NationStates Jolt Archive

"I know what you mean," nodded Hayai. "I'm new to magic myself. As far as I can tell, having pure magic blood in your veins is considered by some to be the best thing in the world; everyone else with even a drop of non-magical blood in them is considered worse than dirt. It's really no different that general rasism, really."

He gestured with his head over at the Draco table.

"Draco prides itself on taking only purebloods. There isn't a single person at that table who would even want to talk with you-he'd probably rather kill you."

"I know what you mean," nodded Hayai. "I'm new to magic myself. As far as I can tell, having pure magic blood in your veins is considered by some to be the best thing in the world; everyone else with even a drop of non-magical blood in them is considered worse than dirt. It's really no different that general rasism, really."

He gestured with his head over at the Draco table.

"Draco prides itself on taking only purebloods. There isn't a single person at that table who would even want to talk with you-he'd probably rather kill you."

~ Killed because my mother can't use magic ...?

Still, the information was priceless: it would definately save him a lot of trouble later on.

" Thanks for letting me in on that ... I never knew."

He hung and shook his head. Now, he really was an outcast. But weren't there others who weren't, what were they called? Pure-bloods? Yea, there were lots of them, weren't there?

Suddenly, Elario didn't feel so out-of-place. In fact, he felt like he could settle down rather easily in this school.

It then dawned on him that he actually didn't know the man's name he was talking to. Deciding to introduce himself first, he casually let out,

" My name's Elario."~

"Hayai Karasu of Titan house, nice to meet you." This was the first student at the school so far that he actually liked. "I'm a mix-blood, if it makes you feel any better. Couldn't give a damn about that stuff anyways."

"Hayai Karasu of Titan house, nice to meet you." This was the first student at the school so far that he actually liked. "I'm a mix-blood, if it makes you feel any better. Couldn't give a damn about that stuff anyways."

~ Elario nodded as a form of concurring.

" Such a trivial thing to place as important, neh?"

Still, it did make him feel quite unassured: that acts of violence would be committed against him simply because his mother was Non-magical. However, it did help that now he had finally found someone at the school he could talk to.

" I'm in Titan too, by the way. I was thinking of retiring for the night though: I've seen enough for one day."~

"I know what you mean," nodded Hayai. "I'm new to magic myself. As far as I can tell, having pure magic blood in your veins is considered by some to be the best thing in the world; everyone else with even a drop of non-magical blood in them is considered worse than dirt. It's really no different that general rasism, really."

He gestured with his head over at the Draco table.

"Draco prides itself on taking only purebloods. There isn't a single person at that table who would even want to talk with you-he'd probably rather kill you."

"Funny", Dante said, "where I come from racism is illegal. some people are still racist, but it is illegal on the professional and government levels."

"Yeah.", Dante said, "What can you do? I tend to not bring up the blood issue as much as I can. Saves me a lot of hassle. Don't you say?"

"Well...I'm not going to even bother bringing it up unless someone does it first, because in relation to all these Dracos, I'm supposedly of the lowest on the totem pole," Nic said, rolling her eyes. "Frankly, they'd be a lot better with everyone if they too gave it up, but they stick to believing in the 'holiness' of their heritage that it's no wonder they're either a house that you love or hate..."

"Not directly so far, but I know many people like that. I've eavedropped on them-they're obsessed with bloodlines and proving themselves. Those types are usually the same-weak and scared. Most of these Dracos seem to have grown up as spoiled rich kids who have never gotten in real fight and just like to run their mouths. As such, weaklings tend to bond together, until they can overwhelm those stronger than them."

Hayai sighed and watched the other student size him up; it was like he was looking at a doppleganger or something with the green eyes and similar hair.

"I saw a few of them just a while ago at the Curses test. They seemed competent, but nothing amazing, I'd say. Still, can't be sure until I personally fight them, I guess."An unknown person can by and said," If you saw them truly fight they were willing and more then able to conjure killing curses to finish most of their matchs and I do not see that as a sign of weakness, but fail in comparison they are ruthless."

"Well...I'm not going to even bother bringing it up unless someone does it first, because in relation to all these Dracos, I'm supposedly of the lowest on the totem pole," Nic said, rolling her eyes. "Frankly, they'd be a lot better with everyone if they too gave it up, but they stick to believing in the 'holiness' of their heritage that it's no wonder they're either a house that you love or hate..."

"Well. . . ", Dante said, "I guess that we just used up that Draco topic."

Nicole laughed; at least the guy had a sense of humor. Seemed like a lot of the kids around here were just those kind of people who were immersed in studying and proving themselves and had little in the sense of personalities...or other traces of humanity in them.

"I don't have a problem with the Dracos as long as they don't keep up their current attitude," Nic said, "It's their outlook, not them themselves, that bothers me..."

~ Elario nodded as a form of concurring.

" Such a trivial thing to place as important, neh?"

Still, it did make him feel quite unassured: that acts of violence would be committed against him simply because his mother was Non-magical. However, it did help that now he had finally found someone at the school he could talk to.

" I'm in Titan too, by the way. I was thinking of retiring for the night though: I've seen enough for one day."~

"Good; I can follow you up to the common room. I've got the directional skills of a drunken troll, so I'd probably be wandering around this place until tomorrow if I didn't have a guide."

Hayai swept around as an unknown person confronted him.

"I see it as a weakness; Those Dracos lack finesse. Ruthlessness and the use of killing curses involves more cowerdice than skill! Why, I'd bet..." His words faded. "Forget it." He turned to Elario and headed out the hall. "I'm too tired to get in a fight...let's go, shall we, friend?"

OCC:YYYYYYYYYYEAAAAAAAAAAAH! Just got HP 7!

Nicole laughed; at least the guy had a sense of humor. Seemed like a lot of the kids around here were just those kind of people who were immersed in studying and proving themselves and had little in the sense of personalities...or other traces of humanity in them.

"I don't have a problem with the Dracos as long as they don't keep up their current attitude," Nic said, "It's their outlook, not them themselves, that bothers me..."

"Yeah, if there is a non-a-hole Draco, that would be a sight."

OCC:YYYYYYYYYYEAAAAAAAAAAAH! Just got HP 7!OOC: Runs to his(?) house, bursts in, takes book, and runs away to read on a fortified Harry Potter castle.

IC: The student said," Before you go do wish to know the kind of power that some of these pure blood fanatics possed? What allowed one leader to lead nearly all the wars inspired by pure blood fanaticism?"

Rei listened intently to what was being said as she finished her meal; "Its never really bothered me to be honest; I was taught to look for things like Honour, loyalty. Friendship; duty, courage; these are words that mean something; that have…purpose" she spoke; "Blood purity just isn't one of them" she said with a smile.

"Well" Rei said with a grin; "whatever your willing to share really; I don't like to pry to much; and is there anything you'd like to know about me?" she said.

"Good; I can follow you up to the common room. I've got the directional skills of a drunken troll, so I'd probably be wandering around this place until tomorrow if I didn't have a guide."

Hayai swept around as an unknown person confronted him.

"I see it as a weakness; Those Dracos lack finesse. Ruthlessness and the use of killing curses involves more cowerdice than skill! Why, I'd bet..." His words faded. "Forget it." He turned to Elario and headed out the hall. "I'm too tired to get in a fight...let's go, shall we, friend?"

OCC:YYYYYYYYYYEAAAAAAAAAAAH! Just got HP 7!

OOC: A friend of mine got it at Midnight ... but I haven't seen them yet today :(
IC:

~ Friend ...

Elario now knew he was going to be okay at the Academy, even if he had only been there for a day. Still, pain, fatigue, and the daunting prospect of his Curses Exam in the morning plagued him to the point of exhaustion.

" I have to say, I may not know the exact way back to our Common Room ... but I can get us there."

He followed Hayai out into the hallway, motioning for him to take a left. Afterwards, he, in a half-apologetic, half-humorous tone, shrugged his shoulders and asked,

" I hope you don't mind taking the scenic route?"~

Alex wandered down the corridors, thinking hard about the last few minutes and of the damage down the side of his body. 'Damn Draco!' he thought savagly. He was sick of it, it always give him trouble and yet nothing would remove it. Healing spells helped but never finished the job. Yet he had found out nothing about the fight and he did worry about those kid's safety. Them he had expected not to understand but Elario was in his year and should know better about Draco. He returned to the Leviathan dorm deep in thought

Restless sleep plagued Kira, images of old mixed with the strain of the new caused her to recieve little rest. The expectations made for her were enormous and numerous. She tossed and turned in her half slumber, casting the sheets away from her body and curled into a ball, shivering. It was not the nip of cold but the dreams...Finally, she shot up from the bed, sweating, exhaling fast and shallow. Kira closed her eyes and settled on an image which calmed her many times in the past. Her eyes reopened, now calm. She grunted and cursed, stepping from the bed and into the hallway towards the common bathroom for the girl's. In a grand sink, she bathed her face in cool water, watching it cascade down from her face back into the filled sink. She looked up, wearily at the mirror to see a strange difference in her apperance. Her green eyes changed to a deep purple. How is this possible? Unable to focus on any plausable answer, she shuffled down the hallways and back into the common room and rested a arm on the mantle piece of the fireplace. She stared deeply yet vaguely into the empty space, as if watching a fire which did not exist.

Ryan noticed two girls leaving the table. He caught up to them and introduced himself.

"Hi, I'm Ryan, I'm from the VDB and was just placed into Titan, who are you?"

Rei listened intently to what was being said as she finished her meal; "Its never really bothered me to be honest; I was taught to look for things like Honour, loyalty. Friendship; duty, courage; these are words that mean something; that have…purpose" she spoke; "Blood purity just isn't one of them" she said with a smile.

"Well" Rei said with a grin; "whatever your willing to share really; I don't like to pry to much; and is there anything you'd like to know about me?" she said.

"Well...ok," Nic said to Rei's somewhat vague request. She could get talking, however.

"Let's see...I got admitted here this year, but I'm still technically a fourth-year; not sure how that works, but I was supposed to be a freshman in high school had I not found out about magic. I'm a decent enough student but I prefer sports to studying, I was a basketball player...but I don't really know what kind of sports they have here; I'll have to look into it. I guess I'm probaly wierd to a lotta kids here because I've used things like laptops and stuff, while this whole magical world seems like it's stuck back in the middle ages-not like it's a bad thing, though, it's good to get out of the world of the internet and wireless tv for once and get back to where you have some privacy. As you can probaly see," she laughed lightly, "I'm kinda talkative when I get started."

Rei smiled as Nic talked; she was surprisingly easy to listen to; "I was born too in the mortal world; Japan actually; though I was born to two magic users so I knew about the whole magic thing from an early age; My Dad is European", Rei replied.

"Yeah its definitely strange here with no laptops and whatever; but you get used to it really its kind of refreshing in a way though also hard to adjust since we've become so dependant on our technology" Rei added; "Basketball huh? Cool I can sport you a game sometime?" she said with a grin.

"But if there's anything you want to know about me just ask"; Rei added with a cheeky smile.

(VDB: you talking to Rei and Nic? - Reply in the OOC Thread to avoid clutter)

"Hello guys, sorry for joing you guys much later than the others, my name is Danny. You can call me Dan if you want."

"Japan, cool, I've visited but never lived there. I was born in Amazonia...which is alright. As for basketball...I'm always up for some 21," Nic laughed. "You much of a sports person?"

OOC: Runs to his(?) house, bursts in, takes book, and runs away to read on a fortified Harry Potter castle.

IC: The student said," Before you go do wish to know the kind of power that some of these pure blood fanatics possed? What allowed one leader to lead nearly all the wars inspired by pure blood fanaticism?"

OCC:I'm a Him. *Kills you before you can get book*

IC:"No, I don't wish to know. I don't wish to have anything to do with anything relating to blood purity. Your blood doesn't influence your power; your skills and soul does."

Hayai quickly walked from the dining hall and followed Elario, accidently taking a right before stumbling around.

"Whoops! Yes, well, at least you know the general direction. For me, every path I take tends to be scenic, becuase I'm usually on it for days before realizing i'm lost!" He gave a short, rare laugh. This academy might be enjoyable after all. "Perhaps we'll meet some Dracos in the hallways. I don't think anything will happed tonight, but be prepared."

Rei nodded; "Soccer and basketball I like to play; and martial arts" she said in reply now utterly cheerful and not even a hint of the depression she seemed to show but minutes earlier. She ran a hand idly through her boyish hair cut

OOC: Sorry, I read the HP7 review on Wiki...and...ugh. I'm not gonna reveal anything, but...that's a bit of a change.

IC:

"Martial Arts, really..." Nic said, "like, Aikido and stuff? I've heard about martial arts, but I never really got into it."

Rei was interesting, truth to be, to Nicole...especially since the others weren't exactly interested in talking at the moment, and Nicole was an extrovert...she liked talking, liked socializing, meeting people, making friends, enjoying life...

(VDB: you talking to Rei and Nic? - Reply in the OOC Thread to avoid clutter)

OOC: Yes, sorry.

"Oh, basketball," said Ryan. "I'm OK, but i prefer soccer. I'm the best player in VDB that is 12.

Rei listened intently to what was being said as she finished her meal; "Its never really bothered me to be honest; I was taught to look for things like Honour, loyalty. Friendship; duty, courage; these are words that mean something; that have…purpose" she spoke; "Blood purity just isn't one of them" she said with a smile.

"Well" Rei said with a grin; "whatever your willing to share really; I don't like to pry to much; and is there anything you'd like to know about me?" she said.The student continued," Thank you, I shall continue then. The reason for the power of those great, but evil, wizards and witches was that they were so willing to kill, willing to go beyond all natural, able to use power they inherited from their forebears, and were appealing to small radical group of supporters. As well, the main reason for them being so powerful as to be able to combat multple magics users, who were the amongst the best magic users of their generations, was that their own natural ability given to them by the inheritance of them being the schions of the great wizards and witches of old. With such strong descent flowing through them every generation or so a wizard of power unparrelled is born to the pure blood lines. Sadly, these wizards are born into a world of pure blood fanaticism most of the time and every number of generations one decides to lead a war of purification. Their powers allow them to attract large numbers of pure blood followers and at the same time amass the loyalty of non-wizards creature groups who give them the massive numbers needed to overcome the greatly smaller numbers of pure blood supporters that they need to wage the open wars that have occured.

Let, this be a lesson to that in their power the greatest of the pure blood wizards and witches cannot be beat by we more garden variety magic users. Though, in the past these wizards and witches have been defeated when the magical world unified in the fight against them, but this is the only way we can hope to defeat them in an open war."

Nicole almost laughed in the face of the student claiming of the power of the pure-bloods...sure, maybe they were good against magic, but how much did that help them if the SWAT team got involved? Pure-bloods, for all their "greatness", weren't versed in technology like the rest of the world was...and it only took one bullet, placed right, to kill.

"Best player in soccer?" Nic said, dismissing the comments of the wierd student preaching about the pure-bloods as if he was a divine rabbi, "that's quite an accomplishment. I was just another middle schooler playing basketball...nothing really special."

"What is everyones obession with no magical sports,they are filth in my opinion" Arthur said in a loud voice so all could hear

"Best player in soccer?" Nic said, dismissing the comments of the wierd student preaching about the pure-bloods as if he was a divine rabbi, "that's quite an accomplishment. I was just another middle schooler playing basketball...nothing really special."

"Yah. You could probably beat me. Anyway, have you heard of Quidditch?" asked Ryan.

"Yah. You could probably beat me. Anyway, have you heard of Quidditch?" asked Ryan.

"Sounds French," Nic said with a smile, "no really, I haven't heard of it. What's it about?"

Arthur's voice carried about the hall, loud enough for Nic to hear. Wasn't like these all-magical types even knew about real sports-the football, soccer, basketball, the real sports of the world...all they seemed to do was study their spells every day to hopefully laud their accomplishments on the academic plane. Well, good for them!

"Yah. You could probably beat me. Anyway, have you heard of Quidditch?" asked Ryan.

"I have!" Alex was walking back to the table, "What position and for what team do you play?" He was walking to collect a small bottle which was of immense importance to him and yet he had left it behind him. He tried to make his voice sound normal but he knew the stress sounded.

OCC:I'm a Him. *Kills you before you can get book*

IC:"No, I don't wish to know. I don't wish to have anything to do with anything relating to blood purity. Your blood doesn't influence your power; your skills and soul does."

Hayai quickly walked from the dining hall and followed Elario, accidently taking a right before stumbling around.

"Whoops! Yes, well, at least you know the general direction. For me, every path I take tends to be scenic, becuase I'm usually on it for days before realizing i'm lost!" He gave a short, rare laugh. This academy might be enjoyable after all. "Perhaps we'll meet some Dracos in the hallways. I don't think anything will happed tonight, but be prepared."

~ Elario gave a short, boastful guffaw at the comment.

" I'm always ready!" he declared in jest, striking a half-heroic, half-completely retarded pose, before losing all composure at maintaining such a stupid attitude.

In seriousness, Elario continued, " No, though, I believe you're right. Nothing should happen tonight ... Here, I believe it's this hallway here."

After they had walked for some time, Elario had pointed towards the right of a four-way intersection, indicating what he had meant. Tired, and only seeking to find their Home for the next, long months, the two Titans continued on, the sun quickly leaching the light from the faded-orange sky ...~

OOC: Kinda leaving it up to you to decide what this Hallway is like ...

Hayai growled as the pair rounded the corner; a trio of Dracos were ambling down the hall, talking loudly. A trap....? He didn't think so-the students were arguing about blood purity and the best use for non-magicians, apparently. We spoke too soon, Elario.

"I'm telling you, slaves! That's what we should do! I mean, come on, it's not like not there's really anything stopping us."

Another shook his head. "I don't know....I think we shoud just kill the lot of them. It would take less time, and probably be loads more fun."

A third nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that's probably the...wait a minute, guys..." He gestured towards Hayai and Elario, who were quickly approaching them. "Titans, I think," he said, hjssing in disgust. The first speaker-a large, brutish type-looked the pair of Titans in the eyes.

"Out of our way, Titans." He said the word with a bit of a snarl. "Unless you don't know what's good for you, you half-breeds!"

Hayai rolled his eyes and glanced over at Elario. What now? He mouthed silently.

Alex left the table and went for another walk to clear his head, he was glad he had been able to retrieve the potion. His night would have been hell if he hadn't. Even so, he wondered what would have happened if he hadn't been so 'heroic' was the word used. Alex turned a corner and found two Titans and three Dracos down a corridor, 'great' he thought, 'this'll end well' he walked the other way but slowed down and put his hand on the wand in his jacket pocket. As a precaution.

Hayai growled as the pair rounded the corner; a trio of Dracos were ambling down the hall, talking loudly. A trap....? He didn't think so-the students were arguing about blood purity and the best use for non-magicians, apparently. We spoke too soon, Elario.

"I'm telling you, slaves! That's what we should do! I mean, come on, it's not like not there's really anything stopping us."

Another shook his head. "I don't know....I think we shoud just kill the lot of them. It would take less time, and probably be loads more fun."

A third nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that's probably the...wait a minute, guys..." He gestured towards Hayai and Elario, who were quickly approaching them. "Titans, I think," he said, hjssing in disgust. The first speaker-a large, brutish type-looked the pair of Titans in the eyes.

"Out of our way, Titans." He said the word with a bit of a snarl. "Unless you don't know what's good for you, you half-breeds!"

