Professor Perrault
May 27, 2016 1:23 PM
Thief's Friend [I & II years] by Professor Perrault
“Good morning first and second years,” Edward spoke brightly as the youngest of his students began to enter the Charms classroom. Whilst Advanced class was fun because the topics were far more interesting, he still enjoyed teaching the Beginners because they were really the only class who were still children and had that sweet innocence and energy. He refrained from addressing them as ‘Beginners’ despite that being the name of their class, however, because he thought it sounded patronizing. “I’ll send round a tray whilst I take roll call so please hand your essays in when it reaches you.” Edward charmed a tray to float across all of the desks as he began taking roll call, getting better at putting names to faces but still not as smoothly as he was aiming for. He expected everyone to have completed the essay he’d set for homework. The essay title had been to “discuss the usefulness of the Locking Spell as opposed to a manual locking device” and with that he hoped they would have mentioned the Unlocking Charm (which the first years had not yet covered but may have found through research) which would tie in nicely with today’s lesson“Recently we’ve been focusing a lot on the Locking Spell,” Edward spoke clearly as he stood up from his chair having completed roll call and had the tray return to him, his blue eyes glancing around the room and momentarily pausing on different students. “So in accordance with that, today we will be learning and practising the Unlocking Spell which is, as you would expect, the counter-charm to the Locking Spell. The charm opens doors locked by the Locking Spell, as well as those that are not protected by magic. Some of you may have come across it in your research for your essays and I know that second years will have covered it last year. So can anyone tell me another name for it?” He picked on someone with their hand up and continued once he had received the correct answer “Thief's Friend”.
“Good, now who can remember the incantation?” Edward always liked to ask questions to stimulate the minds of his students and make sure they were retaining the things that they learnt. With the Beginners class he usually picked on those with their hands up but with the older classes he preferred to pick on anyone irrelevant of what their limbs were doing, feeling that they should be confident and knowledgeable enough by that point to be chosen at random and also finding it a good way of making sure everyone was paying attention. Once he had received the response “Alohomora” he commenced the main body of the lesson.
“Yes, that’s right,” Edward nodded at the student with a smile, having registered who had replied correctly to his two questions so he could give them house points for putting themselves forward. “The incantation for the Locking Spell is Alohomora,” he repeated with more volume in case the whole class hadn’t heard their peer, waving his wand so that the word appeared on the blackboard behind him. “The pronunciation of which is al-LOH-ha-MOR-ah. Repeat after me, al-LOH-ha-MOR-ah.” He got the class to run through the pronunciation a couple of times before he was satisfied. For some of the faster learners doing such a thing may feel slow or patronizing but Edward knew that one of the biggest problems with the younger years for spell-casting was not getting the pronunciation of the incantation right, which was absolutely vital so he really didn’t think there was any harm in overdoing that.
The Canadian then showed them the wand movement a few times, getting the class to trace the same pattern in the air with their fingers. Following this he gave a little demonstration with a small locked box he had placed on his desk especially for the lesson. The class had similar boxes on their desks and he’d always brought in a few locked trunks, chests and cabinets around the edge of the classroom so they could move onto bigger things. In addition to this, he’d used the Locking Spell on the classroom door and the store cupboard door so they could practise on bigger, potentially more useful, items.
“Now I’d like you all to have a go,” he told the class. “First years, I would like you to attempt this with the boxes on your desks first but second years you may use the locked objects that you find around the room. I’ve locked both doors so please feel free to use those too but since there are only two of them you’ll have to take it in turns. First years, if you find you are getting the hang of things quite quickly then you should also move onto the trunks and doors. Once you have succeeded in unlocking an object, I suggest you use the Locking Spell - which you should all be more than capable of performing by now - to lock it again so that you or a classmate can continue to practise on said object. Is that all clear? Good,” Edward didn’t actually wait for a response to his rhetorical question but he hoped that he was approachable enough that anyone who didn’t understand what they were supposed to doing would come and ask him for clarification.
