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(Gus) Before DADA
Author: Johanna Steele
Date: 09-08-12 10:42
Nine days had passed but still it seemed to Gus like it had been yesterday that Slytherin had won the Quidditch Cup. For part of the team the title had been somewhat erased from their minds because of their O.W.Ls and N.E.W.Ts exams but since Gus didn't have to worry about that this year, he still walked through the school's corridor with a presumptuous look, as if everyone else were losers.
He had wished Mark good luck for his Charms' O.W.L. on the way to DADA's classroom. Johanna and Felicia haven't arrived yet and he thought maybe Felicia was taking her time wishing Baltus good luck. Probably she was doing so with her lips.
Like always Gus sat on the back of the classroom and he lazily took his book, quill and scroll out of his bag. The Slytherins were having their class with the Gryffindor house and he watched the new student Cai Carter teaching some Japanese words to Eric Ling as they seated down next to each other.
He consulted his watch knowing Felicia was going to be jinxed if she made Johanna getting late to class. Sometimes he thought Johanna should be at Ravenclaw because she would freak out a lot with things such as homework and tardiness. For Gus it wasn't a big deal, although he knew needed to have good grades at his finals this year or his father might forbid him to play Quidditch next year.
He was starting to feel like he was being observed and when he turned his head up he noticed Polly Potts was looking at him. She tried to look away but he greeted her.
"Hello there, Polly."
Polly greeted him back and they started to chat before Professor Somerset's arrival. He noticed how Johanna had entered the class that moment and started to send raged looks towards him and Polly as if she wanted her dead. But he ignored it and kept chatting.
Polly was telling him about her friends Catriona and Bianca who ,just like Mark and Baltus, would be taking their first O.W.L. today. Gus knew Bianca from his house and he told Polly how she seemed nervous during breakfast, reading a last minute spell from her bool at the Slytherin table.
"I think that will be me next year," she laughed. "Just to think about it makes me nervous."
"I'm the contrary. I only get nervous when it's time to know the results."
They laughed together and then somehow the topic changed to Quidditch. Polly told him how she thought he played well in the match against Hufflepuff and congratulated him for winning the cup. Gus did not have the time to thank her because Professor Somerset ordered silence so he could start his class. He thought about how Polly was the first Gryffindor student to actually congratulated him. He could not help to smile thinking that if she wasn't doing it because she was a nice person than at least she was being polite which was a good thing.
Can We At Least Be Friendly?
Author: Jet
Date: 09-08-12 20:20
Exiting the classroom where he has just written his first final examination of the week, Jet went straight for a nearby stairwell leading up to the surface. From there he crosses the expanse of lawn and gardens to the gate nearest to The Wyrding Way. He forgot all about breakfast this morning and though he sometimes only has some juice or milk, now he's famished. He's spent so much time lately at the two St. Emrys canteens Orange and Yellow that he thought The Wyrding Way might be a nice change of pace and it MIGHT not yet be filled with other students frantically attempting to get in last minute studying.
Sorely in need of coffee, or even something stronger, a somewhat angry Emerson Reed strides into The Wyrding Way. She's just had it confirmed that the higher ups have decided to have another woman attempt to insert herself into Jet Obsidian's life. Her anger does not stem from jealousy. Jet was an assignment nothing more. That he's cute and the sex was good were simply bonuses.
No, her anger is over the fact that when she orchestrated Jet's three week disappearance everyone seemed satisfied that he has no memory of being trapped in that stone for three years, has no insights into the workings of the machinations of what may or may not have possessed him beyond believing whatever or whoever it was was part of a soul from a horcrux. Though Jet refers to it as "Sal" he has no idea if there was, or is, any connection to Salazar Slytherin. If everyone accepted the findings during the time under their ministrations, which he does not recall, then why in hell have they decided to second guess Emerson's work and put another girl on him.
Eyes adjusting to the dimmer lighting inside The Wyrding Way than outside in the bright late spring morning, Emerson nearly laughs aloud. There sits Jet, menu in hand, speaking with a waitress. As he's not seen her, she should turn around and go somewhere else; but, fueled by an impish gremlin of anger, Emerson strides right over.
"Hello, Jet. How have you been?"
"Emerson!" Jet half stands, motioning for her to take a seat if she'd like, which she does. "I'm good, and you?"
"Never better." Tilting her head at the textbook he's got open and then to a backpack style bookbag she says, "I heard you're taking some courses."
