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Post by Darcy O'Connell on Nov 3, 2018 15:25:01 GMT -8
Darcy was anxious about this Masked Lords business but excited at the same time. She had heard about them last year right around this time. Not directly, but she had overheard some older students telling what she thought were tall tales. Scary stories for Halloween. How much of what they said was true and how much was made up to freak people out? Since she wasn't supposed to let anyone know she'd been chosen, she couldn't very well ask anyone about anything. And she didn't know who any of the Masked Lords were, either. So the little Irish-American lass did the only thing she could think to do - go to the library and check out books on the history of Ilvermorny. Maybe the books held some clues.
Since she didn't like the smell of the library or the hard chairs, she brought the books back to the Thunderbird living room and settled into one of the couches. Darcy leaned against one of the arms with her elbow, chin propped in her palm. One book was open in her lap and she was flipping through the pages. The rest of them were stacked on a side table. At least they were just normal history books. If anyone asked, she'd just say she was studying for history. If someone in her own grade asked, she'd just say she was doing extra credit to bring her grade up. It was believable. History was her worst subject, probably. It was so boring!
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Post by Eleonora "Bessie" Pilot-Beskow on Nov 29, 2018 8:22:49 GMT -8
Bessie was sitting cross-legged on the floor, her back against an armchair. On the floor, one of her course books lay open, displaying directions for the knockback jinx. The letter that had been left on her bed had talked about a trial of some sorts. A test. That could mean anything of course, but it couldn't hurt if she learned how to defend herself before the meeting.
She traced her wand through the air, mumbling the incantation. The pencil case that she had brought with her to practice on stirred, but came to a still without moving more than half an inch away from Bessie. Focusing, she tried again. This time, she pronounced the words loud and clear and the leather case shot through the room, sliding easily on the floor. It came to an abrupt stop as it hit the leg of one of the couches in the room with a loud rattle.
Bessie smiled broadly. She would need something bigger to practice on of course. Using the spell on a human being probably wouldn't be as easy, but at least she was somewhat prepared.
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Post by Darcy O'Connell on Nov 29, 2018 20:34:13 GMT -8
Darcy jumped as something bumped into the couch leg with a clatter. She'd heard the incantation, but had been focused so intently on a book about the past headmasters that she hadn't noticed the object sliding across the floor. Her gaze shifted from the pencil case to Bessie and her proud smile. It made Darcy smile, too. "Wow! We haven't even learned that one, yet," she said, setting her book aside and reaching down for the pencil case. "I"m impressed."
She rose from the couch and carried the little leather case over to her younger housemate. "Here you go," Darcy held it out for her. She probably could have just levitated it back over to her, but she didn't want to be a showoff. "Trying to get an edge on your classmates?"
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Post by Eleonora "Bessie" Pilot-Beskow on Dec 8, 2018 8:11:45 GMT -8
Bessie's smile faltered slightly as the older girl set her book aside. She wouldn't be angry for being disturbed, would she? But when the girl smiled back at her and complimented her on her spell work, her smile returned and standing up, Bessie took the pencil case that Darcy offered.
"Thanks", she replied, rather proud of the older student's words. "I want to learn to duel," she explained, her hands absentmindedly playing with the case, opening and closing it. Did that sound suspicious? Did she need a better explanation? "Defence against the dark arts isnt't as exciting as I thought it would be," she added. "I mean, it's fun. It is. But it's just..." She faltered, not knowing how to continue the scentence. She hadn't had much experience with lying, preferring to be frank with people, "Do you want to practice with me?" she asked, hoping to distract from her previous ramble.
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Post by Darcy O'Connell on Dec 8, 2018 16:55:31 GMT -8
"You're welcome," she said easily, still smiling. Dealing with Dean these past couple of months had certainly had an effect on her. She might've, at one time, been annoyed at the interruption. Now, her tolerance for such things had doubled, if not tripled. Her Wampus friend was constantly talking or moving or fidgeting, so she had had to learn to be a little more patient.
"It's all defense and no offense?" Darcy asked, trying to understand. While her own philosophy was closer to 'a good defense is the best offense', she could understand how some might not be satisfied with the class. "A shame you can't join the dueling class until 8th grade. Maybe the teacher can give you private lessons. I heard there was a dueling club a looooong time ago, but too many kids were getting hurt so they shut it down. Maybe they can do something like that, again, but with better safety measures."
Darcy realized she was probably talking too much, so she abruptly shut her trap. Then blinked in surprise at the girl's invitation. "Sure, but I've never dueled before. I'm not sure I'd be much help," she answered, feeling a little inadequate. Kai was in dueling and defense class, maybe they could help Bessie out, sometime. Not being one to volunteer other people, she'd wait to see what Kai thought before mentioning anything to her housemate.
