Professor Skies
May 25, 2013 3:07 PM
First Year Flying Lesson by Professor Skies
Amelia had contracted some kind of vile 'flu bug and needed cover for the first flying class of the year. And thus, before she had met them yet in her proper capacity as their Transfiguration Professor, Selina was heading out to supervise the new first years on the pitch. She'd gone over with Amelia what she usually did; let the capable ones do their own thing, let the prim ones ride side saddle if they had to and don't let anyone die. It seemed straight-forward. On paper. Now as she stood on the pitch, she was starting to feel a little less comfortable. She was a competent flyer, having played Quidditch throughout her school years, and occasionally during her teaching career in staff-student matches, or else at family events. She was also, she hoped, rather more than a competent teacher. She could only hope, therefore, that teaching flying was not a task much more complicated than the sum of its parts, in which case she would be alright. Teaching things, however, usually was harder than doing them but as she was just guiding the students in a hover, she thought it would be manageable.“Good morning,” she called, once everyone seemed to have assembled. She had allowed a few minutes for stragglers, seeing as they were still bound to be finding their way, but started once she felt she had the majority there. “I am Professor Skies, and you will more usually find me in your Transfiguration classes. However, as Coach Pierce is sick today, I have offered to cover this class for her.” The first order of business was to take the register. She made her way from Bennett to Yesir, ticking them off as they answered.
“Right, those of you who are experienced flyers will have the opportunity to move away from the learners in a minute,” she phrased it carefully to prevent any of them haring off before she had finished giving them their instructions. “There is a basket of sports balls, including Quaffles, at the other side of the pitch. You may fly around or play however you wish within reason. Be aware of the beginners and be sensible. Misbehaving is not only discourteous to your colleagues who are trying to learn but, as with many situations you will encounter at a magical school, can be downright dangerous. If anyone misbehaves, they will spend the rest of the session on the bench, and suffer any other sanctions I deem necessary,” she informed them, her face serious. Although she liked to be upbeat and friendly there were certain things it just did not do to joke about, and safety warnings were one of them. “If you wish to spend the lesson in the non-learner group, you may make your way towards the other side of the pitch now.” The balls were placed near enough that she would be able to keep a reasonable eye on the group.
“Ok, beginners,” she said, turning to the remaining first years. “Before we start out, I would like to remind everyone that this is a flying lesson. It is not a Quidditch lesson and thus I cannot foresee it causing any problems,” she said, speaking at least as firmly as she had done when warning the other group not to mess around. “It is a compulsory part of your education and everyone is expected to put in their full effort. Everyone take a school broom. If you wish to have your seat adjusted to fly side-saddle, please raise your hand,” she moved through the crowd, making adjustments where requested.
“Now, place your broom beside you, hold your wand hand out above it and give the command Up!” she intoned, her own broom jumping to her hand as she demonstrated. “You will need to be clear and commanding, and feel a genuine intent to make the broom obey you. Once you have succeeded in this, your broom will stay in a hover and you can mount, either astride or side-saddle.”
OOC
Welcome to your first class! The structure of this will be the same as the feast, i.e. small threads starting out from this one. By posting in class, you will earn points for your house as posts are graded 1-5. The usual site rules of a minimum 200 words apply. However, if you write an average post, you will get an average mark. If you write a good post, you will get a good mark. The marking is based on how well you write, not how well your character does at the lesson. Relevance, believability, length and creativity are the key to a good mark.
If you are unsure what is expected of you please:
- Check the FAQ
- Check the 'dos and don'ts for class threads' post
- Ask on the OOC board
Remember that a teacher is present and would stop any situation before it got out of hand, so end posts at a point that gives me a chance to react if your character is getting into difficulty or misbehaving. If you wish to have your broom adjusted to side-saddle, you may assume that Professor Skies did this. Otherwise, as per usual, there is no writing for other characters.
