System
October 22, 2022 4:52 PM
Selina Skies
October 22, 2022 4:52 PM
Challenge 3 by Selina Skies
After two challenges in the garden, the poster for the third offered a change of pace—one that would probably be met with mixed reactions.For Challenge 3 please meet in the library on Saturday at 8.30 am. You can expect to be there until dinner time (with a break for lunch). Bring wands.
It had been tempting to say ‘and books’ as extra copies of the school textbooks wouldn’t be a bad thing to have, especially with everyone drawing on the same resources. However, Selina didn’t want to prejudice them against the task before it even began, any more than the location might already. Besides, many of them probably had books that would be of use besides the school textbooks, but they wouldn’t know it until the challenge was announced. It would be better to let students gather their own resources once they knew what they were working on, which was part of the reason for meeting in the library in the first place.
The other was that it offered a large enough space to spread the teams out, but a small enough space to keep an eye on them. The first clue that they would get when walking in was large tables with their team number on, only some of them immediately visible. What was not visible about the tables (but would be easily guessed based on how their classrooms were set up) was that they were extremely fireproof and had shielding charms around them so that any stray spells didn’t go hurtling across the room.
“Please gather here,” Selina called, from a space between tables one to four. “Welcome to your third and final challenge. We are very impressed with all the work you have put in so far. Every team has shown strength and creativity, along with a wide range of other skills.
“Today is something of a construction challenge, using magic. You will each be given a type of attraction, for example a water park or a tea room. You will have to draw out a plan for the whole attraction, and design and make one element for it. It could be a ride, it could relate to serving food, or any of the tasks needed to keep your attraction running. For some attractions, you will be able to make it to scale, for anything that would be larger than your table, you should scale it down and make a miniature model. It should be unique to the attraction you are given, and should use magic in its creation and operation.” Whilst the main focus was the latter, the beginner students would probably be best suited to mostly cosmetic elements, although there might be a few cases where simple charms of motion could help.
“You will keep a reflection log throughout the task. That means writing down everything you try, and why it worked or didn’t work. You will be judged on the quality of your final product, but also your process and the reflections you make about how you got there. As usual, your ability to include everyone in your team and have them make a meaningful contribution is also important. You will be expected to note who did what.
“With that in mind, it’s suggested that you get into the making and doing as early as possible. You should have a reasonable plan when you make your first spell attempts, but you are aiming to problem solve as you go.
“You may have access to any basic material you like, such as wood, wire, or objects that are in everyday use at the school. This task is more about how you enchant those objects and make a magical experience, so don’t be afraid to ask for materials that will help you save time in construction and focus on your magical elements. Of course, most of our basic school supplies won’t look very aesthetically pleasing and on theme, so you are encouraged to manipulate them to suit your project. You can use library books, or return to your rooms to gather any books you have there, or any materials you feel may be useful.
“Staff will be walking around during the event, and you are free to call on us for help. We can’t fix things for you, but we can recommend things to look up, and we can supervise and correct if you’re trying new spells. The usual safety rules on that apply - test your pronunciation first, don’t try anything too far above your grade level, and practise first on something small.
“Are there any questions?” Once these had been answered, they were dismissed to their tables, where they would each find an envelope with their assignment.
Team 1 - Water park
Team 2 - Arcade
Team 3 - Children’s museum
Team 4 - Escape room (an escape room is a room in which a team must solve a series of puzzles in order to reveal further clues, access materials such as keys etc, and ultimately open the door to get out of the room).
Team 5 - Tea room
Team 6 - Formal garden/park
Team 7 - Petting zoo
Team 8 - Haunted house
Team 9 - Mini golf
Subthreads: Team 8 with System, Jasper Brockert, Mab, Liesl Brockert, Fortune Ardovini, Xavier Lundstrom
Team 1 with System, Iris Cobb, Piper Wilson, Oz Spellman, Morgan Garrett
Team 2 with System, Lenny Pierce, Lavender Brockert, Yaniel Ayala Velez, Amethyst Brockert
Team 3 with System, Phil Carson, Gabriel Wilson, Robyn Lundstrom, Olaf Brockert
Team 4 with System, Bertie Jackson, Billy Cobb, Cole Pierce, Christopher Brockert
Team 5 with System, Esme Brockert, Rosalynn Tellerman, Nausicaa Scapetello, Verdillia Scurlock
Team 6 with System, Hansel Hexenmeister, Lyla Holland, Sadie-Lake Chalmers, Isla Brockert, Gwendolyn Brockert
Team 7 with System, Xarryn Bavol, Valentine Duell, Lydia Priory, Leviosa Scurlock
Team 9 with System, Theo Spurn, Philippe Delachene, Ian Malone, Samara Crosby
13
Selina Skies
Challenge 3
26
1
5
Jasper Brockert
October 23, 2022 9:27 AM
Still Second. No Performing. No Flying. Yay. by Jasper Brockert
OOC: CW-Emotional abuse BIC:
During the second Challenge, Jasper’s team had experienced a bit of conflict,because Mab did not want to perform and Xavier wanted to…win, he guessed. Which figured, as being competitive seemed to be an inherent trait of athletic Pecari types. Not that the sixth year was against winning, of course, but he agreed with Mab that not traumatizing people was more important. Jasper honestly appreciated that, because while performing in front of the entire school wasn’t a problem for him personally, it also meant that if it came down to it, the seventh year would not make him fly .