Hayai rolled his eyes and glanced over at Elario. What now? He mouthed silently.

~ Pride is a very dangerous companion. Honor can be too, at times, but pride, more often than not, has lead to the downfall of many a good person.

The Dracos were obviously spoiling for a fight and a sense of superiority: if the pair of Titans moved for them, it would only further instill in them the fact that Pure-Bloods were superior to all other magic users. If the didn't move, it would most likely provoke an attack.

Elario Arcano was tired: his curses exam was tomorrow morning, and he had already been attacked by a Draco today. In fact, he had recognized the one who had spoke to them as his assailiant. Revenge aside, Elario would have loved to put these cocky punks in their place. He glanced over to see Hayai mouth the words " What now?"

A small smirk seemed to take over his entire facial expression. Elario gave his companion a slight nod of reassurance, and then stepped forward towards the Draco Leader. His followers immediately took up a defensive position beside him, eyeing Elario like wolves ready for the kill. Outnumbered ... But since when have numbers been the only deciding factor?

Not about to let his Honor be insulted (a very serious offense to a Nitalian), Elario challenged the Draco,

" We don't move for vile-spewing Dracos. And personally, I don't take to kindly to the idea of being enslaved. Why don't you just be on your way, before you underestimate me again?"

He smirked again as he recalled their last battle: he was jumped in a large hallway, and by the end of it, Elario had managed to immobilize and suspend the brute from a chandelier.

Of course, the bully didn't take too kindly towards his words, much as Elario had anticipated. He knew people like this: they had only their strength and reputation to lean on: earlier today, Elario had taken both from this person, leaving him with nothing to support himself with. He knew now that it was not he who sought revenge, but the Draco instead.

" Filth! You'll curse the day you made Draco House your enemy!"

With that, the Draco Leader darted into his robes for his wand ...~

" Filth! You'll curse the day you made Draco House your enemy!"

With that, the Draco Leader darted into his robes for his wand ...~

The curse missed Elario and instead hit the wall over Alex's shoulder. Alex spun around, wand out and shouted "What the f..." another spell missed his left ear "RIGHT!!" he roared and charged down to join the two Titans in battle, he wasn't going to let some punk get away with trying to curse him. Potion and pain forgotten, Alex threw his wand forward and shouted "Magnus Tutela!" the corridor instantly filled with thick fog.

Dante put his hand in his pocket, where his wand was, and said to Elario,
"I got your back."

"Ah, now wait a minute, Elario, don't you think we should be a little more tactful about this sort of..." Hayai's words fell on deaf ears. Suddenly, everyone had their wands out; Hayai's hand tightened on his own, which was still in his pocket.

"Right, then...Showtime!" Hayai dove backwards, spinning his wand in his hand as he dove behind a pillar, narrowly avoiding a pair of jinxes which deflected off the marble and smashed into the walls. So much for no fights...He turned around the pillar to shoot off a counter-spell, when suddenly a dark, thick fog filled the hallway. What the....? His sharp ears pierced the fog, giving him the relative position of his enemies.

Conicio Inimicus! One of the Dracos suddenly flew backwards and thumped against the wall, hard. Got him... He snaked his way through the fog, finding the Draco rubbing his head painfully as he rose from the ground. He pointed his wand at Hayai as he saw the Titan bearing down on him.

"Vuln-!" The spell was cut short as Hayai kicked the Draco's wand out of his hands, sending it sprawling across the room. Pocketing his own wand, he jumped in front of the desperete student, readying himelf.

"Lets see how well you can fight without a wand, kiddo!"

Alex edged forward and noticed one of the Draco's pointing his wand at Hayai while he was busy with another Draco, he was smiling and it sure as hell wasn't a friendly one "Watch yer back!" he shouted at Hayai and in the same breath shouted "Lingua Obfirmo!" the triumphant Draco attempted to say the curse but instead he was rewarded with a series of rasps and strange dilect. His tongue was tied "Stupefactus!" he shouted and through the smoke he could see the Draco hit the floor. He continued to run as he watched to make sure the Draco didn't get up. He turned to find himself pointing at a wand tip through the fog, another triumphant smile on his face "Oh for the love of ch...!" he began angrily before being thrown back into one of the pillars. The smoke vanished as it's castor passed out, faintly aware of the pain in his side.

~ As visibility returned to normal, Elario's ebony wand was out and blazing at Alex's attacker. The Draco, before Elario could get off a spell, struck first.

" Punctum!"

Damn, they're using curses?!

Dodging the vicious spell just in time, Elario had landed on the floor, slidding for a little bit across its glossy surface before getting two hands on his wand. From the floor, he took careful aim, and then,

" Traho!"

Without warning, the Draco's wand lifted right out of his hand, and then was flung across the hall towards Elario, who caught it with relative ease. To ensure that he still wasn't a threat, Elario continued his assault, this time raising himself onto one knee. He fired again at the stupified Draco,

" Pulsus!"

The red light struck the man right in the chest, sending him into a wall. Unconsiousness took him immediately as Elario stood up once again, rushing to aid Alex. He reached him, knelt over his body, and called out,

" Vigoratus Malum."

The spell would help the Titans' rescuer recover faster, but, if need be, Elario knew he had to be on his feet, so he added,

" Velox Pes."

The extra adrenaline would speed his recovery process. Once he knew Alex would be alright, Elario dashed off to aid Hayai ...~

The remaining Draco looked helplessly from Hayai to his fallen comrades, looking desperetely for a way out. He raised his hands in surrender.

"We're sorry...Just let us go, we don't want any more trouble!" Hayai nodded and turned his back to his vanquished foe, heading towards the wounded student on the ground, when he heard the Draco mutter, "Stupid kid..." The Draco wound up his fist and threw a monterous punch at Hayai.

Hayai dodged the punch easily, expecting it. Worthless trash! He caught a second punch with his hand, then gave the Draco three swift kicks to the face. Stumbling akwardly, the kid tried to throw another blow, but instead caught another crushing leg kick to the side, dropping him. Hayai shook some dirt off his hands and looked around.

"Well, that wasn't as bad as I though it would be." He looked around the battlefield, spotting Alex lying on the floor. Damn...He took his wand out again and tapped it against the student's chest. "Redintegro!" Hopefully he would wake up soon. Hayai looked back at Elario.

"What now? We should probably scram before a teacher comes or something. I don't think dueling in the halls is looked highly upon."

Alex quickly regained conciousness and sat up in a dazed trance. He looked, leant over and picked his wand up. He tucked it safely back into his pocket and tried to heave himself to his feet. He found his side exploding with pain so he slumped quickly back down again groaning. Trembling and pale faced, he lifted the bottle of potion and emptied it in one swallow. After waiting for a moment, the colour returned to his cheeks and he was able to stand up "No fights this year?" he said sarcastically to himself before staring at Elario "You all right?"

~ Breathing heavily from the exhiliration and relieved fear of combat, Elario nodded in response to Alex's question.

" I'm fine, I think, although we may want to get you to the Healing Wing. I tried patching you up a bit, don't know how effective it was ..."

The battle had left three Dracos stunned by one means or another, and Elario, Hayai, and Alex as the only witnesses (or was it culprits?).

He could not agree more with Hayai at the moment anyway.

" Yea, let's make a break for it. It's not the teachers I'm worried about, but any more Dracos ..."

With that, he motioned for them to follow him down a winding Hallway which would lead the Titans home and Alex to a place where he could get a better healing than the two students could give him ...~

Alex waved away their concerns, "I'll be fine" he insisted, "But it would be better to flee the scene of the crime don't you think?" he started to walk but at a lop-sided angle so it loooked like he was limping. He was also clutching his left ribs as though that eliviated the pain. He continued to walk, he had to get back to the common room.

Hayai looked uncertian as he watched Alex limping away towards his own common room. Lifting his wand after him, he uttered another headling spell.

"Poena Dispel," he muttered. That should help the kid along. He glanced back at Elario worriedly. "Come on, lets get out of here. There's bound to be a teacher around the corner...or Draco rienforcements." He dashed along the corridor before realizing he didn't know where the hell he was going. He stopped akwardly.

"Ehhh...hehehe....you lead the way, friend!"

Emerging from the last dungeon of the central tower of the grand castle, Vex'til Lockhart was tired, - exhausted - worn, and proud. Not only had he managed to successfully pass all three tests, it seemed as if he had impressed the examiner and was praised for his efforts.

But there would be time later - no doubt when the weight of these classes began to bare down on him - that he could appreciate his accomplishment. For now, it was only a comfortable bed and sleep that he desired.

Once finding his way to a familiar corridor, he let his legs lead him forward and upward to the Titan's tower. He let the password slip from his lips and then he cascaded through the swinging entryway before nearly crawling up the stairs to the dormitories. Bothering not with removing his clothes or preparing for bed, he simply plopped down and drifted off to sleep, content with his first day of his fifth year of school.

OOC: Aye, let's call day 1 over...

IC:

"Guys, I'd like to stay and talk forever but I think I'll up and hit the sack now so I don't drop over from sleep," Nic said. "See y'all down here tomorrow at breakfast before the day really begins."

With that, she stood up from the table, ignoring what sounded like yet another fight down the hallway. A violent place it seemed. She headed upstairs towards the Leviathan dorm, looking on to tomorrow...

Rafzekael found the Draco who had begged for mercy in the common room. He came up behind him and kicked him in the square of the back. He pointed his wand at him and said, "Ligo Sursum." When the kid was trapped on the floor, he kicked him in the stomach. He sneered. "Pathetic." He walked back to the chair by the fire.

"Yah, I'll hit the sack too. Hey Alex, do you want to be my roomie?" asked Ryan.

"I have!" Alex was walking back to the table, "What position and for what team do you play?" He was walking to collect a small bottle which was of immense importance to him and yet he had left it behind him. He tried to make his voice sound normal but he knew the stress sounded.

"Well, I play Seeker for the VDB National U-14 team. I'm awesome-hopefully they have a Quidditch team here! What's in the bottle?"

"Yah, I'll hit the sack too. Hey Alex, do you want to be my roomie?" asked Ryan.

"Well, I play Seeker for the VDB National U-14 team. I'm awesome-hopefully they have a Quidditch team here! What's in the bottle?"

Alex thought for a moment "Aye", he said "Why not? You're a seeker eh? Huh! I play Chaser for the Calisian Cobras in Alversia, highest scorer two years running. Not bad I thought" he grinned, then grimaced. "I've got a busy day tomorrow" he said excusing himself "I'll see you around" and then he left the table to return to the dorm.

Ryan followed him into the Western Tower House, where Titans are, and went to sleep.

OOC: Alversia-Alex's in Titan right?

OOC: Alversia-Alex's in Titan right?

OOC: Leviathan

Dante walked up to the Dryad common room with satisfaction. It seemed that a long day needed some rest.

~ Elario and Hayai had finally found the Titan dorm room after what seemed like hours (but was actually only twenty minutes), and the tired teen stumbled towards his bed and, happily, collapsed on it.

" Ahhh ... if I didn't know any better, I'd say they use magic to make these things so comfortable ..."

After saying " G'night," and " Thanks for stickin by me when those Draco punks tried to snuff us out of the school," night swiftly took Elario.

Dreams were usually never pleasant for Elario, not ever since the destruction of Nueve Italia. Explosions, flashes of light, wails, screams, cries: all of it plagued him. Tonight was different though ...

He walked down the narrow street, the cobblestones throwing him off balance with every step. He had his wand, in fact ... he was older. Or did he just look older?

He was ... afraid. Anxious? No, no, he was afraid. Something, someone was following him, shadowing his footsteps. He held fast to his wand, lighting it as he moved.

No matter how brightly his wand shined, the darkness ahead always seemed to engulf his light. In fact, the street was never ending: no roads leading away from it, no way to go back: all there was was forward.

He heard a girl scream behind him. Whriling around, he immediately raised his wand, ready to defend himself if need be.

But there was no one there - no one that Elario could see at any rate. The scream came again, this time from behind him once more. It chilled his very bone, raised the hairs on his skin. Again, he turned, and again, no one was there.

The last scream came from right behind him, right in his ear.

He turned and came face-to-face with Gabriella DeRosso: his first young-love. She looked ... different, pale, her normally black hair now a fiery red.

Before he could speak, he looked down at her, and gasped in horror. Her snow white dress was slowly turning crimson around her middle, and then, without warning, she collapsed into his arms, revealing a silver dagger in her back. Her eyes glossed over as he lowered her to the ground, and a single tear graced her cheek before Death took her.

A cackle brought Elario back from such a tragic scene. He looked up into a hooded figures face, except he couldn't see his face at all. Elario somehow knew that his was the man who killed Gabriella, and, with remorse, rage, sorrow, and pure hatred dictating his actions, he raised his wand, but before he could get a single sound out, the hooded man said something he didn't recognize, and then the wand flew out of Elario's hand. A robed hand caught his wand, and, with a small twitch, snapped the ebony in two.

Backing up slowly, Elario tripped over Gabriella's body. Fear gripped his heart as the black-clad being approached, drawing his own wand. Crawlign backwards, Elario tried to scamper to his feet, only to feel a force hold him down to the ground.

His arms wouldn't move, his legs were frozen, even his face was stuck in a look of horror. A wand blacker than his own was pointed squarely at his face, and then a green light, more viscious laughing, and then nothing ...

Elario woke with a start, cold sweat dripping down his face. A quick glance out the window showed the sun rising slowly, its rays just piercing the dark sky.

" Mierda, my Curses exam!"

With a start, he rose quickly, trying to shake off the dream (which felt more real to him than anything), dressed quickly, and left the Common room for his exam.~

Alex grunted with pain as he sat on his bed and began to massage the massive scar on his left side. he'd thought that he was over the worst of it but that fight tonight had brought all the pain back again. He ran over the details in his head again and again, hearing the voices as though it was happening in front of him

The Draco stood over him, Alex was on his knees gasping for breath through a blood soaked nose, his wand was safely in the Draco's hand. Two more Draco were checking two similarly damaged housemates "They'll be fine" confirmed one

"Blood Traitor!" he heard before he was given a belt in the mouth which nearly knocked him out "Where is she?" He lacked out again and came to another part "I'll not ask again WHERE IS SHE!?!" Alex could feel his bloodied mouth smile as he calmly replied "Up my arse picking daisies you filthy fucker!" then a roar, pain and he was awake

"Damn" he thought as he returned to the land of the living "Damn, Damn, Damn!" he walked down and emptied the bottle of potion again, which filled every time he emptied it. Some strange jinx apparently. His strength recovered, Alex went down to get breakfast, pushing his night's torture out of the back of his mind

Unlike others, the night had gone fairly uneventful for Nicole. Sunlight poured in through a moderate window near her bed in the Leviathan dorm, inviting her towards openess and friendliness with its calming, warming rays...but Nic knew that as much as she'd made friends the first day, there were already those who didn't like her based on purely her blood. She couldn't be completely open to these rays. She had to be vigilant to an extent-to still be an extrovert, still be social, yes, be herself-but she had to be aware of her surroundings and make sure she knew what she was doing.

She raised up from her bed, the blankets falling off. Nic yawned loudly, hearing someone nearby-probaly the Alex guy who she'd vaguely met the previous day, based on where it was coming from. Guess it was time to get up, after all, even though sleep still seemed inviting. It was morning, after all, and Nic had stuff to do today.

She changed fairly quickly in the confines of her bed's surrounding area, changing into the garm of the rest of the Leviathans. It seemed a good enough day-weather was nice, she felt rested and ready, and the troubles of yesterday were just that-yesterday. She walked down towards breakfast, feeling refreshed.

On the dresser next to Kira's bed stood a small toy soldier, only a few inches tall. It was of British uniform of the Napoleon era. It stood at attention, in its' hands were a drum. A spell was cast upon the toy soldier to serve as an alarm clock, a gift from her father who always struggled to wake her from her slumber. Whenever Kira did fall asleep, it was nearly impossible to wake her. At the prescribed time, a wave of light shot up from its' base and it animated. It's arms crooked up and began to beat against the drum, it wasn't a quiet rapping of the drum as one would expect from a drum so small. It was thunderous and echoing. Kira shot up from the bed, startled as usual. Her hair was matted from the pillow and she quickly shouted "Parade...rest!" and the toy soldier complied and halted its' actions.

She went to the common bathroom and prepared fot the day and returned dressed in the appropriate garbs. Kira gathered her wand, a pass down from her mother. It was average looking but had an inscription on the handle.
'From B.B. to K.B'
It gave her fond memories to look at the simple inscription, it gave her hope and guidance. Once the wand was in her posession she gathered her book and went down to the Dinning Hall where breakfast was being served. The long tables were filled to the brink with all assortment of food. As she entered the hall, numerous other students were gathered, eating, chatting, and studying for today's classes. It was a bright morning which she hardly cared for. Kira sat down at a table occupied by other students, but not too close. As she began to eat lightly, she saw Alex from the corner of her now purple eyes. He looked horrible, possibly even hurt. She set down her fork and nearly sat up from her chair but cautiosly stayed behind the table.
"Alex!" she said in an almost concerned tone but quickly recovered her demeanour. "What happened to you? You look like a troll rolled over you" she sat back down.

Ryan grabbed his stuffed teddy bear and his favorite pillow. His pillow had good-byes from all his friends in the VDB. He started to cry-was he cut up for this? Alex had already been attacked-was he? Anyway, better get some sleep, he thought to himself. Hopefully I'll see Alex in the morning.


zzzzzzzzzzzz


OOC: Let's start Day 2 please!

As she began to eat lightly, she saw Alex from the corner of her now purple eyes. He looked horrible, possibly even hurt. She set down her fork and nearly sat up from her chair but cautiosly stayed behind the table.
"Alex!" she said in an almost concerned tone but quickly recovered her demeanour. "What happened to you? You look like a troll rolled over you" she sat back down.

Alex just shook his head "Let's just say this year's Dracos are as friendly as last year's" he said grimly, "Took a bit of a knock but it's not to bad, it's mostly the old wound" his voice dropped, Kira knew what he was talking about, what he had gone through for her, so he didn't need to announce it to the world. He straightened up and managed to force the grimace from his face "What class you at first?" he asked happily as he grabbed a piece of toast.

Ryan walked down the stairs. He saw Alex and a girl downstairs at a table. "Hi," he said to both of them and started to eat some pancakes. He really hoped Alex would be his friend.

Ryan walked down the stairs. He saw Alex and a girl downstairs at a table. "Hi," he said to both of them and started to eat some pancakes. He really hoped Alex would be his friend.

Alex nodded his greeting as his mouth was stuffed with toast. He struggled for moment to swallow it before answering "What's up Kid? Where you goin' today" Alex thought of his own classes and his heart sank 'glorious school' he thought to himself.

"Well," said Ryan, pulling out a piece of paper. "First I have World Beyond Studies. Then it's Magical Theory, Defensive Magics, lunch. Next: Charms, then Enviromental Chemistry, then Jinxing. So, I heard you got into a duel. I'd love to do that."

"Well," said Ryan, pulling out a piece of paper. "First I have World Beyond Studies. Then it's Magical Theory, Defensive Magics, lunch. Next: Charms, then Enviromental Chemistry, then Jinxing. So, I heard you got into a duel. I'd love to do that."