Subthreads: Soaring through the air! by Chloe Jareau with Viktor Volkov, Crotalus, Chloe
Happy clouds floating by Ji-Eun Park, Pecari with Eleanor Vandenberg - Crotalus, Nellie Vandenberg
Fancy a race? by Leo Princeton, Crotalus with Dimitri Porter, Teppenpaw, Leo Princeton
Can I do something else now? by Emery Kijewski-Jareau
This situation is precarious at best. by Thaddeus Luther Leebridge III with Ava Fletcher, T.L. Leebridge
The moment I've been waiting for. by Tristan Spaulding, Crotalus
Wanna play catch? by Darina Porter
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Professor Skies
First Year Flying Lesson
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Professor Skies
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Ji-Eun Park, Pecari
May 26, 2013 4:37 PM
Happy clouds floating by Ji-Eun Park, Pecari
Ji-Eun did not have much experience on a broom. This was not because her parents subscribed to any notions regarding its suitability for young ladies – they did not really have any contact with those kinds of circles and had never even heard of WAIL. They simply felt the activity was a waste of time. What was the point of larking about in the air when you could be doing something useful? She had had a couple of goes on the toy broomsticks of friends but she had done little more on those than skim her toes on the grass.She was as prepared as she could be, in that her hair and clothes were practical and suited to the task at hand. Her dark tresses were swept into a bun. This was a rather dull style but she had livened it up by keeping stray strands out of her face with large star-shaped hair clips in bright shades. Under her uniform, she was wearing a t-shirt long enough to look more like a dress. It was pale blue with a number of smiling clouds on the front towards the middle. Above them were scrawled in a font designed to replicate simple, slightly childish hand-writing the words 'Happy clouds floating.' She had figured it was appropriate to the activity at hand, and might give her a little bit of help or inspiration. She had paired this with pale pink leggings and white tennis shoes.
She lined up with the other first years, listening carefully to what Professor Skies said. Regardless of whether they thought it was any use of not, her parents would still expect her to do well in the class. Besides which, Transfiguration was a subject her parents cared about and, even if the professor was out of her usual environment, you still only got one chance to make a first impression. She wanted her teacher to think of her as someone hard-working and competent. She did not want her Transfiguration teacher to think of her as a failure before she'd even set foot in her classroom. And she already had her house placement working against her. For all that Clara had told her positive things about Pecari, it did not sound like a highly academic house and thus the teachers were bound to expect the brightest students to be found elsewhere.
She collected a school broom as instructed. She was rather surprised by the tone the Transfiguration teacher took with them, as if there were people in the class who would be unwilling to work. Maybe most people didn't really take it seriously.... When the question was asked about people wanting to ride side saddle, she noticed that it was mostly, if not exclusively, girls who raised their hands and wondered whether she should too. However, if it was how all girls were supposed to ride then it wouldn't need asking. She might still have raised her hand out of worry that the others would consider her to be doing something wrong but some other girls had not, and Chloe had already zoomed off astride her broom. Ji-Eun wasn't sure what the difference between the groups was but hoped that it wouldn't really matter. She placed the broom by her right hand side and held her hand over it.
“Up!” she commanded. It did nothing. That was ok... So long as she persevered and was able to do it in the end...
“Up!” she tried again, still to no avail. She had never really had to command anything before... She wondered what would happen if she spoke to it in Korean. It wasn't that she necessarily felt any more authoritative in that language. But she missed home. She felt safer and more secure there, and that was the nearest she thought she had to being commanding. She called to it once more, this time in Korean. The broom jerked part way towards her hand before seeming to give up and returning to earth. Was it the repeated practice or the switch in language that had done it, she wondered? She was still trying to decide which one to try in again when a voice caught her attention...
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Ji-Eun Park, Pecari
Happy clouds floating
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Ji-Eun Park, Pecari
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Eleanor Vandenberg - Crotalus
May 26, 2013 5:28 PM
Why are the clouds happy? by Eleanor Vandenberg - Crotalus
Unlike her best friend, Nellie had never flown before in her life. She knew Leo's family really didn't care all that much, but hers did. She wasn't from the wealthiest pureblood family around or the grandest, so her parents tried really hard to groom her into a lady. That meant no broom-riding or rolling in the grass or lying down on her back in public. She had done most of those things when she was hanging out with Leo Princeton as a child, but recently she had grown up a little. So when she heard that flying classes were mandatory, she was at a loss of what to do. She knew her mom would hate her getting on one, but at the same time she had to.The academic part of it won and she went to class with her dark hair pulled back in a ponytail. Her uniform was prim and proper and she always walked with more confidence than she actually had. It was something she had picked up from hanging around Leo so much. She picked up a school broom and waited till the instructions began. Apparently their Head of House was really sick and Nellie was glad she wasn't here to teach them. It was better to stay home than to see their professor get sick everywhere.
