Theoretically, problem solved (tag Adam/optionally Ginny) on Transfiguration

Professor Skies

October 23, 2014 11:06 AM

Intermediates - theoretically fun by Professor Skies

The Christmas holidays had been full of dreadful things to eat. Large helpings of turkey, piles of crispy roast potatoes, chocolate in every form imaginable, all washed down with things that were not mineral water. All terribly bad for one's waste line but terribly more-ish. Selina returned as she did every year, envying the students their youth and its associated metabolism. Whilst she still ate her fill, or more than, over the holiday season, this was no longer a crime without consequences. She was not a large woman, no one would ever call her fat, but she missed the trim and easily maintained figure of her youth. It was unreasonable and unattainable, she knew – women of her age tended to be a certain shape that was different to the shape they had been in their twenties, which also conveniently coincided with the days before they had had children. However, it did not stop her putting herself on a strict post-Christmas diet to lose the extra pounds she'd gained over the holiday season. This was never a pleasant activity – she loved food, the worst kinds like chocolate and wine especially – and she was decidedly miserable when her Intermediate class arrived. Diets always made her less than her usually cheery self, and more prone to irritability and snapping.

“Settle down, we will be having a nice quiet theory class today,” she informed them brusquely.

“As you know, switching spells are a popular topic for the CATS papers,” the spells were ones that came up throughout their careers at Sonora but the theory surrounding them tended to be focussed on most at the Intermediate level. “The most common question is why they are classed as a Transfiguration not a Charm, or some variant thereof. Your task for today will therefore be to create a poster summarising the areas you will need to cover to answer a question along these lines. The reading that you did for homework should be sufficient, however I am happy for small study groups to go to the library. I have provided basic materials here but you may also decamp to MARS. However, please ask before leaving so I can keep a track of who I've got where,” she had weighed up the cons that poster making was usually an enthusiastic and more talkative activity versus the pros that it gave her an excuse to dismiss students to other parts of the school and should be relatively low on explosions. The latter two points had won out.

“The finished posters are due next lesson, so should you choose to leave but waste class time on other activities, you will be making up for it in your own time. You may work in pairs or threes though I expect the work to be divided evenly and I will be checking,” she was quite sure by now that even the most skeptical student or previously un-immersed Muggleborn was under no doubt that this was entirely possible without Professor Skies meaning that she would be wandering the halls of Sonora, checking on their homework groups.

“You may begin.”

OOC – Posts are graded on creativity, realism, relevance and length. You are not only free but are actively encouraged to be inventive regarding the theories under discussion. If your character wishes to work on a different board, you can assume they were given permission – please put a note up on this board to say where you are working to assist me when I come to marking.

Subthreads:

I theoretically have an opinion about theory. by Isaac Douglas, Crotalus

Some of these theories seem charming. by Julian Umland, Teppenpaw

Laying Martin to rest. by Ava Fletcher, Aladren

Theoretically, problem solved (tag Adam/optionally Ginny) by Francesca Wolseithcrafte, Aladren with Adam Spencer, Pecari, Adam Spencer

Yes, Theoretically. by Tristan Spaulding, Crotalus

13 Professor Skies Intermediates - theoretically fun 26 Professor Skies 1 5

Isaac Douglas, Crotalus

October 25, 2014 3:05 PM

I theoretically have an opinion about theory. by Isaac Douglas, Crotalus

Professor Skies did not look particularly happy as she began class. Since he was not particularly happy at that time, either, Isaac decided not to hold her expression too much against her, especially since he suspected that their unhappiness had a common source. She did not want to teach him and he did not want to learn, but they would both do what they had to do, he supposed.

His father had blatantly tried to manipulate him over the holidays. He had pretended he considered Isaac so outclassed by his older sister that he no longer believed that Isaac could catch up. Isaac had seen straight through the tactic at once. He was not only his father’s only son, he was his father’s only actual, biological child. Dad would not just give up on him like that – he couldn’t, not when it would make Isaac’s upbringing a bad investment and leave him with little choice but to make a very risky one in Alicia – so the regretful, disinterested air had been nothing more or less than a ploy to make Isaac angry and ashamed and ready to Prove Them All Wrong by showing that he was better than a girl, than a half-blood girl. There was nothing else to it. His success didn’t matter as much as the attempt – and Dad knowing that he could mess with Isaac’s head that way, of course.

