Beginner Level: Lesson II (First and Second Years) on Defense Against the Dark Arts

Professor Levy

November 26, 2010 8:49 PM

Beginner Level: Lesson II (First and Second Years) by Professor Levy

If someone had walked into the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, one might have thought Erika was converting the room to a library. There were piles of books stacked up on her desk. Those were the ones that she had come back from midterm with curtsy of Torra. Soon enough, they would be wife and wife. Unlike some couples, it was more difficult to plan their wedding since they saw each other so little and arrangements had to be made at certain times. For the most part, she was happy to leave it to whatever her girlfriend wanted. After all, it was to be her dream wedding. Erika was mostly happy that she would call Torra hers forever.

However, Torra, being Torra, insisted that she send her any ideas she had or tell her anything she liked since it was supposed to be her wedding too. Though, she had promised to and really would look at all the information, Erika’s only insistences were standing at the altar and being able to wear a suit. She had found what she thought to be the perfect one and was planning on sending a picture of it, as soon as she got her class settled. That was where the stack of boxes on the floor came in. Those were ones that came from her collection. Some had been bought for enjoyment while others had been part of her secondary, university, and auror educations. Today, she would be passing some of that education along to her Beginner level students that were now filing into the classroom. “Good afternoon. “Hope everyone is ready for a lesson less than ordinary.”

Erika waited until they were all seated and ready before she began her lesson. “Many of you probably think nothing of picking up an object laying around or ripping open mail without seeing who it’s from. No second thought is given to these actions and if you lived only in the muggle world, you probably wouldn’t have to. Unfortunately, in the wizarding world, things are a little more dangerous. After all, if they weren’t, you wouldn’t be taking this class. Even the most ordinary of items, like a book,” she said, as she picked one up, “can be hazardous.”

“Some of you might be laughing at the very thought, however, there have been books known to burn out eyes, never let you stop reading, and even ones that cause you to speak in limericks for the rest of your life. All of these books have had spells placed on them to cause such things to happen. Today, you’ll get to experience a bit of what books can do. Some of the books I have here do absolutely nothing and some do. That’s up to you to find out. Fortunately, none of them do anything truly terrible or absolute. All of the effects of these spells can be ended with Finite Incantatem.”

After Erika gave the students a brief demonstration/review of Finite Incantatem, she went on, “You may choose any of the books in the boxes on the floor and you’re welcome to partner up with someone. If you have any questions, I’ll be working at my desk. Enjoy.” With that, she sat down on her desk and began clipping the picture that she was going to send. It was the traditional black, but rather than the boring white shirt, it had a ruffled shirt and had been designed for the female body, so it would show off her figure nicely. While she didn’t want to distract from Torra, she did want to look perfect dancing with her soon-to-be bride.

OOC: Minimum of ten well written sentences please, but remember the more detailed and creative the post, the more points earned! Have fun with the books, some might turn your hair blue or give other odd effects.

Subthreads:

I'm smoked! by Marcus Williams (Pecari) with Renée Errant {Crotalus}

You really can’t judge a book by its cover by Neal Padrig, Pecari with Sam Bauer, Crotalus

Ew, that smell. by Ryan O'Malley, Crotalus with Sara Raines, Pecari

Jingle Bells by Kirstenna Melcher,Teppenpaw with Sophie Jamison [Pecari], Luke Valerio, Pecari

0 Professor Levy Beginner Level: Lesson II (First and Second Years) 0 Professor Levy 1 5

Marcus Williams (Pecari)

November 27, 2010 9:59 PM

I'm smoked! by Marcus Williams (Pecari)

Marcus wandered into the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom with not even an ounce of hesitation as he usually did with the other classes. It wasn’t that DADA was at the top of his list for lessons, but rather, he figured out of all the classes he had to take, this was would be the one that would save him from the magical world. He wouldn’t ever tell his mother what was taught and learned in this class out of fear of worrying her, but he would take every word of what was spoken and vault it within his mind because he never knew when it would come in handy. Heck, if he had known how to protect himself in that first transfiguration lesson, maybe he wouldn’t dislike this world as much as he had.

The appearance of the DADA professor no longer startled him as it had the first time he saw her. Her goth appearance would have never been allowed at his non-magical school. Teachers were to dress nicely and professionally. Goth attire was something he only ever saw on white teenagers. Never on an adult. Unless they were in a heavy metal band. Not that Marcus was judging, he actually thought it was pretty bada** for a professor to walk around like that. Expressing oneself in clothes and makeup in a society that often frowned upon it. Out of everyone in this building, Marcus probably understood that the best. Being black, people automatically thought the worst of him. With his hair in braids and clothes large on him, they thought even less of him. Appearance meant everything in this world. Magical or not.

Sitting down in his usual spot, Marcus pulled out his wand, pen (he only used a quill when he had a test or homework, otherwise a pen was what he used), and his notebook (he only used parchment for tests or homework). It was after he was seated did he see the state of the classroom. Oh man. By the looks of it, it seemed as though they may be doing a lot of research stuff. Marcus almost let out a sigh, but the start of the lesson made him stop. Objects? Mail? Well, technically, when there had been that Anthrax scare when Marcus had been really little, people had been afraid of opening up their mail. Fear of being a victim of the chemical death. And, there had also been the bomb scares that occurred when packages were delivered at random to people’s homes. But, Marcus kept this to himself. This lesson was important afterall.

The idea of a book being dangerous completely dumbfounded Marcus. He had always just thought a book was a danger of giving him a headache, but never actually physically doing him any harm. He didn’t know what to think of all these news. Not only did he have to worry about crazy witches and wizards with wands and insane spells, had to worry about all objects too? This world was out of control!

