Sub. Professor Adrian Meade
September 21, 2012 8:02 PM
An Ant Life! [Beginners] by Sub. Professor Adrian Meade
Adrian was preparing for the arrival of the beginners class. He was excited about what the younglings were going to learn today. He had pulled some strings to get a specimen of the animal they were going to study. The sub teacher dimmed the lights of the classroom as he began setting everything for the younglings to arrive. The desks were set around in a circle while a big fishtank was in the middle of the desks filled with sand.The professor hung some pictures on the walls with explanation of the animal in question and some sentences describing what they did, but the best part of the class were the little fire ants roaming about in their sand kingdom. He smiled at the little insects and sat down on his desk to wait for the students to arrive and while he waited he began grading some of the Advanced children homework.
The bell rang and the students began piling in the classroom. He gave the stranglers a few more minutes before closing the door on them. Adrian was all about punctuality.
“Hello,” he greeted them with a smile, “I am Prof. Adrian Meade the COMC sub until further notice for anyone that didn’t know or forgot!” He was beginning to feel more at ease with the whole teaching thing, but he already missed the adventure of exploring unchartered lands.
“Today we are going to study Fire Ants,” he got up from his desk and stood beside the blackboard where a lot of info was written for them. “There is a muggle kind, but this is quite different. It looks a lot like a muggle ones, but this little fellows don’t have a stinger or inject any kind of venom.”
Adrian began pacing through the classroom, “Physically that is the only difference. So, they aren’t really dangerous.” A grin formed on his face, “Their magical properties lay on the substance they secrete which mixed with sand form little balls of crystal that are key for some swelling potions.”
“These little insects are mainly found in high-temperature climates, especially in deserts where they form their colony. These particular ones were brought here for the Sahara desert,” he said pointing to the large tank in the middle of the classroom. “They aren’t dangerous; in fact, their little feet tickle if they manage to crawl up your hands. They are rather friendly,” he smiled reassuringly to everyone. He would never expose the beginner students to something dangerous.
“Like muggle ants, they form colonies with the queen as their head, and then you have the males and the workers. If you look closely to the colony I brought today you can see the little workers creating passageways to the main chamber where the queen is taking care of the eggs that were inseminated by the males.” By now Adrian was at the front of the classroom leaning on his desk.
“The assignment today is to collect the crystal balls that are at the top of the sand. They move them up because they become obstacles for them. Be careful to not destroy their work! There are buckets at the front of the classroom.” The crystal balls were usually in the topmost part so it was not going to be hard for them. The passageways and chambers were at the bottom of the tank. The tank was large enough to give room to everyone to do what they had to do. "You can work in pairs if you like."
“And your homework will be an essay on the fire ants and the properties of the crystal balls formed by them. If you have any questions just raise your hand! Have a good time,” he said before returning to his previous grading.
OOC: posting rules apply! Have fun! The ants are not dangerous, so no accidents or bites or any gruesome consequences of playing with them.
Subthreads: Ants are troopers. by Rupert Princeton, Pecari with Clara Abernathy, Pecari, Clarissa Clark, Rupert
A whole world normally under our feet by Effie Arbon with Amity Brockert, Aladren
Fire Ants?...Seriously? by Carter Browning, Teppenpaw with McKinley Andrews, Crotalus
Where are the unicorns? by Wendy Canterbury - Pecari with Aria Yale, Teppenpaw, Wendy, Alexandra D'Alesandro, Crotalus
An ant's life, hm... interesting... by Abigail Thornton, Crotalus
Ugh, bugs, by Melanie Lennox, Teppenpaw
Is one not worthy. by Carrie O'Malley, Crotalus
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Sub. Professor Adrian Meade
An Ant Life! [Beginners]
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Sub. Professor Adrian Meade
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Effie Arbon
September 23, 2012 1:20 PM
A whole world normally under our feet by Effie Arbon
Effie's interest was piqued by the idea of Care of Magical Creatures. She could not see herself owning a great menagerie of animals or, if she did, she would not be the one to provide most of their care. She was certainly not going to become a veterinarian or any such thing. The subject was likely to be of limited use to her. But it was of interest. She liked nature for its beauty and for the fact that it was wild and free, although she did not understand that this was what appealed to her about it and, had she done, she might have re-evaluated her thoughts, or questioned her own temperament. There was the possibility that she would not find it so fascinating when bottled up and labelled in a classroom, as that would kill some of the spontaneity. However, knowing how she and elements of the natural world could avoid mutual damage when she went out for a walk would be useful to her personally, even if it was not a useful in terms of the skill set of A Young Lady of Accomplishment.Thus, she approached the class with interest. The classroom was laid out in an unusual style but it seemed useful for everyone to be able to see. She could dimly make out ants moving through their tunnels from where she sat, and she listened with interest as the Professor explained their organisation and their uses. The assignment for the class seemed fairly simple. Almost deceptively so. Picking little balls of crystal out of a tank for an hour seemed neither challenging nor stimulating. He had cautioned them not to destroy the ants' work, so there presumably had to be some technique to gathering the harvest. Keen neither to make a fool of herself nor to damage the carefully constructed formicarium, she consulted her text book before beginning.
