Aaron McKindy stood in the centre of the Quidditch Pitch, waiting for the last few stragglers of the second and third year Charms class to arrive. He had arrived uncharacteristically early for the lesson, almost purely by accident. The pitch was the same as any other pitch, in America or Italy, and was therefore a comfortable place to be. He hadn’t been on a real pitch since returning home from school at eighteen. Not that his family was interested in Quodpot—they were too firmly based in Italy for that—he just hadn’t had the time to Apparate over to the nearest pitch before he left home, and afterwards, he had been too busy dealing with life to fly.
His purple shirt, Muggle style jeans, and a large top hat made of transparent pink bubbles made Aaron quite conspicuous. Several students were looking at him as though he were quite mad, while some others seemed frightened. A few looked amused. Glancing around the pitch to assure himself that this was basically the entire class, Aaron spoke loudly, gazing over his second and third year students.
“Hello there! I see you all made it to the pitch in one piece. I am your new Charms professor, Aaron McKindy. You may call me Professor, Professor McKindy, or whatever else you so wish, as long as you remain respectful. This lesson, both second and third years will be focusing on communication charms. These charms have varying uses, and are often seen in action during professional or amateur sports. Today, you will be learning the Farspeaking Charm and the Reception Charm while working in groups of two or three with at least one person you either do not know or who is in a different year.
“The Farspeaking Charm is a fairly specialised piece of magic that corresponds directly with the Reception Charm. The two work very similar to a Muggle toy called a ‘walking talky’, which allows two people to speak with each other through a sort of radio if they are close enough to each other, so long as both ‘walking talkies’ are turned on. The Reception Charm must be cast first. To cast the charm, the wand is tapped against the ear twice while the incantation ’Aurisae’ is pronounced.” Aaron did so; his ear glowed a steady gold. “The spell is fairly short lived and must be renewed every ten minutes or so. After the Reception Charm has been cast, the other person must cast the Farspeaking Charm on themselves. This is done by tapping the throat twice and saying ’Voco’.” He did so, finding the effect of both spells combined fairly amusing. “Please make sure that you say your partner’s name after each incantation; elsewise, you may be flooded with conversations from the rest of the class as well.
“Everybody find a partner or two, and get started! If you have questions, please address them to me; otherwise, I suggest that you be at least ten feet apart from your partner before attempting either spell.”
Aaron removed the Farspeaking Charm, although he left the other on. After all, here on the pitch he did not have his posters to help him keep track of the student’s antics. A bit of magical help couldn’t hurt.
OOC: Right. The incantations are as follows: Voco (insert partner name here) and Aurisae (insert partner name here). They should be within level for both years. If used properly, the recipient should hear something akin to somebody speaking in a normal tone just next to their ear. Spread out, partner with those you don’t know/those who are in a different year, and please make sure to follow posting rules! Points are given for grammatically correct posts that meet the length requirement (at least ten sentences), and anything creative, amusing, or just plain weird your character does. Have fun! \n\n
Subthreads:
Partnerers? Just great...-_- by Caedence REdoak with Guenther Heindrich
Hey, EEs. by Saul Pierce with Elly Eriksson, Echo Elms, Elly
My worst nightmare.... by Adam Brockert with Eavan Valentine, Eavan, Professor McKindy
Saving the EE's some trouble by Meredith Lail with Paul Tarwater, Meredith
Uh... well... hm by Grail Markner with The Idoyas (all three of them)
Closing Ceremony [Adam? You're wanted.] by Professor McKindy with Adam B.
0Professor Aaron McKindyCharms Lesson I, Second and Third Years0Professor Aaron McKindy15
Caedence stared in open shock at the odd professor in front of her. He had on the oddest attire she believed she had ever seen. His top hat was made of pink bubbles! Was this guy off his rocker?!? Then he talked about 'walking talkies' Caedence snickered to herself. Typical, this man obviously had little to no contact with muggles. "Sir, walkie talkies," she corrected him softly, being a few feet away. She made sure it wasn't loud enough for others to hear. That would put him on the sefensive and make him look stupid...er.
"All right!" she yelled when he was done, "Anyone out there want to partner with me?" She looked around. In an attempt to look less menacing she smiled. It was an akward gesture, granted, but a smile none the less. How she wished she could just have Elly partner with her! \n\n
0Caedence REdoakPartnerers? Just great...-_-94Caedence REdoak05
There were no desks, no chairs, no posters, no walls, no nothing to detract Saul's attention away from the professor. Well, there was his hat, but Saul wasn't sure that counted because while Saul did miss the first few words of introduction, he was staring at the Professor. Or, at least, his head. Not even the fake divinators in his family wore headgear that weird.
Though he'd never used one, Saul grinned as the professor called walkie talkies 'walking talkies'. He loved it when he could catch mistakes like that. He grinned wider when the professor specified that they had to work with people of a different year. The intent was obviously meant to mix up the usual groups, but Saul preferred the second years to those in his own year. The second years were his kids. Especially two in particular.
When the class broke up to practice the charms, Saul descended on the his two favorite people in the class. "Hey, EEs, you guys need a third year?" The teacher had given the instructions for how to work with partners on the charm, but he had also said groups of two or three, so presumably it could be extended to more than one person.\n\n
Along with all the other second years, and the third years, too, Elly headed down to the Quidditch pitch for their first charms lesson of the year. She was pleased the lesson was outdoors – the more time spent outside, the better, in Elly’s opinion. She hadn’t yet met the new charms professor, but had already heard rumours that he was a bit odd. That sounded promising.
When Elly arrived, she noticed the professor immediately, not least due to the large pink top hat he was sporting. Elly grinned inwardly (and a little outwardly, too). This professor either had no sense of style or an excellent sense of humour.
The professor, Aaron McKindy, as he had introduced himself, said they’d be doing charms like walkie-talkies (well that wasn’t quite what he said, but Elly guessed that was what he meant), and told them to partner up. Well, working in pairs or groups was hardly a surprise – teachers at Sonora seemed to encourage that sort of thing.
As the other students started looking around for a partner, a voice behind Elly said, “Hey, EEs, you guys need a third year?” She turned and grinned at Saul, the only person Elly knew who called herself and Echo ‘EE’s.
“Erm…” Elly said. She liked Saul a lot, and was happy to work with him, but she’d got the impression that their professor wanted them to work with people they didn’t know very well. Plus, if the three of them worked together as a group, Elly would feel like she was leaving Meredith out. “We can if you want,” Elly said. She didn’t want either boy to think she didn’t want to partner them, because that certainly wasn’t the case. Elly glanced at Echo, waiting to see what his reaction was to Saul’s suggestion. \n\n
0Elly ErikssonThe girl EE says 'Erm...'92Elly Eriksson05
If there was one place in the entire world that was despised most by Adam, it was the Quidditch Pitch. The third year didn't like anything having to do with the sport or flying in general. The only times he ever came out here was if Teppenpaw was playing to watch his sister because Adam knew it meant alot to Kaylie to have him there.
Today, Adam was out there for a Charms lesson. The notice at the classroom had struck fear into his heart. He was terrified that he was going to have to fly , which was second only to groups of people on things Adam was scared of.
As Professor McKindy entered and explained the lesson, Adam breathed a small sigh of relief upon learning they wouldn't have to fly. However, the partner arrangements sent him into a panic. He had to work with someone he didn't know, particularily a second year!
This was the last thing Adam wanted to do. He didn't want to work with someone he didn't know. What if they were cruel to him. He wanted to be with Pepper or Ginger, someone who was nice to him, who was his friend. And he didn't care to work with the second years either. They seemed to be loud, hyperactive...and intimidating.
