Professor Connell
December 14, 2007 7:23 PM
Lesson--First and Second Years by Professor Connell
Nothing ever seemed to change with regards to Marian Connell. She was, for all intents and purposes, completely stagnant in every way. Despite being at Sonora for five and a half years now, she was, for all intents and purposes, precisely the same person she’d been when she first arrived. That realization had, naturally, led to the discovery that she was destined to be, oh, a strange old crazy cat woman or something, according to her younger sister Roxie, who had been only so kind to point this out at the annual Christmas dinner (Marian had reverted to being 10 again after that comment, and kicked her sister under the table, though she was trying to forget that.)However, after a brief period of despair, Marian had concluded that her sister was right, and that it was useless to try and fight destiny, so she might as well start as soon as possible. Therefore, when Maria had asked, as a joke, if she and her husband should get her a kitten for Christmas, she’d agreed.
Unfortunately, the little orange ball of fluff that Marian had yet to name (she couldn’t see how there was actually a cat in there somewhere, and that made naming difficult) was no kitten at all, but instead an evil spawn of the devil. Apart from attempting to destroy everything she owned (magic was a wonderful thing), it had decided that the war for dominance should begin immediately, and the current battle was his detestation of being left alone.
When she’d tried to leave it in her rooms so she could head off to her first lesson of the new year, first and second years, her attempt was met with fervent yowling that actually increased in volume over time, so she’d given in almost immediately, and now there was a cat sleeping at the corner of her desk, currently hidden from the students, but, with her luck, as soon as she released them it would emerge from its hiding place to disrupt everyone as much as possible (this cat was devious.)
The creature appeared to remain asleep, though, as her pack of students entered, first a trickle, then a flood right before class was scheduled to start, and finally one or two stragglers. This class was a fairly good one, so she didn’t have any worries about them causing problems, even if the satanic furball decided to make his presence known. She let them talk amongst themselves for a few minutes, and then stood up and waited until the room was quiet before she began to speak.
“Welcome back. Today you will be learning to make the shrinking potion, also called the shrinking solution. As the name suggests, it causes items to shrink, but it also reverses the aging process for anything that’s alive.
“The ingredients you will be using, which are in the cabinet in the back, are chopped daisy roots, skinned shrivelfig, sliced caterpillar, one rat spleen, and a dash of leech juice. You should work in groups of two or three, which you may pick yourselves.
“Finally, I’ve transfigured some toads for you to test the solution on. They’re in the storage room right now, but will be on my desk by the time you have a final product. If you made the potion correctly, it should turn back into a tadpole. If it does, than bring the animal back up to my desk to show you’ve completed the assignment, give it a few drops of the aging potion that will be sitting beside the box, and put the toad back. Once you’ve completed that, you may begin your homework, which is a foot-long essay on the principles behind the shrinking potion relating to both size and age.
“Now, I trust that there will be no misconduct among anyone during this lesson,” she said finally, giving a stern look to her assorted students. “As always, standard rules, particularly those regarding safety, apply, even if your grade is being determined in a less…conventional way. The first person I see doing any roughhousing, or anything else that could potentially be a safety hazard, will get two detentions and five points off his or her house; it’s only going to increase with the next person, if anyone else is foolish enough to do so. You may begin.”
Marian wasn’t worried about whether her class would be mature enough to handle having live animals in the classroom. She had faith in her students, for good or ill. If they couldn’t deal with this in a reasonable fashion, well, it was safe to assume it would be made obvious fairly quickly, and until that happened, she could relax and keep an eye on the demon in the corner. That is, unless he rebelled before she got back with the box.
OOC: Standard posting rules apply. At least two decent-sized paragraphs, so at a minimum roughly 8 lines of text. House points will be awarded based on post length, detail, etc. Be as creative as you like; feel free to have things like explosions, spills, whatever, though if the destructive levels could be kept to a minimum, that would be lovely (my classroom is perfectly lovely the way it is, and prairie elves coming in here to clean might be disasterous).
Also, if you feel that you simply must, you may bring in the Evil Kitten of Doom to harangue your characters, though please, no hurting it (it would hurt back), and make sure whatever you do with it flows with anything that's previously (for the purposes of fuzzy time, go with thread order, I suppose, if it's absolutely crucial to have a timeline). In any case, be creative, and have fun.
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Subthreads: Shrinking Potion, its the little things that count by Talitha Cumni with Oliver Abbott
I stole the evil kitten of doom first by Holly Greer with Renaye Warren, Cecily Smythe
Shrinking by Cissy Tarwater with Liz Guthrie, Cissy
Ewwwww....rat spleens...(wotw) by Chelsea Brockert
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Professor Connell
Lesson--First and Second Years
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Professor Connell
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Talitha Cumni
December 16, 2007 5:16 AM
Shrinking Potion, its the little things that count by Talitha Cumni
Talitha went to the cupboard to get her supplies. She really didn’t enjoy potions class. It was smell and she hated to think about the animals that were sacrificed without thought to procure the ingredients. She preferred to work with non-magical infusions, salves and pastes. They weren’t as effective in many cases and sometimes they smelled bad too but they were mainly created from plants and occasionally minerals.Aside from the ethical dilemma, animal parts were just gross. If Talitha had her way, she would never attend a single potions class. Of course, that was out of the question. If she were to be a Healer someday, she would have to take it until she graduated and even into college so she might as well grit her teeth and make the best of things.
Before preparing her ingredients, she reached in her bag and got out a scrunchy to pull her hair back and out of the way, mentally making a note to herself that it was time to go back to the braid. Hair the length of hers was just not practical in a school were one was active most of the day when it was allowed to cascade down to the small of her back in dark brown waves. The funny thing was, she liked wearing her hair down lately. She liked the way it reflected the light with little glints. She liked the way it bounced when she walked. She even liked to brush it until it was silky soft. Silly really.
Starting to prepare the shrivel fig, Talitha found herself wondering idly if Oliver or Adam liked the way her hair looked down. Now that was really silly. Why should she care if they liked her hair or not? It wasn’t as if she was smitten by either of them. The mid-summer ball was making everybody act all crazy, herself included. If it wasn’t for the dance and the whole “who’s going to take whom” thing, she wouldn’t be thinking such weird stuff.