Isaac knew all of this. He had been raised to know all of this. It was working anyway. He was going to work this term, harder than he had ever worked. He was going to trounce all of his en-of-the-year exams, particularly Transfiguration and Defense, which had always been Alicia’s strongest subjects. When he went home, he tried to convince himself, he was going to…

…Well, he couldn’t outdo Alicia, he guessed. An O was an O, and even if there had been finer degrees, he suspected it would have been hard to flat-out beat his sister. When Alicia had gotten home last summer, their mother had asked about Alicia’s RATS. Alicia had given her that strange smile – confident, relaxed, genuinely happy – that she’d acquired sometime last spring and said that they had been fun. Momma had cautioned her against being too confident, which had visibly annoyed Alicia; her mouth had fixed in another smile, one Isaac knew meant she was thinking of how much fun things like the Entrail-Expelling Curse sounded, while she laughed about how Momma just wanted her to show off. A few seconds later, their mother’s cup of coffee had turned into a live rat while it was still in Momma’s hand. She’d then turned the table into crystal, made the napkins dance, disarmed both their parents, Levitated Isaac, put it all back to rights, and then, while they were all still half-stunned, frozen and Vanished the coffee which had spilled across the floor when the rat, which had scurried under the china cabinet after Momma dropped it, suddenly went back to being a cup of coffee fallen over on its side. Alicia had been a little pale, had taken a second to start smiling again and pitch her voice so it sounded like she was joking when she asked if Momma believed her now, but she’d made her point, that she was capable of performing and sustaining multiple difficult spells in rapid succession: changing the coffee cup and bringing it to life was complex, inanimate to vertebrate animate, changing the table and lifting Isaac took the magic equivalent of brute strength, and the additional charms had just been cherries on the sundae, little flourishes added just because she could. It was, to Isaac’s way of thinking, a bit tasteless – it was the equivalent of a big man cracking his knuckles while making someone an offer he couldn’t refuse, flaunting her powers to settle arguments that way in a fit of temper; lifting Isaac out of his chair and taking their parents’ wands had, he was almost sure, been meant as almost-subtle threats – but they had all gotten the point. Even if Isaac, somehow, made the same grades she had on his RATS in a few years, he doubted he would see fit to try to find out which of them was actually better; he tried not to do things just to prove he could, and there might be an advantage down the road in Alicia thinking she was more powerful than him if she was wrong about that. There could even be advantages in Alicia being right, but Isaac preferred to think more about faking weakness than about really having it.

Whether he ever got into a duel with her or not, though, Isaac wanted to prove he could be a wizard in Alicia’s league to his father at least. Which meant buckling down in Transfiguration class, no matter how unhappy he or the teacher happened to be about being there. He opened his book back up to the chapter on switching spells, which he’d read the night before.

His best understanding of it was that a Transfiguration changed something on a bits-smaller-than-he-could-see structural level where charms did not. A charm could make a napkin dance, but it was still a napkin – it was still made of cloth, just cloth that magic was temporarily moving in a certain way. It wasn’t alive – the napkin didn’t decide to dance, it was just directed. A switch actually replaced Thing A with Thing B; if he Switched his fingers with Professor Skies’ (not something he had any desire to do, but if he did), he assumed the whole structure of his hand would have to change to make them fit, which would change how his hands hooked up with his wrists; if he was in a duel with Alicia and he Switched her hands with a pair of her gloves, if he knew where a pair of her gloves were, she wouldn’t be able to hold a wand properly – and might bleed out, he wasn’t actually sure what would happen if her hands were in a drawer upstairs and a pair of empty gloves were at the ends of her wrists and the veins or whatever that were in wrists suddenly just…ended where the empty gloves began. That was a nasty thought, he really wished he had not thought of that….

