Professor Donovan Cohen
December 17, 2010 9:33 PM
Something to do with trees (Years 1/2) by Professor Donovan Cohen
The definitive feeling of ‘new’ had by now melted into a solid sense of ‘fitting-in.’ After a few lessons with each year, Don was finally familiar enough with the staff, students, and Sonora grounds to think he had gotten the hang of how things were to supposed to work around here. Despite the few bumps along the way, the transition from being an avid traveler to teaching at a boarding school was working out as well – maybe even better – than he had hoped, and Don was very grateful.Standing in front of the door outside the cabin-like classroom, Don let his thoughts circle back to his lesson for that day as the first and second years started to arrive and stand around in his line of vision. Once he felt everyone who was going to show up had done so, the towering dark-skinned man smiled down to his students and waved them to follow him as he started making the trip to a few nearby spruce. It was as if a mini-forest had sprung up overnight (which, technically, it had). “Come along, everyone. Today’s lesson is taking place over where those trees are. Try not to get too close until I explain what we’re doing.” Although he carried a calm demeanor and liked to be laid-back, he knew safety came first and he had to make sure he was stern when he gave directions. At least until they knew what they were doing and dealing with, anyways.
Once the group reached the trees, Don turned around, promptly ignoring the whoosh of his worn olive green robes. Having spent much of his adult life being a traveling Creature Healer, he didn’t own very many cloths that hadn’t seen a few rips and tears. Not that it bothered him; he wasn’t much of a materialistic person. “These trees were brought here from the southern parts of Germany,” he explained, breathing in the clean air around them.
“The whole trees had to be uprooted and relocated because the creatures we’re looking at today don’t like to leave their homes, no matter what. Separating them would be like taking away their limbs. And since they’re so protective of the trees they live in, it was extra work to make sure not even a branch was broken or else they’d be on the offense.” He was glad he had friends all over who were willing to help donate creatures for his class, even if a lot of work went into it.
“The creatures we’ll be looking at are called Bowtruckles. In lore they are closely related to what Muggles thought to be Tree Spirits, though considering how they guard them it isn’t too hard to imagine how such a connection would be made. Oh, wait, I think I see one.” Don leaned his hands toward the branches and let a creature grasp for his sleeve and lean out to look at everyone with wide brown eyes. It was the size of an infant, made of wood, and had two long fingers on each of its hands. “The wood appearance helps it blend in with its surroundings, and as you can tell they are very gentle and friendly. That is, until the tree is threatened. But since they like to occupy wand-making trees, it’s important to know how to get around them safely.”
“Today’s lesson will require you to snag five branches from the tree, at least three inches long, from one of the trees with a Bowtruckle in it. If you do it the right way, it’s simple.” He walked over to one of three very large buckets he had nearby. “Just take a handful of either the wood lice or the fairy eggs – there are enough pairs of gloves in the third bucket for anyone who wants them – and place them a few feet away from the tree. Wait until you see the Bowtruckle approach it, then move to the back of the tree. Bowtruckle will be occupied with eating a small pile of whatever you put out for several minutes and will block out their environment during that time.”
Don demonstrated this and moved to the back of the tree and breaking a few branches off. He came back in front of the class and held them out. “So long as the Bowtruckle didn’t see it, it’s like it never happened. When you’re done, feel free to play with them so long as you don’t damage their trees, that is.” He clapped his hands as the Bowtruckle he was working with scuttled back into its branches. “You may all get started now!”
Though they all seemed to get busy right away, Don made sure he was always walking around. The rules were simple enough, but it would be easy enough to break them. He hadn’t mentioned that the Bowtruckle were rather young and not as vicious, but only because he wanted everyone to be careful and not take risks. Still, he’d keep an eye on everyone, just in case.
