Professor O'Leary

November 24, 2008 8:43 PM
The door to the classroom shut with a thunderous bang that echoed through the room. He was late, a fact that he was less than pleased about, even if it was only by a couple minutes. He liked to be in the room as the students came pouring in, especially when there were new students. Drake stalked towards the front of the room. His usual black robes swirled out creating a billowing effect, which tended to give leverage to the rumors that floated about that he was some creature of the dark. It was somewhat fitting given his gaunt facial features and crimson hair. He supposed it worked out in his favor since he taught Defense against the Dark Arts. If he were a less intimidating man, he doubted the students would take his ability to teach the subject seriously.

Once to his desk, he turned about face, “Good afternoon. We will begin by going over the rules, both for the new students and as a reminder for the old. First, and foremost, I am Professor O’Leary. You will address me as such or by Sir. Never, and I repeat, never anything other than these. Second, there will be no talking in my classroom, especially when I am giving instructions,” he glanced around the room to make sure they were paying attention. “Also, there will be absolutely no fooling around in this classroom. This is to ensure that no one becomes seriously injured. Failure to do so will result in a detention that I assure you will make you wish that you had to clean the bathrooms with your tongue.” It was an idle threat, but the imagery was enough to frighten most. “Am I clear?”

Though, the man standing in front of the room and his tone of voice may have seemed odd in a room currently filled with a few small pop-up tents and colorful pillow seats in favor of the desks that were pushed up against the walls. In actuality, it was those things that were out of place in the dimly lit, dungeon-like room, but he was making an effort to make the lessons more interactive (at Briony’s suggestion) so the spells would become second nature to the students. Otherwise, in a dangerous situation, it was more likely the person or thing presenting the danger would have the upper hand, because they wouldn’t be relying as much on thought.

With a wave of his wand, the following appeared on the board.

The Lumos Family

Lumos
Lumos Duo
Lumos Maxima
Lumos Solem


“Everyone write down the spells listed. I’ll be right back,” he told the students, before heading in the direction of his office. He unlocked the door and disappeared inside the room. Coming back out, he had two similar looking plants in his hand, which he set on his desk. “I have here two plants that look to be identical. On the left is a flitterbloom, which is a harmless plant that is sometimes given as a gift. The one on the right is Devil’s Snare, which is quite dangerous. When touched, it detects its prey immediately and the long tendrils trap and strangle it. Since the plants look so much alike without further inspection, a wizard intent on harm could give someone Devil’s Snare under the guise of a Flitterbloom. There are two ways to escape Devil’s Snare. One way is to relax, as the plant will assume it accomplished its purpose. However, this is not always an option. The better way to handle the plant is the last spell that is on the board.”

He paused a moment to allow anyone who was taking notes to finish, before continuing his lecture, “The first spell is used to light one’s wand, which can be useful if you’re in a dark area, however, adding a second word can produce a brighter light. Lumos Duo is brighter than Lumos. Lumos Maxima is bright than Lumos Duo. Lumos Solem is the brightest and is like sunshine. The last one is useful against Devil’s Snare. The plant detests sunlight and will move away from it. This can also be useful against some creatures, such as lethifolds and vampires. Now, to help you learn the spells, I devised a camping activity. You’ll find that at each tent there are cutouts. Some have stars, others have moons, and so on. Your goal is to use the lumos spell behind the cutout to cast images onto the walls and ceilings of the shapes. The more powerful the spell, the brighter the shape and the longer it will last, which comes with practice.”

“While you practice, you may talk quietly with your fellow students. There are also thermoses of hot chocolate and paper cups at each tent along with marshmallows to help encourage you along. If I see that you aren’t practicing the spell and are just using the time to goof off, we will never have a lesson like this again,” he informed the class. He was putting himself out there for this experiment of trying to get more students involved and learning. He just hoped he didn’t end up regretting it. “For anyone more adventurous, if you get up to the Lumos Solem spell, you may come up to my desk to test it on the Devil’s Snare. If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask. Otherwise, you may begin.”

OOC: For the cutout activity, think of the wand acting like a flashlight to cast images. Otherwise, have fun and be creative. The more detailed and imaginative a post is, the more House points can be earned. Also, please remember that posts should be a minimum of ten sentences (approximately two paragraphs).
Subthreads:
0 Professor O'Leary First and Second Years: Lesson 1 0 Professor O'Leary 1 5


Nathaniel Leon

November 26, 2008 5:19 PM
Nathaniel had toppled off of his bed this morning.

The story was short enough, he had been trying to hang the thin painting his mom had done, the one of bleeding paints splattered all around (it was blue and yellow, he felt it fit well with the room). He took a step back, wanting to look and admire, but he ended up slipping on a weak piece of blanket and sliding straight down to the floor with a huge THUD! Somehow, his head hit the ground first, or at the same time as his hands reaching out to catch him. It was a good thing his roommates weren’t there (probably at breakfast, which Nathaniel would have been going to just after he finished the painting).

But the story probably wasn’t all that important. But at least Nathaniel would have the reason to why there a giant bruise on the side of his chin and on one elbow. It was also a good excuse to why he didn’t make any sudden movements, his arms and neck incredibly sore from the fall. He didn’t find it all that serious, so Nathaniel refused to bother an upperclassman to be directed to the school nurse and so he also refused to bother the medic with his pettiness. He chose not to go to breakfast that morning after that, anyway, and so he rested until his classes. Going through to each one was simple, no one questioned anything anyway (he made sure to brush his hair to hide the bruise on his chin just in case).

