Y31 Electives Fair

[Kennedy Pratt]

Kennedy always loved the Electives Fair, talking to potential students about their options. Over the years she'd seen an increase in enrollment for Divination and she had to believe the Fair had something to do with it, and she hoped it helped the other professors as well. Today she was setting up the Courtyard for the fair to begin, waving her wand so individual tables appeared around for each subject. Each table had a clean tablecloth and two chairs behind it because some electives were taught by two people, but aside from that, the table's contents were up to the professor's discretion. Once each table was set up she began to focus on her own table. She waved her wand once more so a sign with 'Divination' hovered above the table and then brought out a crystal ball, a few packs of tarot cards, and some cups and saucers for tea. She also pulled out some star charts and a few pamphlets on dream interpretations and then laid them all out carefully as she waited for the other professors to arrive and begin the fair.
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[Professor Kahurangi Josephs]

Kahurangi always found the Electives Fair one of the most fun times of year. It was exciting to get to meet the younger students and introduce them to her subject. She loved giving demonstrations and descriptions, and seeing interest spark in new students. As she made her way down to the courtyard Kahurangi gave Kennedy a smile and wave in greeting before heading to the table she and Cyndi would be sharing with the items she had brought. Kahurangi wasted no time in setting up her side of the table with a couple of books and a few different sets of runes, all beautifully carved with their symbols, as well as a couple of pendants with bind runes, some designed by her older students themselves. Making sure the table looked intriguing and inviting Kahurangi settled into her seat, waiting eagerly to greet the new students and tell them about her subject.

 

[Jon Phillips]

Jon was in his usual state of excitement for the electives fair, always ready to talk to the second years about Muggle Studies and hopefully garner their interest in taking the subject and continuing with it until their seventh year. Though a minority of the magical community were against muggles, Jon believed magical folk could learn a lot about their technology and general way of living. From living between both worlds himself as he grew up he knew how valuable an understanding of the way muggles lived could be, and he couldn't wait for an opportunity to express this to the second years at the fair that day. Jon arrived to the courtyard with his arms carrying movie posters, magazines, and with two vintage handheld gaming consoles, quickly placing the items on one of the free tables. Looking around he noticed Kennedy and Kahurangi at their own tables and waved to each of them. He began setting up one half of the table he chose shortly afterwards, hanging each of the movie posters from the edge of the table, stacking the magazines in a neat pile, and moving the two game boys next to each other. When everything was looking neat Jon sat at one of the chairs available and waited, hoping that the posters he brought were colourful enough to draw the students' interest. ​

 

[Sam Mackintosh]

Tagging: Professor Kennedy Pratt

Sam Mackintosh had a vague idea of what she wanted to choose for next year. There were still so many doubts and questions, however, so as she headed to the courtyard, a little nervous, she hoped she would finally receive the answers she was looking for, or even simply answers that would suffice for her to be able to pick electives. Sam had never been good at choosing less things when it came to school, to help herself out with the workload, but maybe this time it would be different and she could clearly point out the classes that were of most interest to her. She knew her father would encourage her to ask as many things as she could while she was at the Fair. To use her time wisely as best as she could. She took a deep breath and approached the first professor whose Divination stand intrigued her. "Hi professor," she greeted politely to her brother Xavier's head of house, with a small smile on her face. She glanced at the items that lay before her. "I'm Sam. So what's Divination like? What do you do exactly?" she asked, keeping her questions to a minimum for now so that the older woman had time to respond.​

 

[Mazikeen Roe]

Mazikeen knew at least one of the subjects she wanted to do in the next year, care of magical creatures, but she was uncertain about which she would want to do along with it. The rest of the subjects seemed interesting but she didn't know which would be best for her. She already had a maybe sort of idea of what she wanted to do in the future, but she was not certain about it in the slightest. She didn't know if the other subjects on offer would help or hinder than pursuit. She glanced at the few professors that were there, she didn't want muggle studies, she'd spent time around muggles, there was no sense in her doing that, divination seemed like it could be okay, but she wasn't sold on that either. Eventually she settled in talking to the ancient runes professor. Runes were cool and interesting, it was almost like having a new alphabet, a new language. Maybe. So she walked over to that professor and looked at the stall with the carved runes, "What exactly are the runes in ancient runes used for?" the girl asked the professor as she looked at the runes and gave a small glance towards the books before looking at the professor.
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[Jacob Kingsley]

Jacob was at the fair only because he didn't want to be forced to have a one on one meeting with his mother. But he wouldn't hesitate to tell syndrime thaaaaaaat he'd rather be somewhere else all together. The twelve year old couldnt believe they were being forced to take two extra classes and that some people would take more. It baffled his mind that anyone would do that.

