Essays on chores? on Charms

Professor Lorraine Taylor

April 09, 2008 9:10 PM

Intermediate Charms, Class I [Years III, IV, V] by Professor Lorraine Taylor

Although she had not originally planned to combine her third, fourth, and fifth years beyond the first lesson last year, it had turned out that the combination did rather nicely. It provided the students with the opportunity to figure things out themselves and learn from peers instead of being completely reliant on her teachings. Free thinking was something that Lorraine Taylor particularly wanted to encourage; free thinking and creative thinking were two skill sets that could be very important in what she would term the ‘real world’.

However, Lorraine was slightly stricter with this class than her beginners. After all, this was the class that would determine whether or not the students continued on to the Advanced classes, which was a goal that the grey-blonde woman was rather interested in pursuing. Fixing her pale blue eyes on the clock, she determined that her students would be arriving shortly and straightened her dark green robes with a quick tug as she stood.

As the students arrived, she was especially pleased to see that not a one of them was late. In fact, all of her seats were filled a full minute before she shut the heavy door with a snap and ascended the dais from which she had become accustomed to speaking. Another mark of a matured and adjusted class—they fell silent (or mostly silent) within a minute of her looking at them. The Charms professor was pleased with the progress this lot had made from last year.

“Welcome to Intermediate Charms! This class will prepare you for the tests you will be expected to take as a fifth year; fifth years, you will have mandatory review and study sessions for your tests starting mid January. The papers I am currently passing out contain the syllabus for this class. This must be signed before we commence this class, and those students who would like to take issue with this may come up and speak to me privately.” Lorraine announced as she began moving about the room, passing out the syllabuses. They had not changed since last year, but she appreciated having a current copy from each of her students, just in case.

The syllabus essentially covered her educational background (seven years study at Sonora Academy as an Aladren, magical college in California, then several years of work as a magical engineer in Nevada), the materials required for class, what could be expected for homework, and a few rules:

1. There will be no tolerance for name calling based on race, religion, ethnicity, 'purity' of blood, ability to perform in this class or others, etc.

2. There will be no tolerance for dangerous behaviour (running around, dramatic or careless use of wands, etc)

3. There will be no food or drink of any type in the classroom.

Refusal to comply with these rules may result in detentions, loss of House points, or meetings with your Head of House.

At the bottom, there was a space for student signatures.

“Please sign these and send them forward after reading.” Lorraine moved onwards. “Today, we will be studying the use of the Impervious Charm and the Cleaning Charm, both common household charms that I consider worthwhile, despite that they have limited use in the professional world. Those of you who wear glasses, the Impervious Charm can be especially useful in the rain, and the Cleaning Charm can easily be used to clean your trunks out should they get too messy.

“I would advise against using either of these charms in any of your other classes without first consulting the professors who teach the classes, as with anything I teach you.

“I would like you to try to figure out how to perform these spells by examining pages 31 and 73 of your copies of Intermediate Charms and You. If you need assistance I will, of course, provide it. However, this class is highly based on your ability to study, and your textbook will be intrinsic to your studying…or should be.

“For homework, I would like an essay addressing the use, abuse, performance, and your ethical stance on Cheering Charms. These are tested on frequently and we will be addressing them starting next week. Your essay will be due next Thursday; you will have an exam on Impervious and Cleaning Charms next Wednesday. Please begin and do not hesitate to ask for help if you need it.”

OOC: Minimum of ten sentences please. Anything shorter than that will not count for House Points. If you are having trouble writing the ten sentences, try to include what your character is thinking, feeling, seeing, etc. Site rules should be followed, of course. Beyond that, please be creative and tag me if necessary. If you wish to do the homework, please post your response in the ‘Homework Bin’ above; each entry will count for a minimum of ten points extra house credit and a maximum of twenty points extra house credit.