Now he found himself wandering into the dark room of Defense Against the Dark Arts (because where there was magic, there was good and bad, at least in every story Nathaniel had been told), he felt as though he wouldn’t have to hide the bothersome thing. Its presence would be at all disruptive in the dark, Nathaniel ended up brushing his hair away from his mouth and chin with his fingers. It was all good for him. Sitting up straight, despite his rumpled appearance (which may suggest he would be more prone to slouching) Nathaniel had a notebook all set out for DADA. He held his quill uneasily, as he had for all his classes (he wasn’t used to this writing instrument, plus the dull ache up his arms made all his notes today almost unreadable).

The professor looked like something out of a horror film (or, at least a creeper), which excited Nathaniel even more than it freaked him out. When he saw the foreign words on the board he immediately copied them down, quickly lifting his blue eyes to see the two plants in the creepy professors hands. One was deadly, Nathaniel’s heart dropped in fear, and he quickly bent over his work to write down the names (next to it, he had a badly drawn sketch of a plant). His handwriting looked horrid, Nathaniel noted, as he had to keep his elbow lifted uncomfortable so to avoid the small shots of pain. Some of the ink ran, to his dismay, but that was soon cleared up. After he finished up his notes, Nathaniel forgot his handwriting woes to hear the actual doing-stuff part of this lesson.

A camp out of sorts! How great, maybe this scary man wasn’t as bad as he showed himself to be. Letting his notebook sit out for the ink to dry, Nathaniel picked his wand from his things and moved slowly to the tents, picking himself one. Looking around he went to the hot chocolate instantly, having a need for something sweet as he missed eating today. He took a quick sip, but coughed immediately afterward. “Its too hot, let it cool,” he told someone else by the table of cups, then grinning he recklessly swung his hand to point over at the stars, stopping instantly and slowing his movements as the pain shooting through him reminded him of his fall. “Ah, I don’t know if I’ll get farther than the first spell, how long do you think it will last?”
0 Nathaniel Leon The magic isn't wearing out 133 Nathaniel Leon 0 5


Adelita Garcia [Crotalus]

November 26, 2008 8:03 PM
Adelita entered the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom with trepidation. Her Tia and Tios had warned her about all the teachers that they possibly could. They gave her descriptions, personality explanations, and ways in which to avoid being the Professor’s most hated student. Tia Izzy didn’t really have an issue with Professor O’Leary, but that was probably because she did the work without any fuss. Her Tios, however, had a completely different outlook for the man. They even called him O’Dreary. They called him a creature of the night. A vampire. A bloodsucker. A werewolf. He was pale and angry and very cold. They (and by ‘They’ she really meant Mateo, but as they were twins, when she spoke of one, she spoke of both) had told her that if he caught her out of bed after curfew, no one would ever see her again.

They wouldn’t have hired such a man, right?

The idea of the very possibility of it being true had Adelita’s stomach in knots. She felt queasy. Her Tia kept telling her to ignore the twins, but they had always been good to her and looked out for her. Surely, there must be some truth to what they said.

Out of habit, Lita ran her dainty fingers over her braided pigtails to make sure they still were sitting properly against her head. She didn’t want to be that student who looked out of place and she certainly didn’t want to draw attention to herself and have Professor O’Dre O’Leary hate her. The last thing she wanted was for him to even notice her. If she just did her work and kept her head down, she could get through this without making a scene of herself or having the mysterious professor lurking in the dark corners of the halls as she passed them.

She paused in the classroom looking around at all the tents that were popped open. Was this normal? She didn’t think it was normal. Her family never mentioned tents in the classroom to her. She heard about classes being outside or in strange rooms, but never anything about tents. Her brown eyes surveyed the room, but didn’t immediately come across any imposing figures. That meant, for now, she was safe. She stepped off to the side and looked around for a place to sit. A frown formed on her lips when she realize she wouldn’t be able to sit in a desk.

Looking down at her wardrobe, Lita was hesitant to sit on the pillows. First and foremost, because she was in a skirt. First impressions meant looking one’s best. And to look one’s best, a girl is to wear a skirt. Or a dress. Either would be appropriate. However, neither were appropriate for sitting on the ground. Delicately, Adelita pulled the bottom part of her skirt closer to her body and awkwardly sat cross legged on the pillow, using the robes as a defense, tucking it beneath her to ensure that nothing could be seen. Satisfied with her work, Adelita looked suspiciously around at those nearest to her to see if any of them had tried to look before turning back to her bag and pulling out her quill and parchment for taking notes.

Adelita jumped when the door swung open and the Professor of her recent nightmares stepped, looking angry. She shrank back in her pillow trying to look as small as possible (which really wasn’t all that hard since Lita was naturally petite). If Lita had been alone in a room with him, she probably would have started to cry by the sharpness of his tongue to the coldness of his eyes. She didn’t cry, of course, that wouldn’t have looked good, but she knew that she wanted too.

The moment the lesson began, Adelita distracted herself from her fear of the professor by settling in with the words on the board. Her loopy writing made its way across the parchment as she wrote down each spell. She knew the first two already because her mom often used it whenever Jorge began to cry in the middle of the night. Or, if either Lita or Dulce ended up having a nightmare while they were growing up. Well, really, she used it often for other things too, but those memories popped up first in her mind. Her mom said these were the easiest spells to learn and Lita really hoped that was true.

