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Making The Rounds
Author: Bambi Fandango
Date: 06-01-07 20:33
Bambi makes the rounds, reshelving books, picking up stray paper, gently nudging students who've fallen asleep over their notes, and keeping an eye out for those not be as careful with refreshments they are supposed to be. She also keeps a close watch on the time so that she doesn't inadvertently let students stay well past time they should be in their respective houses. She'd done that last night, totally lost track of the time, and ended up with Harkin and Dolores escorting groups of students so that they wouldn't be docked points for being in the halls too late.
The study carrels of all sizes have proven so popular, even more than when she first introduced them, that Bambi's spoken with Professor Dumbledore about having an area of them on another level. She's even got a couple of House Elves who've expressed interest in proctoring the area once it's opened. Bambi's been working on a rough draft of what the space will look like come September 1st and the new term.
When not working on library - and study - improvements over the summer break, Bambi's going to be making a thorough inventory of the special sections, making sure each book, scroll, or loosely bound parchment is properly recorded. She'll also be doing repairs as needed plus she's going to inventory the contents of the hidden room AJ favors for working in when writing and researching his novels. After visiting it again recently Professor Dumbledore expressed an interest in knowing the exact contents of the room. In addition to all that, AJ and Bambi are going to further explore the passageway that leads to that room. It goes somewhere else but so far they've not gone past one particular spot in the narrow corridor.
Bending to gently tap another dozing student on the arm, Bambi waits until he sits up and sleepily rubs his eyes then through a yawn thanks her. He gathers up his things and stumbles blearily out of the library. Bambi finishes making the circuit then goes to the main counter to add a few things to her growing to-do list.
More Studying To Be Done
Author: Coco Nutt
Date: 06-01-07 21:01
Coco reaches the portal into Ravenclaw House. Pea yips at her but she shakes her head. "Longboat be the old one, Pea. Now the password is schooner." Coco looks directly at the portal to say, "Schooner."
Before it's fully opened Coco's stepping inside. She finds Fritz sitting just where she'd left him to take Pea out to answer nature's call and to swing by the library to see if some Astronomy notes had dropped out of her rucksuck when she'd gone there right after supper ended.
Dropping down to sit by Fritz, Coco's asked by him, "Did you find your notes?"
"Yeah, Harkin found'em under the table."
Orla Quirke moves to stand in front of Coco. "I just thought of something from the Care of Magical Creatures NEWT today. I figured you might know without me having to run go look it up."
Coco smiles up at Orla. "What's your question?"
"I had to select from five different things something a crup would eat. I know how simply that is but I totally blanked!"
"Crup's hain't choosy."
"So it was a trick question?"
"Could 'ave been. What were the foods ter pick from?"
Orla rattles them off. Coco shakes her head at hearing the list. "Crup's'll eat habawt, I mean about anything but they'd not care as much for the metal shavins' so long as you didn't pick that one, you should be fine fer, for that one."
"Thanks!"
Orla talks a little longer with both Fritz and Coco about the Care of Magical Creatures OWL versus the NEWT that they'd had today, both the written and practical portions, then leaves the two fifth years going over Astronomy for tomorrow morning's Theory of Astronomy exam and tomorrow night's Astronomy practical.
Support System (Travis & Indigo)
Author: Travis
Date: 06-02-07 13:44
With St. Emrys between terms, Indigo has been working mostly at his Hogsmeade shoppe, learning a great deal from his resident animaly healer Hannibal Hayes. When not at McFusty's Pets Indigo's put time in at the dragon preserve, spending more time with Lisi and Travis, avoiding their mother as much as possible, and having a social life that he wishes he could use more as an excuse to duck out of parties Morticia puts on or attends. That last part is on the difficult side when his mum so very often points out that unless Indigo's date is someone to be ashamed of then she would most certainly love attending such very lovely parties and meet important movers and shakeers from all over the Wizarding world.
Sitting now in Travis's shoppe office, Indi moans about how Morticia's ruined another perfectly good date tonight. How the woman found out about Indi's plans he hasn't a clue. "She owled Tess. Can you believe? Owled my date to casually mention a party tonight in case I'd not mentioned it."
Travis makes a tutting sound. "Shame on you for not telling Tess about the big do tonight."
"There better be some sarcasm in there."
