Professor Connell
January 06, 2007 4:54 PM
First Years- Lesson 1 by Professor Connell
Marian Connell had not been sure what to expect from her new first year class. Yes, she’d ‘met’ some of them, her Pecaris, on the first night, and, of course, there was always Hikaru, who really didn’t help her nerves much. Yes, they were only eleven, but when even one was doing things like setting off hexes in classrooms and signing essays in blood, well, she was naturally a little worried.Even so, they seemed quiet and un-troublesome enough as they entered her classroom for the first time. Of course, that could possible have been from nervousness or curiosity. Her classroom was very different from the other professors, for obvious reasons. Dark, windowless, and with shelves situated around the room displaying myriad jars of pickled animals, it was not a welcoming room. Yet Marian liked her classroom the way it was, no matter how others might view it.
As soon as it appeared the last of the first years had found their way to the classroom and taken a seat, she stood from her seat behind her desk, moved to close the door, then returned to the front of her classroom, standing this time. “Welcome to your forst potions lesson,” she began, resisting the urge to comb her figresr thorugh her curly blond mop of hair nervously. While one would think such basics would only get easier after five years of teaching, it hadn’t for the twenty-five-year-old. She still thought she sounded weak or like a pushover, things that had, fortunately, been corrected with the years.
“For those of you who have not yet met me, namely those not in my house of Pecari, my name is Professor Connell, and, as you probably guessed, I am your potions professor. For those of you who know little of this class, it will be almost exactly what it sounds like- you will be learning the art of making various potions, as well as the uses and properties of various ingredients. Eventually, you will learn more advanced skills, of course, but for this first year at least the focus is on the basics.”
Marian had been smiling throuout the introduction, but now turned sterner, gazing at the assembled students with none of the humor she’d shown earlier. “Potions making is an exact art, and precision and attention to detail are perhaps the most important thinks you will gain from this class. Safety is without a doubt my foremost concern while you are in here, so there are several rules you must follow at all times.
“First, take the utmost care when preparing your ingredients and adding them to your potion. Even an ounce too much of a substance can cause catastrophic results, as has been shown before in this classroom. Also, there is to be no horseplay of any sort. When you are working, and you will more often than not be working with partners or in groups of three, the ways you chose to spend your time is your own decision, as long as htre work is done, and no one is faced with potential harm. However, if that line is crossed, I will not hesitate to make the consequences as severe as it is in my power to do so. Remember, there are potentially dangerous solutions in those cauldrens, in addition to the simple threats posed by the fire or the scalpels. While there is a direct path from this room to the infirmary, since the medic and I share so many of the same ingredients, I would prefer not to have to trouble him because someone behaved stupidly.”
Seriousness gone now that her warning and/or threats had been dispersed, Marian leaned back to look at her planner to make sure she had the right pages, then spoke for the final time. “Today, to start off things easily, you will be making a boil-cure potion. It will be found on page fifteen of your textbooks, and you should have the ingredients, dried nettles, crushed snake fangs, stewed horned slugs, porcupine quills, in your potions supplies, although there is a supply of most common ingredients in the black cabinet in the back of the classroom. You will work with a partner, and once you’ve finished, put a vial of your finished product on my desk, with the names of both partners written on it. Also, while there should be a warning in the instructions, be sure not to add the porcupine until after the potion is taken off the fire, or it will melt your cauldron and likely your and your neighbor’s shoes, which is not a pleasant experience.
“Now, if there are any questions, feel free to ask at any time, otherwise, you may begin.” This was the part that might get a bit complicated, Marian thought, taking a seat behind her desk as the students began to find partners. Normally, she wouldn’t feel any qualms about working on something for another class while her current one was working, since generally if anything happened someone would alert her, but with the rumors she’d heard…paying close attention was probably a must.
OOC: Standard posting procedure applies. There should be at least two decent-sized paragraphs, so about 5 sentence minimum per paragraph. However, longer, more detailed posts are greatly appreciated, and will receive more house-points than posts that barely make the limit. Also, as this is a potions classroom, minor spills and the occasional explosion are welcome (such as adding the porcupine quills too early, intentionally or unintentionally), but please read others’ posts before having something like that occur, since it’s not likely that two different groups would forget something, particularly if an explosion already happened. Be creative, and have fun.