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Post by Eleonora "Bessie" Pilot-Beskow on Dec 15, 2018 14:54:43 GMT -8
"It's too... Slow", she said carefully. In reality she did like the class, but it hadn't prepared her for the challenge she was about to face. Not even two months of classes and she was expected to go through some sort of trial. The class could have consisted of nothing but dueling and the pacing still wouldn't be fast enough. Which was why she had to take matters into her own hands. She couldn't wait two whole years to learn how to defend herself. She couldn't even wait a week. She needed to learn now. Maybe she would ask professor Graves to teach her before the next trial. She did seem like a cool person. She just had to survive her first trial first.
"Me neither. I was hoping you knew how to." Bessie laughed, holding her hand carefully with both hands and trying to imagine it as a weapon. She knew that it could create wonders, and terror too if she was to believe all the books she had read, but right now it just looked like a piece of wood to her. Pretty, but barely discernable from a random twig. "But how hard can it be? You just throw spells at eachother and try to avoid being hit. It's ike dodgeball. but with magic."
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Post by Darcy O'Connell on Dec 15, 2018 20:05:46 GMT -8
"Ah. Yes. Yes, it is slow," she nodded. Though Darcy didn't know Bessie's reasons for wanting to get ahead of the curve, she could relate. Most of her family was non-magical, and when she finally got to attend Ilvermorny she felt like she was way behind everyone else. It wasn't true, of course. No one else had had any experience using a wand or casting spells, either. And she had at least been able to spend time with her magical cousins and in the apothecary with her dad. There were some kids that didn't experience anything magical until they set foot into Whimsic Alley to get school supplies. None of that stopped her from trying to 'catch up' to everyone else, when in reality she was actually skipping a little bit ahead of them. It wasn't long until she realized everyone else was pretty much just as clueless as she was and stopped rushing. Well, except where herbology was concerned, but that was an entirely different thing.
"No, sorry. I mean, I know a few jinxes and things, but I don't know how to do a proper duel, with the bowing and weird poses," Darcy shrugged her shoulders up to her ears. "If you want, I can show you the jinxes. They're nothing special, but if someone's bothering you, it'll make them think twice before doing it again."
That hadn't even occurred to her until she said it. Maybe someone was picking on the girl. The thought made her blood boil and her skin prickle. Nobody messed with her housemates or friends and got away with it.
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Post by Eleonora "Bessie" Pilot-Beskow on Dec 28, 2018 16:17:37 GMT -8
Luckily, Bessie had never had to deal with bullies. At least not bullies her own age. She had butted heads with a few teachers before which had resulted in, as far as Bessie was concerned, unjust treatment. Somehow everyone she came in conflict with was bigger than her. Her mother had wanted her to take self defence classes, worrying that her youngest daughter would get in trouble staying out late. Bessie wondered what her mother would think knowing that she was learning spells and jinxes. Would she be happy that her daughter was actively learning how to defend herelf or would she worry even more, the way she always did. Bessie pushed the thought away, preferring not to think about what her mother might think of her new life.
"That would be really cool!" Bessie exclaimed. "Thank you." Still new to the magical world, the only previous references she had of supernatural fighting was her knowledge of superheroes. But jinxes didn't help you manipulate the weather, did they? Or turn you invisible or make you shoot spider-webs from your wrists? "Like what kind of jinxes?" Bessie was excited, flicking her wand this way and that which made tiny sparks erupt from the end, eager to learn something that could help her pass her first task. "Like making people trip and stuff?"
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Post by Darcy O'Connell on Dec 29, 2018 1:50:36 GMT -8
Darcy nodded. "Mmhmm. Make them trip or turn their boogers into bats that attack their face or turn their ears into ears of corn or give them a pig tail or make their face swell up," she excitedly listed a few things she could do. Most of the jinxes she knew, she had learned only recently. Kai's proficiency in that area of magic, and her own worries that she might have to defend herself against Eris Raptis, had sparked her interest in learning as much as she could. This wasn't something she'd tell Bessie, though. If she were the younger girl, she wouldn't have much confidence in learning from someone that had just learned the spells herself a week or so ago. That, and she was a little embarrassed to admit it. Some of them she hadn't even tried on a person.
"Watch this," she whispered conspiratorially, then took her wand out and pointed it at a passing eighth grader on the sly. "Falsi gradiosa."
As Darcy spoke the words, she made a tiny figure eight with her wand. The older student stumbled over thin air, but was lucky enough to catch themselves by grabbing onto a nearby chair. The kid, who seemed a little dense, did a cursory search of the floor for the object that might have tripped them. Finding nothing, they called for some other Thunderbird to get control of their cat before someone broke their neck - or broke the cat's neck (Darcy wasn't really sure, as they had terrible grammar). Well, that was anticlimactic, but maybe Bessie would still get the point.
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Post by Eleonora "Bessie" Pilot-Beskow on Jan 1, 2019 16:19:26 GMT -8
Bessie stuck her tongue out, making a disgusted face as Darcy mentioned turning boogers into aggressive bats. It was such a weird and specific spell. Who would come up with something like that? But then she imagined slimey, yellowish bats attacking her sister's perfectly groomed eyebrows and couldn't help but snort audibly. Her sister would freak out.