It was hard not to, though, after his first thought and the passage about how Switching was easier if there was some passing resemblance between the objects, or at least something to associate them in the caster’s mind. Then there had been the debate (apparently popular in some Transfiguration circles) about the nature of Transfiguration, if the proper mindset was to imagine imposing one’s own will onto the universe or of guiding the materials into the desired form, wizard and material interacting dynamically, though he hadn’t really understood it from there and was glad it hadn’t gone on much further.

Now, though, he might have to conceal his lack of understanding, as he had to work with someone else. It made sense to Isaac that Switches were Transfigurations, but if his partner disagreed, he didn’t actually care that much now. On his exam paper, he was going to assume ‘it’s a Transfiguration’ was the answer the board wanted, but in class, he didn’t see that it really mattered so long as they got a poster Skies would accept thrown together before next class.

“Hello,” he said to one of his neighbors. “Want to work together?”

16 Isaac Douglas, Crotalus I theoretically have an opinion about theory. 273 Isaac Douglas, Crotalus 0 5

Julian Umland, Teppenpaw

October 25, 2014 3:13 PM

Some of these theories seem charming. by Julian Umland, Teppenpaw

Professor Skies’ tone would have been enough to let Julian know it was not going to be a good day in Transfiguration class, but when she followed it up with the words theory class, Julian found it hard not to actually wince. Theory classes were never a good thing, but they seemed likely to be even worse when Professor Skies was less cheery than usual.

When she heard the actual assignment, Julian tried automatically to look for the bright side. She guessed it wasn't as bad as it might have been. It wasn’t a debate – or at least not a big one in groups where they were marked for formulating arguments against each other very quickly, anyway, she might have to debate a little with her partner or partners, but that wasn’t as bad as a real debate. It still, though, wasn’t an assignment Julian would have chosen for herself at all. She had read the chapter on Switching Spells twice, she had even read the notes John had scribbled all over the chapter on Switching Spells when he’d stolen her textbooks over midterm even though most of them were just incomprehensible gibberish to her, but she was still pretty sure she was not really up for arguing about whether or not Switching Spells were Transfigurations versus charms. They were Transfigurations because they were taught in Transfiguration class, but she had started to see the opposing argument as she thought about it.

In charms, they often changed the incidental properties of things, like color or size or texture, and a lot of charms were about affecting the positions of things, so why was swapping the position of parts between two items or organisms a form of transfiguration instead of a charm? Summoning, Banishing, hovering, and the different ways of making things fly – giving it wings or using Wingardium Leviosa on anything other than a naked person or specially charmed object – were all charms, so just reversing two things seemed like it should have been similar, especially the ones that didn’t involve Switches with living beings….

She smiled wearily at a neighbor. “Would you like to work together?” she asked. “I have no idea what I’m doing, but since when has that ever stopped anyone, right?"

She opened her book and squinted at some margin notes again, hoping that something would suddenly float up and make sense, but no – it was still gibberish. She had figured out that what almost looked like a possibly-solvable equation was really just John’s way of telling the world how awesome he thought it was that physics existed, and the rest was a jungle of initials and exclamation points: ma-en eq = ein!!!! relat. (relationship) of w to c?? ≠ ma exch – 1st law th? Vanish riddle? Ma to en to transf. – what in mid-tfg? Then, less exuberantly, don't know enough. Get book from J., without any explanation of which book he was talking about or which "J" he was referring to, her or Joe - he hadn't specifically asked her for any books lately, but she couldn't imagine what Joe might have that would be of interest.

Julian wondered what it was like, always feeling like the answer was just one more book away. To want it to be, even. It wasn't a helpful trait when it came to studying for her CATS, but the less she understood about how the world worked, the happier she thought she had been.

OOC: Julian’s thoughts on charms are cobbled together from the list of charms on the Harry Potter Wiki, said source’s article on the Levitation Charm, and Flitwick’s keys at the end of Book One. The HPW article on Transfiguration also provided the variable “w” for John’s notes; Movie One featured an equation where w, wand power, was a factor in Transfiguration. The rest is an unsuccessful attempt to relate mass-energy equivalency to Transfiguration.

