Good kitty-CATS... on Cascade Hall

The Wizarding Council's Official Examiners

March 23, 2009 1:03 PM

The Critical Assessment of Talents and Skills (5th years) by The Wizarding Council's Official Examiners

The day that every student in Sonora's fifth year had been dreading had arrived: the first day of their examinations. Not just any examinations; the Critical Assessments of Talents and Skills. The results students obtained on these examinations would determine which subjects they would be eligible to study in their sixth and seventh years of school. Therefore they were not to be considered lightly.

Four figures stood waiting at the front of the room, waiting. The only witch amongst them was Nanette Langdon. She was older than two of the others, and looked far sterner than all three other examiners. Her back was ramrod straight and her face stretched and pulled tight by the rigid neat bun that held her iron grey hair. It emphasised her sharp, pointy features and made the sharp, intimidating gaze that greeted the students entering the hall even less comforting. It was rumoured that she could tell if a student was even thinking about cheating, and she had a reputation for ruthlessness that had been validated by generations of students.

Bernard Starsky was the oldest of the examiners. Nearly bald and bent with age, it was hard to believe that in his prime he had been a straight backed, handsome man with a full head of thick, glossy dark hair. His general examining style included his head being slightly cocked to the left - Starsky was quite deaf, but had convinced himself that by effecting this pose his hearing worked better - staring at the students with suspicious beady grey eyes and communicating several decibels louder than necessary. While his tendency to yell might have, at least in part, have been explained away by his deafness, the whole package was more than enough to make him a figure to be treated warily.

The most popular of the examiners was David Weatherby. A stocky, middle-aged wizard, with the grey in his hair starting to outnumber the brown and a twinkle that appeared in his intense green eyes when a student did particularly well in their practicals. Weatherby was tough but fair, and it earned him respect.

In contrast, Roland Ashburn might as well have been a joke. He was the youngest of the examiners - in his mid thirties at most - and easily the tallest. He carried his height awkwardly, being oddly gawky for a man of his years, looking like he simply had never grown into his body. He was by nature cheerful, prone to smiling at the students and a complete pushover. Being regarded with respect was just one of those things that remained completely foreign to him.

Quickly the students were encouraged to find their seats where they were handed the latest anti-cheating quills. Examination books and papers were handed out. The hall had been prepared earlier, with spells and hexes to prevent cheating liberally cast. Ashburn, after being on the receiving end of one of Langdon's patented 'are you an idiot?' stares, beamed at the seated students. "Your first examination will start in a few minutes," he told them, checking his watch to be sure. "I just want everyone to do their very best and remember that cheating is not a good idea. Anyone cheating will be caught and will get an instant fail," he managed to look apologetic as he said this, while still smiling at them all. "If you finish early, please just sit quietly and don't disturb your fellows. Er... I think that's about it! Are you all ready? Good luck! You can open your examination booklets..." he paused while the second hand on his watch ticked, ticked, ticked, "now."

OOC: Theoretical exams in the mornings, practical exams in the afternoons. Mandatory classes are covered over the first two days, any electives your character takes are examined on the third day. You may write for your examiner in the practicals. Have fun!

Subthreads:

Good kitty-CATS... by Helena Layne with

CATastrophic by Elly Eriksson with Elly

0 The Wizarding Council's Official Examiners The Critical Assessment of Talents and Skills (5th years) 0 The Wizarding Council's Official Examiners 1 5

Helena Layne

March 26, 2009 5:43 PM

Good kitty-CATS... by Helena Layne

For months, Helena had been dreading the first day of CATS. Now, settling into her assigned seat for the first round of examinations, she felt nothing but a little nervousness and a great deal of relief. It was almost over. After supper, a meal she planned to fall straight into bed after, she would only have two more days before CATS were, once and for all, out of her hands.

She had gotten up early to go jogging - cramming, according to her brother and books alike, was bad - had a hot shower, and fixed a well-balanced breakfast, just as though she had a Quidditch game to go to. She was dressed comfortably. She was wearing the opal ring she'd gotten for her birthday. If there was anything left to do, she didn't know what it was, and after the months of preparation leading up to this, she found she didn't really care. She wasn't going to make all-Os, but she was okay with that. The world wasn't completely divided into Aladrens and unsuccessful people.

