Class Roster
►Gibbon, Gloria
►Pepper, Ambrose
►Taylor, Lua

►Lemon, Angie
►McBoid, Moira
►Oliver, Winifred
►Pepper, Zeta

►Hayes, Luca
►Norling, Alvis
►Rockwell, Addison
►Todd, Connor
►Trishna, Cyhirae
►Watkins, Kelvin

►Báthory, Amara
►Dark, Erin
►Morrell, Esther
►O'Doherty, Casey
►Stone, Lovella
(D): detention; (Ø): zero mark; +/-: points

Nightingale hadn't imagined how fast time was to fly, especially for the cold months without holidays to help enchant them. Valentine's Day came and went without much to do on his end, other than his help with the dance he hadn't had much of a taste for such a tacky reason to torture his students with it. It came as a shock to a lot of them, he was sure of it, but it just wasn't his thing. However, with the threat of Spring on the rise, he was beyond ready to be free from the castle and walk along the paths again without the gossip that spread like wildfire. Spirits were high with excitement with nothing better to do than spend idle hours in the confidence of friends, and he couldn't help but be pleased with his next project.

In November, a few of his 4th year students were subject to a detention class that had been a bit of an eye opening experience for the Charms Professor. Not only was it his first time holding a detention, but it was his first chance to truly see how the inner circle of students caught in the midst of their grown truly worked. Not quite adults, but no longer truly young enough to be considered innocent-- tensions ran high, and Gale had to smile even now looking through the papers that they were forced to right.

Ambrose Pepper's penchant for baseless gossip would prime him for a successful career writing for Witch Weekly, or The Quibbler.

It was this he'd met with a tinker, a toy maker whose prized possession he had on loan sat behind the bars of a golden cage that glittered in the streaming light. Inside a bird waited, perched perfectly with it's gold and silver feathers reflecting in the large sapphire eyes, and a single key spinning idly in the Professor's hands while he waited for his class to begin.

---

OOC: Please have your students come in and take a seat, I'm going to cap this one at the first 10 students due to it's intimate nature and research on my end about the gossip going around about your students.

If you wouldn't mind to please PM me a bit of things you think people are saying about your characters and if there are already threads going on within the plot.

If you do not see your character listed on the list, please post anyway and I'll add!

Thanks!

Lovella walked with such long strides and clipped steps with her tall, thin figure held confidently in perfect posture that she hardly made a sound besides the click-click of her shoes as she strode towards Charms Class. She was even more put together today then usual as obsessive as that may sound. Her auburn hair was in her classic bun wrapped tight without one hair out of place. Her eyes were also more wolf-like then they had been as of late; the yellow tint was shining through like a full-moon. The icy-blue aura emanating from her was so strong that a group of 2nd years actually had to lower their eyes as they were afraid she might see them shudder.

Opening the door with a quick flourish she walked through the entryway, her silhouette completely filling the frame while light streamed in behind her. It wasn't as if she ever tried hard at making entrances. Although first impressions were important, too much dramatics might cause others to not take her seriously. However, standing at exactly 6 feet tall it was hard for Lovella to not accidentally come off as intimidating. Combined with her rather dubious reputation and she gave off quite the presence.

Seeing as how she was the first to arrive it was perfectly natural for her to immediately choose the center seat in the front row as she had all year long. It wasn't just to show the professor how  serious she was, but it really was the best place to comprehend the information without the distraction of the other students.

Somehow, Alvis managed to be one of the first into class, with only the sharp-faced Slytherin girl beating him in. When he noticed her, he hesitated at the front of the room. Slytherin girls as a whole were a nerve-wracking lot, he'd do better to snag a place as far from her as possible. Of course, there was also the nature of the class to take into account, with the addition of the strange golden bird, so perhaps it would be best to claim a spot closer to the back where -- it was mechanical.

Alvis did a double-take, one sneaker sliding on the slick stone in his haste to peer into the golden cage. He had to adjust his glasses to be certain, but once his vision cleared there could be no doubt. The bird's eyes were actual sapphires, its feathers tiny flakes of beaten silver and gold. Through the numerous copper-and-bronze ribs he could just catch a glimpse of clockwork and coiled springs.