Of course, if they had to do so and Jasper objected-as in froze up, panicked-Xavier would probably get all pissy about it like last time as well as be critical of the Teppenpaw for his hang-ups around it. Because, apparently, winning was more important to the fourth year than the psychological well being of others.
Which meant that it had been easier for Jasper to be on Mab's side when Xavier had snapped at her-and not just because she would not make him fly if that especially heinous torture was asked of them. First of all, the Teppenpaw was really in favor of the position of not traumatizing people. After all, with a sister like Topaz and an uncle like Uncle Eustace, he knew about trauma, having experienced it himself, and was pretty much against it. That was much more important than winning and Jasper would have happily taken a tumble in the overall rankings to prevent someone from psychological distress-and of course, the possible mocking that could be associated with it. Like if Mab had screwed up performing in front of others, they might make fun of her-although, to be honest, woe be it to those who did so. A better example was probably the potential of Xavier making fun of Jasper if he freaked out over flying. Which obviously, the Teppenpaw did not want.
And yes, Jasper felt bad that Xavier had to be in a magic competition when he clearly wasn’t good at it, which the sixth year was sure could not have been easy-after all, the Teppenpaw would have felt that way in an athletic competition so it might very well be the same for Xavier when he had to compete using magic- but it was unavoidable to have to use magic at a magical school and there had been other aspects to the events where the Pecari’s contributions could be valuable. He could still contribute ideas and do non-magical things. Like the last Challenge had also involved playing music, not that anyone besides Liesl and Henry, who both played the guitar some was really much of a musician either-and Liesl was pretty much a beginner at the guitar- but it was an example of a non-magical aspect.
Furthermore, it had been easier to take Mab’s side because, well, since the beginning of the Challenges, Jasper had felt some tension with Xavier. Like, the younger boy looked down on him for some reason and felt contempt towards him. He could only assume it was because of his lack of athletic skills. Since the fourth year seemed to feel this way towards him-and Liesl-and Mab only seemed to have the regular amount of contempt for him that she seemed to have towards most people-she was not unlike Olaf in that respect-it was easier to side with her. Yes, it would be nice to win or at least place well, especially for Liesl who didn’t think she was good at anything, but not at the expense of someone’s mental health.
Which actually really bothered Jasper the more that he thought about it. Because it showed a lack of empathy on the part of the Pecari. Which of course, made him think of Uncle Eustace-and Topaz too, but he was pretty sure Xavier was not a sadistic sociopath, he'd give him the benefit of the doubt there-and how he had not cared one little bit about his nephews' well being when they were children and he'd forced them into Quidditch and flying and berated them for not performing up to his standards, which had given both Jasper and Christopher life long complexes.
Not that he was saying Xavier was quite as bad as his uncle-after all, the fourth year had not said anything misogynistic at all and he was going to assume the younger boy was not okay with abusing children-but there was the same hyper-competitive, win at all costs regardless of the well-being of others, all about me self centered attitude that Jasper also saw in his uncle.
Anyway, in the end, they had not placed in the top three in the previous Challenge, meaning they did not have to perform at the Concert but had still retained second place in the overall rankings. Jasper considered that an overall win. Plus, he was really happy for Esme whose team had tied for first in the second Challenge and moved up in the rankings. Isla’s team was the other first place team, and retained their overall first place ranking, and he was happy for her too but Esme was the one who really seemed to care about the Challenges and was leading her team.
The other team who had finished in the top three was Olaf’s and the Aladren was not the least bit pleased about it. Fortunately, Jasper didn’t think he was going to be traumatized, just irritated. Which was basically his natural state of being anyway.
Apparently, Challenge Three was going to be in the library. The sixth year found this to be rather comforting, in that it meant that today’s task was probably not going to involve flying or any other athletic feats.He joined his teammates at their appointed table.
Professor Skies began to tell them about what this final Challenge would entail. Which, while he was glad would not entail doing anything with sports-unless they had a sports-based attraction but he hoped that would not be the case, and even if it was, it wouldn’t be that bad because they were just planning an attraction not playing sports or flying-still sounded like it would entail an awful lot. And an awful lot of magic.
Which for Jasper would personally not be so awful. However, it would likely be an issue for Xavier and despite the apparent disdain the younger boy seemed to have for him, and the fact that the Teppenpaw had been triggered by his attitude he really did not want him to feel like he couldn’t contribute or to struggle. Because while Xavier apparently only cared about himself and what he wanted, Jasper still couldn't help but still care that he didn't feel bad. Because the Teppenpaw did care about the mental well being of others.
Besides, if Xavier wasn't unhappy, he wouldn't take it out on others, Jasper and Liesl in particular.
Of course, while magic was the main skill on display, it seemed like there was a lot that needed to be done that didn’t use it. Like, one did not need to use magic to come up with ideas or write down the log or even to look up and suggest spells for others to do.