"Full-time student and have a part-time job. You know I quit the Ministry, right?"
"Petra mentioned something about it but it was only in passing. We hardly see each other anymore."
Jet waits to speak again until after the waitress has come back over to see if Petra wants anything. "This may not be the right time but I'm curious as to what happened with us. I thought things were going well then suddenly it wasn't."
"It wasn't all that sudden, not really. You were gone for three weeks and then you were so often cloistered with some Ministry official for hours on end that when you were free, you didn't seem to want much company. I had time to think about what I wanted from the relationship, whether I saw a future in it, in us, or if it was just for fun."
"You decided it was more for fun."
"Sorry, yes. During those three weeks I did miss you and worry about what had happened but I wasn't beside myself with it like Petra and Petra is just your good friend."
"I see. Thank you for being honest."
"I really am sorry. I hate that you're hurt. I do like you, Jet, just not in a going somewhere relationship sort of way. I know it's silly to say but I hope we can be friends or, if not friends, then at least be friendly when we run into each other."
"I can do friendly. I'm not sure about the friends part, at least not yet."
"I understand." Petra motions to their waitress. "May I have a to go cup and top it off, please?"
In the short time it takes for her coffee refill to come Emerson asks Jet about he's liked the return to school. She leaves a few minutes later, giving Jet a quick kiss on the cheek before she goes. Only after she's gone does Jet realize he never asked her what he'd meant to when first seeing her. What was she doing in Stratford-upon-Avon on a Monday morning instead of being at work?
Charms Practical Exam Time
Author: Illyria
Date: 09-09-12 07:32
Illyria stood in the entrance hall next to the double doors that led to the Great Hall and waited for the signal from the four Ministry of Magic examiners to send in the first batch of students for the Charms OWL & NEWT practical exam. This morning, she had sat in the Great Hall and monitored the written portion of the exam. Even though the written exam had ended only a few short hours ago, it somehow felt like ages.
The Ministry of Magic examiners, Professors Marchbanks, Tofty, Brecknock and Huntington, made it clear they were ready for the first four students. Illyria turned to those already queued up at the door and smiled at them reassuringly.
"They are ready for you now," she said to them in as kind a voice as she could muster. She knew that the students were stressed out and nervous about the exam. A written exam was one thing to worry over, but a practical exam was something else entirely.
Cat Amherst took a deep breath and then led the first group of examinees into the Great Hall. The other students were Errol Anderson, Alan Birdwell and Bianca Bonfamille. Illyria closed the door quietly behind them and then consulted the watch on her arm. It had been a gift from Nathan for no apparent reason other than because he had been thinking of her. Illyria had had her doubts about wearing it in public, but in the end had put it on, arguing that it wasn't just pretty but also useful.
The mechanical watch looked antique, with a rope-like band and a square, crystal face. Illyria wondered if it had come from someone in his family or if he'd found it in a second-hand jewelry store and instantly thought it would look good on her wrist.
She consulted the time and decided that in about five minutes or so, she would have the next four students queue up in front of the doors. It was unlikely that all four would enter the Great Hall together, as did the first four students, but it didn't hurt to have them ready just in case the others all finished their exam around the same time.
A Plan Comes Together
Author: Abdul Hazrat AlGunud
Date: 09-09-12 19:33
The library had been closed for several hours. Earlier, anxious students had crowded the tables. Heads bent over books or furiously scratching notes on parchment, they had labored over musty texts. The stress generated by upcoming exams was almost a physical presence. Some of the staff, namely those charged with overseeing the library, seemed almost as stressed as the students. Although their stress was more likely induced by the larger than normal number of students utilizing the library than by the actual exams.
But now the library was quiet and still. The students and staff had departed. This left one lone individual to labor in peace. Not that peace was the intended result of these labors. Peeves was busy with the shelves. The poltergeist was demonstrating a surprising amount of persistence at weakening the support struts of various shelves. His bow tie quivered at the thought of all the havoc that would ensue.
"Oh wonderful shelves, the books on top of you dwell. And when you fall down, it will be merry hell."
This rhyme carried throughout the library, a presage to the next day's prank. His work completed, Peeves floated through the library happily contemplating the results. Tomorrow would be a grand day indeed!
(Mrs. Mulberry) The Owl
Author: Wendy Mills
Date: 09-10-12 07:11
Mrs. Mulberry always thought that spying on her neighbors was more interesting than watching TV. She was an old lady with grey hair whose main hobby was to sit by her living room window and look to the building on other side of the street.
