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Proctoring Herbology
Author: Kissy Isuki
Date: 07-28-15 14:25
Chalk in hand Kissy takes the two steps to the blackboard to update the time remaining. Turning back from the board she verbalizes, "We're at the halfway mark. One and a half hours remain." Some students didn't need to hear her say it but others would have looked up, seen the hourglass counting down on the desktop and the time marked on the blackboard and not have it fully register; however, hearing the time aloud will not only sink in but spur some of them on to a pace more suited to better completing the written portions of the Herbology OWL and NEWT.
Setting the chalk down, Kissy takes a sip of coffee and considers warming it up slightly using her wand. Everett and Callista both picked up a stomach bug. Cameron isn't feeling all that well either. With him ill as well, it's been Kissy who's been up several times a night the past two nights. She's about as exhausted as the students writing today's exam.
Luckily, she was alert on Monday when she had the sixth years in class. This afternoon is the sixth years' second Defense Against The Dark Arts class for the week. Wilhelmina Grubbly-Plank is covering for her but even if Kissy weren't proctoring both sections of the Herbology exams her being practically asleep on her feet shouldn't have been an issue. The six years are spending the entire class time practicing in one of the obstacle course rooms. If there, Kissy would mainly be observing, drinking coffee, and working on not falling truly asleep.
Bart Kimple's hand shoots up. Kissy maneuvers her way to his desk, extra anti-cheating quills and bottles of ink in pockets. As it turns out Bart needs neither. She bends close to hear his embarrassed whisper, "I need to use the loo, Miss."
Needing to be excused in the middle of the written portions of the OWLs and NEWTs doesn't happen as some would think given the state of the students nerves. When it does and when it's Kissy proctoring she allows the student to be excused but after seeing Bart to the door, she does one of the simple spells that prevents him from speaking about the exam or writing anything about it. This prevents any chance of cheating while still allowing him to use the toilet rather than forcing him to wait the remaining hour and a half until the Herbology exam's official end time. Still she says in a warning tone, "Shouldn't take you more than five to ten minutes."
Bart nods and hustles out of the Great Hall. He's back in under five minutes, looking greatly relieved. Kissy lifts the spell on him so that he might return to writing his exam. Another hand shoots up, this time Anita Tuck needing another quill.
Her newly warmed up coffee in hand, Kissy strolls around the hall, monitoring progress and watching for signs of roving eyes and students who appear to be taking cat naps. Feeling a yawn coming on, she wonders of there's a charm for upping the amount of caffeine in her cup. If not, there should be!
(Ash) Herbology Practical
Author: Rowan Westwick
Date: 07-29-15 18:26
Ash stood outside the doors leading into the Great Hall with only Professor Weatherby for company. He was the last of the Herbology OWL & NEWT test-takers. Rather than think of Herbology, as he probably ought to, he thought about his future beyond Hogwarts. He had recently applied for a clerk position at the Ministry of Magic. After the initial acknowledgement regarding his application, Ash received a letter with written interview questions, which he answered thoughtfully and thoroughly. The next response was an invitation to an in-person interview, which was scheduled to take place the day after he returned home from Hogwarts. If all went well, then Ash would find himself employed in the Wizarding Audit Office, an administrative division that oversaw the Ministry of Magic's departmental budgets and spending.
Ash liked order and planning. He knew that as a clerk he would likely engage in menial tasks and not the decision-making required to determine how the government spent its money. One day, that might all change. Until then, assuming he even got the job, then he would have to exercise patience.
With his career path having little if nothing to do with Herbology, Ash did not worry so much about his NEWT exam. He felt he had done reasonably well on the written this morning and expected to do well enough on the practical, too, but in the long run, it probably didn't matter how he did. When at long last Professor Weatherby ushered him through the door, Ash nonchalantly strode over to Professor Huntingdon.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Westwick," greeted Professor Huntington. "Let's start by having you extract a Snargaluff pod from this juvenile plant."
