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Goblinfrog · 10-15-2018, 01:24 PM

It is a cold mid-January day. The sun may indeed have been shining outside (as it is wont to occasionally do in winter) but this does not lessen the chills you feel in any way. Luckily, History of Magic is taking place inside the castle (as usual), which means the only goosebumps you should concern yourself with are those you may get if you cross the infamously icy Professor Alice O'Hara. She is nowhere to be seen at the moment, though, but this does not mean she is not listening.

Normally you would be sent to the desk with your nametag on it, and there you would stand until the lesson had officially begun - as per school rules. Today the benches have rearranged into four distinct rows, and hanging over each row of benches is a row of flags for each one of the four Hogwarts. From the professor's view they are arranged from left to right in the same order as the seating arrangements in the Great Hall: Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Slytherin, and Hufflepuff. There are no nametags on any of these desks today. Presumably you are expected to stand (until instructed otherwise) in the row corresponding to your house.

But where is the History of Magic professor? Her desk is not in its usual place and a single message is written on the blackboard. Please stand by a bench corresponding to your proper Hogwarts house

Remember to follow all school rules as you wait for Alice to begin the class. She may not have been appointed by Julian, but the History of Magic teacher is infamous for strictness anyway.

OOC: Class has begun. You may pretend you were here the whole time.

First question
Second question!
Third question and mini activity
Main activity part one

sweetpinkpixie · 10-22-2018, 03:52 PM

Four points. He felt like Anna had just gotten off easy considering her had lost ten in Ancient Runes for, well, a similar ish sort of situation. So his eyes were looking over at the Gryffindor captain, wondering what all she would do because...well...threatening Gryffindors of all houses was likely to lead to the complete opposite of what said demands were. So...bye bye those 40 points from Gryffindor house then?

The professor's response to his question was a bit....alarming? He wasn't sure if that was the right word or not, but her asking them all to tell her about the other schools and their house systems when she did...not know herself was not exactly comforting. So he just sorta smiled and nodded at her and reckoned he would ask one of his Beauxbaton transfer friends about that later.

With the next question, well, he was going to just think about Hogwarts when framing his answer. It was all that he knew and, well, he couldn't speak for another country's school or even hope to understand thoughts there without knowing the culture and history of the area, you know? Though, well, Jessa sorta took the thoughts right out of his head. "I...sorta think like Jessa. The houses were kinda the compromise between the four founders....and they kinda handpicked the sort of students they specifically wanted to teach. So...reckon Hogwarts back then compared to now was, you know, it functioned a bit differently than it does now." Or, well, A LOT differently considering how this term was going.

And then came the activity, and out came a piece of parchment and down went his thoughts - as disjointed as they may be. Though he, really did not want to share them all to be honest. Some of it was a little too personal and he would ramble quite a bit - and his heart hurt a bit hearing what Chloe had to say.

Still, he scribbled down a few things and then waited for his turn to present.

"I was a hatstall between Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff...and I kinda requested that the Sorting Hat place me in Hufflepuff..." For Newt Scamander reasons mostly. "...I don't think I am anything like the 11-year-old who sat on that stool...but I also reckon I would still be sorted in to Hufflepuff today based on everything I have experienced...as a Hufflepuff."

2111jen · 10-22-2018, 10:08 PM

After answering the qurstion, Skyler put her name on her parchment and started to write.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Parchment

The sorting hat had put me in Slytherin. At the time, I didn't know why. My brother was in Gryffindor. I guess because I'm determined. I wouldn't know. Would I be sorted into the same house again? Maybe. More than likely yes because I've embraced the house more and am a bit more confident then when I was sorted.

SilverTiger · 10-22-2018, 11:56 PM

The reaction coming from some of the other student leaders had honestly bothered Stasya more than it probably ought to have. Mostly because she still had Professor O’Hara on their side for the most part, even if it was just due to who had hired her. The strictness was still not the same as the strictness elsewhere, and she’d been relatively oblivious to any other invisibility cloak drama going on inside the others’ heads. Hypocrisy wasn’t anywhere on her radar, considering the turmoil in her own head over her own beliefs. But it was the rebellion coming from Anna that truly bothered her, and she’d turned a grey-green gaze on the captain before she’d offered up the answer that could earn back those points. It wasn’t out of any sense of disagreement, and she was still solidly against anything that supported the headmaster’s insane reign. But she didn’t want Gryffindor to fail in the process.