Mentally, he went over the list of people he'd met. Aside from Pepper and Ginger, there was Gray, Allie, Briony, Echo and Geoff. Echo, Adam was convinced, loathed him and he wasn't too sure his roommate liked him much either, but he wouldn't have minded working with the others again. Unfortunately, he couldn't do so.
Adam sat down on the ground, his knees drawn up to his chest, trembling a bit. There was no way he was going to approach anyone he didn't know. Even the thought made him want to puke from anxiety.
He heard footsteps approaching him and began to shake harder. Adam looked up at the person, wondering who was about to get stuck with him as a partner.\n\n
The boy EE glances furtively at the professor
by Echo Elms
Echo was thrilled when he found out the second and third years were going to paired up for Charms. Most teachers kept first and second years together in class, so he'd thought he wouldn't get to have Saul in class with him again for a whole year. He was totally game for working with him; it would be like potions all over again... but hopefully better because Charms had fewer directions. Saul wasn't good with directions.
Elly had to go and have a point, though. Now they were looking at him to see what he thought. He made a face and shifted uneasily in his tevas. The question was, did Professor Whack-hat (or whatever he said his name was) know they were all friends? They didn't all come in together, if that counted for anything.
But what if he saw them in the Hall together? Or maybe he had spies who knew that Echo had visited Saul over the summer? Plus, they were all in Pecari and he and Elly and Meredith were always together. Plus... Meredith was in the class too and then with her there would be four. Maybe Whack-hat would be mad if he found out they didn't follow directions. Echo didn't like the idea of a wizard being mad.
"Yeah, she's right. Maybe we better split," he advised.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
21Echo ElmsThe boy EE glances furtively at the professor93Echo Elms05
Eavan made her way to the Quidditch Pitch after reading the notice on the door of the Charms classroom, wondering if they were going to do something with Quidditch. ANd by the time she reached the pitch the excitement was almost overflowing. Eavan loved Quidditch, but had never signed up for Teppenpaw's team because she didn't want to go up again her brother. She could cheer from the sidelines and ask Earl to give her lesson on his new broom, and she was perfectly happy with that.
She got down to wear Professor McKindy was waiting with his bubble hat and happily sat on the grass to await the lesson. Sadly, it didn't have anything to do with Quidditch, but it was still interesting. And they had to find a partner. Good. Eavan prefered working with someone; it was always much more fun than being by yourself.
At the end of the professor's lecture, Eavan lifted herself off the ground, wiped her robes of bits of grass and glanced around for someone she didn't know. He eye caught a boy sitting on the ground looking as though Professor McKindy had asked the class to fight dragons. Eavan walked over to said boy and crouched on the ground next to him.
"Umm, are you okay?" She gave the boy her most concerned face and gently laid her hand on his shoulder. She didn't know how he would feel about this, but contact always made her feel better. Maybe it would be the same with this boy.\n\n
0Eavan ValentineI'm your worst nightmare?86Eavan Valentine05
Guenther wasn't the happiest person in the world, but at least he was outside for a class other than Care of Magical Creatures. He wished that he could be partners with Ginger or someone he knew, but maybe making new friends was so bad. So, who should he be partners with?
Then he heard a girl yelling about a partner. Luckily, she was near him. "Umm...I'll be your partner." he told her.
To be honest, he was a bit afraid of her. From what he had seen and heard in the past few seconds, she seemed to him a little like his younger brother Kaleb. Of course, you can't judge a person by your first impression. "Maybe she's normally a quiet person." he muttered under his breath, though it seemed that a loud-mouth might actually be good for this part of the class.\n\n
0Guenther HeindrichI'm not happy about it either!0Guenther Heindrich05
He now found himself looking at a girl's concerned face. Adam found it comforting. She seemed like she cared at the very least, though he couldn't imagine why she would since she didn't know him. And she was touching him, not acting like he was diseased the way some of his cousins and aunts did. Adam actually liked being touched, which most people wouldn't have expected given his fearful nature, even though it was odd that a stranger was doing it. However, he liked affection, and of course now that he and Kaylie were teenagers they were too old for that. It would be sick and wrong. Besides, now Kaylie was affectionate with her boyfriend and didn't even have time for Adam.
And then there was that question again. Was he okay? Well no, Adam wasn't really, he had to speak to people he didn't know which was always difficult for him. Not to mention the stuff with Kaylie and her boyfriend. However he didn't feel the least bit comfortable spilling his guts to her. Adam didn't even know her name. Besides, he was a guy. A teenage guy. He wasn't supposed to show emotion even if that was darn near impossible for him. Adam had to try to act mature. "Um yea, I'm fine." he said, his tone betraying his words. "Do you want to be partners?" Adam blurted out. If he was going to have to work with a person he didn't know, he'd like it to be one who was seeminly nice. And concerned about him.
Adam looked at her expectantly, never meeting her eyes. Eye contact had a tendency to make him nervous. He wouldn't blame her if she didn't want to be his partner.\n\n
Meredith jogged down towards the pitch, running behind again because of Pence. A cat passed her door, strolling towards the older girls’ dorms and Pence had a fit and bit her hand again. She wondered why he was so jittery. He was never like that before Sonora. Then again, there were no cats or kneazles in her house. She’d have to get him used to the animals. Another time though. She had to get to the Pitch like the sign on the new charms professor’s door said. Like she wasn’t behind enough, and then she had to turn around. But she would never complain about going to the Quidditch Pitch. The lesson was bound to be good.
Surprisingly, she wasn’t as late as she thought. She got to the Pitch as the group began to mass in the center. As she neared the front of the group she caught sight of the professor. She stopped short. Her blue eyes scanned his clothes and his hat and she started to smile while holding back a laugh. That was one way to make a first impression, but she definitely approved. At least he had a sense of humor. That was a good quality for a professor. Meredith wasn’t for the stick in the mud boring professors. She thought of wearing the enchanted cap from the twins to the next charms class.
Meredith lightly bounced on the balls of her feet as the new professor introduced himself and the lesson. Okay, so there was no flying involved, but at least they were outside, Meredith’s favorite place to be. It seemed to be tradition for first and second years to be together, third and fourths, and so on, but the second and thirds were together for that lesson. Meredith didn’t know many of the third years. In fact, she knew a lot fewer people all together at Sonora than she would’ve liked, but she liked the people she knew.
Professor McKindy wanted them to work with people they didn’t know or in a different year. That was fine by her. Her first instinct was to look for her friends though. Never being a stickler for the rules, she would’ve gladly worked with them anyway, but when she spotted Elly and Echo, they already seemed to be claimed by Saul, who had a much stronger liking to them than her, she noticed. It was fine. You can’t win them all. Even she knew that.
It was probably that tour group thing that she didn’t do. She’d say she regretted it, but once again she found a brighter side. She probably knew a twist or two more than Elly and Echo by finding places on her own and getting lost. In fact, there was something she had been meaning to tell them about, but kept getting distracted. She would’ve gone over there anyway, but maybe a change of pace would be good for her and she was being handed the chance to get to know a few more people. Why not?
‘Sure, Mere, go on. Meet someone new. Or just partner with someone different. Elly and Echo won’t mind. They’re with Saul.’ She convinced herself and turned to a nearby student who seemed to be without a partner.
“Hey there. Need a partner?” She asked, and gave a friendly grin.\n\n
0Meredith LailSaving the EE's some trouble0Meredith Lail05
Paul sighed, after making it from the Charms room to the Quidditch Pitch. He didn't run, running hurt his stomach (or reopened the cuts, which hurt worse). So Paul found himself there a bit late. Apparently they had to have partners though, since everyone was running around with others. Paul sighed shaking his head. He hated working with partners. Mainly because he hated people. At least, letting his blue eyes scan the Pitch, this wasn't a lesson for the first years too.