The older wizard indicated to a gnarled stump which looked innocuous but was anything but. Ash knew there was no good way to handle the plant other than to just go for it, and he silently wished that Professor Huntington would have selected something less savage than the Snargaluff plant for his first practical assignment. It could only go downhill from here.
He bit back a sigh and then reached for the stump, which immediately sprang to life and revealed thorn-covered vines. They wrapped around Ash's arm and pierced through the fabric of his robes. He winced but didn't give up. Ash reached into the very center of the wild plant and wrapped his hand around a pulsating pod that was green in color and the size of a grapefruit. He used his other hand to grab onto one of the thorny vines, grinding his teeth as the thorns stuck the palm of his hand, and somehow managed to pull his other arm free. He took a step back, and the vines retracted and the plant turned into a lifeless stump again.
He held out the pod and ignored the pain and the blood that stained his skin and the sleeve of his robes.
"Well done! Prune this fanged geranium next."
Ash stifled a sigh. Were all the exams this barbaric, or did Professor Huntington have a sadistic side? Thankfully, every question that followed turned out less intense than the first, but Ash nevertheless found a trip to the Hospital Wing in order when it was all said and done.
The Tuscan Hills
Author: Alaia Rothstein
Date: 07-29-15 18:43
Alaia could not remember being happier in her life. Things were falling into place with her and that made her glow with happiness. She and Lee had decided to have a fabulous destination wedding and she was having so much fun planning it with Lee. The wedding was going to be in Italy, Tuscany to be exact. It was such a beautiful country and they were planning to have the wedding up in the hills in a hide-a-way that they are getting ready to go see.
*****
Lee held Alaia's hand and the two apparated to an undisclosed location in the Tuscan hills and they began walking until they came to the little village where the secluded hide-a-way was located. Pulling out a map from his pocket Lee checked it and then pointed, "it is this way." They walked hand in hand and smiled happily.
"It is so beautiful here." Alaia said. "It is so different than England. I could live here and be quite happy."
"Really? You want to move away from England?"
"Oh, I don't know about that I am just saying I think I could like it here very much. I went to Sicily when I was young with my parents and I loved it there."
"Nice. Well my love you never know what the future will hold for us." Lee smiled.
When they reached the hide-a-way they knocked on the door and a few minutes passed and the butler opened the door and led them inside where they were taken into one of the sitting rooms and greeted by the owner's secretary and they began talking to her as they waited for the wedding coordinator to join them.
(Patricia) Potions Fiasco
Author: Sophie McCourt
Date: 07-30-15 14:48
Patricia looked into the cauldron, and wrinkled her nose the moment she realized the stench that came from it. It smelled like rotten fish. She looked around, relieved that no one noticed the smell yet.
"There's something wrong with our potion," she told Susan, who was crushing some scarabs with a pestle, turning them into a powder.
"Did you add the two spoons of castor oil?"
"Yes, of course."
"And the thyme's leaves?"
"Yes," Patricia replied, with irritation. She didn't forget anything; she has done everything according to Professor Weasley's instructions. It surely must have been Susan who had done something wrong. Probably she didn't warm up the cauldron to the right temperature, or she had cut the rat's tail wrongly.
Susan added the scarab powder into the cauldron, in the hopes of fixing the potion. But the stench only got more intense. Tom Howard and Edmund Woodhouse, working at at table next to theirs, started to protest. Tom pressed his fingers against his nose.
"Gross!"
Professor Weasley noticed the agitation and she quickly walked towards Patricia and Susan in order to fix the situation. She looked at the potion and shook her head.
"I'm afraid it's ruined. "
"But we didn't do anything wrong…" Patricia said.
Professor Weasley removed the ruined potion from the cauldron with a spell. Patricia and Susan looked at the shiny black bottom of the cauldron with disappointment. Then the teacher started to explain to the entire class what went wrong with their potion. It had been one of the girls' hairs that accidentally has fallen into the cauldron and ruined their work. Some potions were not affected when that happened but most of them were. There were times that such issue could be corrected but it wasn't the case with this potion. It was too late to start again and Patricia and Susan started to clean up their working table, while the others continued brewing their respective potions.