'Fire ant crystal is a resilient substance and is easy to harvest providing certain steps are followed. It is advisable to wait until the crystals have been transported to the surface in order to avoid undue disturbance to the colony. Disruption and destruction of their tunnels will result in a halt in production of crystal and so is detrimental in the longrun to production. Whilst a very hard substance, it is highly soluble and thus the moisture in a wizard or witch's hand may degrade the crystal. To this end, several common harvesting methods are used:
1). Wingardium Leviosa: the experienced practitioner who has a fine degree of control with this charm may levitate the crystals away from the nest. This is not appropriate for those without a good deal of practise in this charm, as the inexperienced witch or wizard may cause large clods of earth to fly from the nest.
2). Use of tools, e.g. tweezers or a small spoon, to liberate the eggs without touching them
3). Wearing of gloves to prevent direct skin contact. Fine gloves are a necessity in order to have a high enough degree of dexterity.
Effie had had some practice of the levitating charm before coming to school but she was not confident she could apply it successfully to such a small object. The thought of sending clods of earth flying about the classroom did not sound particularly dignified and was not something she wished to cause. Her gloves, although they were tough dragon hide, were well fitted to her hands, in the manner of evening gloves, although with a slight gauntlet which flared where the gloves reached her wrists. She skimmed over the uses of swelling solutions, out of curiosity.
Swelling solutions are mostly used in combative situations. They cause a reaction on contact and thus have advantages over many potions in that the enemy does not need to be tricked into imbibing them. Witches haves been known to carry small spray vials of the solutions to use in self-defence, especially those who are under-age or live in densely Muggle populated areas and would thus be unable to use their wands. Highly dilute versions of the solution are used in some beauty products, for example those which give a fuller lip.
Effie pouted her own lip experimentally, trying to imagine it larger. Apart from her eyes, which were as wide as saucers even when she was not particularly surprised, her features were small and delicate. She supposed that if fashion called for it, she might be tempted to use such a product.
Pulling her gloves on, she collected a bucket and approached the tank. She avoided Mr. Princeton as he seemed rather engrossed. Had they approached together, the principle of “ladies first” might have applied but now that he was already stationed there, she had no right to disrupt him. He was a boy, and had inherently more right to maintain his viewing spot than she had to demand it. She edged around the tank a little further. Whilst she had sat down with those of her ilk, they were now somewhat more dispersed, and it did not seem like it would be possible to stick entirely to her own. She established herself near to some faces she recognised but also several that she did not.
She tentatively took a ball of crystal. It was difficult, not being able to feel it against her skin. She relied on the sense of pressure to know she was gripping it. The text book had said that they were relatively robust and so she took it firmly, transferring it successfully to her bucket. She paused to see whether there would be a reaction from the ants, not taking the next less they had noticed the first being taken and swarmed to the surface. If they did so and the lack of crystal would cause them distress, she imagined the book would have mentioned it. Perhaps it was a waste product to them and they were happy to be rid of it. She allowed the people around her to continue to collect the resin on their side of the tank for a moment, whilst she observed the ants, attempting to observe one in the act of making or at least rolling the crystal to the surface, until she was drawn from her inspections by a voice at her shoulder.
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Effie Arbon
A whole world normally under our feet
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Effie Arbon
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Amity Brockert, Aladren
October 06, 2012 10:41 PM
I'm sure it's happy to escape that fate. by Amity Brockert, Aladren
Unlike most Aladrens, Amity did not get too excited about classes. They were all really pretty interesting but she would rather have the time to do whatever she wanted. The freedom she had was amazing and she cherished every single moment. Not that she always knew what to do with herself, mostly she read stuff that was pure enjoyment, works of fiction that was somewhere between things that made her think and pure fluff. She was discovering all sorts of books meant for girls her age and really enjoying them.It was all Amity had ever really wanted. To have a chance to be a kid. Do fun things like visit the zoo with her cousins, which her mother had always refused to let her and Chaslyn do because they had to go to some sort of lessons instead. She'd had toys, gifts from her relatives who were sympathetic, but never really gotten to play with them. There was never any time. Everything had to be for self-improvement and accomplishment.
Amity hated that. It wasn't fun, it was work and she despised work. She was glad every day to be a pureblood girl and not have to worry about a career. All she had to do was get married, have children and throw the occasional party. The first year would hire a nanny and a good party planner and she'd be set.