When the plants were brought out, Adelita’s nose wrinkled in displeasure. She would not be testing her skills against a plant of death. No way. No how. Someone else could be adventurous, but it would not be her. Finally, they were dismissed to do the actual lesson. Although she was still wary of the Professor, Adelita had to give him props on his technique. It was actually fun to think about all the little pictures she would be able to make using her wand’s light.

Slightly annoyed with trying to crawl into the tent with her skirt, Adelita paused momentarily when she realized that this tent was already occupied. She set herself up near the pile of cutouts while waiting for the boy to move away from the hot chocolate. When it was free, Adelita moved to the stand only to pause when the boy coughed and warned her of just how hot the liquid actually was. “Oh.” She was slightly let down by the knowledge that she couldn’t have the cocoa just yet, but figured it was probably best anyhow.

Her dark eyes moved to the top of the tent where the boy was pointing. There she found the stars. “Oooh.” Her response was rather girlish, but it couldn’t be helped. Stars were pretty. “Um… I think they last as long as your concentration does.” Adelita piped up when he asked his question. “At least that’s what my Mama tells me whenever she shows me a spell. Are we supposed to try the spell first without the cutouts, or does it not matter?”
0 Adelita Garcia [Crotalus] I didn't realize that it could. 0 Adelita Garcia [Crotalus] 0 5


Nathaniel

November 26, 2008 9:34 PM
Nathaniel set the cocoa down gingerly and grinned at the girl’s reaction to the stars, was she excited about this too? Well, Nathaniel was pretty much impressed by any of the magic at all, so the idea that this excitement should differ from his previous excitements wasn’t really prominent in his mind. Making light was just as special and cool as making things float (like in that Charms class he had so much fun in). He regarded the stars with the same happiness that he showed the girl. They looked like regular old cut-outs right now, but he was actually going to make them shine.

With magic.

Every time he just thought about it, Nathaniel felt a little jump in his heart. Sure, it was only the first week of classes, and his excitement was probably normal (or not? Considering everyone he’d met grew up with magic) and it might wear off, but really Nathaniel doubted that. How could something you thought was fake ever wear off? (One got used to it, perhaps? But Nathaniel wasn’t that far in his thinking, choosing only to think for the moment he was in. ... He had never been very good at planning ahead in the past.) Rubbing his shoulder lightly (hoping to remove the soreness) Nathaniel looked down at his own clothing.

It seemed everyone he met so far looked a great deal cleaner and more well groomed than Nathaniel (not that the boy was dirty, more disheveled than anything). He had two pairs of robes, the ones he was wearing now were wrinkled from being at the bottom of his suitcase (and they had yellow stitches! He loved them) and the jeans he’d worn had some tears in them and stains of white and red paint (he could place every hole with an event), self-consciously Nathaniel had hid the paint stained shirt (almost all of his clothes were stained with his mother’s paints) with his robes while listening to the girl talk.

“Oh, you’re family is magic too?” he asked, his wand slipping from the pocket of his shifted robe. He bent too quickly to pick it up, stiffening slightly for just a second, but forcing his mind over it. Nathaniel picked his wand up and bent back up, letting his robes stay where they fell (should he really be caring what he looked like? He wasn’t sure). He continued with what he was saying, “I mean, mine isn’t, it would be just great if they were though. My mom wants to be,” he clarified, “Just everyone I meet was born with it,” he grinned to show the next statement was a kid, “I’m incredibly envious.”

Shifting his wand to his other hand (slowly), Nathaniel retried his hot cocoa, still kind of hot but he was able to sip it now. Oh! The spell, that creepy teacher said that they’d get in trouble if they weren’t working! “Ah!” Nathaniel exclaimed quietly, “Okay, lets see how far I get with concentration,” Nathaniel gave the girl a playful grin, “I’m not very good at keeping my mind on one thing for a long time,” he admitted on a light note. Raising his hand gingerly he made a flourish with his wand, “Lu-mos,” he said with the flourish, surprising himself when the star lit up dimly.

“Woah!” Nathaniel shocked, watching as the light blow out like a lightbulb. He laughed, lowering his arm. He touched the girls robes, then tugged gently, “Try it, lets try and see who can get it glowing the longest! It’ll be like a game,” Nathaniel was thinking very far ahead, thinking of a light that lasted days. “Lumos,” he said, watching his wand light up behind a cute little moon. Nathaniel twisted it, allowing the light to move around giving the impression of a moving moon before the wand’s light let out with a wrong twist of his shoulder. “Ow,” he murmured, out of more habit than pain.
0 Nathaniel I'm just slightly worried it will... 0 Nathaniel 0 5


Adelita

November 27, 2008 1:41 AM
Adelita’s eyes went from the stars at the roof of the tent to the boy in front of her when he asked about her family. Her face lit up in a grin just thinking about them. “Yes they are!” Adelita commented excitedly, watching the boy while he bent to pick up his wand and hesitating slightly at his discomfort. And continued to hesitate while he explained about his own family. While he spoke, Adelita took the moment to actually look at him, which she hadn’t given herself the opportunity to do so simply because it would have been rude to just look at him without any reason. Since he was talking, she had an excuse to look.

