Thinking and scheming on Cascade Hall

Oliver Abbott

June 15, 2007 5:35 PM

Thinking and scheming by Oliver Abbott

Seated in the Cascade Hall and enjoying a plate of sausages and potato wedges, Oliver was contemplating his year so far. It wouldn’t be all that long now until the students would be heading back home again for the summer, and he would be back to pretending he was a Muggle, just like he had been doing every moment of his life up until he came to Sonora. Oliver sighed aloud. Why did his parents have to be so weird? He knew there were older girls in his year who were purebloods and very proud of it. Until he came to Sonora, Oliver hadn’t really understood what any of it meant. Now he did though, and he found it all very confusing.

If his parents were purebloods, too, then what had made them want to give up magic and open a hotel of all things? More to the point, what right did they have to dictate the lives their children would live, too? His parents hadn’t actually forbidden Julian or Oliver to attend Sonora (or any other magic school for that matter) but they had strongly discouraged it. Julian had just done as he was told, and was even now at a Muggle school, pretending as if magic didn’t exist. In Oliver’s opinion, Julian had made the wrong decision. Coming to Sonora had been one of the greatest things in Oliver’s life so far, and he had learned really quite an astonishing amount, and not just from his lessons. Now he considered his goal to be to convince his younger sibling, Charlie, that she wanted to come to Sonora too.

So, as he munched his food, Oliver was silently formulating action plans to sway his sister to be magically inclined. He barely paid any attention someone take the seat opposite him, but felt it only polite to acknowledge them. “’Lo,” he said, adjusting his glasses.

0 Oliver Abbott Thinking and scheming 99 Oliver Abbott 1 5

Lutece Anthony

June 23, 2007 5:21 PM

Not doing either, for once by Lutece Anthony

Lutece was feeling much better about life in general as the year edged towards an end. Yes, she was exhausted, yes, she should have been irritable, but she was finally making friends! First there was Riley, and now Talitha. If she kept this going, she might even come back to Sonora next year, for all that it was seriously bizarre. It did, after all, have some perks. Her parents definitely couldn’t afford to send her to a proper boarding school, after all, and here at Sonora she didn’t have to listen to them fight so much. She also didn’t have to put up with the constant sports schedules of her and her siblings. It always seemed as though someone was at a meet, match, practise, or fundraiser.

At the moment, though, she had some exams to study for. Care of Magical Creatures, actually, which annoyed her. They had to (euegh) touch animals, after all. And some of the animals were so obviously fake. Lutece hadn’t gotten close enough to the ‘unicorn’ to touch it, but you could practically see where the ‘horn’ was glued to the horse’s forehead.

She opened her notebook to the beginning, her notes from the beginning of the year.

Puffskein:
-Found worldwide
-Like a little globe
-Can be thrown around, doesn’t care (can i use it 4 quid. prac.??)
-Scavenger
-Good pet

Quidditch. She’d been avoiding that topic for awhile, even going to far as to skip practises and games as much as possible. The girl didn’t want to quit Quidditch—it was the only sport here—but she didn’t want to be gay, either. So skipping as much as she could and keeping an eye out for Jen was what she had been doing until a better decision could be made.

”’Lo,”

Lutece looked up. “Oh, hi Oliver,” she said, then ducked her head back to her notebook. She hoped he wouldn’t ask where she’d been during the championship game

0 Lutece Anthony Not doing either, for once 100 Lutece Anthony 0 5

Oliver

June 28, 2007 12:27 PM

And talking to me? You sure you're Lutece? by Oliver

“Oh, hi Oliver,” came the reply.

Oliver did a double take. It looked like Lutece, the voice sounded like it belonged to Lutece, but she’d never been so civil to him. Ever. Even weirder was the fact that she seemed to be studying. What had happened?

“Er, are you… revising?” he asked her, trying not to sound like he was mocking her but it was hard. Lutece had been so insistent all year that the whole concept of magic was an elaborate farce (despite the fact that she went to Quidditch practise, albeit only occasionally these days) that the very notion of her trying to get good grades was utterly laughable.

“What happened to ‘magic doesn’t exist’?” Oliver asked her, smirking a little. It was a shame Lutece was so weird – he was sure she could almost be fun if she just lightened up a bit and accepted that some stuff was just there, whether she wanted to believe it or not. He was still a bit sore that she had ruined his potion during their first lesson, though, so didn’t find any guilt in making fun of her now. Actually, she might even prove to be useful – whatever had encouraged Lutece to accept magic might be adaptable to encourage Charlie to Sonora. For the first time in a long while Oliver paid attention to what Lutece was saying.

0 Oliver And talking to me? You sure you're Lutece? 0 Oliver 0 5

Lutece

July 24, 2007 10:31 PM

No, I'm her evil twin by Lutece

OOC: ...I totally did not forget about this. Really. **sweatdrop** Sorry!

BIC:

Well, at least he wasn't bringing Quidditch up. That was a definite plus. On the other hand, he was being really obnoxious. Was she revising what?! Or was that some stupid way of making fun of her for studying for some fake exam? Oliver was so obviously making fun of her, too, that her good mood simply couldn't win out. She tried to get good grades so she could go to a good college and not have to repeat sixth grade, (which was, as her father pointed out, a possibility with her grades from before midterm). And what did she get? Made fun of by some stuck-up little boy who was still sulking because she ruined his magic potion. Things like this, Lutece thought sullenly, were exactly why she hated Sonora.

"Magic doesn't exist," she used a tone that was definitely of a lecturer to an intellectual inferior, new resolutions about making more friends completely aside. "However, grades are important to get into a proper college. Or to not have to repeat sixth grade at a normal school."

