Critical Assessment of Talent and Skills (CATS) on Cascade Hall

Headmistress Kijewski-Jareau

July 22, 2012 1:50 AM

Critical Assessment of Talent and Skills (CATS) by Headmistress Kijewski-Jareau

Today was the first day of the Critical Assessments of Talents and Skills exams. Also known as the C.A.T.S. examinations. The very exams that had most of the Fifth year class ripping their hair out, taking calming draught potions, and pulling all nighters for the last ten months of their lives. These examinations were extremely important for students as they would determine the course of actions the students would have for their future not only at Sonora, but for the rest of their lives. These exams were just as important as the exams to be taken by Seventh years.

Like every year before, there were four examiners waiting impatiently for the students to be ready to begin the three days of exams. The oldest of the examiners was Bernard Starsky. Some wondered why he was still allowed to be an examiner. He was far more than just ‘hard of hearing’ that it was sure to be an issue later about a mistake between what was said and what he had heard. Still, for the students who had never seen him before and didn’t know of his disability, his stance with his head slightly tilted and his small eyes staring hard at them might have them feeling a bit threatened by the elderly Wizard.

The youngest of the group was Roland Ashburn. Anyone who ended up with him as an examiner was bound to pass the exam. He didn’t have a mean bone in his body and preferred to be liked rather than hated. As a result, people tended to walk all over him. That wasn’t to say students knew they were able to do this, but noticing his quick smile, his awkward stance, and overly cheerful disposition, they were bound to figure him out within the first couple of days.

The scariest looking one out of the four was also the only female, Nanette Langdon. She had a fierce look to her caused by her straight back posture, so tight bun that her face was pulled back, and the pinched up look on her face as though she was constantly smelling something foul. Beyond that, she had such sharp hard features that only matched her hard cold eyes that anyone who was unlucky enough to have her as their examiner might feel as though she was going out of her way to fail them.

Lastly, the examiner that everyone always hoped to get for a proper examination of skills was David Weatherby. Although he was a middle-aged Wizard, David was still a rather good looking man with graying dark hair and vibrant green eyes. There were many females who swooned at him. However, it was his fairness in his examinations that had students wanting him to be their examiner.

The mornings where the theoretical examinations were to take place, students were asked to quickly take their seats while the anti-cheating quills were presented to each of them. Examination books and parchments were faced down on desks and only allowed to be flipped once the examinations have begun. Langdon addressed the students in her crisp voice, “We have cast spells to prevent any cheating. Those who are caught will immediately be failed and removed from the room. Anyone who completes the examination prior to the end of the alluded time will remain seated and quiet out of respect to their peers.” Nanette made sure her seriousness of the situation was made clear as she looked at each student before continuing. “You may begin.”

In the afternoons when the practical examinations happened, students would wait outside of the Cascade Hall until their names were called. Once called, they would enter the Hall and make their way over to where the Examiner was awaiting them. The examiner would ask them to perform certain spells or create a certain potion. Once the student had completed each task, they were free to leave.

OOC: Theoretical (written) exams are in the morning and practical exams are in the afternoons. Mandatory classes are covered the first couple of days while electives are handled on the final day. You are free to write for your examiner and choose the one you would like to work with. Have fun!

Subthreads:

Do things never go my way because I'm too CAT-ty? by Eliza Bennett

Memories... All alone in the moonlight... by Arista Thornton, Teppenpaw

I don't mind CATS by Sara Raines

Have I mentioned that I'm allergic? by Ryan O'Malley

0 Headmistress Kijewski-Jareau Critical Assessment of Talent and Skills (CATS) 0 Headmistress Kijewski-Jareau 1 5

Eliza Bennett

July 29, 2012 4:03 PM

Do things never go my way because I'm too CAT-ty? by Eliza Bennett

Just taking things as they came to her was a strange concept to Eliza, and so she had gathered every piece of information about the CATS that she possibly could, from every source she could get to sit still long enough. Among these pieces was a rumor, or a school legend, or something, that one of the examiners was a pushover – that an examinee could be barely competent to hold a wand and still get a pass from this examiner. This, everyone – but most especially those who got the scary evil one for an examiner instead – could only agree was unfair and just not right; there was no other way to look at it, and to hope that fortune favored you in a harsh and senseless world was something Eliza thought was probably, at the very least, just a little bit in bad taste.