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Subthreads: Yay! Potions! [Tag:Riley] by Hikaru with Professor Connell, Riley Garraway
Huzzah for Potions by Mika with Josiah Ashwood
Okay then by Kavin Analai with Irene Liddowe, Kavin
Hoping not to blow up the lab by Gwyneth Aquillon with Hyana Kamiya, Gwyneth
Boils Galore! And wanting a partner... by Lucas Smythe with Meri Havernash, Lucas
Eew. Just...eew. by Lutece Anthony with Oliver Abbott, Lutece
Not the cheeriest of classrooms by Lawrence Cooper with Jaeven 'Jae' Dimitri, Law Cooper
Needed: One Partner. Preferably unpickled. by Brett Hodges
Partner? by Ebony with Talen Dupree
lesson closed (nm) by Professor Connell
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Professor Connell
First Years- Lesson 1
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Professor Connell
1
5
Lutece Anthony
January 09, 2007 10:34 AM
Eew. Just...eew. by Lutece Anthony
The room was dark and windowless and there were pickled things on the walls.And Lutece had thought that Charms and Care of Magical Creatures was bad.
At least in Charms, there weren't pickled animals all over the place. Yes, there had been that obnoxious crippled kid, Mike or whatever, and they'd had to deal with mutant frogs, but at least it didn't have pickled things on the walls. Care of Magical Creatures had been marginally better, except for that kid who threw that puffskein at her. At least there hadn't been pickled things there, though.
Had she mentioned her distaste for pickled things yet?
This class was probably run by an ancient old guy too, probably with yellow teeth and warts. Who else would put up with teaching accomodations like this? At the very least, it would be a young guy teacher who was really nerdy. Like McKindy, except that McKindy was probably more along the lines of 'clinically insane' then nerdy. Lutece put her bag down and waited for the class to start. She had arrived at this awful classroom ahead of time on purpose. That Mike kid would probably be in her class again, and she wanted to show him up by arriving there on time to listen to the complete set of instructions.
When the teacher finally stood up, Lutece stared in flat out astonishment. The professor was female. And young. No way. Not only that, but she expected them to make some sort of boil removing potion out of dead animal parts! Lutece wasn't quite sure which was more gross, the dead animal parts or the mention of boils.
For once, the girl was thrilled to be working in partners. With any luck, she wouldn't have to do anything. Lutece approached the first unpartnered person she could see, twisting a blond-streaked brown strand of hair around one finger absently. She still hadn't made her curling iron work. Tapping the person on the back, she smiled sweetly as they turned around, blue-green stare daring the person to argue.
"Hi, I'm Lutece Anthony. First year Crotalus; would you like to be my partner?"\n\n
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Lutece Anthony
Eew. Just...eew.
100
Lutece Anthony
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Oliver Abbott
January 10, 2007 3:24 PM
You'll get over it. by Oliver Abbott
Oliver was unsure about potions lessons. His Uncle Raymond, the only relative his parents had ever admitted to, worked with potions for a living, doing Oliver didn’t know what. Uncle Raymond was sort of chubby and smelled like sewers quite often, but Oliver liked him a lot. He had told his nephew to try hard at school, but especially in potions. Oliver didn’t want to let his uncle down if he could possibly help it, so he felt under quite a lot of pressure to do well in this subject. It therefore didn’t help that when Oliver entered the potions classroom, the sight of so many dead things in jars made him want to vomit. Sure, he and Julian had collected insects and even the occasional rodent in the past, but dicing things up was another matter entirely. He hoped they wouldn’t have to cut things up this lesson, he wasn’t sure his stomach could handle it. Carefully avoiding looking at the walls, Oliver hurried to a desk and slumped into the seat.The small saving grace was that the teacher seemed nice. Not that Oliver had expected otherwise; all the teachers he had met at Sonora so far seemed nice, if a little odd sometimes. Oliver took out his notebook and scribbled down the odd word and phrase as the teacher talked:
Professor Connell
uses & properties of ingredients
precision and attention to detail
Rules: 1 – care with ingredients, 2 – no horseplay 3 – fire & scalpels
Then the professor said they should turn to page fifteen in their books, so Oliver did so. The potion was for curing boils. Oliver sincerely hoped he would never encounter this potion after the lesson.
Oliver stood up and was rummaging through his potions kit to locate the necessary ingredients, when he felt a light tapping on his back. He turned around to see a girl smiling at him.
“Hi, I’m Lutece Anthony. First year Crotalus; would you like to be my partner?”
Oliver blinked at her through his glasses. “I know you’re in Crotalus,” he said, momentarily forgetting his manners. She had obviously forgotten him entirely, even though they’d often been in the common room together, so hopefully she would forgive him. “Oliver Abbott,” he said, and extended his hand to her in an effort to make up for his previous bluntness. “And, okay, I’ll be your partner.”
Glad that finding a partner had been so easy, Oliver turned back to retrieving his ingredients, pushing his blond hair from his eyes so he could see. When all the required items lay on the desk, he looked back up at Lutece. “You ever done potions before?” he asked her.