Getting up from his desk, Marcus grabbed the first couple of books that he could and took them back to his seat. He didn’t know if anyone wanted to work with him or not, but figured they could join in whenever they wanted. If not, he was fine with working on his own too. Picking up the first book, Marcus opened it and was immediately hit by a cloud of black smoke that left him feeling as though he had just been electrocuted. Had his hair not been in braids, he knew it would be completely fried. As he coughed, a ring of black smoke huffed out of him. “Holy crap, that was rough.” Marcus said to no one in particular.

6 Marcus Williams (Pecari) I'm smoked! 180 Marcus Williams (Pecari) 0 5

Renée Errant {Crotalus}

November 29, 2010 1:27 AM

But where's the fire? by Renée Errant {Crotalus}

Renée, as per usual, was barely able to drag herself away from the Labyrinth Gardens to be able to make it just in time for class. If it wasn't Care of Magical Creatures, then the first year couldn't care less about the lesson. She settled down next to a boy she didn't know but recognized from her classes, and slumped down in her seat, playing with the long dark curls on her head. She pulled a strand up, let it fall down on her face, blew at it, and for some reason this amused her to the point of giggles. Stifling the urge, she tucked the hair away and focused her dark brown eyes on the teacher.

Growing up in a magical household with a family that loved to talk (a trait she most definitely inherited) Renée already knew a little about dangerous books. She remembered a few years ago when her mother, angry that Gabriel was reading something he apparently shouldn't, hexed some of his magazines that somehow caused him to limp for days after he had flipped through it. When she'd asked both her brother and mother what he'd read they both embarrassingly waived her off. Self-involvement beat out curiosity and she'd let the matter drop.

Tuning into class now, Renée listened as the teacher told them to grab a stack of books. Feeling lazy, Renée watched as the boy next to her went up and came back with a couple of books. She turned to him to ask - well, inform - that they were partners but he opened one of his chosen books and POOF. Renée let loose a loud laugh, her shoulders shaking. She bit her tongue hard to regain control, but continued to giggle delightedly. She slid out of her seat to stand up and lean on the boy's. "Yeah." She said, assuming he was talking to her. "But it didn't look that bad. What did it feel like?" She pulled the other book towards her and opened it tentatively, before pulling it open with a jerk. She stared at the blank pages disappointingly. "Nothing happened." She pouted. Unbeknownst to her, the attractive curls on her head were starting to slacken and turning a shockingly bright white. The bronze tan she had gotten was suddenly turning pale, and her wide dark brown eyes were turning blue, and continuing to fade.

0 Renée Errant {Crotalus} But where's the fire? 0 Renée Errant {Crotalus} 0 5

Marcus

December 03, 2010 6:10 PM

Can a fire be invisible? by Marcus

Marcus hadn’t taken it into consideration that there may have been people watching as the book decided to cough up black smoke at him and only actually considered it when he heard someone laughing close by. Looking up from the shock of what just occurred and from the pages of the book, Marcus found himself looking at a girl. He knew she was in his year, but they had never worked together, so Marcus knew nothing else about her. Oh well. Since the first month of school, Marcus hadn’t really tried to get to know anyone because he had been thinking that he would not be returning to Sonora after Midterm. But, plans change and now Marcus would most definitely be here for the next six and a half years. He might as well make the most of it.

Embarrassment was hardly ever an issue for Marcus. Being a minority at his last school had left him often in the spotlight with his peers. Whatever was thrown at him, Marcus just went with it. Even at his own expense. So, the girl laughing at him didn’t upset him. Instead, he saw it from her view. Yeah, him being attacked by a cloud of black smoke probably was funny and he knew that if he had his hair in its natural afro it would have been even funnier. Marcus grinned at her.

“Like I was electrocuted.” Marcus told her. He had no other way of explaining it. “Touching a really low electric fence.” He had done that once when he had visited a friend in the burbs. It was boonies central compared to his inner city life. His friend lived across the street from a small farm that had a horse and to keep the horse on the property, the property was lined with an electric fence. It wasn’t high voltage, but it could jab you good if you weren’t paying attention. When he was around seven or eight, him and his friend used to have dares with that fence. “How’d it look?” He could imagine how it looked, but he was sure his vision wasn’t the same as hers. "I'm Marcus, by the way." He added, trying not to be rude since he realized they hadn't been introduced or anything.

Marcus had started flipping through the book, wondering if each time he opened the book it would spit black smoke at him again when the girl pouted about her book. Looking at her, Marcus’s eyes widened, “Dude, whoa…you’re white.” After that comment left his mouth, Marcus realized how that probably sounded and he might come off as being ignorant or just plain dumb. “I mean, I think that book did something to you, you literally are all white! And your eyes are different.” He was completely awestruck by what he was currently witnessing. Him being blasted was nothing compared to a spell that can take away a person’s color. Now that was wicked.

6 Marcus Can a fire be invisible? 180 Marcus 0 5

Neal Padrig, Pecari

December 05, 2010 1:57 AM

You really can’t judge a book by its cover by Neal Padrig, Pecari

Neal never really knew what to expect from a Defense lesson. Smiling brightly, he realized it was one of the reasons why he thought of it as his favorite. Every lesson felt like it came from some sort of magical action movie, which was the sort of thing that the second year hoped his life would be like one day. It may seem like a far-fetched aspiration, but he was young and had plenty of time to daydream about his probably-never-gonna-happen future plans. It might seem odd that the generally mild-mannered and calm boy who spoke in a flat tone and spent a lot of time reading cared for adventure or fast-paced classes, but that only went to show that he wasn’t as boring as he might let on.

Seeing boxes all over the place, Neal tried to brainstorm what was going on. Was Professor Levy moving or something? Only with the promise that the lesson would be ”less than ordinary” did Neal decide to leave the explaining to her and just go take a seat. Listening to her talk, Neal knew he shouldn’t be as awe-struck over the idea of dangerous artifacts, but he was. Books burning out people’s eyes sounded horrible, no doubt about it, but the simple fact that he hadn’t ever seen or heard about anything like that had him wondering about it.