This was a good thing for Paul. It meant Cissy wasn't here. Therefore, it meant she wouldn't strive to be his partner only to torture him mercilessly. Paul smiled at this, allowing his hand to rest in his black hair. Maybe he could skip this class. He hated people anyway, and having a partner wouldn't be good for him. Or the person unfortunate enough to be his partner.
So Paul turned around and began to walk slowly, pretending to look for a partner. Most the people here (especially Pecaris, seeing as that Elly girl probably exaggerated his ranting to her) knew Paul wasn't social and wasn't necessarily nice. So he wouldn't have to worry about people asking him to work with them. That was okay for Paul, it made skipping out on this stupid class so much easier.
After a few seconds, Paul found himself next to some girl, and he was ready to move on. But, most unfortunately, this girl seemed to turn on a whim and ask him to be her partner. Damn. And she looked friendly too, Paul wasn't good at turning people down with atht look. He gave her a surprised look, his blue eyes widened in surprise. Paul tried to come up with something that would put her off of him, but all he came up with was. "Uh, no. Do you?" After all, he couldn't just say something if this girl really wanted a partner. And everyone else looked fairly well up already.\n\n
The trouble choosing partners seems to bring
by Meredith
Meredith looked at the boy who seemed very surprised that she spoke to him. She cocked her head slightly to the side in confusion when he said he didn’t need a partner. Or maybe he thought she asked if he had a partner. She didn’t know, but he asked if she needed one. Well if she didn’t need a partner, she wouldn’t be asking around for one now would she?
A slow, humored smile came across her face and she straightened up. She ran a hand over her short hair, keeping the blonde strands out of her face. She had gone from her room so quickly that she left her hair tie behind. Her straight hair was left to just fall by her chin.
“As a matter of fact, I do so I’m free if you decide you do need a partner. Um, how were you going to do the spells without one?” she asked, honestly curious.
Professor McKindy had done both spells on himself, but it didn’t make much sense. You didn’t need a spell to hear what you yourself were saying. And he was just demonstrating how the spells worked. Did this boy really plan on working alone? Meredith was happy to partner with him. Everyone had a chance for first impressions and she’d judge for herself from there. However, she usually ended up letting people give second or even third impressions on her, having trouble believing that people who seemed bad were really all that bad. Defensive, maybe. But not bad.\n\n
0MeredithThe trouble choosing partners seems to bring0Meredith05
Paul frowned slightly once she was smiling. What? Did he say something stupid? This was why Paul disliked people, they never told you what you did wrong. If you even did something wrong. Which Paul didn't believe he did. Paul was about to open his mouth to say something to her, when she spoke.
“As a matter of fact, I do so I’m free if you decide you do need a partner. Um, how were you going to do the spells without one?”
"Yeah, if you want to I'll partner with you," Paul said, looking down foolishly. "To be honest, I was really just about to leave, cut class or whatever. I'm not a big people-person." Paul admitted, coloring slightly. His stomach let out a bit of pain for Paul to clutch at slightly as he instincively scanned the crowd for Cissy. Who was a first year... she wasn't there. Paul frowned, he had to stop worrying.
Then, looking at the girl, he realized a few things. First, Paul didn't know the girl's name (and he was pretty sure she didn't know his). Second, he had come in late. Therefore, he had no idea what they were doing. "Uh," Paul began. "I'm Paul, Aladren, and I came in late. So I don't know what we're even doing. Mind running the lesson by me once?" he stated, cocking his head to the side and finally releasing his stomach to place in his hair.\n\n
Gray didn't know whay the new Charms Professor intended for them to do on the Pitch, but it had better be good. Grail was hoping for the close walls of the classroom, so she could ignore Ariel and Martin easier. Out here, she might accidentally talk to them, thinking she'd be safe. And knowing her luck, Gray would have someone behind her listening to her talk to herself.
This thought made the small blonde Aladren shake, darting her eyes back and forth hoping her insanities weren't there. Today she had her contacts in, so her brown eyes were once again covered by the navy blue of the contacts. Gray begged mentally for being free of the insanity for this lesson. She didn't want to cry and scare everyone. She didn't want to dry out her contacts either.
Gray looked around. So they had to work with partners for this "walkie-talkie" spell. The Aladren pulled out her notebook and ballpoint to write. So... Aurisae was used on the ear to hear the Voco one. After Voco you said the person's name, and they could here what you said from far away. This was good. A useful spell. Now Gray forgave Professor McKindy for bringing them from the safety of outside.
But now she had to find a partner she didn't know or was from a different year. Gray's thoughts went to Adam, but he was already with the girl Gil Idoya liked. Then Gray thought Paul, but he was with some Pecari girl, and Gray wasn't sure the boy liked her anyway. So Gray frowned and began to walk around until she bumped into anyone.\n\n
You don't find a 12 year old girl frightening?
by Eavan
Eavan sighed. He wasn't going to tell her anything. Typical boy. And he wouldn't look at her, for some reason. There was definitely something wrong, but she wouldn't press him; she didn't even know his name. But he had asked if she wanted to be partners with him, so it couldn't be serious. She smiled at him and nodded.
"Yeah, I need a partner," Eavan said happily, still wondering why he wouldn't look directly at her. Meantally shrugging it off for now, Eavan stood up held out her hand to help the boy up.
"Do you want to do the Farspeaking charm or the reception charm? Oh, and what's your name? I'm Eavan Valentine: Teppenpaw, second year." \n\n
0EavanYou don't find a 12 year old girl frightening?0Eavan05
The boy SP tries out his wheedling ability
by Saul Pierce
Saul looked toward their other friend, Meredith, who had apparently teamed up with another boy - one who was, unless Saul was mistaken about who was in his year, another second year like the EEs and Meredith. But that was okay, too, because as he was about to point out, "But the professor said someone you don't know or," and that was a really important part of the sentence, so he repeated it for good measure, "or someone in a different year." He pointed around at the three of them. "We're in different years. It's not like we're completely disregarding his instructions."
The circling motion of his finger shifted and became a back-and-forth movement between himself and Elly. "'Sides, we haven't actually done groupwork in class together before, so it's not like we're always a group." After a year of potions and a one dubious Astronomy 'group' project, he carefully did not look at Echo while making this argument.
He then shrugged and gave a beaten-puppy-dog look to both of them. Echo had now seen first hand that he was an actor-in-training, and Elly probably knew him well enough that she wouldn't take it seriously either, but he gave it a go anyway, "But if you really don't love me anymore, you can find someone else to try walking-talking with."
He wondered which of them would pretend to smack him for that.\n\n
1Saul PierceThe boy SP tries out his wheedling ability82Saul Pierce05
“But if you really don’t love me anymore, you can find someone else to try walking-talking with.”
Elly put her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes at Saul in mock exasperation. Through his dramatics he did have a point – the two of them hadn’t really worked together in class before, and he was in a different year. There was no use pretending that she and Echo didn’t know each other, though. Elly looked between Echo and Saul a couple of times, and then looked around the class to seek out Meredith. She saw her friend partner none other than Paul Tarwater. Ugh. Well, as much as Elly liked Meredith, she wasn’t talking to Paul again for anyone. If Merry decided to work with him that was her choice, but Elly made a mental note to check up on her afterwards, just to make sure Paul hadn’t upset Meredith like he had Elly.
“Okay, Saul, you win,” Elly said, turning back and smiling. The professor was new, so he wouldn’t know who usually worked together, anyway. They could always just work with someone different next lesson. “I’ll partner you.” She looked at Echo, and added, “He doesn’t know we know each other, right? It’s just for one lesson, anyway.” She shrugged, and pulled out her wand. "You joining us?" \n\n
As a 13 year old boy, I probably should...
by Adam B.