Last weekend she had seen something truly disturbing. It was the end of the day and the Mills black car parked in front of the building they lived in. Mrs. Mulberry had questioned herself where had they gone since they departed so early in the morning and they were not the type of family to be gone for long.
She poked and watched the family leaving the car. Mr. Mills opened the car trunk and the old lady looked intrigued as he removed a cauldron from it. The boy named Peter took a telescope from the trunk as well, his mother telling him to be careful with it while she carried a box filled with flasks that seemed to contain several things Mrs. Mulberry could not identify. Maybe they were spices for cooking. Maybe that was what the caldron was for. But what about the telescope? Perhaps it was a gift for the boy.
However things got even weirder when the girl, Wendy, left her seat holding a cage. And inside the cage there was an owl. Not a parakeet, a a canary or even a parrot. No! It was a huge brown owl, a beast Mrs. Mulberry had never seen before as a possible pet and it truly horrified her. How would they keep such a bird inside their apartment?
It took the family another trip to the car to unload everything they got and the old lady noticed Mrs. Mills holding what it seemed to be a bunch of dark clothes, while her husband carried a pile of books with his hands. The two children helped them.
This whole event was enough to keep the old lady curious for the next days. She kept spying on the Mills but it seemed their behavior was the same as always. The children went to school on Monday, and the parents to work. However Mrs. Mulberry noticed the owl leaving their apartment in the evening by the window. She couldn't resist and on the Tuesday morning she decided to go and take a look into their apartment.
The Mills lived on the fourth floor and she rang the doorbell, a letter on her hand with their address that she stole from the mailbox downstairs.
"Good morning, Mrs. Mulberry. What can I do for you so early?" Mrs. Mills asked.
From the door she could see the family having breakfast. The girl had a wooden stick in her hand and it seemed like her older brother wanted to steal it from her.
"It's my wand, I'm not going to give it to you!" she told him, putting the stick in her pocket. Peter looked at her with jealousy. The old lady wondered what kind of game was this where children were at the breakfast table with sticks and named them wands.
"Er…Mrs. Mulberry?" Mrs. Mills voice brought her back to reality.
"Oh that's right I have a letter for you, it came to my home by mistake," she delivered the envelop to Mrs. Mills. "And now that I'm here I was wondering if you could borrow me some eggs? I forgot to get them yesterday from the store. I'm afraid I'm getting old, my head is not what it used to be."
Mrs. Mills nodded and let the old lady enter the apartment. The children and Mr. Mills greeted her and she started to look around in search for something suspicious. There was no sign of the cauldron, the books, the clothes, or even the telescope. However there was an empty cage resting on the living room and Mrs. Mulberry let go an horror squeak when she noticed the corpse of a mouse inside.
It was not the little dead creature that scared her the most but the fact this family allowed such macabre thing happen under their roof. Mr. Mills left the table and came to assist her. But there was no need for that. Mrs. Mulberry left on her own foot, excusing herself about having something cooking inside her oven.
When Mrs. Mills arrived with the eggs the door was already closed. While she was on the elevator the old lady considered the option of calling the animal control. That owl was dangerous to the public health. The Mills were irresponsible parents for letting such animal serve as their children's pet.
She was crossing the street with a voice called her name. It was Wendy. She ran in her direction with a package in her hands. She looked tired and she assumed instead of the elevator the girl had used the stairs.
"You forgot your eggs…" she said, passing her the package. She was smiling and Mrs. Mulberry's ice heart melted a little bit.
She smiled back to the child.
"Thank you,girl."
Back at home she decided not to call the animal control after all. As long as the owl lived on the other side of the street with its dead mice that she could not see, then she guessed she would be fine.
Transfiguration Written Exam
Author: Ethan Somerset
Date: 09-10-12 09:47
The sound of frantic scribbling filled the Great Hall. The Transfiguration OWL and NEWT exam had begun only a short while ago, with Ethan as proctor. Sitting in for him in his Defense Against the Dark Arts classes was Professor Wilhelmina Grubbly-Plank, a well-known substitute teacher at Hogwarts. She was charged with teaching his fourth year students about the Ministry of Magic's Office for the Detection and Confiscation of Counterfeit Defensive Spells and Protective Objects, his first years about the Tickling Hex and his second years about the sneezing hex Steleus.