“You are welcome to chat whilst you do so,” Edward wasn’t one for super quiet practical lessons, especially not with the younger students who needed to know that learning was fun, so was happy for them to chit-chat as they got on with the task, provided they did get on with the task. “And please help each other out. I’ll also be watching your progress so just ask if you require any assistance from me.”
Edward smiled, the faint scars on his face more noticeable as he did so, keen for the lesson to get underway. “If you feel very confident with the charm and have practised it numerous times, you may get started with your homework which is to write another essay, this one on the history of the Unlocking Charm,” with a flick of his wand, the full essay title appeared on the board. He thought it was never too early to get students into essay writing, although for Beginner students he never expected them to write anything particularly long. “I have selected some books that I think you’ll find particularly useful,” he indicated to the stack of books on his desk, “so please help yourselves but you are also welcome to browse the shelves.”
“I do believe you all have plenty to be getting on with so get your wands out!” Edward beamed, ever the cheerful professor, at the class as he gave them the go-ahead. He sat down at his desk to leaf through the tray of essays to check no one had thought they would get away with not doing their homework but once he’d done this he would get up and walk around the room in his usual manner, giving tips all the time.
OOC: 200 words minimum, no godmodding, creative writing, etc. Tag Professor Perrault if needed but you are always free to assume he has offered appropriate advice. You may also say you are one of the students he called upon but remember only one student will have correctly answered each question and he would not have called upon the same person twice. Also, remember to put your house in the author line so I know what house to award points!
Subthreads: The textbook ate my homework by Gabriel Valenti [Teppenpaw] with Killian Everett - Pecari
Being <i>charm</i>ing [Tag: Daniel Fintoc] by Tess Whittaker, Pecari with Daniel Fintoc, Crotalus
Enter, stranger, but take heed by Arianna Valenti [Aladren]
8
Professor Perrault
Thief's Friend [I & II years]
0
Professor Perrault
1
5
Gabriel Valenti [Teppenpaw]
May 28, 2016 9:04 PM
The textbook ate my homework by Gabriel Valenti [Teppenpaw]
Digging into the depths of his backpack, a grin spread across Gabriel Valenti's face as he spotted a slightly crumped roll of parchment. His essay! He'd spent loads of time on this one, it would have been a shame if he had left it up in Teppenpaw Common Room. The essay had started as a boring, focused analysis of the locking spell, but Gabe had taken special interest in the subject. His writing quickly devolved into ramblings about security for hidden treasures, and how dragons would probably be a much safer option, because some sneaky ninja-wizard could probably use an Unlocking Spell and steal all your treasure. And that would be lame, now wouldn't it? But dark eyes narrowed as he faced surprise resistance."Dude, not cool," he muttered, kicking his bag hard under his seat. The resistance released, and he lifted the parchment to see a large bite mark at the end of it. He groaned. His Care of Magical Creatures textbook was up to no good again! Only this time, instead of stray pencil erasers and paper clips, it had moved on to Gabe's homework. It had practically moved on to cannibalism.
Giving the bag one extra kick for good measure, he grinned sheepishly as he handed in his homework. Why couldn't it just act like a normal, average textbook? Other kids seemed to have extremely well-behaved textbooks. His on the other hand, seemed to have an appetite that rivaled even his own!
Turning his attention back to the front of the classroom, his ears perked up at the phrase, "Thief's friend." It was exactly like his homework! Were they going to start ninja training today? Excellent! Maybe if Gabe sharpened his sneakiness skills, a certain textbook would learn to show him more respect.
"awl-LA-ha-MOR-ah," he repeated wih the clas, his New York accent shining through, as usual. In the long run, it was probably a good idea to tone down his accent, but Gabe was proud of who he was, from the very best state in the country. His wand could be a pal and figure out what he meant. He was the one training to be a ninja master, after all, not the other way around. A wand ought to help a kid out and give him the benefit of the doubt once in a while.
Gabe noticed the new professor's scars as he smiled, and wondered if he was a ninja master as well. If so, he must have gone on all sorts of cool adventures, before becoming a boring old professor. What ferocious beasts he musts have battled (or charmed?) in his lifetime. But there wasn't much time to dwell on that, because the class began to disperse. Gabe felt a rustling in his backpack by his feet.
