The Wizarding Council's Official Examiners
May 20, 2011 7:50 PM
Critical Assessment of Talents and Skills by The Wizarding Council's Official Examiners
It was that time of the year, the time were the fifth-year students would be tested on their magical knowledge. It was a hard test, it had to be. The Critical Assessment of Talent and Skills was made to assess the children in everything they were supposed to know by now. It was the first important test in the magical education, but not the last, RATS would come soon enough. The students taking the CATS were a larger group than the ones taking the RATS, because of that, four examiners had been sent from the Council. This year, the examiners were only going to sit down with the fifth-years, there was no graduating class.The Cascade Hall had been rearranged to serve the exams purposes. Aurora Septentrion, David Weatherby, Roland Ashburn and Nanette Langdon, watched the students pile in and take their places. The four examiners were quietly chatting among them, while the students came in. David Weatherby was a portly, middle-aged wizard with grey hair with a few strands of brown. His characteristically twinkle was always present in his green eyes. He was tough but always gave compliments to students that deserved it. Roland Ashburn was the youngest and tallest of the four of them, always cheerful with a wide smile on his face, not to mention that he was a pushover when it came to the students. Out of the four of them, Nanette could be considered the most fearsome. Back always straight, and her characteristic tight rigid neat bun pulled her face, not one piece of her iron grey hair could be seen out of place. Her hairstyle emphasized her sharp, pointy features and intimidating gaze. It was rumored 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. In contrast, Aurora´s hair fell loose down her back, neat and untangled. Her blue eyes were framed by a pair of elliptical spectacles. Her less rigid air didn’t mean that Aurora was less stern than Nanette. The Blonde took her role very seriously.
Once the last student took its seat, Aurora used her wand to close the door. She was not a fan of unpunctuality. She sent anti-cheat quills along with the exam booklet to each student. Aurora finally spoke up, “Your time will start in a few seconds. Remember to keep your eyes on your exam, if I see something dodgy going on, it will be an automatic fail,” she looked at the clock. “You may start now.” The theoretical examination would take place during the morning, the afternoon was going to be used for the practical portion of it, a break between the examinations would be provided for food or more revising.
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 (e.g. independent study of ancient runes) are examined on the third day. You may write for your examiner in the practicals. Have fun!
Subthreads: Nice CAT by Edmond Carey, Aladren with Edmond Carey
Can I get the kind that meow instead? by Jose Hernandez, Pecari with Jose, Jose Hernandez
Let the fun begin... by Andrew Duell with
Into the Arena. by Marissa Stephenson with
This isn't a cat. by Jethro Smythe
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The Wizarding Council's Official Examiners
Critical Assessment of Talents and Skills
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The Wizarding Council's Official Examiners
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Andrew Duell
May 22, 2011 10:19 AM
Let the fun begin... by Andrew Duell
Andrew made his way to Cascade Hall. He was really uncertain what to feel, he was a little nervous this was an important test. However he also knew that he had done everything he could have to prepare for it, and there was nothing more to be done now. Naturally he knew the nervousness came from his uncertainty if he had done enough preparation, but that was also something in the past that couldn't be changed. Whatever was going to happen at this point would happen. His mother had warned him about this test, from her stories it was a nightmare, a grueling battle of wits and intellect that was nigh impossible to overcome. That had frightened him at first, but then he came to a realization. It was something of a sad realization, and he did hate to admit it, but he got his brains from his father.... not his mother.He entered the Hall and took a seat. He looked around at the examiners and his fellow students. With all the mixed classes they had been taking, he hadn't really realized how small his class actually was. He returned the slightly nervous smiles and nods of his classmates then got started on his exam when the examiners started the test.
The test itself was pretty much what he had expected. It was like other test he had taken, just very, very in depth. He was very glad that he had found his first year notes again buried under all of his other notes and such in his room. Strangely he found the first-year sections the hardest, he assumed that was because he was still very new to the whole 'magic' thing and didn't really know what he should have been taking notes on and what he didn't need to. Second and third year subject matter was alright, not great, but decent. Fourth year stuff he flew through. Ahhh, the year he buried himself in school, it payed off now. This year was still fresh in his mind so it wasn't to bad either. Potions was the worst, but he was hardly surprised by that, Creatures was only slightly better.
