After the CATS [HOH Office] on Crotalus Commons

Annabelle Pierce

July 07, 2014 11:08 AM

After the CATS [HOH Office] by Annabelle Pierce

The Anns had not chosen to take any extra elective classes so their options for subjects to continue next year were limited to the five core courses. Annabelle refused point-blank to take Care of Magical Creatures any further than they had to. Charms was a given. Of the remaining three, Annabelle did not like the grossness of potion brewing (but could deal if she had to, and they were both fairly good at the subject), and DADA was only going to get scarier from here on out and she'd probably need therapy just from a simple boggart during the practical. She liked Transfiguration, though, and would like to continue it if possible, but Annette said she bombed the CATS and Annabelle wouldn't take it if her sister couldn't.

So that was why she was here, at the public entrance to the Deputy Headmistress Skies' HOH office. She hadn't told her sister she was coming, so this was one of the rare times one Ann could be seen without the other. She wondered as she knocked on the door if the professor would be able to recognize which one she was. They had made an effort over the last couple of years to not dress exactly the same anymore, and develop individual styles. Annabelle was consistently the dressier of the two, though she still did not allow Annette go out dressed like a slob.

Her outfit today, a light sundress in pale blue with small yellow flowers and a pretty lace trim was something Annette might wear with some coaxing, but her sister did prefer two-piece outfits to actual dresses for reasons Annabelle could not fathom. She herself would wear sundresses year round if only the climate allowed for it.

When she was invited inside, she opened the door, closed it behind her (she did not want anyone overhearing that Annette did badly on her test), and sat primly in the seat provided for visitors to the office room. "Good morning, Professor Skies," she greeted politely. She was always polite, but it was particularly important to be so when asking for a boon.

"I was wondering how badly a person could do on their Transfiguration practical and still be allowed to take the class next year? We really do know how to do better transfigurations than we demonstrated this week." Professor Skies knew that already, she was sure, though she didn't think she knew quite how badly they did at spellcasting when the twins were separated, as for all tests previous to the CATS they had at least been in the same room.

1 Annabelle Pierce After the CATS [HOH Office] 246 Annabelle Pierce 1 5

Professor Skies

July 11, 2014 6:21 AM

As bad as all that? by Professor Skies

Life at school had been undoubtedly busy, what with trying to cram at least a term and a half's work into one, as well as dealing with the rest of the fall-out from the previous term's disaster. However, now that exam season was out of the way, things were a little more relaxed. There was a pile of marking waiting to be done that didn't bear thinking about but that could at least be done in peace and quiet with a glass of wine of an evening. Right now, Selina was using the time to write letters to family, a pleasant luxury after last term's blackout.

“Come in,” she called, upon hearing a knock at the door. She used the seconds taken by the student to enter to lift the letter and gently waft the letter before tucking it, still open and face up, into a draw. She wasn't exactly revealing deep and dark secrets to her niece, Rosemary, but she didn't like to leave a personal letter lying around whilst speaking with a student.

She smiled as one of the Pierce girls entered. When she had been newly appointed, she had firmly resolved to learn to tell the differences and be sure to treat them as two individuals. She winced inwardly as she realised that resolve had long since vanished, and had probably not lasted more than a term. Although they made some effort to dress differently these days, the trouble was, in part, that the twins didn't seem overly bothered about being treated as individuals, which both made it harder to discern their differences and to keep up the motivation to do so (though arguably made it all the more important). If she'd been pressed to guess, she would have said that the girl in front of her was Annette, but she wouldn't have put a Galleon on it. Nor could she even be sure, beyond it being worth a punt at fifty-fifty odds, why she thought that.

“Good morning,” she replied politely to the girl's greeting.

“Hmm,” she pondered Ann's question. “I think it would depend on a few factors. I'd have to look at what task was set in the exam and whether I had reasonable evidence that the student could do that to a satisfactory level.” Selina of course got an impression of her students capabilities by observing them in class but you couldn't monitor everyone to exam level conditions all of the time. Had the Anns consistently been choosing lower level projects, she certainly would have picked up on it. And she got an impression of the speed and level of complexity every student could manage, but she did tend more to grade the end result than the process of getting there.