16 Julian Umland, Teppenpaw Some of these theories seem charming. 254 Julian Umland, Teppenpaw 0 5

Ava Fletcher, Aladren

October 26, 2014 8:11 PM

Laying Martin to rest. by Ava Fletcher, Aladren

Art was Ava’s forte. She absolutely adored drawing and sketching, but charcoals and painting were her two favorite fashions of creating art. As a result, she often came to class with blackened finger-tips or paint streaks down her arms or at the tips of her hair. The previous term she had become preoccupied with studying for her upcoming trip with her mother and her art had been laid aside but she had missed it greatly and that morning she had woken up with this urge to draw. So she had skipped breakfast and nearly been late to DADA because she had taken to the MARS room to work on her charcoal sketching. Now, she was sitting in Transfiguration, shaking with anticipation for the lunch break so she could get back to the MARS room and start drawing again. Art was probably the only time that Ava didn’t notice her bodily needs-- though she had eaten since the night before her stomach was not screaming for food like it did when she studied through a meal and instead her fingers were itching to get back to holding the crumbling bits of charcoal that were the remains of a once very fine set of drawing supplies.

Her grandfather had asked if she wanted a new set of charcoals for Christmas but over the summer Ava had just gotten them dulled to the point that she liked them at and had politely refused. However, it had become apparent to her that she would probably need another set sooner than she would have liked and it was best to get them while her current set was still usable so she could break them in and use the older ones to smooth out the edges. Giddy with the excitement over potentially getting new charcoals, Ava had taken notes in the form of pictures during DADA and spent her walk in between the DADA and the Transfiguration classroom dreaming about what she would name her new box. Penelope, Theodora, and Martin were already in use by her colored pencils, current charcoals and watercolors, and her brushes were named after the first eleven presidents of the United States with Martin being called Van Buren, and the Johns and James getting numerical suffixes added (the exception being John the Second who she had fondly nicknamed Quincy)*.

However, it seemed as though the universe was on her side because Professor Skies was assigning them to work in groups to make posters. Granted it was still technically school work and she still did have to apply her learning and do some research but the main part was that they were making posters and when Ava heard posters she heard art. So, she smiled to herself gleefully and began to think how to best turn the project into a piece of artwork. She grabbed her notebook and turned to the students sitting nearest her. “Hi,” she said. “Want to work together?”

*OOC: In case anyone cares, her brushes are named: George, John the First, Thomas, James the First, James the Second, John the Second aka Quincy, Andrew, Van Buren, John the Third, and James the Third.

10 Ava Fletcher, Aladren Laying Martin to rest. 0 Ava Fletcher, Aladren 0 5

Francesca Wolseithcrafte, Aladren

November 02, 2014 7:16 AM

Theoretically, problem solved (tag Adam/optionally Ginny) by Francesca Wolseithcrafte, Aladren

Francesca was in good spirits as she headed to Transfiguration. She had a partner for the first dance but was still free to hang out with Adam and Ginny for the rest of it. She'd even steered her way though the nightmare of dress shopping over Christmas, so the ball was looking to be neatly wrapped up and off the list of concerns. Her conversation with Jay had also assuaged some of her worry about the CATS. Rationally, she had known they couldn't be impossible – hundreds of people had made it through them before and in spite of hating performing spells under pressure, there was no reason she couldn't make a good enough showing with enough practise, and have her theory grades drag up her practical scores. It had helped to have it confirmed by someone else though, not that she had shared the more detailed and personal aspects of her fears with Jay. Along with that, the reassurances she'd had from her friends just before Christmas, in Adam's desire to not choose between them, meant that she even thought she could tackle a Boggart. Maybe not well, but it had definitely lost some of its potential sway over her. Spotting Adam, she made her way over, keen to tell him the good news about the ball.