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Oliver Abbott
You'll get over it.
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Oliver Abbott
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5
Lutece
January 12, 2007 9:38 PM
Care to wager on that? by Lutece
He knew she was a Crotalus? Lutece had thought she recognised him from somewhere, but she hadn't thought it was Crotalus. Well, her time in the common room was mostly restricted to brief socialisation and the completion of homework. Occasionally she would be reading some sort of book on Quidditch, but Lutece preferred to read in her dorm room, with a minimal amount of people to notice that she was participating in such an activity. The very last thing Lutece wanted to be labelled as was a nerd.Of course, as soon as he introduced himself, the topic of the insane teacher, garish decorations, and...euergh...the boil potion returned. Had she done potions before? Oliver had to be kidding. Sure, as a three year old playing Snow White she had. Not since then. Lutece couldn't believe that these kids actually believed that this 'potions' stuff actually worked. At least Oliver was fetching the ingredients, though. More bits of dead animal littered her desk. PETA would probably pitch a fit if they knew.
"Not really," she replied. "My parents aren't really into the whole 'magic' thing." Well, her father was. But he was an embarrassment. He organised science fiction conventions as a job, after all. What normal person did that?! At least her mother was relatively normal. Real estate was an okay, if boring, job.
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Lutece
Care to wager on that?
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Lutece
0
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Oliver
January 14, 2007 11:04 AM
No, I'm not one for gambling. by Oliver
“Not really,” Lutece replied when Oliver questioned her about ever having done potions before. “My parents aren’t into the whole magic thing,” she said. Oliver nodded in understanding.“Mine aren’t either,” he said. “Well, not any more. Now they run a hotel.” He grinned at her. It occurred to Oliver that Lutece was probably talking about her parents being Muggles, rather than just ‘not being into magic,’ like his own parents. Still, it all came down to the same thing, didn’t it? Both of them were clueless when it came to potions. “Erm, but my uncle works with potions, so I really want to be good at this,” Oliver told Lutece. He wasn’t sure really what to say – he’d never been very good at talking to people, even once he got to know them.
Rather than trying out conversation starters, Oliver turned his attention back to his book and the instructions for the potion. “It says the dried nettles should be shredded and the stewed horned slugs need to be diced,” he said. Oliver took one look at Lutece’s expression and couldn’t help but laugh a little. “Here, you do the nettles,” he said, passing them to her, “and I’ll do the slugs, okay?” The slugs were a bit disgusting, but they were dead, so Oliver didn’t think they would mind being cut up and used for potions at this point. Not that they had a lot of choice, but Oliver felt more comfortable about the task knowing that the slugs were dead anyway. He certainly wouldn’t have managed to dissect anything bigger than a slug, and judging by how squeamish Lutece seemed to be, she wouldn’t have coped, either.
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Oliver
No, I'm not one for gambling.
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Oliver
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Lutece
January 15, 2007 8:12 PM
Pity. I could use the cash. by Lutece
Oh, this was just great. Riley was working with the weird Asian kid, and she was stuck with Oliver the delusional. Not only was he delusional enough to believe that these potion things really worked, but he had an uncle that he didn't want to disappoint who believed the same thing. Inherited insanity, probably. Lutece knew that her paternal grandparents were almost as just-plain-weird as her dad was. Thank the lord he was an only child, or else she might be swamped in cousins with the same bizarre interests.Delusional Oliver decided to delegate. Lutece was to shred the nettles and he would dice the slugs. What was this, Biology? The one thing that she was looking forward to about having to attend Sonora was that she wouldn't have to take Biology in high school. Apparently you cut up dead cats in Biology, and then you had to go watch heart surgery.
What she hadn't expected was to be forced to take this class. Not only was the teacher obviously some sort of maniac, but they were cutting up dead animals. More dead animals decorated the walls. Lunatics who really, truly believed in this magic stuff slaved diligently over a bubbling, squelching mass that would probably end up making whoever drank it glow in the dark.
At a loss for other things to do, Lutece began to shred the nettles, icily ignoring Delusional Oliver.\n\n
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Lutece
Pity. I could use the cash.
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Lutece
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Oliver
January 16, 2007 3:19 PM
What would you buy? by Oliver
Well, whatever it was that Oliver had said or done to offend Lutece, he wished he hadn’t. She had obviously taken something the wrong way, because Oliver was trying to be nice and she was studiously ignoring him. She hadn’t said a word. He knew he wasn’t good at talking to people, but he really didn’t think he’d said anything that could have been offensive. Girls were weird, Oliver had always maintained that, and it proved as true now as ever. Sighing, he resignedly began cutting the stupid, slimy slugs.After a minute trickled by in silence, though, Oliver had to speak for two reasons. Firstly, he was done with his slugs, and he thought that if they were working as a pair they ought to discuss what to do next, rather than Oliver just doing it. Secondly, the tension between Lutece and himself seemed pretty strong, and he wanted to try and ease that if he could. He knew that opening his mouth might just incense Lutece further, but Oliver didn’t have any friends at Sonora yet, so he was doing his best to make some.
