Exploring! on Library

Waverly Canterbury

November 07, 2011 9:19 PM

Exploring! by Waverly Canterbury

Waverly was glad classes hadn't started yet because she could explore every inch of the school. It was all so beautiful and intriguing and wonderful and, above all, magical. She had seen the beauties of Cascade Hall (the name was very fitting), the awesome Pecari common room, and had talked to some of the portraits she had passed. The next place on her list was the library. What better place to research magic than in the very place the books and magic were? She was excited.

Waverly opened the doors of the great place and, to her slight disappointment, everything looked exactly the same as the libraries she had been to before. Of course, now that she knew the term for non-magical people, she loved to use the word "muggle," especially with her sister. Wendy would be so prepared when she came to Sonora!

Waverly walked through the library and checked out the titles. Okay, well, she had never seen these kinds of books before. She picked one book of fairy tales off the shelf and opened it up. The pictures were moving and telling the story within themselves. She was fascinated. She could probably stay with these books for hours.

She scoured around the library, looking at everything with fascinated vibrant green eyes, picking books off shelves to flip through them before carefully putting them back again. She loved this place more and more everyday. Waverly had found a really fascinating book on charms and artists of the magical world, so she decided to take them to a table to read. As she turned quickly, books clutched to her chest, she accidentally bumped into someone. She took a step back, her eyes shining with excitement.

"Oh, sorry!" she exclaimed. "I didn't see you there! I was just looking at these awesome books. Did you know that you can freeze fire so you can just walk through it? I'm so excited for classes!" She tried to get her social bearings back. She was getting a little too excited, and in front of a stranger!. "Sorry again. I'm being rude. I'm Waverly."

19 Waverly Canterbury Exploring! 218 Waverly Canterbury 1 5

Kerry O'Shaunasey

November 08, 2011 9:42 PM

Well, hello there! by Kerry O'Shaunasey

Kerry had just been meandering the library a bit himself. Honestly, he was looking for some more books on magical creatures. Not that he didn't have lots himself, but he was a little intimidated. He was new to the school, pretty darn new to teaching, and then he'd learned that the previous CoMC teacher had been educated in zoology. The first years wouldn't know the difference, of course, but what about the upper classmen? Kerry's experience with animals was very hands on. His mother was a vet, so he knew something about healing animals, both magical and mundane. But he was no zoologist. Of course, Kerry did believe very strongly that practical knowledge was worth every bit as much as book learning (and vice versa) and didn't doubt his expertise. It was more that he was worried his students were expecting to do a formal nercopsy, and he'd be teaching them more mundane things, very literally, care of magical creatures. Further more, the former CoMC professor was his boss, so if she didn't like how he did things...

Kerry wasn't really an anxious person, mostly just too much time alone sent his head spinning at times, so he was actually pretty grateful when someone bumped into him and brought him back to earth. "I did know that, actually," Kerry said with a grin to the student, "And you're quite alright Waverly, my names Kerry," the man smiled and offered his hand.

Kerry was pretty sure Waverly was the first person ever to not see him, and it amused him greatly. He stood a touch over six feet tall, and was fairly broad at the shoulder though his musculature was lean rather than bulky, and his hair was almost violently red. A very deep shade of red that might have been auburn had it had any brown mixed in, but it didn't. It was just very very red. Between his height and his hair, he rarely went unnoticed. He almost certainly an adult of some kind, though a young one. He looked just a bit too mature to be a 7th year, though his face was warm and young and the smattering of freckles across it made sure that he still frequently had to prove his age in muggle bars. He was dressed in bootcut jeans and a button down shirt, the only deference to being in a magical school were the plain black robes he thrown on and wore open over his muggle clothes.

"Is this your first trip to the library here at Sonora, Waverly?" He asked.