He closed his exam book with a few minutes to spare. He examined his anti-cheating quill a little. How did it work exactly? Were they all linked together to know if it was writing the same thing as another quill? They would need some sort of memory, he could see what someone else was doing and then write it down much later in the test to offset any sort of simultaneous triggering. The quills would have to know everything that was written. What happens though if two people just happened to write the same thing? They were answering the same questions, it was bound to happen. Maybe the quills tracked not what was written but the intents of the people using them. That would probably be easier and more tricky at the same time. What happened if it detected something? Would the quill just stop writing if it was activated, or would it set off some sort of alarm? He was sorely tempted to experiment and test some of these theories, then he figured that this may not be the best time to do it. Another thought struck him, what if they were just ordinary quills? Sure they were called anti-cheat quills, but Dumbo was given a magic feather that allowed him to fly as well. No one would really try to cheat while using one of these quills at the risk of automatically failing. Maybe that's what made them anti-cheat, there wasn't magic behind it at all, just psychology? He certainly wasn't going to put it to the test... therefore it worked. He grinned to himself as the morning session concluded.
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Andrew Duell
Let the fun begin...
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Andrew Duell
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Andrew Duell
May 23, 2011 8:28 PM
...and now it continues... by Andrew Duell
Lunch was quick. Andrew wolfed something down, he didn't even remember what afterwards, and tried to spend the rest of the break relaxing. He was only mildly successful. Since he was in the first group he didn't get much time, but he was ready when they called him. Or at least he thought he was ready. His name was called by the youngest looking of the examiners, Roland Ashburn. He seemed a friendly sort of fellow, at least Andrew desperately hoped. He greeted the examiner with a smile, and was led to his first challenge.Care of Magical Creatures. He was starting with Care of Magical Creatures. Great. It started off easy enough, name the critter and list off some information about them. Then came the knarl. That could have gone better, eventually he got the thing under control but not before it demolished a third of the testing area. Andrew himself destroyed about a third as well trying to stop it. Luckily, or perhaps purposefully, Examiner Ashburn remained in the undamaged third. He wrote a few notes as the battle ensued, and seemed to have lost some of his cheerful disposition. Andrew was rather disappointed with his performance. His robe and pant legs were torn and tattered, his hair was more of a mess than usual and he was exhausted. This was only the first one. What else was there to come?
Charms apparently. Charms was not nearly the disaster that Creatures had been. He managed them all, though some of them took a few tries. A very few of them took more than a few tries. In fact Ashburn looked like he was just about to announce that it was time to move on when Andrew finally pulled off the last charm... or at least something that looked like the charm. Andrew felt a little better after that one then he had after the previous one. It wasn't particularly good, but he had at least managed to get them all. That was good, right?
Examiner Ashburn announced that his last challenge of the session was going to be Defense Against the Dark Arts. That made sense in Andrew's logical thought process. Potions and Transfigurations were usually the most time consuming, there would only be two tomorrow to give them more time. As with the challenges before, they started out with the basics learned in the early years and worked forward. Mostly easy stuff. Then he was brought to the trunk and was told to open it. A trunk? In DADA? That sucker had to be trapped. He began by examining it visually, from a distance. He didn't see anything obvious, what charms could he use to try and figure this out? How was it sealed? What did opening a sealed chest have to do with Defense? Andrew looked back at the examiner, Ashburn was rubbing his eyes with his free hand and letting out a sigh. "Your caution is well noted. Now just open the chest. It's not locked or trapped or anything."
Andrew still looked a little unsure, but stepped forward. Two more steps closer and the chest lid popped open itself, Andrew took a quick step back. A dark shadow loomed up out of the chest, fear began to grip Andrew's throat. What was that? The shadow began to take shape, a vaguely humanoid shape shrouded in a black cloak. A dementor!? What was wrong with these examiners?! You can't carry them around in chests! Could you? Regardless Andrew whipped out his wand and without thinking shouted "Expecto Patronum!!" His silvery patronus shimmered into existence. Ashburn looked momentarily startled at Andrew's cybernetic dragon. Andrew was a little startled as well, it was a little bigger than it was last time, but it just stood beside him and glared down at the shadow, it didn't move to engage. He did however feel the fear drain away from him as his patronus shielded him. His mind recovered from the blind panic it had been in. No, you can't carry a dementor around in a box. The 'dementor' looked like it was unsure if it really wanted to be there anymore, but it wasn't reacting how it should with a patronus present. It was a boggart. Bugger, he should have caught that sooner. "Looks like you were a bit overkill bud." he commented to his dragon. "I think I can take care of this one." He waved his wand again and said, almost with a sigh, "Riddikulus." The dementor's hood fell back, and underneath there was a young girl standing on stilts. Andrew nearly burst out laughing as the boggart retreated back into it's chest. "Boggart, cleverly disguised as a dementor. Riddikulus cancels it's power, the dementor is countered by the patronus charm. The dragon seemed to smile as it was mentioned, then dissolved away.