"Wow," he breathed, careful not to get too close lest the creature be more fragile than it looked. It didn't look quite like the wings were meant to fly, but there was a key hole in the back so it must do something. Perhaps it was a music box -- or an automaton. Alvis glanced up at Kesali, blushing a bit at his own fanatical tendencies. "This is really lovely, Professor. Masterful construction."

Ambrose slid past Alvis who was vocally admiring the metalwork on Professor Kesali's desk. To the Gryffindor, it looked like something that would not have been out of place on the kitchen table when his father tinkered with things, spindles, bearings, cogs and curves shining in Sunday morning sunshine between cups of coffee, tiny tools and the familiar ringing sound of magic as things came together.

The tension, a knot which became large enough to moor a ship to a dock gripped his stomach on the best of days entering his charms lesson. Would Professor Kesali have them writing essays on love and hate, charming pastries, turning their hair pink, or simply present yet another reason for Ambrose to prove himself an idiot? He could not entirely blame the man, he had a subject to teach, and he had valiantly tried to demonstrate how wordless magic might be a keen route for the tongue-tied fourth year to pursue to resolve his explosive mistakes. For this, Ambrose was somewhat grateful, even if he found the wild, silver haired man at the front of the class as daunting as other silver haired professors, but for entirely different reasons of unpredictability and attempts to parent.

Lovella was an ever-present stone in the middle of the front row, and Ambrose was always cautious to incite her interest, even if a small voice in the back of his head would always goad him on. Hormones, curiosity and a growing confidence (or cock-surety) egged him on mentally every time, but keen memories of first and second year at the end of her blistering hexes kept the lid on matters just in time.

Alvis was naturally captivated by the shiny bird, and Ambrose swallowed down the mixture of resentment that Norling was considered by the Peppers to be an honourary descendent with the inventor's mind, the one Ambrose was meant to have inherited, only it didn't look like he had by a long shot. Despite the families growing up with each other, and socialising, Ambrose remained somewhat jealous of Alvis and his ways, because Norling was the son Ambrose knew his father Francis really had banked on. As such, their relationship was often cooler than he had hoped they might be as small children.

So arriving for the lesson, Ambrose sloped past his classmates and picked a desk in the third row at the end. That meant that he was able to distance himself easily from others, and could vanish where possible while he mutely struggled to cast spells his classmates intoned easily, where he dare not for their health.

Seeing it might be rude to ignore though, he acknowledged the Professor with a nod of the head as they looked each other's way, and rested his elbow on the desk, and his chin on his folded hand, unable not to regard the mechanical bird.

Zeta's fingers were itching as she sat down. Those little metal feathers were just begging to be drawn, let alone the curved lines of the metal bird's stomach or those big blue eyes. It even surpassed Professor Kesali, who had easily become the subject of a great many caricatures drawings at Zeta's hands.

She managed to tear her gaze away from it long enough to take a seat next to Ambrose, though she scraped her knee a little through her skirt in the middle of sitting down.

Once she'd seated herself somewhat comfortably, quill and pencils and paper set out before her, she leaned over to Ambrose and whispered. "What do you think we're doing today?"

One of the pencils rolled down into her lap and landed tip down in her skirt. Zeta sighed and picked it up, staring at it as she held it in the air.

Early to class as usual, Zoe glanced around the classroom. Her eyes fell upon Alvis and her brow knit. That was odd, seeing him at the front of the classroom. Ever since she had started to sit next to him during classes she'd noticed how he tried to stay unnoticeable, or as close as possible. So... what was he looking at?

Zoe took a few steps towards the front of the class, trying to get a glimpse past Alvis of whatever was so interesting. Then she saw the bird. Curiosity quickened her steps, until she was beside her housemate.

"Hello Professor, Alvis..." she greeted politely, partially distracted by the bird. Like a few of her classmates, she was no stranger to seeing crafted items, even around her house. Her father worked with such things, but only as a hobby and he mainly focused on the enchantments. His work was no where near sellable quality, but the creations were fun and useful enough and he enjoyed doing it. The precious metals and gems were the most facinating part of the bird, Zoe had never seen such beauty and intricacy this close.

Standing beside Alvis, she knew that her knowledge of the subject paled to his. This ignited Zoe's desire to impress, to appear knowledgeable. "Professor, does the key you're turning replace an Activation Charm, or is the bird unenchanted clockwork?" Had she worded that sensibly? She wasn't quite sure...

