Professor Lilac Brockert

April 13, 2012 10:15 PM
Time passed. Class was supposed to have started by now. Where was the professor? She had not yet arrived to the early morning class. About seven minutes after the scheduled time, Lilac burst through the doorway. Her grey eyes scanned the first and second years remorsefully as she shut the door behind her. “Sorry about that, ladies and gentlemen,” she apologized. “I had some trouble waking up this morning.” She couldn’t wait until she got passed this morning sickness thing, especially since her silly bundle of joy seemed to think “morning” meant “three AM”.

It was the first Transfiguration lesson of the year for the first and second years, and that meant three-fourths of the former hadn’t been acquainted with her yet (the one-fourth being the Teppenpaws, as them she had met). What a terrible first impression; she couldn’t remember ever being late before, and this was her fifth term teaching! “For those of you who know me,” smiled the brunette, “hello again. For those who don’t, welcome to Transfiguration! I’m Professor Lilac Brockert.”

A muttered “Orchideous” aided her as, with the flip of her wrist, yellow flowers sprouted from the tip of her wand. “Transfiguration is often referred to as the most difficult branch of magic, but don’t fret. I’m more than willing to assist you as we go.” The thirty year old removed the flowers from her wand and handed them to a first year sitting in the front row. “Here, have a bouquet.”

“Now,” she grinned, “Unless you’ve all gone wild and destroyed them, there should be a bottle on your desks.” They varied between pastel colors, but the size was generally the same, each containing about eight ounces of a mysterious liquid. A larger one in pastel orange—her private stash—sat on her desk, and she grabbed it, unscrewed the lid, and dug two fingers in the thin lip of the bottle. She retrieved the plastic rod with a ring on the end and blew through that ring. Bubbles lazily rolled through the air.

The professor smiled. “Now, watch closely, because this is the lesson.” She raised the tip of her wand so it was nearly touching one of the larger bubbles.” Igni Sintra.” She jabbed forward into the bubble delicately, but it did not pop. Instead, the inside of the bubble was transfigured to fire. Lilac touched the bubble with her palm. “The inside air of the bubble has been turned to fire.” It bounced from hand to hand. “If you’re cautious, you can touch it. It might be a bit warm, but you won’t be burned. Use your palm. If it hits something pointier like your fingertips, it may pop.”

As she spoke this whole time, notes appeared on the board behind her. Igni Sintra—turns the air in a bubble into fire. To cast, jab want gently into the bubble when incanting. Can be touched gently. May pop off sharp objects. When bubble pops, fire goes out. She didn’t verbally state the last part, but they would find it on their own when they wrote down their notes. “Go ahead and get your little fire bubbles going, and once you and your partner have both produced one, feel free to pass them back and forth or just blow bubbles.” She stirred the bubble rod in the bottle, pulled it out, and blew another bubble. “You know where to find me if you need me.” She’d be at her desk, playing with her own bubble mix as she watched diligently from afar.


OOC: Welcome and welcome back! Let’s see some nice creative posts, two hundred words minimum, don’t godmod for others, all of that good stuff. If you need Lilac, feel free to tag, and a reply will come up as soon as possible. On that note, happy posting!
Subthreads:
0 Professor Lilac Brockert My bubbles! 0 Professor Lilac Brockert 1 5

Thad Pierce

April 17, 2012 9:30 PM
OOC: So I'm going to work on the assumption that Cepheus is sitting to Thad's right and Clara to his left, and Thad was not clear on who he spoke to. BIC:

As he lowered the loop thing, he heard the people on either side of him speak up in answer to his complaint. To his right, Cepheus was equally baffled by the soap bubble creation process. To his left, a first year girl he didn't know seemed to have a working loop.

Thad scooted his chair back a little so that Cepheus could hear and see what the girl was saying and doing, since it was information he would need as well. She demonstrated the bubble blowing process, again making it look as easy as Cepheus had already noted Professor Brockert had made it look. It was moderately irritating that a first year could manage it that effortlessly while he and Cepheus, with a whole year's edge on her, couldn't get it to work at all. He still wasn't entirely convinced that their loops weren't defective.

However, nothing was ever learned by a closed mind, so he dipped his loop back into the solution and drew it out with a fresh film suspended within the loop. He let the soap drip a moment, to avoid a mess on his desk, then carefully modulated the strength of his breath to be stronger than his ripple attempt and weaker than his knock-out-the-film attempt.

For a moment, he thought he had a bubble. It was getting bigger and bigger and bigger and then it just . . . popped.