His father had done a good job at exposing Neal to the wiziarding world well before Neal got a letter for Sonora, so hearing about things his father hadn’t even explained to him was another reason to get excited. He was getting briefed on things his dad didn’t even know. And that right there was completely crazy.

Neal gave a small grin at the lesson when the professor was done introducing it, but it didn’t do justice to express how amped up he was to get started. This was like combing detective work with spell work – it was the sort of dangerous stuff that made him get that knot of anticipation he loved. Though he wasn’t against working alone for this one, the thought of having a partner to work with seemed like it’d only make the lesson more fun. “Hey, are you working with anyone yet?” he asked the person next to him. “If not, want to partner up?”

0 Neal Padrig, Pecari You really can’t judge a book by its cover 0 Neal Padrig, Pecari 0 5

Renée Errant

December 05, 2010 2:09 PM

Well, I've never <i>seen</i> one, so I don't know. by Renée Errant

Renée laughed again at his description. "It did kind of look like - like a storm cloud, I guess. Everything just went 'poof' and then - " She laughed again. "You should have seen your face." She tried imitating it but broke down into giggles again. She felt as if she were being tickled mercilessly, and felt her usual natural high of giddiness take over.

"Oh, I'm Renée. I'm in Crotalus." As the year went by she felt it was easier and easier to say that. Especially since she had helped Crotalus win their fist match of the season against Teppenpaw. She thought she could let go of not being sorted into Pecari.

She looked up after opening her disappointing book and looked blankly at Marcus. A million indignant responses ran through her mind, the loudest of which were shouting that she was only half white as her mother actually came from one of Spain's richest pureblooded families that also happened to be a mixture of Spain and Spanish West Africa but Marcus corrected himself before she could make a coherent reply.

"Really?" Renée excitedly reached to touch her face but paused to stare at her raised hands, now pale. "Dulce, Merlin." She laughed. "I'm like a ghost." She flexed her arms, watching as her veins came into clearer view and grimaced just a little. "Eww, this is kind of disgusting." She looked at Marcus, her shockingly white-blue eyes looking into his much darker ones. "I just wanna see how I look in a mirror. Can you get some more books? This is so much fun!" She skipped excitedly to find a mirror to look at herself for a few moments before coming back.

"Okay, this class is awesome. Usually I only like learning about magical creatures." She pulled out her wand and cast, "Finite Incantatem." She waited a few moments. "How do I look? Actually," she smiled at Marcus. "Your hair still looks a little... frizzed, I guess." She reached out a hand for one of his loosened braids but pulled back. "Sorry. Um, what books did you get?"

0 Renée Errant Well, I've never <i>seen</i> one, so I don't know. 0 Renée Errant 0 5

Marcus

December 06, 2010 8:22 PM

Good Point. by Marcus

The more Marcus spoke to her, the more Marcus was reminded of the girls back home. All giggles. Like there was some underlying joke that only they knew and refused to tell anyone else. He knew why she was laughing and everything, but she seemed to be endless giggles. Yes the situation was funny, but she was like high on something to find that much humor in it. Or, maybe that was just how girls worked. He was still trying to figure them out.

“Oh, I’m in Pecari.” He wasn’t exactly sure why they had to state their houses especially since they had their house symbols embroidered on a badge on their school robes. That should have been obvious enough, but most people stated their House. And, if not their house, they stated their full name and the state in which their family was from. That was even more strange to him. Instead of just having small talk that discussed where a person was from, they just shoved it all into their greetings. That had to be a magical thing. He never heard anyone ever introduce themselves like that before. Rich or poor. The magical world continued to confuse him.

“Sure.” Marcus said, although he was fairly certain he didn’t have much choice in the matter. Getting up, Marcus replaced the books that he had taken and rummaged through the boxes to locate what he hoped would be awesome books. Coming back to the desk, Marcus didn’t have to wait long for Renee to return. When she had returned, Marcus could have sworn she was even whiter than before. Thankfully, she ended the spell on herself and almost immediately started to return to her original color.

“Crap.” Marcus commented when Renee mentioned his hair. If his hair wasn’t cornrowed properly, he would look dumb. His mother always did his braids because it was too hard for him to see what he was doing and to get it as tight as it needed to be. He wouldn’t see his mom again until Easter. What was he supposed to do until then? He was pretty sure no one knew how to braid hair like his in the way that it needed to be braided. He could just go all out with the afro, but he didn’t like that look. It made him feel hippy-ish. Marcus suppressed a sigh. He’d figure it out later.

“Uh…I got these.” Marcus said, indicating the books. They looked really old and worn, so hopefully they’d be good ones. “I haven’t opened them. I figured, I’d give you first choice.”

6 Marcus Good Point. 180 Marcus 0 5

Ryan O'Malley, Crotalus

December 08, 2010 7:43 PM

Ew, that smell. by Ryan O'Malley, Crotalus

Ryan didn't think he was very good at Defense. Aside from flying, it had been his lowest grade last time. His mother had, of course, derided him for this. She said that he was a boy, he was supposed to be tougher and more athletic. Of course, if he did the things that his mother said normal boys did, she would yell at him for being too rough. Ryan could never do anything right.

Besides, he really wasn't a very physical person. He wasn't allowed to be. Because Ryan had been a preemie, his grandmother was convinced that he wasn't as strong as other children, an opinion his mother seemed to second and hate him because of. At least that was what Ryan thought. That his mom hated him because he had been a boy when she only wanted a girl and because he didn't fit her image of what a boy should be like.