However, Jasper was kind of afraid to be the one to suggest this to Xavier, because he was sure it would be taken the wrong way, like he was being condescending or something-while the sixth year thought the younger boy thought he was better than him, being condescending was the natural wrong way to take a suggestion of there being things that could be done without magic to someone not good at it. He decided to address the whole group. He cleared his throat. “Well, this sounds like it’s going to be very complex and hopefully we’ll all find a way to contribute something.” The Teppenpaw waited for Mab to open the envelope, as he didn’t want to step on her toes.
11
Jasper Brockert
Still Second. No Performing. No Flying. Yay.
1496
0
5
Mab
October 23, 2022 5:39 PM
Fey luck is with us by Mab
Mab had hated most things about challenge two. The challenge itself. The performance. The tension it had created within her team in general and between her and Xavier in particular. The way she'd had to admit she couldn't always help everyone avoid all trauma that might present itself under her leadership. That blasted triangle and its annoying ding! that she hated beyond all reason.Despite all of that though, they'd done all right, managing to take fourth in a closely scored challenge, which kept them in second place over all and spared them the horror of performing at the concert. In all truth, Mab couldn't have been happier with how that worked out. She'd been almost afraid that their smoke and visual effects that hid those that didn't want to be seen by the audience might have been too good, but their absolutely mediocre musical ability must have mitigated the visual appeal sufficiently given that music was the point of the challenge.
The third challenge was in the library. Mab was almost glad for that, despite a preponderance of Pecaris on her team, and complete lack of Aladrens. Libraries spoke of research and quiet, the antitheses of challenge two, which was perfectly fine with her.
As she walked into the room, she took note of the table groupings. She didn't spot the one for Team Eight, but guessed it wasn't too far away. Before she could go looking for it, Professor Skies called them together to give them their instructions. Listening to those, she felt herself grimacing because it again showcased magic, which was exactly what Xavier did not want.
The task itself was also not initially appealing to Mab either, as she knew very little about either tea rooms or water parks, and had no interest in learning more. At least they didn't need to do a presentation about what they'd made afterwards, just submit a log detailing their process and proving everyone contributed.
There was nothing in there that said everyone had to contribute with magic, just that they needed to contribute, so hopefully they could use that to get around making Xavier do magic.
When they did get to their set of tables, Mab picked up the envelope with their 'attraction' with something like dread. Please don't let this be anything too bright and cheery, she pleaded with fate.
As she slit it open with a wish to her fairies, Jasper spoke up. She nodded agreement as she took out the paper with their task on it.
Something happened then that some people seated at the table might not have seen before.
Mab actually smiled as she read the two words written on the slip of paper. "You're going to like this, Liesl," she said, looking at the younger Teppenpaw. She moved her look around the table to include everyone in the group. "We're doing a haunted house."
She gave them an appropriate amount of time to react to their given attraction, voice their initial broad ideas, if they had any they immediately wanted to suggest, and then got right into organizing what they needed to do.
"Alright, they put us in the library for this, so clearly they want us to do some research, and we are definitely going to need to need someone to keep notes and write the log. So volunteers for the positions of 'lead researcher' and 'archivist'? We'll also create positions for 'aesthetic coordinator'," Mab looked at Leisl for this one with a raised eyebrow, not forcing the position on her, but figuring her for the best choice to make sure everything looked properly spooky, "'lead architect' for actually building it, and 'chief operator' in charge of all the moving parts." That was five positions and seven group members, and she figured the last two would probably be her and Jasper as the Advanced students in the group.
She figured they may as well round out the positions so everyone had something they were officially in charge of. "We could also have a 'resource manager' in charge of collecting all the materials we'll need to build this. We'll need one more position for each of us to have a named role. If nobody has any other ideas, we could have an overall helper who just assists with whatever is the biggest job at the moment and we'll call them the 'troubleshooter'. Any of those in particular that anyone wants to claim? Or something entirely different that you want to claim as your specialty? Things like . . . I don't know. Slime wrangler. Fog coordinater. Whatever sounds interesting to you for your role in bringing together a haunted house. Obviously, we'll probably all have to chip in at various points to support each other because I'm not going to put the responsibility of building the whole thing on just one person, but that person can take the lead on that part of it."
"Also, we need ideas for exactly which part of the haunted house we're going to be making. A demo of one room? A scaled down model of the whole outside? One particular haunt that we make in full size?"
1
Mab
Fey luck is with us
1473
0
5
Liesl Brockert
October 28, 2022 3:36 PM
Haunted House? Yeah, hold my pumpkin juice. by Liesl Brockert
OOC: CW-Murder. Horror. Gore. It's Liesl talking about a haunted house . BIC:
The Challenges were almost over and Liesl did not know how to feel about that. Like, she was pretty happy that they were in second and even felt like…she’d made a decent enough contribution despite her lack of specialness. She had even probably been the second most musical person last time, since Uncle Cory had taught her how to play the guitar a little bit. And she was likely the second best transfigurer too. Although Liesl did not know who had more natural talent at Transfiguration, her or Jasper, he was older and had learned more so far.
