only a little bit older, not fourth years like in charms. Oliver still didn’t know many people, and groups were forming quickly. He didn’t fancy being the only one left without a partner, so he looked up and tapped the person who was closest to him on the shoulder.

“Can we work together?” he asked.
\n\n

0 Oliver Abbott I can do it! 99 Oliver Abbott 0 5

Caedence

January 29, 2007 4:54 PM

i'm just that observant i guess by Caedence

Caedence shrugged as he set the gnome on the ground. "Well, it don't hurt them. They have thick skulls, you know. Like rocks. And the point is to make them dizzy. That way they'll leave your garden. They're really bad pests, i've heard. They eat your plants and stuff. And they bite." She said as he sent the gnome on its way.

"See?" she said when the wand pointed the other way after several tries, "One, you said it as a 'would you mind?' instead of a 'do it now!' voice. Two, you rushed off without checking where you were going. That could be dangerous and you could run straight into a really nasty trap. You don't want to be hurt do you?" if she had said that last question to any second year, they would have taken it the wrong way. As a threat. She hoped the kid knew she was just gently scolding him for being reckless.

She turned around and walked back to the fork. To make sure, she used the spell again. It pointed left, just as Yay's had. Yay, what an odd name. She didn't know if Jae or Yay fit him more. Judging by his hyperactivity and obvious ADHD, she went with Yay. "C'mon, Yay, this way" she laughed a bit at the little rhyme she made.\n\n

0 Caedence i'm just that observant i guess 94 Caedence 0 5

Gray and Kavin

January 29, 2007 5:27 PM

Always! by Gray and Kavin

"Hey, room for one more?"

Gray turned to look at the girl who had spoken. She was a first year, like Kavin, and seemed nice enough. Gray nodded gently. "Of course we do," she said, and turned to her... brother? "Kavin! We have one more!" she called to him, and Ariel bounced around in her head.

"Wow Graila, you sure attract the young-uns!" the insanity said beamingly. Gray shook her head, wanting to rid herself of the headcase. Go away, she told Ariel mentally, and was glad when Kavin walked up to her and the other girl a second later, flipping a hand through his brown hair. Noticing that it was another girl Gray had found, Kavin's freckles turned red and he looked down.

But then Kavin noticed it was his Potions partner, and looked up again. His face just clearing from the small blush. "Hey, Irene," he said politely. "Nice to see you again." Kavin gave a brief nod, and turned his sttention to Gray. "Is three enough?" he asked lightly.

Gray nodded to him and smiled. "You two know each other?" she asked, brushing off Kavin's own question. "Hi Irene, nice to work with you. I'm Gray Markner, I see you and Kavin here have already met?" She turned a contacted eye on Kavin, and the boy shrugged.

"We were Potions partners," he muttered, fighting back another blush.\n\n

16 Gray and Kavin Always! 113 Gray and Kavin 0 5

Hyana

January 29, 2007 10:14 PM

Of course^^ by Hyana

Hyana blushed slightly when Josh told her to stop being so stiff. She didn't know that she was stiff. She was just shy. But...he didn't seem to like her being shy. Nobody but Caedence minded before. Thinking of Caedence she decided to get braver. "Thanks Josh!" she said happily. The two of them started walking over to the professor to get the map when he asked if she's ever played 'treasure hunt'. She was about to answer when she heard a familiar voice.

"May I join you?" Hyana turned around to see Mika coming up to them. "Mika!" She exclaimed. "Of course! If Josh doesn't mind, that is. I think it'd be fun. Well, how about it Josh?" She turned to Josh, her brown almond shaped eyes sparkling.\n\n

0 Hyana Of course^^ 0 Hyana 0 5

Josh

January 29, 2007 10:53 PM

Sure, why not? by Josh

Josh had been looking expectantly at Hyana for a response to his querry but was interupted by an unfamiliar voice. Hyana's exclamation startled Josh momentarily. That was probably the first time she had actually really used her voice and sounded genuinely happy.

Looking at the boy, Josh's dark eyes made their way down and back up again. Head tilted slightly, Josh remained quiet as Hyana and him spoke. He scratched the end of his nose while watcing the two of them. He had heard of this kid, but nothing more than 'there was a boy in a wheelchair'. Realizing that he was being addressed, Josh shrugged.

"Sure. I'm Josh and, from Hyana's squeal-" Josh grinned over at Hyana, "You're Mika. We've already got a map and are heading in. Anyway, as I was saying, this reminds me of Treasure Hunters that mi familia used to play when we were little. We used nuestros primos crup as a niffler and would go 'hunting' in our backyard. Nuestros padres would bury prizes in the backyard for us to find. It was fun." Josh talked rapidly, his accent thick during some portions of his speech. "You guys do anything like that?"

OOC: Translations -

mi familia - my family
nuestros primos - our cousins
nuestros padres - our parents\n\n

0 Josh Sure, why not? 0 Josh 0 5

Matt

January 29, 2007 11:09 PM

It's alright by Matt

That bird sounded much better than Matt's new puffskein. Not that he would actually say it outloud. A bird that actually did things. That was actually cool. Though, Matt wasn't a fan of Ravens. They reminded him of crows and crows meant death. So, yeah, he stuck to owls and nothing more.

"My name is Spanish." Matt responded automatically. Not only was his name spanish, but his accent sometimes, on occasion, would slip and become difficult to understand if he wasn't paying any attention. It was a downfall for speaking in Spanish for most of his life.

He listened quietly as Josiah went on and on about bloods. Matt, in all honesty, never really gave much thought to those things despite being a Pureblood himself. He knew, back when he was young, that there was a huge fight between his eldest brother, Juan, and his parents about blood. But he couldn't remember much of it. Eventually, it would become something more of a factor in his life, for now, he'd live freely from it.

"Erm...those aren't muggle things." Matt said, after a moment, glancing at Josiah with a frown. "Point Me." Matt said, when they reached a fork in the path. His wand pointed to the left and Matt could only assume that was North and headed that way. "It's the Spanish Culture. I'm Pureblood, but we still use Pinatas at festivals, eat burritos, and dance to the tango. It's who we are. It's our culture. It has nothing to do with muggles or blood." His tone was serious as he spoke, something that was rare for Matt, but he wasn't angry or anything. He figured, people wouldn't understad something they had never been involved in before.

"Anyway, I'm from America. Born and raised in Los Angeles. My dad's from Mexico though and my mom's from Spain. It's actually pretty funny if you think about it. So, in the summer, we're split between Mexico and Spain. I suppose it's fun to go to those places, but I've gone there my whole life and it's just, you know, another place." Matt grinned. It was the sad truth. "Where are you from?"\n\n

0 Matt It's alright 0 Matt 0 5

Irene

January 30, 2007 7:49 PM

grins by Irene

"Hey, Irene," he said politely. "Nice to see you again." her former potions partner said. She smiled at him.

"Yeah, nice to see you too!"

The girl, who had introduced herself as Gray, inquired about how they knew each other. When Kavin responded that they use to be potions partners Irene nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, making a cure for boils really bonds people," Irene said with a smile, hoping to put across the point that swhe was joking.

"I'm in Pecaru and I know Kavin's in Aladren, but what about you?" Irene asked turning to Gray.\n\n

0 Irene *grins* 0 Irene 0 5

Eavan

January 30, 2007 10:18 PM

Better safe than sorry! by Eavan

Eavan nodded at the plan and let Hikaru and Riley step into the maze before going in herself. Her wand was out, ready for anything that might come their way, but her eyes were on the map. But she was in back.

"Hey, Hikaru! Wait!" Eavan yelled, running past Riley and holding out the map. "Since you're in front, you'd probably better take the map." Eavan smiled at Hikaru and when he took the map, she turned back around and smiled at Riley, because that's what you do when you like a person: you smile.