Please let me get the pushover, Eliza thought as she sat, waiting to be called for her practical exams and feeling sure, despite the copious amounts of calming draught she had taken today, she was going to either scream or be sick sometime in the very near future. Please let me get the pushover, please let me get the pushover, please let me get the pushover.

She worked hard in her classes, and took pride in the good grades she got because she deserved to have good grades, but at the end of the day, Eliza Bennett did not really think about sportsmanship, or being judged fairly based on what she could do, or anything like that. At the end of the day, Eliza just wanted to pass, and do better than pass. If the paper in front of her at the end of this summer was covered in Os and Es, no one was going to think ‘oh, she had an easy examiner,’ they were just going to think she had done well on her CATS, and their opinions were what really mattered. Her own opinion, she was sure, would be better if she did just as well with a tougher examiner, but frankly, she thought that she did not really care that much. If she did well, however she happened to do that, other people would know she had done well, and that was what counted.

The written portion of her first day of exams had, she thought, gone okay. A good memory was a blessing when it came to written exams, and she had, whenever she could, been studying old stuff in addition to adding new stuff all year. She only remembered a very few questions she hadn’t been able to come up with some glimmer of an answer for. Now it was all about the practicals.

She was as ready as she was ever going to be, she knew that, and yesterday that had comforted her, but today, all she could think of was how that was never enough. How nothing was ever enough. Right now, she was sure that the only way for her to do well was to get the pushover.

If her name had been near the end of the alphabet, Eliza was sure she would have been an insane wreck by the time they called her, but ‘Bennett’ was one of the first announced for testing. There weren’t many of them at the beginning of the alphabet in her class – she was the third, Bennett, after Adair – she had breathlessly wished Jordan good luck – and Bauer and just before Betancourt. A whole name between her and the one she most despised; she thought she appreciated Valentina just for that, even though she’d never noticed it before….

Her thought trailed off as she stepped into the Hall and found herself looking at a woman. She was pretty sure, after what she’d heard and this morning, that she had not gotten the pushover, but rather, the scary one. Oh, dear Merlin, she was going to die. She was going to die. She was going to fail everything and die.

“Miss Bennett?” her examiner asked, looking at her clipboard as though it held something distasteful to her. The look she gave Eliza’s stubborn attempt at a smile was not exactly approving, either.

“That’s me,” Eliza said, nervously tucking her hair behind her ear and feeling immediately that the gesture had been noticed and disapproved of. “Are you going to be testing me?”

“Obviously,” her examiner replied. Eliza flushed. Die, die, die, she thought, this time directing it toward Langdon.

“Great!” Eliza said, trying to sound enthusiastic. Either she failed more than she thought or it just wasn’t capable of working on this woman, because that changed nothing about her expression.

She was led to a testing area, where, waiting for her, was a table bearing a teacup. Eliza eyed it uncertainly, not touching her wand or stepping close to it until she had a better idea what was in store. Defense was today, too, after all. It could be cursed, it could animate when touched, it could really be some obscure magical creature masquerading as a cup. Maybe she was supposed to fill it, or maybe she was supposed to make it unfillable, though that seemed a little hard to her for a first question. Ms. Langdon made a sound which was not quite an impatient sigh at Eliza’s reluctance.

“Make it tap-dance,” she commanded, and so the exam was begun.