"Dude, chill!" he whispered loudly, lowering his head under his desk, "Or I'm lockin' you in one of these trunks and you'll be stuck in there 'til I learn how to get ya out!"
0
Gabriel Valenti [Teppenpaw]
The textbook ate my homework
330
Gabriel Valenti [Teppenpaw]
0
5
Tess Whittaker, Pecari
May 29, 2016 3:05 PM
Being <i>charm</i>ing [Tag: Daniel Fintoc] by Tess Whittaker, Pecari
Tess didn’t consider Charms to be her absolute favourite class. That title was reserved for defence Against the Dark Arts – or maybe Transfiguration, she hadn't quite decided between the two. However, she was enjoying the lessons with the new Charms professor, who seemed friendly and also like he had an intriguing background, if his scars were anything to go by. Locking spells were a pretty cool idea, so Tess had found the homework essay more interesting to work on than usual. The charm was definitely a better idea than standard muggle locks, especially as Tess had a bit of a reputation for losing keys (much to the annoyance of her family, who had got into the habit of making duplicates of any key that had been entrusted to Tess). However, one of the downsides seemed to be that the unlocking charm could be performed by anyone, presumably meaning that the object could easily be unlocked.Fishing the essay out of her bag, Tess placed it on the tray that had come round and answered to her name in the roll call. She grinned upon hearing that they were actually going to learn the Unlocking Spell. That would definitely be a fun one to try outside of the classroom! Not that Tess wanted to get into any trouble or look through other people’s things, she just thought that the charm could be useful in adventures and when exploring.
Tess’s research for the essay and her studies last year made her confident enough to give the answer “Alohomora” to Professor Perrault’s question about the incantation, feeling quite proud that she got it right. She joined in with the rest of the class pronouncing the incantation, saying it “Al-LOH-huh-MOR-ah” as her British accent came through. Glad that the second years were being encouraged to use the more exciting objects around the room for practice, she made a beeline for the store cupboard door once Professor Perrault let them loose. Tess was nothing if not ambitious, and she figured it would be more useful - and also more fun - to try on a larger door.
Tess had always been fairly academic and also conscientious about classwork and homework, so it only took her two attempts to manage to unlock the door. Pleased with her success, she quickly cast the locking charm to re-lock the door, wanting to leave it free for someone else to practise on.
Turning around, she found Daniel Fintoc standing behind her, presumably waiting to have a go at unlocking the door. She hadn't really had much to do with him last year, not really going beyond friendly acquaintances who knew each other from being in the same class for a year. Still, Tess was a friendly girl who was more than happy to strike up conversation with people she didn’t know too well.
“Do you want to have a go at the door?” she asked. “It doesn't seem too difficult a charm, does it? Although I suppose we have the advantage of being old and mature second years.” She made a bit of a face at that, obviously joking about the idea of being old and mature as these were not words that Tess wanted to be applicable to her.
9
Tess Whittaker, Pecari
Being <i>charm</i>ing [Tag: Daniel Fintoc]
338
Tess Whittaker, Pecari
0
5
Killian Everett - Pecari
May 31, 2016 2:13 PM
Not your pet dragon? by Killian Everett - Pecari
It took a few minutes of sifting through the random tide of books, broken, partially broken, and frazzled quills, ink bottles, and stray scraps of parchment to find the squashed up roll of parchment that might or might not be his charms homework. He unrolled it, stared at the chicken scratches punctuated by bug splat blotches, and narrowed his eyes, trying to figure out what he’d written. He thought it was the charms paper, but before he could be 100% certain, the floating box arrived.Sliding the sorry excuse for a paper in, he stifled a laugh when he saw the bite mark his seat mate’s homework boasted. At least his was still in one piece. Before he could make a smart remark about it, the lecture began.