“Professor, the four houses at Durmstrang are Vulpelara, Soscrofa, Ucilena and Wolverine. My mama was in Vulpelara, and it’s named after the Arctic Fox, and the others are named after the wild boar, the killer whale, and the wolverine.” Obviously. “I think the house systems were developed to allow students to learn amongst the people that are most similar to themselves, that share the same beliefs. But honestly, things have advanced a lot from how they were back when the schools were founded. Not all Slytherins are purebloods, after all.” They didn’t all believe that non-purebloods didn’t deserve to be there, either. Plus, she’d known plenty of people not in Slytherin who had those beliefs.

Either way, she’d been grateful that there was a bit of writing for the activity, and applied herself to the questions that had ben posed. It gave her time to decide what to say, to think about the questions. Hopefully, it also meant they’d stop being so antagonistic toward the professor, too.

Goblinfrog · 10-23-2018, 12:21 AM

Alice listened as each student answered the most recent questions. When one student was finished, she would point to the next to allow them to give their answer. "You may answer first, Skyler," she said (first-naming the girl), seeing that the Slytherin looked ready, and she nodded slowly at her words. Daisy was next. "You need not concern yourself with answering wrong. I asked for your honest opinion and you provided it. I share this opinion as well." She gave a short, approving nod to the Hufflepuff before pointing at Drew and crossing her arms. He was obviously a shy speaker. Obviously smart, but he needed self-confidence to get his ideas better across, or so she thought. "Hmm," was her only comment to him before she moved on to Juni. "I think that was definitely a factor," the History of Magic teacher concurred.

The History of Magic teacher listened with crossed arms and a pointed expression as Jessa Cambridge completed her assignment. Annoyance flashed across her features for a brief moment, but this was quickly replaced by a forced expression of pointed interest to the rest of the head girl's words. Silence. Alice took a deep breath and mentally counted backwards from five in her mind. "Very well, Ms. Cambridge," she said when she had calmed herself enough to speak. "I accept your answer, but I must express that I am disappointed in your complete lack of interest on this subject. Perhaps after today you will reconsider." Then she averted her gaze from the head girl and tried to avoid eye contact with her for the rest of the lesson.

She pointed to Chloe next. "This is an interesting answer," she retorted, though she did not gaze directly at the Ravenclaw as she spoke. This was to avoid accidentally looking at Jessa, who, as a Ravenclaw, was sitting the same row as Chloe. "I, too, believe that I suffered from only being exposed to other Ravenclaws. For example, I could never perform magic very well while a student, and people expected me to because of my house. I was surrounded by magical geniuses. Although I have heard that your magic is fine, Ms. Chloe, I understand completely where you are coming from."

Daisy's answer also got a few comments from the History of Magic professor, who was relieved at an excuse to look away from the Ravenclaw table. "Yes, it is fairly common for a student to possess traits from more than one house. If you believe Hufflepuff traits are the most dominant in you, then I am sure the Sorting Hat would agree. He respects free will."

Eyes still on the Hufflepuff table, she nodded slowly at Davis's answer. "As a Ravenclaw, I have always valued the loyalty of Hufflepuffs," she said, thinking this was the right time for a little subliminal message. "Sometimes we must obey our superiors even if we personally find them distasteful, and this is something Helga Hufflepuff understood well."

Unfortunately, Derf decided it was a good idea to mention Jessa's name, just as she was doing her best to ignore the head girl completely. Alice ignored this and instead focused on what he was actually saying. "You are right. The real reason we have multiple houses is because each founder wanted a different vision of Hogwarts. One point to Hufflepuff."

Still determined to avoid the Ravenclaw desks, Alice turned toward the Gryffindors and pointed to
Stasya. She nodded approvingly at her answer, somewhat mollified. "Four points to Gryffindor. Well learned, Stasya...well learned."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now they could move on to the main activity. Alice was no longer in a mood to read out loud what she had written for the mini activity. Not that she would show her anger, at least not now.