He sat back in irritation. He knew he had been close though. That had almost worked. He felt sure of it. With renewed confidence and determination, he dipped his loop in the soap solution again, and this time gave a breath just a little quicker. And he got a bubble. "Whoo!" he shouted, significantly more out-loud than than he had really intended his triumph to be expressed.

But he had a bubble, and if he had one, he could get another. He grinned at the girl - Clara she had introduced herself - and despite her lack of a last name or a family branch, Thad was happy and grateful toward her, and there was no reason at all to be uncivil. "I am Thaddeus Pierce the Second, of the New Hampshire Pierces," he returned the introduction as was proper for the now highest ranked heir of his generation.

He then looked over to Cepheus, "Is yours working yet?"

Addressing Clara again, he added, curious to know if she was aware what purpose bubbles had, since she seemed to know more about than then either of the second years did. "What do wizards use bubbles for?" he repeated Cepheus' question, hoping she could answer it for him. "Do you know?"



OOC: So we are now part of a three person thread. We'll go in the order of posting: Thad, Cepheus, Clara.
1 Thad Pierce Hello, Clara and Cepheus 213 Thad Pierce 0 5


Clara Abernathy

April 20, 2012 7:26 PM
Clara watched the boy who had introduced himself as Thaddeus follow her instructions on bubble blowing. She was excited for him when he almost had the first one. That would have been a big one she thought to herself rather proudly. If only it hadn't popped. She waited while he tried again, silently encouraging the bubble to form. When it sprang forth from the end of his bubble wand she smiled delighted for him and then wondered if he had ever played with bubbles before. She covered her mouth slightly when he let out an excited Whoo! trying not to giggle. It had been after that successful bubble that he had introduced himself as he grinned at Clara. Clara noted the formal way with which he introduced himself and she could not remember if she had been equally polite. She decided it was time to rectify that error if she hadn't.

"Its wonderful to meet you Thaddeus," she told him cheerfully. "I'm Clara Abernathy of the Napa Valley Abernathys," she smiled brightly, her freckles turning a little darker it felt. Having corrected her slip in etiquette, she returned her focus to the question he had asked. Her forehead wrinkled slightly as she thought of how best to answer his question. Honestly she didn't have the slightest idea what a wizard would use bubbles for, but she certainly knew what children used them for. "To be perfectly honest I have no idea what a wizard would want bubble for," she answered honestly. "They're mostly used to entertain small children. Outside of turning the air inside them into fire, which is the coolest thing I have ever seen, by the way, I can't think of any logical reason why a wizard would need them. Maybe they like playing with them just as much as we do," she explained about as seriously as any 11 year old could.

"Haven't you ever played with bubbles?" she asked Thaddeus innocently, her big blue eyes gazing at him curiously.
0 Clara Abernathy How can I explain bubbles? Hmm... 232 Clara Abernathy 0 5


Cepheus

April 21, 2012 12:29 AM
OOC: Okay, I guess it'll be Thad, Clara, and Cepheus then.

BIC:

Cepheus felt a little incompetent when his bubble thing wasn't working, but he felt a little better knowing that Thad couldn't really do it either. Another girl, one he wasn't familiar with, was seated with them and Cepheus was glad at least someone knew how to work these things. He had half a mind to transfigure it into something else with his wand. Something useful, anyhow.

He tried to blow a good bubble once more and failed once again. He shook his head in response to Thad's question. "No," he said, discouraged. He attempted to use Clara's advice and blow gentler, but it still wasn't working very well. How difficult was it to blow a bunch of blooming bubbles? He frowned, growing annoyed. Clara was obviously ignoring him too, which only added to his irritation. He almost glared at her but caught himself in time. Father would have frowned at him for glaring. And anyway, she sounded like she came from an important family. Until she finished her last sentence. Muggle-born. Cepheus felt his pale nose wrinkle.

Clara directing her question to Thad was the last straw. Cepheus was used to having attention and he was not used to being ignored by his classmates, muggle-born or not. "We haven't been introduced," he said before Thad could say anything. "I'm Cepheus Princeton of the Surrey Princetons." He was clearly English, strong accent and all, and one emotion was clear on his pale, boyish face: annoyed. He was annoyed he was being ignored by a muggle-born, annoyed that a muggle-born knew something he didn't, and especially annoyed because he couldn't get these blasted bubbles to form.

