This Means War!

[Ismene Swift]

This time last year, Ismene Swift had been overwhelmed by pre-exam anxiety. That was certainly a bonus of being in sixth year: she was between examination years. Oh, she would be tested in May, of course, but it was hardly the same thing: these would be the comparably ‘simple’ exams more akin to those she had endured in her fourth year, without strangers staring at her and asking her to name things and cast spells.

Where last March had been spent largely (too much for her liking, if she was honest) in the library, Issie was now enjoying the relative freedom of pre-spring on the castle grounds.

“You really ought to be studying,” the Hufflepuff chided the pair of fifth years she was with, an air of superiority clinging firmly to her words. “I know it is a lovely day, but there will be plenty of nice days once your OWLs are over and done with!” Not, of course, that she wanted her walking companions to leave, but she had to at least pretend to be concerned about their study habits.

“Besides, I’m sure you would--” Issie’s words were cut short when a snowball--no, the snow was gone, she realized with a sinking feeling; this was a mudball--hit her square in the back of the head. Her face contorted into a combination of shock and rage as she irritably turned to see who had assaulted her so.

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[Emily Ruggles]

"Oh dear! I'm so terribly sorry!" Emily apologized promptly. She was trying to be one with nature, commune with the Earth. Although healing was something very natural to her, something she could do without a wand however draining...Earth magic...No, that didn't seem to quite be her thing. Well that wasn't fair. With a wand she was fine. But her sister...Ava couldn't heal like Emily but moving anything with her mind seemed natural. She appeared to be a genuine telekenetic.

Emily had been attempting to feel the spirit of the Earth, the positive energy, and draw it forth to give her strength. But in the end she'd accidentally raised a ball of mud and...Control hadn't happened.

"I was practicing some magic. It didn't go the way I intended! Please forgive me!" She bowed her head in apology.

  

[September Lynch]

Amber resisted the urge to roll her eyes and sigh loudly at Ismene's words. She has heard the same lectures from her professors time and time again, and therefore, she was rather of the belief that she did not need to be re-informed about the importance of scoring well upon her O.W.L examinations, but she was aware that Miss Swift only had her best interests at heart, and so she stayed silent, strolling along with the other two women in her presence at a respectable pace.

The weather that day was simply divine. The temperature was mild, the sun was not unbearably bright, and there was a hint of a breeze in the air. Truly, who would desire to be cooped up indoors when they could be enjoying such delightful weather? Certainly not Amber. Besides, she has not woefully neglected her studies - her elder sister, February, ensured that that would not be a possibility - and therefore, she reasoned that enjoying a bit of fresh air with her two female acquaintances was not going to badly affect how well she would do upon her exams.

Amber had been about to point out that a bit of fresh air never hurts anyone before the unexpected occurred - a flying ball of mud had hit poor Miss Swift in the back of the head! Eyes wide from astonishment, Amber twirled around to face whomever had thrown the mudball, curious to see who would be so brave (and rude) to do such a ghastly thing! However, once her green eyes caught the sight of Miss Emily Ruggles, a girl whom she shared a dormitory with, her eyes returned to their normal size and her astonishment diminished. She had always found Miss Ruggles to be a bit odd, and so she was not at all surprised to see the young woman standing before them, confessing to having been practicing her magic before it had gone awry.

However, then her next concern was geared towards Ismene, and Amber slowly turned her head to observe the muddied young woman, and found what was expected of a girl who had mud splattered all over her hair (and the color of her hair was light, too - poor girl!), and unfortunately, she found the situation a bit amusing, and she had to hide a smile to conceal her mirth. However, this was not the time to be amused, and she said in Emily's defense, "I'm certain that Miss Ruggles meant no harm, Miss Swift - it was merely an accident, I'm sure." Or so I hope it is, Amber mentally added to herself, not wishing to make matters worse than they already were.

Words: 444 | Tag: Ismene & Emily | Notes: Kayte - you mentioned that two fifth years were with Ismene, but you did not specify which house, so I'm going to assume that Ismene and Amber know each other from class. She and Ismene used to share some classes before she moved to N.E.W.T level, after all.