"Not one bit; not a single iota. It's probably a good thing I didn't know until now you have a date and whom with or I'd have sent an owl as well."
Indigo chuckles. "Don't want to be at the party without support, do you?"
"Gah," Travis says, making a near gagging sound. "Don't make me thinkg about that. With Lisi gone to your father's until next week, if I can't rely on you at these things, who can I rely on?"
"Ummmm, Roddrick?"
"Roddrick as a step-father isn't half bad. When Mum's not around he's wonderful."
"It's when she's around that he clams up and isn't good for much," Indi finishes the thought.
"So, you'll be there?"
"Now that Tess knows she's all excited about having a reason to wear something glitzy and formal. At this point I don't see how I can get out of attending."
Indi gets up. "I've taken a long enough break. I'll see you this evening at Mum's."
"If you don't show up, I will track you down wherever else you've taken Tess," Travis laughingly threatens.
"If I don't show up, Tess will be with you to help track me down," Indi retorts.
Travis walks Indi to the door of Botanicals & Beyond then begins waiting on some customers. Indi makes the easy walk from Travis's shoppe to the pet shoppe and clinic in no time at all. As he approaches the front of the shoppe, Indi hears what sounds like a cat in distress on the side of the building facing the outskirts of the village.
Indigo walks around to have a look but can't find the cat. Then he hears it again a little further from the shoppe then he'd first thought it might be. Shoving through some thick bushes and coming to stand at the base of a tree, Indi calls out, "Here, kitty."
He listens for sounds of movement or more calls of distress while turning slowly in a circle. Indi's gotten to a point in his slow circle that he can see the pet shoppe through the bushes when he hears a scrabbling sound in the foliage behind him. Before Indi can turn to look, something hits him hard on the head. Indi just has time to put his arms out in front of him for protection from the bushes he's falling into before the world goes black.
Who To Choose?
Author: Lucius Malfoy
Date: 06-02-07 15:46
"Lucius!"
Lucius stops on his way to one of the lifts to see Hadden Overby walking speedily his direction. "Hadden," Lucius nods.
"Congratulations on being named to the Wizengamot! Can you believe it three more of that esteemed panel are gone?"
Lucius graciously replies, "Thank you," before commenting, "So many in such a short time."
The lift arrives, belching flying memos and people. Hadden and Lucius keep out of the way of the rush before stepping into the now nearly empty lift. With the noise of those getting off the lift gone, Hadden remarks, "I suppose that with such a great number of the Wizengamot getting on in years, it's to be expected that more and more openings are occurring. Such a shame though some of the younger members have met with accidents or illness."
The lift stops. A flurry of memos flies in, trailed by one person, Cecily Wright. At the horrified expression on Hadden's face, Lucius has to bite his lip from laughing aloud. He instantly sobers, thinking about how Hadden no longer has anything to worry about from Cecily. It's Lucius who has become the object of Cecily's affections.
Since that day earlier in the month when Lucius had awkwardly consoled the girl, Cecily has become more and more a fixture in Lucius's life. She's finding reasons to be around him even when her work calls for her to be out of the building.
Upon seeing Lucius in the lift, Cecily's entire face lights up. "Morning, Lucius! I mean, Mr. Malfoy."
There's a look of amusement on Hadden's face at realizing the reason Cecily's not been bothering him for the past few weeks is because she's now turned her attentions on Lucius. Seeing Lucius's eyes narrow at Hadden's expression the man alters his countenance to one of empathy. His eyes shifting back to Cecily, Lucius replies, "Good morning, Miss Wright."
Thank Merlin the chit gets off on the very next level. The second she's gone, Hadden says in a low voice so the few others on the lift don't overhear, "As amusing as it is to see someone else squirm because of that girl, I truly am sorry she's picked you, Lucius. I'd be sorry for anyone. She needs to meet a nice, young man of her own age who doesn't mind someone obsessing over him."
Lucius dryly responds, "That leaves out my son Draco."
The lift doors open again. Lucius nods at Hadden, "My stop."
"Congratulations again on the Wizengamot, Lucius."
As the lift doors close behind him, Lucius's thoughts turn away from the one he has every time someone congratulates him on the Wizengamot position - that it's about bloody damn time. Lucius's mind is already going through a list of young men he can palm Cecily off on who aren't sons of friends of his who'd take issue with Lucius for introducing their sons to a slightly unstable young woman.