"Excuse me for being upset, but how, in Merlin's name, do you get these blasted bubbles out of here?" he asked, tapping his wand against the mouth of the bottle. "Sorry for interrupting your little tête-à-tête, too." Twelve years old and still acting like a child, he could hear his father say. Well, Father never had to blow bubbles himself, did he? Especially since it was such a muggle activity. He had to wonder why in the world they were learning how to blow bubbles in the first place. "This is ridiculous anyway," he muttered under his breath.
0 Cepheus Yes, please explain. 0 Cepheus 0 5

Thad Pierce

April 23, 2012 8:53 PM
Thad was a little surprised when Clara corrected her introduction into the proper form. Either she was mimicking him, or she was like Derry had been - good blood but less than thorough etiquette. Sonora offered a deceptive freedom from the close observation of parents and other family influences. Some purebloods allowed their manners slip when they arrived. If that was Clara's situation, she may not yet have realized that there were other routes besides direct observation for their parents to learn what they were doing here.

One of those routes might include what Cepheus told his parents, and she wasn't winning any favors by addressing mostly Thad, judging by Cepheus's irritated introduction. Thad gave the Crotalus a sympathetic grimace as he admitted he was still having trouble with the bubble making. Thad was starting to get the trick of it, but it had taken him long enough to create his own first bubble that he'd made a terrible kerfuffle when he'd finally managed it.

He was disappointed that grown wizards didn't have a use for bubbles, but not horribly surprised. That they had no purpose beyond entertaining children explained why he hadn't run across them before. The Pierces didn't hold with toys much. The nearest thing he and Derry had been allowed were child-sized brooms. Otherwise, it was all books. Children's books, certainly, especially when they were very young, but mostly books. He vaguely recalled the Anns having dolls, but they were girls and weren't allowed brooms. Girls had to learn how to carry babies anyway.

He blew another bubble, modulating his breath to the same speed he'd used to make the previous one, and this time got his wand up before it drifted too far away for him to try the spell. "Igni Sintra," he cast and lightly inserted the wand's point into the bubble. The fire that ignited inside the soapy bubble was more of a little flame puddle at the bottom of the sphere, but there was fire and there was a bubble, so he counted it as a partial success.

Turning briefly to Cepheus, he suggested, "Try to blow about as hard as you would to scatter the seeds of a dandelion puff." He wasn't sure if England had dandelion puffs but he wasn't sure how else to describe the breath strength.

Addressing Clara again, he answered, "No, my parents tended to provide me with more practical things to entertain myself with."
1 Thad Pierce Fire and Bubbles 213 Thad Pierce 0 5


Clara Abernathy

April 28, 2012 4:52 PM
Clara began to realize her error when she heard Cepheus irritably introduce himself shortly after she answered Thad's question. She felt her cheeks color as she became slightly embarrassed by her lack of etiquette. She had never meant to ignore Cepheus and worried that she may have insulted him by accident by addressing only Thad at that moment. "Please forgive my terrible manners," she smiled at Cepheus apologetically. I can't believe I bombed that soo badly she mentally kicked herself. She almost smacked herself in the forehead and just barely stopped herself. She would not do that here no matter how frustrated with herself she was. She only hoped she hadn't completely ruined her chances of making friends with Thad and Cepheus.

"I sometimes have a bad habit of letting my manners slip right into the toilet, which they seem to have already done," she found herself explaining to them both; her expression still apologetic. Clara had never been one to feel awkward, but this seemed to be the exception situation. She could almost hear her dad sigh heavily in her mind at her faux pas. Dad was patient with the 11 year old, but even he had little tolerance for rudeness. She focused on Cepheus's question on how in Merlin's name you made the bubbles come out and found herself agreeing completely with Thad's explanation. It would have the one she herself would have given if she hadn't been soo flustered. Flustered...there was another emotion that the plucky 11 year old was not familiar with. Usually Clara was very sure of herself even if her attempts blew up in her face (so to speak), but here at Sonora she felt a little overwhelmed and in very unfamiliar territory. She put aside her unfamiliar feeling and attempted to show Cepheus what Thad meant. Addressing Cepheus she tried to demonstrate blowing another bubble and making an attempt of her own at the spell. “Igni Sintra,” she cast gently inserting the tip of her wand into the bubble. The air inside puffed briefly into flame, but seemed to fizzle out quickly. She half frowned, but didn't let it stop her from continuing. As for Thad's remark about more practical things to entertain himself with, Clara couldn't hide her curiousity as to what he may have meant by that.