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OOC: Keep the site rules in mind, and it’d be majorly awesome of you to include your house name in the author tab. So… enjoy the lesson! Oh, and if your kiddo does have a nasty run-in with the Bowtruckle, keep in mind Don’s got watchful eyes and probably wouldn’t let them get killed/mauled ;)
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Professor Donovan Cohen
Something to do with trees (Years 1/2)
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Professor Donovan Cohen
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Sophia Randolph [Pecari]
December 22, 2010 3:45 AM
Trees aren't supposed to be dangerous by Sophia Randolph [Pecari]
Sophia hated with every fiber of her being the CoMC class, she couldn’t help it. She just did. Her experience in the field was far from rewarding, and more on the frightening side. The second-year wished time would pass faster, so she could drop the class forever and never look back. If only. She still had another three years to be tortured. But there was something that would make this class a little more bearable. There was a new teacher, and maybe he was better than Prof. Dankin, she hoped so. Another situation like the last one scared her.She was walking in a slower pace than was normal, but she really didn’t want to go to class. Especially now, she had received bad news from home. Her father was ill, and money had become more strained in her house. The illness required special expensive potions, something her family couldn’t really afford. The green-eyed girl wasn’t sure she would be able to come back next term, but she needed to hope, because she loved it here. On the other side, she couldn’t be that selfish, her parents needed her help, but she would have to see what would happen during summer break.
She entered the cabin-like classroom a little wary of it. Taking a deep breath, she went to find a desk, which was not available. Great. She sighed and walked towards the rest of her classmates. Though, she remained at the back of group, it was safer there. She dutifully followed her Professor to a grove of trees, and then listened to the lesson. Now, the lesson seemed kind of dangerous, to snap branches from trees that were protected by vicious evil little wood thingys was hardly easy or safe. Sophia glared at the Professor, even when she knew it was not his fault she sucked at this class. Defeated, she went and grabbed everything she needed for the lesson. The green-eyed girl was not happy, it was clear in her facial expression.
Fully armed with her gloves and wood lice, she walked towards the nearest tree that was inhabited by the Bowtruckle. Sophia left the wood lice a good distance away from the tree, and waited for the creature to be lured by it. Out of the blue, the creatures jumped out of the tree and began eating quite quickly. By the time she reacted, the wood man had already eaten half of the pile left for it. She hurriedly made it to the back of the tree, but was unable to get the five required branches. Thankfully, she had seen the thing scurry back towards it and it hadn’t seen her. She picked more wood lice. That way, she would be able to finish with the assignment without being hurt. When the creature was once again eating, she snapped the two remaining branches and jumped in excitement. She had done it! And without getting hurt this time!
With a smile on her face, she turned to the nearest person “I did it!” she couldn’t help but squeal. She was safe!
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Sophia Randolph [Pecari]
Trees aren't supposed to be dangerous
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Sophia Randolph [Pecari]
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Jane Carey, Teppenpaw
December 23, 2010 9:42 PM
That's the Wizarding World for you by Jane Carey, Teppenpaw
Her mother, and even her brother, occasionally seemed to disapprove of it, but Jane enjoyed Care of Magical Creatures. It was nice to get to go outside, have some air, sometimes even run around a bit. She had always been partial to that kind of thing; when they were little, she’d always been first out the door, while Edmond had been irritated at having to leave his books and had kept asking how to play until finally Father gave up and taught him actual, formal games to keep him occupied during their required exercise time. And even then, if less loudly than before, Edmond had complained about not seeing the purpose of many of the activities. He was a good old Edmond, really, but he had always lacked imagination.Of course, that was his job. He needed to be practical and efficient to run a family and take care of its business interests, and while other accomplishments were necessary for social success, they were always to take second place to financial ones. It was just the opposite for her; girls were trained in social accomplishments so they could make up for the lapses in grace shown by successful husbands. Though Mother did, sometimes, seem to wish that Jane had a little less imagination and energy. It wasn’t really proper for a girl to want to play outside very much.
She smiled at Professor Cohen once she arrived at class and followed him toward the trees, wondering where they had come from. The Gardens were extensive, and virtually every plant there was most likely imported and maintained by magic instead of growing naturally, but she had covered a great deal of the Labyrinth on foot over the past two years, and she was sure she had never seen a group of spruce trees before.
The discussion of moving the trees was fascinating, though Jane had a good idea of what to expect as soon as he mentioned how the creature of the day would have been on the offense if it had taken any damage. Wandlore was a topic her parents had only deemed it necessary for her and Edmond to gain an elementary knowledge of, but bowtruckles overlapped from that basic overview and her reading of the textbook, and the double reference was enough for her to remember the word and a few details of the creatures.