Mentally shaking herself and focusing on the task at hand, she reached for her caterpillars and bumped her partner’s hand.
“Oh, sorry!” Talitha apologized. “I didn’t make you spill anything did I?”
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Talitha Cumni
Shrinking Potion, its the little things that count
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Talitha Cumni
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Oliver Abbott
December 16, 2007 12:46 PM
Pushing in by Oliver Abbott
OOC: Echo dude, this class is for first and second years only! Find your own class :PBIC: Potions was one of those lessons where it really mattered which other student one picked as his partner. Oliver had discovered this in his first year when he’d worked with Lutece. He wasn’t crazy enough to make that mistake again. No sir. This class he made sure he was sitting right next to Talitha.
The lesson sounded really cool. Julian had been dissecting frogs in biology class; he’d said so after midterm. Muggles didn’t get to turn transfigured frogs into tadpoles, though, and that was way cool.
Oliver just assumed that Talitha would work with him – she seemed to be in a strange little world of her own. He thought he’d leave her there for a short while as he collected the ingredients for the potion. Oliver took the daisy root and a shrivelfig from his own potions supplies kit, and then headed to the cupboard from the rest. Rat spleens were pretty gross. Oliver took the ingredients back, and was laying them out on the desk before them when Talitha reached out, knocking into Oliver’s hand as she did so.
“Oh sorry,” she said, “I didn’t make you spill anything, did I?”
“No,” Oliver said, with a bemused lop-sided grin. “What planet are you on anyway?” Oliver continued arranging the ingredients on the desk and put the heat under their cauldron. “Everything okay in Land Talitha?”
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Oliver Abbott
Pushing in
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Oliver Abbott
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Echo Elms
December 16, 2007 10:13 PM
OOC by Echo Elms
OOC: Oops! I must have flash backed a few months!I'm so gone.
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Echo Elms
OOC
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Echo Elms
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Talitha
December 17, 2007 12:11 AM
Sorry, Echo, maybe next time : ) by Talitha
Talitha breathed a sigh of relief. She was glad she didn’t mess anything up for Oliver. The last thing she needed was to earn a poor grade for the both of them through clumsiness. Another reason to concentrate on the task at hand and get her mind off of ridiculous day dreams. This was a rather involved potion and there was very little time to waste.“Here, I’ve enough shrivel fig skinned for the both of us.” Talitha offered. “Why don’t you chop our daisy roots while I slice the caterpillars.”
Talitha started slicing the poor caterpillars, glad they were beyond feeling any pain and noticing that they would have been lunar moths had they been allowed to grow. Her knife slipped and she came with in a hair’s breadth of giving herself a nasty cut when Oliver asked what was on her mind.
She felt heat radiating from her cheeks, knowing they were reddening because she would rather be a sliced caterpillar than have to admit to Oliver all the places her thoughts were wandering. Embarrassed that she blushed only caused her face to flush more.
“Oh,” She replied airily, trying to act normal. “Just counting up the years I will have to take Potions. Healers have to take this class forever, I think. It’s so full of nasty things.” She wrinkled her nose. “I just hope most potions don’t call for rat spleens. They’re vile.”
So it wasn’t the whole truth. It wasn’t a lie, either. She truly had been contemplating that very thing just before tying up her hair, a perfectly normal safety measure, took her thoughts in a different direction. She refocused on the caterpillars.
Really, Oliver and she made a good team. They could usually work cooperatively together and seemed to enhance each others’ strengths. Oliver was very smart and he showed signs of strong magical talent. Talitha wondered if Oliver had thought about what he would do when he was through with school.
“So, have you thought about what you wanted to do?” Talitha asked. “In the future I mean, as an adult.”
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Talitha
Sorry, Echo, maybe next time : )
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Talitha
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Holly Greer
December 17, 2007 3:13 PM
I stole the evil kitten of doom first by Holly Greer
Holly had discovered on almost the very first day of class that she hated potions. It was, to put it in the very simplest of terms, gross. Unlike some other who may take offense at the killing of animals for their potion uses, Holly's main concern was that she was expected to look at them and, worse, touch them.Take today's potion for example. Caterpillars. She hated caterpillars. At home, she was known to run around shrieking 'Kill it! Kill it! Kill it!' if one happened to climb onto her or the book she was reading or the pool chair she was lounging on. Despite this very obvious lack of love for the creature, slicing a couple of them up and putting them into boiling water was not something she wanted anything to do with. She would far rather the creature stopped existing entirely. Or better, that it would be born in butterfly form and skip being a nasty caterpillar altogether because caterpillars were just plain icky. And being sliced up only made them ickier.
She looked over the list and collected the ingredients she didn't find too disgusting to touch. This she was missing the caterpillars, the rat spleen, and the shrivelfig (which, despite being from a plant, was still really gross). The daisy roots were borderline, but they were fortunately free of dirt, so she collected the requisite amount as well as the leech juice.
She was about to go looking for a boy to partner with (boys being traditionally more inclined to touch rat spleens and dead caterpillars than girls) when she nearly tripped over a small ball of orange fur. Depositing the daisy roots and vial of leech juice onto her desk, she tried to kick aside the fur that must have fallen out of someone's potions kit when it meowed.
Quickly aborting the kick, she instead squatted down in front of it, "Hey, Kitty," she greeted it warmly, glad for the distraction from caterpillars and shrivelfigs. The orange kitten was a much cuter thing to look at and hold. Lifting it up, she sat down on her chair and settled the kitten into her lap. "Aren't you just the most adorable thing?" she asked it, petting its fluffy orange fur, which immediately set it to purring like a breaking down refrigerator. "Yes, you are," she answered her own question, smiling at it and scratching its head (which was recognizable amid all the fluff as a head because it was biting the thumb on her other hand but not hard enough to hurt).
Petting a baby kitten was so much better than chopping up daisy roots. "Isn't she sweet?" she asked a random person as they passed by with their own set of awful ingredients in hand. The kitty had captured Holly's thumb between both of its forepaws and was gnawing on it lightly. The purring was loud enough now that it sounded like the tiny feline was about to launch off to the moon.