Which would, apparently, be a problem. The nearby middle school was having a very hard time dealing with her current transcript. Another reason why she was seriously considering staying at Sonora next year. Repeating sixth grade would be humiliating. All of her friends would be the year above, and she would be stuck with those she deemed the 'immature pixies'.

She turned back to her notes again, ignoring the rude boy in front of her. Teammate, yes, but annoying. Not even prospective boyfriend material. Of course, there weren't many that were. There was a really cute foreign boy in Aladren, though, who Lutece would definitely consider going out with. And some other boys the year above her. Not to mention the Teppenpaw Quidditch Captain, who was definitely very cute. He was like, a fifth year or something, though. Too old. It was really unfortunate that most of the boys in her year were more obnoxious than cute.

Unicorn:
-found in N.Europe
-babies gold
-magical properties
-like girls not boys

0 Lutece No, I'm her evil twin 0 Lutece 0 5

Oliver

July 27, 2007 1:14 PM

Umm... don't you mean good twin? by Oliver

Oliver’s hopes that Lutece would somehow provide a solution for Charlie were dashed the very second she spoke. “Magic doesn’t exist,” she said, and said it so matter-of-factly that Oliver very almost wanted to hit her. He didn’t hit girls though, as a rule. Why was she being so incredibly stupid, though? She had been at Sonora for almost a whole year, cast spells, flown a broomstick, sat everyday in a Hall with waterfalls cascading down its walls and she still didn’t believe in magic!

“However,” she added, and Oliver’s head jerked up so fast to listen that his glasses slipped right down his nose, “grades are important…”

Sorting out his spectacles, Oliver didn’t hear the rest. It was mind-boggling, but for some probably inexplicable reason, Lutece actually wanted to do well in her end of year tests. She wanted to get good grades in subjects she didn’t believe in. There was really no other explanation – Lutece was crazy. Bonkers as Barnabus the Barmy.

Although…

“Yes, grades are important,” Oliver agreed, with perhaps a little more fervour than was necessary. He wanted to add, ‘of course it would help if you believed in the stuff you studied, you idiot,’ but he managed to refrain. “I want to get higher grades than my brother,” he said, trying to keep the conversation on Lutece’s level. “He’s pretty smart though, so I dunno how easy that’ll be.”

0 Oliver Umm... don't you mean good twin? 0 Oliver 0 5

Lutece

August 03, 2007 9:15 PM

Nope by Lutece

Oliver, Lutece noted, looking up from her notes with a vague sort of interest, seemed to be having problems with his glasses. Hadn't he ever heard of contacts? No doubt they would make him look much less dorky. Give him a few years and a makeover, and he might actually be eligable boyfriend material. Of course, Lutece mused, he would probably still act rather dorky. She could probably deal with that if he looked like a real person, though.

Having recovered himself from the seemingly hazardous problem with his glasses, Oliver suddenly jumped into the conversation with supreme interest. Babbling on about grades with rather more fervour than could be expected. Sure, Lutece wanted good ones, but they were just grades after all. It wasn't like they had suddenly found the cure to cancer or something. They were grades. Worse, grades in hopeless classes, most of which really weren't worth the paper she used to take notes in. With the possible exception of COMC, should they actually end up learning about real animals. At least this way, Lutece could know how to stay far away from them. Animals were dirty, caused messes, and instigated allergies that made her face all blotchy. She was already worried enough about the acne that came with puberty. She most emphatically did not need allergies to encourage that sort of thing.

"I don't bother trying to keep up with my brother," she said coolly. "he's practically a genius; besides, he goes to a normal school." Stressing the word normal. Because whatever Sonora was, no matter how she was adjusting to it now, the place was far, far from normal. And most of the people belonged in the psych ward of the nearest hospital.

But because she was being nice....

"Why don't you try getting rid of those glasses?" she asked, conversationally. "You might actually get a girlfriend."

0 Lutece Nope 0 Lutece 0 5

Oliver

August 06, 2007 3:00 PM

I think you do. by Oliver

His attempt to maintain a friendly conversation with Lutece was, as usual, failing miserably. Despite only moments ago saying she wanted good grades, Oliver agreeing with her seemed to make her change her perspective somewhat. He wasn’t quite sure why he bothered. He’d never been one to take great pains with friendships – most people usually just liked him, and those that didn’t Oliver just didn’t consider worth his time. It was a bit difficult to ignore Lutece though, as past experience had proved, as they were in the same house and year and Quidditch team. Therefore when Lutece pointed out another similarity they shared – that of their brothers both going to, as she put it ‘normal school’ – Oliver let it pass without comment.

Suddenly though, the conversation had taken a rather unexpected turn.

“Why don’t you try getting rid of those glasses?” Lutece asked out of the blue. “You might actually get a girlfriend.”

“What’s wrong with my glasses?” Oliver asked, almost defensively, unconsciously touching the bridge of his spectacles with his right forefinger as if to check they were the same ones he’d been wearing just now, and that they hadn’t morphed into something grotesque. They were his preferred pair – only tinted a very small amount so they looked almost like any normal person’s glasses, but tinted enough so they made his eyes appear a touch darker, not that strange watery shade he hated so much.

It was half a second before the rest of Lutece’s utterance caught up with him. “And I could get a girlfriend anyway, if I wanted to!” His voice was defiant, but there was no hiding the tiniest tinge of pink that had crept unbidden across his cheeks.

0 Oliver I think you do. 0 Oliver 0 5