Little Gremlins {Girls Etiquette 1-3}

[Moira Prewett]

DATE: April 4th, 1884
TAG: Years 1-3
OUTFIT
WORDS: 242
NOTES:

Since becoming a professor - a job she surprisingly enjoyed when she wasn't actually teaching - she had invested in a cane. She'd prefer to reprimand students with magic but she didn't care to be fired for accidentally on purpose disfiguring a student. So she had to resort to a more mundane method which was more satisfying than she had expected. There was a nice, crisp 'snap' noise when it hit solid objects (a good scare tactic) and an even nicer 'thwack' noise when it hit flesh. The additional whimper was like the cherry on the cake.

The next class was filing in as Moira pulled a few sheets of parchment from a drawer in her desk. "You will need a clean piece of parchment and a quill ready," she ordered, eyeing sharply some of the more skittish students who made themselves more fun to pick on because of their timidity. Once they were all sat down, Moira waved her wand at the door to shut it. She didn't like the younger classes she took, they were all ignoramuses with too much puppy fat, either that or they were gawky and awkward. Urgh. Young children. Most adults weren't tolerable let alone the unrefined pack of ingrates sat before her.

"Today's class is on letter writing. When and whom is it permissible for a young lady to write to?" She added after a very brief pause, "Aside from family members, of course."

  

[Astrid Van Hellsing]

Astrid struggled to suppress a groan when she walked into the classroom. This was her absolute least favorite class. She HATED learning girls' etiquette. It was hardly going to be worthwhile knowledge for a vampire hunter. She knew enough of how to behave already. Of course she didn't strictly follow those rules. Or...Really follow them at all. When she was trying to lure vampires, she'd play the role of the proper lady as many seemed to go for that type but otherwise...She had more important things to worry about.

Astrid sat in one of the back seats, desperately hoping the professor wouldn't call on her as she rarely knew the answer to these types of questions. She extracted a piece of parchment and quill.

She scowled at the question. It should be permissible for young ladies to write to anyone! Why should your age or gender restrict who you could communicate with!?!

  

[Pruedence Kidd]

Prue actually knew the answer to this; she quickly raised her hand and waited for Professor Prewett to call on her. She was actually shorter than Miss Prewett still, which was something that Prue was starting to find novel.

"I write to family friends sometimes," she answered boldly, "or, sometimes, to other respectable girls my age. Mother says it's very important to practice my correspondence." She didn't want to be a proper stuffy lady, but the MacFustys (who had dragons!) were upper class. She should learn some of the manners and stuff, just in case they cared after all.

  

[Clara Chattoway]

It was very important for someone in Clara's position to be a proper lady. She strove to be that way to bring pride to her family. As such, she knew the answer. But Clara was rarely the sort to answer questions. She didn't particularly care about house points and didn't want to draw attention to herself. It was best that half vampires be as inconspicuous as possible. People found out and well...That was problematic.

But really...Clara didn't care about house points. If she had a question she would ask. She was here to learn after all. But she gained nothing from answering a question she knew. Of course if a teacher called on her she'd respond. Otherwise, quiet suited her just fine.

  

[Moira Prewett]

DATE: April 4th, 1884
TAG: Years 1-3
OUTFIT
WORDS: 211
NOTES: ref

As usual, the little pests were playing the silent game. Save for Miss Browne apparently. "Miss Van Helsing, cease that scowling at once, it is unbecoming and petulant," she snapped. As it was, Miss Browne's response wasn't quite what she was looking for, she supposed she ought to have expected a childish answer from a child. "Not quite what I was looking for, Miss Browne," she replied with notable disappointment in her voice.

"When writing personal letters, you must first be introduced to the recipient by a mutual acquaintance. It also preferable to ask the potential recipient of a letter, if you may write them. Should this individual be a gentleman, it is preferable that he ask first and initiate a letter exchange. You should never write a letter that contains anything not fit for public viewing for once it has left your possession, it may very well end up in the wrong hands. All it takes is one misplaced letter to ruin the good name of a lady." Moira doubted this lot were capable of writing anything that could be described as sensational, they looked as exciting as a bowl of prunes.

"Suppose you write a letter and refrain from signing it, would that or would that not be acceptable?"

  

[Delight Urquart]

Delight normally didn’t care for etiquette classes. Her governess had taught her enough for her to make it through the lessons without incident and even occasionally excel, but she still didn’t enjoy them.