So, Eavan headed back to her position in the back, eys on the lookout for signs of danger and of possible turns. And then they reached their first turn. Eavan placed her wand flat of her palm and said "point me". The wand circled and stopped abruptly, pointing directly into the hedges.

"My wand says that North is that way," she pointed in the same direction that her wand was in. "Where do we go from here?"\n\n

0 Eavan Better safe than sorry! 0 Eavan 0 5

Jae

January 31, 2007 5:52 AM

Well, that's good! by Jae

"Why would I be hurt?" Jae asked, tagging along behind Caedence and waving to the gnome as they left. "Why would there be traps? Aunt Marla says that if you ask nicely, things happen. Why doesn't that work with my wandstick? But it did work, right? 'Cause we're going the right way now, right? How do you know so much about gnomes? Does Professor K do them in Comec? Will we do them next? Will we get to keep them?"

This was a fun lesson. They got to run around outside and meet new people and animals and stuff. All the teachers were really nice here too. They had fun lessons, like in Comec or Charms or Potions where you got to make stuff and make stuff do things and move around. Best of all, you didn't really have to read, except for homework sometimes. And there were animals that you got to keep, and Aunt Marla had sent in a note and he got to keep Todd and Jenny. Well, Jenny was from home. But Todd was from here, and Jae got to keep him, so that was really good.

There was a huge statue up ahead too! It looked like a man with a robe and a big nose. When Jae ran closer, though, the big nose turned out to be a beak. Why would someone have a beak? Why would there be a statue of him in the maze? Maybe it was one of those traps Caedence had talked about. Dubiously, Jae poked it with his wandstick. Nothing happened. He poked it again. Still, nothing happened. Why was the statue there?\n\n

0 Jae Well, that's good! 0 Jae 0 5

Riley Garraway

January 31, 2007 3:40 PM

Oh, such a good saying. by Riley Garraway

Riley followed Hikaru into the maze, as well, backed by Eavan. It was sort of creepy in the maze; the high leafy walls barred some of the sunlight and covered them in bluish shadows. She started when Eavan rushed past her to give Hikaru the map, but quickly composed herself. There was no reason to be skittish, she reminded herself; nothing bad was going to happen. And (Riley smiled back at Eavan) she seemed to have made a new friend. Things were looking up.

When they came upon the first turn, Riley looked around for possibilities. She cast the Point Me spell on her own wand. "Okay, our wands are in agreement," she said to Eavan. "So if north is that way," she gestured, "then I say we take this turn and hope we come across another one that will lead us in the right direction." \n\n

0 Riley Garraway Oh, such a good saying. 0 Riley Garraway 0 5

Josiah

January 31, 2007 5:20 PM

...can't think of a witty title today by Josiah

Josiah blinked a couple of times. So it wasn't just muggles that played pinata and stuff? Cool! Then his mother should have no problem going to Mexico! Father could even make it part of his work! Write a report on the differences in education and such. That would be fun! And maybe his mother would let him adopt one of those little yappy mexican dogs and bring it home. Chuwawa, or something like that.

"Me? I live right here in Arizona. Though we travel alot. We just stay in the states. Mother made father buy us a house near a good school when I was born. Father works for the Magical Government dealing with how kids like schools," Josiah explained, "And how teachers do their jobs. I heard about that muggle no-child-left-behind law. Maybe his job has something to do with that. I'm not too sure."

They came to another fork in the path. Josaih looked at his map. It seemed like path under his thumb led to the candy, but to be sure, he used the point me spell. Surely enough, the right one was the way the wand pointed. "So, do you have any other family? Brothers? Sisters? Myself, I'm an only child. Wish I had a little brother..." he faded out with a wistful sigh. \n\n

0 Josiah ...can't think of a witty title today 0 Josiah 0 5

Mika

January 31, 2007 6:34 PM

Uh oh by Mika

Mika smiled as Hyana was so clearly glad to see him. When the other boy spoke though, he got lost. It wasn't the accent, but the foreign words. He was already functioning in a foreign language, adding another one into the mix threw him off entirely, and he got lost after 'mi familia'.

"Um... no?" He guessed that that would be the right answer. He had never done anything like this before, and he thought that maybe that had been the question. Maybe? Well, if nothing else he was about to get a good workout with his English.\n\n

0 Mika Uh oh 0 Mika 0 5

Amber Carey

February 01, 2007 8:44 PM

claps by Amber Carey

It would take a lot of nerve and at least a little insanity to think of Professor O'Leary as part of a funny TV program for five-year-olds, but the first thing that popped to mind when Amber saw him in the Gardens was a cartoon character worked into a real set. It just looked weird. If he had been one of the witches in The Wizard of Oz, she would have thought direct sunlight was his "weakness", like water was the Wicked Witch of the West's. Shoving her bangs out of her face, Amber stood on tiptoe to see if he showed any signs of melting, just in case. The professor looked as solid as he did out of place.

She made an effort to listen politely to the introductory lecture, not feeling nearly as worried about the threats as she had the previous year. Morgaine was a third year, which meant she and Amber were forced into contact much less than they had been in her first year. Even O'Leary seemed like less of a dragon when she wasn't constantly worried that her bratty cousin was about to set her up and get her in trouble when she hadn't actually done anything. She tuned in fully when the talk turned to the day's spell and winced at the directions. Firm might work out, but commanding...

Here goes nothing, she though, lying her wand flat on her right palm. It looked ridiculous there, and she had a moment of the old this-couldn't-possibly-work doubt that had caused issues in the first few months of her first year. Amber shook her head once, hard, and reminded herself that O'Leary had done it and that people around her were doing it as she waffled. "Point me," she said, trying to mimic the tone her stepmother used on the house-elves.

The wand gave a halfhearted jerk, then stopped, pointing in a direction different from O'Leary's. She felt herself starting to blush, and reminding herself that she'd never been able to figure out compasses wasn't helping. They were with the first years, for crying out loud. The spell looked weird, but the firsties meant it had to be easy. "Point me," she said again, a little louder. Her wand, to its credit, did turn in an actual direction this time. Amber thought it might be pointing south.

A tap on the shoulder served to remind her of the partners requirement and keep her from making another attempt at the spell. Amber lowered her wand quickly and looked around at the boy. She thought he was one of the first years. "Sure," she said, then noticed the House badge on his robes. She immediately decided not to mention her last name. A first year wasn't likely to know much about people in the upper years, but what little she knew about Gwen's House made it sound more political by far than Teppenpaw. If any of the firsties knew about Gwen and Morgaine and their less-than-pretty reputations, it would be the Crotali. "I'm Amber."\n\n

0 Amber Carey *claps* 84 Amber Carey 0 5

Helena Layne

February 03, 2007 6:11 PM

Me, too! by Helena Layne

He's suffering from a Vitamin D deficiency and hates oranges.

His wife's just got back from Malibu with a tan and he's jealous.

He's trying to sweat off some weight by wearing those robes out in the sun for a class period.

That explanation for the unprecedented move of the Defense Against the Dark Arts class to the Gardens proved the deal-breaker. Helena nearly choked herself trying not to laugh at the notion, and wound up coughing into her shoulder to keep from drawing attention to the disruption. She didn't think she'd ever be able to look at O'Leary's signature black robes the same way ever again. Offering a tiny, apologetic smile to the people around her once she got a grip on herself, Helena terminated all speculation over the change of venue and began winding a loose piece of hair around her index finger as she stared straight ahead and listened to the lecture.

Once the obligatory pre-lesson threats had been issued and resolutions to stay as far out of trouble as possible had been renewed, the lesson plan itself came and turned out to be half-decent. Helena had never seen O'Leary as the type to hand out candy or any other type of reward, but she wasn't going to be the one who looked a gift horse in the mouth. It would be beyond paranoid to think that he might poison it to see if they could tell. She'd be surprised if the headmaster would allow that with seventh years, much less the people in this class. It was just ridiculous.