“If I felt I had evidence that they were not working to that level, it would be a no. If I felt I lacked adequate evidence, I should seek to get it – for example by repeating the exam tasks with them.” It was a tough one, and not one that came up very often. Students sometimes slipped a grade if nerves got the better of them. For those who were ordinarily O students, it meant they still qualified for the course. For those who were borderline E students but who slipped down to an A, it tended to give them a nudge in their decision making that perhaps they didn't want to pursue this after all. Rarely did students have a shocker of an exam to the extent that it put them out of the running but still left them with a desire to be in it.

“And, before we both get too worried about it, are you sure it really went as badly as all that?” she offered comfortingly. Students, especially high flyers, coming to her office in a panic about having failed was not such an uncommon occurrence. “What happened?” she asked.

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Annabelle Pierce

July 12, 2014 2:17 PM

So I've been led to believe by Annabelle Pierce

When Professor Skies finished speaking, Annabelle took a moment to organize her thoughts, and frame her reply in such a way that Annette would not become upset at her for going to a teacher with this. Or that Professor Skies might think she was talking about herself but using her sister as a cover, as the transfiguration teacher currently seemed to be under the impression it was she who had messed up her test. "I am sure our written part was reasonably well done," she opted to begin with, as that would set the framework that they actually knew what they were doing, they just couldn't implement it very well in a practical fashion, which was likely an issue many students with weaker magic had problems with.

"I think I probably got a solid A on my practical, and I'm hoping for an E overall, so I'm sure I could continue next year, but I don't want to without Annette, and she got Ms. Langdon as her exam proctor." This was, in itself, a reason for doing poorly, Annabelle thought, but she continued, "As I understand it, she flubbed the easy spell and lost confidence, then did worse and worse for each progressive one. I'm sure she'd be willing to retest with you if she had to. She was very upset with herself." That was putting it mildly, but Professor Skies had no need to hear how Annette had cried that night.

She hesitated for a moment before adding, "Also, if we could both be in the room, we'd both give much stronger performances." They had talked about going to a teacher with this problem, back when they first discovered the source of it, but they had never quite gotten around to it, and then it just seemed like something they should have brought up earlier if they were going to. They'd been dealing, and even getting better on their own. But now it was affecting their ability to advance with a class Annabelle would very much like to continue taking into the RATS level. "See, we're not very good at spells unless we're together." In case that sounded like they were cheating off each other, she hastened to add, "We don't even have to be at the same table anymore. Just within line of sight." In truth, even sight wasn't strictly necessary, but that that was the easiest way to express that she just needed to know that her sister was present.

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Professor Skies

July 12, 2014 11:44 PM

It is starting to seem that way by Professor Skies

Ah. Annette had done badly which meant this was Annabelle. Professor Skies studied her a moment trying to discern... anything. Though without both present and knowing which witch was which it was hard to make anything of it

“Well...” she mused, at Annabelle's revelation that they could only really perform magic together. She was a little shocked at their level of co-dependency but kept her face impassive. “Stranger things have happened,” she acknowledged, wanting to make it clear that she believed the girl. “Thank you for confiding about that in me. It's something we can definitely work on. I... I take it you want to resolve it?” she added. Given the twins' lack of desire for differentiation or independence from one another, Selina wouldn't have been surprised if Annabelle saw it as some kind of special bond that she didn't want severed. It was all starting to sound a little unhealthy.

“Poor Annette,” she said sympathetically.

“Annabelle...” she began, taking a deep breath. This conversation had to have been brewing for a while, had to have come up sooner or later and as their Head of House it had been more than likely that it would land on her to have it but that didn't mean she felt prepared for it. “Are you sure that your sister wants to take Transfiguration? She's the one who might not be able to, yet it's you in my office worrying about it. And you said yourself, the reason you're here is that you don't want to take it without her.” A thought occurred to her which she kept to herself, feeling that the mere suggestion of doing things apart coming from her was enough rocking the boat for now... She was quite sure Annabelle couldn't handle the idea that her sister felt the same. However, Selina couldn't help but wonder... In spite of their difficulties, Annabelle had performed well enough alone. Annette was identical and should have been expected to perform identically. Had she chosen not to? Thrown the exam in a subject she knew her sister wanted to take and that she didn't as a way out without hurting the other's feelings? If Annette wanted to engineer her freedom from her sister, Professor Skies did not want to sweep it away from her by generously adjusting the goal hoops....