“So, er…” he started, struggling to find a topic they could both relate to. They were both in Crotalus, but he guessed that Lutece probably wasn’t a pureblood, and all Oliver had heard about Crotalus was that it was where most of the pureblood witches and wizards ended up, but he didn’t even know if that was true. Following this thread, though, Oliver’s mind, in a moment of unexpected brilliance, remembered that Lutece had wanted to join the Quidditch team. “So you want to play Quidditch for Crotalus?” he asked, his voice sounding a little too cheerful to be normal. “Me too, I signed up for chaser,” he said, without really waiting for a response. He really was awful at talking to strangers.
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Oliver
What would you buy?
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Oliver
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Lutece
January 17, 2007 5:33 AM
How much would you bet? by Lutece
Lutece sighed faintly as Delusional Oliver started to talk to her. The nettles were almost completely shredded, but that didn't mean that they had to talk. Didn't you just chuck them in a pot? It's not like anything would happen anyway. Sure, the 'potion' might turn a weird colour, but that happened when little kids played 'potions' all the time. Things didn't just randomly explode. They just...glopped. Nothing impressive.She began listening when he started talking about Quidditch, though. Quidditch was the one truly, amazingly, wonderfully amazing thing that Sonora offered. Played on broomstick up in the air, but that really didn't matter. Lutece still couldn't figure out how they managed it. Probably some sort of microchip or something in the brooms. Maybe a really powerful hovering technology. You saw the hovering remote control cars in the Discovery Store at the mall, didn't you? It was a little bit weird that her cell phone and iPod didn't work around here, though. Maybe they were just out of batteries.
"Yes, I'm the backup Keeper," Lutece responded to Oliver. "I work with Earl at practise. If one of the Beaters takes him out, I get to go in. Have you heard about Lexi Stafford?" she asked, wanting to share some of the information she had obtained from listening to a few older students. "She's a fourth year, and a Teppenpaw, but I heard that she took out all three of Pecari's Chasers in the Quidditch finals last year."\n\n
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Lutece
How much would you bet?
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Lutece
0
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Oliver
January 17, 2007 11:54 AM
I wouldn't. by Oliver
Ha! It had worked! Perhaps he wasn’t so bad at this talking lark as he’d imagined. Oliver did have a habit of underestimating himself; his mother had told him it was due to lack of confidence, and with any luck he’d grow out of it. Anyway, Lutece was talking again, and about Quidditch. Oliver loved Quidditch; he was over the moon to learn he had managed to secure a place on his house team, even if it was only as a reserve.What Lutece said about one of the other teams’ beaters, though, made Oliver’s incredibly pale face lose yet more colour. “I’m a chaser,” he said, feeling a bit wobbly at the idea of being knocked out of a game by a bludger. “I mean, I’m backup chaser, so, likewise.” Ah well, at least if this Lexi person knocked out one of the Crotalus chasers then Oliver would get to play. He knew that wasn’t really supportive of his team, but he wasn’t hurting anyone by thinking it.
Now Lutece was talking again, Oliver wanted to keep it that way. He had discovered that Quidditch was a safe topic, so he intended to use this knowledge to his advantage. Checking his potions book for instructions, he said, “We have to add the nettles slowly whilst stirring clockwise.” He only left a small pause before following with, “So are you good at keeping then? I imagine it must be tricky trying to make saves on a broom.” Hopefully they would be able to get through the lesson like this, interspersing actual work with chat about Quidditch. Oliver wondered if he could find enough to say on the subject to last the whole lesson.
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Oliver
I wouldn't.
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Oliver
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Lutece
January 20, 2007 8:27 AM
Then it's fairly inconsequential, isn't it? by Lutece
Lutece threw the nettles carelessly into the cauldron, then stirred it halfheartedly. The only reason why she was even bothering was that Oliver was a reserve on the House team as well. From what Lutece had read, Keepers and Chasers had to work together, or else there was trouble. A bit like what would happen on the soccer field if the defense decided not to defend. Well, no. More like if the mids decided not to defend. Chasers were more like mids than defense, really. They flew all over the Pitch. The Beaters were more like a defense/offense combo in the way that they could protect or disable a Keeper fairly easily."Yes, I was a goalkeeper on my soccer team back in Maryland. Second best in my league, actually, and the first best was this huge high school girl. So Keeping is basically just goalkeeping on a broom." Lutece shrugged, reaching into her purse to retrieve a back of gum. She offered a piece to Oliver, ceasing to stir the 'potion'. What would it do without being stirred, anyway? Magically turn everyone into a frog? Explode?