Her hesitation vanished though, when he grinned at her and she easily returned a smile to him. “Not everyone in my family is magical. On my dad’s side, my Nana is a muggleborn, so she’s the only one from her family who has magic.” Adelita explained to him as she dug through the cutouts for something run before giggling. “You’re silly. You were born with it too. I’m not really sure why some people get it and not others, but if you have it, you must be special, right?” She looked back up at him when she found one that she liked.

He was the first boy that Adelita had spoken to since coming to Sonora. She had a neighbor who was a boy and a couple of years older than her, but he always pulled her hair or threw dirt on her, so Lita did her very hardest to not run into him whenever she was home in San Francisco. There was also a boy in her dance class whom she had known since she was four, but his gender had gone out the window a long time ago. He was just Nick and she was just Adelita when they were dancing. But, aside from Nick and her neighbor, Adelita didn’t really converse with boys. It wasn’t on purpose, they just didn’t run within her circle of friends.

He didn’t seem so bad though. He wasn’t pulling on her hair or throwing dirt (or whatever he could reach since dirt wasn’t readily available) on her. That was a major step forward in Adelita’s eye. He did have paint on him though, which Adelita wasn’t sure was supposed to be the design of the jeans or if he painted and forgot to clean up after himself. His robes were wrinkled too. Adelita could hear the sound of her mother’s tongue in her hear at the sight of his state of being. Her mom hated wrinkles.

“Oh right.” Adelita commented, remembering that she was in the tent for a reason and not just to talk with the boy. Adelita lifted her wand with the cutout above it and in her light voice spoke the words of the spell. To her delight, her wand lit and the flower she had found displayed across the top of the tent. “Oooo.” Adelita whispered, her eyes looking over at the boy’s but his went out just as she looked at it. She smiled happily at their ability to do the spell. She had such a fear of not being able to do magic correctly, but, thus far, she had proved herself wrong.

She felt a tug on her clothes and looked down to see his hand on her robes. “Hm?” A game? “Okay!” Adelita agreed. What harm could it do? They were doing the lesson and having some fun while they did it. That was fair, right? She picked up another cutout, some planet, and placed it above her wand again. “Lumos!” Adelita spoke with enthusiasm, giggling when the wand’s tip lit again. She watched more of his moon than her planet though. Well, she was at any rate before his light went out. “I win!” Adelita cried out within their tent. Turning to him with a bright grin on her face, Adelita realized that something was out of place.

“Are you hurt?” She asked him, maybe that was why he had looked awkward when he had bent over? “My Mama always gives me Murtlap Essence whenever I’m in pain after dance. It makes the pain go away real fast. I have some in my room that you can use, if you want.” Adelita suggested. She loved the stuff and if one could be addicted to it, than she was. Her feet had been nothing but a bloody mess after she had begun learning pointe, Murtlap Essence had been her savior.

“Hey, don’t think you being hurt will get you out of the game!” Adelita exclaimed. “My wand was lit longer, what’s my prize?” She was smiling at him to show that she was only joking… for the most part. She was still quite proud of her achievement.
0 Adelita It better not or I'll be the odd one out! 0 Adelita 0 5


Nathaniel

November 29, 2008 12:55 AM
Nathaniel turned his wand over in his fingers, grinning at this girls seeming excitement. He hoped he hadn't scared her away with his immediate answer (clarification?) to his own question. But she answered well enough, and without shying away from his overtalking ways that he always worried would get him in trouble with other people. Quite honestly, Nathaniel had never heard any of the insults thrown his way, nor had he been told of any. But he still worried about that sort of thing, taking anything somebody said as a question to change him (he wasn't against that, either, if he was asked though).

Lightly, color touched Nathaniel's thin face, and he turned away from the girl. "Special" was only a world his mother used to decribe everybody, it was weird hearing himself decribed as such "Well, I suppose so," he said, embarrassed. He tried to brush it off, "Ah, but no. I'm sure that its not that special of a thing here. Uh," he shook his head, "I was told there were a lot of people that would come here with no knowledge of magic, or you know anything like that." Nathaniel tried to pull away from his embarrassment. "Lucky," he decided, grinning. "I think I'm lucky for it! The whole magic thing, who wouldn't be lucky to get into that?"

Not even being able to use magic, but actually just knowing it existed. He didn't know anybody that wouldn't get a huge kick out of that. And here he was, Nathaniel Leon, in the middle of it all. His parents too, and sisters, they were given that small bit of glee of their son and brother's new "talents" (so to speak). He had been sure his father had been all over the magic thing (his father had stated that he stopped "seeing" the magic after his band finally broke up).

Tugging lightly on his paint stained clothes with one hand, Nathaniel looked to the hot chocolate with a small bit of want. He wondered if it was still too hot to drink. Even though it wouldn't satisfy the hunger in his stomach (he really was stupid to miss breakfast, the fall shouldn't have been that bad!). He should probably wait longer though, use the (hopefully cooled) hot chocolate for his "pat-on-the-back" when he felt satisfied with his work on the spell. He watched the girl as she tried out her own spell, giggling slightly as his own went out when he caught her eye.

Eyes on her planet, Nathaniel was slightly disappointed when his went out first. Thinking, this all could have been avoided if only... but he shouldn't be doing that "if only" things. It would only upset him, which wouldn't be good. Instead, he focused on the girl with a playful grin. "Cheater," he teased, tapping his wand on the fabric of the tent to emphasize his "point". Pulling his cloak around him again, he laughed sheepishly this time when his slowness came into light. Was he hurt? Well, yes... sort of. And she offered some medicine, he shook his head, "Oh no, I'll be fine," he assured.