Now her father was running for minister, however, she felt like she had to try much harder at the class. If he did become minister, she’d have to meet lots of posh and rich people, and she might also become upper class, and she’d hate to embarrass Papa!

Not one for tentativeness, she raised her hand with an attempt at grace and waited to be called on.
“It would be unacceptable, especially to those you wish to continue your acquaintance with.” She stated. “Not only does it inconvenience the other person as they do not know who the letter is from necessarily, it also shows a lack of consideration and even respect, as it may infer that you did not spend due time and consideration over your correspondence, or that you did not want to associate yourself with them.” Delight prayed she’d got it right- she was sure that was what her Mama had said.

  

[Laoise Simpson]

Laoise did not mind etiquette classes, so long as she was not the one scolded. In fact, she quite enjoyed it when Professor Prewett hit the other students with her cane. It was a bit amusing and sometimes Laoise barely managed to keep herself from smiling, especially when some of the girls cried like puppies.

She sat with her back straight. Someone else always got called first before she had the chance to raise her hand or answer a question, but she still wouldn’t let Professor Prewett think that she was not paying attention!

  

[Astrid Van Hellsing]

Oh great. Astrid had been scolded again. Oh well. She was used to being yelled at for one reason or other in this class pretty much every session. She did not like to be here and made it quite obvious in her mannerisms. This class was truly wasted on her. She planned on being a vampire hunter, not a proper lady.

And really...She was being scolded for scowling? Apparently a lady couldn't even choose their facial expressions without ridicule.

Astrid did her best to not scowl but she still looked sulky. She hated this class, hated her teacher, and hated the lesson. Basically they all boiled down to the same thing. Women had oh so much less freedom than men.

She thought she at least knew the answer to this question but why risk answering? The professor would be far too happy to make her look like an imbecile or otherwise snap at her. Let her try. Astrid had more self confidence than that. She always met the professor's eyes with rather defiant stare, one which clearly communicated her feelings towards the cold, nasty woman. She took enjoyment from shaming students. She was sick and twisted.

Someone else answered and spared Astrid from a response. Good. If all went well she wouldn't need to speak at all.

  

[Leah Beauregard]

• With a straight back and elegant posture--Leah had found she rather liked Professor Prewett, particularly when she scolded students who seemed to think etiquette was pointless, and she had therefore paid attention--Leah raised her hand, internally rolling her eyes at the idiocy of Miss Van Helsing.
  
  "That would be quite inappropriate, Professor," Leah responded. She recalled as much from an etiquette manual she had procured last summer, but surely it was common sense? "One should never write an anonymous letter."

  

[Clara Chattoway]

The second question was as obvious as the first. Still, Clara refused to answer. She preferred to keep quiet. Drawing attention to herself wasn't ideal given her circumstances. And she didn't want people to think she was a stuck up snob or anything. You never knew when you could use ties with others later down the line. If asked she would answer. If not, she'd sit back and observe.

It was amusing to her just how many enemies Astrid seemed to be making sitting their silently. Well...Enemies might be too strong a word but she certainly wasn't making friends. The professor disliked Gryffindors from the get go and Astrid's constant scowling and sulking didn't help. And it wasn't the best idea in the world to continuously stare back with such defiant eyes. One day Astrid would get her cumupins.

Two girls answered and Clara just sat back.

  

[Moira Prewett]

DATE: April 4th, 1884
TAG: Years 1-3
OUTFIT
WORDS: 211
NOTES: ref

It seemed two girls were prepared to answer rather than just the one, had Miss Beauregard not been a Slytherin she might have chastised her for repeating the answer needlessly. But she was a Slytherin and Moira had a strong house bias. "Both answers are correct: five points each to Miss Urquart and Miss Beauregard," she stated with little indication that she thought either of their answers were particularly impressive.

"You are writing a letter and find that you have misspelled a word. What should you do about this?"

  

[Laoise Simpson]

Lee thought on Professor Prewett’s question for a few seconds before she raised her hand to receive permission to answer.

“If I were at home, I would start writing that letter anew. If I was at school, though, I would use some sort of concealing spell to remove the word from my parchment,” she replied. Those spells were quite useful when she wrote her essays.

  

[Aurelia Vernon]

Rorie saw no reason to add anything more to Miss Simpsons answer so she kept silent though she was quite happy that it had been a housemate who answered. Really, she enjoyed girls etiquette most days and it amused her how improper some girls were. Why, her own best friend was a bit improper so she was often a most amused young lady.