Still, though...O'Leary was the kind of Defense teacher who made one feel as though an attack could come at any given second. She had yet to forget Geoff's description of his first lesson with the professor, though that could have had more to do with the Pecari Geoff swore had used Tinkerbell as an example of a good and a bad fairy than with O'Leary's dead-serious attitude. She didn't think that the professor would be stupid enough to risk killing over-excited first years by poisoning the candy, but she was going to let her partner or one of her partners sample it before she did.

Helena hadn't managed to get the spell perfect during the required run after the demonstration, but she decided to go get a map before she started worrying about that. The maps were critical, and not just because of candy; she had no desire to spend hours wandering around in circles until the search parties found her because she'd relied on someone else to get the paper showing the way out. Helena thought she was far better at delegating than her brother or Anne, but she wasn't going to take a stupid chance on it. What if there were only enough maps for groups and everyone tried to grab one and the stocks ran out?

Returning to her previous spot, she put her wand flat in the palm of her hand once more. "Point me," she said, her tone an imitation of the one rich, snobby Titania Webber often used on her mother's favorite three-thirty radio show. She had been too afraid of sounding faux riche to use it when the whole class had had to do the spell together, but the disbanding made her feel invisible and so safe. Her wand turned in the exact direction that O'Leary's had, and had a satisfied smile bestowed upon it for its trouble. Now she was ready to find a group.

The burst of confidence getting the spell right had given her faded away at the thought. She didn't know that many people, and all of them knew other people better. She began going over the list and looking around for the people on it. Geoff and Anne weren't in this class. Eavan was with some first years. Meredith was with her Pecari friends. Her two Housemates, Leonardo and Joshua, were both in pairs at the moment, but she couldn't imagine either of them would like her bouncing up and using that or their mutual age as an excuse to force her company down their throats. Add in what Anne thought was Josh's sister's aversion to Helena's brother...

She was getting a little desperate if she was willing to use an "acquaintance" with a girl's distant cousin that was composed of seeing each other at Quidditch practice and the cousin's reputation, but it would have to work. If Helena remembered correctly, Amber Carey knew even fewer people in their year than she did. Her rehearsed smile faltered a little when she saw that even Amber had managed to secure a first-year partner without her noticing, but it wasn't enough to deter her. "Hi, you guys," she said brightly, noticing that neither of them appeared to have a map. "Got room for a third?"\n\n

16 Helena Layne Me, too! 88 Helena Layne 0 5

Oliver

February 05, 2007 5:19 PM

Woohoo! by Oliver

OOC: This is before the Quidditch practise, then. Makes sense, I suppose, if it's the first lesson.

BIC:

The girl Oliver had accosted turned and introduced herself as Amber. Oliver didn’t miss her eyes flicking to the Crotalus badge on his robes (so he did the same and noticed she was in Teppenpaw), nor did he miss Amber’s absent surname (which he wouldn’t have noticed before Sonora, but people here liked to introduce themselves quite formally, he’d noticed). He was just about to introduce himself in return, when another girl came over, and she already had a map. “Hi, you guys,” she said, as Oliver wondered what he’d done to deserve only having girls for partners in every lesson so far. “Got room for a third?”

Oliver looked at Amber and shrugged. They couldn’t very well say they didn’t have room for another person, seeing as together they only made two. “Okay,” he replied. “I’m Oliver,” he said, pushing his glasses back up his nose, following Amber’s lead with not giving his surname. He thought he recognised the new girl from his commons, and a quick glance at her robes confirmed she, too, was in Crotalus. He suspected she was an older student, but he didn’t know about the first girl, so just to be sure, he added, “I’m in first year,” to the end of his introduction.
\n\n

0 Oliver Woohoo! 0 Oliver 0 5

Hyana

February 05, 2007 8:04 PM

Sorry I took so long by Hyana

Hyana found herself turning bright red when Josh said she 'squealed.' She hadn't squealed...had she? Then she realized Josh had asked the two of them if they had played the treasure hunt game before. She shook her head.

"I never got to play that game before. My older sister...well, she died a while ago along with my dad. We never got to play together. But she was a wonderful person!" She replied, feeling a bit more confident now that she was with someone she knew. Before she realized it, they were at the front of the maze. "Well, are you guys ready?" She asked, pulling her wand out of her pocket.\n\n

0 Hyana Sorry I took so long 0 Hyana 0 5

Amber

February 07, 2007 5:59 PM

claps some more by Amber

OOC: You have to love fuzzy time. BIC:

Amber looked at the first year, waiting for a name, and was caught off-guard when the voice that spoke was definitely a girl's. She jerked around to face her yearmate, the look on her face not the most intelligent in the world, and began desperately searching for a name to go with the marginally familiar face. As they were wont to do in such moments, all the facts she had ever heard about the other girl - that she was the only girl in her House and year, had a brother a little older than they were, was the youngest starting player on the Crotalus Quidditch team, and was, in Gwen's opinion, a bad Catherine Raines wannabe - except for the one she needed came up.

To stall for time, she smiled politely and nodded when her partner - Oliver - agreed to let the other second year into their group. Gwen called her whatever it was Anne Wright called her, but all Amber could remember about that was that it was weird and started with an L and most likely wasn't her real name. Laury didn't sound right, but it was the only thing she could come up with. It would be close enough; the better half of everything that came out of Gwen's mouth was pure rubbish, but she did tend to get people's names right. "Amber," she repeated, leaving off her surname again. "Second year." It didn't seem very likely to her that Laury would know who she was, unless the other girl was a pureblood who followed the scandals a lot.

Amber mentally fussed out Professor O'Leary for insisting that they stagger the entrances, because that meant prolonging the awkwardness between the three of them. She was a Teppenpaw, which made her by definition friendly, but she didn't think she was up for smoothing the waters between Crotali. Her eyes latched onto the map in Laury's hand. "You got one of those? That's - uh - good. I learned how to read maps a little at my old school, so I can help with that..."

She had always thought it was Gwen being obsessive about her yearmates the way she always was, but the more Amber thought about it, the more she could see a resemblance between Laury and Catherine. They had almost the same shades of Crayola-brown hair and angel-fair skin, and they both had light eyes. She didn't know the other girl at all, though, so she refrained from making a quick call on whether or not the Crotalus was a snobby gossip like her fourth-year look-alike. Swinging her arms a little, she fixed a genial smile on her face and prayed for the time to enter the maze to hurry up and show up. \n\n

0 Amber *claps some more* 0 Amber 0 5

Caedence

February 07, 2007 8:00 PM

you sure are a hyper one! by Caedence

"My mother is a witch, so I know a titch of magical stuff from her. But mostly I learned it myself. In Care of Magical Creatures last year we did crups. Like a little dog with a forked tail. A jack russle terrier? One of my neighbors had one. It didn't like me though," 'Along with half the people in my town' she added to herself, "But I was able to teach the crup a trick. Maybe if I can go visit it I can show you." Caedence said, getting more and more into a chatty mood. Gosh, happiness was infectious!

She stared at the statue. It looked odd, she had never seen it before, not even flying over it. "Speciallis Revelio" She muttered tapping it. (OOC:sorry if i misspelled it)

She frowned as the statue opened and shut its beak. What was this all about? The spell she said should reveal it's hidden secret, why was it flapping its beak? What was the point? "Yay, you seem the exploring type, see if there is a stick nearby, or just look into its mouth. See if you see anything in there?" She suggested. Whatever this thing was, it was even wierding her out.\n\n

0 Caedence you sure are a hyper one! 94 Caedence 0 5

Matt

February 07, 2007 8:47 PM

Well, that's alright by Matt

He'd never heard of such a job like that. It must have been hard having to go from state to state learning the ways of the muggles without actually...learning them. From what Josiah said, his mother seemed so against muggles that it was actually sort of funny that his father studied things dealing with muggle stuff. Or whatever it was.