Yeah right.\n\n
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Lutece
Then it's fairly inconsequential, isn't it?
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Lutece
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Oliver
January 20, 2007 1:46 PM
Yes, and we're going round in circles. by Oliver
Lutece told Oliver that she had been a goalkeeper on a soccer team back home. Oliver nodded as he listened, and carefully added the slugs. “I was on a soccer team, too,” he told her. “Our coach liked us to rotate positions, though. He said it wasn’t necessary to settle on a position until we got to high school, and how could we know what position we were best at if we hadn’t played them all. I don’t know if he’s right, but I quite liked trying everything,” Oliver said, and then decided to stop because he didn’t know if he’d said too much already, and Lutece seemed to be losing interest; she was rummaging around in her back for something.Oliver took up the stirring, and watched Lutece quizzically until she pulled out some gum and offered Oliver a piece. He wasn’t sure they were supposed to be eating gum in lessons, so he shook his head. “No thanks,” he said. He hesitated a little before adding, “I don’t think we’re supposed to have gum in class.” He didn’t want to come off sounding like a teacher’s pet, but neither did he want to get into trouble. He glanced back down at the ingredients list. “Erm, we have to add the snake fangs now,” he said, uncertainly. What if Lutece refused to help? “Do you want to tip them in while I keep stirring?” he suggested.
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Oliver
Yes, and we're going round in circles.
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Oliver
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Lutece
January 21, 2007 9:27 AM
There's absolutely nothing wrong with a good circle or thre by Lutece
A rotational soccer team? Please. Lutece's coach had stopped rotating them in third grade. The better they knew their positions, he explained, the more likely they were to get on the high school team when they were old enough.Delusional Oliver refused her gum, too, citing some petty excuse about not being allowed. Lutece shrugged, popped a piece in her mouth, then went back to alternately looking at Connell and Delusional Oliver, wondering which needed a greater amount of psychiatric help. Potions indeed. All they were doing was mixing bits of dead animals in a pot, then decanting it and handing it to the teacher. There was no proof that it actually did anything.
"Whatever," Lutece replied, grabbing the snake fangs while making as little actual contact with the container as was possible. Dumping them in without ceremony, she hastily put the container down and wiped the soiled hand on her robes. Snapping her gum, she wondered when it would be time to finally leave this place.\n\n
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Lutece
There's absolutely nothing wrong with a good circle or thre
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Lutece
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Oliver
January 21, 2007 5:03 PM
Whoever said there was? by Oliver
Lutece took a piece of gum and started chewing, despite Oliver’s mention of it being against the rules. He sighed inwardly – this girl was hard work. She did add the snake fangs, however, but Oliver wished he had said ‘sprinkle’ instead of ‘tip’. The coarse powder fell into one heap where Lutece had simply emptied it into the cauldron. Oliver stirred madly to try and spread the ingredient evenly, but he thought the damage was probably already done. Was his partner purposefully trying to ruin the potion? Couldn’t she read the instructions that said to sprinkle the stuff evenly? Oliver was beginning to feel his grip on his temper waning. He took a couple of deep breaths to calm down and quickly thought up another topic for conversation.“Do you have any pets?” he asked suddenly. He’d tried hobbies but Lutece had lost interest pretty quickly in that, so Oliver thought he’d try animals, instead. “I don’t, but my brother has a hamster and sometimes my parents let me feed the fish in the lobby.” Julian’s hamster, Oats, was fat and sandy brown and almost certainly would be dead before Christmas, since he’d been part of the family for five years. Oliver wasn’t allowed to play with him anymore, because Julian said Oats was getting too old, and the tropical fish in the lobby just sort of swam around. Chloe, the Sunday receptionist, said she’d named them all, but Oliver didn’t really see the point, seeing as they were only ever getting out of that tank if they died.
Oliver peered unhappily at the potion. According to his book it was supposed to be a pale green and creamy. Theirs was dark, slime green and a bit sludgy.
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Oliver
Whoever said there was?
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Oliver
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Lutece
January 23, 2007 11:34 AM
I was merely asserting the rights of the circle by Lutece
Oh please.Next time, Lutece would definitely try to find Dolan, or Earl, or even break into the group with that Asian kid and Riley. So long as she stayed as far away as possible from Mike and Delusional Oliver. Pets?! Who wanted to talk about those? Animals were dirty. James had a few rodents and fish, but those were for purely experimental purposes. Fish were the only moderately acceptable form of pet, and even then they were pretty gross.