0 Kerry O'Shaunasey Well, hello there! 0 Kerry O'Shaunasey 0 5

Waverly

November 09, 2011 1:58 PM

Just ignore my embarrassment... by Waverly

Waverly blushed at bumping into a teacher, but it didn't keep her from still being excited. Just helped her remember how to control her emotions, something she had always been horrible at. "Nice to meet you Kerry," she said, shaking his hand, delighted to be getting to know a professor. It was weird not calling him mister something. All of the teachers at her elementary school had made her call them Mr. or Mrs. or Ms. But then again, most of the teachers here were pretty young or at least looked young.

Her teachers at her muggle school were older. Her third grade teacher had looked almost 70 years old! And she had been mean. She didn't like old teachers. Waverly brigthened at the thought. This school had to be different in that way too! Maybe all magical schools were like this. Waverly would have to get used to it.

"Yeah," she said in response to his question. "I've never been to a magical library before!" She paused. "Well, I guess I've been to a bookstore, but that's different because I was just getting textbooks with my parents. There are so many awesome things in these books!" She could hardly contain her excitement. If she talked anymore, she might burst, and that would be quite embarrassing, especially in front of a professor.

"What were you looking for?" she asked, wondering if he could tell her all about whatever subject he taught. She wanted to learn as much as she could about everything! She had so many questions that her teachers were probably going to be overwhelemed, but it didn't matter. Her curiosity almost always got the best of her all the time.

0 Waverly Just ignore my embarrassment... 0 Waverly 0 5

Kerry O'Shaunasey

November 10, 2011 12:17 AM

What embarrassment? by Kerry O'Shaunasey

"Nice to meet you as well, Waverly," He shook her hand with a gentle but solid grip, a proper handshake. "Honestly? I think all libraries are quite wonderful, but I have to admit, I'm a bit of a nerd like that," he said, dropping a wink, though the length of his hair and the ponytail it was pulled back into, not to mention the black boots suggested 'nerd' might not be entirely accurate.

"I'm here to find some more books on animals. I have lots, but they're about things like animal behaviors, caring for animals, and animal husbandry. I was hoping for something on animal anatomy and biology. Just to be sure I have all my bases covered." He smiled to the girl. "I teach Care of Magical Creatures."

Kerry was fairly certain he'd been this excited his first day at magical school. It was very exciting. Even for those who grew up in the magical world, this was when they finally, for the first time, got to really be part of the magic, not just watching from the sidelines. He knew how that felt, his youngest sister would be off to school soon, and she was just in agony, as the youngest, that she didn't have a wand and couldn't do magic. Kerry didn't blame her a bit, she was the youngest of six after all.

0 Kerry O'Shaunasey What embarrassment? 0 Kerry O'Shaunasey 0 5

Waverly

November 10, 2011 11:36 AM

I tend to get a wee bit too excited in front of new people by Waverly

Waverly thought it weird shaking a teacher's hand, but tried to ignore that feeling. She would have to get used to it. She was definitely glad that he liked libraries! She didn't usually spend too much time in them, but this one was a magical one. Who wouldn't want to spend hours and hours in here? She could never go to her library back at home again. It would be too boring.

Waverly wasn't exactly sure what husbandry was, besides in the context of marriage, or anatomy. She didn't want to seem stupid, so she just nodded. She had always assumed professors, teachers, whoever knew everything there was to know about their subject. It was kind of nice to see that they were normal people to.

Apparently he was going to teach Care of Magical Creatures. That sounded so exciting! Waverly tried not to let her excitement burst out of her, but she couldn't help beaming. "Really? Tell me about them! Are unicorns real? Are there vampires too? Where do they live? Are all the fairy tales true about ghosts and fairies and dragons? Who takes care of the animals?" She was glad that she was talking to a professor. He wouldn't lie to her! Waverly wondered if unicorns were actual things. Then her dad couldn't tell her to stop daydreaming about unreal creatures because they were real!

0 Waverly I tend to get a wee bit too excited in front of new people 0 Waverly 0 5

Kerry O'Shaunasey

November 19, 2011 3:01 PM

So sorry for the delay! by Kerry O'Shaunasey

Kerry smile as the young girl asked him questions all in a rush. He didn't mind, his little sister was often just the same when she got excited. He shook her hand gently but solidly, not condescending to her just because she was younger and female, but with deference to her smaller hand.