Adam looked at her hand in surprise. It was the second time this year a girl had taken his hand or offered her own. In fact, he seemed to be having much more physical contact with girls in general. It was odd, not unpleasant, but odd. In fact, right now Adam felt he needed someone more than ever. He hadn't felt this alone since when Kaylie first went to Sonora and he'd been at home, so physical contact was comforting somehow.
He took her hand and got up as well. Adam breathed in a sigh of relief over her agreeing to be his partner. That meant he hadn't creeped her out somehow, hadn't managed to screw up yet. And he didn't have to look for anyone else, which was good. Other people wouldn't necessarily be as nice as Eaven was being.
"I'm Adam Brockert, third year, Crotalus." he replied. "But I'm not snobby!" Adam added quickly. He knew lots of people viewed his house as the uppity one. Heat rose to his face "I'm sorry, it's just that well..people think we all are, but I'm not. "
Adam considered her question. If he did the Farspeaking one, he'd have to think of something to say. There was nothing in the world that he was worse at than making conversation, because everything he said was idiotic. "I'll do the reception one."
He really hoped she'd be okay with that. Adam was better at listening than talking anyway. He was sure Eaven was much more capable of not sounding like a moron. Of course, Adam rarely thought anything anyone else said was truly dumb. Except maybe that thing that Quidditch made girls like other girls. Even though he couldn't stand the game, that seemed ridiculous. His own sister had proven it wrong. But pretty much anything else was less stupid than anything he could possibly say. Therefore, Adam tried not to speak much at all and would definitely rather have Eaven do that part of the lesson.\n\n
11Adam B.As a 13 year old boy, I probably should...78Adam B.05
Eavan raised an eyebrow at him being snobby. If she were to describe the boy, 'snobby' wouldn't even be considered. As for Crotalus being snobby in general, with what Earl had told her, it seemed more likely, but everyone swhe'd met in the house seemed nice and not at all in the 'snobby' category. So, she smiled.
"I don't see how you could be snobby, sitting in the grass like that. You seem nice. And my brother's in Crotalus: fourth year, and he's the complete opposite of snobby. If it weren't for his quick temper, I'd wonder why he wasn't in Pecari...or Teppenpaw with me." Eavan sighed at this thought. She really had wanted to be in the same house as Earl and was devastated when she reaslized she wasn't.
"All right. I'll try the farspeaking charm," she grinned at him and began to move away, trying to remember how the charm went and wondering what on Earth she'd say.
"What was it...something to do with sound...voice...voco!" she thought, happy that the charm hadn't slipped completely from her brain during her conversation with Adam.
"You have to say yours first, Adam!" she called out, remembering what the professor had said.\n\n
"Are you sure...?" Cisco whispered in rushed Spanish.
"Positive," Gil said with a firm nod of his head.
"You'll be fine, Cisco," Leo replied more reassuringly, putting one hand on his younger cousin's shoulder for a brief moment. "From the looks of this new professor..." he looked around; no one in their immediate vicinity was someone he identified as a Spanish speaker, so it should be safe enough to continue. "Well, the man's worn a hat made of pink bubbles. I can't think his class would be too incredibly exacting."
Cisco nodded miserably. The problem wasn't his inability to pick up on magic--Merlin, he'd tutored Gil often enough before they all came to Sonora, and Leo had the highest regards for his cousin's intelligence. But Cisco's magic was so weak that, for a long time, the Idoya elders had feared the boy might be a Squib. As it was, his wandwork was shoddy to an extreme. When he heard that they would be breaking up into groups, either with a third year or a stranger, he instantly shot out both hands to grab his cousins' arms.
"Please," he whispered in urgent Spanish. "One of you, partner me? Please!"
Gil glanced over at his twin, who was distractedly looking in the direction of a familiar blond head. "I will, Cisco," he said softly. Leo glanced over, and thanked him with a glance. "C'mon, let's move away from the others a bit..."
As Cisco and Gil walked away, Leo quickly followed his friend. It was breaking the professor's rules, perhaps, but he was worried about Gray, and intent on figuring out just what was bothering her.
"Gray," he called in English from behind her, "be my partner?"\n\n
0The Idoyas (all three of them)Articulate of you.0The Idoyas (all three of them)05
So far so good, or... bad. Gray had walked around, but everyone already seemed to be teaming up already. Gray frowned, at least Ariel hadn't showed up. There was the bright side. She pushed a strand of blonde hair away from her face as she looked around again. So far no one free... Gray sighed deeply when a familier voice called her name out.
Gray had to jump, at first fearing it was Martin. But after a second she dropped that fear and turned to face Leo with a gentle smile. Partners? They were supposed to work with someone they didn't know, but... Gray turned her head over to the Professor. She was sure he wouldn't mind too much. "Of course, Leo," she stated, making her way over to him.
Gray remembered seeing him and Nikki in the Gardens. She had been a little afraid at first that she was being too distant with them, and that Leo didn't care for her anymore. This made her become a little shyer once she reached the boy, and Grail was determined to keep the insanity in her head today. She didn't want to ruin this friendship.
"How've you been?" she asked softly, barely looking Leo's way. "Did you try for Quidditch?" she asked, remembering Leo's letter how he was practicing. "I'm sure the Captain would let you be an understudy for her, since you said she was the Seeker and all." Gray was blushing now. Was she saying the right things?
Well, they needed to get onto the actual lesson anyway. "Okay, so, let me remind myself of this," Gray muttered, thinking a second. "Aurisae is used on the ear to hear the Voco spell. After I say Voco I would say your name, and you do the same and then we could talk to each other from far away." She blushed, "I think that's it, right?"\n\n
Thank you, Saul, "You're powers of, uh, persuasion have overcome my--mine me-meager resistance," Echo grinned, sort of stumbling over his attempt to say something like he'd heard at the RenFaire where he had visited Saul over the summer. All those ms in a row didn't really fit right on his tongue.
He took out his wand and put the suade bag Elly had given him for Christmas back in his pocket. "Okay, so here goes," he got his wand ready and stepped back a few feet, "Voco Elly Eriksson, Voco Saul Pierce, Aurisae Elly Eriksson, Aurisae Saul Pierce."
He pursed his lips and waited for them to do the same. Hopefully this would work. He wondered if maybe they should have tested it with one person at a time. That would have been smart. Too late now.\n\n
"I've been well enough," he said, hesitating imperceptibly. "Busy. Grandfather keeps sending me assignments to complete on top of coursework." He gave her a tight, regretful smile. "I'm sorry I haven't been around much. And no, I haven't tried out for Quidditch. Maybe--maybe next year."
Liar. Unless Gil somehow snuck in and forged his name to the sheet, then Imperiused him into physically trying out... well, there was simply no point, was there?
He nodded after she reminded herself of the process. "I believe so. Let's try it." He cleared his throat and raised his wand. "Aurisae Gray Markner. Voco Gray Markner." He lowered his wand, and motioned for her to do the same. "Your turn." He frowned then, blinking; having both spells on him without any direction had a bizarre effect--sort of like he need to pop both ears. Instinctively, he pinched his nose, closed his mouth, and blew outward; his cheeks puffed up, but it didn't help any.\n\n
Gray grimaced when Leo mentioned he had to do extra work along with his schoolwork. "Oh dear," she shook her head. "Why's he doing that? Schoolwork is bad enough," Gray commented. She gave Leo a tiny, apologetic grin in response to his own smile. "No, no, I understand. Extra work must have you busy."
Gray did feel her heart drop a little when Leo mentioned he didn't try for Quidditch. She was hoping he would, she would have liked to play Crotalus with him on the team. "You should, it's loads of fun," she said. Even though it was pretty much her fault their team lost last year. "Libby grudgingly helped me practice keeping, we played soccer. It will be different on a broom, but I think I've gotten a little better," Gray prattled on. She always liked sports, just was never able to play them without being in the shadow of her younger sister.