Ryan was not so stupid that he didn't see the contradiction in this, but that didn't seem to matter. What mattered was that his mother hated him and he couldn't do anything right no matter what. Not for her anyway, and Ryan was constantly afraid he wouldn't be able to do anything right according to anyone else either. Particularly Professor Levy and Coach Pierce, because he couldn't fly and wasn't good at anything athletic that they did in Defense.

Fortunately, there was also a spellwork and an academic component of Defense and the Crotalus was better at those. Even more fortunate, was that today would be focusing on one of those components instead of something more athletic. Ryan was happy about this.

Not that he was particularly happy to deal with dangerous books, Ryan didn't really want to deal with anything dangerous though he knew he had to be ready to, in case his mother decided to start using magic to torture him. In fact, Ryan could make any lesson that Professor Levy taught relevant somehow to that. For example, what if his mother went and put curses on all his books? She seemed to think Ryan was too nerdy so he wouldn't put that past her. In fact, the first year wouldn't put anything past her.

He got up, grabbed a book out of the box and took it back to his seat. It was an ancient book and the title appeared to be worn off. Ryan couldn't imagine what it could be but being a Crotalus, approached it cautiously. It looked like a fairly harmless book, and he flipped it open to see what could be the matter with it.

That's when his eyes began to water because the book was omitting the most foul stench Ryan could have ever imagined! It smelled like a combination of garbage and manure rotting in the sun on a hot summer day. It smelled like death and decay and old socks that had been left under the bed for three years that were coated with mold and mildew. It smelled of the strongest dungbombs with a faint undertone of burnt popcorn.

And still, none of those descriptions were quite right. It was like all the bad smells in the world rolled into one horrid scent. Ryan's head was beginning to hurt and he was now fighting the urge to throw up. He couldn't do that though, he'd look like a major wimp. All the other kids would laugh at him-except maybe Sophie if she still wanted to be best friends with such a wuss-and Professor Levy would hate him too. Worst of all, it might get back to his mother and Merlin only knew what would happen then.

Actually, others were probably smelling this too and it was all Ryan's fault, like most things tended to be. Naturally, that only made him feel worse. He turned to the person next to him. "I'm so sorry." The first year apologized. Little did he know that he was the only one smelling the wretched odor.

11 Ryan O'Malley, Crotalus Ew, that smell. 176 Ryan O'Malley, Crotalus 0 5

Kirstenna Melcher,Teppenpaw

December 10, 2010 2:39 AM

Jingle Bells by Kirstenna Melcher,Teppenpaw

Kirstenna had mixed feelings about Defense. On the one hand, it was never boring, the way Potions was. It was also probably second only to Charms in the most practical class the students at Sonora were taught. Not that this really mattered to Kirstenna as she was not a practical person. What practical person believed that their Transfiguration teacher was plotting to turn them all into beetles?

Still, she could generally see the point to all the lessons. Actually magic made total sense to Kirstenna and she thought the world would be boring without it. Truthfully, the one class she didn't see the necessity of was Transfiguration but that didn't mean Kirstenna thought it was any less cool, despite having psycho teachers that did things like turn students into beetles and kidnap her friends.

On the other hand, Defense often required competition and Kirstenna had a huge problem with that. In her opinion, that was nothing but a way to turn students against each other. Kirstenna wanted to make friends not view her classmates as people she had to beat at stuff.

However, Kirstenna was happy to find that once again today there would be none of that. Instead they would just be checking out a bunch of cursed books. How fun! Defense was so exciting sometimes. She couldn't wait to see what hers did. This was why she loved magic. It turned the most ordinary objects more exciting.

The Teppenpaw went up and got a book. She took it back to her seat. Kirstenna examined the object which appeared to be an old book of Christmas carols. The second year grinned. It wasn't hard to guess what this book probably did.

She opened it up...and cringed, for the book (which did exactly what Kirstenna assumed it would) was bleating out Christmas carols (which it was now a bit late for)in the most dreadful singing voice imaginable. She grabbed her wand in order to do the spell but instead of saying Finite Incantatem what came out was "Jingle bells, Jingle bells, Jingle all the way..."

At least she had a prettier voice than the book.

11 Kirstenna Melcher,Teppenpaw Jingle Bells 161 Kirstenna Melcher,Teppenpaw 0 5

Renée Errant

December 10, 2010 10:14 PM

Sleeping Beauty by Renée Errant

Renée's eyes automatically swept around the classroom for the teacher before settling back on Marcus. In her house, she wasn't allowed to say the words "hell" or "crap" and was always a little apprehensive around those who said it, but also couldn't help feeling that little tinge of excitement when she did hear it. Forbidden words were like a new land to examine and explore. She just wasn't willing to explore it yet.

"Oh, thanks." Renée looked over the books Marcus had brought over. On the other side of the room she heard "Jingle Bells" being sung and looking up she saw Kirstenna looking down at a book. She grinned to herself then looked back at her own pile, turning the worn looking ones over and trying to guess what they did by their covers.

"This one looks... interesting." She held up the faded green book with a red apple on the cover, a knife sinking into it, and what looked to be blood dripping out where the apple was punctured. She smiled wide at Marcus, then with a great show pulled it open suddenly. She waited for something to happen, and her eyes focused on the words on the page. 'She went into her most secret room -- no one else was allowed inside -- and she made a poisoned apple.' Renée read silently. 'From the outside it was beautiful, and anyone who saw it would want it. But anyone who might eat a little piece of it would died.' Immediately after reading, Renée felt a sudden sweet taste fill her mouth. She looked confusedly up at Marcus, but then her face relaxed, her eyes lowering slowly. "I think... you have... Finite... Incan..." Sighing sleepily, she leaned over the desk and promptly went to sleep; her restored dark curls across her face rose and fell in time with her breathing. The book was released from her grasp, where in the inside made it clear that it was an enchanted muggle copy of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

0 Renée Errant Sleeping Beauty 0 Renée Errant 0 5

Sophie Jamison [Pecari]

December 11, 2010 12:52 PM

Sing it, sister! by Sophie Jamison [Pecari]

The blonde skipped off to Defense class merrily. Though it was no where near as awesome as Potions, and Professor Levy was not her favorite --but she did like the professor-- it was one of her better classes.
There was no denying that the twelve year old surpassed expectations in Potions, but Defense was probably her next best class, followed in suite by Charms and ending lastly with Transfiguration. Sophie was atrocious at Transfiguration.