"Unicorns and vampires are both real," He chuckled. "But unicorns are very rarely seen, they prefer to keep to themselves. Many aspects of fairy tales are true, but often the muggle fairy tales don't tell the whole story. Here," he paused, turning to the shelves and scanning them, before pulling out a well used book. "This is one of the most common books assigned for Care of Magical Creatures." he said, offering her the book. The title read 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them'.

"This covers the most common magical animals in the wizarding world. I'm using a different book because this one has a strong European bias, and doesn't do a good job covering the more common animals here in the U.S. But since most of the myths Americans know originate in Europe, this should cover most of the animals you're thinking of." He explained. "And quite a few you probably aren't."

Kerry was a big fan of autonomous learning. Classes were a good jumping off point, to help you learn things you might have a harder time learning on your own, and to cover topics in broader brush strokes, but when something caught your interest, it was best to investigate the literature yourself. "Of course, we'll be handling and learning about animals in class. But if you give this a look over you'll be on par with your magical-born classmates." Kerry always thought it was weird that muggleborns and magicalborns were thrown into classes together. Magicalborn students already knew the basic cultural things about the wizarding world that their muggleborns were unaware of. That gap was an excuse for those who were blood purists to be snotty, in Kerry's experience, and he made a mental note to talk to the Headmistress.

0 Kerry O'Shaunasey So sorry for the delay! 0 Kerry O'Shaunasey 0 5

Waverly

November 27, 2011 4:12 AM

No problem! by Waverly

Waverly was having a little bit of a hard time grasping all of this. It was all so amazing and wonderful and didn't sound real. Her green eyes were wide as she listened eagerly to the teacher's explanation. Unicorns and vampires were real? She'd have to tell Wendy! Wendy would be scared of the vampires, but to know that lots of fairy tales were true was the best part! She accepted the book from Kerry and gazed at it, almost bursting from excitement.

"Thank you!" she exclaimed, trying to keep quiet. "Are we really going to handle the animals in class? What kind? I guess I'll find out in this book." She flipped through it, brain too wired to look into it at the moment. She smiled. "This is really cool. Why don't the magical animals go out to the muggle world then? And how do the fairy tale writers know about them?" She knew she was probably babbling like her mom always told her not to, but she just never caught herself on time. Blushing a little, she added, "I guess I'll find out during class, or read about them."

Waverly was suddenly really eager to start reading. "Thanks a lot for the book. I've been finding out a lot of things about magic I never knew before. I feel like I have a lot to catch up on." But at least it was fun reading and not boring stuff like math and science about cells and more math. Waverly beamed down at the book, and then paused. "Do you have any other books like these?" she asked Kerry, grinning. She had a feeling this class was going to be one of her favorite.

0 Waverly No problem! 0 Waverly 0 5

Kerry O'Shaunasey

December 03, 2011 4:09 AM

Re: No problem! by Kerry O'Shaunasey

Kerry laughed softly as Waverly yammered excited. It was always fun when students were excited. It made his job fun. "Well, actually, muggles encounter magical animals more often than they know. Sometimes magical animals look very similar to mundane animals so muggles don't know what they're seeing. Other times, we keep them in special nature preserves that muggles can't find. But muggles do see them, and that's why they show up in fairy tales. Because a muggle saw a dragon or a unicorn and wrote about it. Or, because things like vampires used to be accepted as fact. The magical world hasn't always been so carefully hidden from the muggle world."

Kerry realized he was giving a lecture without even being in front of a classroom, and stopped himself. "Sorry, I have a bit of a passion for learning," he laughed. "But yes, there are other books like this one. This whole section of shelves right here," he said, indicating the proper area of the library. "And, I have others in my own personal hoard." Not to mention hands on experience with all kinds of animals. Variations of horses were his specialty, but he had a vast experience. His mother was a vet, and he had helped her out a lot as a child.

0 Kerry O'Shaunasey Re: No problem! 0 Kerry O'Shaunasey 0 5