She turned her gaze to Thad and asked curiously, “Not to be rude at all, but what kinds of things?”
0 Clara Abernathy Mine Fizzled... 232 Clara Abernathy 0 5


Cepheus

April 29, 2012 12:50 AM
Cepheus was surprised that Clara had admitted to her fault. He was used to faults being brushed under the carpets, so to speak, especially in public. Perhaps her etiquette lessons--if she'd had any--hadn't been taught well. Or something of the like. In any case, his grudge against her lessened slightly, though he still didn't think highly of her at this point. She was still just a first year after all.

He ignored her apology at the moment, focusing on blowing the perfect bubble. He nodded at Thad's comment, then watched Clara carefully as she enacted it. His blue eyes focused on his stick, then he dipped the round end once again into the soapy water and then blew into it the way he would a dandelion puff. It worked slightly better, though the bubble popped before it fully got out of the circle. Frustrated, but slightly less so than before, he tried once again.

This time, the bubble got out of its circular cage and floated freely. A handsome smile broke out on the blonde boy's face, and he lifted his wand to the bubble. "Igni Sintra," he said, watching a tiny fire burst inside the bubble. His face brightened at his success, looking at his peers for commendation, and then back to his fiery bubble. "Brilliant," he sighed. And then the bubble popped.

Cepheus could relate to Thad's upbringing. He didn't see any purpose for these bubbles besides using them for class as they were. Even then, it would only be for entertainment that way. He'd played with figurines that moved on their own, playing out the scenes he wanted them to and doing what he told them, toy brooms, elementary potions kits for children, and loads of other toys. He'd played a lot with his figurines, passing them onto his brothers when he started school. Books, of course, were a necessity. His mother had forced reading time on her children, and Cepheus had remembered loathing reading in the beginning, always choosing picture books with entertaining images, but he appreciated it now.

"Practical things like books, miniature potions kits, toy brooms, and the like," he said, answering Clara's question. "I used to have moving toy figures as well. Did you ever have those, Thad?" He turned to Clara after. "What sort of toys did you have to entertain yourself with? Unpractical things?" The last part of his question hadn't been added to sound rude, but he wondered what exactly a girl like Clara would play with that would be considered "unpractical." He was blunt and had been brought up to be blunt.
0 Cepheus For Pureblood's Sake... 0 Cepheus 0 5

Thad Pierce

May 20, 2012 9:34 PM
Thad shrugged when Clara asked what practical things his parents had entertained him with and then nodded as Cepheus answered for him. He had had all of the items mentioned; potions kits (not quite as miniature as was probably legal for an underage wizard, actually), brooms (kid-sized, yes, but without the height restrictions toy brooms generally had), and of course a great many books.

He shook his head at the question of whether he'd had toy figures. "No, but I had some educational games, too. Some of those I played with my parents and some I played by myself. I liked the ones that my parents played with me better because they would explain things in more depth than the game charms could." Though it had been fun to see how far he could go before he got something wrong. He had made bets and challenges against himself to make those solo games more entertaining. He had learned far more Latin because of those challenges with himself than he would have if he'd abandoned Little Latin Learner when he'd first decided it was kind of boring and the happy tone when he got a word right was not sufficient reward to really try hard.

Pierces could be rather fiercely competitive, though, even if it was only against themselves.

"My cousins, Annabelle and Annette, had dolls, though, so the practical things might just be a boy thing."

"Very good," he congratulated Cepheus when he saw his yearmate had managed a bubble finally, and managed a decent fire on the first try. Since his own fire had been somewhat less than stellar, he dunked his loop into the soapy solution again and gave another blow. This time, the bubble that formed was much larger than his last one, and it kind of just wobbled in place, moving mostly down with gravity than away. Thad poked it with his wand and cast again, "Igni Sintra!"

Flames filled the bubble in a brilliant conflagration. It sank down and popped against the desk. For a second, Thad was worried that the fire wouldn't extinguish itself, but then the orange glow faded even as the soapy residue dried on the desk surface.

1 Thad Pierce Not Merlin's sake? 213 Thad Pierce 0 5


Clara

May 22, 2012 10:09 PM
"What sort of toys did you have to entertain yourself with? Unpractical things?"

Clara pondered over Cepheus' question a look of puzzlement on the Pecari's face. She had never really had any real toys as she grew up. Sure she had a music box collection, but that had been something her mother had started her on when she was very small. The oldest one in Clara's collection is of an old fashioned merry-go-round horse with a purple sparkly saddle. When you wound it up it played "Happy Birthday" and twirled around. Sophia had given it to her daughter shortly after Clara was born. Clara kept it up on a shelf in her closet where she kept her other most valued treasure, her mother's jewelry box. Both items she kept on the shelf with her old leather bound books. She loved to pull down one of the old tomes and just get carried away with the story. Her favorite was "Les trois Muskateres'" by an old french writer whose name had long ago worn off of the cover and the pages.

