Unable to attend [in the corridors] on Care of Magical Creatures

Professor Tallec

February 06, 2015 2:16 AM

Two Truths and a Lie [Beginner Class] by Professor Tallec

Richard sat at his desk drinking a steaming cup of lavender tea, mulling over the events of his weekend. Although his clothes were no longer wine stained, the embarrassment of the event lingered. Mary, his girlfriend of 2 weeks, dumped him for what she called ‘being unfaithful’. Richards eyebrows furrowed at the memory, resolving to never date a muggle again. Apparently Richard having a live-in maid (AKA Rosie the house elf) meant that he was also a two-timer, to which Richard argued she was being absolutely ridiculous, he wasn’t even Rosie’s type! Unfortunately he couldn’t introduce her to Rosie to prove just how wrong she was, due to the fact that Mary was among the ‘non-magic folk’. Instead, he took a glassful of Merlot to the face along with the very comforting words of his (ex)lover to go ‘drop dead’.

He sighed, taking another sip of tea to relax his nerves. Why can’t I just find a nice, sane witch? Is that really asking for the world? Even though he was a young bachelor without many worries, something, weather it was his job, location, or the fact that he was a wizard, always seemed to prevent him from finding the one, or at least a nice girlfriend.

His attention was quickly drawn away from his troubles as his students began to arrive. Finishing off the last sip of his tea, he stood up to greet the class. “Welcome,” he greeted in his usual cheerful voice. “Now as you should know by now, today is a hands-on day. I expect that the What I know, and What I want to know columns of your KWL charts on Kneazles have already been completed like I asked you to do last class for homework. If they aren’t, please take time now to fill it out while I lecture, I expect you to finish the What I have Learned column for homework tonight,” he said as he sent the chalk whizzing away to dictate his speech. The KWL (What I know, What I want to know, What I Learned) chart was a standard feature for his class, although the advanced students didn’t use it as much, he found that it was a perfect tool for first and second years to begin thinking critically about magical creatures.

“I’ll try to keep this short so we can move onto the fun stuff as quickly as possible,” he promised as the chalk scribbled the page number on the board. “The Kneazles is an interesting creature in that it is related to, and similar in appearance to, a cat. Many have spotted, speckled or flecked fur, large ears and a lightly plumed tail, very much like a lion,” he said as he walked around the room, checking to see if his students had done their homework.

“It is for this reason, they are thought to have separate breeds. They make excellent pets if they like a witch or wizard as they have a very high level of intelligence, and are independent. However they are occasionally aggressive, and have the mysterious talent to detect suspicious and distrustful people. Like many creatures in this class, you will find that juveniles tend to be oversensitive compared to their mature counterparts. Which is where today’s activity comes in,” he said closing his book and giving the class a playful smile. He was really excited about today, he thought it would be a lot of fun for the beginners, and frankly he just loved hands-on days.

After a wave of his wand, the two boxes under his desk moved to the front of the room where the students would be able to pick a Kneazle hybrid, or a full blooded Kneazle. Picking up one of the full-blooded baby Kneazles, he held it up for the class to see. He loved all creatures, but something about the sappy look of Kneazles made his heart melt. “Each of you will take a Kneazle. Second years are required to take a full-blooded Kneazle, and first years may have their choice of either. However first years should keep in mind, when they are not interbred, Kneazles have a XXX classification,” he said as he pet the cute little ball of fur in his arms. There was no rush for the first years to start working with XXX classified creatures yet, as they still had another year in beginners. The second years on the other hand, would soon be moving into intermediates, which meant it was important for them to learn how to properly handle high rated beasts, even if it was just a kitten.

“Once you have your Kneazle, I want you to partner up and play the game Two Truths and a Lie. You will tell your partner two things about yourself that are truthful, along with one lie sprinkled somewhere in there. It is your partner’s job to guess based on the reaction from your Kneazle which one was the lie. These are only babies so they should become too aggressive with just a lie,” he said placing the little Kneazle back into the box with the other full-blooded kittens. Although what he wasn’t telling them was that the Kneazles would become react much more to how well they lied rather than the lie itself, but he decided to gloss over that part, as he wanted his students to make some discoveries for themselves. He supposed that if someone was deceitful by nature the Kneazle may react more to them just by default, but they were only 11 and 12 year olds, they couldn’t be that bad. Right?

OOC: For the homework part, you are free to assume Richard may have calmly paused for a moment at your desk before moving on if you hadn’t done the homework, or something was interesting about your paper. Creative, realistic posts are worth more points. If Richard is needed, please tag Professor Tallec in the subject line. Posting rules apply. Please add house after name.