Speaking of gross, the potion looked like something out of the swamp in Shrek. As she gazed at it distastefully, a sullen bubble swelled and popped on the surface, spraying drops of the nasty stuff around. Lutece barely managed to step back in time. If her clothes were ruined in this nonsense class, she was going to be very unhappy.
"No pets," she said coolly. "Are we done with this...'potion' yet?"\n\n
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Lutece
I was merely asserting the rights of the circle
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Lutece
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Oliver
January 24, 2007 5:22 PM
Well I suppose someone should. by Oliver
“No pets,” Lutece said, and it was clear from her tone that the conversation was over as far as she was concerned. Oliver felt his left eye start to twitch in annoyance. He rubbed it with his sleeve and readjusted his glasses, trying not to scowl at Lutece, who obviously was making no effort at friendship whatsoever.“Are we done with this potion yet?” she asked, and it was all Oliver could do to keep his voice at a reasonable volume.
“Why don’t you look for yourself?” he asked, tetchily. “Or can’t you read?” He pushed the book towards her and jabbed his finger at the instructions clearly printed on the open page, then returned to stirring the potion, though he was convinced it was beyond repair.
He was feeling a bit upset. If Lutece didn’t care about failing then that was really up to her, but she was making Oliver perform badly, too, and he didn’t find that very fair. He had even told her that he wanted to be good at potions to impress his uncle, and she was being totally pathetic about all of it.
“You’re selfish,” he told her, trying to keep the hurt out of his voice. “You might not care if you fail, but I do.” Afraid he might say something he would later regret if he continued, Oliver closed his mouth and began silently preparing the porcupine quills.
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Oliver
Well I suppose someone should.
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Oliver
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Lutece
January 25, 2007 5:57 AM
And who better than I? by Lutece
Delusional Oliver was being grumpy. Lutece rolled her blue-green eyes, tucked a bit of hair behind her ear, and snapped her gum again. Why was he being so picky about some sludge involving dead animal parts? She had done what he had asked, tipping those disgusting snake fangs in, or whatever they had been. She had gone along with his delusions and answered all his questions. But she was not going to read some stupid book on stupid, imaginary stews of dead animal parts. If Delusional Oliver and Connell wanted to play pretend, fine. But they could leave her out of it. Lutece had more important things to focus on. Like, say, Quidditch. Even though she was just on the reserves, in a few years, she could make the regular team if she practised enough and learned enough about the sport. Keeping was definitely a natural talent, just like being goalie had been. Granted, Keeping involved catching the ball, something Lutece wasn't spectacular with, but give her enough time and she could manage it."You're selfish," Delusional Oliver said, using a voice that her mother referred to as the 'lost puppy' tone. "You might not care if you fail, but I do."
"Oh, so your game of make-believe might be ruined," Lutece responded scathingly. Normally she would make allowances for his obvious mental issues, but she was not in a good mood. Having to touch parts of dead animals occasionally did that to her. Especially if those parts weren't cooked, and weren't parts of animals she normally ate. "Why should I care that your pretend potion gets 'ruined'? It's just a mess of god-knows-what anyway. After all, what's it going to do, explode? Magically eat away at your brain? Talk to aliens? Puh-lease. You and Connell just need to grow up and leave the faerie tales behind at some point, Oliver, and now seems like a pretty good time to do it."\n\n
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Lutece
And who better than I?
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Lutece
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Oliver
January 25, 2007 5:05 PM
Well, anyone, really. It's not hard, is it? by Oliver
“Oh, so your game of make-believe might be ruined,” Lutece said, and she certainly wasn’t being friendly now. Oliver didn’t understand what she meant, though. What game of make-believe? Perhaps she was trying to insinuate that Oliver was just kidding himself if he thought he could ever be good at potions. If that was the case, he was about to get very angry with her. Before he could say anything, though, Lutece continued talking. Ironically, just minutes ago Oliver would have done anything to get Lutece talking; now he just wanted her to shut up.However, as Oliver heard her (he wasn’t intending on listening, but her voice was the loud, cutting sort you couldn’t help but hear), he thought he might be going a bit crazy. Had she really just said all of that? Oliver blinked at her a couple of times, running through what she’d said. Then he laughed.
Lutece really thought this was all a farce, didn’t she? This was classic! Okay, so Oliver’s parents might like to pretend that magic didn’t exist, but at least they knew it did, really. Either Lutece was a very good actress playing a very mean prank, or she was extraordinarily stupid. Oliver just couldn’t stop laughing at her – it started as a chuckle but then he was laughing outright. The potion sat forgotten, ruined and abandoned and lightly bubbling in the cauldron. Suddenly it didn’t seem important any more.