"Let's move on to the main activity, the clock is ticking," she said, turning around and climbing back on top of her desk, where she resumed her Yoga pose. "I divided you into four houses largely for this activity. Today we are going to pretend that we are creating a wizarding school. We will pretend that we have the location plotted out and we have the funding. Now, I want you all to pretend that you are like the four founders in that you want a house system with four houses - like Hogwarts and so many other schools. Decide among yourself which value your house will represent, and what creature shall in turn represent your house. You can pick up to three virtues for your house, and please don't recreate your own house. I forbid you from talking to students from another house while you are doing this, you will work as a team within your own house. At the end of the activity, I shall call upon you and we shall see what houses you have created."

And with that, she closed her eyes and began to hum.

DaniDiNardo · 10-23-2018, 05:10 AM

Her interest wouldn’t increase.

Unless the houses began symbolising the undead or dabbling in another of her actual interests, Jessa simply did not care. This may have been clear from the impassive expression on the young girl’s face as she entirely disregarded the woman’s pointed stares.

She was no Scrimgeour.

Dull, blue eyes moved about the class after she’d spoken, noting the woman gave no comment to her actual answer or anything she said about her house despite replying to everyone else. It didn’t take long to see she was being ignored and it didn’t faze her. The girl liked blending into the background, however the woman’s latter actions saw her raising her hand once more.

“Professor, I do believe I gave the same answer as Derf and gave it first. Why is he the only one of us to be acknowledged and rewarded for it? Did you not find mine satisfactory? It was essentially the same.” Her tone neither rose nor fell. Only the smallest sparks of curiosity laced the otherwise monotone. She wasn’t prepared to wage war about it, it was simply a matter of wanting to know why before she respectfully asked to be excused.

In memory she’d already had to create a new house for this class and didn’t fancy doing it again. This meant she would be of little help to her group mates. This meant it was better she not be here at all.

Goblinfrog · 10-23-2018, 06:58 PM

Alice had barely been meditating for five seconds when a voice intruded on her peace. She didn't have to open her eyes to recognize who had had spoken. Of course it was Ms. Cambridge. Who else? Reminding herself to be calm, the History of Magic professor slowly opened her eyes and forced herself to look at the head girl. "I'm sorry, Ms. Cambridge, I did not hear your answer. Did you speak when another student was speaking? You know that's against the rules." She was lying, of course - she had heard Jessa's answer. How could she not have heard it when everyone spoke one at a time? "No matter, I'll excuse it this time. You want a reward? Very well, I award you half a point. You can have the other half by impressing me with this next activity."

DaniDiNardo · 10-23-2018, 11:46 PM

Jessa furrowed her brows at the woman, openly confused and perturbed. She hadn’t spoken while someone else was speaking and knew herself it was against the rules. The fact O’Hara was “excusing” something she hadn’t done sent the Ravenclaw into something of a spiral of questions, all of which she kept to herself.

The woman’s next words were both insulting and condescending. She hadn’t asked to get a reward, she’d only wanted to know why she was being ignored. The implication and the half a point with the promise of another half did not sit well with the girl.

Her brows furrowed further.

“No thank you, Professor.” She didn’t jump through hoops for points and even if she did, half a point would barely see her up from her seat at best. “The half a point isn’t necessary, it isn’t much of a reward and I wasn’t looking for one in the first place. You may keep it.” Her tone was nothing if not polite—polite and detached. The Head Girl wasn’t particularly invested in this exchange, or this class for that matter. “I’m feeling rather ill. May I be excused to see the Healer?” Staying here was a solid no but Jessa wasn’t like others who would just up and attempt a walk out. Those didn’t work anymore. You needed reason to be allowed from the lesson without having to suffer consequences for it. She would feign illness as needed.

emjay · 10-24-2018, 04:29 PM

Gunnar had found it a bit difficult to concentrate on his writing assignment with all the tension in the room. It was bad enough that the subject matter was so boring, but now it was mandatory for every student to answer every question, whether they knew the answer or not, and they had to be interested in the topic - or at least feign interest. That's what he would gather by those punished by those who didn't answer, or answer in the way O'Hara wanted. Merlin, this was tedious, and he could feel the tension in his shoulders as he tried to write.