“Hi,” she greeted him. “I've solved our problem. I have a partner for the first dance. I ask- Jay asked me,” she hastily corrected, “But just for that one. So, you can dance it with Ginny without feeling like you're choosing between us, and then we can all hang out together, like you said,” she explained, her smile lighting up her face in a way it rarely did. It wasn't that she was an unhappy person, but she was guarded with her emotion, and it took a lot to really make her beam. Adam had probably most frequently seen that expression when she'd just beaten his team at Quidditch. She didn't entertain for a moment the possibility that Adam would have asked someone else. After all, he had told them he didn't want to go with anyone except them. “I really appreciated how you handled that, by the way,” she added, “I know it can't have been easy for you feeling like you were stuck in the middle but... it was very classy, the way you dealt with it,” she said, feeling a little awkward over the subject but also that some credit was due. They were hushed at the point by Professor Skies, who sounded less than impressed with their chatter. Francesca made a slight face at Adam, a little guilty at being snapped at for talking but one that firmly conveyed the problem with it was clearly Professor Skies – a face that , with a little sideways twitch of the mouth and raising of the eyebrows, simultaneously conveyed 'oops' but also 'what's up with her?'

As they were set to the task, she relaxed again, glad they were in for a day that didn't sound too taxing, and pleased at the rare chance to work in a three. She glanced around for Ginny a little, though assumed their friend would logically come and join the two of them, as they were already together.

“This sounds ok. Though how are you at poster layout? I've never been very artsy and if left up to me, it would probably end up looking like an essay just in slightly bigger handwriting,” she confessed. Francesca cared about information, and her need to cram in all the details would always, easily, overwhelm what little sense of artisticness she had. She could come up with ideas for a few pictures to illustrate a document but, unless these were essential diagrams, they usually got squashed out in favour of more words. Hopefully her friends would be able to make up the difference and balance her out, as usual.

OOC – Ginny, feel free to join us, though I figure there's maybe a post or two of room before that would happen, in which Adam can deal or fail to deal with Francesca's comments on the ball – or Ginny can join promptly making it really awkward. Also, hope you don't mind me monopolising you, Adam – I just wanted a chance for Francesca to drop her news on him and see his reaction.

13 Francesca Wolseithcrafte, Aladren Theoretically, problem solved (tag Adam/optionally Ginny) 250 Francesca Wolseithcrafte, Aladren 0 5

Adam Spencer, Pecari

November 03, 2014 3:07 PM

About to add a surprise factor. by Adam Spencer, Pecari

The term had begun with some awkwardness, but now this term was a breeze. He’d been afraid of a whole year of uncertainty and stress as a fifth year, but so far this term he’d been a little happier than usual. Everything was sorted just as he liked it. All he had to do was pass his exams and his CATS and attend the ball with his team-mate and friends. He hadn’t told them that he’d asked Annette, but he hadn’t gotten the opportunity to do so yet. He was looking forward to the ball, hoping Francesca and Ginny wouldn’t mind having Annette in their group. Three witches and one wizard in a party; that was going to be a sight. He genuinely hoped his friends had found dates of their own. The end to last term had been a bit tense between them. It was part of the reason why he’d jumped to ask someone else to the ball as soon as he returned.

Francesca joined him in class and Adam greeted her with a smile. He looked around briefly for Ginny, wondering if she was going to join them as well. She was more timid than Francesca, but he hoped she didn’t feel excluded and refuse to join them in class. Immediately Francesca relayed her news about the ball and Adam was about to congratulate her until he realised what she'd meant. They would hang out together, of course, but he hadn't yet told her or Ginny of his date. Of course he would have to dance the first with Ginny; he should have thought that through, but Adam didn't think Annette would mind terribly. He and Ginny were Prefects, and if she didn't have a date then he'd be glad to open the floor with her. He was amused by Francesca's attempt at complimenting his classy diplomacy last term, but before he could get a word in class had started.

Adam shrugged at Francesca's expression, responding with a silent, 'no one ever knows' before looking to the front of the class. His brain was attempting to soak in all that Francesca had said. She expected him to be dateless and hadn’t asked Jay, or hadn’t been asked by Jay, to be dates as a result. She had hoped they could all attend together just as he had initially. Adam didn’t know whether or not he ought to feel guilty for asking Annette, but a small part of him did. Yes, he’d acted diplomatically indeed – in response to their talk last term, he’d gone and asked someone else to relieve himself of the pressure to find a date.