Stepping into the courtyard, Jacob lost out a sigh. It even looked boring. Tables and he was supposed to go up and talk to professors. He wanted to talk to them almost as little as he wanted to talk to his mom. Almost. Confirming that she hadn't arrived yet, Jacob walked slowly around, listening to snippets of conversation but not stopping at any tables yet.

 

[Derek Tahana]

Derek had never been too interested in classes, his passing had coasted him through everything quite well so far, but the boy knew that his parents and his grandfather who had taught him everything before school were looking for his grades to improve. He would be happy to do that when he had his timetable fixed, when it was perfect. But, for now he had to pick classes, he thought about care of magical creatures, but as much as he liked the outdoors that did not appeal to him much. He didn't like ancient runes, his grandfather had talked at length about it which had put him off it entirely. So instead he had three remaining options of what he could do. Derek's problem was maybe that he didn't know what sort of career he wanted and he didn't entirely want to back himself into a corner over it. The boy noted the muggle studies stand, and decided to look at it, he liked the muggle sport rugby so maybe he'd like more muggle things, "Professor, do you cover sports in muggle studies?" the boy asked without looking to any of the items, though he was very curious about what they were. They were obviously things they'd learn about.
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[Jon Phillips]

Jon smiled at the first student that approached the table, nodding as he listened to the boy's question. Fortunately for him there was a lesson on sports in seventh year. Though the boy would need to wait a while and take the earlier years of muggle studies to participate in the lesson, it did exist and Jon was happy to answer the question honestly. "It's taught in seventh year, but there is a lesson on muggle sports where students are asked to research a sport of their choice." He said, still smiling. "Is there anything else about the muggle world that you're interested in? There's many more things you can learn about in the earlier years that might be just as interesting as sports, if you're worried about waiting until seventh year." He added, only partly joking. He knew as a student seventh year could seem very far away and waiting for one topic to be covered might seem a waste of all that time, so he wanted to see if there was anything else about muggle studies that might capture this boy's interest. ​

 

[Analei Westwick]

Analei walked down to the Courtyard with Arvel, though she was already pretty certain that she wanted to take every class that she could. She knew it was going to be a lot of work, but she wanted to be knowledgeable in everything; although, she wanted to give up Astronomy. She wasn't sure if she was allowed to though, so she figured she'd have to ask her Head of House if she could. It didn't make sense to her; she enjoyed looking at the stars but that was about it. As they arrived, Analei paused and looked at Arvel. "Any where in particular you want to go?"
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[Arvel Ayers]

Arvel wished he knew where Analei got her enthusiasm from. He was kind of looking forward to taking a few new subjects, but he still felt as if they were being forced upon him against his will. The electives fair would hopefully be an opportunity for him to find out which subjects would be useful to him in later life, though he suspected the answer was none. If they were important, they'd have been on the main curriculum - right? He smiled a pained smile at Analei. "Um... Muggle Studies?" he suggested flatly, figuring that might be a useful class to take even if he never had a job in the muggle world. "I don't really care."

 

[Sapphire Michaels]

Sapphire came into the courtyard with her brother and her best friend- though if they stayed together was still uncertain. She had no doubt Kira would want to take every extra class she could get her hands on, and she had a nagging feeling Onyx may just follow her lead. The idea didn't entirely bug her, but she did hope he had some interest other than 'stick with Sapphy.'

She strolled through the courtyard, examining each of the tables and listening to the Professors talk to the other students. She was a little intrigued by Divination but was unsure of its practicality. She had been really hoping for a Care of Magical Creatures booth, but she wasn't seeing it. She moved on, opting to ignore the Muggle Studies booth, and stopped at the Runes table. She examined it, before asking offhandedly to the Professor there, "'Scuse me, yeah, is there any practical applications for Runes? What are they for?"

 

[Onyx Derouin]

Onyx followed along after his sister, chatting idly with Kira as they made their way through the courtyard. He had no real interest in anything academical, so he planned on following the girls. He was sure Kira was taking everything she could get her hands on, but his sister would try to opt for only the classes she found useful. He would figure out something or the other later, but for now, he just followed after the two girls, content with keeping them company.

 

[Kira Wolf]

Kira followed the twins into the courtyard. She was excited for today, eager to see what would be available. She talked a bit with the twins as they wandered along. When Sapphire stopped at the Runes table, however, Kira found herself moving over to Muggle Studies and Professor Phillips. "Hello," She greeted softly, a shy smile on her face. She couldn't deny her curiosity. "What's this all about?" She asked, scanning the items on the table.

