21 Sep 2018, 04:00
A Meticulous Task
Saturday, September 22, 2018, 07:24 am
A brief stop at the office belonging to the Deputy Headmaster had gotten her the permission needed for the particular potions punishment planned by the precocious Prefect. With the former Professor, Professor Valtome, having taken a leave of absence, she had needed to seek authorization elsewhere. A missive was carried by her, carrying the requisite signature upon the parchment. She had sent owls detailing the time and place of the detention for the two girls under her supervision today. Luna also carried a few school books with her, planning on using this time to get some homework accomplished.
Her boots echoed along the barren corridor. Everyone was either asleep or heading off to some activity for the weekend. There was the occasional Slytherin, which only made sense, as their common room was located down here. Luna had been down here even earlier, bringing buckets, sponges, and soapy water. The water would be cold now, but that was nothing incendio couldn't fix. Luna fingered her wand idly, aware that the girls today were forbidden to bring their own. This would not be a fun task, nor was it meant to be.
Luna arrived before the door to the Potions classroom, pushing it open to reveal the empty class within. It was cool in the dungeons of the school, not surprising being in the Scottish underground. She had told them to dress warm and to bring clothes they didn't mind ruining. No robes. Luna had also brought old gloves to protect the hands of the girls against the no doubt dangerous substances found in some of these cauldrons. And some of them were doozies. She glanced over at the cast-iron buckets of water. They hadn't been easy to carry down here. The water was no doubt cold. Luna withdrew her wand, making a sharp movement and muttering "Incendio". The flame licked the cauldron, quickly warming it up. Luna came up with a towel, smothering the flames as to not overheat the water.
Luna looked down at her sundial. She adored it, able to tell her the time no matter where she was, sun or no. 7:44 am, One minute to showtime. She turned to face the door, the stage set. The girls would walk in, see the Prefect framed by the buckets, and stacks of dirty cauldrons. It would be a long day and quite a few hours down the drain. No doubt the House-Elves would appreciate the break. They had better be on time.
Knowledge is a weapon. I intend to be formidably armed.
25 Sep 2018, 06:16
A Meticulous Task
Amanda had waken up bright and early, extremely unhappy about detention. I don’t know why I had to shove Celynne into the lake. That was really stupid of me. She had thrown on an old pair of jeans and a ratty sweatshirt, for they had been instructed to wear old but warm clothes. She then had grabbed her glasses, socks, and sandals and rushed out the door, not wanting to be late.
Now Amanda was bustling through the dungeon corridors, her flip-flops smacking against the ground. The socks felt strange and slightly uncomfortable wedged between her toes, but she figured that it was better than having cold feet. It was quiet at this time of the morning, especially on Saturday. Thinking of Saturday mornings made Amanda miss waking up to watch cartoons with her siblings on the weekends. This wonderful school of magic had so many amazing things, but it was still lacking in the electronic entertainment department, much to Amanda’s displeasure.
Amanda saw the platinum-haired Prefect, Lucy or whatever her name was, open the Potions classroom door ahead of her and Amanda began to panic a little. Oh crap, I hope that I’m not late or anything. Amanda sped up to a slow jog and slipped into the Potions classroom shortly after the Prefect. Her warm breath had fogged up her glasses, so Amanda took them off and wiped the lenses with her sweatshirt. “Hey,” she said, placing her glasses back on her nose. “Amanda here, reporting for duty.” She grinned and jokingly saluted the other girl. “So, uh, what’s the deal-io here? We cleaning cauldrons?”
Now Amanda was bustling through the dungeon corridors, her flip-flops smacking against the ground. The socks felt strange and slightly uncomfortable wedged between her toes, but she figured that it was better than having cold feet. It was quiet at this time of the morning, especially on Saturday. Thinking of Saturday mornings made Amanda miss waking up to watch cartoons with her siblings on the weekends. This wonderful school of magic had so many amazing things, but it was still lacking in the electronic entertainment department, much to Amanda’s displeasure.
Amanda saw the platinum-haired Prefect, Lucy or whatever her name was, open the Potions classroom door ahead of her and Amanda began to panic a little. Oh crap, I hope that I’m not late or anything. Amanda sped up to a slow jog and slipped into the Potions classroom shortly after the Prefect. Her warm breath had fogged up her glasses, so Amanda took them off and wiped the lenses with her sweatshirt. “Hey,” she said, placing her glasses back on her nose. “Amanda here, reporting for duty.” She grinned and jokingly saluted the other girl. “So, uh, what’s the deal-io here? We cleaning cauldrons?”
“Oh, I may be on the side of the angels, but don't think for one second that I am one of them.”