Theory classes were never as interesting as practical lessons, but Adam wasn't bad at it. He just had to work harder to try and understand it especially with how complicated Transfiguration was. “I’m all right with making things look pretty,” he said with a little smile. “My sister’s the artsy one, but I can promise something a bit more aesthetic than an essay.” He took his textbook out of his bag, buying a bit more time before telling his bit of news. Now came the awkward bit. Adam was finding himself in all sorts of awkward situations this year. “I asked Annette to be my date to the ball,” he said, bravely relaying the news without beating around the bush. “I’ll probably dance the first with Ginny now that you’ve got Jay to dance with, and if we could be a party of four that would be ideal.” He cleared his throat awkwardly. “I sort of jumped to ask someone else after our conversation last term. I hope you and Ginny don’t mind.”

Bringing a date was bit more complicated than simply adding another witch to their group. Adam would be expected to dance with Annette and to be at her side throughout the evening. He was adamant to dance the first with Ginny especially if she didn’t have anyone to dance with, but he couldn’t promise future dances with either of his mates unless Annette was all right with it. Whilst Adam didn’t regret asking Annette, he was a bit sorry that he would be disappointing his best friends. He looked sheepishly at Francesca's reaction, hoping she wouldn't be angry at him for asking someone at all.

OOC: I don't mind at all!

0 Adam Spencer, Pecari About to add a surprise factor. 0 Adam Spencer, Pecari 0 5

Francesca Wolseithcrafte

November 06, 2014 11:47 PM

The factor (A) does complicate the equation AFG(+J)/3 by Francesca Wolseithcrafte

As far as Francesca was concerned, everything was settled, both with the ball and the poster, and she had turned her focus to the task, pulling her text books out of her bag and contemplating asking to go to the library (or really, the Aladren dorm to pick up the library books she'd already checked out – however, as the entrance was concealed amongst the bookshelves, she thought no one would miss her if she just slipped off for a moment). Her hands slipped and the book fell to the the table with a thump as Adam announced he was going to the ball with Annette.

“I don't mind,” she reassured him, straightening up her books, though it was very easy for her to say that given that she had a dance partner of her own. She minded a little on a purely logical level, not quite being able to fathom why Adam had brought a third witch into the mix when the problem already was that there wasn't enough of him to go around. “After all, I said you should ask someone else if you wanted to. It's just.... you said you didn't, so I'm a bit surprised.” She thought she might have minded had Ginny found a date and had she been relying on dancing with Adam as a result, and she was worried how Ginny would take it, if it left her the odd one out. And everything had been so neatly sorted in her own head! She cared about Adam's feelings and if he wanted go with Annette then of course she had to respect that. But she didn't have to like that it made things more complicated and that he had said one thing then done another. Though he was still saying he'd open the dance with Ginny. Which was, she thought, sweet but a little naïve.

“Are you sure Annette's not going to mind being asked to the ball and then having you open it with someone else?” she asked gently, “Or to have two extra witches for company for the rest of the evening? You didn't want to choose between me and Ginny, and I kindly solved that, and now you've gone and put yourself in a position of having to choose between her and Annette instead” she couldn't help but laugh, especially as he was already looking so sheepish. “Oh, Adam, what made you do that - do you have some kind of predisposition against a quiet life?”

13 Francesca Wolseithcrafte The factor (A) does complicate the equation AFG(+J)/3 250 Francesca Wolseithcrafte 0 5

Adam Spencer

November 07, 2014 1:18 PM

We're going to have to write a new equation. by Adam Spencer

The thump from Francesca’s book startled him slightly, and he kept a closer eye on her facial expression. Was she upset? Angry at him? Surprise was inevitable, but he could handle that. “Like I said, the thought of choosing made me jumpy. I had hoped for all three of us to spend time together, but it didn’t seem like either of you were happy with that, Ginny especially.” There was nothing else to say to explain his actions. He had indeed said one thing and done another all in the effort to please everyone and at the same time please no one. It was frustrating.