“I know it's not something that you want to hear but at some point, you and your sister will have to do things apart. It doesn't mean you can't still be close and be very special to each other. I'm sure you always will be. But you can't be at each other's side twenty-four seven for the rest of your lives.”

13 Professor Skies It is starting to seem that way 26 Professor Skies 0 5

Annabelle Pierce

July 13, 2014 10:08 AM

Re: It is starting to seem that way by Annabelle Pierce

Well, the good news was that Professor Skies seemed to believe her and take her conclusion on their magical strengths seriously. The bad news was that she didn't immediately have a useful solution to solve it, not that Annabelle had expected she would. The twins had done enough independent research on their problem that they probably would have found such a solution if it existed. Worse, she seemed to have come to the same conclusion they had: it would only get better if they changed who they were.

Or rather, if they changed back into who they were supposed to be, if only they hadn't merged together at some point in early childhood. They'd been trying, but it was hard. They'd shared the same space for so long, it just felt wrong when Annette wasn't there beside her and she didn't like the feeling.

Even coming here by herself today had been an effort, and Annette had looked confused and even a little lost when Annabelle had told her she was going out for a little bit and Annette should stay there and finish packing up for the summer.

"We do want to fix it," she agreed, sounding distressed, because Skies seemed to be suggesting that one way to do it was to take different classes which was never going to happen. "We've already gotten a lot better than we were. In first year, we couldn't do any spellwork at all if we weren't sitting next to each other and I couldn't even get my broom off the ground if Annette flew off before I got started!"

She took a deep breath to calm down before she said something she might regret. She closed her eyes and counted to ten, opened them, and continued more calmly. "I know we need to separate a little to get our magics to detangle themselves, that's why we're dressing differently now and trying to develop separate interests. But I have a distinct memory, when we were maybe six, when we decided - actually decided - which one of us was going to be Annette and which Annabelle because we didn't know which one we were, since Mother couldn't tell us apart, so it's hard."

"And I know she wants to take Transfiguration," Annabelle insisted. "She wouldn't have been as devastated about messing up the practical if she didn't want to keep taking it. See, we did this thing that we probably shouldn't have done. With the tests being open book and all, and having half a year less to get ready for them, we sort of split up our course load. I took Transfiguration and Potions and wrote up our notes for that, and she did the other three. I noticed I did a lot better in the two subjects I studied and wrote notes for than the three I didn't, and Charms is usually our best subject. We even tutored beginners in that during the fall semester, so even without studying, the older stuff should have still be fresh from that. But I felt a lot more confident coming out of potions than out of Charms, and I don't even like potions. So that's probably why I did better in Transfiguration, besides not having Ms. Langdon as a proctor. And now she's embarrassed because she probably failed and can't tell you she actually studied for it. Which is why I'm the one who's here, because she's too proud to admit she messed up."

1 Annabelle Pierce Re: It is starting to seem that way 246 Annabelle Pierce 0 5

Professor Skies

July 14, 2014 7:11 AM

Let's see what we can do about it by Professor Skies

“It sounds like you've both been working very hard,” Professor Skies nodded, when Annabelle explained how things had been when they'd first come to school. Unsurprisingly, the direction of the conversation seemed to be taking a toll on her. The least Selina could do was at least believe they'd been doing what they could. The evidence Annabelle supplied was solid enough too – it was true that they no longer dressed the same (though whether they had clothes that were distinctly each of theirs she couldn't be sure) and they no longer always sat firmly side by side. She believed they had some friendships outside of each other, or at least made an effort to be sociable with their peers in classes. She was a little shocked that they'd had to decide which of them was which. Purebloods weren't always the most hands on parents but even so.

“Here,” she rummaged in one of her desk drawers, her arm seeming to sink in further than the outside dimensions of the desk would suggest possible, before pulling out a glass. “If you'd like a drink, just let it know.” The glass was connected to the kitchens via the same spell that allowed food to appear by magic on the plates in the hall. Perhaps pumpkin juice, or whatever Annabelle's preferred poison was, was not going to fix all the woes in the world but it sometimes helped to have something to sip steadily. “I also have a cup if you'd prefer a hot drink.