Seeing others taking their seat, Zoe took a seat nearby, in the front row a few away from a Slytherin girl. She motioned to Alvis to sit next to her.

Shifting her bag as she walked, Addison headed off to Charms class. Undoubtedly, it would probably prove to be another eccentric class, courtesy of Professor Kesali. She couldn't help but to grin at the idea. The conversation with Luca of smashing a watermelon in the eccentric Professor's class was still on her mind[1]. Although their Professor was rather odd at times, he knew how not to repeat complete disasters again. Sadly, it didn't seem to be in their immediate future.

By the time she walked into the room, Addison made sure that her grin was completely wiped off her face. "Morning," she greeted Professor Kesali, while maintaining a straight face from the doorway. After acknowledging her classmates, she started to head towards a seat ... But, wait! Alvis and Zoe were admiring an apparent mechanical bird that Professor Kesali. Forget about smashing watermelons, this was indeed going to be another strange lesson!

Instead of inquiring about the incredibly designed bird like her two fellow Ravenclaws, Addison headed to a seat off to the side of the room. It gave a rather clear view of the mechanic object in the room. Instead of her usual preparations for class, she only took out a piece of parchment and a pencil. The rest of her classroom-necesary items were left in her bag, which dropped to the floor. Immediately, she began drawing a rather good-sized replica of the intricate design of the bird. She made no attempt to hide her drawing either.

1.	Just a Little Off Subject

If Gale was to ever be blessed with a son, he wanted him to be everything that Alvis is. As the boy's wide eyes studied the bird his glasses perched on the end of his nose it was so endearing that Gale had to smile. He leaned forward and folded his hands over the surface of his desk to lean in like Alvis did to the bird.

"I thought you would like it, my father made it. He's a master Clockworker..." He stopped a moment with a little half hearted smile, his father was among many things--but Gale wouldn't mention that, "He let me borrow it. Don't worry about breaking him, he can fix anything." That poor child who dearly loved his backward, sinister father would never let it go, even after all this time; after many heartbreaking betrayals, and heavy tears.

"Professor, does the key you're turning replace an Activation Charm, or is the bird unenchanted clockwork?"

Zoe's question came at a perfect time, and Gale smiled up at her, "It does. My father is unable to perform magic. At least our kind, but I've made a few changes to it." He loved Ravenclaws and their inquisitive mind. With a smile to Zeta and Ambrose, Gale leveled his attention on the Slytherin girl who so rarely said hello.

"It's good to see you Miss Stone, good morning." Despite the Professor's blind eye, hidden behind the leather patch he could tell something was different with the girl, but wouldn't press the matter now. He would wait a few more minutes to see if they were joined by anyone else, but for now he settled on young master Pepper, before he followed Addison across the room. Oh he liked her, so very much! He loved her little drawings, and loved how she animated them. Much to his delight she started to sketch the bird and he couldn't wait to see it. But with Alvis and Zoe here looking at the bird he would have to wait.

"Hello Addison, welcome."

This was a new experience for Erin.  Actually being on time for a class without having one of her dormates drag her there.  She saw a gathering around a mechanical bird of some kind, and Erin immediately wanted to play with it.  Unfortunately for her, Norling and a few others had already surrounded the professors desk and were asking relevant questions.  Erin knew that she was not going to be able to top that act, so she looked around for a place to sit.  To her surprise, one of her taller classmates had already taken a seat front row center, and Erin figured that she might be able to copy her notes if Erin got distracted.  Which she would.  Especially with this neato-mechanical-clockwork-thing that the charms professor had brought.  She then took a seat next to her housemate, since it seemed like everyone was avoiding her in some sort of weird passive-aggressive manner.  Everyone seemed to be sitting either one or two seats away from her and not beside her.  Erin did not know why, nor particularly care.  She really needed to get up to speed on gossip .  However, between quidditch practice, her career, and barely managing enough time to study she rarely had time to listen to the grapevine.

Though Erin had no business in watch making (or anything else that required precise attention to detail), she could admire something that was so obviously well crafted.  Taking a seat by her housemate, she asked the professor, "Professor, did you modify your father's work so you could practice chasing snitches?  That looks kind of like a golden snidget" Erin commented, wondering if she could ask the professor the enchant quaffles later.  Last time someone had done that, it had ended badly.  She hoped a professor would do a better job than her teammates.