He did finish the mini activity though, not that he thought it anything more than busy work. And he read it aloud when called on - No, he didn't think he was the exact same person he was two and a half years ago. He wasn't sure why the sorting hat placed him in Slytherin and hadn't given it much thought beyond that, though he did also mention that he was a hat stall between that and Ravenclaw, if that had any bearing on anything. And he really didn't think that it did. And yes, he thought he would still be placed in Slytherin had he been sorted today. Obviously whatever the hat saw in a person was something that would either grow and develop or something that was there all along.

And then the main activity. Ugh. Why. Weren't the houses they were already in good enough? Gunnar really didn't want to think up an entirely new house when he was perfectly happy with being in Slytherin and they weren't allowed to use the same traits of their current house. Maybe one of his fellow snakes would have some ideas because he was coming up blank - not that he was trying too hard to come up with anything. He had just looked to those sitting around him when he looked up, distracted by whatever was going on between the professor and the head girl. If he didn't know better, he'd think that she was purposely trying to annoy the Ravenclaw. Strict adherence to rules or not, adults weren't supposed to act so unprofessional, especially not teachers.

2111jen · 10-24-2018, 11:17 PM

Skyler sighed. She hated all of this, the tension, the fact that you HAD to answer. She hates to break it to O'Hera, but not everyone knows every answer to the questions she asks. And way to embarrass that one student, props tp you progessor *insert heavy sarcasm here* Skyler took a breath and let it out several times to prevent herself from yelling. She curled and uncurled her fists several times. Okay. Breeeaaaathe.
She turned to Gunner.
"Do you have any ideas Gunner?" She asked him.

Goblinfrog · 10-24-2018, 11:43 PM

Alice may have been strict and a bit cruel on occasion, but she was no fool. The head girl's claim of suddenly falling ill had no merit in the history of magic professor's eyes. Of course she just wanted to be excused. And yet, Alice was more than happy to play along. Her annoyance at the head girl over her statement on having no interest on this subject was causing her to act slightly more unprofessional than usual. She was glad for an excuse to excuse her - this time. "You may be excused if you think you will be unable to perform this activity," she said, turning to regard the head girl with a pointed expression. "You may have your full point. I am sorry about your illness. I do hope you feel better soon."

OOC: I am leaving this open one day longer than I was planning to. Happy posting!

DaniDiNardo · 10-25-2018, 03:37 AM

And there was her green light. Didn’t matter that the woman believed or not, she’d still given her the go ahead to leave. She was walking out of class with permission. Some may have thought it didn’t have the same feel as defiantly walking out without a care...and they were right. This was easier and actually worked and gave her no anxiety. It didn’t land her a detention or a lecture on entitlement. It was the better option for her.

Jessa nodded then collected her things and left the classroom. She would visit the healer, just to keep up the act before heading back to her lab to get in some light reading.

All in all a more eventful way to spend the time.

sweetpinkpixie · 10-25-2018, 04:44 AM

Derf was equally as confused as Jessa about the whole point awarding bit and was VERY much distracted from his own work while he gaped at the whole exchange between the professor and head girl, the behavior of both of them superfluous to the sixth year. Though the reaction and outright lies of the professor were particularly so. And then Jessa lied as well, or twisted the truth in that he was sure she felt ill about something in the moment but knew full well that she would not be going to visit the healer - or anyone other than the dolls in her lab - for that matter.

And then her request was ... accepted ... and Derf found himself hiding his face in his hands with a soft groan under his breath.

Hogwarts felt like, even more so than before, it was falling apart at the seams.

Though part of him did not entiiiiiiirely blame Jessa seeing as they had done something similar to this before - it was an activity that always came up whenever houses were being examined - but Derf was also a bit relieved for the outlet of creativity and ability to think rather than simply regurgitated. Repeated as the task was. Which was why he was going to try to go in an entirely different direction than before and rather than personality attributes frame it more so how university was put together. Ish. By mutual interests rather that aptitude.

Three virtues and a creature, well...the latter came easily. Though there were other options he could have gone with, this creature and the distinct divisions between its three creature composition were the most appealing to the blonde.

Quote:

CHIMERA HOUSE

language learners
creature enthusiasts
chocolate frog card collectors

Hey Ju · 10-25-2018, 02:19 PM

......

Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh.