"My dad works with the Magical Law. You know, Prosecutes Wizards and Witches who've done something wrong. Usually the big cases, like murder or some big theft of some kind. He's a partner in one of the most famous Magical Law Firms. Mama says we ought to boast about that and follow him instead of becoming one of his clients." Matt said with a grin. His parents truly believed that Josh and him would end up in front of the Wizengamont.

Matt started to laugh at Josiah's question. "Are you serious?" He asked him when he was able to catch his breath. "I have eight brothers and sisters. Hannah, Juan, Jules, Paco, Sofia, Jake, Bella, and my twin, Jose. We're the babies, but then we have Adelita and Dulce, so I suppose, they're the babies now."\n\n

0 Matt Well, that's alright 0 Matt 0 5

Josh

February 07, 2007 9:20 PM

Life happens by Josh

Josh waited patiently for the both of them to answer. Apparently the boy in the wheelchair...erm...Mike? Yeah, Josh thought that was his name. Well, Mike didn't seem to know what was going on by the response that he gave to Josh and Hyana started talking about her dead sister. Wasn't really the way in which he wanted the conversation to go in.

"Oh, that's sad." Josh replied to the both of them. He honestly thought it was sad that neither of them got to experience just how fun using imagination and a crup could really be. Even more so for Hyana for having lost both her sister and her father. Josh couldn't imagine losing a member of his family let alone two at once.

Josh entered the maze believing that the two would follow directly behind him. He realized that he was the older one of the group considering he'd never seen the other two before that day and that only meant they were first years. It was odd for him to be the older one in a group considering he was the youngest in his family.

"Do we all get our own bag of candy or do we have to share just one bag between the three of us?" Josh asked them. "And what sort of candies do you think are in there? I hope we get chocolate frogs. That would be cool." He was rambling, it happened sometimes when Josh was groping for topics to talk about.\n\n

0 Josh Life happens 0 Josh 0 5

Mika

February 08, 2007 1:36 PM

Mmm... Candy by Mika

There was candy involved? Mika wasn't one to have much of a sweet tooth, buthe was still a kid, and he still liked candy. He had been at the back of the group, and had missed some of the general instructions. "I do not mind sharing." Mika said, finding he didn't much care if they got their own or not. It would still be fun to get a 'prize'. "Maybe sugar quills?" he ventured, not overly familiar with American wizarding candy. They had had very different candy in Israel. Not chocolate frogs, though he knew they were popular.

He did follow after the older boy into the maze, moving his wheelchair with the same absent ease that most people walked with. "I am sorry, I did not hear what spell we are to use to find our way?" He said, by way of question, hoping Hyana or the other boy would enlighten him. He didn't like missing things in lecture. He didn't -think- this would be too hard. The narrow passages and high walls reminded him of the alley markets in Israel, and he could navigate those without magic...\n\n

0 Mika Mmm... Candy 0 Mika 0 5

Hyana

February 08, 2007 6:23 PM

Yes...but my author is on a sugar rush at the moment. by Hyana

Hyana smiled at Josh. He was so nice! Mika stated that he didn't mind sharing candy. "I don't mind sharing at all. I don't even know if I would like the candy." She said as they walked into the maze. "I've never had any magical candy!"

"I am sorry, I did not hear what spell we are to use to find our way?" She heard Mika ask. "You didn't? That's quite alright Mika. Here, let me show you." It would be a good time to use the spell since they had come at a fork in the maze. She held her wand on the palm of her hand. "Point me!" She commanded, much more confidently than she did before. Her wand spun around and pointed to the right turn. "That's the spell, and it looks like we go that way." She looked at the two of them and asked, "Do you think we'll run into any magical creatures? And who wants to do the spell next?"\n\n

0 Hyana Yes...but my author is on a sugar rush at the moment. 0 Hyana 0 5

Helena

February 09, 2007 10:27 PM

I guess we're just a talented group. by Helena

Though she had become less vocal about it as she got older, Helena had always hated taking "girl pictures" - photos of just her, her mother, and her sister. Part of that was the inevitable misunderstandings when one of her parents had a new colleague or book club member or whatever over and the stranger, familiar with photos and birth order, called her Lavinia because she looked like the younger sister. The biggest thing, though, was that she inevitably looked out of place. Nadia and Lavinia looked startlingly alike except for Lavinia's hair; without her father and brother to add some objectivity to the shot, Helena looked adopted. It was always an uncomfortable feeling.

Sort of like the one the current group dynamic was causing her to go through. The difference was that, try as she would to convince herself that it had something to do with the difference between her brown hair and their blond, she had a feeling that it had nothing to do with looking out of place.

"Nice to meet y'all," she said, ignoring her temporary resemblance to a Charleston tour guide trying to pitch a bad ghost walk. "I'm Helena La - Helena." She had no idea why they had failed to offer their surnames - it was, after all, practically expected at Sonora - but it would be incongruous and a little high-nosed of her to offer hers when Oliver and Amber had both chosen to remain anonymous. The thought didn't decrease the weirdness of introducing herself by only her given name again, though. "Second year, too," she added, offering Amber a tentative smile.

She considered mentioning her "acquaintance" with Amber's cousin, but decided against it. That could lead to Geoff and Anne talk, and as fond as she was of them, she couldn't pretend that they were assets when she was trying to get along. Helena was sure they didn't mean to be, but her brother and his best friend were difficult people at best, impossible at worst. Lavinia had said before that Geoff and Anne were fated to marry just because they were the only ones capable of surviving each other for the next hundred-odd years. Until Kate Peralta entered the picture, Helena had never questioned the accuracy of her sister's comment.

She made herself stop with her tangent, as interesting as it was, and get back to the matter at hand. With family out of the running for a topic of short-term conversation - she didn't know the first thing about Oliver, and without a surname, she couldn't figure out if she knew any relatives - she turned to the next-best thing. "It's not really like O'Leary to hand out candy, but I'll take what I can get," she joked, reaching up to smooth down her light brown hair. "Y'all have any favorites? I'm a peppermint person, myself."\n\n

16 Helena I guess we're just a talented group. 88 Helena 0 5

Lucas Smythe

February 11, 2007 5:01 PM

May I join you? by Lucas Smythe

Lucas pushed his blonde-tipped fringe from his face and stared at his new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. He seemed... strange, to say the least. It didn't seem very defense-against-the-dark-artsy to be doing some kind of treasure hunt to find bags of sweets, that's for sure. That seemed more like a charms class... Though Lucas couldn't say that for sure since he had accidentally missed his first charms class.

Still, maybe this Professor O'Leary had something... different in store for them. It surely couldn't be that easy, not if there were second years there too. Lucas hoped he'd be able to find a second year to work with, but most of the people around him seemed to be paired up already.

Once again pushing his fringe back, Lucas pulled out his wand and placed it flat on his palm before searching with his eyes around the class - he wanted to work with Cisco or Meri, but it seemed that neither were available; he couldn't even see Meri, and Cisco was walking away with people already.

Turning his attention back to his wand, he practically glared at it, clearly speaking the words "Point Me" as the professor had demonstrated and managed to surprise even himself as his wand spun to face north first try. "Beginner's luck..." He mumbled to himself, though secretly feeling very satisfied too.

He placed his wand back in his pocket and once again gazed round the group, knowing he'd have to find somebody to work with before they all left - he was prettu sure he'd get into trouble if he was stood on his own after everybody else had entered the maze. He could just imagine O'Leary swamping down on him with fire in his eyes and blood dripping from... okay, so maybe the blood thing was a little too far, but he figured it wouldn't be fun, anyway.

There was a boy and a girl standing quite near him, neither of whom he knew, but they also seemed to be introducing themselves so maybe 'barging in' would be acceptable... Or so he hoped. He began walking over to them, raising an eyebrow at the way the girl was dressed - not exactly suitable for everyday school wear, was it? Bit flashy, Lucas thought.

He cleared his throat as he approached the pair and set his usual friendly smile on his face, though knew it would be obscured by his shyness any second.