Killian raised his hand when the Professor asked about another name for the spell they were to learn today. “Thief’s Friend,” he said, unable to hold back a fox like grin. The only reason he’d remembered the name was because of how awesome it sounded. Totally Assassin’s Creed, and he could easily imagine sneaking into some magic lord’s mansion to steal some priceless artifact, returning it to the young lady who’d had it taken from her by the evil lord.
“al-LOH-ha-MAR-ah,” he chanted along with the rest of the class.
Before they could begin practicing, the kid next to him half ducked under his desk and . . . threatened his backpack? Killian blinked, opened his mouth, shut it, and bent over to get a better look. To his surprise, the backpack shuffled a little. Something was in there.
“What’ve you got in there? A baby dragon?”
0
Killian Everett - Pecari
Not your pet dragon?
354
Killian Everett - Pecari
0
5
Daniel Fintoc, Crotalus
June 04, 2016 4:18 PM
Hopefully doing the same. by Daniel Fintoc, Crotalus
So far second year was proving to be pretty awesome, at least in Daniel’s opinion. He liked being one of the older students in the class and everything not being so scary and new to him. For one, it was a whole lot easier to be one of the top students when he had a whole year of education’s advantage over roughly half of the class. This was not to say being in the upper year of Beginners was completely devoid of its faults, one downside being that he felt more pressure to be among those at the top of the class - since there was no longer an excuse for not being.Charms was definitely the subject that seemed to come most naturally to Daniel and quite possibly for this reason had quickly become his favourite since starting Sonora. He’d therefore been a little disappointed to hear about Professor Oliver’s departure at the end of last term and even more so when he returned to substitute-taught lessons. Daniel had been somewhat worried about how this kind of teaching would affect his grades but such concerns had been appeased when Professor Perrault had arrived. So far the new Charms professor was proving a good one, seeming very knowledgeable and confident in the subject and also an enthusiastic and approachable teacher.
The professor seemed rather fond of setting essays for homework at the end of a series of lessons focused on a certain charm, skill or category of charms and Daniel rather hoped this would continue throughout the year. He was a little surprised by taking this attitude, since essays had always been the one thing Chuck couldn’t help but moan about (one of the few things his older cousin had actually voiced a dislike for) but Daniel’s own opinion of them were that they could be pretty fun once you got going with them. They encouraged thorough research and discussion, providing a focus and purpose for studying that gave the potential to discover and question some very interesting things.
As a second year, lessons often involved a lot of revision on things that Dan had learnt last year which was mostly pretty useful and Professor Perrault always made sure to incorporate challenges into his lessons for the more able students. Daniel liked having that knowledge from last year that meant he quite often knew the correct answers to the professor’s questions, his hand very frequently shooting up into the air in lessons, always eager and engaged.
Although he would never dream of breaking into places or things that he was clearly not supposed to (as locks suggested), Dan thought himself largely confident with the Unlocking Spell. He had been pleased by the amount of information he could remember on it from last year, all of which had been incorporated into his homework essay and backed up by further research.
Daniel repeated the incantation and wand movements along with the rest of the class, reminding himself firmly that it did not sound exactly like he would assume from the spelling. After briefly glancing around the room at the array of locked objects available, the Crotalus decided on the door, confident that he was up for what seemed like the more challenging option. He made his way over the store cupboard and waited his turn.
“Nice one,” he praised genially as the girl in front of him achieved success with the charm on her second attempt, which he thought was a fairly strong success rate. When the girl turn around and he saw that it was Tess Whittaker, he smiled in recognition. He did not know her very well but from what he had found last year, she was a very pleasant cheerful witch. Her being such a nice girl, he doubted she was the sort to pry or steal so her success was worth commending since she probably wouldn’t have used the spell for a good few months at least. It was strange, Dan thought, that the school should teach a spell that also went by the name of “Thief’s Friend” when thieving was so clearly bad and immoral. Although, the young Crotalus did suppose that the students at Sonora were generally nice and could be trusted to use such a spell only for good.