Nellie didn't know whether or not she was supposed to ride sidesaddle, but Leo probably didn't and Nellie didn't want to be left out of his games even if she was a lady. She wanted to impress people and not seem completely stuck up.
The girl next to her commanded her broom to come up and Nellie did the same. "Up!" she said, but her voice wasn't commanding enough. She stared at the broom a little peeved when she heard the same girl say something to her broom in an Asian language. Nellie jerked her head around to see if the girl's broom had done anything and was surprised to see it had moved a bit. Nellie wasn't used to hearing very many different languages in Surrey nor was she used to seeing all that many Asians like her mom. Nellie was half-Chinese, but though her mom could speak it, she had never taught Nellie how. And having spent most of her childhood growing up with the Princeton boys, particularly Leo, Nellie hadn't been exposed to many other languages besides French. There were definitely some interesting people here at Sonora.
"What did you say to your broom?" she asked curiously, her dark green eyes looking at the girl curiously. "How did it work?" Maybe if she said it in the girl's language maybe it would work better even though Nellie's first language was English.
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Eleanor Vandenberg - Crotalus
Why are the clouds happy?
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Eleanor Vandenberg - Crotalus
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Ji-Eun Park, Pecari
May 28, 2013 2:51 PM
Because they are floating? by Ji-Eun Park, Pecari
Ji-Eun looked up, finding herself looking at a very pretty and neatly presented girl.“I was still saying 'up,'” she explained, “only in Korean,” she added, trying not to feel self-conscious. She really wasn't sure why she should – it was a good thing, after all, being able to speak another language, and she hadn't been doing anything wrong – but she still did, just a little. At home, with her parents, she spoke Korean. Almost all of her friends were Korean too and even though they were all fluent English-speakers, they switched in and out of the languages. Sometimes it depended where they were, or who they wanted to bring in or leave out of a conversation. Sometimes it was just a specific word coming to mind more easily in one language than an another. But it had never really been something unusual to be doing before now. Never something that people thought it necessary to remark on.
The girl's next question was much more difficult, as it related to who knew what theories. Wracking her brains, she became sure that she didn't. It was not something she could recall reading or being told about. Her main way of understanding the world tended to be relating it to facts she already knew. Her parents placed great store by how much information one had learnt and could reel off. Thinking for oneself was less vital – after all, what stunning conclusions about the world was an eleven year old girl going to reach, that hadn't been better expressed by wise academics, who had helpfully written it all out?
“I'm not sure...” she said softly. She didn't want this new girl to think she was stupid though, nor for her parents to. True, they were thousands of miles away and had no way of knowing but she felt that she was letting them down if she was unable to answer a question, even if it was only posed by a year mate instead of a teacher. “Maybe brooms don't speak a specific language,” she tried. It sounded a little weak and obvious. “They might know what's being meant rather than said.”
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Ji-Eun Park, Pecari
Because they are floating?
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Ji-Eun Park, Pecari
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Nellie Vandenberg
May 29, 2013 9:25 PM
I would be happy if I could float by Nellie Vandenberg
Nellie thought it was really cool to be bilingual. She wasn't, but her mom was and her dad could speak a little Dutch. She was kind of jealous of them both, but at the same time it was hard work learning another language. The girl in front of her was clearly Korean and Nellie wondered if the girl had grown up speaking it. It seemed obvious that she would have, but one could never be sure.Sometimes Nellie wondered what it would be like to live in a dominantly Asian neighborhood. She had lived with her mom's family when she was a baby, but she couldn't remember that time and they hadn't been back since. She wasn't really sure why, but she didn't bother asking. Maybe if she had been closer to her mom's family she would have grown up speaking Chinese. But if she had grown up closer to her dad's family, she might have grown up speaking Dutch. It was nice to have two different cultures to explore, but Nellie was usually too busy living in her own world in Surrey to care about either.