"Um, hi." He spoke clearly as he came to a halt next to them, once again removing his fringe from his eye. "Do you guys mind if I join you?" He asked politely, looking between them. Now he just needed a big grin and a friendly 'Oh no, of course not! Join us, please!'

Thinking about it though, maybe that was pushing it. Lucas just hoped they were polite at least - he really hated the uncouth. \n\n

0 Lucas Smythe May I join you? 96 Lucas Smythe 0 5

Oliver

February 12, 2007 6:03 PM

Guess we must be. by Oliver

The girls Oliver was working with were called Amber and Helena, and they were both second years. Oliver tried hard not to feel too insignificant in their company, but he didn’t feel it working very well. In fact, the lesson had barely started and he was wishing for it to end. He soon realised that he wasn’t the only uncomfortable one, however: Helena was blatantly trying to initiate some forced conversation about candy. Oliver didn’t mind; he probably would have done something similar anyway. “I’m a peppermint person myself,” Helena said.

“I’m not too fond of sweet things,” Oliver said, shrugging a bit. His parents hadn’t let him have candy at home, so he wasn’t used to eating much sweet stuff anyway. “You two can share the candies.” Oliver wasn’t really in need of an incentive to finish the lesson; just getting back indoors and away from having to work with girls who were either older than him or crazy would be fine with him. Why did they always have to work in pairs or groups anyway? At first Oliver had thought it was a good idea, and a great way to make friends. Now, however, he was beginning to adore every moment spent alone. He wouldn’t mind if he ended up being friends with any of his lesson partners, but that hadn’t happened yet.

“So, shall we head in then?” Oliver nodded towards the maze entrance and started subtly shifting his way slowly over, hoping that Amber and Helena would join him before he looked like he was trying to abandon them.
\n\n

0 Oliver Guess we must be. 0 Oliver 0 5

Jae

February 13, 2007 7:46 PM

Another thing that people tend to notice by Jae

Caedence explained all about crups. They were like dogs, only not very nice. Jae liked dogs. Dogs liked Jae. She probably just didn’t talk nicely enough to them. When Jae talked nicely to animals, they usually listened. A lot of other things listened too. Like the toaster. It never, ever worked for Aunt Marla, but when Jae asked nicely, it always worked for him. Aunt Cheri usually laughed and told Aunt Marla that she should be nicer to the appliances, and then Aunt Marla rolled her eyes and threw something at Aunt Cheri.

Jae liked his toaster. It made nice toast. Maybe he would eat toast for breakfast tomorrow.

“I’m going to have toast for breakfast tomorrow,” he informed Caedence. “Then we can go and visit the crup, right? Is he cute? Does he like kittens and sloykas?”

Caedence did something to the madcool statue and its beak started flapping. Jae jumped up on the statue’s plinth, then stretched to reach the beak. It didn’t work; he was too short. Securing footholds, he quickly scaled the statue and peered inside its mouth. There was something there! Being very careful not to catch it at the wrong time, Jae’s hand darted into the beak and retrieved a smallish, paper-wrapped parcel. Unfortunately, the sudden movement caused him to topple off the statue towards the ground.

Yelping, he landed on his shoulder and felt the shoulder pop. It didn’t hurt as much as a broken collarbone, but tears still welled up in his eyes. “Ow,” he whispered quietly and sniffled slightly as he dropped the parcel and grabbed his shoulder. “Ow,” he said again.
\n\n

0 Jae Another thing that people tend to notice 0 Jae 0 5

Caedence

February 14, 2007 1:37 PM

Ooh! No, Jae is cool, he can't get hurt! by Caedence

“I’m going to have toast for breakfast tomorrow. Then we can go and visit the crup, right? Is he cute? Does he like kittens and sloykas?”

Caedence rolled her eyes. What a pest, he thought they were to hang out on a daily basis now! She sighed. "Maybe," she demured. "Careful," she warned as the boy preped himself to reach into the beak.

"CAREFUL!" she repeated in a yell as the boy lost his footing. She rushed to try and catch him, but was too late. She heard a faint pop. Caedence cringed. Her arm made a sound very similar sound last year. The stupid medic had said a warning about bone shards in blood or something. All Caedence knew was that it hurt alot. She reached over Jae and carefully sat him up.

"Its okay, Yay, just take it easy. This is kind of like adventure flicks. You know, how the hero gets the lost treasure, sets off a trap, gets hurt, but wins in the end? Maybe that's like now. Want me to unwrap this thing you got out of the beak for you?" Caedence would surprise herself if she hadn't been too distracted by the possible break in the boy's arm; she was actually trying to soothe the boy! Wow, she should keep a journal about all the un-Caedenceish stuff she does every day. That would be an increasingly thick journal!\n\n

0 Caedence Ooh! No, Jae is cool, he can't get hurt! 94 Caedence 0 5

Josh

February 14, 2007 9:49 PM

My author wishes she was by Josh

Josh looked between the two of them. They obviously didn't have a twin and most likely didn't have siblings. Josh had both...well, he had more than both, he had a lot. His family was entirely too large and being the youngest and a twin only made it seem that much larger. For these two to be okay with sharing meant they either never shared at all, or it was a very rare occurrance.

At Hyana's little statement, Josh nearly stopped walking. She had never had magical candy? Either she was a very deprived girl from a magical family or she was a muggleborn. Josh truly hoped she was a muggleborn. "Oh, you've missed out! There are chocolate frogs and cockroach clusters and fizzing wizzbees. Cauldron Cakes are alright and so are pumpkin pastries, but I'm not really a fan for licorice wands." Josh said, naming the first bunch of candies that came to his mind.

After having a thought after Hyana's question Josh answered, "Well, Jake says that there are creatures that live here all the time. He says that sometimes Professor K will have them in her lessons. Like, Bella said that once they had to de-nome the gardens and Jake said that they had a clabbert." Josh took a breath before continuing on, "So if we see a creature, I'm not sure if it was something that Professor Dreary-" A nickname decided between himself and his twin that they believed fitted the DADA Professor perfectly, "planted or if they just live here on their own. And Mike can do the spell next since he's never done it."\n\n

0 Josh My author wishes she was 0 Josh 0 5

Jae

February 19, 2007 8:57 AM

Happy Chinese New Year! (albeit delayed) by Jae

"Owowowowowow," Jae whimpered as Caedence sat him up. His shoulder hurt. His shoulder felt weird. It hurt. It didn't hurt like when he broke his collarbone, but it was still painful. Frighteningly, the shoulder felt different to the hand that was gripping it. The arm connected to the shoulder in question was held away from his body slightly, forearm turned outwards. The statue above him kept clicking his beak in a determined fashion. Jae felt his head pound and he whimpered again. But then Caedence started to talk. It was reminiscent of the way Aunt Cheri spoke to him after he had come home from elementary school, throwing up and feverish.

"Its okay, Yay, just take it easy. This is kind of like adventure flicks. You know, how the hero gets the lost treasure, sets off a trap, gets hurt, but wins in the end? Maybe that's like now. Want me to unwrap this thing you got out of the beak for you?"

Like an adventure flick? Oh! Like...like the old movies that Aunt Cheri liked so much. James Bond and Indiana Jones. They got hurt but they got the treasure or the bad guy and it all turned out all right. He nodded mutely at Caedence's question. Maybe the treasure would be really really cool, and it would make him all better. Or maybe it would be really really cool and then they could go and see a doctor. \n\n

0 Jae Happy Chinese New Year! (albeit delayed) 0 Jae 0 5

Caedence

February 19, 2007 6:21 PM

'Tis the year of the pig... by Caedence

Caedence unwrapped the package. She grinned, showing it to Jae. Inside were many different colored wrapped candies of a lot of different sorts. Caedence looked at the forgotten map that lay on the ground near her. She grinned when she saw that it was the right spot to be. She noticed the little piece of paper that was also with the pacage. Congradulations on finding the candy. Remember to use the 'point me' spell to find your way out. Again, if you should get lost and need assitance, send up sparks

"Well, we got the treasure. Do you need me to help you up? Need me to walk you to the medic..." She faded off here, her face set in a tiny frown. Help the annoying but somehow endearing boy and have to face the idiot medic, or send him on his way with directions? She decided on the former, despite her feelings on the man, "I know where the place is, I can get you there, help explain the situation and have him set you right."