Alex snorted at that, "There's a difference between a duel and a fight. It was a fight I was in, not a duel. A free-for-all." He looked at Ryan, "You want a proper duel then come and see me" Alex paused again "What year are you in?"

~ Striding into the banquet hall with a bit of a confident swagger, Elario could not help but beam: even with his limited knowledge of the magical world, he had managed to pass his Curses Entry Exam.

Students were already gathering here to get whatever they could for breakfast before starting the day. Elario hated eating before at least 11 o'clock, but he managed to find a piece of pumpernickel toast to nibble on.

Making his way through the various tables and students, he looked over towards a corner of the large room to spy more than a few students sitting over at their own table, away from everyone else. A more focused glance revealed a blood-red lining their robes.

Draco ...

As he looked around for someone familiar from yesterday, he caught sight of the man who had helped him and Hayai yesterday. In fact, without him, the fight could have turned out rather different. Thinking it wise (and friendly) to thank him (and at least learn his name), he made his way over to the table, where he also saw a girl with, curiously but yet appealing, purple eyes, and another guy wearing a baseball cap.

Elario made his way over, standing by his seat before asking,

" Mind if I sit here?"~

Harry sat alone in the Nymph table, eating pancake, with ice cream, vanilla, on top, and hoped that a teacher would come an reassign him to Leviathan, he was tired of being a Nymph, "If they had even a Slytherin house here, I'd join that.." he thought...

@Nueve Italia: She has purple eyes now.

Kira resumed eating, she hadn't forgotten about last time. When Alex was nearly killed, she tried to push that memory from her mind. It wasn't one of her better days, there were too many Dracos. Even with her studying and ever improving skills, she couldn't handle large numbers. Kira was too rpoud to thank Alex, refusing to admit her flaws. That in of itself, was a flaw.
"Well, maybe if you practiced more, this wouldn't have happened" she said as she swallowed a piece of egg. "Anyways, I have History of Magic for my first class". Kira learned the hard way not to put too much emotional value into any one thing...or person.

Alex looked indignant at Kira's response "I practise enough, thank you very much. It was the fact I couldn't see the tip of me own nose that was the problem..." He didn't take the comment too personally, Kira was always very unemotional about such things. He turned and noticed the Titan he'd fought alongside yesterday ask to sit with him "Sure" Alex shrugged, "What's your name?" he asked casually as he grabbed another round of toast from the centre of the table.

"Then why didn't you use an illumination charm or anything?" she added, this seemed quite inappropriate and she retracted the comment with an unusually apologetic "I'm sorry, that was out of line". Now embarrassed, she returned to stuffing her mouth full of food.

It certainly was a terrifying night for Kira. The Draco's wanted to do her harm. They appraoched her and knocked her to the ground and took away her wand. Their justification: "Your a mud blood!" the exact words of the leader of the group who graduated that year. They knocked her around with a few magic bursts and tossed her off to the side before Alex appeared and...rescued her for a lack of a better phrase. Kira refused to believe she was 'rescued' rather 'interrupted from dealing with the Dracos'.

@Kulikovia: Edited last post for eye color

~ Elario smiled and thanked the young man for letting him join them. He could sense some underlying sparks between him and the girl, but he let it be: it wasn't his place to intercede in such things.

He munched happily on his pumpernickel toast when he heard the man ask what his name was. Chewing faster and gulping down the bite quickly, he responded,

" Th' name's Elario. Hey, listen, thanks for the help yesterday: I mean, if it weren't for you, well ... let's just say I may have bitten off a little more than I can chew."

He chuckled slightly, still glad that this man had shown up when he did. Seeing as he had introduced himself, he thought it proper that the man should too, so he inquired,

" And your name is?"~

Alex thought for a moment before answering "Alex" he said simply, "About the fight, it's no big deal, I'm a sucker for fights" he laughed "I seemed to do more harm than good with the smoke screen though. I guess it only works in open areas"

Hayai wandered into the dining hall, late as usual. It had been a fitful night's rest for him; fighting always got him somewhat excited. He made a mental note to get much more sleep; otherwise, he'd probably start snoozing the the middle of class. A couple of Dracos turned their heads to look at Hayai as he walked quickly to his respective table. Great...Looks like I'm on some kind of Draco hit list now.

Hayai quickly spotted Elario, the only person who he was really friendly with so far. He was quite thankful that the two of them were in the same house. He also noted the other fighter who had helped them yesterday. He sat down beside them, then, after noticing he had neglected to get any food, levitated a full bowl of cereal from some first year's tray over to himself. The student seemed to engaged in conversation to tell with his neighbor, anyways. Glancing over at Elario, he gave a short wave before munching down on his breakfast.

Rei woke in cold sweat; the dreams; they got her while she slept. Rei was a dream mage; this meant she could influence the dreams of others but ironically was powerless to influence her own. The images they came like flashes; like movie wheels she couldn't hold. Visions of the past; or future she did not know. She pushed the blankets off her naked body and sat up panting and took a sip of some water she'd put there the night before. She got out of bed almost machine like; barely taking time to wrap a towel around her before heading to the communal showers. She walked in and took the towel off draping it over a rail. Taking time to use one of the bath room stalls for the morning business before heading into the shower area; girls of all ages were walking around naked and showering Rei found an empty booth and started the water leaning herself against the wall by her palms

She thought back about the day before as the water ran over her body and she soaped herself up. She'd made some interesting friends. Vex was kind of interesting in a moody sort of way; he liked her that was for sure and Rei kind of liked him plus he was fun and laid back. Harry on the other hand was rather different; cheery at times others bordering on psychotic.

Nicola she liked; undoubtedly; she admitted to herself she might even be quite smitten with the girl. The felt that familiar tingly sensation and continued to enjoy her shower…

(OOC Note: I'm actually really liking Kira's character; and I'm curious how dark she's going to get?)

Rafzekael woke up. His head was spinning, but for no apparent reason. Probaly from fighting that lizardy-dragonie thing. He groaned , walked to the bathroom and poured cold water over his head. He got into his school robes and went down to the Great Hall.

When he walked in, he sat down at the Draco and took a book out of his bag. Looking around, he saw a few faces he recognized and hoped one day to tear off. He looked back down at his book.

OOC: Obviously, the boy this character refers to is Calizorinstan's character Harry.

Sibeoci quietly walked through and unassumingly sat down next to some boy at the Nymph table who was complaining about his house.

Sibeoci didn't want to particularly anger anyone on his first day, but neither did the child want to see his house slandered like this. The student felt like he knew what the boywas thinking...Sibeoci just had a funny feeling...

The student answered the boy surprisingly. The student's voice was very high, but somewhat soft and reticent sounding. Sibeoci did not make eye contact. Sibeoci wasn't too sure about Sibeoci's feelings and why the student could feel the student next to her did not want to be in Nymph, but the student answered regardless.

"...I'm sorry that you do not enjoy being in the house of Nymph. If there is anything I can do to make your association with the house of Nymph more enjoyable, simply inform. But if you stay for a while with us, you might come to enjoy Nymph. Please do not judge the entire house so quickly. Could you please just give it a chance before you try to get transferred...?"

Kira rolled her purple eyes and silently continued eating her breakfast. For some odd reason, her appetite was insatiable. A great hunger seized her stomach, almost crippling her. The girl's body arched forward slightly but she shrugged it off and began to eat more. She rarely ate much at any one time. Meals were not something she endulged in much. Studying and practicing took up much of her free time. An urge to consume everything in sight, one might say. Soon, her plate emptied thrice before she finally stooped herself. Once her hunger subsided, Kira pushed the plate away and cracked her knuckles, ready for a day of classes. Without a word of goodbye or a glance at anyone, Kira stood up and walked out of the Great Hall and through the various wings, decorated with numerous paintings. Other students occupied the hallways, going to classes and such. She moved like a glacier through the crowds. They moved out of her way, forming a gap around her, a bubble of nothing. Her face was not the normal blank and emotionless, but now revealed a hint of a smirk, her curious eyes now pierced as they shot from one person';s gaze to another as they quickly looked away from her, diverting their eyes. This only seemed to fuel her confident stride, usually she just sleaked through the hallways, not drawing any attention to her. But something felt different...it felt good.

(Note: @Animarina: She does fancy dark magic but right now it's just a curiosity she's exploring and just beginning to understand and even embrace. With the right direction and teaching, she could become a dark witch. Kira has the backround and the making for one. We'll see what happens.)

Alex snorted at that, "There's a difference between a duel and a fight. It was a fight I was in, not a duel. A free-for-all." He looked at Ryan, "You want a proper duel then come and see me" Alex paused again "What year are you in?"

"First, but I studied a lot of the spells at home."

" Th' name's Elario. Hey, listen, thanks for the help yesterday: I mean, if it weren't for you, well ... let's just say I may have bitten off a little more than I can chew."

"Hi Elario, you got in a fight too?" (OOC: my character is completely ignorant of this obviously.)

"First, but I studied a lot of the spells at home."

"Hi Elario, you got in a fight too?" (OOC: my character is completely ignorant of this obviously.)

Alex laughed, "Home study!" he said "is no match for a bit of practical experience. My Mother..." he said proudly "...is a professional duelist so I can practise with her. And we..." he said referring to the fight "...was a small scrap between Leviathan, Titan and Draco" He noticed Kira get up and leave without so much as a word of goodbye. He shrugged, Kira was always reclusive. You got used to it.

OOC: Obviously, the boy this character refers to is Calizorinstan's character Harry.

Sibeoci quietly walked through and unassumingly sat down next to some boy at the Nymph table who was complaining about his house.

Sibeoci didn't want to particularly anger anyone on his first day, but neither did the child want to see his house slandered like this. The student felt like he knew what the boywas thinking...Sibeoci just had a funny feeling...

The student answered the boy surprisingly. The student's voice was very high, but somewhat soft and reticent sounding. Sibeoci did not make eye contact. Sibeoci wasn't too sure about Sibeoci's feelings and why the student could feel the student next to her did not want to be in Nymph, but the student answered regardless.

"...I'm sorry that you do not enjoy being in the house of Nymph. If there is anything I can do to make your association with the house of Nymph more enjoyable, simply inform. But if you stay for a while with us, you might come to enjoy Nymph. Please do not judge the entire house so quickly. Could you please just give it a chance before you try to get transferred...?"

Harry smiled weakly and said "I do enjoy it, I don't enjoy being constantly bullied by the Dracos.." He gave a glare towards the Draco table, "I take it your name is Sibeoci then. I think that I will try to be content with Nymph for a while, maybe the Draco's will back off.."

Raf looked up and saw Harry glaring at his table. He chuckled and returned it. He turned a page in his book, then flicked his wand at a goblet and made it levitate and hit a few people on the head.

Once through the stone corridors, grand in size and cut finley, and down the winding staircases through the main coutryard, Kira arrived to History of Magic. She walked in and saw other students gathered and taking their seats. A kid waved his wand, turning a piece of paper into a walking figure which leaped from table to table, casuing quite a disturbance amoungst the other students. For a bit of fun she murmured "Infernios Secreto" under her tounge and the paper man quickly burst into flames and became nothing more than floating ash. The students were stunned as she moved around behind them and took her seat. This activity was unusual for her but it felt good and right to her. The teacher drabbed on and on about the foundations of archaic rituals and organizations. She sat in her seat, gazing through the chalkboard. The teacher continued to talk as a piece of chalk scribbled on its' own on the board, writing exactly what the teacher said as she moved in front of the class room. Without any warning, a flash errupted through her mind. It was blinding as she brought her hands to her temple and massaged them, her face contorting in pain.

"Ms.Blackwater, are you alright?" asked Professor Paulina Prauss, a short, older woman with small glasses. She was a generally cheery teacher who taught a dry and boring subject, but managed to animate the class with her teaching methods.
"-I'm fine...I'm fine" Kira repeated. Professor Prauss looked at her with a faceful of concern then went back to teaching. It's impossible! I couldn't have seen her! I couldn't have seen my mother! She tried to rationalize the brief flash of her mothers face. She remembered her well but this was something else...something new. Her mother was smiling, but said nothing. It was so quick. What's happening?

Nic caught the goblet out of the air that Raf was throwing around, disgusted by the kid's rowdiness. She set it on the table she was at with others from Leviathan, next to a pile of books that she had for her next few classes. The Dracos were ticking her off...not only were they cruel and callous, but apparently they were fairly retarded too. She finished up her breakfast, fairly quiet this morning.

After finishing, she stood up, tying her brown hair heind her and gathering up her books under her left arm. Nic had Charms first-a class she really didn't know much about, but was more than willing to try-especially because it was mandatory. She walked out of the hall, rolling her eyes as she passed the Draco table, and turning towards the spiraling staircase outside that led towards Charms.

Raf grimaced at Nic as she passed, then made the goblet fly back to him. He poured some water into it and put it down beside him.

Rei washed her hair gently; the images of the night before coming to her as the water gently petted like rain against the tiled floor; she could afford to take a longer shower mostly because she skipped breakfast; Rei wasn't a very big eater unless she cooked herself. Oddly Rei loved to cook. She smiled at the image of herself in a cooking apron before more of the visions from her dreams filled her mind.

A figure in large samurai type armour; Jet black with Crimson markings the figure walked; stalked from street to street; the black skull epaulets on its shoulders covered with blood not its own. Her eyes were drawn to its waist; the heads of the magic council tied around its stomach on a chain like some form of trophy dangling over its thighs; the heads frozen with a look of sheer terror on there faces. She could smell the fire; the burning corpses. As the Black Samurai slayed innocents in its path; her eyes drawn to the sword it was like a traditional Katana but the handle was different; coming from the bottom of the hilt and curving out wards was a scythe like Crescent blade. The actual sword part of the Katana was black and covered in speckles of Red; obviously blood. Down the blade symbols were written in one of the Magic scripts; possibly Demon Tongue or High God…. She was starting to wish she'd taken magical language class. The figure picked up its mask; the face of the figure hidden by the darkness; all that could be seen was red and black eyes consumed with hatred….

Rei shook it off and stepped out of the shower drying herself off; by now most of the other girls had gone but there were still one of two around getting ready in various states of undress. Rei finished drying her body and dressed with robes in her locker; the robes her black; she picked up her wand and flicked it at herself and the robes shrank and altered to become almost like a second skin showing off all her curves. She headed out for Charms class

Alex walked quickly and confidently to his first class, Charms. He entered the class late. He was always late. After a brief and emotionally wraught apology which brought laughter from his classmates, he sat down and listened to the Charms teacher work his magic. Alex dozed off and began to drift back to the summer holidays.

He smiled at the memories of he and his mother duelling in the back yard, watched by the neighbours. Alex was better than he had been last year, but his mother, a duelling expert had quickly cut him down to size. He'd learnt a lot, mostly when not to make a mistake.

He waited until the dreary class was over before joining the crowd to leave the room. The school year had officially started!

Harry smiled weakly and said "I do enjoy it, I don't enjoy being constantly bullied by the Dracos.." He gave a glare towards the Draco table, "I take it your name is Sibeoci then. I think that I will try to be content with Nymph for a while, maybe the Draco's will back off.."

Sibeoci smiled a bit when Harry smiled. The student was surprised to see that Harry knew it's name. It smiled and started gently speaking again.

"Oh. That is a relief to know. I was afraid there was something wrong with Nymph...hmm...if...that's...the case, you could just kidnap the one that looks the most like a leader and torture him or her...."

Sibeoci was talking softly but sweetly as if torture and kidnapping were everyday sweet things that people do casually. It was difficult to tell if it was serious or not...

The hours of sleep that came to Vex were lacking in anything but restorative energy. Exhausted from all the events of the previous day, his sleep had been deep and long, removing any chance of dreams of any kind coming to him. However, it also unfortunately meant that when he awoke, the dormitories had long since been evacuated by the other students.

Late... Normally, being late would be a bit of an annoyance to Vex, but today he was feeling pretty good - lucky even. It also meant that he was able to shower and dress in peace without the normal morning ruckus.

When he finally made it down from the Titan's tower, most of the kids were finishing off their breakfast and preparing to line up for their first classes. In taking the maximum course load, Vex would no doubt be busy with classes most of the day and doing work for a good portion of his free time - especially taking the three test-in classes including Advanced Curses. But that was the price he was to pay for signing up for everything. The key would be to find out which classes required the most work and which he could slack off a little in and not get docked.

Not wanting to be any later for the day - class in particular - than he already was, Vex grabbed a few items from the long tables and walked out of the emptying dining hall towards the classrooms. Mandatory classes tended to be in the morning for ease of scheduling purposes, so Charms would be up first followed by the others. At least he knew that for the mandatory classes he would be with the other students in his year...

OOC: Can't tell if Charms is over or what, so I'm re-doing the post to deal with the in-class stuff.

IC:

Nic came up from the dining hall, noticing that the class wasn't particularly full yet-only a few people were inside, and she strolled in. Nicole took up a seat near the middile of the room at a desk, putting down her books on the desk. She sighed, sitting down in the chair, waiting for other people to come in. It was still mid-morning, around 9 AM, and she was ready for class to start, to start learning new insights into the magical world.

She pulled out her wand-11 1/2 inches, with a dragon heart core-and set it on her desk, relaxing slightly, waiting for others to come in.

Ryan made his way across the building to World Beyond Studies. "Hi," he said to the teacher,"what's your name?"

"Oh, Mrs. Harper," said Mrs. Harper.

"OK, well I'll just wait for everyone else to show up.

"You might be the only person."

So Ryan went through a lesson that seemed unbelievably interesting.

Serros had come in late to his Beyond World studys Class to find it already underway dispite a very low attendance of two with him. The low attendance did not surprise him much though not that many people took Beyond World Studys.

"Why are you late Serros, it dose not make a good impression to be late on the first day of classes." Mrs. Harper said.

"My apologies Mrs. Harper I have no excuse, I will work to avoid being late in the future." Serros replyed, and with that he took his seat at on of the corner desks.

The lecture drabbed on and on. Professor Prauss bounced up and down the aisles, making sure her students were paying attention and jotting down notes. Kira sat in her seat, eyes blankly staring in the direction of the chalkboard. The sound of an aubable smake and the whine of a student shook her back to reality to see Prauss smack a student upside the head for not paying attention. Content that she had the student's upmost attention, she resumed pacing down the aisles and continued to lecture about the low points of the magical world during the Black Plague. Numerous witches and wizards were burned for being different, though the normal humans never realized how unnormal they truly were. It was a sad and desperate time. During this time is when Dark Magic made a strong apperance. It always existed but the Black Plague gave this dark art a spring board to flourish. This part intrigued her. It was often rumored that a dark wizard created the plague to rid the world of muggles but failed to wipe them out. It was; however, unproven.

As the session concluded, Prauss turned on her heels, facing thr class. She fluttered her eyes and cleared her throat.
"Alright class, I want you all to read Chapter 2 for tomorrow." there was a low murmur of sighs and groans "Enough of that!" she growled and the noises subsided. The class ended and Kira stood straight up and left the class. She suddenly felt nausiated and quickly flew to the bathroom and washed her face in the cool water. She stared back up at the mirror and saw another brief flash of her mother. What is happening to me?!
"Kira, are you alright?" a female student asked as she entered the lavatory. Kira's grip turned to iron around the sink and her purple eyes darted towards the girl.
"I'm fine!" she growled and the girl suddenly froze. Sensing that something was not right, she backed out of the lavatory and disappeared. Kira's head sank into her shoulders and breathed a sigh of relief. She focused on what she had to do next, and that was to get to Charms class.