Subthreads:

One wish and one harsh reality. by Tobias Reinhardt II, Teppenpaw with John Umland, Aladren

Unable to attend [in the corridors] by Araceli Arbon, Crotalus with Anna Clarissa Cooper-Flemming, Pecari

Easily the best class. by Chuck Fintoc, Pecari with Ginger Pierce, Teppenpaw

This class is purrrrfect! by Makenzie Newell [Crotalus] with Sutton Nicolls, Pecari

Compare and contrast? by Aislinn Nicolls, Aladren

0 Professor Tallec Two Truths and a Lie [Beginner Class] 0 Professor Tallec 1 5

Tobias Reinhardt II, Teppenpaw

February 06, 2015 4:45 PM

One wish and one harsh reality. by Tobias Reinhardt II, Teppenpaw

The homework for Care of Magical Creatures, though routine, had been interesting especially since Kneazles were a breed of creature that Tobi was especially interested in. He wasn’t sure if he classified into the cat or dog category like many of his friends back home liked to categorize themselves in, finding that he belonged more in the “exotic creatures” category than either the more ‘normal’ animals like cats or dogs. However, since this was Care of Magical Creatures and a class that Tobi was particularly well-invested in, he had quite a long column filled out for things he already knew that rivaled the things he wanted to know despite the first columns’ extensive list. He couldn’t help it, he just liked to learn things about other creatures more than anything in the world and new that school was really the only time he’d be able to fulfill this desire.

He was glad that as a second year he was required to take the full blooded Kneazle but was still a little nervous. His handling of the diricrawl his first year had been good and he’d definitely gotten good marks in that class, but handling a small baby bird that liked to disappear was a little different than a ferocious kitten that would become upset if lied around. He was sure his excitement and nerves showed as he got up to collect a cute kitten from the box at the front of the room, but the moment his hands reached inside and pulled out the tiniest little fluff ball all covered in speckled fur with absurdly large ears, he felt his heart melt.

Upon taking his seat, he gingerly placed the Kneazle kitten into his lap, teasing his fingers into the fur on the top of it’s’ head in the way that his mother’s cat, Tado, liked. Sure enough the Kneazle purred delightfully and Tobi felt as though his eyes might tear up. He blinked them open and shut determinedly and continued to pet his experiment until he was certain his eyes were dry. He didn’t want to stop playing with the Kneazle, thinking that one day he might break his no pet policy to be able to have a Kneazle of his very own, but his strong feelings towards the freedom of animals won out and he gave a sad sigh as he knew what he wanted just wasn't in the cards. The Kneazle was just so cute and caring for creatures less dangerous and more dangerous was what he wanted to do for his life’s work. He might have only been twelve years old, but Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart had his life profession figured out from the age of five so in that respect he was about seven years late. So lost in his thought was he that Tobi didn’t even realize that he hadn’t started the assignment for the day yet and he looked up in a rather startled manner when he noticed that his neighbor was trying to talk to him.

“Sorry, what was that?” he asked, blinking rather stupidly, ear still ringing with the contented purrs of the Kneazle kitten.

10 Tobias Reinhardt II, Teppenpaw One wish and one harsh reality. 289 Tobias Reinhardt II, Teppenpaw 0 5

Araceli Arbon, Crotalus

February 07, 2015 6:11 AM

Unable to attend [in the corridors] by Araceli Arbon, Crotalus

Thank goodness for prep work, which meant that she knew what she was facing and had had time to come up with something approaching a plan. She had left some elements up to fate, hoping that perhaps she might wake up genuinely ill on the morning of the Kneazle class, or that Charms might contain something with which she could reasonably hurt herself by accident. However, no such kindly assistance had been provided and so it was up to her. There were things you could take to induce certain symptoms but most illness were so degrading and unladylike, so she had decided that a good old fashioned dizzy spell was the best way out. Symptoms for many things were invisible anyway, so it wasn’t as if her classmates could prove she was lying, and most would have no reason to suspect that she would. Where they were going though, something could….

Even though she knew the content of the lesson, she didn’t know the structure. For all she knew the animals could be wandering around the classroom, or the professor would begin by passing one round. Or, when she cried sick, he would have the perfect tool at his disposal to try to tell whether she was lying. Araceli had always loved Care of Magical Creatures, had spent her first year hanging on Professor Tallec’s every word and smiling soppily at all the little animals, but she couldn’t rely on that giving her any kind of credit now.

As they made their way between classes, she thought she might not have to fake it…. She could feel sweat prickling on her forehead and she felt shaky all over as she imagined what would happen to her if she went to the class. Laceration would be the least of her problems. The exposure, the embarrassment and humiliation... She made sure to be near the front of the group as they left Charms, so that when her pace slowed, ending with her stopping to lean against the wall and take a deep, steadying breath, there would be no shortage of people to pass by, and one of them would be bound to ask if she was alright. Which no, she wasn’t… She was feeling dizzy and thought that maybe she should go and see the nurse, but - oh, they had been going to play with the kittens today, and what a shame, and could her classmate please, please explain to the professor why she was absent and hand in her homework?

The potion bottle in her pocket pressed against her leg as she leant against the wall. Had she got to class, she could not have played the professor’s game even if she said nothing but simple truths - my hair is blonde, I come from Maine, I have two sisters - the little furball would have done nothing but spit and hiss at her regardless. Araceli was still every bit the frightened little wretch who couldn’t speak to anyone. All of this, the face she showed every day in school, was a lie, and one she had been told to keep at all costs.