Subthreads:

Be happy. :) by Saul Pierce with Elly Eriksson, Elly

What a way to start the year... by Eavan Valentine

Starting another year by Talitha Cumni with Guenther Heindrich, Talitha

I need to know more! by Oliver Abbott

Essays on chores? by Paul Tarwater

0 Professor Lorraine Taylor Intermediate Charms, Class I [Years III, IV, V] 0 Professor Lorraine Taylor 1 5

Saul Pierce

April 10, 2008 11:46 AM

Be happy. :) by Saul Pierce

It was unusual for Saul to make it anywhere on time, but for his first charms class of the year, he managed, more by accident than intent, to arrive early. This was mostly due to the fact that his watch, powered by a muggle battery and therefore not as reliable here in Sonora as the manufacturer would have liked, happened to be running fast today. According to his watch, he was three minutes late.

Since class hadn't started yet, upon sitting down, he immediately began talking to his neighbors about incident over the summer involving chocolate frogs and some muggle kids, but he was interrupted by the door closing and everyone else going quiet. His listeners gave him 'shut up' looks so he stopped telling his story with a roll of his eyes and looked at the teacher who was apparently waiting for him to do just that because she then began the class.

Saul signed the syllabus without reading it and passed it forward. His name was an unreadable scrawl that might have contained an S and a P, but only if you already knew the two loopy squiggles were supposed to start with those letters (Simon had once told him that a signature was actually just a stylized way of writing your initials and every signature Saul had seen since then had confirmed this description - and a great deal of artistic license was taken on the initials, too, sometimes). He also wrote SAUL under it in block letters so she could know whose signature it was, since he wasn't 100% sure he was the only SP in the school. Since he was the only Saul, he didn't bother to add his last name.

Saul was still contemplating signatures, initials, the destiny that was EE+EE, whether or not Echo's and Elly's signatures looked anything alike, and Briony (because thoughts of Briony and Pepper were rarely far from his brain) when Professor Taylor began the lesson proper.

It wasn't a long one to begin with, so when he tuned in only a minute or so late, she was already up to the homework assignment. Of course it was another essay. Every teacher was all about essays anymore. What was wrong with true/false questions, anyway? He wanted to know.

This internal grumbling caused him to miss the announcement about the test and what that was on, so he quite naturally assumed today's lesson was a review of cheering charms (or maybe an introduction of them, for the third years).

So he took out his wand, and used his neighbor to demonstrate the one thing that was boosting his grade from failing to passing in spite of his inability to write essays or pay attention: the fact that he actually could perform most of the charms taught in the class. He grinned at his cheered 'victim' and asked, "So, was that an ethical use, do you think?"

1 Saul Pierce Be happy. :) 82 Saul Pierce 0 5

Eavan Valentine

April 12, 2008 10:20 PM

What a way to start the year... by Eavan Valentine

Charms was one of those classes Eavan looked forward to. You got to just figure out exactly what your chosen stick of wood could do when asked. Transfiguration was the same way, but the subject matter made it difficult to think about those things when you're trying to turn a frog into a book or something like that. There's intricacies that Eavan couldn't even fathom, which was why she was so much fonder (and coincidentally better) at charms. Though Professor Taylor's penchant for giving out essays was always a bit of a let-down.

Eavan signed off the Syllabus without reading it. She read it last year and it hadn't changed. She pulled out her book, which now had the rainbow text she had first implemented in her History of Magic book. The colors made finding things easier.

She quickly wrote down the homework (another essay? Ugh...) flipped to page 31 and the Impervious Charm. She didn't wear glasses, but there were a few uses for it that might be useful. You could put it on doors to keep people out. Eavan grinned wishing she were turning 17 sooner than later, so she could use it on her door at home.

turning back to the task at hand, she pulled out her wand and after a final check on the wand movement and incantation, pointed at the first random object she saw (her bag) and shouted "Impervious!" A white sheen appeared around her bag for a moment and then disappeared. Eavan tentatively poked the bag with the tip of her wand, feeling the wand bounce back a few times before being able to penetrate the feeble charm.