She paused before shoving the candy into the boy's hands, "Here, you get the treats, you found the statue, and you got us here despite the little detour. And you're hurt," she said.

"We can either send up sparks, or find our way out." She didn't add that she just wanted to get the heck out of this maze. It made her feel trapped and venurable. Like someone could pop out of nowhere and kick her butt and leave her for dead and no one would notice. That wouldn't be good. She looked at the little boy next to her waiting for his response. \n\n

0 Caedence 'Tis the year of the pig... 94 Caedence 0 5

Meredith Lail

February 19, 2007 8:41 PM

Dude(s)! by Meredith Lail

Meredith followed Professor O’Leary outside along with the mass of other second and first years. It was a little odd seeing O’Leary, out of any professor, teaching outdoors. The black on black look he usually had gave him an aura of ‘I’ve never heard of sunlight before.’ but if he was finally turning over a new leaf, Mere wouldn’t be the one to complain. She only wished she had her hair tie with her while being outdoors.

When the professor began the usual lecture introducing himself and explaining what the class would be about, Mere had to force her attention to stay put. Well so much for turning over a new leaf. It looked like the sunlight thing was a one-time deal. Mere took out her wand as instructed and put it in her left palm purely out of the habit of being left-handed. She spoke the words “Point Me!” and watched her wand tumble about in her palm, eventually coming to a stop in a random direction that, after looking at the professor’s wand, was definitely not north.

Mere became much more interested in what Professor O’Leary was saying than practicing the spell again. They were going to go exploring the maze for bags of candy. Exploring was the key word there. She would like O’Leary a lot more if he kept his lessons like this one. And who better to go exploring with than her exploring partners and best friends?

Before she went searching, she wanted to try the spell another time. She repeated the words and the wand did a quick spin and a definite point, but it was in the same direction as before, which turned out to be west. She’d have to work on it a little later because just then Echo pulled an Elly shout, calling for Elly and herself. Mere squeezed her way through the crowd, first to Professor O’Leary to get a map, and then towards where she heard Echo’s voice. She spotted Elly and Echo already together. It seemed to be that way a lot with those two. They would find each other before she found them. Just something she happened to notice.

“Hey you two!” she grinned widely at her friends. “Ready to go in? I’ve got a map.” She held it up to show them. “Hopefully one of you have the spell down better than I do. My wand keeps pointing west.” Mere put her wand in her hand and repeated the spell. “Point me.”

Alright, now it was pointing slightly north-west. Very slightly.\n\n

0 Meredith Lail Dude(s)! 0 Meredith Lail 0 5

Amber

February 20, 2007 11:29 PM

Talent is good. by Amber

Helena. Amber committed the name and face to memory, so she wouldn't forget them. It sounded lacy and Victorian to her, a name that had most likely gone out of style in seventeen-something, but it fit the other second year well. The half-remembered nickname must have been Lenny, to have the 'e' sound at the end and come from Helena. It wasn't as weird as some of the nicknames Gwen had come up with for her; she had spent a while during her first year answering to Maggie.

The attempt at conversation was a little weak, but it was better than nothing at all. Amber had been on the brink of chewing her fingernails again in spite of the glittery nail polish she had applied to prevent her from doing that very thing. Helena liked peppermint, and Oliver shocked her when he announced that he didn't like sweets. Amber blinked twice, taken off-guard. What kind of kid didn't like candy? His parents must have been dentists or something. "I wonder if O'Leary put in any Peppermint Patties?"

She doubted that her groupmates would get the chocolate-and-peppermint thing, but she thought it was funny. She began twirling her hair around her fingers, but stopped when the ends poked and itched. It needed a trim, but she hadn't had time for one before the semester started up. She'd noticed that the pretty girls' hair never seemed to have split ends or anything, so maybe there was some way to do it here...

"Yeah, let's," Amber said quickly when Oliver suggested heading in, then suited action to words to heading for an entrance so fast she had to stop to let the other two catch up. She was in desperate need of a distraction if she was worrying about her hair like that. "Darn, I wish this spell could do multiple directions," she said, half to herself. "It doesn't help if you know where North is and get West confused with East." She was talking too fast. It was an annoying habit. "Good thing all you need to do is figure out how to point the map northward to figure out what turns to take," she added, more slowly this time.\n\n

0 Amber Talent is good. 0 Amber 0 5

Elly

February 22, 2007 5:45 PM

Sweet! by Elly

It wasn’t long at all before Meredith joined them, and that felt right: Meredith, Echo and Elly exploring together. That was just the way it was supposed to be! Mere had a map already, but she didn’t seem to have much more of a grasp on the pointing spell than Elly did.

“My wand keeps pointing west,” Meredith said.

Elly laughed. “At least it’s being consistent,” she replied, smiling. “Mine doesn’t want to know. As usual.” The last two words were muttered as an afterthought. Elly’s wand really didn’t seem to behave for her like everyone else’s did. Okay, so Mere was having a little trouble this time, but she did usually manage to get spells right pretty quickly. Elly, on the other hand, could take days of practise before she finally managed to get a charm to work. In her first year she hadn’t been too bothered, assuming that she would get better at it in time. She was in her second year now, though, and a quick glance around the other students let Elly know that many first years were having no problem with the spell at all.

“I guess you’ll be directing us then, Echo,” Elly said, offering a muted smile. “Or we could just get lost again.” She shrugged. It wasn’t like she hadn’t got lost in the labyrinth before. This time there was even a teacher to help them out if they needed it.
\n\n

0 Elly Sweet! 0 Elly 0 5

Jae

February 25, 2007 1:34 PM

Kagura! by Jae

The package had candy in it! That didn't make sense. Professor O'Leary had said the candy would come in a stack of bags in the middle of the maze. There wasn't another bag of candy in sight, and there certainly wasn't any other candy bags around. Unless they were in the magic statue. Like a Pez dispenser! Jae loved Pez candy. The little thingy it came in was really cool. So maybe the statue was like a magic Pez dispenser. He was hardly in the position to be finding that out, though. Jae would have to return at a later date and see if the statue was like a magic Pez dispenser. For now, his shoulder hurt too much. But his partner shoved the candy into his hands and said he got to keep it, which was awesome. Jae stuck the candy in one of his pants pockets with his good hand.

"Where's the medic?" he asked. "Can we go see the medic now?" Jae sniffled a little bit, practically drooping. Even his blonde dreadlocks seemed to droop in reaction. "I don't want to get lost. My shoulder hurts."

Looking up at his partner, Jae waited to see what she would say to do. He didn't want to make decisions. He wanted to get his shoulder fixed. Right now he didn't even really want the candy. But at least it was like the old adventure movies because they did find the candy and set off the trap and stuff. It didn't help how his arm felt, but it certainly did help Jae feel a bit better inside. It had looked funny too. Not like the candy bars and lollipops that he got when he went trick-or-treating with Nina. Maybe it was magic candy?

OOC: Sorry for the delay. But my gosh, are you giving Jaeven SUGAR?! *dies* Are you sane?\n\n

0 Jae Kagura! 0 Jae 0 5

Caedence

February 25, 2007 5:07 PM

author hugs OMG A FRUBA FAN!!! by Caedence

OOC: Well, yeah that is dumb. btw, i wasn't sure if you meant that to be the candy package, but it is now, eh? Lol. And Fruba rocks! *hugs kyo plushie* kyo's my fave! ^_^\n\n

0 Caedence *author hugs* OMG A FRUBA FAN!!! 94 Caedence 0 5

Caedence

February 25, 2007 5:12 PM

stupid enter key... stupid comp.. grumbles TAG: Professor by Caedence

OOC: Sry bout that, my comp thought i meant 'submit' when I hit tab and tried to start a new line. Sry

IC: Caedence thought quickly. What was the spark spell anyways? She always could make sparks come out of her wand when she was really mad, but in her adventure she didn't remember the spell! Oh dear.