It was easy for her to talk about them.
Gray watched as Leo did the spell on himself, and nodded. Laughing a little when he tried to unpop his ears or something. "I take it the spell makes you feel like you're at high altitudes? Ah well, here goes," Gray pointed her wand at herself. "Aurisae Leo Idoya. Voco Leo Idoya."
Gray cupped her hand over her mouth and ears as if she was speaking into a walkie-talkie. "Can you hear me?" she spoke into her hand. "Did the spell work?"\n\n
Saul beamed at both the EEs, turning it particularly bright at Elly to counter her rolling eyes, then bowing extravagantly at Echo in response to his decent attempt at archaic speech. Saul would corrupt the younger boy yet. Next, he would need to work on Elly to get her saying such things.
Now with a confirmed group, Saul took his wand out of its pouch on his bookbag. Waiting until Echo to finished casting his, Saul took his turn, following Echo's lead. "Voco Elly Eriksson, voco Echo Elms, aurisae Elly Erriksson, aurisae Echo Elms."
"Your go, Elly," he told the girl, then looked at Echo curiously, wondering if they'd gotten their castings right, "Did you hear that in stereo or anything?"\n\n
“Yeah, if you want to I'll partner with you," Meredith smiled again when he agreed. "To be honest, I was really just about to leave, cut class or whatever. I'm not a big people-person.” She could’ve laughed, but didn’t since it seemed to bother him and he looked a bit agitated already. She wasn't beting much on his sense of humor. Not like Professor McKindy and that hat. With the way their conversation started she might’ve guessed he wasn’t much of a people-person. That was one way they clearly clashed. She hoped there weren’t many or this partnership would be kind of rough.
“Well thanks for staying. I would’ve been in a little bit of trouble finding another partner. It looks like just about everyone is taken.” She glanced at Elly, Echo, and Saul again. Elly seemed to just be turning away from Meredith as she turned towards her. She’d have to talk to her later. Or maybe she could get in touch with her with the spells they were practicing. Meredith looked back at Paul as he continued.
“I’m Meredith, Pecari, and sure, I can fill you in. We’re doing the—” Meredith paused for a moment recalling the names of the spells. “The Farspeaking and the Reception charms. They’re supposed to work like muggle walking talkies or something.” She shrugged not having any idea what those were. “We can talk to each other over a distance. You’re supposed to cast the Reception charm first and then the Farspeaking charm. Oh, and you’re supposed to say your partner’s name. I think it’s like this.” Meredith pulled out her wand to cast the first spell on herself.
“Aurisae Paul.” She tapped her ear twice, but couldn’t see on her own if the spell took. “Now you tap your throat twice and say ‘Voco Meredith.’ Then I’ll hear you when we split up. In fact,” Meredith said as she had a thought, “Maybe you should do the Reception charm on yourself first, that way I can talk to you too and you’ll hear me.” She suggested.
She didn’t know if it mattered, but if the Reception charm was supposed to be first, then it made sense to do his Reception charm before doing the Farspeaking charm. She’d cast her Farspeaking charm after Paul cast his own Reception charm.\n\n
Paul nodded as he looked around. Yes, everyone was pretty much taken. "No problem," he muttered. "Glad to stay and help." Hah, as if that wasn't the biggest lie ever. Paul noticed the girl looking over in another direction. When Paul followed her eyes, he noticed her gazing at that stupid Elly girl. The one whose fault it was that he was hurt in the first place.
Paul tried hard not to glare at Elly, and instead snapped his blue eyes to the ground to calm down. It was all right. Elly nor Cissy were going anywhere near him. Paul didn't have to worry about losing control and ending up more hurt than he needed to be.
Once Paul felt he was under control, he was finally able to look up at the girl, Meredith, as she spoke. Oh gods, she was a Pecari too? In his year? Like that Elly? That meant they were roommates, and Paul was surprised the second he said his name she didn't glare at him and walk away. Then again, last year he met that other girl, and she didn't seem to like her roommates. Maybe Meredith and Elly weren't friends? Paul hoped so.
Paul nodded as Meredith explained how the spell worked, and told him to do the Reception Charm first. Paul pointed to his ear with his wand. "Aurisae Paul," he muttered, unsure if he was doing it right.
Well he was an Aladren! Shouldn't he be doing it right? Who was he kidding, Paul didn't even know why he was in Aladren. He was quick to pick things up, but he wasn't sure if he was actually smart. He tapped his throat.
"Voco Meredith," he muttered, and looked at Meredith. His ears felt weird and he rubbed them. "Did I do it right?" he asked, jumping when he heard the spell's effect when it was just by himself. "I kinda think I did," he muttered, still weirded out by how it sounded.\n\n
Adam blushed when Eaven said he seemed nice, relieved she didn't think he was snobby. Adam may have thought many things were wrong with himself, but that wasn't one of them. However, sometimes he worried about being percieved as such. He wasn't snobby at all, just shy. "Yeah," he said wistfully. "I wanted to be in Teppenpaw with my sister too." Adam figured that was okay to admit, as she'd just said she wanted to be with her brother.
"All right," Adam agreed. He took out his wand and repeated the motions Professor McKindy showed them. " Aurisae Eaven Valentine."
A terrible ringing filled his ears and he began to feel dizzy. It wasn't the usual "There's way too many people around" dizziness, Adam would have had that right away. Plus, Eaven was being nice to him so she wouldn't have made him anxious. This was something different.
His knees began to feel weak and his legs began to shake. Adam collapsed on the ground, his knees drawn to his chest. The buzzing was getting louder and Adam clutched his ears. His stomach began to feel a bit queasy, no, make that very queasy as well and he lurched forward, all the blood drained from his face. He looked over at Eaven desperately, and mouthed "Help."\n\n
11Adam B.I'm afraid of almost everyone.78Adam B.05
Then go to the wizard and get some courage!
by Eavan
Eavan watched Adam perform the spell on himself and raised her own wand to perform the voco spell on herself when Adam collapsed. Eavan's wand dropped onto the grass along with its owner.
"Adam? Adam! Oh no. Adam!" she screamed, putting her hands on each side of his face to see if he was still alive. He was, but he looked pale as he mouthed 'help' to her. Not knowing what else to do, she called out for the professor.
"Professor McKindy! Something's wrong with Adam! What do I do?" By this time, Eavan had tears trailing down her cheek and her face was almost as pale as Adam's was.\n\n
0EavanThen go to the wizard and get some courage!0Eavan05
OOC: Just to note, I was going with Elly not yet telling Meredith about Paul because this started before COMC ended and fuzzy time isn't always helpful. I'll find a way to make it make sense. Just to avoid confusion as to why Meredith isn't hexing Paul to Kingdom Come for making Elly cry. Sorry if there was/is still confusion.
BIC: Paul said he was glad to help and once again Meredith could’ve laughed. She had heard a more sincere ‘glad to help’ from Max and Anthony and the only ones they usually helped were themselves. If they ever promised to help someone with something, that person had better watch his back. She watched Paul perform the charms on himself. He had said his own name for the Reception charm. Meredith could safely say she wasn’t a wiz with words and probably screwed up her explanation somewhere.
He asked her if he did the spells right. As he spoke, a deep ringing began to vibrate in her ears. She pushed her hair aside and held her ears, taking a few steps back. Well, he sure had the Farspeaking charm down. Was that what happened when you stood too close using muggle walking talkies? The strangest images floated through her head as she tried to picture what those things might be. Strange little devices with cartoon legs walking through the streets. Maybe they got the messages along that way, but that seemed awfully inconvenient. She stopped thinking about it, deciding to ask Echo and Elly later, and answered Paul.