13 Araceli Arbon, Crotalus Unable to attend [in the corridors] 290 Araceli Arbon, Crotalus 0 5

John Umland, Aladren

February 07, 2015 4:22 PM

I'm mostly focused on one worry. by John Umland, Aladren

The KWL chart was, like most things that happened in classrooms with people other than him and his mom and maybe a friend or two in them, a thing John had not experienced before he came to school and a thing he wished he could have continued to do without. He just did not see how it was useful at all, at least for beginners. In university, he’d both know what questions to ask and have the means to find out the answers, but in this class, there was no point. Many of his classmates probably knew next to nothing, which meant they were incapable of knowing they wanted to know anything except the basic ‘what is it’, and they learned so little in beginner classes that the last column was completely pointless for anyone who knew enough to know what he didn’t know and ask decent questions about it.

This was one of the several things he and Professor Tallec seemed to disagree about, though, and so John completed the assignments in one of two ways. On bad days, when he was in a hurry or just more annoyed with it than usual, he scribbled basic facts in column one and asked his sister to feed him the kind of answers the professor would want to hear for column two during breakfast. On good days, though, he took amused himself by pretending to take the assignment seriously, doing extra research, asking real questions in the second column, and doing it all in at least his second-best handwriting. The kneazle chart had received the second treatment. John had found a short book specifically about them in the library and filled the What I Know column almost completely, then written down questions he really did want to know the answers to:

How do kneazles detect deception? (Scent? Visual? Detect blood pressure change of person focused on?)

Does a kneazle understand what a lie is, or is it just reacting to a state it does not like (Lie is to kneazle as bad smell is to human – indicates something to stay away from, danger? Danger to what?)

What happens if someone tells a lie but thinks it is true?

If a kneazle-cat hybrid breeds only with cats, and its kittens also only breed with cats, how long will it still detect dishonesty magically?

And so on. His sister disapproved, citing the decapitation of the tall poppy and insisting that arrogant, passive-aggressive poppies drew even more attention than regular tall ones, but admitted it was better that he express himself this way than by talking to the professors. This way, they might just, as adults who didn’t know him well tended to, assume he really didn't know any better and feel a certain tolerant pity instead of a certain pointed desire to add his head to the tea menu. He had joked about how Mom always had said they should use their heads more than their hearts when trying to start discussions about issues important to them, but Julian had not seemed to find him amusing.

John was not sure he was going to be in much of a good humor by the end of class, either. Creatures that could detect suspicious characters didn’t, somehow, seem likely to like him. He didn’t like lying, but he just kind of…ended up doing it. A lot. Especially if lying by omission and the use of exact words and stretched or obscure definitions counted, though he dealt in his fair share of outright untruths, too. It was all, though, for really good reasons, so he didn't think he was a bad person. Maybe intent had something to do with it? How did kneazles define 'trustworthy person?" He was very good about doing what he said he was going to do, the only real exception was any time in the past few years when he'd promised Mom he always was careful about the Statute of Secrecy....

That document, really, was his problem. He'd have been an honest sort, but one of his first memories was of his brother Paul explaining that not everybody could make it snow indoors and that he needed to try very hard not to do stuff like that because if he did, then "Marty" (John assumed this had been a landlord or one of the Other Mom's boyfriends or something) would freak out and try to throw him in the furnace. He'd been about four at the time. Then they'd met Mom, who had the same concerns, always emphasizing that it was important to be very careful what he said, and had added another: he always needed to be brave and take the high road because if he panicked or lost his temper, then not only might people See, there was also a chance he might really hurt someone without meaning to. Then he'd gotten older yet, made friends by accident despite his best efforts to keep everyone at arm's length, and one of them had figured him out when he forgot Mom's rule about especially trying to avoid anger. It was just sheer dumb luck that it had been the one who'd also been expecting some great calling her whole life and had not felt the need to call for the Inquisition or a team of government scientists to cut him up. Now, though, if he told the truth...that would be really bad. They might blame his parents. Try to make examples of Mom and Dad. And they'd watch him forever, he'd never be able to do what he had, he was quite sure, been born to do....

Well, at least he'd get to experiment a little. See what kind of reactions he could get. He put on his gloves, just to be safe, and picked up one of the specimens. It narrowed its eyes at him, but that behavior could have any number of causes, some with nothing to do with him. It could have just disliked the way the light fell in its eyes.

"Good beast," he muttered. Kneazles always looked to him like the leftover parts of the cat families, mix-and-match creatures that didn't quite make a cohesive whole, but he - no beauty either - guessed they all got into the world the best way they could. He looked away from it hastily, hoping (though he knew that if it turned out it was, he would be so impressed by such a breathtaking feat of genetic engineering that he might not even mind the scratches as long as both his eyes still worked afterward) it wasn't part-hippogriff and likely to take offense, to look for a partner.

Tobias was right next to him at the moment, had not been too objectionable a person in their first year, and didn't seem to have a partner yet, so John said, "Want to work together?" and wasn't offended when asked to repeat the question. He had to ask people to do that a lot, too. Maybe Tobias was a cat enthusiast; John knew he certainly wasn't very interested in other people when the class studied magical birds. "I asked if you'd like to risk life and eyeballs by lying in front of these kittens with me," he said. "Since we're both currently partner-less."