A moment later, she was proven right, though the one the professor had was rather bigger than she remembered the description being. It had, though, been a while. With that in mind, she listened closely to the directions for not being attacked by the wand-tree guardian, filing away the matter of whether or not any of these branches would actually be used for wands for later examination. Three inches would be bizarrely short – the shortest wand she thought she’d ever seen was Edmond’s sister’s, which was far more than three inches – but she supposed it could work, if bending the magical component wouldn’t affect its performance. Or if the core were procured from a very young or non-standard source.
When they were sent to work, Jane took out her own dragonhide gloves, which she carried to Defense, Potions, and this class as a matter of course. Her mother would never forgive her if she allowed her hands to get out of shape, and besides, she really didn’t enjoy handling some of the things they had to use in classes. She liked being clean, and handling fairy eggs meant having to wash her hands several times and them still not feeling completely clean until she’d taken a bath and thus gotten her hands all in her shampoo anyway.
Just to be safe, she made full-hand offerings of both favored foods, just in case the bowtruckles she was dealing with had a preference. Then, feeling anxious and hurried in a way she seldom experienced, she began looking over branches, trying to force her mind to stillness so she could consider lengths as she took out her wand to sever the selected branches. Edmond had only recently shown her the spell, so it wouldn’t work as quickly as it would for him, but it was still faster than snapping branches off if they were springy, and she couldn’t remember much about the qualities of spruce off the top of her head. The information was there, but there weren’t enough connections to it for her to pull it out reliably.
They weren’t likely to be a wandmaker’s favorites, not being very straight or even, but the ones Jane came away with were definitely long enough to meet the requirement, and that would do for now. Normally, she tried to do the very best she could, but she doubted the credit would be any different now, and she could too clearly visualize having her eyes clawed out, the way one of the sources she’d read had described in more detail than she thought was really necessary even for a caution.
”I did it!” another girl, one Jane was fairly sure was in her year and quite confident was a Pecari exclaimed happily. Jane smiled at her, pleased for her and sharing a little the thrill of having gotten away safely.
“I’m so glad,” she said. “Congratulations.” She extended her own branches for examination. “Are yours better quality than mine?”
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Jane Carey, Teppenpaw
That's the Wizarding World for you
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Jane Carey, Teppenpaw
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Sophia Randolph
December 27, 2010 7:22 PM
I know that by Sophia Randolph
At the sound of a voice, Sophia snapped out of her excitement, and looked at another girl. She blushed, since it was embarrassing to be so happy about some old branches. Well, she had come out of retrieving them alive, that was quite the accomplishment. The second-year was certain she was in her year, but it was the first time they had actually spoken to one another. It wasn’t that much of a surprise, because Sophia had closed herself in a little bubble of safeness. To this day, she still wondered why she had been sorted into Pecari, but it wasn’t her place to go and question Headmistress Powell, or the potion that they had taken to sort them out. At least, she knew there had to be some Pecari traits in her, but they either had been silenced or were dormant. Who knew, maybe she would grow into them.“Same to you,” Sophia smiled at her. Though, she felt bad about not knowing her name. The green-eyed girl used to be an extrovert, but since she had started at Sonora, she had become shy, and rarely spoke to anyone, with the exception of Kirstenna. That had to change, and now.
She examined the extended branches, they looked more clean-cut than hers. Perfect. Sophia blushed once again, her work was definitely lacking. A loud laughing fit suddenly overcame her. For some reason, she was finding the situation quite hilarious. It wasn’t. She was about to fail one of her courses, again. Stupid Care of Magical Creatures, it really was the bane of her existence. Along DADA. After a few minutes, she regained control over herself. “I am sorry..I just…” she chuckled. “Actually, I don’t know what came over me.” Green eyes were carefully looking over the other girl’s face. She hoped she hadn’t scared her or something like that. Sophia wasn’t this crazy.
“Your branches are better looking than mine, that’s for sure,” She smiled at her good-naturedly. “I always have trouble with this class…I just can’t get anything right.” Her tone was filled with amusement at her own lack of skills. “My branches would not be used for a thing,” she said shrugging.
The smile had not left her face, “Anyways, I am Sophia Randolph. I am a Pecari in your year. What’s your name?” the second-year felt bad about this being the first time they talked, they took the same classes every year, it was just rude to be introducing herself so far in their educational careers. Sophia extended her hand towards the girl while hoping she had not been rude to her or something like that. She really wanted new friends.
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Sophia Randolph
I know that
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Sophia Randolph
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