The topics for the day, according to the cover of the exam booklet on her desk, were CoMC, Charms, and Defense. Not a stellar line-up for her, but not horrible; it was going to be okay. No psychotic panic attack. No worries, yet. There would be legitimate cause for worry if she got to the last five minutes and was nowhere near done, but...She wouldn't think that way. Common sense said it was better to be calm going in.

There was an immediate impulse, upon opening the booket, to read and answer as fast as she could and fly through all of the questions at the same breakneck speed, but her complete failure to take in the first question that way made her see that it wasn't such a smart strategy after all.

She kept an eye on the clock as she worked, careful not to underestimate the amount of time she had left until - much to her dismay - the clock indicated she had no more and no less than fifteen minutes to finish. Her chest tightening, Helena began to write faster, making silent deals with the time to get done and still have her writing readable. Time must have been in a good mood; she was just pressing, with considerably more flair and satisfaction than she normally would have, the tip of her quill against the exam page for the final period when the proctors called time.

There was a break for lunch after the written exam. All the jittery energy of the last minutes of the exam dispelled in record time, making it tempting to put her head down on the table and sleep, but she knew she'd be starving by the time she finished her last practical if she didn't eat. Luckily, the menu, perhaps as a concession to the sizeable number of Southern students or by chance or - for all she knew - as a matter of local cuisine, included iced tea. Caffeine wasn't normally recommended before a test, but if one glass of tea was enough to hurt her, she was just hurt. After that and a full lunch, she felt sufficiently better to tackle her next exams, if a bit more reluctantly than with the written part of the day.

L was a fairly neutral letter of the alphabet, in Helena's opinion, but her class was not a large one and her turn to face the examiners came soon. She smoothed her hair, which was put back in a loose bun, nervously, feeling she should at least try to make a good impression on her examiner.

She was pretty sure, based on Sonora legend, who she had at a glance, and wasn't sure if she'd drawn a good card or not with him. Ashburn was supposed to be an easy grader. Helena wanted to be graded fairly - wasn't that the point? - but a few charity points might make the difference between As and Es, which could make the difference between jobs...She gave him her best smile, the one Geoff said made her look like a politician and that she hoped Ashburn would take just a bit differently.

"Miss Layne?" he said. "I'm Roland Ashburn, your examiner."

"Hi, Mr. Ashburn," she said, extending her hand. "Call me Helena." If he was likely to go easy on her anyway, there was no harm in being friendly and seeing if it would help the deal a little.

One problem with Ashburn was that he talked a lot. It made sense during the Defense Against the Dark Arts practical - it was, in fact, the distraction that ended the exam when, not paying attention, she missed a mild jinx - but while a fire crab care demonstration was going on or she was being tested on her ability to turn some bird (a bird specialist she was not) blue, it was just annoying. She thought that, in the end, she did all right anyway. Her performance had, to use a Geoff phrase, been 'nothing to write home about', but she definitely wasn't going to be kicked out of school over these three exams.

16 Helena Layne Good kitty-CATS... 88 Helena Layne 0 5

Helena Layne

March 26, 2009 9:19 PM

Nice CATS... by Helena Layne

Morning two. The midpoint. Helena had ingested two cups of coffee before the end of breakfast, but still felt vaguely as if she had sand in her eyes. Waking up at two a.m. from a nightmare about Headmaster Bulla giving her the news she had failed everything in singsong and not being able to go back to sleep afterward could do that.

At least the topics of the day were her better subjects. At worst, she might lose her head and make an A in Potions; in Transfiguration and History of Magic, Helena felt confident that she didn't really have anything to worry about. Though they both had major staff issues, they both held consistent places on her 'best subjects' list; she blamed it on a dose of sibling rivalry and genetic predispositions to politics.

Because she felt more confident of her ability to answer a question and be right, she worked through a sizeable chunk of the test quickly. Because she knew she'd dawdle over it too long if she did it first, she left the History writing until last, when she could accomodate the amount she wrote to the amount of time she had to write it in. She finished right on time again, and though the last few words used to discuss Orreltown were in a looser, more hurried hand than most of the booklet, she thought she'd done fairly well.