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Holly Greer
I stole the evil kitten of doom first
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Holly Greer
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Cissy Tarwater
December 17, 2007 5:42 PM
Shrinking by Cissy Tarwater
Cissy was one of the first people in the class for Potions. She had been early for a lot of things lately, to be honest, finding not much to do in her spare time. Paul was not her top interest anymore, and despite the happiness she'd gain from it, Cissy had yet to bring the insects to Sonora to place in the third year Pecari girls' dorm. Though she did bring the book she'd gotten (and hidden from her family) shopping for, gag, Horace.It had some fairly good spells in it, that Cissy would have liked to try on Horace someday. Once she learned them flawlessly of course. She had the book in her bag, and after class she'd decided to test some of the spells on creatures in the Labyrinth Gardens. Hidden, of course. Later on, when she got better, she may take up Paul as a test subject again as well.
She wasn't up for smiling, but the thought of going back into her older routines made Cissy feel a little happier when she held the book for the first time, and even now just thinking about it, sitting at her table and playing with her long, black hair. She barely listened to the professor talk, only picked up the "shrinking potion" word and the gross sounding ingredients (the ones she wouldn't like to touch so much...). She didn't even realize that the professor had stopped talking when she did, only noticed that some students were starting to move around.
Cissy tried to go over what she missed, but found that not only did she not know, she didn't care either. Still, Cissy turned to someone walking by and asked politely, but far from friendly, "Excuse me, can you tell me again the ingredients. I didn't pay attention."
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Cissy Tarwater
Shrinking
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Cissy Tarwater
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Oliver
December 18, 2007 11:56 AM
Am I the consolation prize? by Oliver
OOC: I just re-read your first post and noticed you said Talitha had already got her ingredients. We’ll go with making two potions, like you’ve implied. Sorry for messing that up.BIC:
Oliver sniggered at Talitha’s obvious relief that she hadn’t caused any accidents in her absent-minded state. He began to chop the daisy roots, as she suggested, though if it had been anyone except Talitha he would have argued. He knew she didn’t like using living ingredients (or those that had lived at one stage), and would have offered to switch jobs. However, he also knew that Talitha could hold her own – she wasn’t one of these girly girls who needed constant reassurances and praise; she just got on with it, a trait that Oliver couldn’t help but admire.
Talitha said she’d been thinking about studying, but by the blush on her cheeks Oliver guessed she was telling a small fib, and he couldn’t help but smirk. He wondered whom it was Talitha had been thinking about. Here was another example of girls going crazy. Oliver had noticed it occurring far more frequently since he’d returned to Sonora after midterm. Perhaps it was something in the water? Talitha was still talking about studying. “I just hope most potions don’t call for rat spleens,” she said. “They’re vile.”
“What, these things?” Oliver asked, picking up the spleen with his bare hand. He laughed at Talitha’s expression, and then began preparing the spleen. It didn’t bother him any more than cutting up liver or raw chicken, which his parents sometimes made him do at home. Not very often, because usually they just ordered food from the main kitchens, but sometimes his parents thought it was nice for them to act like a regular family, and cook their own food.
“Nah, I have no idea what I want to do,” Oliver said, his eyes still on his ingredients. “To be honest, I don’t really know what a wizard can do, seeing as my parents run a hotel,” he grinned. “So, yeah, no thoughts yet. But you want to be a Healer, huh? That’s cool,” he told her, having finished with his ingredients. “What sort of Healing do you want to do? Like, children or, I dunno, surgery, or what?”
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Oliver
Am I the consolation prize?
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Oliver
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Talitha
December 19, 2007 2:06 AM
Just offering condolences to the runner-up by Talitha
“Eehw, nasty!” Talitha scrunched her face at the sight of Oliver holding the spleen with his bare fingers. If he flung it at her she would have to forget she’d just Walked and was now a young woman and pound him into the ground. Luckily for both of them, he behaved himself and started to prepare it for the potion.“I hadn’t thought about it that far.” Talitha answered Oliver’s question about if she wanted to specialize in a certain field. “Mother is sort of an everything Healer. I don’t know if I would want to study for as long as she did. Medicine People are totally awesome, but she was like in her thirties before she got done with all of her studies. That’s really old to start living life.”
“Being a Wizard gives you lots of things to do. You could be anything from an Auror to a store owner or a Quidditch star or a hotel manager.” Talitha offered. “You’re really good in DADA. Maybe you should look into magical law enforcement. Daddy says to follow your passion. I think that means to do what you like doing.”
Talitha handed Oliver his share of caterpillars, checked her textbook and adjusted the flame under her cauldron. Wishing they were brewing some nice herbal tea instead, she added her ingredients in the listed order and stirred according to the instructions. It didn’t look quite like that book’s illustrations, but it was definitely taking on a greenish hue. Perhaps it would improve with cooking time. Odiferous vapors began to fill the classroom as the other students began simmering their potions.
“Doesn’t smell any better than it looks, does it?” Talitha wrinkled her nose. “I’m so going to need some fresh air after this class.”
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Talitha
Just offering condolences to the runner-up
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Talitha
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Renaye Warren
December 20, 2007 3:40 PM
Beware the evil kitten! by Renaye Warren
Renaye was kind of lookiong forward to Potions. She wasn't the master of a thing like this, but she found it enjoyable to see the different reactions the different ingredients held. Some of the ingredients were slimy, weird, not very appealing, but she didn't have a problem with touching them. She imagined that Quidditch had probably toughened her up. Many of the guys on her neighborhood team thought of her as one of them because she didn't mind getting a little dirt on her uniform, while girls like Lynnie refused to walk onto the pitch if there was so much as a sprinkle of rain.Raye got up from her stool, brushing her long blonde hair away from her face before heading towards the cabinet for her ingredients. She wrinkled her nose at the jars of unusual ingredients, but took them nevertheless. She was on her way back to her seat to find a partner, but a girl near her caught her attention.
"Isn't she sweet?"