But a few minutes later, the charm appeared to hold and, satisfied, Eavan flipped through her book again until she found the section on cleaning charms. Now those were a useful bunch of charms. Both her trunk and book-bag were covered in quill nibs, old papers and the like and the cage she kept her puffskein, Denis, in(for his own protection with all the cats running everywhere)needed a bit of cleaning as well.

She read up on a few cleaning charms and then raised her wand to try it on her bag. Instead of scrubbing out the ink stains on the inside of the bag, her bag began spinning around in circles before zooming off in a tangent and hitting a nearby person in the leg. Wincing as her things bounced off and fell still, she softly crouched over and gathered her things up, blushing slightly.

"Sorry about that. I guess my cleaning charm wasn't very good." She gave person a smile. "Are you all right?"

0 Eavan Valentine What a way to start the year... 86 Eavan Valentine 0 5

Talitha Cumni

April 13, 2008 10:56 AM

Starting another year by Talitha Cumni

Talitha got up early. She showered and changed into her usual embroidered jeans and a bright red tee. She spent more time than was her habit to look nice. For some odd reason, it became important to considered her looks around her peers. Her dark tan really required no make up and she only needed a touch of mascara as she was blessed with long dark lashes but a touch of liner and a bit of gloss never hurt. Owl had gifted her with two remiges that her uncle attached to a hair clip. This pulled back the left side of her hair to her ear.

Her hair was much shorter than it had ever been since she was little. It ended just above her shoulders in a under curl. The rest of her hair was donated to a muggle charity that made wigs for sick kids. It was a shock to see the difference it made, but once she got used to it, Talitha liked the new look.

Throwing on her robes that were a year old, Talitha sighed. One thing she was hoping for that didn’t happen was a growth spurt. She was still the exact same height she was when she’d left last spring, 5’ even. Spending most of her free time outdoors had made other changes she did like though. The round, baby-face was almost gone, leaving a more grownup girl in its wake. Outdoor activity had made her leaner and stronger, without straightening out the curves she’d begun to take pride in.

Her skin was baked deep brown from the sun. That did not make her mother very happy. She wanted Talitha to wear a protective potion to block out UV rays and use spells to give her the tan she wanted, but summer was too short and the adventures to exciting to be bothered with remembering to smear on the goo.

Happily she made her way down to breakfast and then to class. Charms was still a favorite. She’d stop resenting the woman for usurping the position of her all time favorite prof. but try as she might, she just couldn’t like Professor Taylor. This first lesson was a different matter.

Her parents, who were more relaxed than most about under-aged magic had said that the moment she learned a spell at school, she could use it at home. The two spells introduced today had to be heaven sent.

Scourgify and Impervius were two spells she was dying to use. The cleaning spell meant no more hand washing dishes which had been her chore for eons. Now a flick of the wand and she would be free to explore the woods. Impervius meant no more leaky tents when she and her friends went out camping. Score!

The writing assignment held interesting possibilities too. She loved the challenge of ethical dilemmas. Idly, she wondered if she should write on the pro or con side or just have fun and loop around and back and forth and argue both. At least it wasn’t a boring research paper. Quickly she jotted down a few notes for future reference when she felt someone’s presence. Glancing up over her shoulder, she gave her classmate a welcoming dimpled grin.

“Sure, we can do this together.” She said. “What do you think about this term so far? It seems the professors got together and decided to pile on the work, doesn’t it?”

\n

0 Talitha Cumni Starting another year 102 Talitha Cumni 0 5

Guenther Heindrich

April 14, 2008 11:09 PM

COOL! definitely liking the idea of this impervious charm! by Guenther Heindrich

Guenther's least favorite class was no doubt Charms. He dreaded the class because it was one of the many classes that he made a fool of himself in. He remember that one year he had managed to learn something right off the bat but that was one thing, one year. It wasn't likely to happen again. He managed to keep his grades up with his essays and things of that nature, but his head just remained above water.