She had also enjoyed getting closer to the older Teppenpaw, which was probably the best part of the Challenges so far. They had never particularly spent all that much time together before, and she was super glad they had now. Jasper had become sort of like a big brother to her. And he was much nicer to her than her actual brother.
Speaking of which, Desmond would be coming to Sonora next year and Liesl…could not say that she was looking forward to that at all. First of all, there was the fact that he basically reacted to her the way the rest of the Gemstones did to Topaz-someone who, ironically, had not ever been all that mean to the third year. Like she was a future serial killer because she liked creepy things. Never mind that Liesl had never intentionally hurt anyone and was a freaking Teppenpaw for Merlin’s sake!
There was also the fact that her brother was super smart and would probably outshine Liesl in every academic subject. She was good at the practical side of magic, at actually doing spells and potions and stuff and not bad at the theory stuff, if it was interesting to her, but like, Desmond was good at both. So, he’d be better than her, their parents would gush over him and she’d still be that disappointing other kid like she’d always been.
Liesl really wished it was her sister coming instead.Her parents liked Krisalyn better than her too, but at least the younger girl liked her. And the third year would only get one year being at Sonora with her, only two years with Uncle Cory’s oldest child Jason, and none with his other children, Sam and Lorelei or her other cousins Ella and Roland, who seemed to like her too.
But four years with Desmond here. Yay.
Anyway, regarding the Challenges, Liesl was glad they were doing so well and had enjoyed spending time with Jasper. Mab was cool too, she really respected the seventh year both because the older girl would stand up for them when it came to not making them do things that traumatize them and because she was a little scary. But then, Liesl liked scary things.
She also hoped she could become better friends with Fortune, who was pretty nice and she really wished they had bonded more. But he’d still be here next year.
On the other hand, since the very beginning, the Teppenpaw had felt tension with Xavier. She really did not think the fourth year liked her or Jasper much. Like, he looked down on them, probably because Liesl was weird and creepy and they were both bad at sports-and in Jasper’s case, they were like, hard nos, the sort of thing Mab would protect them from doing. The third year had sort of expected this, that someone normal and sporty would look down on them and her in particular. That was what happened in books she read. Of course, being that Liesl was into horror, the ones she read often ended up with people like her getting revenge on people like Xavier, who generally bullied them, in what was often a fairly gruesome demise. Either the people like her snapped or the mean popular kids just somehow got what was coming to them by some other means.
Not that the Pecari had bullied her, and-despite what her brother seemed to think-Liesl would never ever hurt anyone. She just liked horror and that was what happened in some of the books she read. Also, the popular kids in the stories sometimes seemed to resemble Amethyst more than Xavier, only much more evil.
And while Xavier had not bullied her, she was still certain he looked down on her for being different. And he looked down on Jasper too and it just made things super uncomfortable. Liesl was admittedly used to being looked down on by others, sometimes by people whose approval was much more important to her than her teammate. Still, it made her feel bad,having to be around someone who didn’t seem to like her.
Plus, last time, Xavier had even snapped at Mab when she didn’t want to perform in front of others and said she would stand up for them if they hit any hard nos, as the seventh year had with that. Liesl personally had had no issue with it and couldn’t think of any hard nos she personally had but did not think that Mab or anyone else should have to do anything that would traumatize them.
Apparently though, Xavier had thought differently and wanted to win at all costs. Or at least not do anything to jeopardize their standing. Of course, Liesl wanted to do well too. She wanted a chance to shine, even though she likely wouldn’t because, well, when it came to accomplishing things and being special and talented, she was mediocre and ordinary and the only things she had for talents were either things that her entire family excelled at or things that people said to cheer up people when they weren’t actually good at anything special. She was never going to be brilliant like Desmond or an amazing writer like Owen or be able to talk to snakes like Hans. Yes, maybe Liesl was a good person like her uncle had told her-something she wanted to believe she was and basically believed because Uncle Cory had been the one to say it- and yes,that was more important than being talented, but it was obviously not necessarily conducive to winning.
In fact, in the case of the previous Challenge, it absolutely had not been given that a good person would not want to make Mab perform when it was something she really objected to regardless of whether or not it made them not do as well. Not that Liesl thought Xavier was a bad person really but maybe in that case his priorities had been screwed up.
Anyway, it ended up not mattering. They had stayed second but had not finished in the top three for Challenge Two. Everything had worked out and now it was time for the last Challenge. The fact that it was in the library was comforting, it meant that they probably weren’t going to do anything that was too strenuous. Liesl was pretty sure if the staff tried to hold an athletic challenge in the library, the Aladrens would rebel. And they had probably read books about how to do so effectively and would do so very well.
Professor Skies gave out the instructions for the task. It sounded like it would involve an awful lot of parts to it, but there was no flying and no performing and there would even be non-magical things for Xavier to do, as it was no secret that he really wasn’t so great at it, which did make her feel kind of bad for him.
They went back to their table, Jasper echoing Liesl’s own thoughts about this being complex. Then Mab opened the envelope and did something…weird. Well, weird for Mab that was. She actually smiled >, an event not unlike Uncle Mortimer doing the same thing.