Renaye looked around before her bright green eyes found the girl sitting with a kitten on her lap. A smile spread across her face and she couldn't help but let out a small, "Aww!" Kittens were so tiny and fuzzy! It was so hard to resist their charm! Renaye suddenly became aware of the slimy substances in her hands. Keeping both hands over the many materials, Renaye jerked an elbow at the chair next to the girl.
"Do you want to be partners?" She asked. "I have the ingerdients, if you want."
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Renaye Warren
Beware the evil kitten!
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Renaye Warren
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Holly Greer
December 21, 2007 9:48 AM
Take cover and save yourselves! by Holly Greer
Holly smiled in co-adoration of the kitten as the other girl exclaimed, "Aww!" She felt an immediate bonding with her just from the shared experience of finding the orange ball of fluff the cutest thing ever. So she nodded in easy acceptance as the girl indicated the empty chair beside her and agreed to be her partner for the day."Sure. I'm Holly Thistle." For a moment, she was distracted by the kitten who just bit down on her thumb a bit harder than she had so far and this time it actually hurt. "Hey! Ow! Don't do that, kitty," she reprimanded, trying to extricate her hand, but the kitten seemed to think that was a game and tried her best to keep Holly's hand captured.
Giving up and just letting the kitten have it for fear of getting scratched or bit again, Holly looked back at her partner with a what-can-you-do look and abbreviated the rest of her introduction by skipping the 'of the' joiner between her name and family collective. "Hollywood Thistles." Not that there were any Hollywood Thistles besides herself, particularly since Thistle wasn't her real name, but this was how she understood people were supposed to introduce themselves in the wizarding world, so she adapted.
"I'm not sure how much I can do one handed, but it doesn't look like the kitten's going to let me have my hand back." Which, really, was perfectly fine with Holly.
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Holly Greer
Take cover and save yourselves!
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Holly Greer
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Renaye
December 22, 2007 7:55 PM
No, I won't leave you behind! by Renaye
Renaye had seen the girl in other classes. She couldn't recall ever talking, but she had always seemed nice. When she gave the agreement to being partners, Renaye took the seat next to her, placing the materials on the desk. Next to her the kitten was gnawing at the girl's hand. Renaye gave a little laugh. Cats weren't her first choice in a pet, but come on, kittens are adorable! This one was especially great because she didn't have to be the one to clean the litter box."I'm Holly Thistle. Hollywood Thistles."
Renaye smiled, noting the added introduction. Raye was pureblood, but she could never see the point in bringing your origin into your name. This was partly because her family moved so much, and it was partly because of the attitude of some families. She thought the name adding was probably for respect from other families, so they could note the reputation of the name. Renaye didn't judge on the family though, she judged on the person, which rendered the addition irrelevent for her. Holly was always nice though, so Raye knew she didn't have the attitude she usually associated with the "Place and Name" stuff. And had she just said Hollywood?
"Renaye Warren," she said, "Or Raye. Doesn't matter. Did you just say Hollywood? I live in Michigan right now, but I use to live out west. I never got to see Hollywood before." Renaye glanced at the first step and began making the potion.
"My parents own a Quidditch Supplies shop. They engineer and advertise brooms. We went to L.A. once for the advertising, but we never got to visit Hollywood. Is it as glamorous as I hear?" She said, watching the kitten play with Holly's fingers. Holly noticed this too and said,
"I'm not sure how much I can do one handed, but it doesn't look like the kitten's going to let me have my hand back."
Renaye gave a wave of her hand in a "Don't worry about it," way. She took a rubber band from her wrist and pulled her blonde hair into a long ponytail, leaving her light bangs down. According to the book, she had to chop the daisy roots. Okay. Good deal.
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Renaye
No, I won't leave you behind!
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Renaye
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Oliver
December 31, 2007 9:15 AM
Does that make me the winner? by Oliver
Talitha shared that her mother was a Healer. Oliver was sure the surprise registered on his face; as much as he liked Talitha, he really didn’t know very much about her. His defensive side told him that she didn’t like to talk about herself, and always wanted to hear about others, instead. This was only partly true, though, and Oliver’s rational side realised that he was probably a poor friend for not having found out more about Talitha’s home life. “Yeah, it must be hard work to study ’til you’re that old,” he said, considering her mother’s career choice. Oliver wasn’t sure he’d want to do much study after Sonora. His parents had wanted him to go to college, but that was before the whole magic thing.“Being a wizard gives you lots of things to do,” Talitha said, “You could be anything from an Auror to a store owner or a Quidditch star or a hotel manger.”
Oliver laughed. “Yeah, well see that’s where we’re different,” he said. “I don’t plan on doing anything my parents have done.” He knew that Talitha wouldn’t be offended by the comment. After all, her parents hadn’t tried to squash her magical ability like a bug on the windshield. Being a Quidditch star sounded cool, though.
“You’re really good in DADA,” Talitha continued.
“I am?” Oliver asked in surprise, dropping his vial of leech juice, from which he had been unsuccessfully attempting to remove the stopper. He hadn’t ever considered being anything but present at DADA – Professor O’Leary creeped him out, and the classes often did, too. He would never admit that, of course. Not out loud, anyway.
Oliver decided he could run with the idea of doing what he enjoyed. He liked playing Quidditch but he honestly didn’t think he was good enough to even consider taking it up professionally. He liked his music, too, his singing and piano playing. Though likewise, that was more of a hobby than a career option. He wondered if there was anything he liked and demonstrated suitable proficiency for long-term development.
Watching Talitha stir her potion, Oliver shook his head to clear his thoughts. It was about time he stopped procrastinating with pointless musings about his future and got back to work. He carefully added his ingredients and checked the heat below his cauldron.
“Doesn’t smell any better than it looks, does it?”
“No,” Oliver replied. “Fresh air is always an option. I could meet you for lunch in the gardens, if you like,” he suggested. He’d taken his lunch outside on several previous occasions; sometimes the noise and chatter in the Hall was too much even for him, and the peaceful solitude of the gardens suddenly became far more preferable.
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Oliver
Does that make me the winner?