0 Eliza Bennett Do things never go my way because I'm too CAT-ty? 174 Eliza Bennett 0 5

Arista Thornton, Teppenpaw

August 03, 2012 1:19 AM

Memories... All alone in the moonlight... by Arista Thornton, Teppenpaw

Arista has been worried about a few things through her fifth year. She knew the first half of the year had been a major focus on Quidditch, the second half had been a major focus on the Concert. What Arista had completely forgotten about for the most part was the Critical Assessments of Talents and Skills (the CATS) Exams. Sure, they’d been working on stuff they’d need to know for it in their classes all year, but that didn’t mean the thought of it was on her mind at all. It wasn’t until the week before the scheduled exams while she was working on her portion of the concert song that she realized the exams were so close.

Her eyes had opened wider than saucers when she realized it and then forged on, not sleeping, only eating if she had a book open in front of her. The norm as far as she knew before these tests. She’d been pulling her hair out, studying overnights while taking classes and practicing to the point where she’d been awake for days at a time. There were black circles all around her eyes and she was falling asleep in classes. She’d taken many a calming drought over the last week or so, but even that did nothing to soothe her nerves about the tests.

The day the first test arrived, she walked into Cascade Hall, heart pounding, eyes drooping with exhaustion. The morning brought them the written exams, and for those, she’d sat writing with her head down on her left arm while she answered the questions as best as her tired mind could muster. Of course, towards the end she’d fallen asleep and her writing arched down the page, stopping mid-word. She’d never gotten to the last two questions before her time was up.

She felt like a failure to her family. Some oldest sibling and cousin she was…

I just hope I do better tonight, because this hopefully isn’t going to count as badly if I work hard at the practical part… she thought to herself as she walked out for the break between sessions.

***

After the break she waited outside in the hall with the other fifth years for her name to be called. The kids were going in one at a time, four at a time. There were four examiners and the kids around her spoke about them. She’d heard that the oldest examiner was hard of hearing, the youngest didn’t have a mean bone in his body, the only female was fierce, and the middle aged one, was fair. She’d hoped that she’d either get the youngest or the middle aged one for her own and her family’s sake, but knowing her luck she was sure she’d end up with the fierce one.

She heard her name called and looked up to see which Examiner she’d managed to get. It was Nanette Langdon. Her heart fluttered in her chest and she stood up to walk with the woman into the room. Oh my god… I’m so screwed… she thought to herself.

Langdon had a fierce look to her, straight posture, tight bun, pinched look on her face, cold eyes and Arista suddenly felt seriously cold. She shivered and wondered if she would do as she feared and look for reasons to fail her. What if I DO fail? ran through her mind. They got inside the room and Langdon started off on her right away.

“Here.” she directed and Arista followed Langdon to the table at the far end of the room. “You will now bring to you something from your dormroom only using a charm. I will not tell you the charm, nor do I care what object you bring to you.”

Arista swallowed the saliva that was building up in her mouth and held up her wand. She thought of the card her younger sisters had sent her for her birthday that was hanging up on her little table, closed her eyes and said, “ACCIO BIRTHDAY CARD!” She did the correct movement for the wand and thought long and hard about the handmade card. Moments later it was actually in her hand! She’d really done it!

A grin broke from her mouth and she looked up at Langdon. The Examiner seemed to be taking notes on not only the speed the card took to get there, but on what the fifth year had chosen to bring to her. The woman rolled her eyes and turned back to Arista moments later, putting something really tiny on the table in front of them.

Arista looked at it, but it was so small, so hard to tell what it was. “Now you will make this object larger.“ Langdon added.

“Right.“ Arista said as confidently as her tired mind could afford. She wasn’t going to show this woman her weakness. Her exhaustion was not going to stop her this afternoon. Pointing her wand at the tiny object, she waved her wand and said, “Engorgio!”

Sitting on the table in front of her was a wine goblet apparently full of a liquid she’d never seen before. Until she looked closer to the golden colored liquid, that is. “What is the potion inside the goblet?” were the next words out of Langdon’s mouth.

Arista looked even closer, watching the droplets sort of dance above the golden liquid. “That’s felix felicis, isn’t it?” she asked Langdon, feeling more and more confident with her answer as she got closer to the liquid.