"At least she didn't remove points to our house," Susan said, trying to find a silver lining in the situation.
Patricia just shrugged her shoulders. She was pretty sure this has been Susan's fault. It was her hair that had fallen into the cauldron, for sure. Thanks to Susan her uniform smelled like rotten fish now. Patricia would have to change it before lunch. She couldn't risk sitting at the Ravenclaw table with such smell. Caleb could happen to sit nearby and he would notice the stench. Then Patricia would have to explain him the fiasco during Potions. What a shame that would be!
Thoughts
Author: Hermione Granger
Date: 07-30-15 18:24
Feeling simultaneously puzzled and intrigued, Hermione studied the test results of a patient admitted to Spell Damage only that morning. The wizard, who had a fetish for women's clothing, had somehow managed to transfigure himself into a witch when all he meant to do was magically readjust the size of the little black dress he was wearing at the time. Now, instead of a somewhat heavy-set man in a stretched-out dress that didn't flatter, there was a woman who had curves to fill the snug dress.
The problem was, the wizard had never wanted to be a woman. He just liked wearing women's clothing. Unable to reverse the spell himself, he'd arrived at St. Mungo's in a right panic and seemed even more upset, now that several healers had seen him and so far had no luck changing him back to his normal self. Hermione, ever the hard-worker and thinker, knew that the spell could get reversed. She just had to figure out how.
She looked up when someone else entered the room. They exchanged smiles of acknowledgment, the newcomer then going to fill a coffee pot with water, and Hermione turning back to the patient's test results. She quickly found out that she had lost her concentration, though. The other healer wasn't being particularly noisy, but her presence was nonetheless distracting. Hermione slid the file away and leaned back in her chair to give herself a bit of a break.
Her thoughts inevitably traveled to Leigh. What a shock it had been to learn that the Death Eater who had seen it her duty to get revenge on behalf of another dead Death Eater had wound up dead, too. Hermione couldn't deny the relief she felt at knowing Leigh couldn't hurt her anymore, but she also couldn't help wonder at the circumstances. She also thought about Linus, from whom she'd heard nothing since the news, and for whom she also felt a bit sorry. Hermione knew that he and Leigh hadn't seen eye to eye on a lot, but they were still twins. It must feel like he lost an arm and not just his sister.
There was one bright spot in lieu of the tragedy. Up until just a few days ago, Hermione had worried about bringing another child into the world, especially with Leigh's insinuation that she had been the one to push her down the stairs at John Ratcliffe Hospital. Now with the danger gone, maybe it was time to think about a little brother or sister for Rose.
DADA OWL (Hunter)
Author: Emerald Green
Date: 07-30-15 19:19
Dipping his quill in ink the thought crosses Hunter's mind that at times like this he wishes he could use a good, old fashioned #2 pencil or one of those pens with a built in eraser or a pen and White Out or whatever that stuff is called. Unlike Olive and Emerald, Jade and he did at least have a few years of writing with quills dipped in ink before using them in school was an issue. Or maybe they wouldn't have been that much of a problem if his twin and he were older when they learned of the Wizarding World. If they'd been older they would have been better at writing.
Nah.
No matter his age then, he would have been used to ball point pens, gel ink pens, and other types of pens typically used by Muggles. Pencils aren't uncommon in the Wizarding World but in school, or at least at Hogwarts, some sort of quill is the expected writing implement.
Reaching to dip his quill again Hunter frowns when he moves to blot it. Nothing came off it and now trying to write with it, all the quill is doing is scratching into the page without leaving ink behind. He tries again with the same result. Suppressing a sigh he raises his hand holding the quill.
He's not stifling a sigh because of the time lost getting a new quill. It's because the Defense Against the Dark Arts OWL and NEWT proctor is none other than Professor Snape, one of Hunter's least favorite professors. Much as he does not care for Snape or the man's teaching style, Hunter plans to take Potions come sixth year if his Potions OWL score allows. And it should, or so he hopes. He does decently enough in that class and with neither the written nor the practical portions of that OWL being put together by Severus Snape, Hunter feels he should do well enough to make at least the minimum grade Snape requires to take NEWT level Potions.