Ethan found it difficult to believe that another school year was nearly at its end. Where had the time gone? Had it really been nearly three full years since he'd started teaching at Hogwarts again? Had it really been more than a year ago now thad his daughter Lilly had been born and her mother Rosamond had died? The anniversary of the trial of Hattie Harsnip neared, as did her escape from authorities. Ethan loathed the fact that she was still on the run and wondered if she would ever be brought to justice for all her crimes.
He snapped out of his thoughts when he saw a hand waving in the air. Ethan got up from his seat at the front of the Great Hall and walked over to Abigail Tibbs, whose quill had stopped writing for some reason. She looked completely panicked to have lost even a minute's worth of exam time. Ethan replaced her quill with a new one and after making sure that it wrote without issue, he returned to the front of the Great Hall.
Time passed slowly after that. Ethan's mind wandered once more, this time to Madam Rosmerta, who had sent him a bottle of Blishen's Firewhiskey after the incident in Hogsmeade. Just last week, she had sent him a free breakfast voucher. Ethan suspected that she wasn't just trying to make up for spilling butterbeer all over him at The Three Broomsticks. While he was flattered, he didn't return her interest and wasn't sure how to broach the subject since she hadn't actually said anything to him yet.
Realizing a half hour had passed, Ethan got up and marked down the time remaining on the blackboard behind him. A number of students glanced up to see what he was writing and then quickly ducked their heads to continue working on their exam. Ethan sat back down and scanned the fifth and seventh year students in front of him to make sure that none of them required his assistance. All seemed as content as they could be at the moment, considering they were writing one of the most important exams of their lives.
Ethan relaxed in his chair but stayed vigilant in case a student needed him.
Too Many Distractions of the Not So Good Kind
Author: Carys
Date: 09-10-12 10:55
Carys had never felt more stressed when it came to her education. She had reached the very end of her year-long N.E.W.T. review courses and was now set to take the last of her exams. The completion of her N.E.W.T.s was a long time coming. Carys should have taken them four years ago. Instead, she'd been imprisoned in a community for nons called Goen Bren.
She shuddered at the thought of that place and everything she had seen and done there. Carys didn't think about her experiences at Goen Bren too often, but when she did, it brought back terrible memories she wished she could forget.
Carys tried to focus, but there were too many other things going around to serve as distractions––and none of them good. The body found on the lawn had been identified as that of Dacia Osterberg. It had been badly decomposed, but identification had been possible because of a known birth mark on Dacia's left hip.
Although it was difficult putting a positive spin on the discovery, Carys was glad that the body belonged to one of the two missing persons still unaccounted for and not to a victim about which no one had any knowledge. The recovery of Dacia's body also gave her family and friends closure.
Then there was the matter of the perpetrator being brazen enough to attempt another attack on campus when security was higher than ever. Carys' own fiancé had been the one to chase him, but unfortunately, the alleged rapist and murderer had gotten away before Griffin could apprehend him. Everybody was on edge because of the incident.
Carys wondered what the wizard's motive was. Were the witches random targets? Was he lonely and felt he could only have women if he forced himself on them? Or was he just a sick individual who murdered because he could? She shuddered again and attempted to force all unpleasant thoughts from her mind. Now was not the time to think about rapists and murderers, at Goen Bren or at St. Emrys. Now was the time to do the best she possibly could on her exams.
Energized
Author: Zabrynna
Date: 09-10-12 13:55
Head slumped over her arms, Zabrynna attempts to tune out the noise around her in Orange. A tray clattering down on the table across from her has her raising her head just enough to glare at her sister before yawning and putting her head down again. Mariposa pulls back her chair, none too quietly at that, and sits, reaching for a packet of sugar to dissolve in the cup of coffee she's just gotten.
"How late, exactly, were you up last night?"
"All of it," Zabrynna groggily mumbles, voice muffled by her arms.
"What do you mean all of it?"
"As in I did not go to bed last night."
"Why would you stay up all night when you have two exams to write today?"
"Because one professor dumped pages and pages of new information on us the last class meeting. With comprehensive exams in nearly every class, including his, and that much new material to learn, which he told us will make up twenty percent of the final, I've been using every second I can to learn all that new information."
"That is not right for him to do that. He should be reported."
"I agree, which is why some of us did, but so far as we know, nothing's been done so I HAVE to have this new material down well enough to not start off with no higher than an eighty percent score."
"Here, drink some coffee at least. You know, I might have a pepper up something or other in my bag. Let me look."