"Its nothing, I just fell out of bed today," he laughed a little, then shrugged, "It was probably my fault, though nothing ever went wrong before when I helped my mom hang paintings but... eh." Tap. Tap. "But really, it's just sore is all. Stiff joints." What else could he say about his fall? Nathaniel changed the subject to something more interesting. "Oh, you dance, geez I've always admired dancers? Probably because I could never do it," he raised his arms over his head, "I'd look like a penguin, clumsy and uncoordinated," he described with a playful tone.

And she was right, she did win. But prizes? Oh, no, Nathaniel hadn't thought that far ahead, he looked around thinking. Then, acting on the first thing he saw, Nathaniel lifted his cup of hit chocolate as an offering. "You win, this magical fantastical, holy grail of marshmallowy, chocolatey goodness!" he exclaimed, sounding more like a salesman in a commercial. Then, thinking this sounded kind of lame alone (alone, maybe overall), Nathaniel put his drink in her hands and pulled off the moon that he'd lost with. "You also get proof of my defeat, the moon that wouldn't stay lit," he grinned. "Is it too obvious that prizes weren't the first thing on my mind when I thought of this game?" he asked honestly.
0 Nathaniel Then we'd both be black sheep, wouldn't we? 0 Nathaniel 0 5


Adelita

November 30, 2008 7:13 PM
Adelita had to admit, he probably wouldn’t be considered special while here at Sonora. But having magic in a family that didn’t, that had to be special, right? She would think, waking up one morning to discover she could do something that no one else in her family could do would make her extraordinary. Unique. Something that they wish they could partake in but would never be able to. “Yeah, lucky is a great way to describe it.” Adelita agreed, smiling and nodding her head as though she could truly understand where he was coming from.

Being from a prominent Pureblood family on her mother’s side, magic had always been apart of her. Her father, being born of a pureblood and a muggleborn, was a halfblood. And, although he was raised in a life of both magic and muggle, could not explain to her what life was like without magic. She had asked questions about it when she was little, but with the little answers that she had received, Adelita had eventually stopped asking about it all together.

So far, the magic was coming easily to her. She had been so terrified of not being able to do it, but Charlie had been right. The letter proved that she was more than capable of being able to perform the spells as requested. Of course, there were bound to be mishaps, as charms had proven, but Lita had more faith in herself now than she did at the Opening Feast. There was still the whole matter of this being simple magic and she still had seven years of spells to learn that would grow ever more complicated as she went, but Lita was not going to be thinking about that right now. For now, she was going to enjoy being able to do the simple spells.

Adelita’s mouth dropped open in mocked shock as the boy called her a cheater. She slapped his arm playfully, “I am not!” Lita exclaimed, half laughing. Adelita hadn’t really played games before. She had played chase with her Tios and hide and seek with her friends, but those were the only games she had ever really played. Well, she supposed that wasn’t true, her mom liked to play card games with them, but that was mainly Go Fish. Her friends and her mainly gossiped and played dress up or did one another’s hair. Games just didn’t occur. So, being a cheater was a foreign concept to her.

“You fell out of bed?” Adelita asked, incredulously. “I’ve done that before. But, I was jumping on it, so my Mama said it was my own fault.” Adelita shrugged slightly at this information. It was true, of course. Her jumping had caused for her own splendid topple, but she had gone to her mother for sympathy and not to be given a lecture. Adelita hated lectures from her parents. Like she didn’t know that stuff already?

Adelita’s face lit up again when he commented about dancing. “Yeah! I’ve been learning to dance Ballet since I was four. My Mama said that we would have to choose a hobby. So, I chose dance and Dulce, that’s my sister, she chose music. But I like the idea of maybe one day being on stage as a Ballerina with everyone watching me.” Adelita had an almost wistful look on her face while she spoke. She laughed as he described what he would be like dancing. “Oh, I don’t know, my Instructor says that everyone can dance, they just have to find their beat.”

Laughter came again when the boy offered her his cup of hot chocolate as a prize, talking to her in a strange way. She glanced down at the mug and at the moon he was now offering to her, still giggling at the whole situation. “It is, but that’s okay.” Adelita told him. “I can’t take your hot chocolate though, you’ve been waiting to have it since I came into the tent.” Adelita held the mug back out to him to take. “It’s very nice of you to have offered it to me though, um…” Adelita drew a blank on his name and realized that she had never asked for it. How odd. They had spent all this time together and never exchanged names. “I’m sorry, I don’t know your name! I’m Adelita, Lita for short.”
0 Adelita Are you a black sheep? 0 Adelita 0 5


Nathaniel

December 04, 2008 2:47 PM
The boy grinned lightly at her when he was hit, laughing with her soon enough as he pretended to rub his arm in pain (he made sure she knew it was pretend and that she hadn't accidentally tapped a tender part). "Are you sure? I still think that you did," he teased, "No one could ever beat me!" which was a huge lie and he knew it, actually Nathaniel was quiet bad at all games, sports, and contests. He preferred doing things for fun, not serious, and that was the tone his voice took on. Their game was simply fun, not a contest of who is better at magic.