Professor Snape scowls at Hunter but dutifully exchanges quills with him. With a working quill once again, Hunter gives his attention back to the question he'd been about to answer. He reads it again before he begins to write. List and briefly explains three spells with the word jinx in the name that would directly affect your opponent's body parts during a duel.
The first Hunter lists is the Impediment Jinx, which is also called the Impediment Hex, explaining that it can temporarily slow or temporarily immobilize the opponent. The second he writes is the Trip Jinx, which creates a grabbing sensation to the opponent's feet or ankles, causing the person to fall over, or trip.
Hunter has to think about a third one. He knows of several but none of them are ones he would have learned from first to fifth year. One is a jinx that Olive has talked about but as far as Hunter knows, it's not one taught in any year of Defense Against the Dark Arts. Olive called it the finger removing jinx. There's the knockback jinx but it's actual name is Flipendo so he's not sure it qualifies for the question.
About to put a little mark by this question to come back to it, one comes to Hunter. The Stinging Jinx, also called the Stinging Hex. It's considered a dark charm and students were never allowed to use it on each other in duels but are taught a counter in case they ever do run across it. The spell does just what its name implies, it stings. The skin gets red and swollen. It's painful no matter where the jinx hits but can be especially bad around the face, causing the flesh around the eyes to become so swollen and puffy the person has trouble seeing. The photos Hunter has seen of its effects reminded him of the time in first grade back in Muggeland when a classmate allergic to wasps got stung several times during recess.
That question taken care of, Hunter moves on, trying to ignore the cramping in his hand. By this time next week he figures he'll be lucky if he can still close his fingers around a quill.
(Alanna) Stressed
Author: Beck
Date: 07-31-15 17:22
Alanna sat in the Ministry of Magic canteen and thought about all the bad things that had happened to her family since the start of the new year. First, Anthony had gotten arrested on a murder charge in Muggle Caerphilly and still languished in jail, where he awaited a trial that would no doubt end in him going to prison, despite his innocence. Then, Karina had gotten kidnapped, leaving Ariella bereft and angry over the fact that her daughter appeared to have dropped off the face of the earth.
Next, Toby got kicked off the Falmouth Falcons Quidditch team on allegations that he used performance enhancing drugs. All efforts to clear his name had thus far failed. He couldn't even get a hearing in front of the League's board. Finally, the most recent issue to plague the Beck family was the accusation that Gillian had stolen body parts from the morgue at St. Mungo's, where until very recently she worked clinical rotations for her forensic healing degree. She was now on leave pending an investigation, which alleged that she sold the body parts on the black market.
The only Beck siblings not yet directly affected by the bad luck were Katherine and Alanna herself. There was an adage that said bad things happened in multiples, but Alanna knew better to believe that all the mishaps and misunderstandings were nothing more than big coincidences. Deep down, she knew exactly who was responsible and why. The more time that passed and the worse things got, Alanna couldn't help but feel terribly guilty. After all, in some way, it was all her fault.
She couldn't bring herself to tell anybody what she believed, because she feared it would all backfire. Anthony would go to prison for sure, or worse. Ariella would never reunite with Karina. Toby and Gillian would never return to their old jobs. And what would happen to Katherine? To Alanna? To the extended family, like Plum and Alex, Lawrence, Bronwyn, and Jared? The wizard responsible had climbed up the corporate ladder quickly and had managed impossible feats already. If anyone could destroy her and those she held dear, it would be him.
Alanna put her face in her hands and shuddered violently. What to do? What to do?
She needed to go home, but home didn't feel very comforting anymore. Alanna's incessant worrying and mood swings were starting to take a toll on her relationship with Jared. She didn't want to hurt him or put a strain on their young marriage, but she couldn't help or control how she felt. Stress was an all-powerful emotion, after all.