“Almost. You’ve got to say Aurisae Meredith. You want to hear what I’m saying, not what you’re saying.” She explained good-naturedly. “The other one is right though.” ‘Definitely right.’ Meredith thought to herself. She waited for Paul to correct the spell before she cast the Farspeaking Charm on herself using Paul’s name.
“Professor McKindy said,” she paused and took another few steps back in case her spell was working like his, “we should stand at least ten feet apart while doing the charms. I think that’s why I got that ringing in my ears. We were standing so close to each other.” She shook her head as the ringing mostly died away. “So, you ready to split up and see if we did this right?”\n\n
Sorry, it's out of stock. Care for a lollipop instead?
by Professor McKindy
"Profesor McKindy! Something's wrong with Adam! What do I do?
The lesson had been going fairly well, Aaron reflected wryly. Nobody had complained about his teaching style or shot a hex off for no apparent reason. There had been no misbehaviour or explosions. But as he hastened towards the screaming girl, he knew that was at an end. It was a wizarding school, after all. The students were practically guarenteed to get into all sorts of strange and potentially dangerous situations. Still, it would have been nice to have at least one fairly calm lesson.
Kneeling and pulling out his redwood wand, he flicked it over the pale boy on the ground. "Deletrius" Aaron murmured. Probably the boy had mispronounced the spell and there had been some sort of adverse effect. Then he straightened and looked at the girl, not stowing his wand quite yet. It was a decent length and fairly delicate, obviously made for complex charmwork. "What happened?" he asked the girl, his eyes on the boy, waiting for some sort of response from both students.\n\n
0Professor McKindySorry, it's out of stock. Care for a lollipop instead?0Professor McKindy05
The enter key should be taken off the face of the planet
by Paul
OOC: Haha, that's okay, I understand. If Mere ever does yell at Paul, he probably won't react much anyway. Just call Meredith stupid or something and walk away =]
BIC: “Almost. You’ve got to say Aurisae Meredith...
Of course he would get it wrong. Paul grumbled slightly as a defeated look came on his face and he pointed his wand lazily at himself again. "I'm not going to get this," he mumbled, before saying, "Aurisae Meredith." The odd vocal sound in his ear disappeared, leaving a more hollow sound that Paul still didn't like. He noticed Meredith stepped back when he spoke, so he guessed the Voco was okay. Still, he stepped back a bit more so not to hurt the girl's ears.
"Okay, I think it worked this time," he said. Ew, the hollow sound felt nasty when he spoke. Almost like an ear condition. "Before there was a sort of vocal sound in my ear, now it just feels hollow," he muttered, looking at the ground and wincing at the feeling. "Is the hollow supposed to be there?" Gr, he was wincing, hating the feeling of the hollowness. This was almost as bad as when Cissy tortured him.
Okay, no, it was far from that. This wasn't even painful, just immensely annoying. Like when someone you hated leaned their head on your shoulder for a long period of time. Pain was worse than annoyance, though. Paul tried to get away from the annoyance in his ear and looked to Meredith to see if she performed her charms yet.
When she did, Paul heard her speak, and the hollow began to ring. Paul muttered a small curse and nodded. Yes, if it stopped the stupid ringing, then he was sure ready to split apart. At least it seemed he did the spell right, since Meredith was experiencing ringing too. "Okay, we'll split up," he said, more in a whisper, hoping it would help more about now. Paul turned and ran a bit away from Meredith. Once he thought he was a good distance away, he turned back.
Oh Merlin, the hollow feel was still there. Paul guessed that wasn't something that left, no matter how far from you partner you got. He shook his head and rolled his eyes. Just thank Merlin you don't have Cissy with you right now, he reminded himself. Still didn't help. He might as well finish this lesson up. "Meredith, can you here me?" he asked.
Ugh, that was weird. Paul had the hollow sound, and now he felt as if he was talking to himself. Great, just great. This lesson just got better and better. Paulsort of wished he skipped class about now.\n\n
0PaulThe enter key should be taken off the face of the planet0Paul05
OOC: As mad as Mere would be, Paul’s jaw would be too sore to call her anything let alone call her stupid. That might just be his sister’s fate if she tries something…Yeah, Mere is that kind of friend. Far too over exuberant sometimes. *grin*
BIC: And then Paul started putting himself down. Meredith didn’t like when people did that. Dennis did that more so then anyone else and she didn’t know how to respond to that. Whatever she said never seemed to help much. He would say thanks and all, but you could tell he didn’t fully mean it. Paul said he was never going to get it and then cast the spell.
“Yes you will.” Meredith said. “You just did it.” The way he cast it, it probably wasn't as good as it could've been though.
It sounded better when he said he thought the charm worked. She smiled. She didn’t think it was right for him to put himself down when they were only just learning the charm for the first time anyhow. It was more likely than not that both of them did something wrong, but by the sounds of things, they were good enough to last a little while before having to redo the charms. Had she mentioned that to him?
“Oh, I dunno. I don’t have a hollow feeling in my ear. Maybe it changed for you because first you were listening to yourself and now you’re listening to me.” She shrugged. Just because she grew up with magic, didn’t mean she knew the mechanics behind the spells and she never said she did.
Meredith nodded when Paul agreed to split up. The charms were probably far from perfect, but they ought to last. Paul ran a little ways away and Meredith stepped back a few more feet for good measure. She started bouncing on the balls of her feet again as she waited. She had half a mind to do a quick back walkover too, just for fun. When Paul turned back around, Meredith expected to hear him shouting at her from across the Pitch, but when he spoke, she jumped a little.
“Meredith, can you hear me?” It sounded like he was standing right next to her again or even right inside her ear. His voice sounded a little strange through the spell though. One or both of them were at fault, but she wasn’t going to start blaming or Paul might just up and leave like he said he was planning to and then where would she be?
“Yup, I can hear you loud and clear. Well mostly anyway. Are you hearing me alright?” She spoke, fighting the ping in the back of her head telling her to yell across the distance to him. She laced her fingers together and rested her hands on her head as she waited for Paul’s confirmation.\n\n
0MeredithSeparating paragraphs would be a pain0Meredith05
Eavan still had tears slowly crawling down her cheeks even as Professor Mckindy removed the charms from Adam. Eavan barely registered what the professor had asked her. Her attention was still on the boy lying on the grass. But she still wiped the tears away from her face with the back of her hand and answer as best as she could.
"He-He just said the spell. Aurisae. And-And my name. And then he began to shake. And then he just, he just...collapsed." The tears were threatening to fall again. She didn't know why she was being so emotional. And then it hit her: this was how it started with her mother. Of course, there was no shoddy spellwork involved but everything else...
Eavan wiped away as many tears as she could, but they were coming too fast for it to be of any help. She sniffled and looked up pleadingly as her professor.
"He's going to be okay, right?"\n\n
0EavanDo you represent the lollipop guild?0Eavan05
OOC: Haha, trust me, Cissy wouldn't let Mere get away with that. Paul sure would, he hates pain, but Cissy's just too cruel... *laughs*
BIC: Paul grinned and shook his head. Yes, he did do it, but he always put himself down. He was still amazed he was in Aladren, actually. "Yeah," he said, humouring Meredith. "I guess I did."
But even though the hollow and the buzzing was still there when she spoke. Paul felt a little proud that it felt better than when they were talking before with the wrong spell on him. That was just as annoying as spending the day with his parents and Cissy (only annoying because Cissy couldn't actually hurt him with his parents there). "It's still hollow, but it's better," he stated.