However, the Pecari smiling was nothing compared to how Liesl’s whole face lit up when the seventh year mentioned they were doing a haunted house! Oh, the Teppenpaw so totally had this .
Mab started mentioning all the different roles they could do, looking specifically at the third year when she mentioned an aesthetic coordinator. Liesl took the hint. “I’ll be the aesthetic coordinator” She volunteered. After all, if she was good at anything, better than anyone else at anything, it was being spooky. Not as impressive a talent as say, being smart or athletic or musical or a writer or a parseltongue or oh, just about anything else but it was her thing and for once it would come in handier than any of those normally more impressive things.
Liesl continued. “And I’m not sure what we should do for our model but I have ideas for the sort of things we can put in the haunted house. First of all, we absolutely need the exterior to look old and crumbling. Nobody looks at a new modern house and thinks it’s haunted.” Although why they were titling it a haunted house when ghosts were a fairly normal part of magical life was a tiny bit confusing, but she got the general drift that this was supposed to be about being spooky and creepy and all the things that Liesl was an expert in.
“The interior should be similar,with peeling wallpaper and cobwebs. And we need there to be dancing skeletons at some point, although maybe not for the model since those use necromancy.” The Teppenpaw could not imagine Jasper being into that. Topaz or Uncle Mortimer maybe, but not Jasper. She turned to Mab. “Unless you know it? I don’t mean to assume that either way or as an insult by asking you, I personally think it would be cool to do that, but it’s way above my own skill level right now.”
“Oh and how about a killer doll? Or a decapitated one? Or a decapitated doll who's looking for a head? I actually have such a doll upstairs, her name is Headless Heather” Heather wasn’t like Allegra’s bear Bernard, who had lost an eye to Topaz, Liesl had bought her that way. “ She’s not actually running around looking for a head but someone could reanimate her to do that and she could carry a huge ax, though probably not a real one since that would obviously be dangerous.”
“Also, maybe a spooky mirror of some sort with an apparition in it of some kind.” Liesl added. “Oh and in addition to Headless Heather, I have all sorts of Halloween decorations we can use. Oh! And skulls are a must Maybe ones that talk or sing or try to bite you. We also need to do something with eyeballs. Perhaps a dark hall where eyeballs blink at random intervals and it feels like you’re being watched. Or like, you mentioned slime, Mab, and maybe slime could ooze down the walls and the slime could have eyeballs in it! And snakes and bats and rats!. Like fake bats could fly around.”
She paused, remembering something else.”We can get torture instruments too and have a torture chamber. I actually have a few models already And.” Liesl looked at Jasper. “We could also ask Uncle Mortimer if we need more.” He was the older Teppenpaw’s grandpa but he seemed to somewhat like Liesl too, so he might actually be amenable to the idea.”Although that might be cheating, but, like I said, I have some too.Or we could have an actual blade that comes down after someone goes through a door. Well, not an actual one, because that would be too dangerous too but still.” Liesl’s eyes shone brightly and she flashed her teammates a huge smile “What do you guys think?”
11
Liesl Brockert
Haunted House? Yeah, hold my pumpkin juice.
1537
0
5
Fortune Ardovini
November 01, 2022 3:31 PM
Ooo.. extra pumpkin juice. by Fortune Ardovini
So far Fortune was having a blast with these challenges. They were more interesting than just sitting in class, but they also used the stuff you learned in class to do interesting things. The idea that they were meeting in the library this time made him wonder what sort of thing they were going to be doing, and how long it might take the library to recover. He really hoped the final challenge was an in interesting adventure, and not just a research project.He stood with his team and listened to Professor Skies. The task before them sounded like a bit of both. This could be fun, he thought while taking his seat at their team's table, depending on what they got. When Mab actually smiled after reading what they were doing, he knew it had to be good. He was right as well. This was going to be fun, he grinned as well.
Mab listed off some possible positions and he thought about them, well except the one that was obviously taken. He gave Liesl an approving nod when she accepted her position. Most of the positions didn't sound quite like him, so he thought about it while their new aesthetic coordinator listed off lots of ideas. Lead architect maybe? Maybe Troubleshooter? They might be better for higher level students than him though. Archivist or Researcher were probably better suited for those less practiced in magic, but… he wasn't sure they quite fit his personality. Well, he'd do whatever was needed.
"Those are good ideas Liesl," he commented to start things off. "We should probably write them down." Oh nuts. Did he just volunteer for the archivist position? He glanced around the table quickly, then pulled out his notebook and quill. "Well, I guess I'm the archivist." He said with a wry smile as he began writing what he could remember of Liesl's terrifically horrific suggestions.
2
Fortune Ardovini
Ooo.. extra pumpkin juice.