Theory of Astronomy
Author: Alanna Beck
Date: 06-02-07 21:28
Alanna blew a stray hair from her eyes and leaned back in her seat. She'd been writing and writing and writing and writing for hours but had yet to reach the end of the Astronomy O.W.L. even though there was less than an hour left in the exam. She glanced frantically at the hourglass to remind herself that she needed to press on, despite the fact that she really wanted to take a five minute breather and give her hand a rest. Alanna sighed quietly to herself and leaned over her test booklet again, determined to finish but also not the rush through the remainder of her exam.
It seemed liked only five minutes passed when Professor Isuki announced that only 15 minutes remained. Alanna, having just finished answering a question, immediately moved on to the next one.
What is the best known feature of Jupiter? Explain.
It didn't take Alanna very long to come up with the answer and a suitable explanation. She wrote "Jupiter's best known feature is the Giant Red Spot. The Giant Red Spot is an anticyclonic storm which Astronomers believe has lasted between nearly 200 and 400 years. The Giant Red Spot is oval in shape and rotates counterclockwise. Each rotation lasts 6 Earth days, or 14 Jovian days. She went on for a few more sentences and then moved on to the next question.
When Professor Isuki finally called time, Alanna was two questions short of finishing. She sighed, wishing she'd have been able to complete the entire O.W.L. but glad that she'd at least gotten as far as she had. She left the Great Hall for the girl's loo and to stretch her legs. Next would be lunch, then a bit of a break before the Astronomy practical later in the evening.
Why The Meeting?
Author: Saffron
Date: 06-02-07 21:44
With no class of 7th years this morning at 9 am, Saffron had worked on writing the final exam for her third years, which, unless the schedule is changed last minute, will be Monday at 2 pm. She'd worked steadily on it and the fourth year exam as well until her sixth years began arriving for the 10:30 class.
As noon approaches, Saffron reminds, "Don't forget. We're meeting here Monday at 4 pm to write your final examinations. If between now and then you find you have questions, don't wait until 3:59 pm on Monday to come asking."
The sixth years make the expected promises of not waiting until the last minute, already up and out of their seats and heading for the door. Lee Henderson is the last one there. He moves aside to let Bambi in then with a greeting to her he's off like a shot after the others.
Bambi holds out a book. "The book you ordered has come in but it's a different edition."
"I'm sure it's fine, thanks, but I'll look it over and let you know if we need to send it back."
Bambi sets the book on the edge of Saffron's desk then settles into the nearest cozy chair. "How did the meeting with your father go?"
Saffron runs a hand through her hair and makes blows a raspberry.
"That bad?" Bambi says, trying not to grin at the way Saffron had responded.
"Sassy was told to show up as well. When we got there, Da had already arrived and even though we were early he greeted us by snottily telling us how long he'd been waiting. If we weren't wondering so much about why he'd wanted us there to begin with, we'd have both left on the spot."
"So what did he want?"
"He's getting remarried this summer and informed us we are to attend. Da told us when, where, and what time, and even dictated what colors we would wear. Then he said, 'That goes for the boy too and make sure he's gotten a bloody haircut for once.'"
Saffron makes another sound but a rude one she would normally never make. "The boy. Calls his own son the boy as if Sage's name isn't good enough to say or isn't worth the time and effort."
"Your father's not been divorced all that long has he?"
"No, but he hates being single and with none of us at home anymore I'm sure it's worse."
"Have you told Sage yet?"
"No. I'll wait until he's done on Friday."
"Good plan." Bambi gets up. "I'm going down for lunch. You coming or staying?"
"Coming I think. Just let me make sure these masters of the final exams are locked away."
Focus On Astronomy
Author: Skyler
Date: 06-03-07 02:23
Skyler sat in the great hall and stared at her Astronomy test. She really wasnt in the mood to take it. She kept thinking about Jet. She didn't know all the details of his story but now she was kind of interested. He didn't seem so bad. She had to say he was nicer than her but for some reason she just couldn't bring herself to be rude to him. Skyler shrugged off the thought and went back to her test. It took a great effort to keep her mind on the test at all. Sky was happy to know that Deely dug up the name of her father. Jacob LaBranche, she thought, Skyler LaBranche. Sounded odd to her so she didn't bother with the last name but the fact she had a name was exciting to her.