Forcing herself out of her chair, she started to head for the exit with the plan of flooing straight home, when she remembered she'd left her purse up in the office. Alanna hesitated. She tended to avoid being in the office after hours, when few others were around in case Reed cornered her, but her purse was kind of essential. After enduring an internal debate, she went to the lift instead and hurried into the office, hoping to dash in and out unnoticed.
She wasn't that lucky, though. Reed stepped out of his office just as she was opening the tall bottom desk drawer where she kept her purse hidden and strode up to her. At first she thought he might block her in, since filing cabinets and a wall took up one side of her work space and her only escape route was on the other side, but he didn't. Instead, he put his hands on his desk, leaned foward, and leered at her.
"You know," he drawled, "I could be a big help to you."
Alanna wanted to snap, "I think you've helped enough!" Instead, she asked, "At what cost?"
Reed continued to leer. "I'm sure we can make some sort of arrangement."
She stared at him and then looked away, wishing a hole would open up in the floor and suck her down into its vortex. "After all this time, I can't imagine you have any tricks up your sleeve to help Anthony or Ariella. If you did and were the right sort of person, then you would have helped already." She raised her eyes at him and thought to herself, But I know you're behind all of this, and maybe you can make it all go away.
"We don't always have the right solutions from the start," Reed replied, acting like they were discussing serious business and not something wholly corrupt and despicable. He stood up straight and dropped his hands to his sides. "Think about it. I'm sure the end result will be positive for everybody involved."
With that, he walked away, heading back to his office. Alanna, meanwhile, snatched her purse and hurried to the lifts. She did not want to enter into any sort of arrangement with Reed, but if she didn't, then what? Either way, it was a lose-lose situation.
Defense Against the Dark Arts
Author: S Snape
Date: 07-31-15 21:03
Proctor for the Defense Against The Dark Arts O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. Severus has had moments throughout the day during which he considered the irony. How many years had he attempted to convince Albus Dumbledore to appoint him to the Defense Against The Dark Arts position. In retrospect, much as Severus imagined he coveted the position, he has no remorse at never having taught the course beyond the occasional standing in, such as when Remus Lupin would be suffering the worse of the moon's pull.
Sending another student into the Great Hall for examination Severus makes an effort not to dwell on how deadly tedious this form of proctoring is. During the written exam he read a handful of monographs, each on a new, usually experimental, potion or brewing techniques. Although well written Severus doubts that Stewart Brewer's theory that all potions requiring direct heat can be successfully produced outside with sunlight as the sole heat source. One of the other ways Severus has passed the time today has been to mentally compose a letter to Brewer suggesting the wizard spend the winter months in the far north using the technique put forth in his monograph.
In rapid succession Severus sends two more students into the Great Hall. This portion of the two exams is more tedious for him than the morning session. This morning he would read some, walk about some, giving students the eye to make sure they knew not to even think of attempting circumvent the anti-cheating quills, pace about aimlessly while allowing the students to believe his movements are anything but aimless, return to the front and drink some tea while reading another monograph. For the afternoon session, Severus is tethered near the main Great Hall doors, keeping watch for the examinors concluding with examinees in order to rapidly send in replacements with as little time lost as possible.
The inability to read or even to pace has left Severus with his own thoughts though he cannot be pulled too deeply into those thoughts. To do so would risk being a substandard proctor and with students as witness.
Severus calls a student's name, sending the girl in to see Professor Elgin. His attention is drawn to a student who appears to be in a state of near hyperventilation. Severus conjures a paper bag, hands it to the student with instructions to sit down with head near the knees while breathing into the bag. A few minutes later that same student enters the Great Hall, his breathing more under control.
After the last of the seventh years has been sent into the Great Hall, Severus follows behind. As each of the examiners finishes with their respective students, he begins helping to restore the Great Hall to its mealtime state in preparation for supper, soon to be served. His involvement in today's proceedings complete, Severus retrieves a vial of potion from his office, places it in a protective container, then briskly walks into the village to hand the potion off with the usual hazard warnings. The return walk is slower, more sedate, Severus in no rush for dinner.