1549
0
5
Xavier Lundstrom
November 05, 2022 8:06 PM
Do what now? by Xavier Lundstrom
The last challenge had been… intense. Xavier had had no choice but to talk things out with Mab when he found her at their booth alone. That had probably been for the best—all that stuff about how thoughts were better out than in, and it was better than them carrying their hurt feelings forward and worrying about what the other was thinking. She was willing to recognise that she couldn’t solve all his problems, and to let him take whatever parts of the job made it more comfortable for him, including the non-magical parts. It only half solved his problems… He didn’t want to have to cast spells in front of Jasper. But then also, he didn’t want to make it any more obvious that he couldn’t do grade-appropriate magic to someone like Jasper. He just wanted to be able to pass for normal, and that was impossible, because either everyone would see him mess up or everyone would see him not doing it at all. So, it was kind of a no win… At least Mab had his back if he needed to take some space from people. He also felt like he hadn’t alienated her forever, which was the more impressive part, as he was sure Mab could hold a heck of a grudge. But they’d somehow ended up even laughing about the whole thing. Or at least, he had. Maybe slightly in a ‘have to laugh or else I’ll scream’ way but… laughing had occurred.He wasn’t sure what the rest of the team thought of him after that. He’d worked co-operatively enough for the rest of the task. He’d helped with some lighter weight magical stuff, and spent a lot of time conversing with the portraits. He was pretty sure Henry had bigger things to judge him by than how he behaved during the challenges, and that Jasper and Liesl had long since made up their minds and would never have been that interested in speaking to someone like him anyway, unless it was as a psychology experiment on a damaged specimen. He was sure there was a lot you could find out about how magic worked by pulling apart a lab rat like him where it didn’t.
He walked into the library, forcing himself to take deep, calming breaths. This looked… cosy. Presumably, if they were in the library, there would be research tasks to do. He could leave these claustrophobic team tables, under the guise of going to get books. Heck, he would probably actually legit need to go get books, but it would also be a convenient excuse at any point where other people just got too much. He wondered whether there would be strict protocols to stop teams interacting, or whether he could eyebrow signal Oz to come do some ‘research’ with him… It was against the teams’ best interests to fraternise with each other, so the staff probably wouldn’t see the need to stop it. The bigger question was whether Oz would run the risk of making out with him somewhere with so much potential for being discovered.
Not that Xavier wanted to slack off completely… They were winning, and that felt good. He was even telling himself he had made meaningful contributions to that, and he didn’t want to just coast by on other people’s work. It would be nice to hold their place in the top three, and feel like he was part of the reason why. It would just also be nice to take a break halfway through whatever magical stressfest this turned out to be and let Oz make his brain switch off.
Professor Skies explained the task, and Xavier could feel himself sweating. It was complicated magic time. And, like, obviously, and of course it was. That was the whole point, and had he really been expecting anything else? But it still felt like someone squeezing the air out of the room every time one of these things was announced.
He followed his team to their workstation, feeling a ball of lead in his stomach. Jasper decided to speak first, and to re-emphasise the need of everyone to contribute. What was that supposed to mean? Was that a dig at Xavier being off all the time during their last challenge, doing menial things like fetching and carrying or talking to the portraits which had helped them with the literal outcome of the task? But no, just because Xavier wasn’t flashily waving his wand around, he ‘wasn’t contributing.’ That was some passive aggressive crap, right there. Without even realising he was doing it, he folded his arms, his shoulders hunching against Jasper’s words, and a slight frown creasing his face.
Mab opened their envelope, and he felt a moment of reprieve. At least he knew what a haunted house was. Except… this was going to be a magic haunted house. So, who knew what that entailed.
Well, Jasper and Liesl would.
He tried to imagine what was involved in ‘scaring’ from the people who brought you ‘let metal balls fly at your head in sport’ and ‘fly wings and worm mucus are everyday school supplies.’ Maybe the scares were all real, because hey, you could just undo everything with a wave of a wand, and so long as there were no physical wounds left, you couldn’t possibly have done any lasting harm.
Or maybe it would be illusions.
But very realistic.
Like the shadows around you becoming a shape, slowly taking form, and you thinking you were alone and that no one would come to rescue you because this was happening after the other tests on your way back to your room and the shadow leaped up off the ground and loomed over you and even though you knew that shadows can’t touch you they also didn’t normally leap off the ground and so maybe this one could and it was down to you and your broken ability to do magic so the defensive spells just sort of started leaping out… and then the lights came on, and the monster went away and someone behind you slow clapped and said ’See. We knew you had the potential.
Except that wasn’t here.
Xavier noticed the feeling of tiny, sharp pains in the palm of his hand—his own nails digging in where he had balled his hands into fists at some point. Mab had been talking when he’d tuned out, and now Liesl was rattling things off. He had no idea what expression he’d been wearing for the last few minutes (he hoped it was only a few minutes).
He heard ‘dancing skeletons’ and ‘necromancy’ and then the fact that would be cool. Whatever expression he had been wearing, his face now slipped into the look of someone trying to understand a totally foreign language. He wasn’t sure whether it was the fact that he’d missed the start of the speech that meant that didn’t make sense or whether it just… didn’t.