The girl tried to answer her question, but she didn't seem to really know the answer. Nellie didn't blame her. It wasn't an easy question to answer and she didn't know the right answer herself. But what the girl said made sense. Brooms should be able to understand what was being meant no matter what language it was in. The only thing was Nellie had to be more forceful in her meaning. At least that's what she guessed.
Nell nodded. "That makes sense," she said, looking down at her broom again. She put her hand over it. "Up!" The broom twitched, so Nellie said it again more forcefully and the broom came up so fast that it smacked her palm. "Whoa," she said, her eyes wide. "That was surprising." She turned to the girl and smiled. "Thanks! I'm Eleanor Vandenberg, by the way, but you can call me Nellie." She mounted her broom, ready to try flying. The first step, however, was to find out how to control the darn thing. "Hmm...did Professor Skies tell us how to control the broom?"
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Nellie Vandenberg
I would be happy if I could float
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Nellie Vandenberg
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Ji-Eun Park, Pecari
June 02, 2013 11:22 AM
Maybe we will be able to soon by Ji-Eun Park, Pecari
The other girl seemed pleased enough with her answer and Ji-Eun relaxed. It was only for a moment though, as the other girl succeeded at getting her broom into the air. She didn't really seem to have flown before and thus her achievement set a standard, that Ji-Eun would either match or fail to live up to. She wasn't competitive, as such, but she felt the need to do at least as well as everyone else in her class.She had had her best result in Korean, so she decided to stick to that. She felt a little bit odd with Nellie listening in but she tried to tune her out, and to focus. She called to the broom again and this time it leapt to her hand, perhaps fuelled by her desperation for it to work.
“That's such a cute nickname!” she smiled. From some people that might have seemed patronising but from the smiling clouds on her t-shirt to the clips in her hair it was clear that, from Ji-Eun, it was a compliment. She swung her leg over the broom, pleased to note that Nellie was doing it the same way. If it meant anything, at least they were on the same side. “My name's Ji-Eun but you can call me Jane if it's easier,” she told the other girl. In all the excitement and nervousness of her first night, she had forgotten to give this option to Clara and Chloe. Her American name was something that she was dimly aware was on her birth certificate but she wasn't even sure which order her names were listed and it wasn't something she'd had much cause to use at home. Her friends were mostly Korean and her family most definitely did not use it. It was something teachers called her, and only some of them.
“They just kind of... follow the way you lean, I think,” she mused. Even though she hadn't had a lot of exposure to flying, she knew the basic principals. She lent forward a small degree. Her toes were still near enough the ground to just touch and she scooted the broom along with them before remembering that was what children did, not proper flying. Taking a deep breath, she lifted her toes clear of the grass. She lent a little further and although the broom crept along, it wobbled with far more speed than it had in progressing forwards, and she hastily put her toes back down.
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Ji-Eun Park, Pecari
Maybe we will be able to soon
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Ji-Eun Park, Pecari
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Nellie Vandenberg
June 05, 2013 9:11 PM
The sooner the better by Nellie Vandenberg
The girl spoke again in Korean to get her broom up into the air and Nellie found it fascinating. She wished she knew another language well enough to do magic with it. Then she could perform spells without anyone knowing what she was doing! That would be really cool. If she had enough patience to learn a new language, Nellie would have put that on her summer To Do list. She smiled brightly at the witch’s compliment. “Thanks!” she said. “It’s been my nickname for as long as I can remember.” Apparently her paternal great-grandmother was an Eleanor too, but Nellie didn’t think her great-grandmother had the same nickname.The witch’s name was different and Nellie had never heard anything like it before. Her mom’s name was JoAnne and that was it. “Ji-Eun,” she repeated, hoping she wasn’t botching it up. “Do you like that better or Jane?” She wasn’t really sure which was Ji-Eun’s/Jane’s real name, but as Nellie knew quite well, it didn’t matter what your real name was as long as you liked your nickname. Sometimes the older purebloods refused to call Nellie by any nickname because they thought Eleanor was classier. That just meant Nellie didn’t like them nearly as much as the ones who did humor her and call her by her preferred name.