16 John Umland, Aladren I'm mostly focused on one worry. 285 John Umland, Aladren 0 5

Anna Clarissa Cooper-Flemming, Pecari

February 15, 2015 2:19 PM

Able to help out! by Anna Clarissa Cooper-Flemming, Pecari

The school year had gotten well enough on its way that Anna Clarissa was comfortable with her courses, comfortable with her classmates, and comfortably getting distracted from her homework on a fairly regular basis. She didn't have any especial friends, although she spent some of her free time at Quidditch practice which meant that she was more familiar with some of the older Pecaris than her year-mates were. Izzie and Anna Clarissa were also incredibly compatible as co-conspirators, which hadn't exactly gone anywhere yet because getting used to school took a lot of energy, but Anna Clarissa wasn't ruling anything yet.

Charms had been pretty good today and the hazel-eyed Pecari was feeling pretty chipper as she walked with the rest of the people in her class to their next class, Care of Magical Creatures. To the surprise of absolutely nobody CoMC was Anna Clarissa's absolute favorite class and today they were going to learn about Kneazles, which Anna Clarissa had determined, via the homework, were basically cats except for as lie detectors. Which was pretty darn awesome. The eleven year old liked dogs more than cats but cats were pretty okay too. She was in the middle of figuring out how to convince her parents to let her have a familiar.

It was looking like it might be one of those "when you're thirteen..." types of discussions.

Anna Clarissa stopped for a second just outside the door for Care of Magical Creatures, paused, and then looked back. Yeah, just what she'd thought she'd seen - there was one of her classmates leaning against the wall and looking distressed. She didn't look green, which Anna Clarissa took as a good sign (when her brothers were about to sick up that's what they looked like, and Anna Clarissa was not the sort of motherly person that didn't mind taking care of other peoples' sick). But still, the curly-haired Pecari was always up for helping out other people!

"Hi, are you doing ok?" the first year said, approaching the other student. "Do you need to sit down?" Anna Clarissa paused again, then turned and dug around in her bag until she retrieved a dark green waterbottle with Gatorade written on the front. "Here's some water, if you'd like."

0 Anna Clarissa Cooper-Flemming, Pecari Able to help out! 0 Anna Clarissa Cooper-Flemming, Pecari 0 5

Chuck Fintoc, Pecari

February 15, 2015 2:56 PM

Easily the best class. by Chuck Fintoc, Pecari

So far Chuck had found his Sonora classes nothing short of interesting. The whole school experience was, in fact, by no means disappointing. Of course, there had already been those moments of homesickness where Chuck longed to get back to the dirt and smell of the Fintoc ranch in Colorado. But the feeling was never particularly overwhelming as Sonora life was still very much a new adventure for him. Chuck's frequent visits to stay with his stepmother and stepsister in L.A. in more recent years meant that this wasn't the first time he'd stayed away from home for a good duration and so he could easily cope.

Even though Chuck was already of the opinion that academics would never really be for him, he found it exciting to learn about magic and how to control it and how to make it useful. New doors repeatedly opened up for him and he was puzzled as to why his older cousin Joel had passed up such an opportunity. As he had anticipated, Care of Magical Creatures was undoubtedly Chuck's favoured class. Whilst there were numerous fascinating elements of other subjects that Chuck didn't take for granted, it was really Care of Magical Creatures that gripped him and indulged his true interests.

Professor Tallec's KWL charts weren't particularly popular with Chuck but he was happy enough as they were straightforward and gave him the opportunity to review the amazing new things he had learnt about all sorts of different creatures.

Today's lesson was one of many that Chuck was looking forward to. Hands-on was obviously the best kind of class in his eyes. And Kneazles, well Kneazles were incredibly fascinating creatures. Completely undaunted and very much excited, Chuck selected a full-blooded kitten from the front of the class. He was perfectly happy with the task in hand, having nothing to hide and a lot to learn.

"Want to be partners?" he asked another student close by, not yet having formed any particular friendships and therefore having no preference but a willingness to get to know everyone.

8 Chuck Fintoc, Pecari Easily the best class. 309 Chuck Fintoc, Pecari 0 5

Makenzie Newell [Crotalus]

February 16, 2015 3:15 PM

This class is purrrrfect! by Makenzie Newell [Crotalus]

Kitties!

Since discovering that her class would be working with Kneazles, Makenzie’s general response had remained. She loved felines, and Kneazles in particular. One of her great aunts (great-great-great? she was very old) kept the company of dozens around her house; Makenzie’s dad said it was because she used to breed them, but Mom would mutter something about an emphasis on “used to”, and the word “lonely” came up a lot. Either way, they were adorable and clever and wonderful, so Makenzie understood why her great aunt would keep them as pets.

Her “What I Know” column on her paper was tightly compressed, words tiny and bent to fit it all in; actually, that was a pretty good feeling. The redhead didn’t often know a lot in advanced in her classes, mostly because she didn’t happen to know a lot in general, so coming into a lesson feeling smart was a nice change. She imagined this was how Aladren kids felt all the time, and for a moment, she envied their intellect. But only for a moment, because Makenzie happened to really like herself just the way she was, thank you very much.