 Still, this class seemed interesting, so Erin look at the professor, her feet fidgeting all the while.

When Esther stepped into the classroom that day, the Slytherin hadn’t known what to expect. As a subject, the matter of Charms wasn’t hard for her to grasp at all, and as a class it was, if possible, even easier to understand; made of plum and possessing a core prime for such wandwork, her wand made it easy to perform, allowing her to cast spells with a certain finesse that promised… more.

But her professor? Not so much.

Smothering a sigh, Esther took a seat near the front, to be better seen, but not immediately. Professor Kesali was an odd duck, she observed, odd in looks and… well… everything, really. A pale ghost of a man who seemed a bit out of touch with his surroundings, he seemed to function on a plane either half a step behind everyone else, or a whole jump and a half ahead, following directions in no pattern nor language no one had ever heard of, to places no one had ever been to. He was kind, truly, with a concern for his students that seemed hopelessly genuine, but… Catching his attention involuntarily struck the small Slytherin as inadvisable. Illogical, her grandfather would say. Esther herself had been quite perplexed when she had heard he had assigned a housemate of hers and an older boy as dates for the Yule Ball—for detention,[1] after catching them in a rather tense situation.[2]

(She had also felt a little envious, although even now she could only vaguely pinpoint why. Looking back on it, she suspected it had more to do with the aforementioned boy being older and cute, which would have gone a long way to boosting one’s status, and was something she always appreciated.

Although… Having him assigned to you as punishment wasn’t very flattering, was it…)

Regardless, sofu-sama would have called it overreaching.[3] And Esther was inclined to listen to him, or at least take his opinion into account. That said, she beamed prettily at the white-haired man upon arrival before taking a seat close to the front row. Attracted by the metallic gleam of the bird, Esther stared at it, joining in on her classmates’ admiration. It was hardly the prettiest thing in the room (ahem), but with its intriguingly spartan yet realistic appearance, that didn’t matter at all-

Hearing her attention-deficit housemate speak, Esther’s lips thinned with exasperation. She rolled her eyes; it so didn’t look like a snidget.

“Does it fly?” she asked Gale, eyeing the bird doubtfully.

1.	[Oct 25] Hit me with your best shot
2.	[Oct 25] Animals don't need personal space
3.	If he wouldn’t be more outraged by the man’s regard, that is. Esther’s grandfather was a solid graduate of the Old School, with a double major in We Teach You, You Listen and Children Should Be Seen And Not Heard, and he’d graduated with honors.

Casey was projecting the class to be a bore. Kesali's lessons as presented were always cryptic and he was always trying to teach them things besides charms. A little memory of grub banishing detention layouts came to mind. The current speculation suggested some kind of enchantment work which Casey didn't see the point of.

So his settling into class was to look presentable. Alertness conveyed in posture, feigned focus from a level stare while the back of his mind thought of other things. Typically it would sway towards more powerful magic if Charms appeared lackluster. But, almost irritatingly increasingly so, Casey found himself observing, almost expecting developments of some kind from others in the class. What, if anything, would appear behind the motives of the other Slytherins like Stone or Morrell? What were Avis and Zoe up to ever since what the Yule Ball and winter holiday train travel had suggested.

Professor Kesali's father...

Alvis's mouth went dry, his mind flickering back through his memories of the dark-haired man and his clockwork stage, gears grinding as it transformed into a living room for the traveling 'king.' He swallowed, casting the thought away. The man's invitation to run had been only a fleeting temptation. Alvis knew where he belonged.

"I see," he said quietly, turning the cage to examine the bird from every side. He picked out the joints and screws in the creature's construction, forming a private theory as to its purpose but keeping it to himself for now. "You're right about that, Professor. Your father is quite talented."

He lingered by the cage a moment longer before following Zoe's lead. As he slid into the seat she indicated, he took a quick glance around the room to take stock of his classmates. He lingered on each face for a second, to register who sat where, save for Ambrose, whom he quickly passed over. Since their detention last fall and the subsequent events of the Body Swap, Alvis had made it a point to avoid Ambrose whenever possible. They had been friends or something like it, once, but that time seemed long past now. Better to keep their distance and remain tolerant, if they couldn't be cordial.