Rafzekael checked his timetable. Curses wasn't until later... Charms! He realised he would be late. He jumped of the bench and ran towards the Charms classroom.

Alex walked about the corridors, taking advantage of his free period before History. He was looking forward to it, history was one of his most interesting subjects. He walked past Kira and waved a greeting to her. She ignored him, seeming more troubled than usual. Alex wondered what could be the problem could be.

The corridors seemed foreign and ditached from her sight. Something was not right, her mind and body felt seperated. Students laughed and carried on their side conversations off to the sides, near the ornate long windows, decorated with stained glass. The images within the panes seemed to live upon their own accord. It was strange, a voice called to her...distant yet familiar. The voice was female but the words muttered and impossible to comprehend. It was like a trance, uttered in a haze. As she moved through the corridors, a fleeting glimpse of Alex passed through her vision, she did not respond but continued on her path towards what she knew not. Kira struggled to focus but managed to will herself into controlling this feeling. On will power alone, she regained control and everything became normal...for now. Before she had a chance to turn around to say something to Alex, he was gone.

The day wasn't going well so far. These vizions and general weird occurances prevented her from concentrating on any one thing. After this fit ended, a welcome relief overwhelemed Kira's senses as she returned into the corridors. That smirk reappeared on her face and her confident stride returned. She never acted that way but with each spasm, found herself falling deeper into it. The oter students exchanged curious glances as she passed down the corridors, a two books tucked under her left arm. Through the crowd she saw Alex and for a change, initiated contact with a simple "Hi Alex" accompanied with a smile.

Rei entered charms class; in her black robes and sat down next to Nic; "Hi" she said with a smile taking out her old looking spell book with seals on the front in one of the magic scripts. Rei could translate some of the magical languages loosely like Demon Tongue and High God to an extent and some of the mortal magical Sands scripts but she was no expert. She took out her wand; 12 inches in length and solid oak with a Centaur seaman core; charged on the full moon while soaked in Fluxweed. Rei's wand was not something to be trifled with. She picked up a blank piece of paper and stated to try to draw out the symbols from her 'dream vision' maybe she could visit the library and find a translation.

Rafzekael got to the charms classroom door and walked in and sat at the back. He took out his wand, 11 inches long, made of Ash and with a Phoenix Feather core, and laid it down on the table. He took out a book of charms and idly flicked through it.

~ Classes all day had quickly sapped what little strength Elario had left after his Curses exam, but as he entered Charms, he caught a familiar face: the first one today besides Hayai and Alex in the Dining Hall.

She was with Vex the first day ...

Deciding it would be better to be near someone he was at least moderately acquainted with than to be next to a total stranger whom would talk his ear off for the next bit of the class: It appeared that after news of his little skirmish had broken out, he had been bombarded with questions, animosity, and congradulations from many students he didn't know, and frankly, he wished he weren't.

Taking a seat down next to the red-haired girl, he noticed that she had her wand out, and he motioned to do the same, drawing his own from his robes. Nine and a quarter inches (short by some comparisons), the finest Ebony wood, and filled with the single hair of a Golden Pegasus. He was quick and able with it, and, two times in one day, it had saved his life.

He turned towards the girl and struck up a friendly smile, searching desperately through his mind for what she had introduced herself as.

Her name ... what was her name ...?

Finally, he thought he caught it as he asked, " It's Rei, right?"

Rei was busy sketching symbols; very different looking that what most would consider a language; they were all black and looked somewhat Squiggly for lack of a better term; some were jagged and others were sharp with points others were curved. The Language looked Part Rune; part Japanese; Part Chinese and Part Demon Tongue; which was almost always associated with powerful dark magic spell seals but none of a whole language in of itself. This language was not one Rei recognised at all and seemed to be a mishmash of several different ones.

She was so transfixed she didn't notice the boy sit next to her until he spoke; startled slightly she looked up from her sketches "its Re right" the boy had said; simply nodded; "Yeah; that’s me? And you are?" she asked curiously; she'd seen the boy around but his name evaded her at the moment.

~ Glad that he had at least gotten her name right, he answered Rei in turn.

" Elario Arcano," he stated with a slight (albeit humble) twinge of pride in his annunciation.

Rei looked to be studying what, to Elario, seemed to be the work of a 3 year old with a crayon and a case of the shakes. He had heard of magical Runes and languages, and figured that they had to have at least some meaning, but it was entirely mystifying to the Nitalian Teen.

He glanced around at the rest of the class. Nicole, another girl he had met before (though only briefly) was seated next to Rei. He didn't know anyone else, and, now that he mentioned it, didn't even see the teacher.

Rei looked extremely focused on her Runes, leaving Elario hopeless in his question as he did not want to bother her, and yet, he could not help but wonder: Where was the professor? This class should have started five minutes ago ...~

Nic almost laughed when Elario made a stab at talk with Rei, the guy needed a bit of help.

"Hi Elario, I'm Nicole," Nic said brightly from the other side of Rei, sparing the kid the trouble of trying to make introductions. He seemed a little lost anyway.

As she turned towards Elario, she spotted Raf in the corner of the eye. What was the freakin' little Draco doing in her class...maybe she needed a charm to go off the wrong way and hit the punk right in the eye. Anyway to teach the kid to respect those around him.

Rei smiled having got all the symbols down; they were truly a mess; which she would have to sort out later; she slid the piece of paper into her book satisfied for now she had them down. She read though her charms book and picked up her wand practising; "Lux Cananis" she said with a flick of the wrist a small 12inch tall dog made from light appears sat on her Desk. As she waved her hand around making the glowing dog do tricks like sit and beg; it was a simple charm a first year could do but it still amused her.

"Pleased to meet you Elario; I think I saw you yesterday but we didn't get to chat" she said in reply now much less intense and cheerful. As she caught Nic glancing at the Draco Raf out of the corner of her eye. He was certainly an unpleasant little man

~ Elario gave a warm nod and grin to Nicole as she introduced herself.

" Pleasure to meet you Nicole," he returned her friendliness in kind as he heard Rei speaking to him again after she had managed to create what appeared to be some type of fox-ish creature on her desk. It wasn't until it gave a low growl at the person the two girls were eyeing that Elario realized it was a dog.

" Igualmente, Rei," he responded abruptly in his native tounge, realizing that he was looking quite curiously at the animated light, " I, uhh ... well, let's just say I wasn't in the best of health the other day."

The nightmare and the memory (rather, what he could remember) of the headache slowly crept up on him, but Elario banished the thought quickly. No need to think of such Dark things now ...

It was then that he decided to chance a peek at the man Rei and Nicole had looked at with subtle marks of disdain. One glance was all he needed to see: Red lining on his robes. Draco House ...

The hairs on the back of his neck prickled ever so slightly. They always did when Elario felt ill at ease. The last thing he needed was a Draco spoiling for revenge for his classmates after yesterday, and he knew his Corinthian Marble-trimmed robes and silver glasses made him fit the description he had heard floating around the school.

He reached for the wand he had let sit on the table, gripping its base until his knuckles began to have the color bleached from them.

Take it easy Elario: not all of them are out to get you ...~

Rei nodded and watched the boy tense up; "Relax; even the stupid ones aren’t crazy enough to do anything in class" Rei said simply trying to ease the tension that the boy was obviously feeling. "Raf is a distasteful little man surely enough but not insane" she joked trying to lighten the mood. She stretched tiredly pushing out her boobs against her robes making it plainly obvious she was wearing very little if anything underneath.

"So any one know what were doing today?" she said taking out an energy bar and opening it to much on having skipped breakfast for the extra time in the shower

Hayai, who was a seat behind Elario, yawned loudly; he had gotten a poor night's sleep, and was still restless from yesterdays "Excursions" with house Draco. He eyed the one called Raf for a moment, dismissing any thoughts of fighting from his mind. Today was the first day of real classes, after all. He raised his head slightly from his desk at Rei's comment.

"No idea," he said lazily. "Hope it's something worthwhile, though." Hayai promptly banged his head down on his desk, wishing he could have something to wake him up. He consdered a spell, but then pushed the thought out of his mind loosened his grip on his wand. No doubt their teacher would present something interesting that would grab his attention.

~ Rei's words made Elario lessen the grip on his wand, but he still stayed focused. He wasn't staring at Raf (did she say "Raf"? Yes, yes it was Raf), but he could still feel his presence.

Elario was always on edge: he had learned to be due to his upbringing. Fights in school, fights out of school, constant national wars: they eventually took their toll on a teen, but then again, he had also learned to relax, to live life, and to take things on moment at a time.

He noticed Rei half-yawn (and noticed, with a small, barely-there grin, a lot more than that as well ...) as she asked what was on the scheduele for the class.

" I dunno," he replied half-heartedly, " Truth is I don't know much of anything that's going on, but hey, you take it as it comes, right?"

Elario controlled the natural urge to take in Rei's, ehrm, physical assests, instead using his wand to play with a feather that had seemed to fallen onto his desk. He let it fly in circles around the room when, without warning, a man who obviously had the aire of a teacher about him walked into the room ...~

Nic perked up as a short man who seemed to be a teacher walked into the room. She was a strong academic, and she wanted class to start. She smiled over at Elario for the airplane, then started organizing the things on her desk again...

She was a stickler for being prepared, and her books and supplies showed it. She sat up in her seat, waiting for class to begin...

Rei was busy sketching symbols; very different looking that what most would consider a language; they were all black and looked somewhat Squiggly for lack of a better term; some were jagged and others were sharp with points others were curved. The Language looked Part Rune; part Japanese; Part Chinese and Part Demon Tongue; which was almost always associated with powerful dark magic spell seals but none of a whole language in of itself. This language was not one Rei recognised at all and seemed to be a mishmash of several different ones.

She was so transfixed she didn't notice the boy sit next to her until he spoke; startled slightly she looked up from her sketches "its Re right" the boy had said; simply nodded; "Yeah; that’s me? And you are?" she asked curiously; she'd seen the boy around but his name evaded her at the moment.OOC: There acutally is no real language used to write seals as let us think of everything requiring a certain amount of energy in order to act as such. Let us if you want a sort of seal that can kill people you would have to murder someone in a complicated set of spells which will bound the murderous energy that will allow the spell to stick. Further, spells can be overcome by a skillful magic user he simply reverses the spells due to them using more power to break the seal as they being more skilled and powerful can break the seal. As well, seals are genrally quite powerful, but can be broken if they are left alone for a long period of time due to the energies slowly fading over time.

Rafzekael noticed the eyes of other on him. He picked up his wand and tapped it idly on the side of the chair. He looked up from his book. When he saw the teacher, he shut his book and looked at him.

Sibeoci noticed one thing was off. He knew he was taking too much time in breakfast. He knew it. He was a late. There was simply no doubt about it.

He dashed off carrying his plate as fast as he could. He dashed through the hallways while scarfing down his entire breakfast in one bite. This was not very hard as he had nothing but a giant slab of bacon and sausages fused together for breakfast. He realized he probably left a strange impression on the other Nymph he left behind on the table, but that was not his primary concern at the moment. He slid into the Charms class as quietly as he could and quickly scampered his way back into a random seat. He ended up sitting next to two strangers. One appeared to be an enormously tall girl and one appeared to be a boy about the same height as Sibeoci. He did not make any assumptions immediately. Sibeoci knew that appearances could be very deceiving. He knew that better than anyone else. And for good reason, all he had to do was look at himself.

Somehow, Sibeoci was oblivious to the reason why people often mistook him as female. This may also come from the fact that the student owned no actual mirrors. This often lead to uneasy situations including the mental scarring of a boy who mistook him as female and unsuccessfully attempted to ask him out. Blessed with a figure that would put the females of his house to shame, he also had extraordinarily long hair, partially due to his utter hatred of haircuts and of generally being physically touched. Luckily for Sibeoci, he was almost flat-chested...somewhat. It would be even more disastrous for him if he had a bust...his voice was bad enough. Sibeoci was a horrible singer, but he possessed an extraordinarily high voice that would be very rare, but still possible, to find even among females. His black hair seemed unwieldy and it probably was, it went all the way down to around his navel and waist. His skin was unnaturally pale. It wasn't ceramic pale. It was chalk white. In this aspect, he almost resembled an Onryō, and the fact that the whites of his eyes were yellow (as a result of another spell gone wrong), didn't help it at all.

He sat silently with his legs crossed and his hands on his laps. His eyes were staring at the two other students next to him as if he were trying to brainwash them into saying something first.

Kira entered the class at the last possible second and quietly took a seat at the back of the class, setting her charms book onto the table, trying to catch her breath. Now that she was in control, everything seemed back to normal. There were familiar faces amoungst the crowd of students but she made no acknowledgments.

OOC: Does anyone mind if I rp the teacher? It'll help move things along.

A woman with long dirty blonde hair waltzed into the class, several locks were braded. She wore numerous necklaces around her slender neck and several bracelets on her wrists and rings on her fingers. Her dress was unusual from the normal orderly garbes of the staff. She wore a white dress that flowed off of her, cascading down. She also wore a short leather jerkin vest. Suddenly, her face broke into a wide grin.
"Good morning class!" she boasted in a booming and lively voice enthusiastically. "I am Professor Charlotte Cartiere your Charms teacher for this year. I have been teaching at this academy for...well more years than I can remember" she examined each finger, using them to count but then gave up. Her blue eyes scanned the crowd of students.
"I'm not one for lengthy introductions nor speeches. So, let's get down to business." Professor Cartiere stood off to one side of the chalkboard. "Can anyone tell me the definition of a charm?" he asked, raising her chin slightly. Charlotte Cartiere was one of the more...unusual teachers. She was highly independent and rarely followed the standard rules and guides set by the administration. Her classes were rather liberal and laid back. She appeared to be in her mid thirties but resembled something similar to a hippie.

Alex turned, saw Kira and was momentarily taken aback. It was rare indeed for Kira to smile and make first contact but he was able to hide his surprise quickly. "Hi Kira" he said, then looked at her for a moment without saying anything. After a while he asked "You feeling alright? You didn't answer me earlier in the corridor and people are saying you kept drifting in and out of history class"

Kira was obviously embarassed, it didn't take long for things to circulate through the school. It was unusual for her and everyone seemed to notice when "Kreepy Kira" started acting out of her normal nature. That was a nickname given to her by other students but they rarely called it to her face, some hated her while many more misunderstood her. Her fascination with the dark arts drew suspicion from the other students. She was used to it and seeing how no one ever called her out to her face, she let it slide.

She simply shook her head at Alex, dismissing what happened earlier. The class begun and Professor Cartiere craned her heade.
"Alex, is it?" Professor Cartiere called out "You seem quite vocal. Please, tell the class the definition of a charm" she asked once more, there were a few snickers amoungst the class.

Ryan rushed in, out of breath. "Hi, mam," he said before sitting down beside Alex. "I'm in big trouble," he mumbled to himself.

Professor Cartiere turned her attention from Alex to Ryan. It was a slight annoyance but Cartiere was renowned for her calm attitude. She contemplated on what to do next.
"Mr.Getzlaf" she began, moving lightly closer to him. Her arms were folded behind the small of her back. "This shall be thrice times I ask this question, there will not be another time. So, you will answer the questions. What is the definition of a charm?" Preofessor Cartiere asked, leaning forward slightly.

Professor Cartiere turned her attention from Alex to Ryan. It was a slight annoyance but Cartiere was renowned for her calm attitude. She contemplated on what to do next.
"Mr.Getzlaf" she began, moving lightly closer to him. Her arms were folded behind the small of her back. "This shall be thrice times I ask this question, there will not be another time. So, you will answer the questions. What is the definition of a charm?" Preofessor Cartiere asked, leaning forward slightly.

"Well," said Ryan. "It's basically all types of verbal spells. Isn't it?"

"Almost right" Professor Cartiere replied. She spun around and walked back to the front of the classroom. The students were quiet as she paced about. She flicked some hair back to behind her ear and cleared her throat.
"In fact, charms can be verbal but are also physical objects. They are used to protect one from other magical curses and bring good luck. With her fingers she grabbed the various necklaces around her neck. "These are some, each one serves a specific purpose. Talesmans, amulets, necklaces and so on. They ward off magical spells and even spirits. They can also be everyday objects infused with magical spells that turn them into charms. Voodoo is a great example of using charms to benefit yourself. It is also the chanting of magical verses, incantations." Professor Cartiere rambled on with the lecture.

"Oh yeah, I forgot that," said Ryan in an undertone to Kira. Ryan hadn't heard the rumors yet.

"You'll do well to remember that, Ryan" Professor Cartiere replied as she stepped back and looked at the chalkboard, she spaced out for a moment then regained focus on the classroom. She moved over to the podium where a heavy book lay atop, open to the appropriate page. It was an arcaic text, passed down for hundreds of years but well preserved and still remains the standard for the teaching of charms.
"Charms may also involve rituals. Some are elaborate while others are simple and quick. It depends on the potency of the charm and its' importance. Potions, objects, and chants make up the categorey of Charms" she added.

Kira sat in her desk, quill in hand but her parchment lay blank thus far.

Sibeoci hated notes. He hated them. He didn't write very well. He hated quills.

He didn't even bother taking parchment or quills out. And why should he? He did, after all, have a photographic memory...for the most part. Even though it appeared as it he wasn't paying attention and was staring off into the distance, he was actually listening...while staring off into the distance.

"Today, we are going to discuss protection charms" she pointed to the chalkboard and a piece of chalk dutifully leaped from its' box and began to write what she dictated. "Under which we have health, barriers, good luck, defensive and fortune as the sub categories. This lesson will take about a week at the end of which I'll administer my own exam to test your knowledge." Professor Cartiere smiled mischevously.

"At this time, we're gonna talk about health. There are certain charms and talismans out there and ones' you can make yourself that can help heal any ailments which may afflict you. May it be a cold, a more severe sickness, a wound, or a curse put upon you. Sometimes an enemy might try to use acurse to do you harm and you must find a way to either counter that curse and prevent it from affecting you, or find a way to aleviate it once it takes hold of you." Professor Cartiere continued her lecture about protective charms and the means of which to create, apply, and even manipulate them to your advantage. It was just the first day so she didn't dwell too deep into the advanced portions of charms.

OOC: Let's just assume she's putting out some good stuff.

Alex noted down a couple of notes but he already knew quite a lot of defensive charms. They were his speciality in duels and, during the summer, he had driven more than one rival mad just by staying defensive and not attacking. Having said that though, he was glad he hadn't had to answer the questions.

He looked over at Kira, who was also taking notes. He wondered what had happened earlier during history. He had been told by one of the Nymph 5th Years who had seen 'Kreepy Kira' drift in and out during the class. People called her 'Kreepy Kira' although they were careful not to mention it in front of Alex. He knew of her interest in the dark arts but he almost felt a sibling-like affection for her, even if she could be very 'reclusive'

Returning to reality, Alex began to write quickly in order to make it look like he was doing something of value and so the teacher wouldn't pick him.

He wrote the names of some Duelists famous for their use of Defensive charms, including his own mother Natalie Cavourna and Moricz Saági of Austria. he remembered with a smile the duel they had fought during the last tournament. Natalie Cavourna had been victorious and celebrated long into the night.