Skyler needed a break. She needed to get her thoughts in order and for some odd reason she wanted to have a good talk with Jet. He seemed nice enough. Sky shook her head. Whoa girl! What's got into your head! Leave him alone! she scolded. Then with great diffculty pushed all thoughts of Jet, her father and potential family members out of her mind. Astronomy was more important. She sighed lowly and stared blankly at her test.
"I'm going to fail if I keep this up," she muttered. Sky played with her pen between her fingers then quickly began writing all the answers she knew. Sky didn't like failing or losing and refused to have either one happen to her.
(Siegfried) Theory of Divination
Author: Bronwyn Dewhurst
Date: 06-03-07 09:13
Wednesday was quite possible the test day from hell for Siegfried, because he had three NEWTs to take: Theory of Astronomy, which he'd only just finished less than two hours ago, Theory of Divination, slated to begin at any moment, and then the practical Astronomy exam later that night. If his hand didn't break off from all the writing he had to do today, for tonight's Astronomy practical would also involve a lot of writing, then Siegfried would consider it a miracle.
And he still had tomorrow and Friday to get through! Both would be full days of exams, though not quite as full as Wednesday. Tomorrow would be the Divination practical in the morning, and then Theory of Muggle Studies in the afternoon. Then Friday would be the Muggle Studies practical at Cloud's Kiss, followed by Theory of History of Magic in the afternoon. Siegfried thought it a grand shame that the NEWTs would go out with such a snoozer of an exam.
Professor Lancaster welcomed the fifth and seventh year students taking Divination into the Great Hall. It was a relatively small group. Siegfried sat between Basilia Broomshull and Fionna Gairden. They talked over him until Professor Lancaster asked everyone to settle down and turn to the front of the room. He read the instructions for the exam, which were just like the instructions for all the other "Theory of..." exams. Then he made sure everyone had a test booklet and writing utensils.
"Please put your name on the front of your test booklet," he said.
Siegfried put down his name and then broke through the seal on his test booklet when Professor Lancaster told everyone to do so. Professor Lancaster flipped over the hourglass and said, "You may begin."
Making Plans
Author: Anthony Beck
Date: 06-03-07 10:28
Anthony and Katherine sat at home at the dining table and reviewed their travel plans for Australia. After her mother's death at the beginning of the year, Katherine moved in with Anthony and their grandparents, taking over the bedroom that had once belonged to Kendra. The family had left Kendra's room alone the past five years but had all agreed that it was time to move forward. Anthony figured if Katherine had been his full-blooded sister, she probably would have shared that room with Kendra anyway.
It had been decided that the trip would take place after Emrys Fest and end before those still attending Hogwarts needed to be back in time for the new term. It would be a big group of "kids" going, including Anthony and Katherine, Alanna, Bronwyn Dewhurst, her brother Siegfried, Plum, and maybe Kody and Drake and a few others. At first, Toby had offered them a place in his flat but had eventually decided to put some of them up in a hotel just down the street from where he lived.
Anthony had been to Australia before, but Katherine had not. She had gotten to meet Toby but hadn't spent much time with him and felt like she really didn't know him as well as she'd like. This would be a good opportunity for the half-siblings to bond.
"Toby owled over this list of things to do in Muggle Brisbane," Anthony explained to Katherine. He pointed at a particular item on the list. "I think this could be fun."
"The Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary," Katherine read aloud. "That does sound interesting."
"Apparently, we can hold the koalas," Anthony explained, "and we can feed kangaroos. There's a picnic area too, so we can enjoy a nice afternoon or morning outside with the local wildlife. There's this place called Sea World too," Anthony went on, pointing to the next item on the list. Toby had even sent over a brochure for that one.
"There seems to be a lot of," Katherine paused, picking up several different brochures at once, "Muggle amusement parks in Brisbane."
"Yeah," Anthony agreed. "We'll have more than enough days to see them all."
"It's really too bad Ariella can't come with us," Katherine mused, "but she seems very excited about her internship."
"Yeah, I think she doesn't mind too much that she'll be missing the trip." Anthony looked at the clock hanging on the wall and said, "Let's see if we can get some of the others together so that we can make more definite plans as a group."
"Okay. Why don't we all go out to supper tonight?" Katherine suggested.
"Great idea!" Anthony replied, grinning. "I'll put my head in the floo and see who I can round up."