His face was still heated from embarrassment about his fall, but she made him feel a little better about falling. "I did fall," he reassured her disbelief, he didn't know if he could believe it either. After all, who falls out of bed and gets hurt? Nathaniel wondered how thin his skin must be to have fallen from the bed and having him end up so sore. His on arm still felt like it ran a marathon (though he would be proud to say the spot on his chin hadn't had any unnecessary throbbing accidents).

"Jumping on the bed?" he asked, chuckling a little, "I wish that was how I fell, I feel a little stupid for just slipping." He had stopped jumping on the bed after a near fall, but thinking about it made him want to jump up an down on something. They should get a trampoline here or something, that would burn off any unneeded energy Nathaniel would have left over during the day. He used to have a trampoline at home, a mini one that his mother had gotten, but his father used it now stating that jumping helped activate the brain juices. Then his mother started using it, and Nathaniel had stopped since his parents probably needed it more than him.

Thinking about it, maybe Nathaniel should ask his parents for that thing back, just for the school year. He could stick it at the foot of his bed and use it whenever he was feeling slightly homesick (even though he loved the whole magic thing, he still missed his home enough, he was a kid who never used to be away from home long). He continued with his own falling, "I was hanging a picture above my bed, " his hands followed along, talking with him, careful not to move too fast too far, "and I took a step onto a bit of blanket hanging off the bed, and whoosh!, I just fell." He grinned.

"So, stupid, see," he offered, rolling his eyes at his ability to fall from blankets. He often played off his feet's ability to trip or stumble. It wasn't that big a deal, if anyone laughed when he fell, he wasn't going to yell and make people hate him for his falls. Nathaniel didn't want anyone to hate him.

His eyes lightened when she talked about dance and music, Nathaniel was one who definately loved to see all sorts of art. "Oh, trust me, I'm not very good on my feet," he brushed off his inability to dance with a sheepish laugh, "as you probably are able to tell from the way I hurt myself. But I love to watch dancing, it's just so interesting to see how people can move and bend in ways that... well ways that would probably hurt me," he admitted grinning. "It seems impossible to fake dancing, like some people can fake singing or playing an instrument." His father sometimes complained about the new bands and their "synthesized" ways of playing.

"My dad is insistant about music," he told her, nodding. "Thankfully, he could tell me and my sister wouldn't be able to dance, since we're all built the same." Meaning, like spiders with the grace of penguins on land. "But my sisters and I, we have to learn instrumentals and that's a lot of fun. Singing too, but I definately am afraid of dancing." So she wanted to be a ballerina, he smiled always liking it when people were passionate about the arts. It seemed things were all about sports nowadays, he had been equally glad when Pippa expressed her artsy hobbies to him at the feast. "You've been practicing for a long time," he told her, nodding along with his statements. "And you really want to do it, I'm sure you could."

Even though he'd never seen her, Nathaniel always found himself complimenting and reassuring people. He never had a doubt other people were as they told him, why should he? If she had been dancing since she was four and she really loved it, then she was going to make it.

She gave him back his cup of hot chocolate, which he took another sip of gladly. It had cooled down to his liking, and Nathaniel pulled up one more cup. "Thank you, Adelita, I was hoping you wouldn't take mine," he laughed and handed her the new cup he'd poured. "But would you like one of your own? And keep the moon, it'll remind you that you beat me in our defense class this one day."

When she told him her name, he had decided that he would be calling her Adelita, as he was never a person for nicknames (he only ever called Star by her shortened name because she insisted). He allowed people to call him Nate or Nathan, but it wasn't something he was fond of. "I'm Nathaniel, I probably should have introduced myself before, sorry," he said, truly sounding apologetic. "You can call me whatever you want, if Nathaniel is too long," he offered (though he really didn't want to be called anything else).
0 Nathaniel I would like to think I stand out 0 Nathaniel 0 5


Adelita

December 08, 2008 10:35 PM
Adelita, despite all of her mother’s lectures on etiquette, stuck her tongue out playfully at Nathaniel when he continued with the joke of her cheating. Adelita wondered if it were even possible to cheat magic. It was obvious that a person could trick another person using magic, but could they cheat magic? Could someone twist magic in such a way? It was an odd thought to have and even Adelita wasn’t so sure she understood the implications of such thoughts, but she was always curious about the enigmas in life.

Nathaniel’s embarrassment for having fallen made Adelita’s smile widen ever so slightly for reasons even she didn’t understand. Perhaps it was because his face was a bit pink at having admitted to it or because he had been so willing to explain to her what had happened. Most people didn’t do that. But perhaps those were the reason why she couldn’t help smiling while he explained to her how he came about falling and hurting himself. It was …refreshing, in a way, that he was so open with someone he could consider a complete stranger. “Nah, I wouldn’t say stupid. Accidents happen, ya know?” Adelita commented.

Merlin knew she often hurt herself. She could sometimes blame being injured on her dancing. There were times when she would wake up the next day in tears because she was hurting so much. Whether that have been her feet, back, legs, arms, or head. Something always hurt. Most of the time it ended up being her legs and feet. Murtlap Essence was her life and she was rather glad her mother always had a large supply of the medicine at her disposal. If that hadn’t existed, Adelita wasn’t so sure she could have danced. It was so painful. But, she felt so right when she danced. Through the pain, she felt …happy. Pure. And when practice or the recitals were over, a part of her felt saddened that it was ending. Coming to Sonora was one of the downfalls for her. It meant she couldn’t have her daily lessons in dance. But, she would still do it. She promised her instructor that she would continue to practice so that she could show her how much she had improved.