On her way, it occurred to her that she skipped an awful lot. Sophie often skipped to many of her classes. Maybe she was just eager to learn. Though she wasn’t exactly a nerd, her father was a pretty smart dude, and her mother had been in Ravenclaw at Hogwarts, the smart house. She supposed brains were genetic.

When she came into the classroom, she discovered that it looked eerily similar to a library, and had there not been a bunch of her classmates there, she would have assumed she took a wrong turn and ended up in the school library. As she let herself listen to the beginning speech from the professor, Sophie found herself less than surprised. Ileum had once warned her about ordinary-looking dangers, the worrier, but her mother told Ileum to cool off because Sophie was smart enough to be able to tell danger from non-danger. That had been eight-ish years before, and really, the Pecari was surprised she remembered it.

However, when the instructions were given, the blue-eyed girl didn’t particularly feel like picking out her own book to experiment with. Instead, she headed over to a girl who seemed to be having a good time. Once in closer ear-range, she discovered the girl was singing Christmas carols along with one of the books. "Jingle bells, Jingle bells, Jingle all the way..."

Smiling, Sophie chimed in. “Oh, what fun it is to ride in a one-horse, open slay.” The first year wasn’t the best singer, but she was at least better than the book, which made her feel good, though she was incomparable with the girl singing. “You sound great,” Sophia complimented. “You have a really pretty voice.” Extending her hand for an introductory shake, she added, “I’m Sophie Jamison. First year Pecari. What’s your name?”

12 Sophie Jamison [Pecari] Sing it, sister! 34 Sophie Jamison [Pecari] 0 5

Marcus

December 12, 2010 8:27 PM

I don't think sleeping is allowed here. by Marcus

While Renee looked at the books Marcus had chosen, Marcus took the time to look to see what everyone else was doing. It was actually sort of amusing watching what was happening to others. If these books could do these simple things to all of them, Marcus was nervous to know what the really wicked books could do. And, if they did do that, how would he be able to tell which ones had the curses and which ones didn’t? Was there even a way to tell? Actually, now that he thought about it, the professor didn’t actually tell them whether or not this could be done. She only explained how to stop the spell that these books would cast upon them. Marcus really wanted to find out if there was any way to tell if an object was cursed or not because now he was going to be paranoid every time he touched something in fear that it would rip out his eyes or something.

When Renee decided on a book, Marcus returned his attention to her, but his attention didn’t last for very long. It didn’t look as though anything was going to happen, but she looked interested enough in the book to read it, so Marcus left her alone for a moment and continued to look around at everyone else. He was pretty glad he didn’t get the singing book, but mainly because Marcus couldn’t sing and the book sounded horrible enough on its own. Marcus didn’t look back at Renee until she started talking again and looking back, he saw that she had fallen asleep on her desk.

“Hey.” Marcus said to her curls. “Hey.” He said again, this time giving her a little shake. Marcus reached around and grabbed the book, reading the cover. “Oh.” Snow White. The poisonous apple that put Snow White to sleep until Prince Charming rescued her. He thought it was Prince Charming, but that could have been Cinderella’s man. Either way, she was rescued with a kiss. Marcus was pretty sure he wasn’t allowed to kiss a girl while she was sleeping. That was unethical or something. And, although he’d like to one day kiss a girl, he opted to use his wand in this situation. “Finite Incantatem” Marcus said, pointing his wand at his partner. “I’m not sure you’re allowed to sleep on the job, Renee.” Marcus said, still to the curls of her hair.

6 Marcus I don't think sleeping is allowed here. 180 Marcus 0 5

Renée Errant

December 14, 2010 7:06 PM

I'm petitioning for naptime then. I would so ace that class. by Renée Errant

She saw shades of pink, red, orange, yellow, blue... they swept her up and spun her around. Everything was tantalizingly dizzy and sweet. A large hand grabbed her own and she looked up but everything was tilted and too high to see. There was a whisper somewhere, the wind running through strands of hair, but she wasn't able to pay attention. Another whisper, and the barest of taps on her shoulder. Something was offered to her by the large hand, and she bit into it. Blinded by the dizzying colors, she couldn't see the sweet thing she ate. She ducked her head and spread her lips across the cool surface of what might be fruit. Two teeth sunk in but went no further than that.

"Huh?" Renée blinked as a tan table greeted her sudden change in vision. She shook her head and slowly lifted it, brushing the hair out of her eyes. She looked up confusedly at Marcus, and was then confused why she was suddenly looking up at Marcus. "Did I - oh." The past minute slammed into her mind and she laughed. "Oh right." She got up smiling wide, but both stance and smile faltered when a wave of diziness assaulted her and caused her to lean on the desk. "Mmm." She rubbed furiously at her head. "I'm going to be so scared about opening the textbook tonight. I don't know how I'm going to get any homework done."

She tentatively reached for the book. "What is this story anyway? Is it a real story?" She ran a tongue through her mouth, unconsciously still seeking for that sweet taste. 'Just one more peek...' A foreign voice seemed to say. Renée put the book down. Her father was muggleborn, but he hadn't ever really read her muggle fairy tales. He was a cultural anthropologist and nothing gave him a greater thrill then reading her his essays out loud. Many a night was spent lulled into sleep by her father's expressive voice, detailing the pain a Brazilian wizarding tribe was caused with the depletion of their natural habitat. 'Sweet dreams...'