Rei dispelled her little light dog as soon as the teacher entered the room and sat concentrating on the lesson at hand; the teacher would give the same speech ever year; she was a fairly tall woman that looked in her 30's but her eyes seemed much older that. Appearance wise she was distinctly 'hippie' dressed in various bright colours. Rei listened intently to the lecture go on about protective charms etc for the benefit of the new comers

She glanced at one of the other new students; Rei was honestly not sure if the student was male of female. It looked decadently female but some traits were more male and he, she - IT had no chest to speak of this was very confusing; so she decided to talk to the…student later or just wait for someone else to do it and clear up the gender issue to avoid embarrassment. Rei starred off slightling in a day dream like state tapping her wand rythimetrially to a tune in her head that only she could hear....


"There must be some way out of here," said the joker to the thief,
"There's too much confusion, I can't get no relief.
Businessmen, they drink my wine, plowmen dig my earth,
None of them along the line know what any of it is worth."

"No reason to get excited," the thief, he kindly spoke,
"There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke.
But you and I, we've been through that, and this is not our fate,
So let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late."

~ Elario looked as though he were taking notes: indeed, his quill and parchment were out, and he was writing ... just not what he was supposed to. Upon closer inspection of the paper, one would see tiny charicatures, known as chibi, dotting the landscape he had drawn in a fine emerald ink.

The scenario on the piece of parchment was a laughing Elario, Hayai, and Alex, each with their wands out and pointing them at a cluster of robed figures who seemed to be struggling against some unknown force that was suspending them in mid-air. The scene grew more ornate as he continued, this time adding onlookers including some of the people from the class he was in, and also the castle hall itself.

He looked up from his work just in time to catch Professor Cartiere making her way towards him.

A subtle flip of the paper to its back, a jostling of notes here, some personal input there, and it had appeared that Elario had been working the whole time ...~

"So class, that concludes today's introduction into protective charms" Professor cartiere finished after a lengthy but animated lecture. The chalkboard was filled to the brim with names of charms, ingredients, variations, and so on. The poor piece of chalk was now but a fraction of its' original size. "Good work, you may rest now" Professor Cartiere said to the chalk and dismissed it back to the box on her desk. The class was nearly complete and she rushed over to the book.
"Alright class, I shalln't trouble you with homework on your first day. This class has ended, see you all tomorrow!" Professor Cartiere declared with great enthusiasm as the period concluded.

Kira closed her notebook which contained only sparce lines here and there. Her purple eyes closed and reopened slowly as the other students stood up. The shuffling of books, the sounds of chatter, and the patter of feet circulated through her ears. Kira stood up and secured her notebook in her hand and began to make her way out of the classroom.

"Finally!" Alex had been attempting to write down the names of every Duelling champion since 1980 and had failed dramatically. He quickly gathered up his books and walked out of class. Ahead he could see Kira and quickened his pace a little to catch up with her "What did you think of that class eh?" he asked her, once he knew she was aware of his presence.

As her steps gained ground in the corridor, a familiar voice entered her ear. It was Alex, rushing to catch up, Kira did not slow down but merely turned her head slightly, the corner of her eye catching him coming up next to her. As soon as he was by her side in the hallway her head faced forward again.
"She seems strange" Kira responded blankly. It was a rather funny remark compared to the person who uttered it. "What did you think?" she asked.

~ Trudging out of the classroom, Elario had caught sight of Alex and the girl he had seen at the lunch table.

With a brisk step forward, he came up on them, making his way towards Alex's side, thus putting him on the outside of the group. He got out a friendly hello, letting them in on his presence before actually making himself a part of their little clique.

" Hey Alex, Kira ... is it?"~

Alex shrugged "To be honest, I wasn't really listening. A lot of those Defensive charms I know already" he thought for a moment "She livens up the subject I suppose. Where are you next?" He watched as a group of Dracos walked past and frowned at their back "I think I've fought one of them before" he finally said.

Another voice caught her ear. It was unfamiliar but grew louder as another student came up alongside them. She briefly looked in his direction, sized him up with her eyes and replied with a simple "Yeah" and looked away.

Kira turned her attention back to Alex, "I have Defensive Magics next" she replied with a flat tone.

~ Elario nudged over towards the Dracos Alex had pointed out.

" Don't recognize any of 'em. You had a run-in before-hand?"

Kira's curt reply, however, disarmed him of his warmness nearly immediately. Obviously wanting to be left alone, he let her be. Kira seemed the type of person that if she wanted to talk to you, she would initiate the conversation.

Letting it slide, he continued to walk alongside the pair, wondering whether or not he should break rank and make towards his next class.

Just what is my next class anyway ...?~

Alex quickly looked at his timetable "So have I" before turning to address Elario "How ya been doin'?" he asked grinning, "Glad to see you were paying as much attention in that class as I was" He looked quickly at his timetable again "I'm looking forward to this class" he said happily before lapsing back into thought.

Defensive Magics was a class Kira actually looked forward to attending. It offered her the opportunity to hone her skills. The class was typically hands-on and allowed the use of wands for practical applications.
"I hope the teacher isn't as strange as Cartiere" Kira said.

~ Elario gave Alex a shrug in response to his quip about "paying attention."

" Well, all that stuff was pretty basic anyway, I mean, Shield Charms? Basic Defensive Spells? I'm sure I've got more than a hang on them."

Whipping out his scheduele, he saw that he, too, had Defensive Magics next.

He told this aloud to Alex and Kira, and then, after a slight pause, asked,

" So, what do we do in this class anyway? I mean ... to defend yourself, don't you have to be attacked?"~

"That's the idea. They teach you how to defend yourself through practical applications. We learn defensive moves, counter attacks, and spells while we're attacked by the professor." Kira replied, suddenly interested.

Alex nodded in agreement, "Basically, It's just a little controlled duel to practise your skills for the real thing" he thought for a moment about the teacher "I wonder if he'll launch us straight into it or just talk to us about it for today" he really hoped it wouldn't be the 2nd option "I'm looking forward to this, I got top marks last year so I'm hoping for the same this year. If that Charms class was anything to go by, I think I'll be needing it" he said with a grimace.

Rafzekael walked out of the class, looking at his timetable.
Defensive magics... He overheard Kira saying 'Defensive Magics' as well. he groaned and muttered, "Do I have the same class as those ingrates?"

Rafzekael walked out of the class, looking at his timetable.
Defensive magics... He overheard Kira saying 'Defensive Magics' as well. he groaned and muttered, "Do I have the same class as those ingrates?"

Alex heard him and turned around slowly "What did you say?" he asked Raf casually. He was staring coldly at the Draco as though expecting him to pull out his wand any moment. His own hand hovered near his wand, just in case.

"I said, Do I have the same class as those ingrates?" His own hand went closer to his wand as well.

Alex looked around the gathering crowd with mock surprise, "What ingrates?" he asked in a ridiculously theatric voice, which brought laughter from a part of the crowd. Alex smiled at Raf although the eyes stayed cold and threatening and his hand didn't move from near his wand.

"This must be some form of cruel joke on the half of the teachers, putting me in the same classes as you lot." He said 'you lot' like he was spitting dirt out of his mouth.

"My lot" Alex asked in the same voice before repeating the words a couple of times, as though he's never heard them before "my lot, my lot, my lot, my lot" he was still looking at Raf, then he smiled "I'm sorry, we haven't been introduced" he raised his right hand in a gesture of shaking hands "My name's Alexander Cavourna. And you are?" he said this while squinting at Raf.

He looked at the hand as if it carried some form of terrible disease.
"I'm afraid I don't shake hands. My name is Rafzekael Johanne." Inside his head, a couple of different curses and jinxes fluttered around in case he should have to use them.

Alex put his hand behind his back and thought for moment "Mr Rafzekael Johanne? I presume you are from a 'pure-blood' family?" he said these words with some scorn in his voice. "Likewise, the Cavourna's can trace their line back over 500 years" His voice hardened with his next words "However, I consider your attitude both offensive and so outdated it belongs in a museum on a stone tablet" he looked around again "You going to back down now?"

"I cannot back down as I never stepped up. I merely commented on my grave misfortune."

"And I merely commented on how your views are a disgrace to magic folk everywhere and of all the people who should be treated as both disgusting and primitive, it is your kind"

"My thoughts exactly on you and your... associates." He walked the other way, still headed for his class.

"I cannot back down as I never stepped up. I merely commented on my grave misfortune."

"And I merely commented on how your views are a disgrace to magic folk everywhere and of all the people who should be treated as both disgusting and primitive, it is your kind" Alex turned and began to push a way through the crowd in order to get to his class.

Rei stood up after the class ended; she didn't learn anything new but it was always good to refresh ones memory; she stretched silently shaking out the stifness in her limbs and gathered her books. She picked up her wand; "Hey Nic; you want to practice some magic with me later?" she said in a pleasant tone of voice. "I got Potions next" Rei said simply; "You'll like that class whenever your got it; mix a little of this and a little of that and a lot of something else and hope it doesn’t explode" she added with a grin. The boy that was sat next to her had already departed following Kira. She mentally sighed; the boy will need a lot of perseverance to become Kira's friend; Ironically Rei liked her quite a bit and the two enjoyed an amicable friendship of sorts but Kira was not a easy person to get to know. That and Rei know of Kira's fascination with the darker shade of things. Which unlike most who called her 'Creepy Kira' it didn't bother Rei in the slightest; Rei had been down that past herself but it was Free will and all that. Rei was a big believer in free will and the right to choose ones own path regardless of where that path led.

"We make our own fate"; she said silently to herself.

ooc- what do I do, I was gone for five days

ooc- what do I do, I was gone for five days

Go to Defensive Magic or Potions depending on who you want to interact with

Charms, as predicted by Vex, had a relatively mundane start. However, it was one of his stronger subjects, so that was to be expected.

Nonetheless, as it had for the previous four years, Vex's bewitched quill scribbled furiously throughout class recording every word that was spoken (that was relative to the subject matter). It was a charm that he had discovered early in his schooling during a visit to the library and it had proven to be very useful thus far; and with this year's workload being the largest to date, due both to the fact that he was a fifth year and the amount and difficulty of his classes, it would no doubt be even more useful. At the beginning of his fourth year, Vex had adjusted the charmed quill a little to also record all of the actions that the teacher and relative students performed so that he had a supplement to the written record of the class. This way he could ignore some classes for whatever reason and catch up on them later in a more concise manner. If only he had the means to acquire or knowledge of the whereabouts of a pensieve that he could get his hands on, then he could just check his subconscious memories later for a replay of the class.

While his quill recorded the day's lesson, Vex began planning out his year. He began figuring out which classes would require him to pay attention and which he could zone out or work on the other things; which would be a breeze and which would take a little extra work. By the end of class, he had a list arranged on his scroll:
Charms: no work required, no need to pay attention.
Defensive Magics: no work required, active class.
Jinxing: no work required, little attention necessary.
Magical History: homework required, no need to pay attention.
Potions: work required, active - relatively - class.
Magical Theory: work required, attention necessary.
Magical Compression: little work required, little attention necessary.
Restoration: minor work required, minor attention necessary.
Unknown Magical Studies: major work and attention required.
World Beyond Studies: major work and attention required.
Advanced Curses: Ugg...

It was going to be a tough year... However, even with that on his mind, he was thinking of other things magic related that he intended to do in the near future.

Rolling up his scrolls and tucking the quill away, Vex exited class and passed a growing argument on his way to Potions. It was one of the few classes that he wasn't that great at. He always received very high marks, but he certainly wasn't the best potion maker and didn't usually finish with loads of time left. It also was one of the few classes that required every student to be continuously active, so he couldn't use the time to catch up on other work.

He entered the dark room with small clusterings of tables, and scanned the shelves and cabinets of ingredients as he made his way to a seat near the front. Generally, he would take one in the back so he wasn't caught doing other things, but it wouldn't matter here so he might as well let the teacher watch him work...

Go to Defensive Magic or Potions depending on who you want to interact with

ooc-Gracias. I don't know what to say so this will be a short one.


Dante walked into the defesive magic room and took a seat.

OOC: Think I'll go to Defensive Magic next...but jeez, you people post a load.

IC:

Nic walked out of Charms, shrugging past Raf and a little brew he seemed to be creating. The little freak seemed very good at doing that-causing dissent and bad relations whereever he went. Obviously, not a particularly social person, and therefore someone Nicole didn't want to particularly be around. Unfortunately, whoever had created her schedule had done a pretty bang-up job, as she had Defensive Magic next...and she heard Alex and, unfortunately, Raf, talking about having that next. Just what she needed-the entire morning with the obnoxious kid.

Nic waved goodbye for the moment to Rei as the other girl went towards Potions. Nic had that in the afternoon, and shoving her books under her arm, she went off down the hall towards her next morning class. At least lunch would be coming up soon for the school, after Defensive Magic...she could probaly get away from Raf then. Unless the freak was strangely attracted by some opposite reaction or something.

Defensive Magic wasn't a far walk from Charms, much to Nic's contentment. Some other guy-the Dante kid who'd been in the hall when the fight took place yesterday-was already in there. Had it only been yesterday when the fight broke out? The year was certainly going by slowly...at least, in the first few days here.

Nicole took a seat in the second row, close enough to the front to capture her attention, but not in the right front where a bad image usually potrayed. Defensive Magic sounded more interesting than Charms...even for Nic, who was a studious kid, Charms had been boring, nearly putting her into a daydream as she just waited for it to be over. Hopefully, this class would be a respite for that, and make the morning somewhat more interesting.

-snip-


Dante saw the girl coming to sit in front of him, and then said,
"Woahhhh, hey", and then muttered under his breath, "Smooth man, real smooth"

~ Having stood by Alex through the brief exchange with Raf (he owed it to him, especially after yesterday), Elario nudged him on the shoulder as the other departed, heading a different way towards their next class.

" Come on; I'm sure we could think of better things to do than trade slander with a Muddled-Hater."

He gave a slight shudder as he mentioned the last word: he himself was Muddled-Blood, and even the fact that he descended from a long line of powerful Pure-Bloods didn't erase the one thing that mattered: his mother was a Non-Magi.

Whether Alex and Kira had followed him, he didn't know, for Elario had made his way towards the class regardless. Besides, he could sense that something was going on between the two: he wasn't exactly sure what it was, but he knew that he was, at best, not welcome to know.

Nicole, the girl from Charms class, was already there, seated next to another person he thought he had seen earlier (or was it yesterday?). He took the seat next to her, exchanged a friendly "Hello!", and, like before, drew his wand from his robes, twirling it loosely through his fingers as if a drumstick.~

Nic set her books down, turning her head slightly to Dante as he exhaled the "whoaa...". She smiled slightly, winking, but sat down in her seat, arranging her books at her desk. The kid needed a bit of practice, true, but she liked the compliment-even if it was simply a reaction on his behalf. There weren't too many people around in the class yet, but she held off from starting conversation with the kid now, as if he was stewing over the exhalation, it probaly wasn't the time.

"Hey Alex," she said warmly as Alex walked into the class. She didn't know who else had the class besides them three-and Raf-but so far it didn't look too bad.

Nic set her books down, turning her head slightly to Dante as he exhaled the "whoaa...". She smiled slightly, winking, but sat down in her seat, arranging her books at her desk. The kid needed a bit of practice, true, but she liked the compliment-even if it was simply a reaction on his behalf. There weren't too many people around in the class yet, but she held off from starting conversation with the kid now, as if he was stewing over the exhalation, it probaly wasn't the time.

"Hey Alex," she said warmly as Alex walked into the class. She didn't know who else had the class besides them three-and Raf-but so far it didn't look too bad.

~ Apparently, Nicole was daydreaming, so, Elario tried again to get her attention.

" Head in the clouds today?"

He smiled at her, letting he know that he was only joking about the comment. Once again, as in charms, the teacher was late (what is it with this school and late teachers?), but this gave time for students to socialize, and Elario was always one for siezing an opportunity.~

"Charms bored me beyond belief, and usually I can pay attention in class," she smiled. "But at least Defensive Magic seems like it'll be at least somewhat more involved than just writing stuff down and the like."

In truth, Elario seemed a much more social guy than Dante did. Nic liked him-not intimately, but he was friendly and open-and seemed to be a guy she could relax around.

"Charms bored me beyond belief, and usually I can pay attention in class," she smiled. "But at least Defensive Magic seems like it'll be at least somewhat more involved than just writing stuff down and the like."

In truth, Alex seemed a much more social guy than Dante did. Nic liked him-not intimately, but he was friendly and open-and seemed to be a guy she could relax around.

ooc: My guy's name is Elario, not Alex: Alversia controls Alex. Sorry for the mixup! :eek:

~ Elario laughed a little as Nicole finished, his body and mind relaxing from all the earlier stresses of the day.

" Yeah, note taking does lose its charm after the first or second word, doesn't it?"

In fact, Elario had seen some people that could Charm their quills into taking their notes for them: a talent he wanted for his own. Perhaps one of the others can teach me ...

He shrugged his shoulders, still twirling his wand around his fingers. Nicole had him intrigued: she was friendly, definately attractive, and there was something else about her. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but there was something ... special about her. Still, Elario could worry about such things later, as he continued on,

" So, besides our ecstatic time in Charms," he smiled again, knowing full well that almost no one paid that much attention during the class, " how's your day been going?"~

OOC: My bad, forgot who I was talking to :headbang: Durr. :D

IC:

"Well, breakfast was at least better than whatever was served last night," she shrugged. "And lunch is coming up next, so things have got to be looking up somewhat. I thought taking 9 classes - only four more than required - wouldn't be too bad, but it looks like my day, for the most part, is booked until tonight with class. Hope it'll be fun, at least. Hope we at least get to use some magic in this class," she finished.

OOC: As Kulikovia did, I'm going to RP a teacher for the moment, just to get things moving along ... hope no one has a problem. Also note anyone else can control the teacher if need be.

~ Just as Nicole finished talking, a tall, lanky fellow with the darkest eyes and lightest hair Elario had ever seen strode into the room, effectively hushing everyone. His nose was crooked: probably broken in a fight during his youth. In fact, it looked like he had been in several fights: scars adorned a good portion of his long, thin face. He had no facial hair (unless it was so light that Elario just couldn't tell), and as the Professor ran a hand through his medium-length, pure-white hair, he saw it stay flat, as if hair gel had been caked into every strand. His robes were traditional: standard black dress with a dress shirt, vest, tie, and dress pants underneath, but a strange symbol adorned his back. It looked like a silver pinwheel with four blades, and each blade bore a different colored circle in the middle of it. Starting from a 12 o'clock position and moving clockwise, the colors were red, white, blue, and brown.

Several students hurried to get out parchment, quills, and ink, but a raised hand stopped them in their tracks.

" You will need only your wand today," his voice dripped with pure power, and yet, the pitch of his voice was at least an octave higher than it should have been. " I am Professor Grensworth, and I will be your Defensive Magics Teacher for this term. I warn you now, I do not tolerate foolishness or apathy: what you will be studying here could one day save your life, and so I trust you will treat my class with as much respect as you do yourself."

Everyone was silent now: all murmurs and whispers were quieted, all eyes fixated on the Professor. He walked slowly down the row of tables, and then flicked out his wand.

" Everyone, stand and move towards the doorway."

The students did as commanded, and, with a flick of the wrist, Professor Grensworth coerced the tables and chairs to arrange themselves on the sides of the room, making a decent sized area with which to practice spellwork on.