Locating Casey last in the group of teens, Alvis turned back to the front, though he angled slightly towards Zoe to keep the girl in the corner of his eye. With quill in hand, he waited for the class proper to begin, curious to see what Professor Kesali had planned for his mechanical bird.

"I wish I could draw like that," Gloria Gibbon said as she sat next to Addison, noticing the Ravenclaw's drawing. "Effortlessly like that. That's starting to look right technical."

Gloria thought the bird looked rather weird. Since it didn't have any feathers on it being a toy of springs and gears. And all muggle made it seemed, as she heard the professor chat with Alvis Norling. Which made her curious that it meant Professor Kesali's father must be non-magical and Alvis had a look on his face as if he had met him.

With her hand raised Gloria asked "so professor, is the bird going to do with the lesson? Repairing or levitating review? Animation, though doesn't that dip into a Transfiguration topic?"

The look on Alvis' face when he mentioned his father was rather puzzling, but the way the boy retreated was damn near alarming. Alvis, one of his favorite students, hardly had a reason to ever be so....well...like this, and it worried Gale greatly. He didn't know what to do when the topic came up, and frankly wasn't sure this was the place for it; instead he just smiled and put his attention else where.

Gale had a few questions come at him from his ever alert always on task 4th years but before he could answer them the bird rattled in her cage. With a shake of her silver feathers she sputtered to life on her own, with the key still in his hand. Her motions were not as fluid as they should have been, and Gale opened the cage door to give her another few turns.

"so professor, is the bird going to do with the lesson? Repairing or levitating review? Animation, though doesn't that dip into a Transfiguration topic?"

"Goodness Gloria, perhaps I should have you teach the charm hmm?" He gave her his best I'm trying not to be annoyed with you smile, but any more he noticed that nearly all of them annoyed him on some level or the other. Gale was ready for a vacation. Perhaps it was just his time of the month.

"Actually, we are not going to animate it all as you can see she does quite well on her own. And she--" Just as he opened the cage to get her out, the bird darted from the door and took flight. Each and every feather came to life as she flew around the room and the brass, silver, and gold caught the light perfectly. As he allowed the children to watch, Gale put out a stand on the table that the bird came to instantly with a few clicks of his mouth.

Like any prized peacock the animated bird evaluated the room, and her large sapphire eyes darted back and forth as she looked between them all. They stopped on Casey, and in a very mechanical yet musical voice squawked out a bit of gossip:

Casey does not believe that anyone is capable of caring for him. He's shut himself up so tight he's forgotten what it means to be lonely.

And after a series of whistles that sounded more like bells continued,

Casey is clever.
Casey is loyal to his house.
Casey loves his house elf.
Casey studies hard.
Casey always delivers.

Sounds familiar doesn't it?

Bouncing on her perch she moved her enchanted eyes to the next and stopped on Esther,

This one is up to something. Everyone always thinks that. Up to no good, up to good, no one knows but up there.

And then she bounced again, gave a flap of her wings and started to sing a song that sounded like the kissing in a tree song:

Chester and Gale sitting in a tr--

Gale grabbed the bird's beak long before it could finish and turned the key to power it down, his face burning bright red, but he tried his hardest to keep a stern steady face,

"Alright Miss Gibbon, let's see if you can guess the charm now hmm? Zoe? Anyone?"

"Well." Lovella started, slightly taken aback by the metallic birds gossipy chirps. "Seeing as how it was able to recognize who some us were without any help I would say that Homo Recogno might be some part of the enchantment. After all, you could potentially lay additional charms and enchantments on top of that. But..." She stopped herself. "But, I wouldn't know what those other charms might be professor." She ended honestly.

Something about that bird was incredibly unnerving to Lovella. She hadn't liked how it had so blatantly blurted out those things about O'Doherty and Morrell as though it were making casual conversation. Why, even professor Kesali had hurriedly shushed up the toy when it had turned its jabbering in his direction. Behind those twinkling, jeweled eyes was something truly mischievous.

She hadn't noticed, but next to her Erin Dark had just plopped herself down. Oh well, at least it wasn't Connor Todd. Dark, she could tolerate fairly effortlessly. As to this mystifying contraption before them all, well, Lovella wasn't entirely sure how all the pieces of this puzzle were going to fit together, which frustrated her deeply.