Even though she knew almost all of what Professor Tallec said, she listened closely and politely like a good girl, and then she let her peers go get their Kneazles before her. She stayed back because otherwise, she knew she would be too caught up in how cute they were, and how would she pick which Kneazle to play with? Then she’d hold up the whole line, and everybody would be mad at her. No, she could just wait, even if she felt like she might burst from excitement.

When the line had thinned out, the twelve year old finally took her turn. “Aw!” she exclaimed as she stared down at the remaining kitties. “Hi there, little guys!” One of the full-blooded Kneazles in the front pawed at the box almost like it wanted to play with her, so she picked that one, and she might have skipped away if not for the precious fluffy speckled cargo she now held in her arms.

While she searched for a partner, she absentmindedly stroked the Kneazle kitten’s head, scratching its ears comfortingly, smiling when she heard it pur. Eventually, she noticed somebody who was still alone (or alone as somebody could be while holding an adorable floofy companion) and approached them. “Hello,” she offered cheerily. “Me and this little one still need partners. Want to work together?”

12 Makenzie Newell [Crotalus] This class is purrrrfect! 291 Makenzie Newell [Crotalus] 0 5

Tobias Reinhardt II

February 19, 2015 5:26 AM

And what's that? by Tobias Reinhardt II

John’s offer worked alright for Tobi as he’d determined from class last year that John was one of those people who lived inside their heads—much like Tobi himself, though perhaps in a different way. Indeed, the way John asked the question to him felt rather Liac-like in a Tobi sort of way which was as good a combination as one could get so he nodded. Besides, John liked birds—that much was evident from the diricrawl conversation the previous year, and anyone who liked birds was good in Tobi’s book. John’s interest had been more scientific based, if Tobi could recall the sorts of questions he’d asked, whereas Tobi came more from a conservationist point of view—the sort of person who one day down the road might be jailed for padlocking themselves to a tree to keep it from being cut down while simultaneously fasting and taking a vow of silence, but Tobi was only twelve and right now more than anything he wanted to learn about the species he wanted to protect one day down the line.

“However,” he said—he couldn’t help it. When discussing nature one had to be serious and not risk spreading rumors lest someone less intelligent spread them as truths. That, Tobi believed, could lead to a wide spread culling event, something he didn’t think he necessarily wanted to be involved in. He then re-examined his decision to join Liac’s Quidditch team to support his cousin, realizing that he didn’t really know enough about the sport to know whether or not it was one of those animal-exploiting conglomerates. That would be something he would have to look further into, he decided, after class of course and after he made sure John knew that baby Kneazales wouldn’t actually scratch out their eyes nor kill them. “I highly doubt these babies will actually cause us too much harm, Professor Tallec said that babies are not as intense as adults.” And besides, even if he did get a scratch from his Kneazle, he didn’t plan on allowing it near his face much less his eyeball as that was just plain stupid angry cat handling technique.

“I can go first, if you like,” he said, suddenly feeling less shy than normal. In part because there was a furry creature present and just being around animals made him feel more relaxed; but also in part because he had already taken lessons with John before and knew what to expect. He had already come up with his two truths and a lie. It wasn’t too hard—since he and John didn’t know each other two well, Tobi had decided it was safe to say general things, as it wasn’t like there were things John knew about his that could make it hard to come up with statements and visa-versa. His first statement was about his siblings, the second about Germany, and the third about the number of languages he could speak. He thought this was rather clever of him since if John had a good memory, he would know that there was a basis of truth in all of these things which would make it a little harder if the Kneazle didn’t react properly.

As he thought of his clever deception, the Kneazle shifted restlessly and he could feel the hairs on the back of it’s neck begin to stand up. Tobi picked up the calming strokes again in an attempt to appease the Kneazle, all thoughts of deceiving John disappearing as he lost himself in the soft fur of the animal on his lap. The Kneazle quieted down a little bit and Tobi smiled happily at it.

10 Tobias Reinhardt II And what's that? 289 Tobias Reinhardt II 0 5

Araceli Arbon

February 19, 2015 10:06 AM

Oh, lucky me... by Araceli Arbon

She had noticed the overly perky girl with wayward hair before. She had made sure to study all of her new classmates thoroughly in order to make sure she mingled only with the right kind. Of course one thing she had learnt very quickly about Sonora was that you couldn’t really stop the wrong kind attempting to mix with you. Hence a girl from no decent background was now coming to her rescue. The indignity of it all was almost enough to make her want to brush off her fainting spell, were it not for the fact that what awaited her in class was a fate worse than interfering Muggleborns. Besides, she was clearly weak and ill, and had not initiated the interaction… Araceli couldn’t be blamed for the school’s poor selection policy.

“No, thank you,” she said, trying to remember her manners and not visibly flinch as the girl offered her the water bottle. She wasn’t sure she fully believed father’s assertions that Muggleborns carried strange and infectious diseases, as Effie had not been stricken down with anything above the usual number of common colds since being here, but she didn’t want to disobey him, and the thought that this common girl’s saliva on it was disturbing enough in itself, even if it wasn’t riddled with germs.