" Today," he started in a slow, serious voice, " we will work on the Shield spell, known as Contego. I want you to pair up, and, on my orders, we will go through several spells, their effects, and then use the Shield spell to protect yourself from harm. Go."

In a haste, the pupils rushed to find people they knew and worked well with. Nicole was still next to Elario, so he gave her a tuh on the shoulder of her robes to get her attention.

" Be my partner?"~

OOC: Nice on the teacher

IC:

Though the Grensworth was imposing, Nic didn't see anything wrong with him-at least at first take-he seemed more like a teacher who could teach. Of course, she'd been wrong before...but hey, at least they were getting involved in using magic, rather than writing about it. Actions spoke louder than words-and they also happened to teach better, too. You could read as many books as you wanted about how to swim, or you could jump in the water and start swimming.

As Grensworth mentioned partners, Nic's eyes flashed around the room to get a bearing on who was in, before she heard Elario mention partners.

"Sure, be glad to," she said, smiling. She wasn't great at magic anyway, being less experienced than a lot-but she hoped she could at least fine-tune some work with the shield spell here. At least this was class and not a direct fight against some belligerent spell-caster, or she would be in some serious trouble.

~ Elario smiled as Nicole agreed, and they made their way to one of the open spots left in the classroom. Elario himself was new to magic, but his affinity with it had grown stronger daily ever since he received his wand 2 years ago. He knew defensive magics, in fact, his father had instucted him on them daily for those years. His Shield spell was quite powerful, but, alas, like all Shield spells, it still suffered the same hinderences: it, being a normal Shield, could not block curses, and even some Jinxes had a nasty habit of breaking through as well.

Professor Grensworth stroked his chin as his class carried out his orders, and then, once order had returned, began to speak again.

" Now, all those on my left," he indicated with his hand, just in case anyone still couldn't tell the mirror image of right and left, " will be casting the spell Stupefactus. This is only a Stunning Spell, as you all should well know from your first year, but I do not want to see anything different. Cast anything other than Stun and I will have you thrown out of this class for the rest of the year."

Some students laughed slightly, and then, upon realizing that no one had joined in, closed their mouths. One gulped so loudly that Grensworth's eyes flashed to the disturbance so quickly that the student actually gave out a gasp. The Professor smiled thinly.

" I assure you: you will meet things in this class much more terrifying than I. Now, get set, and, on my mark, the person on my left will attempt to stun their partner, who will block the strike with Contego. For those who do not know how to perform the spell, watch closely."

He drew his own wand, paused until everyone's attention was on him, then drew a quick circle with the object using only his wrist and then snapped his arm upwards, calling out the incantation as his arm was being raised. A faint shimmer of light around Professor Grensworth indicated that the Shield was in effect.

" Now, you can attempt the spell without the proper movements, but the Shield you create will be much weaker, especially at your levels."

After watching all this, Elario turned to face Nicole. He took one last look at the Professor, then cocked in eyebrow as he said, " Well, looks like you're stunning me first. Ready Nicole?"~

Nicole couldn't figure out Grensworth. He was showing a strong appearance, but she couldn't figure if that was to scare kids, or to simply determine who was who in the class. Either way, it was freaking out some of the kids...probaly Nymphs, judging by some of the gulps. As of yet, he didn't seem frightening-more of a sergeant type, who Nic had had plenty of the type in out-of-magic schooling.

"I'll do my best not to kill you," Nic laughed. The other kids may have freaked, but she reasoned to take things on the bright side-it was the first day, maybe he did this every time.

She stood off to the right as Elario moved to the left, readying her wand.

"My best," she said again, smiling.

"Stupefactus," she said, right on cue and without missing a beat. The stunning spell came out just as it was supposed to, flying towards Elario...hopefully he would get his shield up first.

OOC: I'm probably only going to be able to do 1 more post after this one for tonight (it's almost 1 AM here ...)

~ Elario had spent the better part of his morning in his Curses Placement Exam. If he had learned anything there, it was reaction time.

The red beam bursting out of Nicole's wand didn't waste any time in reaching out to strike Elario, but he was more than ready. He imitated the movements Grensworth had shown the class (although he knew them already), and bellowed out,

" Contego!"

Nicole's spell struck the barrier and dissipated, taking the Shield along with it. Elario remained un-stunned, and he flashed a toothy grin at Nicole, letting her know he was alright.

Some of the other students weren't so lucky: either they were too slow, didn't say the proper incantation, or, in one strange case, the defender had casted his shield as the Stunning spell came within the circumference of the Contego. He now crouched nervously in his bubble as the red light struck off of the walls of the sphere, crackling violently and speeding up with each clash of the inner walls of the Shield spell.

The Professor sighed, swiped his wand at the failed attempt, and both the shield and the attack seemed to be sucked right into his wand.

" Alright, now, if your partner was hit, wait for them to unfreeze, and then switch roles. If you're ready to continue, do so and keep switching roles until I tell you too."

More red jets of light streaked across the room, more invisible barriers intercepted them, and more pupils were left motionless.

" Concentrate!" Grensworth's voice seemed to carry right into your very brain, imprinting the message so that it could never be forgotten, " You need to concentrate! Distractions are your worst enemy in a duel: focus only on your opponent or you'll never block anything!"

Elario and Nicole were ready to try again, but, being a gentleman, he spoke out,

" Alright, I'm going to try now. Tell me when you're ready, I'll be sure to go easy on ya'!" A hearty chuckle accompanied his voice. Compared to the fights he was in yesterday, this was actually ... enjoyable. He smiled again, glad to finally be getting a grip on his powers. A look down at Nicole, however, and his smile widened ...~

Sibeoci found himself into another class, once again. He had hurried out of charms carrying effectively nothing with him. He found the teacher's announcement quite convenient as he hadn't brought anything but his wand. While wandering in the hallways alone in the general direction of his next class, he passed by three students. One of them gave a somewhat rude whistle and Sibeoci sped up quickly.

Sibeoci was not androgynous. He simply was not androgynous at all. He clearly looked like one gender and appeared to have absolutely no androgyny whatsoever. Unfortunately for him, that gender he appeared like was...not his gender. Frankly speaking, he only had one male physical characteristic, and its the reason why he's male. He had an obscene figure that would put most of the females in his house to shame and disturbingly what appeared to be a very small bust. Of course, it wasn't actually one, but it sure appeared like one. It was unsurprising that the boys would mistake him for female, you wouldn't expect ANYONE to not mistake him as such. If he opened his voice, they wouldn't have believed him. He never had this problem before, so he assumed it was something odd with the students of the school.

He resisted the urge to hex the group of boys nor did he want to take the time to correct them. He simply hurried along into his next class in a foul mood. He didn't appear to have a partner so he simply stood aside, watching the students practice their spells while sucking on his wand with his head tilted slightly to the side.

OOC: 1 AM here too :D

IC:

"Aw darn," Nic said as Elario intercepted her stun. She was playing, she didn't really want to stun him-much less do something worse by accident.

She glanced over at a couple students momentarily out cold, knocked by successful stuns and unsuccessful blocks. Hopefully, she wouldn't join their ranks. The professor was seemingly more involved and dedicated, rather than just some hard-ass guy who was looking to inflict pain. Nicole liked that-a guy who was willing to get involved and get down and dirty, rather than some pretty teacher who just wanted to write at a chalkboard all day and wear down his voice lecturing.

"Try not to kill me," Nic replied to Elario telling her to announce when she was ready; "I didn't kill you."

She flashed a quick smile; she was just playing. This class was fun, in sharp contrast to the boring charms lecture. She was having a good time.

OOC: Yea, 1 AM means bedtime. I'm going after 1 more post ... I have no self control :D

~ Elario laughed again as the friendly banter between him and Nicole continued.

" That you didn't! Alright, I promised I'd go easy ... and just after I learned all those Curses too ..."

He winked at her, and then, in a serious, yet still slightly playful manner, raised his wand. Elario have Nicole a short nod, signaling he was about to attack. Quickly, he made a motion as if making a short thrust with a rapier.

" Stupefactus!"

The spell rocketed from Elario's ebony wand, heading directly for Nicole's middle ...~

OOC: It's 10:00 for me, so I'll be on a while longer...

Sibeoci frowned. One particular face in the class stood out. And not in a good way. He remembered a boy who insulted him about his heritage when he was unable to produce the names of his parents. Sibeoci was not actually of non-magical birth, but he had no reason to believe otherwise. It wasn't a really an insult and nobody remembered it besides Sibeoci. He had an extremely long memory for even minor transgressions committed by others. Forgiveness was simply not in his vocabulary. He quickly muttered to himself with the wand in his mouth softly.

"...Phasmatis Letum..."

After a short while, the students who were casting their spells suddenly all had their wands twitch a little. This tiny shift in movement send almost a dozen stunning spells in one direction. The stunning spells the students were originally planning to launch toward their partners all fired in one single direction at once single person. Unfortunately, Sibeoci botched his spell and sent all the wands pointing in the WRONG direction and at the WRONG person. Almost a dozen spells came flying at Nicole to Sibeoci's horror. Sibeoci didn't know Nicole at all, and to him, she was just a nameless girl. But regardless, his anger and malcontent was directed solely at one person, not at anyone else. He was horrified at the outcome of his botched spell and was petrified as the stunning spells all flew toward Nicole. He didn't say a word and just stared at it in horror as the spells flew toward Nicole.

OOC: I'm out, Goodnight

~ Both Professor Grensworth and Elario were reacting in record time to correct the situation. Though neither knew what had gone wrong, they both knew that that many stunners could have serious consequences.

Grensworth reacted faster than the student, pointing his wand at Nicole and crying out an incantation that none of the students knew.

Immediately, they could see a shimmering of light in front of Nicole, but it looked ... different. It wasn't spherical, in fact, it looked quite flat and that it stretched quite a long ways across the classroom. The spell absorbed the majority of the attacks, but two more spells, in addition to Elario's, were racing towards Nicole. Not knowing if she could defend herself in time, he tracked the red beams of light, and then,

" Veneficus Obex!"

Normally, this was considered a jinx: it prevented magic ten feet from the target, thus stopping most spells from being cast. When used in the way Elario had just done, however, an effective barrier had just been placed around Nicole that could absorb more than one spell.

The red stunners struck the invisible wall set by the jinx, and evaporated. Quickly, Elario removed the effects of the jinx and then rushed towards Nicole while Grensworth was busy interrogating his students as a group to find out what had gone wrong. He didn't know why the spells had suddenly all aimed themselves at Ms. Young, but such an incident on the first day of classes had certainly served to both enrage and, unbeknownst to the pupils around him, frighten him. He assumed, to the best of his ability, that some type of Locomotor charm had been introduced to the environment: nothing else could have made all of the spells veer off-course and head right towards Nicole. Still, it was only an assumption, but Professor Grensworth was angry, and began lashing out a bit unjustly when he should have been tending to his almost-stricken student. He howled at his students,

" Did I not tell you only stunning spells?! Who's the show-off who just endangered the life of Nicole Young?!"

Meanwhile, Elario was busy consoling the girl at the center of the rapid event.

" Christ, I dunno what happened, are you okay Nicole?" Elario asked in a concerned, slightly panicked tone. He honestly did care: his actions if anything showed that, but his heart still raced with a slight hint of fear, even though he knew the danger was gone.~

Sibeoci was horrified. If his face were not normally paper white normally, it would have turned deathly pale out of terror. He quickly came to his senses and assessed the situation. He found quite a clever way to accomplish his original goal and make himself appear like a nicer person, two things he found quite useful.

The teacher interrogated him. Sibeoci was an extremely skilful liar. He could tell a complete falsehood and make it appear full of innocent naive sincerity. He told total lies as they were truth. Unfortunately, in an ironic twist, when telling the truth, Sibeoci is often not taken seriously as he appears to be completely lying when telling the truth. But he was not telling the truth. He was telling a lie. For Sibeoci, he had no difficulty lying and having people believing it, but he had great difficult telling the truth and having people believe it. For this reason, he often lied when it would be just as easy, or even easier, to tell the truth. In a way, Sibeoci was a compulsive and pathological liar, which almost nobody could tell from his innocent, naive, and cute exterior.

Sibeoci artfully told a complete lie to the face of the professor without batting an eye. Most importantly, he told a complete lie that appeared completely truthful. Sibeoci pointed out his original target as the "culprit" of his misdoings. The professor, as insightful as he was into people's behaviour, and as great at telling when students lie, took Sibeoci's blatant falsehood as complete truth. And there was also another reason. The Draco boy (his original target) Sibeoci pointed out was somewhat known for being somewhat dually bigoted and completely unconcerned about harming those around him. The professor stomped off and angrily dragged the boy out of the room. Sibeoci smiled. The girl wasn't hurt at all, so he wasn't worried. And best of all, he had gotten a wonderful revenge. Yes. He smiled for the first time in a great deal of time.

OOC: I'll teach Potions :)
IC
Rei waved Nicole goodbye and made her way to the potion room; the dark drab room in the basement of the school; the walls were lined with shelves of ingredients and bubbling brews of potions that had already been mixed and others that had been finished and clearly labelled. Every desk seemed to have ingredients already laid out on it Rei spotted Vex and sat down next to him and gave him a cheery smile and hefted a sigh resting her head on her hands. She was slightly down about something.

The potion teacher arrived; she was a fairly tall woman of five foot and eleven inches; with pink hair pulled up into two pigtails dangling down over her shoulders. More interesting than her hair however was instead of the usual robes she wore what could only be described as "Goth Gear"; that being a red and green tartan skirt coming down to just above the knee; a black 'flaming skulls of death metal' T-shirt and a leather jacket. Rei half expected her to ride into class on a motorcycle declaring herself to be a "Bad ass mother f*cker on a motorcycle!"

The Teacher came up to her desk and smiled over her class waiting for the others to arrive; she waved her hand and the chalk became charmed picking itself up and dictating her ever word. "I'm Alison O'Tool; I'm teaching Advanced Potions this year and I'll be taking the beginners class this afternoon too" she said her voice was gravely and sultry at the same time.

OOC: OMG! Three pages to catch-up on!

Kira stood off to the side as Grensworth countered the spells casted by the one student. It was a stupid show of disregard for the rules. She watched as the lights and sounds echoed and thundered through the classroom. The other students were astounded and shocked to see their spells cast towards Nicole Young. Sibeoci obviously wanted to hurt her more than stun. She let out a sigh and folded her arms. The class seemed to end abruptly but she hadn't had a chance to cast her spells yet.
"Alex, let's see if you've inproved any" she challenged, changing her stance and raising her wand.

ooc- wow, does anyone sleep on these forums?

After finishing the Defensive magic class, Dante walked to the potions room. The dark, drab room was boring and that gothic teacher made him think,
"Why am I here?"

OOC: It's 2:40pm here in Sicily:D

OOC: It's 2:40pm here in Sicily:D

ooc- it's 8:38 in Maryland, and i noticed that the way people tend to interpret my posts, Dante is starting to sound a lot like Cho.

ooc- it's 8:38 in Maryland, and i noticed that the way people tend to interpret my posts, Dante is starting to sound a lot like Cho.

OOC: I suppose

OOC: I suppose

ooc: it's cool though

Seeing that Rei was in advanced potions with him, which was probably to be expected, made his year seem a little better. If he wasn't going to be able to work in secret at the back of the room, at least he could have someone to chat with. However, as she took a seat next to him, nearly filling out the relatively small class of some twelve or so students, he noticed that she didn't particularly seem to be in the mood for talking.

She smiled certainly, but Vex had a keen eye for deciphering the world and something was slightly out of tune. "You okay?" he whispered as the odd Professor O'Tool entered the class. He knew when asking it that she wouldn't be able to answer it immediately as class and the professor's instructions were about to begin; but as a courtesy, he left the door open for her should she want to respond when they started on the day's activity.

"...begin with a Invigoration Potion," he heard her finish her introductory speech; and the students, Vex included, were off flipping through their potions books to find the proper instructions on how to prepare the constitutional draught.

[ooc: Keep the OOC comments out of this thread and read the OOC Thread.]

For Nic's credit, she had produced a shield spell somewhat - one that hadn't really been neccessary, since the Professor's shield and Elario's jinx had managed to stave off the overwhelming amount of stunning spells that had shot her direction like a firing squad. The sensation had been almost surreal - one moment, she'd been laughing with Elario about the class, and then out of the blue suddenly other spells were shooting around from all over the classroom. Unexpected, to say the least.

She stood, slightly shaken, wand by her side, as Elario rushed up.

"Yea...I'm ok..." she said, her voice hinting at still slight confusion.

Her eyes darted about the room as she started to come back into it, and saw Grensworth taking Raf out of the class. Anger started boiling up inside of her - that kid had it out for her, Nic was sure - but she quelled it, trying not to unexpectedly let something out that she didn't want to. Now was the worst time to go off on everybody inside - and she didn't exactly want to know what would happen if she did that in front of Grensworth...

Rafzekael struggled against the teacher pushing him out.
"It wasn't me, it was that pale kid, Sibeoci!" He pocketed his wand. How will I get him back....

~ Professor Grensworth, once he was clear of the door and into the hall, nearly threw Rafzekael against one of one the walls. Anyone passing by could see pent up fury in his face as he spoke in his same slow, serious tone,

" Maybe it was Sibeoci, maybe it was you, maybe it was everyone in the classroom. All that matters was that one of my students was endangered: I am not about to let anyone come to harm in my class, do you understand?"

A first year walking by the scene felt a chill run down her spine. She put her head down and began to half-jog, half-run down towards another corridor as Grensworth continued,

" Normally, for such a display, I would throw you out of my classroom for the rest of the year, ensuring you will not move on. However," at this, he backed up a bit from Raf, giving him room to breathe and move, " as no one is sure as to what has happened, I will inflict to reprecussions. You are free to go: the class will be over in a few minutes anyway. However," at this, his dark eyes narrowed so that they appeared to just be two slits on his pale, scarred face, " if I even suspect that you try some stunt like that in my class, you won't even have time to pack before I throw you out of this school: Do we have an accord?"
_____

Meanwhile, back in the Classroom ...

Elario sighed and put his head down as the Professor dealt with the apparent troublemaker: the same kid Nicole had been wary of in Charms. Deciding not to further instigate an already bad situation, he grinned, slightly, and gave a shrug as if to say " What else could you do?". Some of the other students had gone back to trying to Stun and Shield, albeit they were now advancing at a much slower pace than they had before.

He sighed again, and then, with an upbeat inflection, said to Nicole,

" Well, at least you got your Shield up, neh?"~

Do we have an accord?"

"Yes sir. Thank you." Rafzekael walked away checking his timetable and wondering if they had hemlock in the grounds.

Nic made a half-hearted smile, shaking off a little bit of the haze from the experience.

"Yea...it worked..."

She hoped lunch up next would shake the encounter off a bit, but she'd have to be more careful about Raf, apparently-I guess he's more dedicated to what he does than I thought. At least Elario seemed to be taking it fairly well, as was the rest of the class, for the most part, returning to normal. She didn't like people standing around forever gawking and making half-hearted apologetics to her, rather that things went about their course.

~ Elario stepped twice to put himself next to Nicole and against the wall, and then sat down. The exhaustion was finally catching up to him: he wasn't used to using magic this much, and it was showing.