Clara could sit for hours pouring over that story and being able to read it in french made her feel slightly freakish. She couldn't think of a single other 11 year old who spoke fluent french as she did (outside of France of-course). Her mother's doing. Her mother was also responsible for her riding horses and playing the violin. She was also taught to play the piano, but never really liked it much. She wondered how much of those things Cepheus would consider "unpractical", but then again unless she said something about it she'd never know.

"I didn't really play with toys," she told both boys, her brow furrowing a bit as she blew out a few more bubbles and sent them floating into the air. "I have like one antique doll that belonged to my mother, but I've never played with her. I've always been partial to horseback riding and playing the violin. I've been told I'm pretty good at drawing, but you know what they say about that. Sometimes you're your own worst critic," she teased herself lightly. "I also collect rare old leather bound books," she continued casually blowing more bubbles out of the end of the bubble wand. "My favorite is one called "Les Trois Muskateres'". It's actually written in french! The pages are worn and I have to be super careful with it, but its an awesome book."

She watched Cepheus make another attempt at his bubble and was very pleased to see him succeed. She nodded in agreement at Thad's praise of his accomplishment. "That is very cool Cepheus," she agreed cheerfully and wondered if she could do the same.She blew another bubble and made another attempt at flames. "Igni Sintra" she said again as she gently stabbed the end of the wand into the bubble. A bright blue flame enveloped the inside and instead of fizzling this time it actually stayed true. A very satisfied smile spread across the little red head's face. "This is beyond cool!" she expressed excitedly as she watched her flaming little shpere float around between the three of them.

"I wonder what's next?" she wondered aloud to her classmates, smiling widely at them as she watched the little flaming ball land lightly on her desk and pop. The flames fizzled themselves out, leaving a soapy film behind.
0 Clara I guess not...lol 232 Clara 0 5


Cepheus

May 24, 2012 11:01 PM
Perhaps it was a boy's thing to have practical play things. The toys he'd received had been geared to educate him in order that he might run a household one day as it had been expected of him all his life. His toys encouraged his imagination, his ability to follow instructions, and an interest in Quidditch. Having grown up with no sisters and close female cousins, Cepheus hadn't known what girls played with until he met Emma and Georgina. Even then, by the time he'd met them, they'd outgrown most of their toys or their mothers had forced them to start taking their practical lessons to become ladies. Dolls did, however, seem like something a girl would play with, but Cepheus could only take Thad and Clara's word for it.

"You can speak French?" Cepheus asked curiously. "I've been learning French since I was around seven. I used to have a tutor, but starting last summer I'm going to visit my relatives in France for a few weeks during the summer to learn." Before he'd started school, he'd had a tutor whom he'd hated. It had made his lessons go very, very slowly. The tutor had finally quit when Cepheus was nine after Ceph, his magic beginning to surface, had caused three French textbooks to fly out the window. It had been a proud moment until he realised he would have to visit Aunt and Uncle Fitzroy and his spoiled brat of a cousin. It was one of his regrets in life, though going to France every summer was pretty cool.

Clara's interests were similar to the other girls he knew. "One of my best friends takes painting lessons," he said, "and she's a girl." He'd never had to take drawing and painting lessons and he considered himself lucky. "I also think I've read the English version of that book. The one with three, but really four musketeers in France, and the 'all for one, one for all' bit," he added. The sword fighting and all was pretty cool, though he hadn't fully understood all the romance going on. The proper manners that the musketeers exercised were still intact, at least for old pureblood families, that was for certain.

Horseback riding had been less of an option, horses being a muggle animal. Clara's blood was very difficult to discern for him. She did muggle things and seemed to be familiar with these muggle toys. Cepheus didn't want to outright ask her, and he couldn't very well ask his father because she sounded like an American and his father didn't know any American purebloods. He would have to continue playing it by ear or, if it was really too ambiguous, ask her outright. If she was a pureblood, she would most likely be a bit offended, but eventually forgive him. At least, she seemed like that sort of girl.

"We just sit back and relax now, I suppose," he said, doing just that and blowing a few more bubbles. He poked into one with his wand and lit a flame in it. This flame fizzled out quickly, though the bubble was still intact. He tried again with another one, suddenly bored. The second try was successful and he watched it float by.
0 Cepheus You can see what I consider important. 0 Cepheus 0 5