 

[Derek Tahana]

Derek could admit he was a little disappointed that they wouldn't be learning about it until seventh year, he knew that muggle sports wasn't the only thing that enticed him to the subject matter, but it was certainly a selling point. At the question he shrugged a little, "I've had some interaction with the muggle world because of sport," since Derek had done rugby before it had just been one of the things he knew and was therefore interested in. If the man could assure him that there was more interesting subject matter that they could learn in the other years then maybe it wouldn't be too bad. Maybe it would be worth it. "Thanks professor! I think I'll probably pick it, and just wait it out. Will I need to get a specific grade in the OWL to progress to the NEWT and the seventh year class?" he added, since if he was aiming for the sports in the final year it might be worth while knowing what he would need grade wise to be able to do that. He didn't want to take up too much of the man's time since others seemed interested, but he need just that last answer. ​

 

[Jon Phillips]

It was a concern of Jon's that the boy would choose a different subject knowing he would wait until seventh year for a lesson about muggle sports, so he was relieved the boy seemed happy with the answer, even thanking him and assuring he would choose muggle studies as an elective. Still smiling, Jon answered the boy's next question easily. "To proceed into the sixth year class you need at least a grade of acceptable in your OWL year, and to proceed into the seventh year class you also need a grade of acceptable in your sixth year." He said, knowing that these requirements usually weren't difficult for students to meet. Though he of course would make exceptions for difficult circumstances and help any students that asked for it, because it was part of his job and also because he wanted to see each student succeed and learn to the best of their ability.

When another student approached the table Jon turned his attention to her, recognizing her as one of the Ravenclaws. She asked what the subject was about and looked over the few things he set up on the table, and Jon needed a moment to form a description. "Well, this is only a few of the things you learn about in the later years of muggle studies." He began. "These here, are magazines which are similar to things like the hogwarts monthly, and the daily prophet, but they're about the muggle world." He placed his hand on the stack of magazines, then moved to pick up one of the game boys in the middle of the table. "This here is a handheld gaming console. Though it's about fifty years old now and wouldn't work even if we took it outside the castle, muggles have used this this to play video games. It's now more of a retro collectors item than anything and technology has advanced a lot since these were first made. And these-" Jon placed his hands briefly on each of the movie posters hanging from the table. "are posters advertising a few of the movies you learn about during your fifth year of muggle studies." He smiled, looking from the posters and to Kira. "Is there anything in particular that you want to learn in muggle studies? Because there's many more things included in the subject than just these." It seemed logical to ask what specifically interested her just in case it wasn't included in the few items he brought with him as a preview into the older years of the subject. Muggle studies covered a range of different things and he was sure if she had a particular interest it would be covered in a lesson in some way. ​

 

[Professor Kahurangi Josephs]

Tagging: Mazikeen Roe, Sapphire Michaels

Kahurangi felt like she had barely gotten the booth set up when a student approached, greeting the girl with a friendly smile. She listened to her question and began rifling through the things on the table to demonstrate an answer when another girl approached, asking a similar question. Deciding to answer them both at once, Kahurangi smiled as she held up her favourite bag of runes. "Runes can be used in many different ways, for a lot of different purposes. To start with, the runic alphabet can be read, and used to translate ancient texts." She gestured to a book filled with pictures of ancient runestones and their translations. "The most common usage that we cover in classes is the use of runes to predict the future. For example... will these young ladies enjoy Ancient Runes if they decide to take it?" Rustling her rune bag, Kahurangi drew one of the beautiful runes, carefully carved in the greenstone for which she was named. "Oh! This symbol is called Sowelo." She said happily, showing the girls. "Sowelo represents the sun, and it stands for happiness and joy, and light conquering dark." Kahurangi gave an encouraging smile as she dropped the stone back into her bag. "It sounds like the runes think you'd have a great time learning about them." Setting down the bag of runes, Kahurangi picked up one of the pendants, showing the girls a more complicated design. "This is a bind rune one of my advanced students designed. We study how to use runes in combination to imbue objects with the properties we desire. This can lead in to advanced skills like runic warding or enchantment, though we only touch on the very basics here. If you want to pursue a career in law enforcement, or the crafting of magical artifacts though, this would be extremely useful to understand." She gave the girls an encouraging smile, hoping at least one of the things she had discussed would pique their curiosity.

 

[Emilia Manning]

The electives fair made Emilia nervous, but even she had to admit that wasn't strange. Most things did. But the thought of having to pick subjects for the next years, and the possibility to pick wrong made her incredibly anxious, and she entered the courtyard quietly with wide eyes as she looked around. She could see professors promoting their various subjects, as well as other students wandering around and talking to the professors or each other. She was relieved to see a friendly face not talking to a professor yet, and she headed over to Jacob with a small, nervous smile. "Hi." She said quietly. "Do... you already know what you want to pick?" She wondered why he wasn't at any of the tables. Surely, he wasn't also intimidated by the many unfamiliar professors. He seemed braver than that to her. She was probably the only one scared by all this.