Guenther listened to the teacher carefully, before starting the assignment. He handed in the syllabus signed, and started to read the assignment. He definitely liked what she had said about using the Impervious charm on his glasses when it rained. That was the only time when he found glasses annoying. He supposed that he could then also wear them when he went swimming. It was definitely handy. He wasn't so sure he could do the cleaning charm. It was a charm that his mother had trouble with (it seemed that the inadequacy with charms ran in the family.), so it was sure to stump him. As he read though, it didn't look to hard. He looked around wondering if they were supposed to work independently. "Can I work with you?" he asked the person next to him and he got the answer he was hoping for.

"I don't mind the work, as long as it's not overwhelming. I like to learn." he answered him. "I'm not to good with this class though."

0 Guenther Heindrich COOL! definitely liking the idea of this impervious charm! 0 Guenther Heindrich 0 5

Talitha

April 17, 2008 9:53 PM

It is a very agreeable subject by Talitha

“Nobody’s good in this class.” Talitha replied. She was happy Guenther joined her. They had never worked together before. It still amazed her that after three years at Sonora, there were people she’d yet to get to know. “If we got the charms right the first time, we wouldn’t need it would we? Just think about all the spells you can work now than when you were a first year.”

Talitha opened her book to page 31 and scanned the instructions for the Cleaning Charm. It didn’t seem too complicated. The content of the chapter did imply that concentration and desire to work the charm was a major key. Considering the chores she was assigned at home, Talitha definitely had a great desire to master it. She flipped to page 73. The Impervious Charm was more fundamental and looked a bit easier.

“Oh, by the way, congratulations on making prefect.” Talitha smiled up at Guenther as she practiced the wand movements. “Were you surprised?”
\n

0 Talitha It is a very agreeable subject 0 Talitha 0 5

Guenther Heindrich

April 18, 2008 10:00 PM

I guess by Guenther Heindrich

"Hmmm, yeah you're right." He watched her make the wand movements described by the book. Hmmm, they didn't look too hard. He always managed to screw it up though. Then she mentioned him making prefect. His face got red. "Yeah, it was really surprising. I guess I've never thought of myself as a leader. I usually follow everyone else's advice, and now kids want advice from me. I guess it's part of being an upperclassman too, but it's so weird. I'm not used to it all."

He smiled and chuckled a little at his thought. "I have younger siblings, but they just blow me off. It's nice in a way to have kids listen to me for once."

He picked up his wand, and practiced the wand movement before trying it for real. Small bright orange sparks came out of his wand instead of cleaning like it was supposed to. He made a face at his wand.

0 Guenther Heindrich I guess 0 Guenther Heindrich 0 5

Talitha

April 21, 2008 11:42 AM

You surmise? by Talitha

“You’ll probably do fine.” Talitha smiled. “Just because you don’t see yourself as a leader. That will make you careful, not bossy. You’ll think before you open your mouth.”

Talitha saw his expression of frustration. She wondered if he talked himself into making things difficult. Usually, when she had trouble learning a new skill, it was because she was either trying to hard or convinced herself ahead of time that she would fail.

“My mother said that wand magic was simple.” Talitha commented, hoping she didn’t sound stuck up about things. “It was a case of wanting something very badly and then giving yourself permission to have it. I don’t know if it’s really that easy, but who knows.” She ended in a shrug.

She was about to try the spell for real, when, looking around, she realized they didn’t have any materials to work with. There weren’t any crusted cauldrons borrowed from Potions. There wasn’t any glass or canvas to make impermeable. Professor Taylor hadn’t seemed to have supplied anything to try the spells on.