Francesca’s questions were spot on. Annette probably wouldn’t mind as it wasn’t a date-date, as she had called it. But being left to the side whilst her friend-date danced with another witch, well, perhaps she would mind that. That left Ginny, however, without someone to dance with unless she fancied dancing with Julian who was most likely going to attend the ball with Charlie. Adam put his face into his hands and groaned. “I just want to make everyone happy. Why must that be so difficult? I wish I’d known you were going to have Jay Carey dance with you.” He looked over at her. “At least for the rest of the ball you and Ginny can hang out. You both are lovely enough to have wizards flocking at your sides.”

He felt worse saying that and Adam shook his head, more at himself than at the situation. “I’m a bad friend, I know, I’m sorry. I feel guilty for not sticking by you two. Do you think Ginny will think badly of me? She will, won’t she?” He knew how delicate she was in these sorts of situations. There was clearly something on her mind last term during the library and he knew she had a tendency to imagine situations to be worse than they actually were.

Adam had hoped not to make her feel worse by asking Francesca instead of her or excluding Francesca by asking Ginny, but it seemed as though his plan was going to backfire. He wanted to make sure both witches were satisfied whilst entertaining Annette as well, but he couldn’t juggle three witches at once. He had to stick with one and that one was going to have to be Annette. He had already asked her and he did want to go with her, not because he wanted to break away from his mates or because he had romantic intentions, but because he liked Annette as a team-mate, house-mate and a friend. It was just unfortunate that he’d had to go and complicate things like this. Being best friends with wizards hardly ever turned out like this.

40 Adam Spencer We're going to have to write a new equation. 257 Adam Spencer 0 5

Francesca

November 18, 2014 7:42 AM

Adam + girls = chaos? by Francesca

“I didn't say that,” she protested, when Adam said she hadn't seemed keen on the idea of them all going as friends. “And I'm sorry if it came off that way,” she thought back to the conversation in the library. “I guess perhaps I got pre-occupied with thinking about how I might sort it out – who I might be able to dance with. But of course I'd want to hang out with you. Or would have wanted to. Or, I mean, still do but if you want to go with just Annette. Though I'm surprised she said yes. Oh-” she gasped, realising how simply horrible that must sound. She really was doing fantastically well at putting her foot in her mouth at every opportunity the conversation afforded, “Not like that. I just mean... cos of Annabelle. I know they're not stuck to each other's side any more but I've never seen one do something the other absolutely couldn't do with them. You're sure she understood it as 'you,' singular when you asked her?” she queried, trying not to laugh as she pictured Adam with a fourth witch's feelings to worry about.

“It's a noble aim but usually one that just ties you up in knots. You could be a Teppenpaw with that kind of reasoning,” she smiled, as he wondered why he couldn't just please everyone. She wished he had known she would be dancing with Jay too... In her mind, it had been obvious that the ideal solution was for both her and Ginny to try to find dates and whoever... didn't succeed first would dance with Adam. She supposed she hadn't really put it in so many words when they'd met in the library. She had just assumed that was what they had all had in mind. She could see Adam's reason for taking a get out clause too though.

“Thank you. Though I doubt there's enough wizards in this school to form a flock. Is that the correct collective noun for wizards?” she queried.

“You're not a bad friend,” she reassured him, “I can see where you were coming from and, if there were more boys in the school it might have been the best way. I think Ginny's worried about the ball,” their friend had been convinced no one would ask her when they'd spoken about it, “And I think how you phrase it when you explain it to her will be important, to make her see you wanted to spare everyone's feelings. But I don't think it's worth everyone permanently falling out over and hopefully she'll see it the same way,” her fingers stroked the bracelet Ginny had given her for Christmas, which was permanently around her wrist. They were AGF. Those had been Ginny's gifts to them – it was how she saw them. Surely a school dance wasn't enough to change that. “Where is she anyway?” she asked. It was odd that, given the rare permission granted to work in a three, that the third member of their trio was still absent.