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Oliver
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Talitha
January 01, 2008 1:29 AM
Yes! And your prize is my first post of the New Year! by Talitha
Talitha bit her lip to hide her grin and pretended not to notice Oliver fumbling his vial. It was kind of cute in way, but it would embarrass him to no end if she made a point of his momentary awkwardness, so she said nothing and kept on working.“Of course you are. Look at how quickly you caught on to the spells in the last couple of classes.” Talitha concentrated on the greenish concoction bubbling thickly away in her cauldron. It still didn’t look quite right. It was more jade green than yellow green. Talitha couldn’t figure out what she did wrong. She surreptitiously glanced at Oliver’s potion to see if looked any closer to the example in the book.
Talitha brightened at Oliver’s invitation to taking lunch in the garden. The thought of fresh air and flowers was so inviting after spending such a long time in the dark putridity of this particular classroom. Food always tasted better when eaten outside. It would be nice to trade the cacophony of Cascade Hall for happy bird song and uninterrupted conversation.
“A picnic lunch sounds perfect!” She smiled. She spooned a bit of her mixture into a small bowl to cool to the proscribed temperature. She felt more and more nervous about testing it on the toad.
She knew something wasn’t quite right and worried that she might cause it pain. Even a cold, slimy, warty old toad shouldn’t have to be harmed in the name of academia. She checked and double checked the steps she went through, but couldn’t figure out were she messed up. Really, there was no use procrastinating. The potion had to be tested. She looked back up at her partner.
“So who gets to play Toad Torture first?”
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Talitha
Yes! And your prize is my first post of the New Year!
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Talitha
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Oliver
January 01, 2008 10:42 AM
Woot! That's a great prize. by Oliver
The potion truly was vile in both appearance and scent. The thick greenish yellow gloop was reminiscent of a bad cold, and the smell was of over cooked cabbage. Nevertheless, this was, according to the book, how his potion was supposed to look, so Oliver tried his best to overcome the odour. He saw Talitha glance at his own concoction, and, in turn, he chanced a peek at hers. It wasn’t quite the foul shade that Oliver’s had turned. She had already dished some out into a bowl, though, so was obviously content with her finished product.“You could always try turning up the heat a little,” Oliver suggested, oblivious that Talitha might be affronted by his correcting her work without invitation. “When you’re not using volatile ingredients it’s always better to have it too hot than too cool,” he recited. “That’s what my Uncle says, anyway, and he does stuff with potions for a living so I guess he knows what he’s on about.” Oliver shrugged.
“A picnic lunch sounds perfect,” Talitha enthused, sounding, in Oliver’s opinion, far too excited about eating outdoors. Yet he had to admit that calling it a picnic made it sound more fun.
“Sure. We can get some bread rolls and some cake, or whatever else tastes good,” he said.
His own potion now ready, Oliver turned down the heat under his cauldron, and scooped a sample of his work into a crystal vial. “So who gets to play Toad Torture first?” Talitha asked. Oliver raised his eyebrows.
“You want to slice caterpillars and torture toads… and I thought you were one of these animal loving types,” Oliver said, a lop-sided smirk letting her know he was joking. He liked that he could tease Talitha without her getting upset or defensive. He couldn’t imagine having a similar conversation with most of the other girls in the year, least of all Lutece.
“I’ll go fetch the toads,” Oliver said, setting his vial down on his desk. “Can’t have you torturing the poor creatures on you way back to the desk.” He grinned again, and walked around his desk to the front of the room. Professor Connell had moved the toads to her desk, as she had said she would. Oliver selected one brown, speckled toad about the size of his hand, and one with a more greenish tint that was smaller, and a little slimy to the touch. One toad in each hand, Oliver carried them back to Talitha.
“Which would you prefer?” he asked her, setting both toads down on the desk in front of his partner. “The brown one’s a chatterbox,” he observed, looking down at the speckled toad, which was croaking for all its worth.
0
Oliver
Woot! That's a great prize.
0
Oliver
0
5
Cecily Smythe
January 01, 2008 10:59 AM
Joining the girls... and kitten by Cecily Smythe
Potions again. What a detestable way to spend the morning. Cecily just simply couldn’t abide handling all the foul and utterly loathsome ingredients, and often found herself feeling nauseous with the fumes emitted by the grotesque concoctions. Luckily, Professor Connell was bearable, so the class wasn’t a complete waste of time. In fact, Cecily rather excelled at the theoretical, essay-writing side of the subject. If only she didn’t have to do any practical work the subject would cause any issue at all. Unfortunately for Cecily, this wasn’t the case.Today, not only would they be making another disgusting mixture with some of the most horrifying components imaginable, they would also have to test their potions on toads. This offended Cecily by two methods; firstly, toads were slimy, ugly creatures that should under no circumstances be kept in classrooms. Secondly, Cecily was opposed to harming any creature, no matter how vile, and so was strictly against testing students’ potions on animals.
However, if she wanted to pass the subject, Cecily didn’t think she had much option but to complete the assignment. Still, there was no way she was touching the ingredients if she could avoid it. She stalled a short while, flicking through her textbook and digging unnecessarily deep in her bag for one of her quills, until some pairs had already begun to work. One couple in particular caught Cecily’s eye – that lovely girl Holly who kept a pony back home, seemed to be playing with a kitten. Unfortunately that horrid girl from her dormitory, Renaye, was there, too. Cecily decided to be nice and save Holly from her roommate’s uncouth ways. Striding over, Cecily settled her small frame neatly into the seat beside Holly and began to make herself comfortable.
“Hello, Holly,” she greeted sweetly and cheerfully. “You don’t mind if I work with you, do you? What an adorable little kitten!”
0
Cecily Smythe
Joining the girls... and kitten
122
Cecily Smythe
0
5
Talitha
January 03, 2008 9:51 AM
Glad you like it! by Talitha
Talitha compared Oliver’s potion to hers. It certainly did look closer to the right color. She had plenty left in her cauldron to give his suggestion a try. Within moments, her brew obediently lightened and took on a yellowish hue.“Thanks,” she said. “Maybe you were meant to teach.” No sooner were those words out of her mouth when Oliver made his crack to her joke.
“You want to slice caterpillars and torture toads… and I thought you were one of these animal loving types.”