“So, what are we using for practice?” Talitha asked, looking around the room. “I don’t want to use your glasses in case the charm goes wrong and I melt them.”
\n

0 Talitha You surmise? 0 Talitha 0 5

Elly Eriksson

April 22, 2008 3:59 PM

I am happy! by Elly Eriksson

Professor Taylor was one of those who you just knew would give you a detention if you asked for one… though if anyone was stupid enough to ask for a detention then deserved it, really. Still, Taylor’s reputation for being a stiff was probably the reason for all of her students to show up in time, Elly included. She folded herself most ungracefully into a seat near her usual group of friends, and doodled idly on her notebook while the professor began the class. As her quill was already in her hand (the great fluffy pink one she’d had since first year), Elly actually bothered to write down the vague plan of the lesson, the page numbers and even the homework. She had just got to the stage of opening her textbook when Saul got her attention in a less than acceptable manner.

With a grin even wider than usual, Elly laughed at him. “It was highly unethical,” she said, before raising her own wand and casting finite incantatem upon herself, while she still had the good sense to prevent a disaster before it occurred. “Not to mention potentially detention-getting,” she added, poking her tongue out. “I was already cheerful you moron.”

As she looked down at the page, though, her smile faded. “Ugh, though I’m not sure why. Cleaning charms? Could she have picked anything more dull?”

0 Elly Eriksson I am happy! 92 Elly Eriksson 0 5

Oliver Abbott

April 22, 2008 4:12 PM

I need to know more! by Oliver Abbott

Oliver liked charms – it was probably his best subject. Either charms or potions, anyway. DADA would be cool if it wasn’t run by Old Eerie, and charms would be cooler if Professor Taylor wasn’t so stuffy. Still, Oliver signed his syllabus as required and dutifully handed it back to the front of the class. He wasn’t usually one for rule breaking, anyway. Okay, so there had been that one time in first year when he went to pet the unicorn along with the girls, but, you know… generally speaking…

Having classes with the fifth years was kind of creepy. They were going to be doing CATS next year, for Merlin’s sake. Oliver was worried that he was going to look especially stupid in this class. However, it soon transpired that he could already do half the work; he’d been using the Impervious charm since first year, when his Uncle taught it to him over midterm. Excellent – so he wouldn’t look stupid on that count, then. Still, there was a cleaning charm to get through. Oliver wondered what sort of cleaning charm it was. Professor Taylor had said it would help with cleaning out their trunks, but did it just remove mess? Or actually polish the interior? And would it be suitable for cleaning robes, or better suited to cauldrons? There just wasn’t enough information here! Pushing his glasses up his nose, Oliver turned to his textbook, hoping it would provide the answers he required.

0 Oliver Abbott I need to know more! 99 Oliver Abbott 0 5

Paul Tarwater

April 26, 2008 2:08 AM

Essays on chores? by Paul Tarwater

Paul had to admit, his continuously growing black hair was really starting to get in the way. All the anxiety of his system was being messed over by the length of his hair, he couldn't even watch his back without the difficulty of all the hair in his face. Whenever he tried to scan the room, his new bad habit (due to the paranoia even the Healers couldn't fix) his hair shifted from the sides of his face where he'd recently moved it, to in front of his eyes. Ultimately blocking his view from what he was trying to watch for in the first place.

How Paul wished he could use a pair of scissors. Or maybe there was a spell that could shorten hair length, he'd never looked in the grooming section of the Library not exactly being into "magical make overs" and defying gravity with spells that lift hair into "perfect spikes". Maybe he should check, well after Charms of course. He couldn't stop, no matter how much it tempted him to get rid of the horrid length so he could be paranoid in peace. Paul believed if he even put off class for a few seconds, he might accidentally end up missing it completely out of old habit.

So Paul strode on, straight past the bookshelves, keeping his head down and his body alert for anything that may so much as brush his shoulder. And a few people, also hurrying to class, did indeed brush against him, and were frightened off by the immediate respose. The tensing up, the jumping up, and the "deer in headlights" look from behind his annoying hair before he noticed the person meant no harm and he calmed himself muttering an apology before his eyes met with the floor again and he moved on. He made it to Charms, barely on time, and hurried to a seat just before time ended.