" Condannare ... I'm beat," he said with finallity. The excitement had worn away quickly: now there was only fatigue, worry, and concern. Still, being the optimistic person he was, Elario remained fairly cheerful, motioning for Nicole to take a seat next to him.

" Class is almost over anyway, and besides, isn't it safe to say we've had enough of a show for one class ..?"

Unknown to the students, Professor Grensworth had actually been making his way to the HeadMaster to report the incident, leaving them to practice or work on their own ...~

Nic took a seat, cooling down from the incident.

"I guess that's our excitement for the morning," she said with a wry smile, "makes the afternoon look real good."

She had been able to use the spell appropriately, which was somewhat uplifting. In the case of it being used was a downright neccessity, however...but in the real world, Nic knew, stuff could be ten times worse in such a situation. Even in the class, practice was good, especially when there were others around who were more experienced and fluid in magic than she was.

~ Elario nodded in agreement.

" It's startin' to make lunch really appealing too ..."

As he said "lunch", Elario could feel his stomach rumble with eagerness as well. He knew he had to break his habit of barely eating breakfast, now that he was going to be using magic daily, but old traits die hard. Deciding he'd rather not do anything for the rest of the class, worn down as it was, Elario looked over at Nicole, his head resting against the smooth, cold stone of the room.

" So," he began casually, " tell me about yourself."~

Why was Sibeoci so darned good at lying? The "boy" lowered his head toward Nicole. You know, he might have a future in acting considering how good he was at it.

He looked shyly at Nicole and started to quietly stammer a few words. His voice was rather high, soft, and his acting gave off the aura of a scared little schoolgirl. He damned look the part as well.

At this point, Sibeoci had been acting different parts on and off so long, he didn't even know who the "real" Sibeoci was. What he did know, the innocent and naive schoolgirl role seemed to be the safest and draw away the most suspicion. Unfortunately for him, combined with his physical appearance, which is really male in name only, this made it effectively impossible for anyone without super magical powers to not automatically and incorrectly assume he was female. Regardless, Sibeoci softly asked Nicole. His voice was too damn good at lying and deceiving people. In all honesty, Sibeoci WAS concerned about Nicole, but his voice betrayed absolutely no suspicion. After all, people don't expect a voice like that to ever lie. It was too high, innocent, and noticeably feminine to alert people to the truth.

"Um...are you ok?"

OOC: I'm WAY behind here, so I'm gonna answer this post and move forward from there.

OOC: OMG! Three pages to catch-up on!

Kira stood off to the side as Grensworth countered the spells casted by the one student. It was a stupid show of disregard for the rules. She watched as the lights and sounds echoed and thundered through the classroom. The other students were astounded and shocked to see their spells cast towards Nicole Young. Sibeoci obviously wanted to hurt her more than stun. She let out a sigh and folded her arms. The class seemed to end abruptly but she hadn't had a chance to cast her spells yet.
"Alex, let's see if you've inproved any" she challenged, changing her stance and raising her wand.

Alex smiled, nodded and took his own wand from his pocket. He flipped it several times in his fingers before pointing the tip at Kira in salute. He then changed his stance and prepared for the little duel. Part of the class or not, pride was at stake here.

00c- im completely lost here

Professor O'Tool began to set out ingredients on her desk and set up a mixing cauldron that had odd-looking markings on it. She took some Wolfs Bane Leaves and started to grind them into a fine powder. "First take Wolfs bane" she said pouring the powder into the water inside the pot; "Now take some Hemlock and some flux weed picked on the full moon" she said adding both and stirring thoroughly

"Does anyone here know WHY this potion is nicknamed the sleeping death?" she asked the class as she added some Cinnamon to the mix purely for taste.

Rei followed the instructions from the odd professor and smiled to Vex; "I'm ok; I just have really bad taste in women" she said with a deep sigh; "I think I have a crush on a straight girl" she said as she worked from the potions notes.

"The sleeping death?" Vex repeated in a quiet utterance of curiosity. Why would a potion that is supposed to make you filled with vigor and feel hardy be called sleeping death? he wondered. Had he actually heard right?

Nevertheless, as he waited for the answer from either another student or the teacher, he followed along the instructions.

However, what he heard next was even more startling than the strange name of a potion. "Bad taste in..." he gulped with a startle as he accidentally dropped the hemlock he was holding directly into the cauldron before crushing it properly. It sizzled as his mind raced...

"Mr Lockhart" Professor O'Tool said turning her full attention on him as he dropped his ingredient into the cauldron whole. "Are you paying attention?" she scolded as her Crystal blue eyes narrowed; "We are making a very dangerous sleeping potion called the Dreaming Draught" Alison spoke

"It puts the drinker into a sleep so deep that it renders them near comatose; then we are making the Invigoration Potion; its natural counter" She explained. "The Invigoration can be used to increase vigour and hardness or restore a person who has fallen victim to the Dreaming Draught", She added

"What in all the magical realms did you think we were making? The Invigoration Potion first? " She asked in a hurried tone of voice that demanded an answer. Despite her smaller stature and odd appearance she was actually a very good teacher with a meticulous attention to detail.

"Its My fault Miss; I distracted him" Rei said taking the heat off Vex at which point O'Tool turned her eye on Rei; "He was worried about me and didn't hear you properly the first time" she added covering for Vex.

"Well see that you keep your personnel business out of my class room in the future Miss Arakawa' and you Mr Lockhart should work on your potions not worry about your girlfriend - Start again; collect ingredients from the shelves" she added and walked towards another student calling for her help after having blown up his caldron.

Rei turned to Vex; "sorry for getting you in trouble" she said blushing

Lockhart, fortunately, was a very rigid name to say thus drawing Vex's attention whether he was paying attention or not. Turning from Rei's form to see Professor O'Tool baring down on him, he realized that he had completely zoned out during her initial speech, only catching the last couple of words that had unfortunately been the name of the second potion they would be preparing.

Crap, he thought as he realized his mistake. It was so silly of him - had he paid a little bit more attention, aside from simply hearing her, he would have noticed that the ingredients they were mixing into the cauldrons were not something that combined gave more energy and reinforced one's constitution, but just the opposite. Whatever his skill level at Potion making was, the simple logic behind his mistake was something he had conquered years ago. Not that he could do anything else while in potions class, but silently Vex cursed himself for having to expend a little more attention in class than he would have liked.

"I, uh... yea-" When about to confirm that he indeed thought she had said Invigoration first - a better alternative, he thought, than lying - his voice became muffled as it was interrupted by Rei.

My girlfriend? he blushed at the thought. "She's-" Deciding it would only cause more embarrassment and trouble to correct the teacher about Rei not being his girlfriend, Vex cut himself off momentarily. Turning to face Rei, he finished his sentence by mouthing the words to her, "Very nice..."

Returning quickly from acquiring the right ingredients, he tapped his cauldron twice with his wand and its mixture of oozing pink liquid disappeared. However, upon seeing Rei attempting to apologize, Vex only shook his head and mouthed, "No... thank you."

"Well..." Nic said, glancing up for the time. She was getting hungry, and breakfast had only been a few hours before.

"I'm 15, a fourth-year, and I'm kinda hungry," she said, smiling. "But seriously...this is technically my first year here, and they threw me in fourth-year anyway. I'm ok with that, but I hope they know what they're doing...I hope I know what I'm doing."

"I guess it's sheer coincidence I'm here at all," she said, "I'm just here because of a fight that caused me to lose control and lash out, and then all the sudden a whirlwind of finding out about magic, a magical community, and everything got me to this point. Not like I particularly am upset to enter the magical world; on the contrary, it provides me with new gates to open and new places to see. I just hope this whole 'pure-blood' stuff cools down, otherwise I won't be on the good end of anything they have planned."

~ Elario was stunned: her story, although some of the details were changed, was almost entirely similar to his own. He knew what it felt like: the be different, to look at an entirely new world, to find out things that your mind couldn't wrap itself around ...

" It looks like we're in the same boat," Elario told Nicole, " I'm only in Fifth-Year because I'm sixteen: this is only my second day at this school ever."

He put his head down, trying to remember what it was like before magic overtook his life.

" My father was the one who was a Wizard," he shared openly, " but I was always closer to my mother: It's a cultural thing. I myself only found out I could use magic two years ago ... same scenario too: a school fight I went a little overboard in. Well, that, and I scared the living daylights out of the first girl I kissed. I, ehr ... levitated for a little bit afterwards. She ... she didn't seem too fond of that."

He gave a half-hearted laugh at remembering these things: his home, his old friends, his family, his life ... It all seemed so far away. He reflected on his father's last words to him, " Everything is going to change now."

Yeah, Dad: Everything did change ...~

Rei nodded still looked at Vex apologetically as she mixed her ingredients and stirred the cauldron started to bubble a sure sign something was going right; or incredibly wrong and was about to explode. She used her time while her potion was bubbling to help Vex grind his ingredients so that he could catch up; she felt very guilty for getting him in trouble and she was still blushing from the insinuation by the professor about her relationship with Vex. She took a moment to take him in; he was kind of cute she had to admit; slightly tanned and with light brow spiky hair he was definitely one the ladies would go for. Rei was Bisexual and that wasn't something that she said to sound cool; she'd actually had relationships with girls and boys though she found a preference for girls more but she did like Vex though. She wasn't sure if it was intimately yet or just as a friend but he was definitely a cool guy to be around regardless. "I was thinking of finding Nicole for lunch after class; the going to the library; would you like to Join me?" Rei invited.

The Professor meanwhile was looking over each potion in turn and smiling as at least over half her class was getting it right; she returned to the front of the room. "Now Class tell me where one may have a use for the Sleeping Death Potion?" she asked her voice carrying a curious tone.

Sibeoci frowned as Nicole and Elario blatantly ignored him. Regardless, he had to continue and attempt to socialize. He forced himself to.

"Oh, I'm a second, but it's my first year here...but I guess I caught up quickly..."

He gave a horrible shudder when trying to remember his family. Nothing came up.

"Oh...you had families. How nice for you."

"Lunch? That sounds great," Vex replied without taking his eyes off of his cauldron as the end of class drew near. He had eaten only lightly for breakfast and if he was to have enough energy for the entire, long day he would need to eat hardily.

"But I won't be able to make it to the library," Vex added after a moment with a look of disappointed on his face. "Classes pretty much all day... forget which one it is - I'll have to check my schedule - but I know I have something..."

He began worrying that it could turn into a very bleak and boring year if this is how all things were bound to go...

She felt a surge of adrenaline and excitment coursing through her veins. It's been quite some time since she used her magic against another person in a duel. For so long she practiced and studied and now she got to put it to the test. She'd stick to the rules of the class, for now. Kira cocked the wand back then threw her arm forward and shouted "Stupefactus!" and the stunning spell shot forward towards Alex.

Rei smiled; "yeah Lunch sounds really good right now; I skipped breakfast to take a longer shower" she explained. "Sorry your fully booked" she said simply "I have Lunch; then free time in the library then my last lesson for the day…though I'm not sure what I have yet" she said simply.

The professor smiled as almost everyone was finished with there potions; "Well Class; I'm not going to give you home work on your first day; even I'm not that mean" she grinned; "But I am going to tell you this years class project" she added. As she picked up her wand and a potions book and pointed the former at the chalk board; "Inscribeo" she said with a slight flick of the wrist and the board changed completely to detailed information and instructions on how to prepare what looked like a very complex potion.

"This will be your final exam this year for Potions Class; the Lux Felix Fortis Potion often called as the Glowing luck Potion because once prepared properly the potion takes on a glowing liquid gold colour" the Professor explained as the chalk shuffled to display ingredients. "This potion will take six months to properly prepare; once ingested it bestows upon its user an incredible increase in ones natural luck. However an overdose or too frequent use of such a potion and the user becomes over confident and cocky; doing more and more dangerous things to test there luck. There fore each student in advanced potions will only be preparing enough for ONE perfect day; pick a partner for your project by next Potions lesson", she said.

"Violation of this rule will not only see you out of this class but expelled from this school!" her voice taking on a harsh tone that gave no room for negotiation. "Once you have finished your potions; leave them on the side to brew" she said pointing; "Clearly mark the caldrons with your names and they will be marked once they've finished; after doing so you may leave" she said.

With a flick of the wrist and pointing her wand at the desk; "Repellio" she said as a blue spark shot at the desk from her wand casting a powerful repel charm to all but herself after the students had placed there caldrons on the desk. "That will stop anyone from interfering with your potions"

"Bollocks... I have three classes left today, but I believe they are the non mandatory ones," Vex said trying to remember what his daily schedule had looked like when he had received it the morning before.

As the teacher gave instructions on what they would be doing for their final exam - though they would have to begin it before even half the year was out - the other students began finishing up their potions and placing their cauldrons on her desk as per orders. Even with Rei's help to catch back up, brewing a potion could only go so fast, so as the other students began filing out the door eager to go to lunch, Vex was just about ready to finish up.

With potion completed, he decided to completely put the Glowing Luck out of his mind until another time. However, he did, for a few brief moments, wonder if they would be allowed to keep their final exam afterwards.

"So... I suppose lunch it is," Vex said normally as he exited the potions room.

Rei nodded and smiled setting her own cauldron down; "Lunch definitely" she said as her stomach made her and everyone near her aware of its need for intake and she blushed slightly heading towards the main hall for lunch. She was hoping to bump into Nicole or maybe that kid she met this morning or both she walked now with a slight sping in her step obviously happier than when she'd arrived.

"Yeah; my non mandatory classes are tomorrow I think; though I really should check my schedule at some point I think I got Transfiguration last" she said with a slight laugh.

"So what do you think of our final exam?" she asked curious; Rei was ironically quite gifted with potions on the whole but hated them with a passion and only attended the class because it was mandatory

She felt a surge of adrenaline and excitment coursing through her veins. It's been quite some time since she used her magic against another person in a duel. For so long she practiced and studied and now she got to put it to the test. She'd stick to the rules of the class, for now. Kira cocked the wand back then threw her arm forward and shouted "Stupefactus!" and the stunning spell shot forward towards Alex.

Alex saw the spell coming and was able to roll forwards, the spell firing over his head. He settled himself until he was steady on one knee before pointing his own wand forward. Focusing hard, he shouted the spell "Aufero Telum!" He would keep to the class rules, that was the sort of person he was. Fairplay all the way!

He's trying to disarm me! Kira had to think fast, this spell was quite difficult to block, if she hesitated or used an incorrect spell, her wand would fly out of her hand and she would be helpless.
"Encontego!" she shouted and a defensive barrier formed around her. The spell it the shield but failed to penetrate. "Pulsus Absentis" Kira countered.

He's trying to disarm me! Kira had to think fast, this spell was quite difficult to block, if she hesitated or used an incorrect spell, her wand would fly out of her hand and she would be helpless.
"Encontego!" she shouted and a defensive barrier formed around her. The spell it the shield but failed to penetrate. "Pulsus Absentis" Kira countered.

Alex was enjoying himself now. He saw the spell coming and quickly and easily stated "Ostendo sum Alica" the spell reflected off an invisible barrier and flew straight back at Kira. Alex had been practising all summer, all his life, he knew exactly how to duel. It was in his blood.

"Clausus Alica" Kira yelled just before her own spell came back upon her. A barrier formed at the last second and shielded her from the brunt of the counter spell. The blow pushed her back a few feet but she remained on her toes. The duel was getting better but she refused to be bested.
"Stupefactus!" Kira proclaimed and the stunning spel;l shot out from the tip of her wand, as soon as she uttered that spell she added a "Trinus!" aiming the wand at Alex's feet.

Alex was much faster this time as he was forced to counter two spells. He rolled to the side and was quickly to his feet. The stunning spell hit the wall behind him and the trip spell bounced harmlessly off the ground. Time to go on the offensive, he thought, "Stupefactus!" he shouted aloud and watched as the spell flew out from his wand tip.

He's far better than I remembered! Kira thought as she watched Alex dodge two attacks. A feeling of admiration came over her for a brief flicker of a second but quickly returned to the business at hand.
"Ostendo sum Alica!" Kira yelled as she ran off to the left, thoring her arm forward, commanding the wand skillfully.

Alex was determined to remain on the offensive, 'Time to play my ace' he thought as he pointed his wand at the ground and shouted "Magnus Tutela!" the room was instantly filled with thick smoke so that he couldn't see her and vice versa. He moved stealthly through the smoke, making sure he hit nothing and so gave no warning of his circling.

The plumes of thick smoke filled the room, startling Kira. It was a tricky move and she raced to think of a solution. He could be anywhere in the room, Alex was skilled and crafty. But Kira still had some tricks up her sleeve as well. "Veneficus Obex" she uttered quietly. She closed her eyes, seeing no reason to keep them open, it would be impossible to see anyways. The other senses came into play as she waited for any sound, any indication that Alex would attack. She prepared herself for any attack.

Alex stopped and whispered while pointing his wand at himself "Enviro-tectrux". Instantly, his voice became hollow and echoey. It sounded like he was in a cave. He pointed his wand and shouted "Trinus!" the words repeating themselves several times and from several different directions. He was focusing hard now so as not to alert Kira.

All of a sudden she heard Alex's voice boom all around, it was impossible to determine the origin and she slowly began to back up, her wand at the ready just in case. The tripping spell resounded from every direction it seemed when suddenly, she felt herself lose balance and her feet went into the air, causing her to come crashing to the ground. Kira grunted as a shot of pain hit her from the impact. Dammit!

Taking advantage of Kira's disadvantage, Alex shouted again, "Aufero Telum!" his voice still sounding like there were ten Alex's in the room. He continued to circle her, making it difficult to hit him with any spell. He was remembering the advice of the summer 'Keep moving, keep focused and don't miss'

The pale girl-at least that's what Nic thought Sibeoci was-was trying very lamely to attempt to chat with Elario and Nic. However, Alex and Kira were now by this point locked in a fight of sorts-lucky for them the professor wasn't in the class, wherever he was now-but all the smoke now filling the room from whatever they were up to was starting to bug Nic. Show-offs...plus, apparently there wasn't anyone in the class who was going to matter anyway to these two now dueling around the room. Likely to kill somebody at this rate.

"C'mon, let's head down to lunch..." Nic told Elario.

Kira struggled to sit up and as soon as she did her wand, her mother's wand flew from her hand. It seemed to move in slow motion as it disappeared into the smoke. The sound of it hitting the ground announced her defeat. Alex was indeed silled in dueling for being a student. She was soundly beaten. As much as it hurt to admit, this was the truth. Though, this only served to fuel her desire to improve and hone her skills. The current course of learning wasn't serving her understanding of magic. Her thirst for knowledge demanded something more...something forbidden. The smoke continued to mask everything in a cloak. She clenched her fists and hit one against the stone ground.

One whip of Alex's wand and the smoke was gone, revealing he was behind Kira to her right. He was surprised, he hadn't thought he'd gotten that far around. He walked up to Kira, who was still sitting and threw her wand to her. Once she'd caught it, he smiled and offered a hand up "Good Duel" he said. Kira had been a far tougher opponent than he had anticipated but the fact he had won showed all the practise was paying off.