Adelita was happy to find that Nathaniel liked dancing. Well, not dancing himself, but enjoyed the entertainment value that came from others dancing. So far, Adelita had met her new best friend, Charlie, who also was a dancer and Nathaniel, who enjoyed watching dancing. She never thought she would meet so many people who shared in her love for dancing. “I’m still learning a lot of steps. My instructor says that eventually I’ll be able to create something all on my own. But, for now, I’m still a student.” Adelita said all this rather light-heartedly. She would love to someday create a beautiful dance that would have people weeping as they watched, but she wasn’t so naïve to think that she could do such a thing anytime soon. Especially since she had only just begun learning Contemporary. There were a lot of people who didn’t quite see the beauty in Ballet, but Contemporary was so much freer of a dance that anyone could lose themselves in watching it.

“Oh, you can play and sing?” Adelita asked, perking up at this news. Her sister was the musician of the family and her Tia Izzy had vocals on her that made the family very proud. Adelita can definitely understand why music was so important to his father. “What do you play? Dulce can play the piano, the violin, and the drums.” The piano and the violin had been at the request of their mother, but the drums were what Dulce had picked for herself. On top of those instruments, she was a decent singer too. Their mother was trying to desperately have Dulce use her voice more though. Dulce preferred to only play the instruments and sang when she had no other choice.

It was Adelita’s time to blush as Nathaniel reassured her that she had the ability to make her dream come true. It wasn’t so much that no one had ever told her that she could do this, but the fact that it was coming from someone she had only just met. It was different to hear it from him than it would have been from a family member or a close friend. She appreciated his sentiments though. “Thanks.” She replied a little timidly.

She laughed when he admitted he wanted his hot chocolate and accepted the mug the he gave her in return. “Gracias.” Adelita thanked him, using her second language merely because sometimes it just sounded better than English. The hot chocolate was, well, hot, but she still enjoyed the chocolaty goodness as it slide down her throat. She loved hot chocolate, especially when she was sick or feeling sad. Her mother would usually make her a cup when Lita was feeling down. Sometimes it was good to have on a cold San Francisco night/morning too.

“It’s okay, Nathaniel-“ Adelita found it odd when a person didn’t have a nickname, but if they introduced themselves as such, that was what she would try to call them. “I didn’t introduce myself either. I guess we were just caught up in the moment.” She grinned at him, holding the moon and looking at the stars again. “We should probably try some of the spells again. What was the second one? Lumos…Duo?” Lita paused to make sure she had said the correct one before shrugging and spoke the incantation one more time with confidence. Much to her delight, her wand light, brighter than before (or so she assumed). “How can we tell if this is as bright as the spell is? Like, that we’ve done it correctly?” She asked Nathaniel. Maybe she had missed something in the lesson that would have advised on these things.
0 Adelita In a good way or bad? 0 Adelita 0 5


Nathaniel

December 13, 2008 10:36 PM
Grinning, Nathaniel went back to sipping in his hot chocolate while she stuck her tongue out at him, going along with the game. Kicking one foot in front of him, Nathaniel collapsed completely into a sitting position on the floor. Rocking slightly, he looked up at the cutouts on the ceiling, the color from his cheeks still not retreating. He fell off the bed and hurt himself, Adelita denied that he was stupid, and Nathaniel was able to look back at her, slight relief.

“Ah yeah,” he nodded slightly, “Accidents do happen, I’ve found that out the hard way.” His fingers came to massage his sore shoulder absentmindedly while grinning. “I find making fun of myself is a good way to relieve the embarrassment accidents cause,” he told her, “So people are laughing with you instead of at you.” Being laughed at wasn’t very fun, laughing with was different. Less painful, and embarrassing, that Nathaniel had also learned the hard way. Yet he’d learned quicker, and always laughed at his mistakes before anyone else could.

People liked you better if you were able to laugh at yourself, too. Kids who were always serious and couldn’t take a joke seemed to get left out, it was so unfair but that was just... how he saw it work. It wasn’t that people were exactly mean to them, just they didn’t feel like having someone get angry at them when they were “only teasing”. Nathaniel hadn’t ever been so serious that every little word was offensive, but when he first started school the kids teased his messy attire. So, he’d adopted his own silly attitude to go along with it, make it okay.

He could stand being laughed at if he was laughing too.

Playing idly with his hands, he watched her talk about dance. Nathaniel nodded along, listening intently with a smile. “Well of course!” he commented, shaking his head, “It would really take a... prodigy, someone born knowing everything, to be perfect enough to create a whole dance at eleven, right?” he said this because he wasn’t sure, it looked complicated enough to sound true but you never knew. He furrowed his brow, thinking, and pushed back a lock of light brown hair that had fallen from place. She changed to his own studies, questioning him. Nathaniel looked up, a silly grin on his face.

“A little guitar and bass, my hands are too small and soft though,” he said, holding them up. Nathaniel was tall, and lanky, and his hands were no different, but they were still the hands of a child. He had little strength to press down on the strings, and his hands were soft and not calloused at all. His father, who had played guitar for a good portion of his life, had rough hands that felt like sandpaper. They were gross, but that was the sacrifice. “A little piano, once again, hands too small,” stretching his fingers to reach separated notes took him some time, “I also have some knowledge of the flute and I’m going to start the saxophone this summer. Erm, I suppose I can to little ditties on the xylophone,” he laughed, “And I’m sure I’m going to be told to try the drums too. Oh, and my mom has a harp, I just play around with that. I have no knowledge of it at all. Erm, we have an accordion too, but I’m not even going to attempt that until I’m... twenty-two or something!” Twenty-two was a long while away, wasn’t it?