“Very good, Miss Thornton.” Langdon said, an actual smile forming on her face. Arista thought that perhaps she would be okay after all! “One last thing.” Langdon said as she reached for the chest at her feet. “Close your eyes until I tell you to open them.”

Arista did as she was asked, though with an immense amount of fear brewing inside of her.

“Open.”

Arista opened her eyes and saw her sisters in a pile on the floor, dead.

Her heart pounded hard and fast. Her mouth was dry and tears threatened to fall openly from her eyes. Her breaths got faster and more shallow, labored like she assumed Addison felt when she was having an asthma attack. All she thought about was her sisters, lying there, dead. She looked up at Langdon, eyes going wild. “Do something! They can’t be dead, they just can’t be! Please! Do something!”

Langdon looked back at her and said, “You do it.

I do it? Wait, this isn’t real… it’s a boggart… she thought as she closed her eyes, steadying herself. “RIDDIKULUS!” she screamed, opening her eyes to see Jabba the hut sitting there in front of her rather than her sisters dead in a pile. She wiped sweat off her forhead and looked at Langdon.

“Very good. You may go now.”

Arista nodded and walked away from the scary woman, out the door and right up to Teppenpaw to find Addison or Brielle. She needed to at least see one of her sisters to be sure they were still alright.

0 Arista Thornton, Teppenpaw Memories... All alone in the moonlight... 0 Arista Thornton, Teppenpaw 0 5

Sara Raines

August 04, 2012 8:41 PM

I don't mind CATS by Sara Raines

On the first morning of the CATS, Sara had gotten up when the alarm spell she had set around her bed had begun to chime, politely wished Sophie a good morning even though she was as sure as ever that her roommate didn’t like her, and had gotten ready for her day, carefully selecting first a matching dress and shoes and then the jewelry, taken from the box Preston had given her for Christmas, to go with it before putting on the little makeup she wore and setting her hair into neat curls. Once all that was done, she had gone down to breakfast, decided who to eat with this morning, and had about the same amount of food that she always did, enough that she didn’t feel hungry or stuffed full. It had been exactly like any other morning for her.

Now, sitting in her desk in the Cascade Hall and listening to the directions, Sara let her hands grip each other more tightly in front of her than they needed to and allowed herself one deep breath, but otherwise continued to refuse to show signs of nervousness. There was, after all, nothing to be nervous about. It was just a test, a test that couldn’t be too difficult if Catherine had managed to pass at least three parts of it, and she was prepared for it. There was no need to worry, no matter how the two scary examiners tried to glare at them all. There was nothing they could do to hurt her, because she was ready for this.

When time was called, Sara took her exam book with the rest, writing her full name - Sara Caroline Raines, that was; she didn’t think the extension about her home state was really necessary for this – out before she began to read the first question. She wrinkled her nose at the mention of the reproductive habits of flobberworms, but did so even as she dipped her anti-cheating quill in the ink for the first time to begin writing.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

After the long written exam, Sara felt a little off balance, but she hid that as she continued to act, as she had at breakfast, like it was just an ordinary day, though she did tell anyone who asked that she did think she had done well. The noise in the Hall now, compared to the way the scratch of other people’s quills had seemed loud and invasive before, was a little overwhelming, but she enjoyed her lunch and being around people again and, after a strong cup of tea after her actual meal, she felt almost as ready to tackle her practical exams as she had her written ones before.

Unfortunately, because of her last name, she had to wait longer to do that than she had during the morning session. That did make her think there were some disadvantages after all to having most of her friends, not to mention her boyfriend, be in a different year. Having someone to sit with that she felt more comfortable with would have been nice, but she tried not to think about it, since there was nothing to do about it.

Finally, her name was called, and she ceased to think about much at all as she approached the Hall and found herself shaking hands with the middle-aged one, one of the men ones. Mr. Weatherby. “Hello,” she said, smiling as she shook hands with him. “Shall we begin?”