While Paul was pulling out his book and notes for the class, his eyes caught ahold of something that he began to stare at. It wasn't something more than it was a someone. His sister, Cissy, sat there, smiling up at the lights and her own wand in a daydreaming fashion. Paul's heart dropped straight to the floor, and his eyes followed soon after Cissy snapped out of her reverie (did she sense his stare) to look over at her older brother with that same smile. Paul kept his head hung over, not even bothering to move the hair that had draped over his face when his neck had snapped down. He kept his breathing shallow, working on one breath at a time as he tried to wrap his mind around Professor Taylor's words.

He couldn't though, he just couldn't pay attention. And when the signed rule sheets were dropped in front of him, Paul didn't even think. He sent them up without noting his own until a few seconds after in which he made a sloppy attempt at his name and rushed it up the row. Paul dared to move his eyes up, but she was still staring at him (smiling as well) and he couldn't keep them up much longer.

Household charms. Household charms. Okay, now Paul had to listen. Here was the lesson, here was what he had to do. He had to forget about her cold eyes and freakish smile and he had to do the lesson. Paul took breaths, small breaths. Word by word Paul took in the lesson, right this teacher had a thing about essays. Last year he and that Echo Elms boy had done one for this class together on mood altering charms. How stupid had he been to state that no one should really use them, Paul wished that he'd turned on that idea and used his voice to beg for the charm from his mother. Ethical, Paul hated ethical essays. His opinion was too confusing to decode, even for him.

But at least these essays did not require the work of a partner. Paul could work on that now, the charms could come later. He could practice them in his dorm, where he may actually need such charms to clean up the messes that he'd left on the floor and mirrors. For now, he could seclude himself, do his essay until the class was over and not let his sister get to him. Paul opened his book to the directed pages and pulled the paper out, and got his quill ready. He poised it over the paper and sighed, dropping it straight away to roughly shove his fallen locks back into their place. A sound of anger came from his voice and he dropped his head to the table.

Paul drew his head up almost immediately after, the hair in his face once again ruining his small moment of peace. Another shove and he glanced around the room (avoiding Cissy's face), the shove proving useless again as the hair felt in his face. "Hm?" he voiced gruffly to the barely visible person near him, were they staring at him? Why? Why should they care? Well why did he care? He had to do his essay, Paul looked at the pages. He had to get his thoughts straight for once.

0 Paul Tarwater Essays on chores? 0 Paul Tarwater 0 5

Saul Pierce

April 28, 2008 1:07 PM

Great! Happy is good! by Saul Pierce

Saul was a bit taken aback when Elly called him a moron (he didn't take offense - he knew she didn't mean it in a bad way) and said that using the spell could have gotten him a detention. His eyebrows beetled together in confusion while she looked down at her textbook and made a sound of dislike. He leaned over to see what page she had open and his confusion doubled when it wasn't about cheering charms.

"Cleaning charms?" Elly continued saying, as her smile slipped away. "Could she have picked anything more dull?"

"I take it we're not doing a class on cheering charms then," Saul surmised, sounding equally dismayed by this new topic. "Who gives homework on something we're not even doing in class?" That was, like, double the learning. Saul had enough trouble with the normal amount.

He flipped open his book, peeking over at Elly's frequently to make sure he got the right page. The section was about the impervious charm. "This one's mad useful," Saul told Elly after a moment looking over the page to remind himself of what one it was. "It doesn't rain much in Southern California, but when we're in the North end of the state, if there's rain predicted, everybody's putting this on everything so's it doesn't get soggy. Tents, sleeping bags, posters, instruments, blankets, pillows, books, everything. 'Course, the muggles think we're completely insane, leaving everything out when there's s'posed to be rain."

Warming to his subject, Saul grinned at Elly, "And, y'know, it's pretty cool when your clothes are all impervioused and then you get in a water fight. It's really freaky. C'mon, impervious yourself and I'll splash you." He brandished his wand like a water pistol. "It just bounces right off."