~ Amanda Sparrow ~
30 Sep 2018, 01:21
A Meticulous Task
[Font=PT Sans] Amaya jogged down the hall, dodging people left and right (whilst quietly observing how short some of the first years were), before reaching the familiar Potions classroom. She had to admit, she was glad that the Slytherins were located fairly close to it, as Amaya had never been a... sportsy person. Flinging the door open, she rushed to take her place next to Amanda. She glanced at the clock. 7:50. She was... Late. Amaya groaned, mumbling a forced apology.
Amaya was always late to everything. Honestly, waking up early was extremely unappealing to her. Her “sleep” was really just her, hiding underneath layers of blankets, mostly to hide the light of her dim flashlight, reading over books of Fantasy or realistic fiction that had caught her attention. Sometimes she even ventured into Historical Fiction, though that was rarer. Sometimes, she even dared to stay up past Midnight. Yesterday, or rather, today, had beeen one of those days.
She supposed she could be a better Morning Person if she tried. Perhaps. But abandoning her now routine of reading before actually sleeping? Definitely not.
Quickly shaking out of her dazy state, realizing she’d stayed, hovering near the entrance of the Potions Classroom, she quickly took her place next to Amanda, eyes glancing over at the buckets of soap, gloves, and the dirty cauldrons. Her eyes lit up, though her expression remain blank.
Cleaning cauldrons? Alright. She could survive. Finally she allowed herself a small smile, breathing deeply as she awaited any further instructions from the prefect. She also gave a small, tiny wave to Amanda, after a moment more of pondering it, wondering what she should do it Detention. How should she behave? Was talking allowed? Probably not, but... eh. Should she be more quiet and reserved? Should she say absolutely nothing st all?
After a moment more of swirling the questions around in her mind, her attention returned to the prefect, and she glanced back at the prefect. Luna? Or was just a character from one of her books? Thinking back to it, she had recently read a muggle book, “The Girl Who Drank the Moon”, with a main character named Luna. Keeping herself from shrugging, Amaya’s gaze eventually wandered off as she scanned the classroom once more. [/font]
Amaya was always late to everything. Honestly, waking up early was extremely unappealing to her. Her “sleep” was really just her, hiding underneath layers of blankets, mostly to hide the light of her dim flashlight, reading over books of Fantasy or realistic fiction that had caught her attention. Sometimes she even ventured into Historical Fiction, though that was rarer. Sometimes, she even dared to stay up past Midnight. Yesterday, or rather, today, had beeen one of those days.
She supposed she could be a better Morning Person if she tried. Perhaps. But abandoning her now routine of reading before actually sleeping? Definitely not.
Quickly shaking out of her dazy state, realizing she’d stayed, hovering near the entrance of the Potions Classroom, she quickly took her place next to Amanda, eyes glancing over at the buckets of soap, gloves, and the dirty cauldrons. Her eyes lit up, though her expression remain blank.
Cleaning cauldrons? Alright. She could survive. Finally she allowed herself a small smile, breathing deeply as she awaited any further instructions from the prefect. She also gave a small, tiny wave to Amanda, after a moment more of pondering it, wondering what she should do it Detention. How should she behave? Was talking allowed? Probably not, but... eh. Should she be more quiet and reserved? Should she say absolutely nothing st all?
After a moment more of swirling the questions around in her mind, her attention returned to the prefect, and she glanced back at the prefect. Luna? Or was just a character from one of her books? Thinking back to it, she had recently read a muggle book, “The Girl Who Drank the Moon”, with a main character named Luna. Keeping herself from shrugging, Amaya’s gaze eventually wandered off as she scanned the classroom once more. [/font]
Amaya Elizabeth Bourne
4 Oct 2018, 20:11
A Meticulous Task
Both girls arrived on time. At least that meant no extra time Luna would have to spend in the dreary room. She reached out, picking up the old gloves, and handed a pair to each girl. She then picked up a stack of cauldrons and put them on one of the tables in the room. Followed by a second one on a separate table. Each stack was five cauldrons high. There were 20 stacks to clean today. 100 cauldrons total. With magic, it would take a few seconds to clean each cauldron. Without it, it'd take closer to ten minutes each. Luna had already calculated the estimated length of detention. 8 and a half hours. Quite the long day indeed.
"Ok girls. Each cauldron should be thoroughly clean. They will be used in the next potions class, and failing to do a complete job will ruin somebody's potion. We don't want that, I doubt that the Professor wants that, and I'm sure you wouldn't want to be the one with a dirty cauldron." Luna walked over to the front table where her homework was sitting and waiting for her. She sat down, a parchment already withdrawn so she could proceed. "I'll be checking on you both periodically. I'll also be checking the cauldrons, and if they aren't done, you'll have to redo them again. Let's go ahead and get this over with." And with that, Luna started on her own work.