“Yes, thank you,” he smiled when Tess offered him the door to practise on, stepping up to take the prime casting spot. “I think it’s fairly easy,” he agreed when his classmate commented on the difficulty (or lack of) of the charm. “At least, I don’t think I had any trouble with it last year,” Daniel added, refraining from telling her that he was in fact rather good at Charms simply because he didn’t want to come across as too boastful (which he had most offensively been accused of before by his brother and cousins).
“Old and mature?” he grinned, “I like the sound of that.” Daniel appeared to be sharing the light joke but internally he couldn’t help but think how great being old and mature would be. To some extent, at least, as he did enjoy being young and having fun but at the same time he sometimes felt people did not take him seriously enough.
Aware that others were waiting to use the door, Dan turned to face the store cupboard door that Tess had locked for him. Okay, he had two attempts to beat - he could do this.
“Alohomora,” Daniel spoke the incantation clearly as he made the correct wand pattern and as a result the door unlocked immediately. The twelve year old beamed and lowered his wand, glancing in Tess’s direction for a moment because he was pleased to have beat her, despite knowing class was not a competition. Had she been an Aladren, he probably would’ve cared enough to make some sort of comment but she wasn’t and he didn’t want to come across as nasty, as though he were trying to put her down for not being quite a good as him. She’d still done well, after all.
He locked the door again easily (they had done a lot of work in class on the Locking Spell recently so this was no problem for him) and moved aside for the next person. “So have you ever used this spell outside of class, besides for practise?” Daniel asked Tess as he he stood beside her, still keeping an eye on the student up next for the door because he didn’t want his impressive first attempt success to be undermined by someone doing the same immediately after him. He wondered if his question might be perceived as impertinent, so sent the Pecari an innocent smile to accompany it. He was certainly not looking to judge her, merely curious and wondering if he would possibly find himself in a situation where he could put the Unlocking Spell to use any time soon. A part of him really wanted to be reassured that there were good ways of using it that didn’t involve stealing or any such vice.
8
Daniel Fintoc, Crotalus
Hopefully doing the same.
333
Daniel Fintoc, Crotalus
0
5
Gabe
June 09, 2016 10:39 AM
A kid could only dream by Gabe
Gabe turned to see a first year staring at his backpack with him. Poor kid didn't realize that it would take practically forever until the school would let them see real dragons. Gabe empathized with the younger boy, and being a Teppenpaw, decided to spare him that realization."I wish, dude," he sighed, "But, I wouldn't go around locking baby dragons in boxes - they breathe fire - no point, you know?" With that, he pulled his much less dangerous textbook out of the backpack, and set it on the desk. The book fought his grip wih every page it had, and proceeded to snap at him as it jerked around. Fighting hard not to roll his eyes, he gently stroked the book's spine, and it began to calm down.
"It doesn't like when I am paying attention to other subjects," he explained, matter-of-factly, "So I've gotten pretty good at Care of Magical Creatures." That logic was only partly true, Gabe was decent at Magical Creatures because it was by far the coolest class Sonora had to offer. Of course he was going to pay attention. It also helped that Magical Creatures generally required the least amount of wandwork. While his textbook wasy his fussy, his wand was the complete opposite, way too excited about just about everything. Giving his now relaxed textbook one final stern look, he placed it delicately back into the jungle of orphaned pen caps and crumpled parchment bits that was his backpack. It should be chilled out now, at least for a couple of minutes.
"What's your name, kid?" he asked, finally remembering his manners, "I'm Gabe Valenti, in Teppenpaw." He didn't remember this kid sitting at the Teppenpaw table at the Opening Feast, but he could be mistaken. After all, he had been distracted by very important matters, like ice cream.
0
Gabe
A kid could only dream
330
Gabe
0
5
Arianna Valenti [Aladren]
June 10, 2016 11:56 PM
Enter, stranger, but take heed by Arianna Valenti [Aladren]
"Thief."The word startled her, crawling like a many-legged but not totally unfamiliar insect down her spine. She inadvertently punctuated her otherwise pristine notes with an unceremonious jab of her pen. With one word, Arianna was brought back home, to the too-full apartment in Brooklyn, where Mama and Papa would shout in a mix of English and Italian about what to do with their delinquent older daughter.