It took a moment for her to finally remember. Sending up the sparks, she decided to make small talk while she waited for the teacher. She looked around, as if searching for the topic. There, at the base of the statue, it looked like there was a little square. Maybe that was where the candy was piled? Hidden in a secret drawer? Maybe she would have to come explore it later.

"So, Yay, do you like going exploring alot? I do, trying to find anything hidden. I guess its a trait Pecaris share, cause Elly and Meredeth and Echo all like to explore. I guess exploring and quidditch are my only hobbies." And fighting, she added to herself.\n\n

0 Caedence stupid enter key... stupid comp.. *grumbles* TAG: Professor 94 Caedence 0 5

Hikaru

March 01, 2007 8:10 PM

I do agree by Hikaru

Hikaru stepped ino the maze and glanced around warily. He was already tense for waiting for an attack. The shadows that passed over him that he considered enemies. He was almost shaking in fear from the pressure that he felt. Hikaru almost jumed out of his skin when Eaaven gave him the map.

"Thanks, I'll make sure that I put it to good use." Hikaru replied in as calm a voice as he could muster. He glanced at the map and noticed the direction Riley and Eavens wands pointed and nodded. "Yeah, that should work." Hikaru replied and stepped onto the next path. It seemed much less intimidating then the other one and he felt slightly more comfortable than he had.

AN: Sorry I haven't posted in such a long time. School work is getting harder so I'm having a hard time keeping up woth everything.\n\n

0 Hikaru I do agree 0 Hikaru 0 5

Riley Garraway

March 02, 2007 9:28 PM

As well you should. by Riley Garraway

Riley followed Hikaru, looking down the long way that lay ahead. There seemed to be a split at the end, the path turning sharply left and right. It was far too early for frustration to creep upon her, and she doubted if it ever would, granted they finished the maze within a decent amount of time. She watched the back of Hikaru's head for a moment, fingering the half-charm around her neck that he'd given her the other day. Then she peered over her shoulder back at Eavan, smiling slightly before facing forwrad again. The prospect of having yet another friend was also overriding the negative pulses that the task at hand could easily push to the forefront of her thoughts.

Drawing back a little, Riley turned slightly, halfway facing the caboose of their little train to try and strike up a conversation. She feared that otherwise this assignment would just be nerve-wracking, with the silence and the tension. She knew that Hikaru was a little nervous; she could tell by the rigidness of his back and the jumpiness of his movements. Maybe a little idle conversation would help to calm him, too. "So, Eavan, what house are you in?" she asked genially, twirling her wand a little between her fingers.\n\n

0 Riley Garraway As well you should. 0 Riley Garraway 0 5

Helena

March 03, 2007 10:28 PM

Yep. by Helena

Oliver didn't want candy, and Amber liked chocolate. Their sweets preferences were exhausted as a topic. She tried to come up with something else, but Amber's hair twirling did very little to encourage her. Shouldn't the Teppenpaw, one of those friendly pillars of the school, be the one who to make conversation? Sure, she and Oliver were both Crotali, but Crotali weren't noted for getting along all that well. The fifth years were supposed to be friends, and the three girls of the fourth-year triumvirate had been together all the way through, but the rule was that Crotali, especially girl-Crotali, just didn't like each other that much.

Oliver proved himself a model of Crotalus sensibility when he suggested that they head into the maze. Helena honestly didn't care if it was their turn or not. Once they got the search started, things might get easier between them. Once their confederation had a point, it would be held together with a lot less strain and effort on all their parts. Long silences and awkward glances made her feel like a failure. Her mother had been a diplomat, and it was the toss of the dice as to whether or not she could keep a talk afloat. It seemed that today was one of the days where doing that was beyond her.

Amber must have been feeling the strain, too, because that much talking at that speed couldn't be her normal means of communication. "I hope you're right," she said, consulting the map in her hand. "I don't cotton to getting lost." The North Carolina Careys were, as the name implied, residents of Helena's own region of the country, and the exposure to another Carolinian was making her talk as if she were back home. Not the accent - no matter how hard she tried to get rid of it, that stayed with her as if held on by Permanent Sticking Charm - but the words and their arrangements. She wasn't sure if it was liberating or embarrassing.

Lines criss-crossed the map, but she couldn't get the hang of them. It looked like it should have been simple to work out, but learning how to read maps had never been too high on her list of priorities. The only outdoorsy activity she liked was Quidditch, and she had yet to see a Pitch so big she needed a map to navigate it. "I don't have a clue what this thing's saying," she said. "I never learned to read a map or anything." She laid her wand flat on her right palm and said, careful to imitate Titania again, "Point me." It worked, again. She wasn't completely useless. She adjusted the map so that it and the tip of her wand were facing the same way. "The end of my abilities," she confessed. \n\n

16 Helena Yep. 88 Helena 0 5

Professor O'Leary

March 06, 2007 7:13 PM

Moving the thread up by Professor O'Leary

Drake had been staggering students going into the maze, but had kept a keen eyes to watch for any red sparks. He knew that the maze contained its own dangers and hadn't felt the need to add any, as they would be plenty enough. He also knew that most likely at least one group would probably end up needing assistance. He thought it was better to learn matters, such as these, in less life-or-death situations for one never knew what life would bring.

As predicted, red sparks appeared. He ordered the next group that was to go in to wait until he came out. He might have been considered a scary teacher, but he certainly wasn't an irresponsible one. He kept a watch over his students, whether or not they knew it, and would in an instant protect them with his own life before allowing something to happen to one of them.

Seemingly, gliding through the maze, he quickly found the students that had sent up the sparks. He had worked towards learning the maze for the entire summer to ensure a speedy recovery should something happen for when he taught the point-me spell. Miss Redoak appeared fine, however, Mr. Dimitri appeared to be in pain and clutching his shoulder.

Leaning down in haste, he checked for broken bones or any other damage. Satisfied, he asked, in the most unusual soothing tones, afterall, he was a parent, "Everything will be okay. Do you think you can walk out of the maze?"

Explainations for what happened could come later. The most important thing was to get the child to the medic. If he couldn't walk due to the pain, Drake would carry him there, but either way, class would be finished for the day.\n\n

0 Professor O'Leary Moving the thread up 0 Professor O'Leary 0 5

Oliver

March 07, 2007 4:24 PM

Uh-huh by Oliver

“Yeah, let’s.” Amber hurried ahead of Oliver and waited just at the entrance for the rest of the group to catch up. She started rambling about the pointing spell only showing you one direction. Oliver didn’t entirely understand her problem. Surely if you had your wand pointing North you could figure out the other directions? Maybe she just didn’t know which was East and which was West. Charlotte sometimes had difficulty with remembering which was which, but Charlotte was nine, and Amber was in second year, so she should have got the hang of it by now. But, as Amber pointed out, they did have the map.

Helena held the map in front of her and, using the spell, turned the map so its little north arrow was in fact pointing north. A very good start. She did confess, however, that that was the limit of her abilities. Oliver smiled shyly at her.