Renée perched herself on the desk and handed a book to Marcus. "Now you." She waited expectantly for something to happen. "I just hope it's not sleep again. That wasn't nearly as fun as being white."

0 Renée Errant I'm petitioning for naptime then. I would so ace that class. 0 Renée Errant 0 5

Sara Raines, Pecari

December 15, 2010 1:48 PM

Ow, my ears by Sara Raines, Pecari

The unusual state of the Defense classroom was enough to make Sara raise an eyebrow, but she quickly controlled her expression and took a seat. Since she had arrived too late to make the front row, she put her Potions and Transfiguration texts on the seat first and tapped the top one with her wand to make it slightly easier to sit on for an indeterminate amount of time. The trick actually raised her head a hair above some other people’s, and it was uncomfortable and called attention to her if anyone looked, but the other solution to the problem was kneeling on the seat in a skirt, and that…wasn’t really an option.

She had to grow before next year. She just had to. The mere thought of spending seven years perching on top of books and looking up to everyone except perhaps her roommate and, no doubt, being laughed at a little for those things was intolerable. Just because she secretly admired Morgaine Carey didn’t mean she wanted to look like her. She had a similar secret spot of respect for Amelia Pierce, but it hadn’t driven her to join the Quidditch Team.

Once she had everything she thought she might need for class out, she reached up to tuck her thick, currently-straight dark hair back behind her ear and felt cool metal and glass as her fingers brushed one of her earrings – the new ones Aunt Margaret had brought her from Italy for Christmas. Oh, dear. She had meant to swap them for the gold studs before this class. Letting her hair fall back into place to hide her ears from the professor, she silently began to wish, as hard as she could, that they wouldn’t have a very active class today.

To her surprise, her wish was granted. Admittedly, the lesson was still potentially embarrassing, a little risky, but it wasn’t dueling, and none of the spells were properly dangerous. It was a good day. Sara smiled at the professor as she took a book and made her way back to her already book-ridden desk.

The smile went away, though, when she opened it and immediately felt her ears try to twist themselves off her head. She didn’t yelp, as much as she wanted to, but couldn’t hold back a startled gasp as her hands flew to her skull. Both ears were still twitching vigorously, shaking the heavy earrings in ways they really hadn’t been meant for.

She was convincing herself to let go of her head and reach for her wand when, beside her, she heard a miserable apology. Sara scanned him quickly, but there didn’t seem to be anything wrong with Ryan, so she concluded that he was sorry for her condition, and perhaps that he’d gotten a harmless book while she’d gotten a jinxed one. “I am, too,” she said, trying not to sound cross. “I’m glad your book wasn’t jinxed, but mine is horrid. Can you try to end the spell for me, please? I’m afraid that if I don’t hold my ears, my earrings are going to hurt me.”

0 Sara Raines, Pecari Ow, my ears 0 Sara Raines, Pecari 0 5

Sam Bauer, Crotalus

December 15, 2010 1:53 PM

Sometimes not even its back cover. by Sam Bauer, Crotalus

Sam was still scanning his mother’s letter, trying to pick out the most useful details, as he walked into Defense. There was something very not manly about reading letters from his mom all over the place, which was why he didn’t do it in his dorm room around Nic, but she was his only source of information about what was going on at home. If he didn’t have that information, he was pretty sure he’d have a rough time of it whenever he had to go home for holidays, and their entire number was based on being as inconspicuous as his early childhood issues would allow.

Mrs. Rubenstein’s cat had died…Ah, that sucked. He’d liked that cat. And, though he’d never admit it to anyone except maybe the old lady, he liked Mrs. Rubenstein. Mrs. Goldberg had a fight with her daughter…Good, he didn’t like any of the Goldbergs, anyway. Mrs. Goldberg liked to make comments about his mother under a thin veil of pity, Mr. Goldberg seemed to want to play father figure to him, and Natalie Goldberg was just annoying. Lacy Johnson had said hello, which was always a concern since she’d figured out there was something peculiar about him when they were in second grade, but if she’d referenced Percy Jackson again, his mother hadn’t seen fit to include it…And there, in the final paragraph, she recounted the numbers the restaurant had taken in this week.

Despite still feeling a little irritated about how Kate had spent so much of their last mealtime convinced he was either her therapist or a relationship counselor who could get through to Rachel that he hadn’t been able to finish reading this thing properly then, Sam felt his day brighten a little as he folded the letter and placed it carefully inside his Defense textbook. If she was still reporting the numbers, then it stood to reason that she hadn’t been fired. He’d been trying to convince her to slightly enchant her boss ever since the next most senior waitress at Harry’s had gotten that treatment, but she was too darn ethical to take care of herself.

If, in the current state of the economy, she lost her job, they were what experts referred to as ‘screwed.’ Uncle Jake would do his best to help them out, but his educational status made his financial one such that rumor had it Aunt Emily was the one paying alimony, and Sam was under no illusions about his grandparents or Uncle Isaac. Unless his mother had some serious dirt on Isaac, they’d never see a knut out of them.

It was times like this that he resented his father. Dude had apparently been an Auror. Aurors made money. His mother insisted they had been planning to get married. Would it have really have been that much trouble to change his life insurance policy preemptively to include his girlfriend, just in case he happened to get himself killed a few weeks before she realized he’d gotten her pregnant first? Some people just had no consideration.

Professor Levy was not such a person. Sam found himself nodding along as she explained about how things could be cursed, and how it was helpful to have lots of practice in nullifying things. He’d like it if they could go ahead and learn about how to tell something was bad news ahead of time, but he guessed that was an intermediate or advanced thing. It was still a useful lesson, which was one thing he loved about Sonora. If he thought about it long enough, he could find a use for almost everything they learned.