"Yes," Ashburn paused in his scribbling, "We're done for today. You may go." Andrew smiled, hoping he didn't mess up to badly and walked off while Ashburn went back to his writing.
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Andrew Duell
...and now it continues...
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Andrew Duell
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Andrew Duell
May 24, 2011 8:36 PM
...it just never ends... by Andrew Duell
Andrew slept well enough over night, and arrived back in the hall with plenty of time before the start of the next testing session. He was ready, he could do this, he just had to keep telling himself that. Maybe if he did, it would come true. He had studied a bit more the night before. Knowing what he already had done, meant he could focus on the subjects for today. Potions and Transfigurations. His best and his worst class, this would be an interesting day. He gripped his 'anti-cheat' quill with a bit of a grin, then opened his book once instructed to begin.Immediate confusion set in. He was fairly certain that the potion they were describing in the question couldn't exist, so he moved on. The next few weren't bad, then they started getting tricky again. By tricky, naturally he meant 'darn near impossible.' He struggled through what he could, partially answering where he could and explaining where things made sense. It all looked fairly familiar from class, but they must be doing it some other way than the way he had learned. He was getting very frustrated when at last the road before him smoothed out and he could metaphorically run again. He'd hit the Transfiguations section, he breezed through it with little difficulty. He was momentarily confused at the end, until he figured out the model they were using. It was an interesting setup, he may have to try it later. Assuming he didn't fail out completely and consequently got banned from being a wizard. He had some time left, so he went back into the potions section and tried to work out some of the harder stuff. He didn't get to far before he ran out of time.
It was another quick lunch and then he tried to memorize his potions book before his name was called for the practical portion. This time it was the blonde woman, Aurora Septentrion. She looked nice enough, but so did Ashburn yesterday when they started out. He greeted her politely and she led him to a room filled with potion making equipment. Andrew sighed, better to end strong, right? The examiner indicated three cards on the table, each having a potion on it. While he was looking them over, Ms. Septentrion talked about grading and rules and so forth. Andrew knew he had to make a potion, how they evaluated what he did was entirely up to them. It struck him as a little odd that they gave him an option of what to make, why not just assign a potion? Wait... one of these was quite a bit easier than the other two. Would he be viewed as smart for picking out the easy one, or lazy and incompetent for not pushing himself? Maybe he should have payed a little more attention to her. Oh well. He was fairly certain he could pull off the easy one.... but he wasn't absolutely certain. At least not in the time alloted. If he did foul up, it would look a lot worse if he was working on the easy on rather than one of the more difficult ones. Setting the easy one aside, he examine the other two potions. One looked slightly easier than the other, but not by much. He'd go with that one. He would just have to focus and he could get through this. He had all the right ingredients, in the right amounts. He had the fire set to the right temperature and stirred the brew just right. He had no idea where that oder came from, but it was powerful stuff. Andrew nearly choked as he frantically cast a charm to move the smell somewhere else. Maybe it was supposed to do that. He forged onward, and eventually the smell died down a bit. At least the smell in the air did, his robes would smell like this for a week. Not surprisingly, his potion didn't exactly have the effect it was supposed to. His examiner scribbled many notes in her book.
She cleared his mess out of the way. It seemed as though she didn't trust him to do it properly. His next task was to change one of the pots in the room into a parrot. Easy enough. He went through his routine and he produced a beautiful blue and yellow Macaw, it even told a crude joke. Andrew turned red and instantly turned it back into a pot. "Sorry." Oops. It didn't seem to affect her much, she just continued on with the test. She listed various items around the room and had him change them into various other things. None of them were particularly difficult and luckily no more of them insulted her. She dismissed Andrew while writing some more notes in her book. "One more day of this," he thought to himself as he left the testing area.
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Andrew Duell
...it just never ends...
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Andrew Duell
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