"Or maybe the fact that I did the spell wrong the first time," Paul shrugged. "And now my ear is getting used to it?" He wasn't sure, he just wanted to know to see if he was doing the spell right. And Paul also wanted to know if there was a way to get rid of the annoying feeling. But apparently neither him nor Meredith knew. Which pretty much sucked for Paul.
After Paul ran and spoke, he awaited Meredith to do the same. Still not enjoying the feel of talking to himself. Paul was shocked when he heard the girl's voice. It sounded odd, he didn't really know how to explain it. Like there was a voice inside his head. Oh no, talking to himself and hearing voices in his head? This spell was one to make you look and feel insane! Great, just great.
"Yeah..." he answered, skeptically. "It just sounds a bit weird. I feel like you're a voice in my head or something." He laughed. "This charm is an insane one. It's like Professor wants us to look crazy," Paul said with another laugh. "Or am I just hearing things again?" he asked, remembering that hollow buzz that Meredith didn't have.\n\n
Meredith agreed. The charm was pretty insane and made her feel weird when she spoke or when he spoke. That voice in your head thing was weird and still she couldn’t connect it to what a muggle walking talky might be. But at least she wasn’t crazy. Paul heard her voice in his head too. Unless they were both crazy. No, no, they just either both did the charms wrong or both did them right.
Not that Meredith wasn’t just a tiny bit crazy, but growing up with her brothers could make anyone just a tiny bit crazy. She didn’t even call it crazy. The twins might call her crazy, but they’re pretty nuts in their own right. Her mother would definitely call her crazy, but any girl doing activities even remotely connected to boys was crazy to that debutant. Meredith found herself perfectly normal, or as normal as a girl could be growing up with three older brothers and no one else for siblings. She might’ve been different had she had the little sister her mother had been expecting, but lost, but such was life. You couldn’t dwell on things like that so she didn’t. That was one of her key philosophies.
Meredith still wanted to shout out to where Paul was standing, but because he answered her, his voice still coming out a little strange through the charm, she knew he could hear her just by speaking normally.
Or am I just hearing things again?” Meredith grinned and turned her back to him.
“Paul,” Meredith started softly, covering her mouth to make her voice sound eerie, “this is your conscience speaking. Go and—” her eyes landed on the professor, “—pop the bubbles on Professor McKindy’s hat.” She stopped and laughed. She turned back around. “Well I guess we did alright for a first try. Oh, I forgot to mention, we’re going to have to redo the Reception Charm every once in a while. I think the professor said every ten minutes or something, so if it sounds like the charm is cutting out, just cast it again.”
“Hey, what do you think people would use charms like these for?” She asked and thought about it herself.
Why would she need to hear someone’s voice in her ear? To keep in touch with someone from a distance? You could talk more easily to friends during lectures in class or if you got lost in the halls and happened to have the spell going. Or, Meredith’s eyes widened as she had a thought. If you got lost in the halls and purposely had the spell going.
She looked around the Pitch for her friends again, still keeping her ear out for Paul. This spell would be perfect for looking around the school for those secret passages. Meredith was still determined to find them if they were there and she would swear on her life that they were there. In fact, she was pretty sure she stumbled onto something on one of the upper halls.\n\n
I don't know about him, but I sure don't.
by Adam B.
Adam was confused. The pitch was spinning rapidly and the ringing in his ear was just getting louder. He felt extremely weak and dizzy. Eaven put her hands on his face, then the professor was there and removed the spell from him.
The ringing quieted and his hearing returned to normal. However, there was still a sharp pain in his ear and Adam still felt dizzy. Like there was no way he'd be able to stand up or walk and even sitting would be a challenge.
And his stomach . Adam had never felt so nauseated in his whole life. He felt like he was going to hurl. Normally, throwing up in class would be greatly embarassing to him but at the moment he felt too sick to care.
Weakly, Adam turned to Eaven and the professor. "I don't feel too good." He whispered. "I don't think I can move.\n\n
11Adam B.I don't know about him, but I sure don't.78Adam B.05
Well at least they had managed to establish themselves as a group, evn if they were utterly barmy. Elly wondered briefly whether she might have to start worrying that Saul was having a bad influnce on Echo, but decided that the third year's oddities were, for now, perfectly harmless. She just hoped they didn't expect her to start speaking all Shakespearian, or whatever it was they were doing.
Echo cast the spells on himself, and Saul then did the same. Elly smiled in amusement as her friends' ears glowed gold like the professor's had in his demonstration. Now she thought about it, Elly had a suspision the boys had done the spell in the wrong order.
"Guys, I think he said you had to do the reception cham first," she said, "I'm not sure if it makes a difference, though". Elly hesitated before casting the spells on herself. "Has it worked the way you've done it?"\n\n
Paul yawned briefly, wondering if he should skip his next class after this. He was tired, and a nap would do him good. Also, he didn't know if Cissy would be in that class. Paul went back to his previous thoughts of skipping this class and shrugged them off. This class wasn't turning out to be so bad. Despite the hollow sound that refused to leave his ear, and the fact that this spell made you look and feel like you were insane.
Paul briedfly looked at the others doing the spell. He naturally searched for familier faces, but was only able to notice a few of the Aladrens. One of them being the Mudblood on his team, Markner, with a boy he'd seen her with before. As well as that Elly girl, whom Paul had an immediate loathing for the second Cissy said her name as the reason she was so mad. Paul found himself glaring for a second, but tried to shake it off.
He was caught off guard when Meredith's voice came to his head again. This snapped Paul out of his glare towards the red-head, and actually had him grinning. Laughing softly. Paul looked over to the professor with his ridiculous hat. "Oh really? And my concious wants me to get in trouble, all right then" Paul laughed, pointing his wand at the man's hat as if he was going to preform a spell to pop the bubbles. "Naw, I'm always one to ignore myself anyway," Paul muttered, slipping the wand back into the pocket of his black pants.
"Right, so when it's cutting out we re-do it," Paul confirmed. "Reception? That's the Aurisue one, right?" he asked again, rechecking to see if he was right. Paul was sure that Voco was the speaking one, but he just wanted to make sure. He couldn't remember, since he did miss the first part of the professor's speech.
“Hey, what do you think people would use charms like these for?”
Paul thought about that one for a second. You looked extremely stupid, or crazy, if you just started talking to yourself out of nowhere. Which was pretty much what this spell made the outside world think that. "Well, it's probably to talk with people you need to talk to, whose far away," he shrugged. Why you'd need to do that, Paul wasn't sure. They had Apparating, which was less crazy than this.
"Really," he sighed. "I'm not too sure." Paul thought a little more. "Any ideas?"\n\n
I cannot disclose that information at this time
by Professor McKindy
The girl was crying and the boy was feeling ill and unable to move. On the bright side, the girl was no longer screaming and the boy--Adam, had the girl called him?--was conscious, breathing, and talking. The situation was probably manageable then.
"Sit down and calm down, young lady," Aaron said quietly. "He will be perfectly fine. Adam, can you tell me what doesn't feel good?"
If Adam felt too ill to make it up to the Hospital Wing, there could be a problem. Aaron was good with charms, yes, but specifically crafting charms. Healing charms were a whole different story. He had never seen a particularly dangerous misspell with this combination, but that didn't mean that it wasn't possible. Possibly the boy had collapsed because of some unrelated difficulty and hit his head. There wasn't really a way to tell, though, unless the boy or his partner decided to inform Aaron. \n\n
0Professor McKindyI cannot disclose that information at this time0Professor McKindy05
Eavan stared at Professor Mckindy for a second before plopping herself on the grass and wiping her face with the sleeve of her robes. He was right. She should be acting this way; it was such a girly thing to do, and though she was a girl, there were very few times she actually acted like one.