Well…maybe some of the uses were well outside the kind of dull life he was likely to actually lead, since James Bond he was highly likely to not be, but they were still cool. And maybe not some bits Care of Magical Creatures, exactly. He was a city boy to the bone, so even his potions ingredients were bought pre-packaged, and he couldn’t really afford fancy quills, but even that class had its days. He sometimes had to suffer through some teachers who had issues to get the good stuff, but as long as he got it and could do well for himself in the world, he could deal with that.

Upon recognizing who was asking him to pair up, Sam smiled. He liked Neal Padrig, who he’d worked with before, as far as he liked anyone; occasionally, he cast Neal and Kirstenna Melcher as his friends in some of the more fanciful eventual lives he’d thought up. “No, and sure thing,” he said, answering both questions at once. “Want to start with a book a piece, or just grab a handful and see how well we can work through them?”

16 Sam Bauer, Crotalus Sometimes not even its back cover. 163 Sam Bauer, Crotalus 0 5

Luke Valerio, Pecari

December 17, 2010 6:27 PM

Jumping in to the fun by Luke Valerio, Pecari

Defense against the Dark Arts was not a class suited to Luke. He hated how the class made everything seem like everything in the magical world was dangerous. It felt like all they did was learn how to protect themselves. What kind of world was it when you always had to worry about if someone was going to attack you. Okay, he knew there was violence in the muggle world. It was there every day, always on the news, but it wasn’t like they were being taught all this self-defense in school. No, he had been taught ordinary, everyday subjects like math and science. Geeky subjects, but ordinary.

Easy subjects were easy to make a good joke out of. Here, there didn’t seem to be any room for such things. Had he even seen a picture of a clown? No, he had passed a portrait of a zombie once. Zombies were absolutely horrific and the possibility of actual existence was more so. Seriously, stepping into the magical world was like stepping into a horror film. He had hoped it would be more like stepping into a fairytale world. Of course, that was before he had learned that fairies were dangerous. This world was absolutely insane!

Unfortunately, there was no turning back from it now so he had to make the best of it. So rather than pay attention to the scary professor, he propped his DADA book up and hid what he was really reading behind it. Maybe magic wasn’t completely terrible. There seemed to be some fun things like chocolate frogs and exploding snap. He wondered what his friends back home would think of those things. Though, if he ever told them that magic was real, he doubted they would believe him. They would think he was just playing some sort of practical joke and normally, he would have been, but this was different.

This class needed some serious lightening up. Hearing something, no, someone nearby singing. Two someones, he looked over. Two girls were singing. Had he missed something? Probably. Would that stop him from talking to them? No, it wouldn’t. “That was fabulous darlings. Simply fabulous,” he drawled out like he was some Hollywood agent. “Have your people call my people. Let’s do lunch.” He paused with a twinkle in his eyes. “Seriously that was cool. Why were you singing holiday songs, Kirst-eeee-nnnaaa, love?” To the other girl, he said, “I’m Luke.”

0 Luke Valerio, Pecari Jumping in to the fun 0 Luke Valerio, Pecari 0 5

Marcus

December 17, 2010 8:25 PM

You and half the school would. by Marcus

It didn’t take long for Renee to walk up out of the fog that the book had put her in. He thought it was completely weird how a book could make a person react as they were. His electrocuted him. Renee’s made her fall asleep. Some girl was singing across the room from them. He didn’t understand why this stuff needed to happen or how to avoid them. Why would a book have to be evil? Why did people have to be evil? Not just magical people but muggle too. What was the point? Why were people like this? Why does the world work this way? And why won’t anyone explain this stuff to him? The explain the spells, but not the reasons. It was driving him crazy!

Marcus looked at Renee as though she had just grown another head. She didn’t know what Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was? He thought this was the most popular childrens' book ever. That and Cinderella. Did the magical world not have childrens' books or what non-magical people called fairytales? Did the magical world even need fairytales? They had freaking magic after all. Well, he supposed he did now too. He still felt like a complete outsider though. Maybe in a few years that would change.

“Um, it’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. It’s a popular fairytale in my world. Well, the non-magical world. It’s about a girl-Snow White-who has a horrible step-mother. Snow White ran away and ended up meeting these seven dwarfs. These dwarfs took her in and I don’t know, became friends and let her stay with them. The step-mother hated her so much that she tricked the girl into eating a poisonous apple. She falls into a deep slumber from the apple and the only way to wake her was from a kiss by her true love. I think that was Prince Charming, but he might have been from Cinderella. I can’t remember, I was little when I saw the movies.” Disney had been big in his life when he was young. “Anyway, like all stories go in fairytales, he kissed her, she woke up, and they lived happily ever after.”

Marcus shrugged. He couldn’t really say he much more on the subject. If she wanted to know more, she’d have to ask a girl. Marcus was pretty sure girls knew everything there was to know about fairytales.

Taking Renee’s queue, Marcus picked up the book and opened it, closing his eyes out of anticipation that something would come flying at him again. Only, nothing did. The book was a dud and Marcus was actually happy about that. “Thank you.” He said to the book, resisting the urge to kiss it. Marcus closed the cover and looked up at Renee since she was perched on his desk. “Do you think there’s a way of figuring out if something has a spell on it before actually opening the book?” Marcus asked her.

6 Marcus You and half the school would. 180 Marcus 0 5

Kirstenna

December 19, 2010 2:44 PM

I kind of can't help myself by Kirstenna

Kirstenna loved singing, she really did. It was like the thing she was the most passionate about in life, what she best liked doing but at the moment, she was feeling slightly embarassed. Kirstenna might not have been so easily and she might not have been especially shy but even she wasn't one to start singing in the middle of class. Especially considering the songs were hopelessly out of season.

One of the first years came over and began singing with her then. Kirstenna smiled widely when the younger girl complimented her singing. She wasn't the most egotistical but being complimented was something that usually made people feel good.