1 Saul Pierce Great! Happy is good! 82 Saul Pierce 0 5

Elly

May 04, 2008 9:24 AM

Happy Happy Joy Joy by Elly

Elly laughed; it was usual for Saul to somehow miss out on the class instructions and end up thinking the lesson was abut something entirely different. Luckily for him, Elly had, on this occasion, been paying enough attention that she could steer him in the right direction.

"Who gives homework on something we're not even doing in class?" Saul griped.

Elly throroughly agreed it was backhanded to issue a completely unrelated homework assignment, and yet she grinned at Saul in response. "Well I'll get you started. It is unethical to use cheering charms to get someone's attention," she said.

But of course the class was about cleaning charms, and the impervius charm, which Elly hadn't yet encountered, but Saul seemed quite pleased by it. His family apparently used th charm often to keep things dry, which seemed like a great idea. Of course, Saul's rather more unique idea of keeping clothes dry in a water fight had greater appeal.

"It's really freaky," he enthused. "C'mon, impervious yourself and I'll splash you. It just bounces right off."

"No way!" Elly immediately exclaimed. She wasn't yet over the summer, when every time Vicky's brother had seen her he'd suggested wet t-shirt competitions. "I suck at charms, you know that," she reminded him, crossing her arms over her chest protectivly in case he did decide to splash her anyway. "I have no desire for the rest of the class to see through my robes." She was wearing a vest top underneath, of course, but that wasn't the point. "I'll splash you, though, if you like." Elly raised her wand to Saul's chest, still keeping one arm crossed over her own.

0 Elly Happy Happy Joy Joy 0 Elly 0 5

Saul Pierce

May 14, 2008 1:53 PM

Yippee Ei Yay! by Saul Pierce

Saul frowned at Elly's robes doubtfully. She had to be wearing at least two layers and the school robes weren't exactly white. He really honestly hadn't even thought of his suggestion in that way. Elly was like one of his cousins and Echo was his best bud and Echo really liked her so she was totally off-limits even if Saul did think she was pretty, plus, she wasn't even a Teppenpaw. He put up his hands in mock surrender. "Hey! I didn't mean it like that! Totally innocent here!"

He picked up his wand and pointed it at himself as he cast the impervious charm with an ease that could only come with long practice. Illegal underage magic abounded everywhere in the California Pierce camps, and it showed in the way Saul used the household charm as seamlessly as he would tie his shoe.

"Here," he invited, holding his arms out to either side with a jaunty grin of imminent triumph, "Go ahead. Splash me. It really will bounce right off. Just watch. And it's really not a hard spell."

1 Saul Pierce Yippee Ei Yay! 82 Saul Pierce 0 5

Elly

May 22, 2008 3:02 PM

Huzzah! by Elly

"Hey! I didn't mean it like that! Totally innocent here!" Saul exclaimed. Elly laughed; she knew he didn't mean it like that, and she suddenly felt rather silly for objecting to being splashed in the first place. Luckily, Saul was amenable to the role reversal, and Elly didn't hesitate in sending a small jet of water at him (this being a spell she'd already learned, she didn't have any issue casting it - it was learning new charms that caused her problems).

As had been foretold, the water did indeed bounce right off Saul, on the one hand proving the effectiveness of the charm, but on the other, there was now a pool of water on the floor. "Yeah, it works a treat. Your clothes are dry but it looks like you've had an embarrassing accident," Elly giggled.

After taking her fill of amusement from the situation, Elly cleared up the water with a spell she'd learned out of necessity; seeing as she was so prone to spilling drinks, Elly had made an effort to ensure she was able to clear them up effectively. Once their work space no longer presented a safety hazard, Elly thought she may as well have a go at the set charm - she'd done two different ones already. "Okay then," she said to Saul, "show me how this impervious thingy spell is supposed to work."

0 Elly Huzzah! 0 Elly 0 5