"Should we take him to the hospital wing?" Eavan had calmed down considerably, but there was still a quiver in her voice.
"I-I learned that levitation charm. I could take him up." Eavan looked questioningly at her professor as she wondered if should actually levitate a person. The best she'd ever done is levitated some cat in the common room, much to the cat's annoyance, and Adam was much heavier.\n\n
"I-it's my ear" Adam responded to Professor McKindy. "And my stomach." It was like something was trapped in there. "It really hurts alot." He added, looking down at the ground and feeling dumb as usual. The grass on the pitch looked bizzare to him, like it was moving or something. He gagged and squished his eyes shut.
"No!" Adam exclaimed when Eaven suggested going to the hospital wing. If he went, people would think him wimpier than they already did. He had to be tougher than that. He just had too. That's what guys did. They toughed it out. Even though what Adam really wanted to do was crawl into bed. Besides, even though the medic had been nice to Adam in the library his first year, he'd seemed irritated when Ginger brought him in when he'd had an episode last year. Adam didn't want to deal with that again. It made him anxious to feel he was bothering people.
He started to stand, trying to show that he could handle it. Even though Adam knew he probably couldn't. He couldn't really handle anything but he didn't want them to think him incompetant, whether he was or not.
Another wave of nausea hit him, the pitch seemed to move up and down. Adam's knees got all weak and he sat back down again. "M-maybe I could go back to my room and lie down?" He asked. Adam really didn't want to see the medic. He showed enough weakness without that too. However, he knew he couldn't go on with the lesson. He felt too awful.
Nearly immidiately, as usual, he regretted what he said. Adam's face flushed. Who was he to ask for anything from anyone? Now he was sure Professor Mckindy was going to yell at him. Besides, he wasn't even sure he could make it to either his own room or the medic by himself. Plus, if he went back to his own room, a housemate would have to help him and Adam didn't think they would. Not to mention he thought they'd probably tease him or make fun of him behind his back later. Not that they wouldn't do that anyway since he screwed up and made himself sick like this.\n\n
The ear and the stomach. Was it a concussion? Adam apparently felt as if he were going to sick up, and from the way he gagged and shut his eyes, Aaron would be he was having visual problems as well. The ear thing he didn't know about, though. Perhaps the child had hit his ear on the way down. Aaron's eyebrows shot up when the girl asked if Adam ought to go to the hospital wing, and his response was a vehement "No!"
"I think he will be fine for now, thank you, young lady," Aaron said, although if he had a way of getting Adam safely up to the medic he would have taken it. However, having a second or third year levitate her partner was not it. He could not very well leave the class to take Adam up to the Infirmary either. Then the boy asked if he could go lie down. While that may have been a good idea, Aaron didn't think so. If Adam were really concussed or there was some other problem, it would be better if he was around other people who could potentially spot any problems.
"I would rather if you didn't go to your room and lie down," Aaron began, but was forestalled by the boy's face turning suddenly red. Suddenly he seemed to have developed the knack for making people blush, Aaron thought in mild amusement. First Declan and now this boy. "Only because you may be seriously injured and I would like to keep an eye one you," he clarified. "Perhaps you could just sit out for the remainder of class, and after that we could see how you're doing?"\n\n
0Professor McKindyI doubt Bulla would be pleased if I did.0Professor McKindy05
You know, I forgot about the class...oops
by Caedence
Caedence stared at the boy looking him up and down. Nearby a student seemed to be having some problems. She remembered him. Adam, she thought. He was the first person she had met at Sonora. Right after the feast. She smirked at the memory. "I'm Caedence." she introduced but offered no hand to shake.
This boy seemed as if he was regreting being her partner. Oh well, let him regret it, she didn't care. She couldn't pair up with Elly, so she'd take anyone really. "So, do you want to be the talker? I can do the listening part. Unless you want to listen?" This was a rather big improvement from last year. Last year she'd have pointed her wand at the boy's face and demanded that he be the speaker and she the listener. Or visa-versa. But today was not the day to be like that. She almost smiled. Elly sure had changed her alot, just by agreeing to be her friend and shouting at her in Deck's class. She twirled her wand in her hand waiting for the other boy to talk.\n\n
0CaedenceYou know, I forgot about the class...oops94Caedence05
After the small disturbance with Adam, Aaron continued to wander around the class giving advice and chastisement when required. His grey-green eyes could often be found resting on the boy, however, as Aaron tried to figure out what could be wrong with him. The only thing he could think of that caused the nausea and visual problems was a concussion. Not that he was in any way qualified to diagnose anything, of course. The best he could probably do was send the boy up to the medic.
The lesson time finally ran out. Of course, by this time, the children were much too spread out and talking too loudly for an unassisted voice to reach them. Taking out his redwood wand again, Aaron tapped his throat and muttered "Sonorus".
"Students! Your attention, for a moment?" when Aaron had the attention requested, he continued. "Our time here is up. Both spells will wear off, but if you wish to remove them now, simply tap either your throat or your ear and say 'Desino'. For your homework, please read chapter four in your book on the uses and dangers of communication charms and be prepared to discuss your findings in class. You are dismissed."
As the students left the Pitch, Aaron tapped his throat, muttered 'Quietus', and returned to where Adam was sitting.
It was all Adam could do to remain upright. He thought he was going to fall over or throw up any minute now. Still, he felt that lying down would attract more attention than sitting. Adam felt humiliated enough as it was. He knew he was pretty much the laughing stock of the whole school, even before this. Plus, he couldn't even do the spell right. Adam felt bad about this even though he was highly unlikely to use a communication charm ever. Especially given Professor McKindy had said it was used to call Quidditch games and Adam had absolutely no interest in the sport. As a matter of fact, he rather detested it. It was horribly dangerous and everytime Kaylie played, he feared for her life. Still, he wanted to be proficient enough at spells to pass the class and not be laughed at for being an idiot. Instead, he'd blown out his eardrum. Not to mention another person he'd worked with probably didn't like him either. The only good thing about this whole situation as far as Adam could tell, was that he wasn't crying. He felt far too weak physically and didn't have the energy.
Mercifully the class ended. He could now go back to his dorm and collapse, that is if he could make it. Adam's legs did feel less wobbly even though he was still quite lightheaded.
"How are you feeling?"
Adam looked up at the professor and instantly regretted it. Raising his head made the whole pitch spin again. "Um a little better," he answered. It was technically true. "Still not very good though." Adam continued honestly. He quickly added, "But I don't think I need to see the medic!" He needed to make that clear. Needed to save face and appear less wimpy even if he still felt majorly queasy.\n\n
Although the boy claimed to have no need of a medic, he certainly looked horrible. Aaron definitely wasn't qualified to deal with medical issues beyond a simple broken bone, and even then he wouldn't be too assured of his competence. If this was a side effect of doing the spell wrong that he hadn't seen yet, it would be good to find out what had happened as well. Besides, if the boy was seriously injured, it would be best to get him help immediately.
"Perhaps we should take a trip up to see him anyway," Aaron suggested. "Then we can also talk about making up this lesson." Making up lessons wasn't something Aaron had thought about before. Maybe some sort of study session would suffice? Similar to Hikaru's detention in design. The make up lesson would, of course, be shelved should Adam have to stay in the infirmary. Or if he was seriously injured. Aaron would have to talk with Adam to really get an idea of what would be best. Some sort of assistant teaching might be a good idea.
"Can you walk?" Aaron asked, as an afterthought. He hoped so. The boy probably wouldn't appreciate being levitated. Or perhaps he could send some sort of message to the medic and let him deal with it. That was starting to sound like a fairly good idea. Aaron certainly did not want Adam's injury--whatever it was--worsening because he had been moved.\n\n
0Professor McKindyYes, yes, you are0Professor McKindy05