But she'd never put her children through all that she'd had to do. The only lessons they would ever have were the normal pureblood ones like etiquette and she would never, ever make them compete in anything.Amity was going to make sure they were able to enjoy life, the way she'd never gotten to thus far.
Today, she'd been in the middle of a particularly good book and really hadn't wanted to come to class and have to put it down. The Aladren had found a particularly good series and had been completely sucked in. Instead, she had to go to Care of Magical Creatures, but her mind was still on her reading. At least, though, she had the opportunity to read something solely for entertainment, even if she did have to go to these pesky classes. It was still better than home.
Furthermore, at least today's lesson didn't sound that difficult. All they had to do was collect these crystal balls on top. Pity, really, since the idea of Carrie having to touch the bugs amused Amity greatly. She approached the tank and found a spot next to Effie. "Would you like to work together?" She asked. Working with the Crotalus would only help them to become better friends.
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Amity Brockert, Aladren
I'm sure it's happy to escape that fate.
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Amity Brockert, Aladren
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Effie Arbon
October 07, 2012 5:05 PM
Well, it's normally perfectly safe there by Effie Arbon
Effie turned to the source of the voice, relieved to find that it was Amity Brockert, whom she had met during flying class. She had been a little perplexed by the notion of forming partnerships in this class when there was barely enough to the task to keep her occupied for the full time. She had been prepared to brush off any Muggleborn interlopers with the fact that she was managing perfectly fine by herself. However, she was certainly glad to have a chance to speak further with Amity. Perhaps working in pairs simply meant a licence to chat with the person next to them. That was certainly an interpretation which she was willing to take.“That would be a pleasure,” she smiled. “I confess that this class is somewhat new to me,” the word 'somewhat' could have been replaced with the word 'entirely' and it would have rendered the statement no less truthful – possibly it would have made it more so. However, it was not a wise move to admit to complete ignorance of a subject. Naturally, having grown up in a magical household, she had some general knowledge of the creatures that inhabited her world. The idea of them was not, as it would be to some people, completely jaw-gapingly new and astounding to her. “So far, it does not seem entirely disagreeable,” she commented. It was safe to have an opinion with another girl so long as it was not a terribly contentious one. The comment which she had put forth could be taken as faint praise, understatement or putting on a brave face, depending on how Amity felt.
The majority of the crystals from the surface had now been taken. However, it would be safe to brush away a little dirt. She looked at the cross-section of the tank presented through the class. There was some depth before the tunnels began, although they could reach different heights at different points in the tank. She brushed away the uppermost layers of the soft, dry earth, revealing the tops of a few more crystals. The textbook had mentioned that they could be somewhat stickier until they had been exposed to the air for a few minutes and so she would leave them to sit for a moment or two before attempting to handle them.
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Effie Arbon
Well, it's normally perfectly safe there
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Effie Arbon
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Amity
October 12, 2012 11:35 AM
Wouldn't things <i>under </i> our feet be squished? by Amity
The Aladren nodded. That must have been nice, not to have to learn so much before even going to school. "I had to study a little about magical creatures before Sonora, to prepare me for this class, but it wasn't anything hands on or practical." Technically, Amity had had to study a lot about magical creatures but there wasn't enough time, there was never enough time for anything and therefore, her knowledge was unsatisfactory. In her mother's opinion, not her own, of course.In Amity's opinion, she knew as much as she cared to about some things. Which again made her quite frankly wonder what she was doing in Aladren in the first place. She was sort of tired of learning all the time. Amity needed a chance to relax and have fun, thinking once more of her book. Maybe that was why she'd been sorted where she had been, though sometimes she wanted to be in Crotalus with Effie and Isabel. They were roommates and they'd probably end up closer with each other than her. Maybe Amity should make an effort to bring Bianca into the group.
Besides, there would definitely be drawbacks to being in Crotalus. Her Sorting was for the best even though the first year was sure some there would be horrified about her attitude towards learning. Okay, of course she wanted to learn to do magic, one was useless without it, but Amity saw no reason to go above and beyond. She'd had quite enough of that and she felt that she would be far happier not pushing herself in things. The outcome was never worth it, if the Aladren did do something well, Mother just wanted her to be even better. She wanted Amity to be perfect and that was just too much work.
"It definitely doesn't sound difficult." The first year replied. That was the main thing that she cared about. The less she had to do the better.It was bad enough to have to be somewhere at a particular time. A life where she could do whatever she wanted-within reason-whenever she wanted was a life that Amity craved. She didn't want to be challenged. She'd had enough of that. Overcoming and accomplishing wasn't worth it when you were still going to be told you weren't good enough anyway and given suggestions for how to improve.
She stood next to Effie and looked down at the aquarium. The Aladren dug down a little to find one of the crystal balls. "So, how are things going for you?" She asked the Crotalus.
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Amity
Wouldn't things <i>under </i> our feet be squished?
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Amity
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