When Darcy told her to watch, Bessie focused her full attention on what the older girl was doing, eager to see what spell she would choose to demonstrate. Bessie struggled to keep a straight face when the boy tripped, seemingly on the air itself. By the boy's behavior and the confused look on his face, it almost seemed as if Darcy had also cast a confundus charm on him. Luckily, he never seemed to suspect the real perpetrator
"How'd you do that?" Bessie asked, moving closer to the older girl in order to whisper. Though a simple spell, it was the first time that Bessie had seen magic used in such a way. It should be enought to stop anything that she could be expected to fight at the trial. As long as it had legs that was.
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Post by Darcy O'Connell on Jan 3, 2019 22:12:16 GMT -8
"Isn't it cool?" she beamed, proud of herself. Darcy actually couldn't believe it had worked, but she wasn't going to let her own surprise show. Her facial expression was total confidence. "The wand motion is easy. Just draw a little imaginary eight. Not too little or great big, or it won't work right."
Darcy gave Bessie time to practice a time or two if she wanted to, doing the motion a few times to demonstrate. "The words are FALL-see grad-ee-OH-sah," she said, enunciating. Her Boston accent could be thick at times, and she wanted to be clear that the spell wasn't 'falsi gradiosar'. "They have to be walking or running or jogging or - you know, they have to be moving their feet. You make the little eight toward their feet, upright, not sideways like infinity. I wonder if that would make them trip forever. Nevermind, you aim at their feet, and do the motion while saying the spell. And voila!"
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Post by Eleonora "Bessie" Pilot-Beskow on Jan 12, 2019 13:08:41 GMT -8
"Super cool!" Bessie beamed back at the other girl, a mischevious twinkle in her eye because of the secret they now shared. Darcy was cool, and Bessie regretted not having talked to the other girl earlier. She didn't feel bad about the student tripping. If no one got hurt, there really wasn't any harm in having a bit of fun.
Bessie nodded curtly. "An eight. Got it." She gripped her wand tightly and pointed it a senior who was just getting up from one of the armchairs. "Falsy grandiosa!" she whispered as she drew an eight with her wand. She watched the older student excitedly as... Nothing happened. Furowing her eyebrows with a dissatisfied look in her eyes, she drew the eight once more, aggressively and with bigger motions. "Falsee grandi-OH-sa!" she whispered through clenched teeth. Still nothing happened. Resigned, she turned back to Darcy. "Could you say that once more?"
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Post by Darcy O'Connell on Jan 16, 2019 18:59:58 GMT -8
Darcy watched Bessie attempt the spell, wanting to interject but holding herself back until the girl stopped and asked for help. Sometimes, people needed to make mistakes to learn from them. Was this one of those times? Maybe not, but how was she supposed to know the difference? She repeated the incantation even slower with more emphasis on the stressed syllables.
"You're so close. FALL. See," she said, waiting for the younger Thunderbird to repeat it properly. "Grad. Not grand. Grad. Ee. OH. Sah."
Darcy made the motion with her wand again, separately from the incantation to show the girl the correct size of the figure eight. Then she stood back to watch her try again.
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Post by Eleonora "Bessie" Pilot-Beskow on Jan 27, 2019 3:58:50 GMT -8
It took Bessie a few minutes to get the incantation right. Despite Darcy's careful pronounciation, she had a hard time hearing the different nuances. Still she went on, repeating the words multiple times over and over, determined to get it right. Finally, Darcy seemed satisfied and Bessie took a quick look around the room in search of a suitable victim.
Finding her target, Bessie drew an eight with her wand and pointed it an older student who was walking up the stairs to their dorms. "FALL-see grad-ee-OH-sah" she whispered. The student tripped over nothing, falling to her knees on one of the steps. She looked around the common room, daring anyone to laugh at her, but Bessie had already turned back to Darcy, facing the other girl with a big grin on her face. "Did you see that?" she asked, clearly excited about her achievment.
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Post by Darcy O'Connell on Jan 27, 2019 14:14:09 GMT -8
Darcy silently cheered so as not to alert the fallen student to their shenanigans. "That was great," she said lowly to keep others from hearing. "Did you see the look on her face? Priceless."
She sheathed her wand and sighed contentedly, feeling quite proud that she taught Bessie a new spell. Maybe Dean was right. Maybe she was a good tutor. Darcy, grinning from ear to ear, felt excited enough to hug the younger girl but refrained. Instead, she shrugged her shoulders up to her ears. "Well, I guess I better get back to what I was working on," she said. "I'll try to think of some more useful spells to teach you when I've got more time. And I can help you with other things, too. I already tutor Dean Seagram in herbology. If you want help with that, too, I'm sure he won't mind if you join us next time."
After waiting for Bessie to accept or decline the offer, Darcy simply smiled and nodded in response then returned to her research with a 'See you around, then."
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