Sara felt that she sailed through the Charms section and did well with the Care of Magical Creatures one, being only slightly hampered by skirts and the actual care of some magical creatures not combining well in a small space but being helped by her decision to wear flat shoes today, and got through the early portion of Defense Against the Dark Arts without major problems until a closet opened and she found herself looking at…herself. But all wrong. She looked disheveled, and worse than disheveled; her clothes were dirty and torn, her hair was a complete raggedy mess, there were tears and smudged mascara all over her face, and blood was trickling from her hairline down her forehead.

“That’s not me,” she said clearly, looking at Mr. Weatherby.

She tried three spells, striking at any thought she had about what it might be as it continued to drip tears into its sandals, feeling more uncomfortable with the thing by the moment, she had a thought. “Riddikulus,” she said, hoping this was right.

The thing flickered, and then, abruptly, was the same, but with the tears gone, the dress sparkly, and wearing a great quantity of tacky-looking jewelry and with a gigantic hat pinned on top of the wild hair which looked like a poodle made of yellow feathers. Sara covered her mouth instinctively as she giggled, but it still worked enough to make the boggart disappear.

“You must have an awful time finding enough of those for everyone,” she said, determined to seem unfazed by having such an ambiguous boggart. What Mr. Weatherby thought of her, she didn’t even want to begin to imagine, and that was even if – she hadn’t thought of this before – he didn’t read anything bizarre into the funny image she had come up with to banish the boggart. The two mercies of the CATS, the only two, were that not many people were in the room during each practical exam and that the examiners evaluated a lot of people in a short time. Otherwise, she didn’t think she could have dealt at all with the embarrassment of thinking they were reading things into her responses and trying to figure her out personally during them. She finished her exam and went to look for her friends, since she had already resolved not to study anymore at this late point in the game.

0 Sara Raines I don't mind CATS 179 Sara Raines 0 5

Ryan O'Malley

August 10, 2012 6:01 PM

Have I mentioned that I'm allergic? by Ryan O'Malley

Ryan came out of his practical exams, breathing hard. He was sweaty, shaky, pale and sick to his stomach. The Crotalus had just finished his DADA exam and it had most definitely not gone well. Finished actually really meant being excused because Ryan was pretty much having a panic attack and couldn't honestly continue with it.

Everything else had been fine so far, though he was still certain he had done terrible, as he thought himself to be an idiot after all. The fifth year's essays were likely terrible and while he'd had no real problems with Charms or Care of Magical Creatures, Ryan was still pretty sure his performance in both had been sub-par. He was sub-par in everything but Transfiguration, and even that was probably due to the Brockert family's decidedly genetic tendencies in the subject.

Defense, however, was an utter disaster. There was absolutely no way Ryan had passed unless Mr. Ashburn-one of the very few bits of luck he'd ever had in his life was getting the nice examiner-felt sorry enough for him to give him the minimum passing score. The Crotalus simply could not handle a boggart. Could not handle his worst fear, period which was, of course, predictably obvious. His mother.

It was bad enough to have to face that woman in his nightmares but it was even worse to have her-or even an image of her-hurling insults at him in front of someone else. Especially someone else who was grading Ryan. On what was probably his worst subject aside from flying and, naturally, part of what his "mother" had been yelling that was what a failure in absolutely everything the Crotalus was and that he was going to fail all his exams including this one. And unfortunately, in the case of DADA, she had definitely been right.

There had been no way to make her seem funny. Nothing she'd ever said or done to him had ever been, no matter how much Carrie had found the humor in it. Which was something his mother had done quite a bit. As Ryan's sister began to be old enough to understand, their mother would berate him in front of her for both of their amusement.

He slunk against the wall, honest-to-Merlin feeling like he might throw up. The actual boggart had been bad enough but it had also drudged up a lot of memories that Ryan just couldn't take. The Crotalus closed his eyes and waited for them to stop.

11 Ryan O'Malley Have I mentioned that I'm allergic? 176 Ryan O'Malley 0 5