Wasn’t animating a skeleton just a charm of motion, like making a sugar bowl dance? Only… creepier. He had never heard necromancy mentioned at school, but it didn’t have a great press from non-magical TV and books. It meant raising the dead. The only thing he knew about that was that it was impossible. But maybe this was one of those culture gap things… Maybe, because everyone knew that raising the dead was impossible, ‘necromancy’ was used to just mean… any magic involving bodies? It wouldn’t be the first time the non-magical world had led him astray with how it named and depicted things. And then perhaps it was frowned upon because… well, it was just socially normal to not desecrate bodies, and treating them like dancing sugar bowls was sort of disrespectful. Except Liesl was also saying it would be ‘cool’ if they did know how to do it. He wondered if they could just get around it by having fake skeletons and making them dance, but then he wasn’t sure if that was still taboo because it referenced the whole thing. It seemed like a complicated cultural thing that he shouldn’t touch with a ten foot barge poll if he wanted to avoid everyone staring at him as if he had two heads.
The rest of her descriptions sounded fine. The headless doll thing wasn’t even that creepy. He knew people thought little girls just brushed their Barbies’ hair and dressed them up but he’d seen Robyn throw them into volcanos and decapitate them during Ritual Sacrifices. Little girls were sadistic and messed up to dolls as a rule. It all made sense, for a Haunted House value of sense, until the singing/biting skulls part. How was that different to skeletons?
That was a question he was not about to ask in front of a bunch of judgemental magical folk to whom the answer would be soooo obvious, and/or the question itself offensive.
Once Liesl was finished, Fortune volunteered to be something called the archivist. Xavier had no idea what that was a reference to. Probably something he’d missed whilst zoning out. Crap, did he have a job he was supposed to be doing that he was utterly unaware of?
He was gonna just wait it out until it became obvious he was meant to do something, or he could make his excuses and go get books for them.
13
Xavier Lundstrom
Do what now?
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Mab
November 07, 2022 6:58 PM
I think we're holding Liesl's pumpkin juice by Mab
Liesl was as excited as Mab had thought she might be, and that small bit of smile continued to hold on her face as the younger girl enthused about all the things they could do. There were a few points where Mab had to raise an eyebrow - they definitely did not need actual necromancy going on here - but most of it sounded good, if somewhat creepy, though creepy was exactly what they were going for, so it was all good even if thinking about eyeballs too much made Mab's stomach squick a little bit.She lived in an apartment with an actual vampire slayer training room (modeled very much after Buffy's), and tended more toward Goth styles herself, so she could hardly fault having a headless doll or torture equipment, especially if it was (presumably) just for show (if Liesl hadn't been a Teppenpaw, she might have been a little worried, but ... Teppenpaw).
She glanced around the rest of the group to see how they were taking the spiel, and was glad to see Fortune looked into it, Jasper was looking proud at his cousin (she was pretty sure they were cousins given they had the same last name and siblings weren't permitted in the same team), and Xavier . . . seemed a bit distracted and somewhat confused. The others .... well, there had been a lot there.
She nodded gratefully at Fortune as he volunteered to be their archivist, more or less by accident, but it was one of the roles she had figured the younger students could handle. "Thank you, Fortune, and I second that those are all great ideas, Liesl. Now, though, may be a good time to talk about what people are and are not comfortable with in the horror genre, so we can pick something to demo that does not make any of us sick just to look at. I'd personally prefer not to have eyeballs. I'm totally fine with saying they're somewhere in the haunted house, but I don't want to deal with them for the demo. Also, I'm going to nix the making of actual undead for entertainment. Fake animated skulls, skeletons, and zombies are all good by me though."
She glanced around the table again. "Any other hard or soft 'No'es on anything we've talked about so far? Also, for work load division, we've got our archivist," she nodded at Fortune, "and Aesthetic Coordinator," Liesl, "next one we're definitely going to need is the Lead Researcher, so do we have anyone who wants to volunteer for that? Jasper, do you want to take Lead Architect, since you're better at Transfiguration, and I'll take Chief Operator since I'm better at motion charms, and together we'll take the bulk of the heavy magic work since we're the Advanced Students? Alexander, Xavier, Henry, what do you guys want to do?"
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Mab
I think we're holding Liesl's pumpkin juice
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Jasper Brockert
November 08, 2022 9:20 PM
Pretty sure that's what she meant by Jasper Brockert
Mab was actually smiling . This was a very weird thing. The seventh year was like Grandfather and Olaf, they did not smile, their faces seemed to be physically incapable of making that particular expression. It was a deeply confusing and bizarre experience. It was like spotting a Diricrawl or something. Possibly even more rare than that.Then she told them their attraction and Jasper understood. He glanced over at his cousin who seemed to be just brimming with happiness and excitement and he was glad. He had noticed that the younger Teppenpaw did not seem to have much confidence about her talents. Not that Liesl was bad at things, necessarily. She was a fine Transfigurer, like all Brockerts and was overall talented at magic. She was even better at music than everyone on their team other than Henry. It was just more that she didn’t feel special. Like she didn’t have a thing that she excelled at that nobody else did.
Except, now she did. If anyone could plan a haunted house, if anyone knew how to make things creepy and spooky, it was Liesl .