Anna could not be any more bored right now and that could be seen all over her face. This woman. The Gryffindor couldn't help but roll her eyes when the older witch went on about how Anna was being 'disrespectful' and yadda yadda yadda. Honestly, Anna was NOT being disrespectful at all - being disrespectful, in her opinion, looked like something else entirely, and Anna wasn't about to actually BE disrespectful THAT way because she wasn't that kind of person.

You were welcome, professor O'Hara.

The girl took the four points deduction on the chin and wasn't bothered about that. Her expression grew even more bored and just done in general when the four-hundred-word answer was demanded. Nahh, thanks. Anna was good.

She did let out another annoyed sigh when the woman said she'd subtract 40 points from Gryffindor if Anna didn't give a 400-word answer AND she would get detention.

Was that a challenge?

Anna looked at the woman square in the face and considered her options. She genuinely was not up to giving the gigantic answer - unlike the freak of a Head Girl over there, but then again, that was expected. She also didn't care about detention or house points, for that matter, HOWEVER, she was aware some other housemates would not share her feelings on the latter.

The fourth year stopped and wondered if she cared.

...

Nope.

"I'll see you in detention, professor." The girl answered as casually as ever, because that was how she felt about the situation anyway.

Also, had she said she was done with this school for this year? Because she was.

That was another reason why the activity didn't interest Anna one bit. Come up with a house when they were seated at a table that already represented their OWN house - which, by the way, in Anna's case, was an awesome one - and...

'I forbid you from talking to students from another house while you are doing this.'

The sentence pounced on Anna defiantly, making the girl purse her lips to stop herself from losing more points. It was like the woman was doing it on purpose!

For the sake of her own housemates, the Captain remained quiet. Again. The temptation to turn around and start chatting with people from other houses was SO REAL, though, it almost hurt.

Anna had to admit the Head Girl had definitely made the right call that day. Lucky weirdo.

emjay · 10-25-2018, 10:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2111jen

Skyler sighed. She hated all of this, the tension, the fact that you HAD to answer. She hates to break it to O'Hera, but not everyone knows every answer to the questions she asks. And way to embarrass that one student, props tp you progessor *insert heavy sarcasm here* Skyler took a breath and let it out several times to prevent herself from yelling. She curled and uncurled her fists several times. Okay. Breeeaaaathe.
She turned to Gunner.
"Do you have any ideas Gunner?" She asked him.

Hmm? Gunnar was normally one to mind his own business....well, mostly. But he really couldn't help himself from watching this exchange between the Head Girl and the Professor. And it was only when Skyler addressed him that he pulled his eyes away from the Ravenclaw walking out of the classroom.

"Uh, right... um, no, I don't," he admitted when he turned back to look at his year mate. "Do you? What traits do you value most? Maybe we can start with that part first, and maybe some animal to represent all that will make sense when we figure that out." And really the traits he valued were already associated with the house he was in. He wasn't sure they were allowed to pick any of them. "Maybe something with the arts? Like... I play piano, and music is considered an art. The arts can include a lot of things - music, drawing and painting, theater, dancing..." So it seemed like it could include a lot of people? Just a suggestion though...

2111jen · 10-26-2018, 01:55 AM

Skyler nodded. "Yeah." She startes to think about it as he spoke nodding a bit.
"What I value most is honesty," she said. "You can be mean or nice but at least you're honest with yourself. As far as an animal...I wouldn't know. I don't think any animal would be a liar...maybe we can have a house dog like a lab, because dogs are loyal which can go with honesty?"

Goblinfrog · 10-26-2018, 09:43 PM

"Very well, Ms. Meriwether," the professor said, smirking slightly. "If you insist on defying my orders, then I have no choice but to discipline you. Forty points from Gryffindor! I will see you tonight, 9:00, in my office. Be on time or lose more points." The Gryffindor would learn very soon the cost of defying Alice O'Hara.

To the rest of the class, the History of Magic teacher nodded at and said, "Class dismissed. I will collect your papers and have them all graded before tomorrow's lesson. I hope you found this activity stimulating for your collective imaginations. One last thing. I ask that all of you please pay a visit to the Hospital Wing to be sure you are not catching whatever Ms. Cambridge has comedown with it. I don't want any of you missing classes due to illness. Class dismissed"

With that, she climbed off her desk and began collecting papers off the students desks.

OOC: Thank you so much everyone for coming!

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