“I just think I need to stay quietly for a moment. Then maybe I can come and join the class,” she added, being sure to stare wistfully towards the room. “Though I do feel terribly light-headed….” she mused. She almost asked the girl what she thought, feeling it was better to have a classmate encourage her away to the nurse instead of suggesting it herself before remembering that the girl’s background made it inappropriate for her to consider her opinion relevant. “I might see if I can lie down in the hospital room for a bit. Perhaps I’ll still catch the second half of the class,” she added hopefully. “In case I don’t though, could you hand my homework in please? And explain to Professor Tallec where I am?”

13 Araceli Arbon Oh, lucky me... 290 Araceli Arbon 0 5

Anna Clarissa Cooper-Flemming

February 19, 2015 5:13 PM

And lucky me, too! by Anna Clarissa Cooper-Flemming

"Okie-day!" Anna Clarissa chirped following her classmate's response to the water question, stuffing the bottle back into her bag with much less care than she'd taken it out with. Water was super important but the first year wasn't entirely sure yet that her classmate wasn't going to sick up in the near future. If the other girl needed water, she knew Anna Clarissa had some now so she'd probably ask!

"Yeah that sounds like you should stay still a little while," Anna Clarissa agreed, nodding assertively as her curls bounced, agreeing with the both of them. Hm. Her classmate was saying things about the Hospital Wing, where the first-year Pecari hadn't been yet. She vaguely remembered where it might be, but shockingly hadn't had anything more than a couple of scrapes and bruises since her arrival. And she was most likely to just let injuries heal up on their own anyway. She'd fractured her collarbone falling out of a tree one time and even then, she'd mostly just had to be careful about moving for a couple of weeks. Of course, that had worked just as well as one would expect.

"Yeah abso-defini-utely!" Anna Clarissa responded to the request for handing in homework and professor-telling. "First let's get you to the hospital room though. It's dangerous for you to walk by yourself if you're feeling light-headed, 'cause then you might fall and hit your head and nobody would be there to let someone know. We can go whenever you feel ready," the hazel-eyed girl smiled encouragingly at her new friend. "Oh!" there were things she should know, though, if she were to tell the professor about her new friend's absence. "What's your name? Mine is Anna Clarissa!"

0 Anna Clarissa Cooper-Flemming And lucky me, too! 0 Anna Clarissa Cooper-Flemming 0 5

Ginger Pierce, Teppenpaw

February 20, 2015 5:26 PM

I think so too! by Ginger Pierce, Teppenpaw

Ginger was by no means remotely academic by nature. Despite this, she was enjoying most of her classes so far. Professor Pye had made DADA unpleasant, but since Professor Carter took over it hadn't been nearly so terrible. Transfiguration was hard, but Ginger had taken Sully's advice and attended office hours semi-regularly so she was at least keeping up with everyone else. Charms was just plain useful and easily the first class that came to mind when someone said they were 'learning magic'. Potions was going pretty well, though she didn't care for the animal bits. Jose said when she got older she could talk to her teacher about substitutions, but she wasn't advanced enough for that yet and she wasn't brave enough to just refuse to do those lessons like Jose had.

Care of Magical Creatures, though, was the only one of her classes she'd call just plain awesome. As far as she was concerned, you couldn't go wrong with a class that periodically let you handle animals.

Today was one of those days and knowing it was kneazles just made it ten times better. She done her homework - the KWL charts might not be quite as useful as Skies' Transfiguration Tables but they had the saving grave of being a lot easier to fill out. Her sheet read under the "Know" column that they were "magical cats" and "had lion tails." She had left a little space then added a couple more fact just to make her look like she'd actually but effort into the assignment. "Some people have them as pets." "They can have kittens with normal cats." "Mom says I can't have one." "She says it is only partly because we spend too much time with muggles."

Under "Want To Know" she had written her three most pressing questions about the feline. "What makes them 'magical'?" "Why am I not allowed to have one?" and "Why can't they be near muggles if they look mostly like regular cats?"

As Professor Tallec went through his lecture, Ginger drew lines into the "Learned" column, leading from her questions to their answers, as both a form of note-taking and so she wouldn't have to do it for homework later. For her first question, she wrote the answer, "Can detect lying and other untrustworthy and suspicious behavior." In answer to her second question she wrote, "XXX Classification - can be violent and aggressive when encountering untrustworthy people." Across from her third one, she answered, "Plumed tail looks weird. Also, see previous answers." And since her family was mixed blood and did interact with muggles frequently, there was going to be some dishonesty involved in keeping magic a secret. She wasn't sure how badly an adult kneazle might react to those lies, but it even if it didn't claw at people for it, having a pet that hissed every time you said some vaguely untrue wasn't really good either. Especially since a fair number of her aunts were fake fortune tellers by profession.

After he invited everyone to pick out one of the kittens, Ginger looked them over, not quite sure whether to get a full kneazle or a mixed. Her decision was made for her when she saw an adorable half-breed looking right up at her and mewing. She picked the little fellow up and brought him back to her seat.