Talitha gave him a slow blink and an evil sideways grin. She feigned throwing the rejected sample in her cooling dish at him on the way to the sink to dump it as he went to get their toads. She had just ladled a sample of the improved potion on the dish to cool, when he returned with the two victims. She stuck her tongue out at her friend in pretend offence at his continued teasing.
“I’ll take the green one.” She said, pushing some stray stands of hair out of her eyes. “You can have Mr. Big Mouth.”
Cooled enough so it wouldn’t burn her poor creature and cause any added pain, she steeled herself and drew a small amount in her stopper. Holding the toad firmly in one hand, (which was difficult as it was so wiggly) she let a couple of drops fall on its head.
The potion took effect so fast, it made Talitha gasp. In the blink of an eye her slimy, green subject was a greenish brown, well, not tadpole, but a pollywog. The tail was stumpy, in the process of disappearing and there were partially formed legs. Staring down at the tiny miracle in her hand, she breathed a sigh of relief. It didn’t seemed to be harmed or in distress in anyway, just a bit shocked.
“How cool was that?” She grinned up at Oliver.
OOC: So you can decide what to do next. Continue here, tag the professor to grade us and undo our dastardly deeds, go to lunch, whatever.
\n
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Talitha
Glad you like it!
0
Talitha
0
5
Liz Guthrie
January 04, 2008 8:34 PM
Shrinking toads to be exact by Liz Guthrie
Liz had got to class just in time. She had been reading a very interresting book and hadn't realized it was time for class until she noticed the people around her were rushing. She then got up and almost ran to her potions class. She was one of the last ones there but she made it.She sat down in the first seat available and listen to the professor talk about shrinking potions.Out of the corner of her eye she thought she saw a few people making discusted faces at some of the ingredients. Liz wasn't too squeamish, though. She had never been one to shriek at the sight of the first small bug in the area. Her mom always said that Liz should have been born a boy. She shook herself out of her reverie to listen to the rest of the insructions.When the professor was finished, she got up for the ingredients and went in search of a partner.
"Excuse me, can you tell me again the ingredients. I didn't pay attention."
Liz turned around to see a girl she didn't know. She thought the girl looked a little bored too. Oh well, this solves her partner problem. "Sure" Liz said as she put down the ingredients and sat in the seat beside the girl. "Were supose to us these ingredients to make a shrinking potion and when were done we us the potion on one of the toads and see if they turn into a tadpole. If it works we show it to the professor and if she says it's good we give the toad the aging potion on the desk. After that we work on the foot-long essay homework."
Liz got the knife and started slicing up the caterpiller while saying, "Well, lets get started already. I'm Liz, by the way, what's yours?"
0
Liz Guthrie
Shrinking toads to be exact
0
Liz Guthrie
0
5
Oliver
January 05, 2008 11:20 AM
The End *bows* by Oliver
Talitha chose her toad, and Oliver was left with the larger amphibian. Both students tested out their potions on their subjects. Although his toad did indeed reduce to a previous point in its lifetime, it didn’t quite make it to a tadpole. Still, it wasn’t bad for a first try, he supposed.“How cool was that?” Talitha said, grinning.
“Pretty cool,” Oliver replied, grinning in turn, finding his friend’s pleasure contagious. Taking a look at her work, Oliver noticed that Talitha’s toad had also turned into something between the toad it had been and the tadpole it was supposed to become.
“Come on, then, let’s take these up to the desk to get them graded, then we’ll start on that essay,” he said, his voice dripping with sarcastic excitement.
OOC: Hmm, sorry this was a poor effort. Brain not functioning. See you in the gardens?
0
Oliver
The End *bows*
0
Oliver
0
5
Renaye
January 07, 2008 9:13 PM
One of the girls by Renaye
Renaye looked up from the potion as her ears caught the sound of an approaching person. She spotted Cecily, one of her many roommates, heading towards the table. Renaye immediately felt a sense of foreboding. She knew she wasn't liked by Cecily and being in a group could lead to two things: more disagreement, or an epiphany of friendliness. Somehow she doubted the second. Cecily took a seat and began chatting to Holly, as if Renaye wasn't even there. Renaye tensed, remembering to keep a cool head. Maybe she had a reason. Maybe she was overreacting...“Hello, Holly,” she greeted sweetly and cheerfully. “You don’t mind if I work with you, do you? What an adorable little kitten!”
Renaye put on a smile and leaned over so she could look over to her.
"Hi, Cecily," she said, giving a wave. "Isn't she adorable?"
Renaye was going to be as nice as she could. Debating and fighting was never going to help the situation that she would have to live with the girls for the next six years. She might as well try to repair some of the damage that had been done. Even if Cecily didn't want to speak or acknowledge her, Renaye wasn't going let that go by. If she was going to be hated, she would hope it was going to be for more than one silly arguement. And if she was going to have any opinion on the other girls, she better get both views first.
0
Renaye
One of the girls
0
Renaye
0
5
Holly Greer
January 08, 2008 9:35 AM
felines and females by Holly Greer
Holly was grateful that Renaye seemed to be willing to (a) touch all the nasty ingredients, and (b) do most of the work while Holly just held the kitten out of the way. While Holly paid enough attention to know that getting cat fur in the potion would be very bad (and the orange ball of fluff certainly had a lot of it) she also was aware she had claimed the far easier job. Renaye was so awesome.Before Renaye could do more than the first couple steps of the assignment, they were joined on Holly's other side by Cecily. Holly had instantly adored Cecily the first time they met because they had quickly discovered a shared passion for horses. Holly gave her a warm smile of greeting, and turned the vaguely head-shaped part of the fuzzy orange kitten toward her so Cecily could get a good look at just how adorable the kitty really was. She also used one finger to manipulate one of the kitten's paws so it appeared to wave at Cecily.
"Hi, Cecily," she said, looking over at her friend again before nodding to her other partner, "I take it you know Renaye?" This gem of knowledge had been picked up because Renaye had said Cecily's name without an introduction. Cecily's dislike and exclusion of Renaye went completely over Holly's head and she attributed Cecily's lack of greeting to the other member of the group to kitten distraction. "She's doing a great job with the, uh," Holly's expression twisted to one of distaste and her tone echoes the sentiment clearly, "caterpillar slicing."