Zabrynna forces herself to sit up, eyeing the coffee her sister has shoved across the table to her. Mariposa has probably already ruined it with too much sugar. As Mariposa roots around in her bag she takes a tentative sip to find it's not sweet at all. She peers down at it in surprise then looks across at the tray Mariposa had deposited there, where another coffee cup sits.
"Thanks for getting me coffee," she thinks to say before taking another, larger, drink.
"You looked as if you could use it. Here." Mariposa hands Zabrynna a small stoppered vial. "It's a concentrated dose, that's the container is so small."
"I've never taken one of these before. Do they really work?"
"Somewhat, yes."
Dubious as to how effective these things really are though willing to give the pepper-up potion a try, Zabrynna removes the stopper and downs the vial's contents, washing the taste away with more coffee. "Thanks."
"AJ said to let him know if you need an escort to your night class's exam."
"Declan already said he'd see me there and wait for me after."
"He's been doing a lot of that."
"He's just trying to be a friend."
"Are you sure that's all there is to it?"
"I wish there were but with everything I don't see how it could be."
"I'm not trying to read more into any of this than is there and I don't want to get your hopes up but, Zabrynna, Declan does seem to be going above and beyond. He has spent several Sundays with you at the library here just so you could work on some research papers. There are friends and then there are friends."
"You can't seriously think he's falling into that latter category do you?"
"I don't know what to think. All I am saying is that you need to figure this out because if he isn't interested that way, you could find yourself hurt badly before you know it."
Zabrynna toys with the now empty vial. "You don't think he's maybe . No, never mind."
"Say it. Maybe what?"
"Making it look like something's building, get me to express feelings for him, just so he can laugh at me and get me back, out of spite?"
"Declan isn't the sort, or not the Declan I have come to know."
"I didn't think so but, much as I hate to have had the thought I couldn't help it."
"That's your mother's mentality at work."
"I can't argue with you there."
Mariposa nods at the large clock on one of Orange's walls. "We should get going."
They gather their things to go, each the other's escort as their exams are located just across the hall from each other. Grabbing up her coffee cup and falling into step with Mariposa, Zabrynna is definitely feeling somewhat energized but she isn't sure she can credit the pepper-up potion so much as the thought that Declan Douglass might have a genuine interest in her beyond mere friendship.
(Azaelia) Mishap in the Library
Author: Isolde
Date: 09-10-12 14:20
The library did not seem terribly busy at the moment, probably owing to the fact that most of the students at Hogwarts either had class at this hour or were in the middle of writing their Transfiguration O.W.L. and N.E.W.T exams. Because of the relative deserted nature of the library, Azaelia thought now was the best possible time to straighten up and return books to their shelves. She didn't want to be away from her desk when the library became busier, since she tended to get barraged with questions, especially now that it was exam week.
She pushed a cart in the general direction of the stacks but stopped every so often to pick up books left on the various tables scattered throughout the library. She got as far as the first bookshelves, when she heard somebody call her by name.
"I knew you probably didn't need me disturbing you, but I had this overwhelming urge to see you, if only for a minute," Robert said, stopping in front of her.
She accepted a quick kiss from him and said, "You know I'm always happy to see you, but why aren't you at work?"
"I'm supposed to be having a business lunch in Hogsmeade," Robert explained. "I wanted to be extra early, but since I have even more time to spare than I originally planned, and since I've been thinking about you nonstop, I decided to visit. Are you sure I'm not being a bother?"
"Do I look busy to you?" Azaelia asked, but the smile on her face suddenly disappeared when she heard a terrible crash behind her.
She turned and saw a pile of books on the floor between two of the bookcases.
"What in the world?" she started to say, but she was cut short when the next shelf collapsed and then the next. It was like watching dominos fall, one after the other. The students who happened to be in the library studying all stopped what they were doing to watch as more and more books tumbled off the unsupported shelves and onto the floor. Azaelia stood helplessly and watched her library fall apart.
After what felt like eons, Azaelia managed to unfreeze. The library had fallen quiet at last, and the dust that the disaster had caused had already settled.
Dorothy the house-elf appeared at Azaelia's side. "Dorothy will check for students in the stacks."
"I'll help," Robert said. He stopped, though, to put a hand on Azaelia's arm. "Are you all right?"
"Just in shock," Azaelia said. "Harkin?" she called out.
The house-elf appeared and asked, "Yes, Miss Bramble?"
"Tell Dumbledore what happened."
Without another word, Harkin vanished.
Azaelia couldn't believe what had just happened… and during exam time too!