"Ok girls. Each cauldron should be thoroughly clean. They will be used in the next potions class, and failing to do a complete job will ruin somebody's potion. We don't want that, I doubt that the Professor wants that, and I'm sure you wouldn't want to be the one with a dirty cauldron." Luna walked over to the front table where her homework was sitting and waiting for her. She sat down, a parchment already withdrawn so she could proceed. "I'll be checking on you both periodically. I'll also be checking the cauldrons, and if they aren't done, you'll have to redo them again. Let's go ahead and get this over with." And with that, Luna started on her own work.
Knowledge is a weapon. I intend to be formidably armed.
12 Nov 2018, 17:46
A Meticulous Task
Amanda took one look at the stacks of cauldrons and sighed dejectedly. What did I get myself into? She knew one thing for sure, though,and that was that she wouldn’t be pushing anybody into the lake any time soon. Having a bit of mischievous fun was not worth scrubbing cauldrons for several hours.
Amanda accepted the gloves from Luna, putting them on her hands while listening to their instructions. Amanda wasn’t mad at Luna for giving them dertention. In fact, Luna seemed like a very sweet person. I guess I’m just mad at myself. After all, it’s my fault that I’m here in the first place. She looked over at Amaya and felt bad for her. Amanda was the one to initiate the antics, not Amaya, so Amanda thought that the other girl shouldn’t even be in detention. But she wasn’t willing to argue with the Prefect, so she kept her mouth shut.
After Luna finished giving them instructions, Amanda trudged over to cauldrons and began to scrub them meticulously, making sure not to miss any spots. “I’m sorry for getting us into this mess, Amaya,” she apologized sincerely. “It’s my fault that we’re cleaning these cauldrons.” She gestured to the one that she was currently scrubbing. “I mean, it was my idea. Anyways, sorry about that.”
Amanda accepted the gloves from Luna, putting them on her hands while listening to their instructions. Amanda wasn’t mad at Luna for giving them dertention. In fact, Luna seemed like a very sweet person. I guess I’m just mad at myself. After all, it’s my fault that I’m here in the first place. She looked over at Amaya and felt bad for her. Amanda was the one to initiate the antics, not Amaya, so Amanda thought that the other girl shouldn’t even be in detention. But she wasn’t willing to argue with the Prefect, so she kept her mouth shut.
After Luna finished giving them instructions, Amanda trudged over to cauldrons and began to scrub them meticulously, making sure not to miss any spots. “I’m sorry for getting us into this mess, Amaya,” she apologized sincerely. “It’s my fault that we’re cleaning these cauldrons.” She gestured to the one that she was currently scrubbing. “I mean, it was my idea. Anyways, sorry about that.”
“Oh, I may be on the side of the angels, but don't think for one second that I am one of them.”
~ Amanda Sparrow ~
22 Nov 2018, 13:35
A Meticulous Task
Following Amanda’s lead, Amaya grabbed the gloves Luna offered, muttering a quick thank you as she stared down the stacks of cauldrons. With a flare of determination, Amaya stalked over to the cauldrons and picking up the sponge and dipping it in the soapy water, she picked out a cauldron from the top of the stack closest to her as she noticed the thick layer of grime it had. Undeterred, she began rubbing the cauldron furiously with all of the little strength she had. That was when Amanda began apologizing. “ It’s not your fault at all. You shouldn’t be sorry. Sure, it may have started as your idea, but I helped you with it. Besides, I could have backed out but I decided to do it out of my free will anyway.” Amaya glanced over at the other girl, offering her a small smile before she refocused on the task they’d been given. After a few moments of silence, Amaya began to start a playlist of music she had memorized in her head. It took all of her little self-resistance to keep herself from humming. After all, this was Detention. Amaya ended up lifting the bucket and placing it onto the table to waste less time reaching down and carefully dipping the sponge with water. Continuing to scour the surface, she moved on to the outer area of the cauldron. It was surprising how dirty these were, and it gave her a new appreciation for magic. After all, with a wand she could have gotten rid of all of these stacks in maybe less then ten minutes. With the gloves and sponge, it was taking her already twelve minutes for this one cauldron, and she hadn’t finished with it yet. But Amaya had to admit, it was strangely satisfying seeing the result of a sparkly clean cauldron after spending lots of time and effort on it. Turning the cauldron over, she continued scrubbing it some more before pausing. Lifting it up, she checked it thoroughly before placing it away from the stack as she reached for a new one and began to continue working on it.
Amaya Elizabeth Bourne