Her expression instantly warmed again though as she looked down at the kitten in her lap. It had begun gnawing on her robe sleeve and she tried to put a stop to that with as little torn cloth or bloodshed as possible. Distracted by this endeavor, she extended the invitation without checking to see how the other two took it, "I'm kind of limited in what I can do right now," she indicated the kitten, though that was probably self-evident, "so I'm sure Renaye would love having another person in the group to help stir and stuff." It never once occurred to her that two people she liked might not like each other.
1
Holly Greer
felines and females
123
Holly Greer
0
5
Cecily
January 09, 2008 4:04 PM
and cat fights by Cecily
As Cecily reached out a hand to stroke the kitten’s fluffy head, she was dismayed that Renaye answered her greeting first, even though it had been directed to Holly. In Cecily’s opinion, that was extremely poor manners. “Hi Cecily,” Renaye said. “Isn’t she adorable?”It took half a second for Cecily to register that her Housemate must have been talking about the kitten, not about Holly. As if waiting for the excuse, Cecily turned her attention back to the fuzzy creature, continuing to ignore Renaye’s presence or involvement. Instead she smiled at the other girl in their small group. “Hi Cecily,” Holly replied. “I take it you know Renaye?”
With a thin-lipped smile, Cecily flicked her eyes between the two girls. She guessed this wasn’t the first time they had worked together, therefore it was probably imprudent of her to be especially rude to Renaye in front of Holly, as they might even be friends. Cecily didn’t want to upset Holly, so she replied, “Yes. We share a room.”
Cecily had discovered that it was quite easy to ignore Renaye in their dormitory, seeing as there were so many other girls to talk to. Anabel was the nicest girl, but none of the others were so unfriendly as Renaye had been since their very first meeting. She had been so headstrong and ridiculously obsessed with her Quidditch ranting. She’d been so rude to Cecily that it was hard to forgive, even after several months. So Cecily had just managed to survive by only talking to the other girls; even Laurie had since been accepted since the two girls had worked out their differences in a civilised manner. Nothing about Renaye was civilised, though – she was brash and outspoken; she enjoyed getting sweaty and knocking people off brooms – she’d said so herself. Still, if Renaye was content with doing all the potions work, then Cecily had no qualms whatsoever in sitting with Holly and playing with the kitten.
“I’m kind of limited in what I can do right now, so I’m sure Renaye would love having another person in the group to help stir and stuff,” Holly said.
Cecily’s expression turned icy, so it was just as well her friend was paying so much attention to the cat she wouldn’t see. “I suppose I could chop up some daisy roots for you,” Cecily said, being careful to direct her speech only at Holly. She didn’t want the other girl thinking she was offering help to her.
As she stood and began chopping daisy roots, Cecily felt the need to say something to Renaye. With a quick glance over her shoulder to make sure Holly couldn’t hear, she spoke in a quite voice. “I don’t like you. I’m working for me and Holly, not for you.” Cecily kept her eyes on her work. After all, she didn’t want to slip with the knife and mess up their potion.
0
Cecily
and cat fights
0
Cecily
0
5
Renaye
January 11, 2008 10:29 PM
Super... by Renaye
Great. This whole dorm-wide hatred was really ridiculous. It was one thing to hate her, but then to march into groups and then pretend like a member doesn't exist? Did Cecily not realize how low that was? Renaye thanked her lucky stars for Laurie. Renaye could take not talking to the other girls, but it was great to have an ally. Laurie was very nice and Josh seemed to like her too. The other girls in the dorm hadn't spoken to her since the first day, pretty much. Renaye had hoped the whole thing would just cool off, but apparently not. Renaye thought it was pretty immature to hold the Quidditch argument as a reason to hate their roommate.Renaye opened her mouth to insist that Cecily didn't have to help. She knew that Cecily wouldn't want to, but her words couldn't meet her mouth soon enough as Cecily said, “I suppose I could chop up some daisy roots for you.” Renaye mentally sighed and continued with the potion ingredients. This group, which she had been so optimistic about before, was spiraling into this weird tension. Renaye's plan was to just continue what she was doing. She didn't need to really say anything to Cecily. If she was going to be so stubborn as to hold the grudge, let her.
“I don’t like you. I’m working for me and Holly, not for you.” Raye's eyebrows rose, thrown off by this completely upfront comment. She kept her eyes on her ingredients and whispered back,
"How long do you plan on holding a grudge for that silly argument?" She let out a breath. "Look, I'm sorry I was harsh. I get defensive over the things I love." Renaye didn't need to accept her apology. She meant it, but if Cecily didn't accept it, she wasn't going to be distraught.
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Renaye
Super...
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Renaye
0
5
Cecily
January 15, 2008 4:49 PM
...man? by Cecily
Cecily half expected Renaye to ignore her (which is what she would have done if she was in the other girls’ position), but she was surprised as Renaye whispered back, “How long do you plan on holding a grudge for that silly argument?”Cecily exhaled sharply and placed her knife down with rather more force than was necessary. She turned to glare at Renaye, but it seemed the other girl wasn’t done talking yet. “Look, I’m sorry I was harsh. I get defensive over the things I love.” So that’s what Renaye thought this was about?
“You’re just as guilty of holding a grudge as I am,” Cecily hissed back, hoping that Holly was still occupied enough with the cat to not overhear. “You’ve never talked to me since, have you?” It wasn’t really a question, so Cecily continued without waiting for an answer. “Anyway, I don’t care about stupid Quidditch. You play the silly game if you like, I’m hardly going to stop you.” Truthfully, Cecily was still amazed that anyone would want to play, let alone a young lady with as much potential as Renaye had. Yet that wasn’t the basis of their disagreement; Renaye had insulted Cecily’s whole way of life, the very traditions upon which her family and similar families everywhere were based. Plus she had been rude and outspoken, and ruined what otherwise could have been a fairly pleasant debate. Although Cecily couldn’t remember the conversation entirely, as it had been several months ago, she was fairly sure she hadn’t been so rude or offensive to Renaye, or any of the other girls for that matter (except perhaps Laurie, because she was Muggleborn, but they were friends now so that didn’t matter anymore).