Tagging: Jacob Kingsley

 

[Diana Hollis]

The encounter with Jacob was still often on Diana's mind, mostly because she had detention thanks to Rose. But she also had good things happening in her life, like her new relationship with Edmund. Typically, she would be boastful about being one of the first girls in her year to have an actual boyfriend, but things with Edmund were actually more than just a symbol or an achievement to her. She really liked the boy, and already looked forward to spending more time with him. She didn't even really care who saw them together.

She had heard from her older sisters that the electives fair could be very helpful when picking new subjects, but she was doubtful. Obviously, every professor would simply be saying what they wanted to hear so they would pick their subject. If no one picked their subject, they wouldn't have a job. Diana wandered over to the Divination table, noticing a girl from her dormitory there. She listened quietly as Sam asked a question of the Professor, formulating her own question in her mind while she waited to hear an answer to this one.

 

[Winnie Marsh]

Winnie walked into the electives fair with a feeling of anxiety in her chest. She wasn't an academic as much as her parents wanted her to be, and could barely handle the classes she was already in, so the prospect of attending a fair to help her choose more classes to take next year was equal parts anxiety inducing as it was completely terrifying. What didn't help this fact either was that none of the electives she saw as she arrived captured her interest. She crossed her arms, keeping her head down to not make eye contact with anyone as she strolled around the courtyard aimlessly. Eventually Winnie reached the divination table and was relieved to see the familiar slytherin that was Diana Holland when she finally looked up. "Oh, Diana, hey." Winnie greeted, trying to sound more sure of herself than she felt.​

 

[Kennedy Pratt]

@Sam Mackintosh (and Diana Holland & Winnie too if they want )

Kennedy was happy to see that so many students were using this time to go around and ask more about the subjects they were curious in, although others seemed to be lingering behind. She smiled as a younger student approached her and said, "Hello," in return. "Divination is interesting because it's a different type of magic many people might not be used to," she prefaced. "It's less about wand waving and more about using other tools or instruments to let the magic happen," she mused with a light chuckle. "In Divination you'll learn how to use crystal balls, tarot cards, tea leaves, and even your own palms or dreams to try and see into the future," she gestured at the various things on the table available for them to look through. "I like to say there's no wrong answer in Divination, just that you might have to search a little longer for the right ones," Kennedy shrugged with a small smile, welcoming more questions.
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[Bryce Chamberlin]

Professor Bryce Chamberlin was running terribly late. His alarm didn't vibrate enough to get him to wake up from a short nap before the fair. He literally ran from the towers and entered the courtyard. He raced and dodged through the students to get to the Divination table, where he saw that Professor Pratt was talking to some kids already. He smiled toward them and spoke to his co-professor, his hands moving as words flew from his mouth, though wheezing as he did so, "So sorry I am late. What did I miss?" He went to the other girls. "Hi, I'm Professor Chamberlin, and I teach upper years for Divination, focusing on palms, dreams and astrology."
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[Jacob Kingsley]

Jacob was fairly lost in thought, trying to look as if he were interested in the event while fairly spaced out. He hadn't expected anyone to come up to him, figuring the students were busy sorting themselves for next year. Emilia was one of his friends, a Hufflepuff he felt like he knew fairly well.

Jacob turned his head, grinning at his companion before shaking his head. "Not really. Probably Care of Magical Creatures but there's just a bunch of pamphlets there" he shrugged, "and I'm not sure what else. You?" Jacob knew enough about runes that it would be a fairly easy course for him, but it would mean his mom got to be his teacher for two whole years. It was bad enough she was his Head of House.

Tagging: Emilia Manning

 

[Sapphire Michaels]

Tagging: Proffesor Kahurangi Joseph's

Sapphire listened intently to the Professors explanation. It definitely caught her interest. It seemed Runes would be at least worth investigating. She leaned on the table, cocking her head a bit to the side. "So they could be used for protection and predictions and stuff?" She asked, her sapphire eyes sparkling.

 

[Kira Wolf]

Tagging Professor Phillip's

Kira nodded her head, listening as the Professor showed her the items at his booth. She'd seen them all before. She looked up at him, a small dmile on her face. "You have a nice selection here. I come from a Muggle family, I think. Can your class tell me anything new?" She asked innocently, feeling a bit shy.

 

[Jon Phillips]

Tagging: Kira Wolf

Jon listened as Kira spoke, looking down to the items on the table while pondering the answer to her question, then back to her. "Well, if you grew up in a muggle family you would probably know many of the things taught in muggle studies already, but in saying that it might also expand on the things you do know in a more in depth way." He said. "And it could show you the perspective that magical people have on the muggle world, and how different it can seem when you know what the muggle world is like. That would be something new, but it depends on what you're looking for in your electives." Jon wanted to go more in depth and explain how the fifth year of muggle studies was about film and that this might have information Kira might not know from watching films previously, but he decided to leave his answer at that, not wanting to overwhelm her with information. The electives fair was likely overwhelming enough already for the second years, and Jon didn't want to make that worse.​