When Oliver regained his breath enough to speak, he said to Lutece, “You’re hilarious!” and he laughed at her a bit more.
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Oliver
Well, anyone, really. It's not hard, is it?
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Oliver
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Lutece
January 27, 2007 8:29 AM
I will have you know that it's a highly specialised vocatio by Lutece
Delusional Oliver was laughing. At her. Obviously he was crazier than Lutece had thought. Oliver was insane. Connell was insane. The Charms teacher was nuts. The Care of Magical Creatures teacher expected her to touch nasty little germ-balls.How could her father force her to come to this place?! She could be going to middle school with her friends, playing soccer, going to dances. Instead she was here, being forced to touch bits of dead animals. Surrounded by a bunch of losers who thought that magic was real and swore by the gunk in the cauldron. Her group of friends was gone. The only people she got on with here was the Quidditch team, and not even that necessarily. After all, Delusional Oliver played Quidditch too, didn't he? So after years of working in elementary school, it was all ruined. And it was all her father's fault.
"Nice to know," Lutece said coldly, swiftly packing up her 'textbooks' and purse, then swinging the bag over her shoulder and standing to leave. She felt as if she were going to cry.
She hated her father.
She hated this school.
All she wanted to do was get a broom and go flying. But no. She didn't have one. Then she realised that leaving the classroom before being dismissed could probably get her kicked off the Quidditch team reserves. At least, that's how it worked in the middle school and high school, or so Melissa said. You had to be no more than ten minutes late to each class and not leave without permission before the bell rang. Lovely. So instead, Lutece stalked across the room, as far away from Delusional Oliver as possible, carefully avoiding the ugly black cauldrons as she went. Finally reaching the other side, she pulled out a book on Quidditch and buried her nose in it, trying not to cry.
She hated Sonora.\n\n
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Lutece
I will have you know that it's a highly specialised vocatio
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Lutece
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Oliver
January 28, 2007 4:39 PM
Really? What does the training entail? by Oliver
“Nice to Know,” Lutece said. Oliver was still grinning as she started packing her things away, but his smile abruptly faded when he realised she was about to leave the class. He dithered for a moment or two, unsure of what to do. He was obviously getting absolutely nowhere in his friendship with Lutece, but on the other hand, he couldn’t just let her go off, having offended her. That wasn’t right.Sighing, Oliver removed the failed potion from its heat and headed over to where Lutece had slumped down by the door. He wondered vaguely whether this lesson could have gone any worse. “Hey,” he said quietly, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you. I guess starting magic school must be tough on Muggleborns.” He paused before adding, “Besides, you don’t have to believe it magic for potions to work. I presume you believe in chemistry? Or cooking? If you mix different things together, you get a different result.” He sat down next to her. “Anyway, it’ll probably be easier to handle if you relax a bit. We’re on the same team, okay?”
Oliver was much practised at consoling people after an argument, though usually the arguments had been between his siblings, and hadn’t tended to involve Oliver himself. He didn’t think his argument with Lutece was his fault, though – she hadn’t made any effort at friendship or conversation, let alone the lesson, but Oliver would rather get along with people than not, if he could possibly help it. Sometimes that meant being the one to offer peace, even if you weren’t the one in the wrong.
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Oliver
Really? What does the training entail?
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Oliver
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Lutece
January 31, 2007 5:07 AM
Well, one must be able to properly handle a circle, you see. by Lutece
When the opposing Chasers approach the Keeper from the left side, he must always be aware of the location of his own Chasers. An attempt at goal-scoring is the opportune time for--Suddenly, Delusional Oliver was standing over her, making apologies and excuses. Potions was the same as chemistry and cooking (neither one of which Lutece was any good at). Magic must be hard for Muggleborns to adjust to. She should relax. Lutece took her time looking up from her book, and when she did, it was apparent that she was not happy. Anyone at her old school would have left her alone. Actually, at her old school, she wouldn't be having a problem because they didn't teach potions there. That would be because--get this--potions doesn't exist! she thought sarcastically, looking up at Oliver.
"Yes, I'm sure that starting 'magic' school is hard for normal people," she said acidly. "Mostly because you're all too delusional to realise that your 'magic wands' and 'potions' don't work any more than those at science fiction and fantasy conventions. Now, if you could go away and play with your magic soup pot, it would be great." With that, Lutece turned back to her book, angrily re-reading the same sentence twice before realising it. She no longer wanted to cry. Well, it was no longer the top thing she wanted to do, anyway. That much was an improvement.\n\n
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Lutece
Well, one must be able to properly handle a circle, you see.