“If you must know,” Cecily said, reaching for the leech juice, “I’m insulted by your contempt for decent society.”
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Cecily
...man?
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Cecily
0
5
Holly Greer
January 25, 2008 12:19 PM
No, superkitty! by Holly Greer
It took some doing, but Holly was able to get both her sleeve and fingers out of the kitten's mouth. Her two group members were whispering animatedly at each other, and Holly might have been worried they were talking about her (especially since they kept glancing her way) except they weren't laughing or giggling, so whatever they were saying, it probably wasn't to ridicule Holly. Maybe they were jealous that she got to hold the cat while they did all the work?It looked like all the mashing and slicing was done, so she bit the bullet and asked reluctantly, "Did one of you want to hold the kitten and I'll stir or something?" She was okay with stirring as long as she didn't have to look at what she was stirring. Because as gross as the ingredients were by themselves, the bubbling concoction that they became was almost worse sometimes.
She gave the cauldron a look of wary dislike and had little wish to find out if this was one of them. Holly really hoped they'd say no.
1
Holly Greer
No, superkitty!
123
Holly Greer
0
5
Chelsea Brockert
February 08, 2008 2:18 PM
Ewwwww....rat spleens...(wotw) by Chelsea Brockert
Potions, ick. Chelsea couldn't stand the subject. It was useful of course, unlike History of Magic and she could even appreciate the uses of a potion that shrinked or de-aged things. However, it was revolting. Someone like herself shouldn't ever have to touch animal guts, particularily things like rat spleens. Chelsea neither wanted to touch the spleen of anything nor any part of a rat. That was just plain gross .Besides, it was beneath her. Handling such things was for males and the lower class. The only way Chelsea wanted anything to do with rat spleens or catepillars would be if she were to levitate them and drop them on someone whom she felt deserved it...and even that wasn't her style really.
She gazed around the room for a partner. Normally, Chelsea would want to work with her friends, but this was Potions. Her friends were above touching the repulsive ingredients too, in Chelsea's eyes, and she didn't think they should have to touch the nasty components of the shrinking potion either. Besides, Holly at least was already working with others, including that disgusting Renaye girl who cared about nothing but Quidditch from what Chelsea could tell of her. She was the perfect person to have to touch animal innards but Chelsea couldn't help feel bad for both Holly and Cecily Smythe,(whom Chelsea had never talked to, but thought seemed like a fine respectable worthy person) having to put up with her for the duration of the lesson. She sincerely hoped that Holly and Cecily had Renaye do most of the work.
Which was precisely what Chelsea intended to do. She could perhaps be convinced to chop up the plant related ingredients, but there was no way she was touching those spleens. What she really needed for this class was a nice pair of gloves. Nothing too extravagant, that Chelsea wouldn't want to ruin, but something stylish yet functional, for when she had to touch potentially dirty plants.
She turned to the person next to her and asked "Partners?" Chelsea smiled at them pleasantly for it would never do to scowl at someone you wanted to have not only work with you but do most of the actual work.
11
Chelsea Brockert
Ewwwww....rat spleens...(wotw)
108
Chelsea Brockert
0
5
Cissy
February 12, 2008 8:17 PM
I'm really alive! (WotW) by Cissy
OOC: Sorry for the wait!BIC: Cissy wrung her hands bitterly, she didn't want to ask this girl anything, she didn't want to talk to her. But she needed to know, and Cissy was certainly not going to ask the teacher, how stupid would she seem then? She didn't touch her black hair as strands fell into her face as she looked at the girl who had stopped to answer her. She wanted to seem as frightening as she was to her elder brother so the girl would not seek anything more and leave, but all Cissy could some up was some sharpness and the numbness Midterm made her feel.
Cissy stiffened when the girl decided to sit next to her, oh Merlin why. She clutched hard on the desk and sat still as stone, a repulsive look in her face. Partnerships, the word reminded her of things she didn't want to be reminded of. Like the sickeningly sweet Horace, who needed to be shown some respect. As well as his extravagant mother who seemed to think very lowly of Cissy's behavior (she simply wasn't "ladylike" enough for little miss Jane). Sierra Tarwater tried to relax, she breathed in and slumped forward slightly, turning her head to her "partner"... in potions only. This girl.
Cissy raised an eyebrow at her, Liz? "Sierra Tarwater," she stated curtly, straightening her posture as she pulled the daisy roots to her and began to chop them. She wasn't going to do the essay, of that she was sure. If she really needed to, she'd just make Paul do it.
But shrinking potions, eh? Cissy had read about those before, they were in one of the rather stupid potions books Cissy had read before. It included things to shrink, which disgusted the young girl to no end. A man must have written the book, she had concluded when finished. But at least it gave her a good idea of how this potion would work.
Cissy's eyes flipped to the toads all together. Shrink them? But Cissy then moved to the teacher, did she have a nice collection of potions? Good ones, not like these stupid shrinking ones. Maybe a book Cissy could nick from her shelves? She'd have to check later. "Read off the order," she commanded her partner, Cissy wasn't in the mood to play nice.
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Cissy
I'm really alive! (WotW)
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Cissy
0
5
Liz
February 18, 2008 11:45 AM
Yes you seem to be by Liz
Liz got the impression that this, Sierra Tarwater, was very uncomfortable and didn't seem to like her that much. Well, she would just have to fix that. Liz was the kind of girl who would always try to be friendly to everyone, unless they weren't so friendly to her then she would have some problems. She decided that she could try to break the ice and be friends with this girl. As soon as she gave her the instructions for the potion, which she did.While was expertly chopping up the ingredients she started to chat, "Where are you from? I'm from southern virginia. I live in a kind of split family since my dad is a pure-blood wizard and my mom ia a muggle but luckily we all ge along. It's kind fo a tradition that the first born men on my dad's side become Aurors but I'm an only child so," she did a particularly hard chop at the last word, "I'm going to be the first girl in my family to become a Auror." Her eyes lit up in determination at this last statement. Then she turned to Sierra and put on a fiendly smile and asked, "What about you? Do you have anything planed for the future?"
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Liz
Yes you seem to be
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Liz
0
5