“I can read maps,” he said. “I used to be in an orienteering club.” For anyone who really knew Oliver that would go without saying – he had, at some stage, been part of every club available. His parents had wanted all their children to be well rounded. Why, then, they had discouraged Oliver and Julian from attending magic school was beyond Oliver’s comprehension. Readjusting his glasses, Oliver peered at the map. “We take a right,” he said, pointing to the turn on the map so Helena could see. He was starting to relax a bit now. Oliver was never any good with strangers, especially girls, yet he was nevertheless beginning to feel a little more comfortable.
\n\n

0 Oliver Uh-huh 0 Oliver 0 5

Professor O'Leary

March 08, 2007 2:24 AM

OOC - Thread was moved up (nm) by Professor O'Leary

0 Professor O'Leary OOC - Thread was moved up (nm) 0 Professor O'Leary 0 5

Caedence

March 08, 2007 5:08 PM

Hmmm, Jae? Wanna reply buddy? by Caedence

Caedence glanced up sharply, holding her wand out, when she heard approaching footsteps. She glared fiercely at the person approaching, but softened her expression when she recognized the professor. She lowered her wand slightly, but kept it nearby. She was surprised to see him acting...tenderly towards the boy. She never thought he had it in him to be weak. No, not weak, she corrected herself, kind. She needed to get out of that habit.

"I can help him walk if you'd like me to sir," she suggested, "I'm sorry I sent up the sparks, but I thought that you'd be best to deal with this." she added in a mutter. She got to her feet, Jae safely in the arms of the professor,"Or would you rather I go back to my commons?" she asked.\n\n

0 Caedence Hmmm, Jae? Wanna reply buddy? 94 Caedence 0 5

Echo Elms

March 10, 2007 8:31 AM

Whoa! by Echo Elms

That worked, Echo congratulated himself as their trio reunited. Elly was really onto something with her loud mouth shouting technique. He hadn't even had to give himself the freaks by trying to get through the denser parts of the crowd. And Meredith had braved the map line. Things were going smoothly -- except, of course, for the fact that no one had gotten the spell down.

"Point me," Echo tried. It was his first try, and the wand spun like it was supposed to and came up pointing south. South was on the right track, he thought, just the wrong polarity (or something) and a couple tries later he had it down to a consistant North. Charms came pretty easy to him, especially when they didn't involve complex wand patterns -- those things could be rough -- but this one was pretty straightforward.

To test it, Echo put a hand over his eyes and spun himself around a couple times. Keeping his eyes closed, he placed the wand back on his hand and tried the spell again. Then he opened his eyes. The wand was pointed across the grass toward the rosey hedge he'd noted as being North earlier. He double checked it.

"Niiice," he grinned to himself, and turned back to Elly and Meredith, "Looks like I got the North covered, you guys can read the map." And as he said this, he was already trying to get a good look at this map to see if he could help with that too. Bring on the candy!\n\n

21 Echo Elms Whoa! 93 Echo Elms 0 5

Amber

March 11, 2007 9:20 PM

Now that we've established that... by Amber

Amber felt her face drowning in red when Helena answered her ramblings. "Me, neither," she said, almost keeping a cheerful front up. "I don't even want to think about how long it would take them to find us in all this." Maybe a less reassuring comment would have been in order...Amber was coming, slowly, to the realization that she was in a league a little bit higher than her own. "I'm sure we'll get out fine, though," she added, a bit belatedly. Being the talker of the group was turning out to be a lot less easy than she would have ever expected; not knowing when she should shut up was more up Amber's alley.

Helena then proceeded to figure out which way was north and how the map should go to reflect that. When Oliver told his groupmates that he had once been a member of an orienteer's club and could read maps, Amber began feeling like an extra wheel - not much use, really, and only lugged along because the car owners demanded it. She kind of doubted that one of the other two would go "flat" before they got back, either.

As long as the job gets done, she told herself. She wanted to get a good grade in the class, and if Oliver and Helena were better in the day's material than she was, she would be shooting herself in the foot to try to latch onto a leader position, mess things up, and get poor grades for everyone. Besides, she was the furthest thing from being a natural leader. She nodded when Oliver said they should go right, more because she had no idea what else to do than a thought that either of the Crotali was paying attention to her, and got ready to follow them and offer comments if it seemed relevant. \n\n

0 Amber Now that we've established that... 0 Amber 0 5

Jae

March 14, 2007 5:43 AM

Yeah, about that... by Jae

OOC: Sorry; totally forgot about this. And then when I remembered, Real Life decided to get in my way.

BIC:

Professor O'Leary appeared out of nowhere. One minute it was just Jae and Caedence, then the next, O'Leary had appeared, and everything was going to be okay. That's what teachers were for, after all. Making things better. Especially things that weren't good to begin with. Jae's shoulder still really hurt, but the professor would make it all right again. Or maybe the medic would. But either way it would get fixed.

"I can walk," Jae said, a bit waveringly, then pointed out "My shoulder just hurts...I fell down off the amazingmadcool clapping beak statue."

With the last sentence, he perked up a bit. True, he had gotten hurt, but Jaeven had also had quite a bit of fun. After all, it wasn't all the time you got to see potato-men or clapping beak statues. He just didn't want to get lost, was all. The maze was madfun, but it not so much when his shoulder was throbbing and feeling really weird.\n\n

0 Jae Yeah, about that... 0 Jae 0 5

Professor O'Leary

Lesson 1: First and Second Years by Professor O'Leary

Matt Santoro

When there's food involved...(partners?) by Matt Santoro

Josiah Ashwood

Don't mind a firstie do you? by Josiah Ashwood

Caedence

Ah time for the Vamp's class! Yay! by Caedence

Echo Elms

Orienteering! Sweet! [tag Elly and Meredith] by Echo Elms

Jaeven 'Jae' Dimitri

Yay! That's my name! by Jaeven 'Jae' Dimitri

Lutece Anthony

Must I venture into these untamed wilds? by Lutece Anthony

Elly Eriksson

Dude! by Elly Eriksson

Gwyneth Aquillon

Sounds more like a treasure hunt than DADA by Gwyneth Aquillon

Caedence

they all come to me..how do they find me? by Caedence

Gil Idoya (with a little Leo and Cisco)

I will protect you, Fair Maiden! by Gil Idoya (with a little Leo and Cisco)

Leo Idoya and Cisco Vargas

Treasure's good. by Leo Idoya and Cisco Vargas

Hyana Kamiya

Partner? Anyone? by Hyana Kamiya

Matt

*Shrugs* as long as I get candy. by Matt

Lutece

Fair Maiden? Does that make you a Gallant Knight? by Lutece

Jae

It's the magnetic personality by Jae

Grail Markner and Kavin Analai

Pointing by Grail Markner and Kavin Analai

Josh Santoro

Sure, I'll be your Partner by Josh Santoro

Josaih

giving candy to josaih, not a good idea by Josaih

Gwyneth

especially at the end of a rainbow by Gwyneth

Hikaru

Wow, finally we have a class that I wanted by Hikaru

Eavan Valentine

Re: Wow, finally we have a class that I wanted by Eavan Valentine

Riley Garraway

The professors just seem to get more and more interesting. by Riley Garraway

Hyana

Thanks^^ by Hyana

Caedence

Hah, you don't know me then do ya? by Caedence

Jae

No, but I will! by Jae

Hikaru Kasuragi

At least he isn't an Inferi!! by Hikaru Kasuragi

Matt

Is it Josiah or Josaih? Cos, Josiah is the way I've seen it by Matt

Caedence

you sure like your hugs don't you? by Caedence

Josiah

yeah sorry, I make lots of typos by Josiah

Jae

Why, yes, I do. by Jae

Caedence

I noticed ^_^ by Caedence

Josh

You're Welcome by Josh

Jae

I'd be a bit worried if you hadn't by Jae

Irene Liddowe

Room for one more? by Irene Liddowe

Eavan Valentine

How do you know? by Eavan Valentine

Riley Garraway

I guess we don't, do we? by Riley Garraway

Hikaru Kasuragi

But we need to be careful just in case! by Hikaru Kasuragi

Mika

*pant pant* Room for Another? by Mika

Oliver Abbott

I can do it! by Oliver Abbott

Shrugs as long as I get candy. by Matt

pant pant Room for Another? by Mika

grins by Irene