Because the stakes were a little higher today - these were things she fully intended to take at RATS level - she went over notes during lunch. Since History of Magic lacked the practical examination most subjects had, she got through a lot more of Transfiguration and Potions than she would've, though still not a quarter of the way through the notes of fifth year. She did, after all, have to devote half of her attention to eating, too. Fumes and empty stomachs didn't, for some reason, sound like a very good combination.

Potions came first. Because of the disparate lengths of the exams - Geoff had told her about the different levels - and the resulting impact on how the examiners were distributed, she didn't end up with Ashburn again. Instead, Helena shook hands with David Weatherby. Again, she didn't know how that should be taken in terms of luck.

She was escorted to a work station, the cauldron still cold but everything else set up. "This is the Potions exam, Miss Layne," Weatherby told her. "To take this exam, you'll pick between three potions - Easy, Medium, and Hard."

"And the only way to get an O is to pick Hard," she recited for him. "My brother's a huge Potions geek." He smiled, not unkindly, and Helena became uncomfortably aware of how very young she sounded. The common language of her peers, which she barely noticed most of the time, sounded flat-out idiotic in front of a well-educated adult.

She looked over all three sets of instructions - including the Hard one - as a formality, but her answer had been set for a long time. Easy would lead to a perfect potion, but, unfortunately, would probably only get her an A, and Hard, desirable though the results of it were, was impossible to do. She wasn't that good. "I'll take Medium," she said.

She worked, as she did in class, methodically, separating out all the ingredients and following the instructions to the letter. Time seemed to press harder on her than she'd ever noticed in class, but suspected this was mostly just because there was a lot resting on this and was not a lab partner speeding up the process of chopping, slicing, and so forth. Finally, she stood back, hands folded neatly in front of her while loosened pieces of her hair started to friz from the steam. "Finished," she said.

Mr. Weatherby made a note on his clipboard, then came over to inspect the potion. Nagging doubts began to assault her brain - was it the right consistency? Was the color off by too much of a shade? Had she forgotten a step? - but since there was nothing to do about it, she tried to shove those thoughts out of her head as Weatherby lifted a spoonful of potion out of the cauldron, let it splash back, and made a new note. Finally, he smiled, looking pleased. "Very nice, Miss Layne."

She didn't notice until she exhaled that, waiting for this appraisal of her work, she had stopped breathing.

Transfiguration was next. Her Switching Spell, mercifully, went wonderfully; it earned her another approving look. It was a little harder to turn a teapot into a tortoise - the shell looked far too smooth to her, rather like a piece of porcelain painted with lines to suggest ridges than a real shell - but at least it didn't breathe steam. The majority of her rat Vanished - surely she couldn't lose many points over the very tip of the tail? - and the teacup created by another spell was patterned with roses, not the pattern of fur seen in its parent gerbil. Overall, she was pleased.

16 Helena Layne Nice CATS... 88 Helena Layne 0 5

Helena Layne

March 26, 2009 9:59 PM

Pretty CATS. by Helena Layne

There was, or so it seemed to Helena, a definite tension in the air on the third and final morning of CATS. Some people were already done and free to celebrate or crash; the rest, the elective students, had a few hours left before they had the leisure to do the same. Since she had chosen to take an Ancient Runes class instead of a Muggle Studies one, Helena had one written exam between her and freedom. She'd already decided to sleep it off in the afternoon and engage in some stupid act of celebration the next day.

For the first time, she spent the minutes leading up to the exam toying with her enchanted quill instead of sitting and listening quietly. So many months of preparation and work - and by noon, it would all be over. Whatever it had all been worth would be played out, and she wouldn't know what she'd gotten from it until summer. It was strange to think about: after today, she wouldn't have to live on a study schedule. She could - within reasonable limits - arrange her time how she liked.

The first translation, to her complete delight, was an easy one; she was sure she got full credit on it. The next three were harder, and she really had no idea how the last of the lot went. The essays weren't topics she had hoped for - the ones she knew best - but she still thought she did a decent job of throwing together what she did know. She left sure a perfect score was out of the question, but thinking she had made at least a low E.