This might even put them over the top. It would be okay if it didn’t, second place wasn’t at all bad. Actually, if they got second, that meant Jasper would have done better than any of his siblings in the Challenges. Granted, that might be a reason to give Topaz a wide berth, but then the sixth year was inclined to do that anyway. He actually did legitimately wonder whether his sister would give him a hard time if he did better than her. After all, she’d done that to Ruby and Topaz giving a person a hard time was not at all like other people giving someone a hard time. However, since Jasper had not been directly competing with the Aladren alumna, and the exact tasks were different, then really was the Teppenpaw “better” than her? Like, it was apples to oranges. The sixth year had not done desert survival or party planning, Topaz had not planned an attraction or made junk musical instruments and their obstacle course style events had been different.
He told himself it would be okay, his sister would not torture him if he did better in his Challenges than she had in hers.
Mab mentioned all the different roles they could play with regards to the Challenge, with Liesl quickly taking on that of aesthetic coordinator. The third year then started spouting off her ideas and Jasper looked on proudly, happy that his cousin had this…chance to shine and express herself and make a significant contribution to their team’s score. If they didn’t win this one…well, admittedly, it would be totally unfair.
Although, arguably from the perspective of another team, they might argue that it was unfair to give Team Eight a haunted house when they had Liesl who so obviously was a natural fit for this one but who knew who and what they had? Like, there might very well be people on other teams whose interests specifically fit the attraction they were given.
As his cousin prattled off ideas, however, Jasper suddenly remembered that Xavier was there. Mr. Normal Sporty Guy. Who did not like either of the Teppenpaws. Liesl had gotten so caught up in the haunted house planning and showing off in the area where she shined, where she was better at something than anyone else was, which is what she had wanted all along, that she forgot to worry about people-by which Jasper primarily meant Xavier-making fun of her.
So, the sixth year sat there, just daring the Pecari to try making fun of Liesl and her headless doll-something that he had personally not known about but was not a huge surprise to him-and her models of torture devices. If Xavier said the slightest rude comment…well, Jasper might have to do something fairly un-Teppish.
Well, okay, Jasper probably wouldn’t hex the crap out of him or turn him into a toad or punch him in the face. Too many consequences. He didn’t want to risk expulsion, but at the very least…he would probably be using some not very nice language. Along with reminding the Pecari that he was the one that seemed to be so worried about their score and what would happen to where they ranked when Mab didn’t want to perform in front of the school last time. So, yeah. If Xavier wanted to succeed in this Challenge-and in fact, have a chance at first place maybe-he would do well to listen to the third year.
Thankfully, Fortune reacted in a way that seemed like he was totally unbothered by anything Liesl had just suggested. As for Xavier…well, to his credit, he didn’t say anything rude to the younger Teppenpaw and Jasper would not have to defend her. However, the fourth year seemed like he wasn’t even paying attention. What the *tomato*? He had been so snappish towards Mab and insensitive about her not wanting to perform in front of people and now he wasn’t even being respectful and listening to their ideas. Which was probably why he hadn’t made any nasty remarks about Liesl’s headless doll and models of torture instruments, because he hadn’t heard her.
Mab spoke next, telling the third year that her ideas were good, although apparently they weren’t going to have any actual eyeballs in their model. And they would have to just reanimate plastic skeletons-something Jasper was pretty sure his cousin had up in her room, he didn’t know this for a fact, but he was pretty sure-and not do necromancy which he doubted anyone on this team was capable of anyway. “I can certainly do Lead Architect and I don’t actually have any nos, hard or soft in this.” All of his hard nos were around flying, Quidditch and sports. Horror wasn’t his thing like it was Liesl’s but he could certainly handle a headless doll and biting skulls. After all, with Topaz for a sister and Uncle Eustace for an uncle, he’d dealt with much more terrifying things.
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Jasper Brockert
Pretty sure that's what she meant
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Xavier Lundstrom
November 09, 2022 2:51 PM
But Fortune already has it by Xavier Lundstrom
Mab was vetoing eyeballs, and actual undead things. Things Xavier would have thought went without saying. Haunted Houses were supposed to be scary but not real. Then again, this was the magical world. From Liesl's suggestions of necromancy, they were willing to get a lot more literal and graphic. He pictured a jump scare of a zombie with it being an actual rotting corpse. What the heck was wrong with these people?Not that he could say that out loud. Criticising the magical world could have you carted off to correction camp. And besides, Jasper Brockert had no hard nos, and would probably think Xavier was pathetic, not to mention badly integrated, if he claimed any. He shook his head in answer to the question, figuring he'd just tell them to Mab if they came up against anything that made him uncomfortable. She had luckily ruled out literal dead bodies. Everything else... Based on what he was hearing, their haunted house was not a place he would want to walk through. He didn't relish the idea of any form of magical jump scare, any shadows that leapt out to get him, or anything to do with fire. But he wasn't sure how to put most of it into words without it being either him vetoing basically everything or getting so weirdly specific it was suspect.
He released his hands which had somehow gripped themselves around his opposite arms without him noticing, again leaving a trail of little half moon marks down his arm which were probably more noticeable than the ones in his palm had been.
Mab was talking about jobs again, though luckily she named one that hadn't been taken, and which sounded like it involved a lot of time with books.
"I can do researcher," he said. His brain still felt pinched and fuzzy at the edges and he didn't feel like he was doing a good job of sounding normal. His dry throat didn't help either. His voice was scratchy.
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Xavier Lundstrom
But Fortune already has it
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