“Now, I can understand why Annab-Annette would be worried about coming here. And I'm not going to pretend that I endorse your study methods. But what's done is done. You're not be the first students to try a shortcut and find it's a dead end, and I doubt you'll be the last. And, as you knew you couldn't sit the exams for each other, I'm sure you did your best to tutor each other. That counts as some studying, doesn't it? So I think she can look me in the eye. But I really do need Annette to have a say in this. I can see that you're trying to do your best for your sister, and to spare her an uncomfortable conversation, which is very admirable. But I can't let you make decisions about the study programme of another student, even if she is your twin. You see that, don't you?” she queried. In any other circumstance she was sure it would have been a rhetorical question but here there was an element of sincerely asking.

“What I'd like to do is send Annette a memo asking her to join us here. I might speak to her for a while on her own too, and then if you both want to, we can speak about it together. How does that sound?” she queried.

She would much prefer to keep the twin she now knew to be Annabelle in plain sight whilst she fetched in the other. Whilst Annabelle was promising they did want to separate, that did not extend to wanting to take Transfiguration by herself, and Selina had no better clue as to Annette's feelings on it than Annabelle's word. If another girl came back, in different clothes, what chance would Selina have of knowing whether it was the twin she still needed to see or not? Perhaps it seemed a little on the paranoid side but cornered kneazles always fought. If Annabelle was in a desperate panic over things, it didn't seem beyond the bounds of possibility.

13 Professor Skies Let's see what we can do about it 26 Professor Skies 0 5

Annabelle Pierce

July 17, 2014 10:01 PM

Doing something then by Annabelle Pierce

"Thank you," Annabelle responded by reflex when she was offered a glass. She wasn't particularly thirsty, but turning it down would be rude, so she took the glass and asked for some water. She could sip at that absently without feeling bad if she left some when it came time to leave. That, however, seemed to be further away than she'd thought it would be when Professor Skies suggested sending Annette an invitation to join them.

She took a sip and nodded, barely noticing the slip where Skies almost called her by the wrong name. "Of course," she agreed, confirming that she understood that she couldn't make decisions for Annette regarding her sister's class selection. Annabelle's opinion would be strongly swayed Annette's, she was certain, but she couldn't make it for her, nor should she.

"That sounds reasonable," she conceded reluctantly to the idea that Annette should join them. She hadn't lied about where she was going, precisely, but she had sort of implied that she was just going out for a walk. Keeping things from each other was not something they did often, or, well, ever, so she felt a little guilty about going behind her sister's back, but she hadn't done anything wrong and she would have told her about it eventually anyway, so if this was what Skies felt was necessary to get Annette in Transfiguration RATS, then she was agreeable to it.

Annette might be less happy about it, at least right now, regardless of what Professor Skies said about being about to look her in the eye. But she had wanted to take Transfigurations at the RATS level, too.

In the interest of passing the time until her sister arrived, Annabelle decided she may as well discuss some of the finer points of her research. So after Professor Skies sent out her memo, Annabelle re-opened the discussion, "We did a lot of research on our problem. Unfortunately, we couldn't find any other cases exactly like ours, so we have mostly guesswork supporting our conclusions. We're not sure if it's just psychological - we're hoping it is - or if we actually need to borrow some of each other's magic. It could just be that we're not individualized enough because we can probably put every minute of our entire lives when we weren't in the same room together and it would probably be less than a day, but we think it probably started when we were little and found an old broom in the attic. Since we were underage we didn't know how to make it fly, and since we were girls we couldn't just ask someone, so we had to pool both of our meager underage magical strengths into getting that ancient broom off the ground. And I know underage witches aren't supposed to do magic at home before formal schooling, but we found a wand in another trunk in the attic, so we tried it out, but the only way we could draw enough magic to get that to cast spells was by casting together. So, we sort of taught ourselves how to do magic and we taught ourselves wrong, so when we tried to do it the right way, it didn't work so well because we already had the habit of drawing magic together so we couldn't really summon enough strength alone."

1 Annabelle Pierce Doing something then 246 Annabelle Pierce 0 5