Skipping lunch, she went straight back to her room, which was mercifully still empty. Though she'd shared a room at home her entire life, she still wasn't entirely used to a roommate at Sonora. In fifteen minutes, she was asleep.

16 Helena Layne Pretty CATS. 88 Helena Layne 0 5

Elly Eriksson

April 03, 2009 5:34 PM

CATastrophic by Elly Eriksson

It would be a lie to state that she was completely calm, but Elly was certain she was far more relaxed this morning than most of her peers. Exams were things that most people tended to worry about, but Elly didn't set much store by them. These CATS didn't scare her; all they were in place to do, as far as Elly was concerned, was dictate which subjects she wouldn't be allowed to take next year. As it was, Elly wasn't keen to take subjects with which she struggled anyway, so no harm done there. In seventh year she might be more concerned with results seeing as they might direct her future and adult life, but as yet Elly had no real plans for the future, and so she was content for now to float happily along and see where it was she ended up.

She had revised, of course; with practically everyone else in fifth and seventh years revising, it would almost be rude not to. Unusually in the eyes of some, Elly had done most revision in the subjects she knew best. They way she figured it, if she already sucked in a subject (say history, for example) working hard at it just to pass an exam was pointless - she would only end up sucking exactly the same if she ocntinued the subject. But if a potions question came up that she didn't know how to answer, she would be furious with herself for not covering the material thoroughly. So although some history had been studied, and some transfigurations attempted, potions and charms had claimed the majority of her study time. Elly knew her own strengths.

Despite her relaxed attitude, the tension must have been contagious in the Hall, because Elly felt her jaw clench as she sat down to her written paper. But the moment passed, and fairly soon she was scribbling down some fact, some nonsense, keen to get these exams out of the way so she could concentrate on real work - like her end of year prank.

0 Elly Eriksson CATastrophic 92 Elly Eriksson 0 5

Elly

April 03, 2009 5:56 PM

Or just a CATalyst? by Elly

By the end of the second day, Elly wasn't feeling bad at all - perhaps a bit tired, but as she didn't take any electives, her external examinations were over for another two years, and that was definitely something worth celebrating. Furthermore, Elly thought she might even have done well in a couple of subjects. History, admitedly, was not one of them. From the moment she had tried bluffing her way through various Treaties and their perceived effects compared to their actual influence Elly knew she was lost. None of the dates or people had managed to stay in her head, and she barely knew one cause from another. As a Muggleborn Briton, American Wizarding history was really not her strong point, even after several years of learning.

Defense had, unfortunately, not gone too well, either. In her practical examination, Nanette Langdon had asked Elly to deal with a boggart. She couldn't have asked for worse! While she knew the incantation perfectly, Elly was suddenly struck by the realisation that her assessor would be able to see what it was she feared most. Somewhat embarrassed by this truth, Elly fumbled to bring something scary to the forefront of her mind, so when the shapeshifter presented itself, it was confused between Elly's true fear of an angry bull, and her pretend phobia of snakes. The result was a huge cobra with a horned head and it was all Elly could do to look at it in wonder. Then rather than being able to think of something funny, the boggart caught on, and turned into that angry bull, startling Elly to the degree that she had to cast a couple of random defensive spells to make herself feel better before she could even contemplate trying to laugh. Eventually she got it sorted out, but the whole episode was rather messy, and Elly would sooner forget it.

Potions, on the other hand, was much better. Elly chatted with David Weatherby while she made the Impermeable Balm (which thankfully did not require essence of Belladonna), explaining that she added an extra leaf of peppermint and boiled the potion one degree higher than had been recommended by the textbook to ensure a smooth finish when the potion was applied. Her finished product was the perfect mirror-sheen silver it should have been, and she even managed to successfully conjure some water to test out the potion, proving its efficiency.

All in all, she hoped she wouldn't have anything to worry about when she selected her subjects next term. So it was with a skip in her step that Elly headed out into the gardens to enjoy her freedom in the glorious sunshine.

0 Elly Or just a CATalyst? 0 Elly 0 5