Ji-Eun/Jane went first on her broom and Nellie watched with wide eyes. Her classmate scooted along at first and then actually lifted her feet off the ground. Nellie hadn’t even attempted flying yet. “Good job,” she told her, pausing for a moment when a blonde head caught her eye. There was Leo racing his way around the pitch. She wondered briefly if he would get in trouble, but he could take care of himself. Nellie still had to master flying to impress him.
Nell took the next step and tilted her broom upwards slightly. The broom went up slowly, jerking just a little from age. She kept her toes on the ground until she couldn’t reach that far anymore and then leaned forward just a little to get on with it. The broom reacted by jerking a little forward, scaring Nellie at first, but then calmed to a good speed. Now Nell had her toes off the ground and was moving forward. This was progress!
Now it was time to turn. She had passed Ji-Eun/Jane during her ride, so she tilted her broom sideways while still leaning forward to make a really wide turn. But it worked and she was back at Ji-Eun’s/Jane’s side in no time. “That was awesome!” she said with a smile. “Good advice. Do you know a lot about brooms?” It was clear Ji-Eun hadn’t flown before, but maybe she had read up on flying or something. “Do you think you would ever join Quidditch?” she added as her eyes noticed Leo briefly.
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Nellie Vandenberg
The sooner the better
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Nellie Vandenberg
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Ji-Eun Park
June 06, 2013 12:07 PM
You're making good progress by Ji-Eun Park
“I'm used to being Ji-Eun,” she admitted, when the other girl asked her which name she would prefer. Her pronunciation of it hadn't been horrible and she appreciated the fact that she had tried. Who knew whether, with time, the minor alterations Sonora's residents were bound to make to her name would annoy her, rather than endear them for their effort, but at the moment she definitely lent towards the latter. It was especially interesting hearing it roll of Nellie's tongue. She seemed to be from somewhere that wasn't America, and hearing her name in a different accent was kind of fun. “It feels more like me,” she added.“Where are you from?” she asked, softly. It sounded a little blunt and she hoped Nellie didn't think she was being rude, but she had asked Ji-Eun about what language she had been speaking, and this seemed kind of like tit for tat, so hopefully it would be ok.
She blushed a little bit at Nellie's praise. It was sweet of her, given that she really hadn't done very well. She watched as the other girl climbed slightly higher into the air so that her toes couldn't skim the grass. Even though it wasn't far enough to really hurt if she fell, that seemed like quite a bold step. She watched, impressed, as Nellie flew in a large, slow curve around and back to her.
“Well done,” she smiled, as the other girl got back to her. She was surprised once again when Nellie attributed her success to Ji-Eun's advice. “I didn't really do much... You were the one who was brave enough to try it,” she admitted humbly. Whilst sharing in the other girl's success meant she didn't have to feel outdone by her, it felt wrong if she hadn't really earnt it.
“I don't know much,” she shook her head. It was hard to say how she knew what she did... She felt like they were just things she'd grown up being aware, or being made aware of. “And... I don't know. I'd need quite a lot more practice!” she laughed. “My brother will probably want to play when he comes here and then I might have to. Our parents like us to do lots of extra curriculars, so I have to do at least as many things as he does,” she explained, hoping it made sense.
“We should probably work while we chat,” she said, realising she'd been perching, still with her toes on the grass, whilst she answered Nellie's questions. “How about we go to that line” she nodded to the edge of the scoring area, which was easily in sight of their current position, “Then try to turn and come back?” she suggested. She wanted to be brave, like Nellie, and get up to where she couldn't put her feet back down. But, even though she knew it was silly, not having that safety net still seemed a little bit scary. She would try her hardest not to, but she still wanted the option of touching solid ground. She picked her feet up and leant forward, her broom gently moving along the course she'd set.
“Do you have any siblings?” she asked, turning her head and looking up at Nellie. She felt her broom swerve a little towards the way she was now looking and she quickly set her eyes back straight ahead so as to not bump into the other girl.
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Ji-Eun Park
You're making good progress
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Ji-Eun Park
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