That accordion was heavy though, in attempting to pick it up Nathaniel had nearly dropped it on his foot. “I’m not very good at any of it, but you know that’s probably because I don’t devote all my time to one thing,” he stated, “I like to try all sorts of things. My big sister, Star, she’s going to school for music, she’s like me, trying all different things. She wants to teach music theory, I think.” Or be in an orchestra. Or both. Star’s ideas were conflicting.

He laughed when she seemed embarrassed about what he said, “Of course! No problem,” he responded naturally, wasn’t that what he was supposed to say? He was also thanked for the hot chocolate, and this time Nathaniel only nodded, that same happy grin just resting on his face like it was something natural (which it was). His wand slipped from his fingers, clattering to the ground. “Oops,” he muttered, stretching his sore arm to pull the rolling thing back towards him. Adelita mentioned trying the next spell and Nathaniel looked up enthusiastically.

“Oh! Okay!” he said, trying now to kneel. Her wand lit up, and Nathaniel turned his eyes away from the bright light. “I guess... we just rely on instinct!” Waving his wand around dramatically (ow), he stated the spell, “Lumos Duo!” he stated clearly, and to his excitement, the wand lit up. Yes, he thought it was brighter than his original lumos spell. Keeping the wand in one hand, Nathaniel attempted making shadow puppets with one hand on the wall of the tent. Unfortunately, he fumbled and the light went out. “Dang,” he said, looking up at Adelita with a smile, “I think that was brighter!” he said, then also remembered that other thing Professor O’Leary had talked about. “Hey, Adelita, are you going to try out your spell on that Snarly plant?”
0 Nathaniel It depends on the person judging me 0 Nathaniel 0 5


Adelita

December 22, 2008 11:04 PM
Adelita followed Nathaniel's lead by sitting on the floor (although it took her a great deal longer to do so due to the fact that she was wearing a skirt). Once she was on the floor, careful to ensure that her robe was tucked in beneath her as she had done when she had sat on the pillow during the lecture part of the lesson, Adelita returned her attention to Nathaniel.

"That's a very mature outlook to have on life.” Adelita commented. She wasn’t sure if she could do that. Laugh at herself just so that she was laughing with other people instead of them laughing at her. Honestly, she would be entirely humiliated if someone started laughing at her when she didn’t necessarily find the situation humorous. But she did appreciate his candidness and the fact that he was being the bigger person by having such a motto about himself. Adelita was even a bit envious of such an ability.
Adelita grinned when Nathaniel assured her that it was alright if she couldn’t create a dance on her own. She came from a very talented family and she often compared herself to them because of how well they did at the things they loved. Dulce would master the piano with grace; Tia Izzy would hold a note until she was blue in the face; Tia Sofia was flawless in magazines; and photoshoots, and her Grand Mamas were amazing cooks. They all had talents in different fields and they were all incredible with what they did. It was hard for Lita to admit to herself that she had a standing chance amongst them. So, it felt really good when Nathaniel reminded her that dance took quite a bit of training before she would reach such a level as that. “Yeah, you’re right. I don’t know any girl my age who can do that just yet. I’ve only just started pointe back in January. There’s no way I could do choreography on my own right now.”

She listened intently while Nathaniel explained the sort of instruments that he had tried. She was really surprised by the number of them that he had played. When he mentioned the piano and his hands, Adelita immediately glanced at them and reached out for a moment as though to grab them, but thought the better of it and dropped her hands back into her lap. Her mother had said once that a person could tell a pianist by the length of their fingers. Apparently, her mother believed that if a person and long dainty fingers, they could play the keys with infinite beauty. Adelita had a habit of trying to prove her mother right (or wrong, it was hard to say sometimes).

A giggle escaped when Nathaniel mentioned wanting to possibly try the accordion. Adelita never thought someone willingly learned to play that unless they were Swedish. Maybe Nathaniel was Swedish? “Maybe you can learn to play the polka on it!” Adelita suggested. “Isn’t that what people play on an accordion? I’ve never actually seen anyone play one before.” She had to admit that she always thought the accordion to be the sort of instruments someone who wasn’t really… socially inclined to play. But, maybe Nathaniel could prove her wrong one day.

“That’s so cool that your sister wants to do that. If I couldn’t dance like professionally, I would want to be able to teach someone else how to dance. Maybe get them to a place that I wasn’t able to do.” Adelita explained. Of course, she really really wanted to be a ballerina dancing in the Nutcracker, but she knew that not everyone’s dreams came true.

Well, it didn’t seem like Nathaniel knew anything more than she did on how they knew if the spell was working. Oh well, something they could always test out later. She continued to play with the spell, smiling when Nathaniel made a comment on the brightness of his own spell. Maybe they were brighter? “Hm?” Adelita mumbled when he addressed her directly. His question had her shaking her head immediately. “No thank you. I do not want my headline to read ‘Death by Plant’.” She informed him. “What about you? Are you going to test your luck?”
0 Adelita That's true. I'm sure they'll all like you though. 0 Adelita 0 5