It had began years before her magic had been known, or even Gabe's, when there seemed to be only one reasonable explanation as to why small trinkets and jewelry that Arianna coveted in the mall always seemed to end up in her pocket. It was even before she had stumbled upon Gabe's toy Snitch last Christmas, and set it flying around her cousins' home. The first year was still confident her parents didn't entirely believe that she had not taken those things on purpose. Tugging at the silver charm bracelet around her wrist, she knew that sometimes, in her darkest moments, she didn't entirely believe it herself.
"al-LOH-ha-MOR-ah," she repeated with the rest of the class.
Deep breath. Okay, back to class. She copied down the pronounciation, for future reference. At the very least, she was on track to maintain her grade point average at her new school. She had been particularly proud of her essay regarding Locking and Unlocking charms, something she was sure her friends back home would be amused by, had she been allowed to talk to them about it. Her propensity to end up with the things she desired had propelled her to elementary and then middle school fame. The cool girls of Hobart had been eager to add her to their group. Everyone was excited to see what feat the upper school's vice principal's daughter would manage next. And so, she had been invited into the most extravagant homes in Manhattan, occasionally (inadvertently) adding to her collection.
They probably thought she had been shipped off to military school, or some sort of institution for unstable kids. Joining the class in tracing her finger through the air, she sometimes wondered that herself. Wizarding school was so different from normal school. She didn't have to study math anymore, and none of her classes required computers. Writing essays by hand was a new chore, it was slow and exhausting. She stretched manicured fingers out in front of her and then tossed her Dutch side braid over her shoulder. At least she wasn't left handed. That would mean awkward pen smears on the side of her hand all the time.
Finally it was time for the practical work. Arianna grabbed her walnut wand from her robes, only to hesitate as she realized the ink green dragon leather box in her desk was in fact of jewelry box. Of course it would be. It was so strange to openly attempt to break in, in front of everyone like this. She'd raised her wand, ready to wave it in the way they had practiced, when the student next to her began to say something.
"Pardon?" she asked, lowering her wand as she turned towards her classmate. It would be poor form to point it at them with no cause. Well, not at the moment, anyway.
0
Arianna Valenti [Aladren]
Enter, stranger, but take heed
343
Arianna Valenti [Aladren]
0
5
Killian
June 22, 2016 5:56 PM
Dreams can come true by Killian
That was true. Keeping a baby dragon in a box probably wouldn’t work. Well, maybe. Did baby dragons breathe fire, or was that more of a puberty sort of thing? Before Killian could ask about it, the other boy pulled out the last thing he’d expected to see. Though, the fact that it was a book bag should have been a hint, still.Killian eyed the book. It looked pretty feisty for a collection of glue and parchment, and for a second the first year thought the other boy was about to lose the battle. Then the tides of war turned, and his seat mate demonstrated his mastery over carnivorous books by stroking the thing’s spine until it settled down. “Oh, that one!” He remembered that one. “I had to steal one of my mom’s scrunchies to force it to stay shut so it would stop trying to bite my sister’s dog.” In fact, the hot pink scrunchie still held said book together. He hadn’t had Care of Magical Creatures yet and had no idea how to open the book without getting bit. “Does that work for all of them?” If so, at least he’d have a chance to look the silly thing over before he had to take the class.
“Oh, I’m Killian Everett, Pecari,” he said, offering up his own name and house. Yet another oddity of magic, he guessed, how people introduced themselves. Some people said where they were from, and others said their houses. Killian wondered about the different types of introductions but hadn’t had a chance to talk to anyone about it. That and it wasn’t as interesting as everything else the magical world had to offer.
Bouncing in his seat a little, Killian grinned. “So what’s Care of Magical Creatures like? Do they let you ride griffins? Or feed three-headed snakes?” It was a care class, so feeding was probably part of it. Maybe giving animals baths, too. That was part of caring for animals. At least, his sister always gave her yip dog baths and dressed it up in little sweaters with matching bows.
0
Killian
Dreams can come true
354
Killian
0
5