She was about to go looking for a partner when a partner found her. "Sure!" she answered his question about if she wanted to be partners. "Should I go first?" she asked, but didn't want for an answer before she launched right into it. "I'm Ginger Pierce, first year Teppenpaw." One truthful sentence. "I'm a pureblood from New Hampshire." One lie. Well, two lies, but in one sentence. She was actually as mixed blood (or more) as her kitten, and she was born and raised in California. But pretending to be one of her more respectable Eastern cousins was the only real intentional deception she'd made in the last year, even if she hadn't actually told Jemima that in so many words, so it was the first one to come to mind when she had to lie. She was a trained actor, though, so despite generally being an honest person, it came out pretty believable if one didn't look too closely at her canvas running shoes sticking out beneath her school robes. "And I am just loving being at Sonora!" And a final truth to wrap it up.

1 Ginger Pierce, Teppenpaw I think so too! 302 Ginger Pierce, Teppenpaw 0 5

Aislinn Nicolls, Aladren

February 23, 2015 5:31 PM

Compare and contrast? by Aislinn Nicolls, Aladren

Aislinn opened her green folder, green for the outdoors and therefore, for creatures, and put her homework at the edge of her desk. The paper was neatly separated into three columns and titled as requested by the professor. On one side was listed:

What I know

Appearance:

Similar to a cat
Large ears
Plumed tail
Spotted, speckled, or flecked fur

Characteristics:

High level of intelligence
Can be aggressive
Ability to detect suspicious people

Other:

Have up to eight kittens in a litter
Can be breed with cats
Owners are required to have a license

Everything that she had written in the ‘What I know’ column was what she had read, but she had never actually had the opportunity to interact with one and certainly had other biological questions regarding the animal. So, in her second column, she had listed:

What I want to know:

What purpose does a Kneezles appearance serve? Is there a reason for having large ears or a plumed tail?

What gives them the ability to detect suspicious people? How do they react when confronted with a suspicious person?

Biologically, what factor causes the Kneezle to be a magical creature versus a regular cat? Is it similar to the properties of magic within people? Is it possible that a recessive trait can be passed among cats and a part Kneezle can turn up in a nonmagical litter?

She doubted that many of her questions would actually be answered in this class, but the question had been what she wants to know. She wondered how much research had actually been done in the field of magical genetics and more specifically, involving creatures. Did the library have any books involving the subject? If it did, then maybe she would be able to answer the questions after all. But for now, she would have to set aside such thoughts in favor of the lesson. Regardless of how scientific she was, even Aislinn couldn’t help cooing at the adorableness of baby kneezles. It was just about the cutest thing she had ever seen. Of course, it made sense given that she had a natural affinity for cats.

When they were released to do work, Aislinn went up to the box of half kneezles. She had wanted to pick out a full kneezle, but thought that it would be more interesting to see how well a half could live up to a full in detecting lies. Though, there was the variable of age since the professor had stated that they would be oversensitive. Maybe she would be able to find someone with a full kneezle to compare the reactions with.

All of the kittens in the box were heart melting and made her want to take all of them home, but she knew that this was an experiment and she could only take one. There was one that was smaller than the others with a mix of spotted and flecked fur and was gray and black. Aside from the markings and large ears, the half kneezle looked more like a regular cat than a kneezle, but it was certainly the cutest of the bunch. At least, it was in her opinion. Carefully, she picked up the little bundle and cradled it in her arms. She stroked behind its ears. Instantly, she could hear the kitten purring and starting to relax. “Okay, pretty kitty, we need to go find a partner.”

Finding the first person that didn’t have a partner, she approached them and asked, “Do you want to be partners? I picked a half kneezle.” She hoped they had a full kneezle for comparison. But even the differences in how two kittens reacted at all would be interesting.

0 Aislinn Nicolls, Aladren Compare and contrast? 297 Aislinn Nicolls, Aladren 0 5

John Umland

February 23, 2015 5:54 PM

Possibly finding out I'm inherently untrustworthy. by John Umland

It was odd, John thought, how people referred to small animals as babies. Maybe most people his own age just didn’t know many other words, but the professor did it sometimes, too, which confused him. It was inaccurate. A juvenile kneazle was probably a kitten or a cub, not a baby. Baby was, admittedly, about as far from a precise term as anything got, but generally a human one, and while witches and wizards were technically magical creatures, they did not study how to care for themselves or anything else classified as a Being in this class. Putting every immature creature into a single incorrect category was useless, not to mention something that made things sound a lot more...boring. It was like when people at home sometimes laughed at him for liking birds, not seeing how many species and behaviors and niches there were. 'Birds,' 'babies' - he didn't know how people could be so general just by default. He had to think about it to be vague about anything he really knew about when he had to do it to stretch the truth.

“I know,” he said. He did not see how anyone could have taken him too seriously, as he had a wand and, more importantly yet, a complete set of fully functioning limbs. He had no desire to harm the kneazle, but if it jumped at him (cats, at least, could jump very well, so it seemed safer than not to assume that a kneazle was perfectly capable of making the leap from the top of his desk to his head if it wanted to), he was reasonably sure he would discourage it from continuing the attack as vigorously as necessary. That much, to him, was obvious; less obvious was whether Tobias was really so literal-minded that he had not found it obvious or if he, like John, occasionally just found it useful to make people think he was that literal-minded. He had no obvious reason to deceive John right this second (though if he was trying to see whether or not one could get a reaction by deceiving with truth already, that would be awesome) but it could just be a habit, especially if he had grown up a bit like John had. “I’ve heard that using mild hyperbole is conversational,” he added matter-of-factly, shifting into his own literal mode. “I still don’t know why.”