13 Francesca Adam + girls = chaos? 250 Francesca 0 5

Adam

November 29, 2014 1:16 PM

Sounds about right. Unfortunately. by Adam

Francesca was trying to say something, but Adam wasn’t quite sure if she was attempting to be nice or passive-aggressively conveying what she really meant behind her words. Either way, it wasn’t very nice to listen to, especially the remark about her surprise that Annette had agreed to go with him. At first he felt a bit hurt – had two of his mates now turned on him? – but she attempted to remedy that with a jab at the Anns. “I think so,” he said, smiling slightly. “She seemed quite adamant to establish us as friend-dates. Think I ought to be wary?” He didn’t imagine Annette would pull any sort of trickery and show up with her sister at her side. He noticed they hardly sat together in classes anymore.

A flock brought to mind a group of birds, and Adam had never heard it used to describe a group of wizards before. “I suppose you would know better than I would. I usually think of groups of animals as flocks.” Which would inadvertently mean Francesca was comparing wizards to animals, another comparison which Adam was not particularly keen to be a part. Despite her somewhat tactless attempt at consoling him, he was glad that she wasn’t avoiding him. Really, from his view neither of them had a real reason to avoid him, but if Ginny found a reason then he expected Francesca would have too. Which, in that case, Adam would have gone crying to his team-mates asking how to fix all that he’d somehow mucked up. Francesca had saved his dignity.

Clearly Ginny was freaking out over the ball. He knew that much at least, and his news was not going to satiate her fears in the slightest. “I hope so,” he said, glancing down at the bracelet Francesca was wearing. He wore his as well often as a token of their friendship. It was important to him and he had been very glad to unwrap such a thoughtful gift. Ginny had always been rather thoughtful and Adam wished he’d been able to think the same way before going and asking Annette instead of her. Though he felt bad that she was the only one in their group without someone to dance with, he didn't want to feel guilty for asking someone else.

At the question of where Ginny was, Adam couldn’t answer that. “I had thought she’d join us,” he said. “Then you could have at least helped smooth things over when I told her. Or hexed me if I said it wrong.” He trusted his tactfulness – he had gotten very good at sparing feelings whenever he spoke to his mother these days – but it was going to be difficult watching Ginny’s face crumble when she heard her potential escort was taking someone else.

0 Adam Sounds about right. Unfortunately. 0 Adam 0 5

Tristan Spaulding, Crotalus

December 03, 2014 1:52 PM

Yes, Theoretically. by Tristan Spaulding, Crotalus

Tristan grumbled to himself. Despite the fact that midterm had been less than exciting or different, he wasn't really ready to be back at school. He felt restless, didn't really want to be in class. Just because he realized that he had to do his homework and whatnot, didn't mean he always enjoyed it and today, the last thing the Crotalus felt like doing was sitting in the classroom.

So, when Professor Skies announced today would be a "nice quiet theory class", Tristan groaned inwardly. This was about the last thing he wanted to do. He wanted something fun and exciting. Something unique and different. To move, not to think. While the fourth year wasn't stupid, he'd never been terribly interested in intellectual matters and he preferred lessons that involved movement and activity.

And he was even less artistically inclined than he was academically. He could grasp concepts when he wanted, he could not, however, draw or any of that stuff. Quite frankly, Tristan didn't really get art anyway. Artists always seemed to think it had meaning but some of it was simply pictures of people or objects and some of it, the more modern stuff, looked like something that anyone could do. Even him. There were even paintings that looked like some animal sat in paint and wiped it on canvas.

Unfortunately, Tristan knew Professor Skies meant business. In fact, she seemed to be in a particularly bad mood. She was generally a nice person and he could understand if she wasn't thrilled to be back to work after a break, but really professors could lighten up in general. Though he'd never had her for a professor himself, part of Tristan wished his aunt was still teaching here. She was much more laid back. He had to admit Professor Tallec and Professor Yu seemed okay in that department though. Even Professor Olivers, who he liked and respected because she was willing to take on Quidditch in additition to her regular duties, was a little bit uptight about punctuality in particular.

Resigned to his fate, Tristan turned to the person next to him, hoping that they were the artistic and creative type. "Would you like to work together?" He asked, doubting that the other person would say no. People rarely ever did. Besides, despite being totally uninterested in the assignment and not at all creative himself, Tristan was sure he had much to contribute.

11 Tristan Spaulding, Crotalus Yes, Theoretically. 264 Tristan Spaulding, Crotalus 0 5