The girl introduced herself as Sophie Jamison and Kirstenna shook her offered hand. She opened her mouth again, meaning to introduce herself, but unfortunately all that happened was that she kept singing. "Dashing through the snow, in a one horse open sleigh, over the fields we go, laughing all the way."

Kirstenna clapped her hand over her mouth and shook her head. It was plain to see that it was the book making her-and only her-sing. Sophie, quite obviously, was fine as she was able to introduce herself and whatnot. She was glad Sophie wasn't affected. Kirstenna wouldn't wish any kind of negative affect on anyone.

Now Luke was standing there too. Kirstenna nodded at him smiling in thanks as well. She really did appreciate the comments on her singing but now was not the place. She tapped on her mouth and then the book in hopes that the two first years would understand and one of them would do the spell to make it all stop.

11 Kirstenna I kind of can't help myself 161 Kirstenna 0 5

Ryan

December 20, 2010 5:13 PM

You can't smell that smell? by Ryan

Although Ryan was currently feeling miserably sick to his stomach due the dreadful smell his book was producing,he had had chivalry drilled-or, rather,forced-into him from an early age. As had the belief that not only should he go out of his way to save girls like Sara Raines but that he himself needed to defer to everyone. That he was the very bottom of the heap, even if he was part of an 'important pureblood family' .

Besides, Ryan didn't like to see anyone suffer really. It might have been soft of him, but it was how he felt. Even though it made him possibly seem kind of weak, the Crotalus didn't want others to be in pain. Which according to his mother made him unmanly.

Which he thought he would think was a good thing since his mother was all about how women were more important than men, though she taught Carrie that her main goal in life was to be a proper pureblood lady and marry a man who would (continue to) treat her like the princess his mother insisted she was. Exactly what Ryan's mother wanted him to be confused him terribly however.

So, because of the aforementioned reasons, Ryan felt that it was absolutely necessary to remove the spell from Sara's book before trying his own. Of course, then she wouldn't be able to practice what they're learning, but maybe she could fix the spell on Ryan's book instead.

Except Sara didn't seem to think there was anything wrong with his book. Ryan was massively confused. Couldn't she smell it? It was only the most putrid scent he'd ever come across.

However, first things first. "Finite Incantatem" Ryan pointed his wand at Sara's book doing the motion. "I think that should help." He told his classmate as her ears seemed to stop moving around. Ryan was glad. He didn't want her to be hurting.

As for him, the smell was still leaking out of his book and he felt like he was going to gag. "Do you want to try doing the spell on mine? I mean, so you can practice it too. I mean, I don't quite get how you don't seem to be smelling that rancid odor coming off it but it's beginning to get to me. If you don't want to though, I'll do it." Ryan didn't want to force Sara into anything and he didn't think had the right to demand anything from anyone, especially not a proper pureblood girl like the Pecari.

11 Ryan You can't smell that smell? 176 Ryan 0 5

Renée Errant

December 23, 2010 7:49 PM

Oh. I was kind of trying to be special right there. by Renée Errant

Renée saw the look on his face and asked, "What?" defensively. She didn't like feeling like she was ignorant of something, even though her natural curiosity made it fun for her to learn new things. She lost her indignation, however, as Marcus summed up the story of Snow White. "She gets to stay with dwarfs?" Renée asked excitedly, completely forgetting the fact that the story was fiction. "I didn't even know they ever let humans stay with them. Much less muggles." She liked the idea of being woken up by a kiss, though she found it strange that any magic could be cured that way. She made a mental note of it to ask her mother who had a knack for exotic potions and enchantments. She was a little confused when he mentioned 'Cinderella' and other things. Putting aside her defensiveness in place of natural curiosity, she asked, "Movies? Oh... right. Those are the photographs right? In the box? And, um, the people in the pictures talk to you if you're good or something, right?" She nodded confidently to herself. "Yeah, I've seen them before." Her father sometimes took her to visit his muggle parents, and they liked to sit her down in front of the box, unable to understand that she was not a bit interested in photos and much rather preferred to fly on her broomstick. "Wait a second!" Renée looked at Marcus in amazement. "You mean all your stories end in happily ever after? Doesn't that get boring?" That was such a foreign concept to her. It hadn't really occurred to her that she was partnering with someone from non-magical background, and not for the first time did she wonder how awful it must have been for her father to grow up without magic. When she thought about life without magic, she could only imagine grey... and black... and dull brown. How could muggles stand it?

Marcus opened the proffered book and Renée leaned in eagerly, wondering what would happen. She waited a few seconds for a reaction, hoping it would be something strange.

"Thank you."

Renée smiled as Marcus spoke to the book. 'Ah, he's forced to speak to it or something.' Marcus closed the book and set it down before looking up at Renée.

"Do you think there’s a way of figuring out if something has a spell on it before actually opening the book?”

She blinked, and then pouted disappointedly. 'Oh.' She had been looking forward to watching more weird things happen to him. He'd only been slightly electrocuted. The memory of that could only amuse her for so much time before she'd grow bored with him. Her father sometimes called her his little misanthrope. It wasn't that she hated humanity, she liked it fine. It was just she little patience for things that didn't amuse her. "Yeah, probably." She answered him, running her fingers along the length of another book's spine. "Unspeakables must know that kind of magic. And aurors of course." She smiled at him suddenly, her teeth bright white across her tanned face. "It does seem odd that the teacher just told us to flip through and see which books harm us and which don't. I don't think grown wizards do that." She played with the binding of another and spun it around slowly on the desk, shifting a bit so she was more comfortably situated on Marcus' desk. "Are there dangerous books in the muggle world as well?"

0 Renée Errant Oh. I was kind of trying to be special right there. 0 Renée Errant 0 5