He wasn’t lying. Julian sometimes annoyed him when she used overstatement - it often sounded as though she were whining and trying to hide it - and he almost always either annoyed himself or botched situations when he lapsed into it. Of course, sometimes it didn't work because people who'd dealt with him before thought he was being literal and were then annoyed to discover he was not, which would have made a sort of sense if those very same people hadn't sometimes then flipped around and thought he was exaggerating for no reason when he was actually being literal. People were impossible; he didn't know how anyone ever studied them.

Tobias offered to go first, and John said, “sure, okay,” but the other boy became distracted with the kneazle. John smiled slightly. "I'm guessing one of your truths won't be not liking felines," he observed, reaching into his bag and taking out his regular notebook. His kneazle started sniffing the edges of the notebook. John made a face at it.

“Mine,” he informed it, pulling his notebook a little closer and trying awkwardly to hold a pen in one hand and pet the kneazle with the other to keep it off his work. The pen dripped ink onto the page. The kneazle purred. John scratched out the words likes attn with the last of the ink he still had, the pen scratching unpleasantly on the last few letters. He dipped the pen in his inkwell again and looked expectantly at Tobias. “Ready when you are,” he said.

16 John Umland Possibly finding out I'm inherently untrustworthy. 285 John Umland 0 5

Sutton Nicolls, Pecari

February 23, 2015 6:07 PM

Isn't it though? by Sutton Nicolls, Pecari

“Ugh,” Sutton groaned, as she pulled out a crumbled piece of paper and looked at it. Was this her homework? No, that was for Transfiguration. Digging around, she pulled out a few more papers. No, no, no. None of them were her homework. Where was it? She had actually remembered to do this homework too. Sometimes, she forgot to do her homework just because there were more interesting things to do. But this one she had done. It had actually been interesting, because she liked animals. She started pulling out her books and flipping through them. “Yes!” She finally found it stuck in her Transfiguration book and it was only slightly wrinkled. She took that as a good sign and put it out on her desk.

The first column of what she knew had been rather short since she didn’t know much at all. She knew more about nonmagical animals than she knew about magical animals, but she did know enough to know that it was related to a cat, which made sense since they looked like a cross between a house cat, a lion (for the tail), and a lynx (for the ears.) She had also caught on to the fact that they were aware of suspicious people. She wondered how they were aware of that. Was it like a gut feeling like how on those shows sometimes the detective would just have a gut feeling about someone? She guessed it made sense since sometimes she would get an uneasy feeling about a person or situation and then usually stayed cleared of those things.

Once the class began, Sutton couldn’t say that she wasn’t excited. Who didn’t like animals? If a person didn’t like animals, then there was something wrong with them in her opinion. She wrote down a couple notes on her sheet from what the professor said in her sloppy writing. There were a couple more things that she didn’t know about and now she did. After that was finished, she was excited for the assignment. It was like actually getting to play a detective and instead of having a backup dog, you had a backup cat, a rather intelligent one at that.

When they were dismissed, she went up to the boxes and picked up a half-kneezle. It was neat how it looked more like a housecat, but had traits of a kneezle if looked at closely. She held up the bundle against her shoulder and cradled it. As she looked for an open spot, she could feel the tiny feel of claws kneeding into her shoulder. She was about to head to a clear area to play with the kitten when someone approached her and asked to be partners. “Sure,” she answered. “Do you want to go sit over there so the kittens can play while we work?”

0 Sutton Nicolls, Pecari Isn't it though? 311 Sutton Nicolls, Pecari 0 5

Professor Tallec

Two Truths and a Lie [Beginner Class] by Professor Tallec

Tobias Reinhardt II, Teppenpaw

One wish and one harsh reality. by Tobias Reinhardt II, Teppenpaw

Araceli Arbon, Crotalus

Unable to attend [in the corridors] by Araceli Arbon, Crotalus

John Umland, Aladren

I'm mostly focused on one worry. by John Umland, Aladren

Anna Clarissa Cooper-Flemming, Pecari

Able to help out! by Anna Clarissa Cooper-Flemming, Pecari

Chuck Fintoc, Pecari

Easily the best class. by Chuck Fintoc, Pecari

Makenzie Newell [Crotalus]

This class is <em>purrrr</em>fect! by Makenzie Newell [Crotalus]

Tobias Reinhardt II

And what's that? by Tobias Reinhardt II

Araceli Arbon

Oh, lucky me... by Araceli Arbon

Anna Clarissa Cooper-Flemming

And lucky me, too! by Anna Clarissa Cooper-Flemming

Ginger Pierce, Teppenpaw

I think so too! by Ginger Pierce, Teppenpaw

Aislinn Nicolls, Aladren

Compare and contrast? by Aislinn Nicolls, Aladren

John Umland

Possibly finding out I'm inherently untrustworthy. by John Umland

Sutton Nicolls, Pecari

Isn't it though? by Sutton Nicolls, Pecari