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Lutece
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Oliver
February 05, 2007 5:48 PM
Pull the other one. by Oliver
Lutece didn’t seem to be cheering up any. “The potion’s already, wrecked,” Oliver told her. He dearly wanted to add, “Thanks to you,” but thought better of it. Instead, he took a breath and tried not to sound too patronising. “You don’t have to like me, you know. I don’t much like you right now,” he said before he could stop himself. “Anyway, if we’re both on the Quidditch team then it would help if we don’t hate each other.”Quidditch had been the only thing Lutece had talked sensibly about, so Oliver thought maybe if he steered the conversation back in that direction they might be on speaking terms again. Not that he ever intended to speak to Lutece again, mind you. She was really weird. Oliver momentarily felt sorry for Riley having to share a room with Lutece, but then he realised that Riley hadn’t spoken to him since their first day, and his sympathy suddenly evaporated.
Oliver noticed the book Lutece was reading, and wondered how she could conceive playing Quidditch if she didn’t believe in magic, even in potions. He refrained from asking, her though. Just. Why had she come to Sonora, anyway, if she didn’t believe in magic? Oliver had practically had to beg his parents to let him come, and Julian had been against it, too. Maybe that’s why Oliver couldn’t understand Lutece: he wanted to be here, whereas she clearly did not.
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Oliver
Pull the other one.
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Oliver
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Lutece
February 13, 2007 7:56 PM
Why? Does it have bells on it? by Lutece
He was being patronising. That was the only word for it. And it made Lutece mad. What right did he have to tell her what to do? Delusional child that he was. Oliver would really have to be a child to believe in all this magic stuff. To say that the potion was already ruined was a bit absurd, anyway. How ‘ruined’ could something get that had slugs and dead animal parts in it? It was already nasty as it was, and unless Delusional Oliver had been adding ingredients, it couldn’t get any worse by just sitting over a fire. But patronising was going a bit far. Saying that he didn’t like her?! What had she done? She had been polite. She had gone along with his stupid game. And now he didn’t like her.Fat lot of good that did.
Not that she wanted to be liked by people such as the crippled kid and Delusional Oliver. There were real people out there. Like Dolan, and Jen, and the blond Beater on the team. They didn’t hate her because she was polite and courteous to them.
“Well then, I hope you won’t be on the Quidditch team for long, then,” Lutece said coldly. “Because I most certainly do not want to be on a team with you.”
She turned her nose back into the book, realising with disgust what a nerd she must look like. But it didn’t matter. Nobody in this classroom mattered in the real world. She didn’t care what they thought. Dolan, and Jen, and her real teammates were okay. Riley was okay, but she was working with the weird Asian kid. Besides, Riley must already know that she wasn’t a nerd. She had helped Riley with her hair, after all. What sort of nerd did that? A nerd with style. And that didn’t exist.
Lutece was good. She didn’t need any delusional or crippled kids to help her here. She could make it on her own until she got her parents to let her leave.
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Lutece
Why? Does it have bells on it?
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Lutece
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Oliver
February 15, 2007 1:51 PM
It sure does *grin* by Oliver
Oliver was patient by nature. He was polite and friendly, too. He rarely lost his temper and more often than not was happy to forgive and forget any disagreement. There were the occasional exceptions, and apparently it was Lutece’s dearest desire to be one of these exceptions. She was rude, dismissive, condescending and totally, completely wrong about everything!Oliver felt like he had tried every available method for trying to put Lutece in a better mood. Where did it get him?
“I hope you won’t be on the Quidditch team for long, then, because I most certainly do not want to be on a team with you.”
Oliver held his breath to stop him from retorting. He stood up and took a couple of steps back from Lutece – he didn’t want to be around here anymore. “You’re selfish and rude, and I’d hazard a guess that your parents have spoiled you rotten,” he told her in a level tone. “Seven years we’ve got to spend together in classrooms, in the common room, on the Quidditch team. Seven years together and you ruin it on our first meeting.” He shook his head and sighed. “Good luck at Sonora, Lutece, you’re going to need it.”
With that Oliver headed back to their cauldron where a congealed mess was emitting skinny spirals of foul-smelling blue vapor. He sighed again. This lesson had the potential to be wonderful, and Lutece had just wrecked every second of it. Any sympathy that Oliver had felt for her maladjusted state was irrevocably quashed by her determinism to be obnoxious. It was unfortunate that unless Lutece got her wish and left Sonora that what Oliver had said was true – he would have to suffer her for a whole seven years.
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Oliver
It sure does *grin*
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Oliver
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