A hand went up into the air and caught the wand. She brought it close to her, observing the inscription upon the handle portion. Kira blew some strands of hair from the front of her face and looked up at Alex. It was an embarrassing moment for her. Alex offered a hand and Kira looked at it for a moment, contemplating on whether to accept or not. She was proud and stubborn but for some reason her arm moved out from her body and her hand glided onto his hand and he gripped it gently, lifting her up. She dusted herself off and pulled her hair back, breathing heavily. It was indeed an exciting duel, her first real one in quite some time and still felt as though it wasn't a bad loss.
"Yeah" she uttered between heavy breaths, giving a weak smile and made her way to the door, quickening her steps, not wanting Alex to see her cheeks flush slightly.

Alex watched her leave and then exhaled loudly before slumping in a chair nearby. Funny, he thought, I didn't the duel took that much outta me. He was kidding himself of course but still needed something to mask his real thoughts. He sighed and stared out the window.

Out in the corridor Kira continued on her way, the wand safely in her pocket. She smoothed out her hair and composed herself. She silently vowed to beat Alex in a duel someday. Without much more thought, she mader her way down the stone steps and across the courtyard. AFter passing through the heavy wooden doors she emerged into the Great Hall where the sudents gathered for lunch. As ususal, she found an isolated part ans sat down and sighed. She was so hungry earlier but found herself uninterested in most of the food. Finally, she managed to get a sandwich and something to drink.

Alex stared out the window and thought for a while before walking into the hall to get some lunch. He was starving after the duel and so he sat alone at the end of the Leviathan table. He knew Kira was sitting at the table but he thought he should leave her alone with his thoughts. He was thinking too, back to the Dark Days, when his father had been murdered. He found himself reliving that day so, forcing the thoughts from his head, he continued to eat and think.

As she sat at the long table, Kira felt herself lull into deep thought. The duel left an impression on her, examining every aspect of the duel, what she did wrong, what she sould've done, and so forth. There were ways to improve but the usual ways weren't working. A simple truth came over her, another path, another way would provide the learning she needed. Kira tilted her head down, almost in a trance as the image of her mother returned, instead of trying to make sense and rationalize it, she just let the image fill her mind.

There was a book her mother owned. It stayed in her private study where Kira rarely entered. It was a simple black leather bound book, it was an untitled book, no author or anything. In it, the book contained the information, spells, knowledge, and the inevitable power she desired. Kira recalled one day when her mother dusted it off the top shelf, the one Kira tried yet failed to reach so many times before. Beatrice Blackwater even let her touch it. Little Kira placed a small delicate hand upon it and felt a tingle rise through her body, an unfamiliar yet desired feeling. That was that and she hadn't seen it since.
'This book contains a knowledge banned by the magical world' Beatrice Blackwater told her before putting it back up.
I must find that book! Kira thought.

Rafzekael was sitting at the Draco table with a few others from his house, plotting.
"Yeah, this idiot got me thrown out of Defensive Magics, so I wanna get him back. But this isn't really the place to plan, is it?" He said looking around, seeing a few friends of Siboci. "We'll continue later."

The pale girl-at least that's what Nic thought Sibeoci was-was trying very lamely to attempt to chat with Elario and Nic. However, Alex and Kira were now by this point locked in a fight of sorts-lucky for them the professor wasn't in the class, wherever he was now-but all the smoke now filling the room from whatever they were up to was starting to bug Nic. Show-offs...plus, apparently there wasn't anyone in the class who was going to matter anyway to these two now dueling around the room. Likely to kill somebody at this rate.

"C'mon, let's head down to lunch..." Nic told Elario.

~ Although he was enjoying the duel with a warrior's eye, flashing over every move, counter-move, and so on, Elario decided to join Nicole anyway, standing and then offering his hand to her to help her up.

It was then that he heard the comment: "Oh...you had families. How nice for you."

He froze, and then whirled to face Sibeoci. There was something ... strange about her. As far as he could tell, Sibeoci was a woman, but ... the way she carried herself, her stance ... it reflected masculinity. He couldn't place it, but it didn't matter. A slight twinge of rage flooded through Elario as he spoke in a low, harsh tone,

" Yeah, I had a family. Had. As far as I know, my family has turned on itself for decades, wiping itself out over this Blood issue. Once my father dies, I'm the absolute last of my family."

Perhaps Sibeoci didn't deserve to be treated this way. Maybe Elario was overreacting, but then again, his family was a touchy subject: it was to everyone from his country. In fact, family matters were usually only discussed with those a person could openly trust with most things.

Breathing heavily, Elario turned away, motioning for Nicole to follow.

" Come on, let's go ..."~

Alex looked up and saw Elario and Nicole sitting nearby. He decided he needed something to distract his thoughts and so he walked over to them. He exchanged a cold glance with Nicole and greeted Elario "How ya doin'?" he smiled "you in magical defence class, there now"

Sibeoci was fast. He responded quickly just after Alex finished his sentence before either Elario or Nicole could say anything. He gave Alex an apprehensive stare and replied.

"Guilty as charged. What about it?"

Alex shrugged "Just wondering if you were there" he sat down again and grabbed a nearby sandwich, "I'm starving" he said as he ate, "That class really took it out of me" he was also deep in thought as he ate, staring into the distance

Sibeoci somehow mimicked Alex by taking an identical sandwich, sitting down, and taking a small bite. However, rather than staring off into the distance, he stared at Alex.

Alex sensed him watching and turned to stare straight into his eyes "Can I help you?" he asked in a polite tone, but his eyes were alert and ready for any signs of movement.

"Ah... Transfiguration," he echoed in reminiscence. "Dropped it this year," he added as his mind wandered back to the classes. Like many of the subjects taught at the school, particularly those that dealt with either the mind or the wand, Vex had been quite gifted in Transfiguration. However, after four years of schooling in the subject and numerous books, assigned and non-assigned, read, he decided that he had learned pretty much all he could. Clearly he had not reached the level of mastery that is required to become an Animagus, but he had conquered most other uses of the subject matter.

"Well it certainly is interesting," Vex responded to the question of the final exam as he came out of thought about Transfiguration. "A bit odd that we'll have to start our final exam before even winter break rolls around, but I suppose we'll have to for the Glowing Luck Potion. I wonder if we'll be allowed to keep it after O'Tool grades them - ya know, it'd be quite useful to have a day of perfect luck," he said with a wink, though he meant nothing in particular by it.

A short moment passed as they walked towards lunch before he turned back to Rei. "Umm... I was kind of wondering if you'd like to be my partner in it... you know, only if you want," he said slightly nervously. Though he could manage just fine on his own, Vex had noticed that Rei had a certain knack for potions. However, that would just be the bonus of getting her as a partner; really, it would be nice to have a friend to work with... and she wasn't bad to look at either.

"I don't get that girl..." Nic said as she and Elario left the class, "besides being pasty, she's wierd. Like she's genetically unsocial or something."

Nic mused about that as they proceeded down to the great hall, wondering about Sib. She was certainly different-and she didn't carry herself like a normal girl would. None of the usual air of confidence or the concern for image or the need for attention-rather, she seemed more like a dejected dog in the back looking for some kind of attention, but unsure of how to get it. It was a rather strange sight, seeing someone like that. Someone who almost didn't seem human. Maybe this was common in the magical world, Nic didn't know...apparently, she had some getting used to to do with this new life she was now heading into.

She sat down and Alex asked a question, but Sib said something first-why was the girl always seemingly around? She ignored Sib and tried to talk to Alex with Elario there, but that pasty face was something else.

"Yeah, I was the one that Raf tried to shoot," she replied to Alex, "That's a good amount of excitement for one day."

Alex laughed at her response "Oh yeah! that sounds like quite enough for one day!" but as he said it, his eyes darted to Raf amongst the other Dracos "Nevertheless" he said quietly, so no one else at the table could hear him "I'd watch my back for while. This matter ain't settled yet" he straighted up and grabbed another sandwich, he was starving.

It sounded like something died in Sibeoci's throat when "Raf's spell" was mentioned.

In all honesty, it did kinda made him feel somewhat worried that it almost hurt someone, but to add to that, his pride was hurt by his favourite spell going so horribly wrong. He spoke up softly.

"Yeah....I guess you're right..."

He chewed on his hair. He had very long straight oriental hair since he...kinda was, so it made it quite easy.

Rei smiled "I'd love to" she said to Vex brightly; entering the main hall she picked up a large plate of various food from bacon and eggs to noodles; loading up her plate and then grabbing another and holding a drink under her chin Rei was very hungry and intended to chow down. As she spotted Nicole she waved haphazardly and walked over to the table she was sat at; and called Vex to follow once he'd picked out what he was eating for lunch.

"Hey Nic; can we join you for lunch?" she asked happily; she eyed Sib nervously…there was something just not right about her but Rei couldn't place it. There were times when people just set off all of Rei's warning signs and flashing Klaxons in her head and Sib was certainly one of them.

(Short crappyish Post sorry, its 4:30am and I'm tired but I wanted to post to keep things fluid before bed)

"Yea, I don't want to know what would happen if Professor Grensworth hadn't put up the spell," she said. "Changing the subject, I can't figure whether I like Grensworth or whether I don't. He did save me from all the spells, but he seems like a pretty tough teacher."

All in all, Nicole was more gauging them than actually interested in whether Grensworth was a good teacher or not. He had been quick to act as the spells had shot at her, and with someone willing to protect someone else, that was enough for her. Grensworth had earned her trust by acting to protect Nic, and she was grateful enough for that alone, but by trusting Sib's word on Raf and taking him out, that was even better.

Nic saw Rei coming, and waved.

"Sure, have a seat guys," she said.

Seeing Rei, who had been ahead of him when getting food, waving him over to the table where she had found her younger friend Nicole, Vex grabbed up his sizable plate of food and wandered through the crowded hall towards them.

Taking a seat across from Rei and Nicole, he began digging in, voraciously hungry from eating a small breakfast hours earlier. However, as he ate, Vex pulled a small, bent booklet out of his robe's pocket and placed it on the table with one hand. There was a relatively new crease through the middle of it, showing how it had been worked in by its most recent reader. The fingers of his left hand nimbly flipped to a page about a third of the way in and Vex began reading between bites.

It wasn't that he was anti-social - quite the opposite in fact - but when there was something on his mind, as there had been for the past two and a half months, Vex had to get to the bottom of it or it would prod at his every waking thought and fill his slumbering dreams. He'd vaguely listen to the lunch conversation, even piping in if he had something to say, but for the most part his attention would be focused on the task at hand and his little creased book.

Sibeoci took a glance at the girl who had just taken a seat. In all honesty, if Suoni's skin wasn't paper white, if he didn't have obscenely long hair, if he had a noticeably larger bust, and if he were several years older, he would actually look like the new girl. He didn't pay her a second glance. Suoni stared blankly as he decided to reply to Nicole.

"You don't like him because he seems tough...? Even so...at least he seems that he's probably nice besides that and well-meaning...probably. The fact that he appeared to care about his students was already more than I expected...I could hardly expect more out of him...it wouldn't be quite...fair."

"Enjoying the book?" Nic asked Vex before Sib spoke up.

She smiled at Vex playfully. She didn't mean to interrupt or anything, simply curious as to what was inside. Besides, Vex, of all the group around, seemed like the grizzled veteran who knew more of the inside secrets...and Nic was always up to gaining some more knowledge. Besides, the booklet he was reading seemed like it'd seen wear and tear, and to Nicole, that told her that it was in frequent use by someone who was interested.

Before she could get an answer, however, Sib spoke up. She was just bizarre to behold, much less hear...and just staring there like that.

"I guess I owe him," Nic said, even though she already knew it. "Hopefully he'll just be tough and not be a biased sort of person."

Sibeoci's eyes snapped back into place, fixed on Nicole. They weren't particularly harsh looking, they appeared to just be looking in her general direction.

"Don't worry, the only way he'd be biased was if he were biased in your favour...which isn't really anything to worry about..."

Sibeoci's voice usually trailed off into nothingness at the end of his statements...

Rei listened intently as Nic talked while she munched on her lunch hungrily; one of Rei's guilty pleasures - she loved to eat and she loved to cook. It was a small miracle that she was as small as she was with the amount she ate; people usually put it down to her having a fast metabolism. "What happened with Greensworth?" she asked sensing something big must have happened but currently having no idea what.

She took a sideways glance at Sib…. Something was no right with that kid; Rei had spent her entire life around illusions trained not only to create them but also to see through them and something just wasn't right about that girl. Her voice was too…. Perfect hiding something deeper and nastier undenieth like the Venus flytrap attracts its prey with pheromones so to Sib's voice gave her the same feeling.

Rei simply waited for Nic to explain what happened while she ate.

Alex, bored with the conversation, got up and left the table. He walked past the Draco's table, shooting them a nasty glance which they didn't notice. They were too busy plotting something, "Up to no good" he thought to himself as he left. He couldn't remeber what class he had next and so he went to his dorm to find out.

"Bit of a long story," Nic said with a wry grin, "we were practicing shield and stunning spells in class...and Raf decided to be funny. I'm standing there, waiting for Elario to throw his spell at me, put up a shield-and suddenly, there are stunning spells flying from everywhere. A little shocking, ya. Fortunately, Professor Grensworth through up his own shield spell to double with mine and it helped to break the spells...but apparently, Raf was the freak who decided to do it, and Grensworth took him outside. No idea what he told him."

ooc- I didn't know about the time thing and I wasn't able to get on the internet until now.

Dante walked to the Dryad table. He then began to eat a sandwich while thinking about love, honour, and family.

After a few minutes Kira pushed her plate away, unable to finish eating the contents. A knot coiled in her stomach like a snake wrapping around its' prey. It was debilitating yet she managed to stand up and scoop up her books and walk out of the classroom. All the while she thought of the book her mother showed her...

"Something like that," Vex replied casually and kindly as he looked up from the palm sized book and pulled out his schedule from an inner robe pocket. Glancing it over quickly, he noticed he had an annoying three more classes that afternoon. With eleven classes on his schedule, he would have five classes one day and then the other five the next day; the eleventh class, Advanced Curses, which he was not even sure there were any other students in, unfortunately met everyday starting tomorrow. It was probably the school's way of stressing the dangers and care necessary to learn and safely handle the class.

After lunch he had Unknown Magical Studies - one of the test-in classes - followed by Magical Theory and Restoration to cap off the day (though in the future he would have Advanced Curses after it before dinner). It would prove to be a year of work...

Upon confirming that he had at least thirty minutes before Unknown Magic began, he returned to his book and continued reading the tiny font. However, when he heard the comments about the events of Defensive Magics class, it momentarily peaked his interest and he decided to pipe in. "Don't you think you're giving him a little too much credit," Vex commented as his eyes momentarily glanced up from his thinking, wondering if anyone would challenge his thought.

Rei narrowed her eyes; "he what?" she said viably shaking in almost disbelief with anger and clenching her fist tight though to turn her knuckles white. The little prick had just officially made Rei's hit list. Rei was VERY protective of her friends; Rei didn't go looking for a fight with anyone; she believed that we all walked our own path even those of us who were slightly darker than most but hurting her friends was one sure fire way to get her riled up. Make no mistake Raf would be on the end of Rei's justified violence some point in the future.

"Regardless of whoever did it - Nobody hurts my friends", she said to Vex as much as a warning to Sib as it was a threat against Raf. Rei had done many thing in her life; not all of them good; she wasn't the best person but she wasn't the worst either. "Nic that offer of magical tuition is still open"; she said with a smile.

"I can give you the crash course and help you make your magic stronger and I'll cook you dinner so you don't have to come down to the main hall for there…" she said with a nod moving onto her second plate of food trying to think of a politically correct way of stating 'slop' "Culinary delights that they served us last night" she finally added.

Pretending you know less than you actually do was always a good way to appear innocent. Sibeoci had a look of strange curiosity on his face when he inquired a query.

"Hmm...does anyone know how he did it? One second everything is normal, and the next, there's a dozen stunning spells hurtling toward her...I still don't even know how was able to pull off such a stunt..."

Seeing Rei semi-challenge his point, Vex looked back up from his book to respond. However, he recognized that Rei could probably be very dangerous when she got mad or upset, and her flipping out on him was not exactly something he wished to incur... So when he spoke, he spoke calmly. "So you'd punish Raf for what nearly happened to Nicole... even if he didn't do it?"

The strange one piped in with a comment, and though there was something about his comment he didn't trust, it did make his earlier point. "You see," he said, getting slightly more excited as he jumped on the point. "That's what I was talking about. I think you guys might be giving Raf a little too much credit. Granted I don't know him that well..."

Sibeoci didn't actually purposely point Raf out. In fact, he had attempted to point to another Draco but the professor thought he was pointing to Raf and rushed off before Sibeoci could correct him...he felt he might as well tell the truth. Or at least a bit of it. If he told a bit, they might believe everything else he said was truthful as well. Sibeoci purposely worked up a frightened shy look before speaking meekly.

"Uh...well...in all honesty, I...didn't mean to point Raf out...I was actually pointing to another Draco, but the professor ran off before I could correct him...so please don't do anything bad to him. And um...if you see him...tell him I said sorry..."

Sibeoci hung his head in false shame. Well. Partly false shame. He honestly did kinda feel bad for Raf.

~ She's sorry ...?

Listening to the conversation while taking small sips from a glass containing some orange liquid that tasted like pumpkin pie (Elario's favorite), he could not help but notice Sibeoci's last words.

Keeping his modesty throughout Nicole's explanation (no need to ruin her parade by adding to the fact that were it not for himself as well, Nicole would have still actually been hit), Elario tossed over the ideas fast-forming in his thought.

Why would she be sorry she pointed out the wrong person? Well ... wait, how could she point someone out anyway? Everyone was using the stunning spells, in fact ... I'm damn sure I saw Raf doing one as well right before everything went to Hell ...

With quiet intensity, the scenario unfolded in his mind. Elario was sharp: extremely quick-witted, actually, and he put this to use as everything came apart.

Sibeoci wouldn't apologize unless she had thought she did something wrong. She certainly wouldn't apologize about Raf, especially since everyone here has gone over how they don't particularly like him. And her concern in the classroom ... coming over when no one else did. She doesn't even know Nicole ...

He nearly choked on his drink as his mind reached a conclusion. It was far-reaching ... or was it? It definately was a possibility ... Hell, everything was a possibility at this moment.

Sibeoci cast the spell.

The idea flowed through his mind again. Sibeoci cast the spell. She had ample time and opportunity: she didn't have a partner during the class, so she wasn't distracted by trying to shield or stun. But why Nicole? What did she have against her? Was it a Blood issue?

He kept this to himself, for it was still only a theory, but so far, it was the best one he had.

Rei had taken a fiery disposition to this news: she was obviously good friends with Nicole, and it showed here to the letter. Vex, meanwhile, was taking a stance that Elario was at the moment: that what everyone thought happened wasn't necessarily what actually happened. It was an interesting situation, and Elario knew that he had to corner Sibeoci about it ... but not now. Not in public, especially with Rei and Nicole around. Who knows what they would do.

Instead, Elario flashed a toothy smile at Nicole, trying to shake off Sibeoci's statement, and said in an appreciative and concerned manner,

" At least you made it out ok. Everything that happened will be settled soon enough."

As Elario spoke his last sentence, his eyes darted to meet Sibeoci's for a brief moment, and then his attention turned back to Nic. It was so quick, it was as if it didn't happen, but the mind would still register the action.

Still grinning, Elario placed a reassuring hand on Nicole's shoulder.

" Just know I've always got your back, okay Nicole?"~