  

[Ismene Swift]

The Hufflepuff eyed the younger girl as if she was mad. How did one accidentally start throwing mud about? It all seemed incredibly rude—and uncivilized!—to Ismene, who disliked dirt so much that she had promptly dropped Herbology as soon as she was permitted.

“Miss Ruggles,” Ismene replied tersely to her friend, thinking Ruggles a terrible surname, very plain, “ought to be considerably more careful and her time would be better spent—for her and for the rest of us—in the library, out of the way.” Ismene was not in inherently cruel person, but life under Letitia Swift had rendered her persnickety at best about cleanliness and etiquette. “A young lady gains nothing from playing in the mud, after all.”

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[Emily Ruggles]

Emily smiled gratefully back up at Miss Lynch. She wasn't used to people even fellow Gryffindors of the same year, rushing to her defense. Unlike her older sister Ava, she was quite proud of her Pagan heritage and felt no need to keep it secret. She often wore bracelets and necklaces with stones to increase certain positive energies. And when left to her own devices she wore what others deemed "muggle witch outfits". They decreed it in rather snarky tones too. But everyone was entitled to their own opinion. Still, they could be a bit more polite about it.

She gracefully included her head, nodding her agreement. "It was truly a terrible accident, Miss Swift," she said sincerely, hoping the older student would listen and believe.

Okay..Emily wasn't the sort who was quick to anger. Such things were better left to her sister. But, it was incredibly rude to discuss Emily as though she weren't there when in fact she was standing right in front of Miss Swift and rather apologetically too.

She tensed when Miss Swift made the comment about playing in the mud. "I was not playing in the mud," Emily said stiffly. "Like I explained earlier, I was practicing magic, Earth magic. For such magic it is important to form some sort of connection with the Earth to commune with it if you will. Sadly, I am not as in tune with the Earth as I would like. But practice makes perfect. An older student should know better than to discourage younger students from honing their skills."

  

[September Lynch]

She's an odd one, Miss Swift, Amber had desired to retort to her friend, but as it was terribly rude - and not to mention disrespectful - of her to say so when Miss Ruggles was within earshot, she kept silent until she felt that she was allowed to speak. This confrontation was between Ismene and Emily, after all, and she did not wish to choose between one or the other - though if the other participant in question was not one she was familiar with, she would have certainly sided with Ismene as she shared similar views with the young woman. It was unpolished for a woman to dabble in dirt, even if she was just merely practicing her spells!

"Perhaps not," answered Amber civilly in response to Ismene's words, attempting to diffuse the tension before an argument could erupt, "but hopefully Miss Ruggles will now take care to practice her magic away from the areas that students mostly frequent, so that the same fate may not befall another."

Turning to Emily, she gave a little nod in her direction as she inquired with subtle firmness in her tone, "Won't you, Miss Ruggles?"

Words: 195 | Tag: Ismene & Emily | Outfit: School Robes

  

[Ismene Swift]

First the bizarre girl had flung mud at her—accidentally or not—and now she had the gall to question Ismene’s manners? The Hufflepuff was not altogether sure this Miss Ruggles was sane, and could not help but wonder when Hogwarts had begun admitting the unbalanced. Though her displeasure was evident on her face, however, Issie was saved from the compulsion to lower herself to pettiness by Miss Lynch’s interjection.

“I should think that to be the case,” Ismene added, trying her best to rise above—as best as she was able, at the very least. While her mother’s absence from the school this year did wonders for her nerves, it also rendered the sixth year ‘freer’ with her tongue than she might have liked.

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[Emily Ruggles]

Emily gazed calmly back at September. "I came here to practice magic. It went poorly, I admit. But it will forever be poor if I don't continue to work at it. How can you make me promise to stop practicing the only place I can properly practice Earth magic?" she asked, tone even. "Going into the Forbidden Forest is forbidden like the name implies. So if I don't want to break the rules this area here is really my best bet," she explained slowly and calmly.

She turned her attention back to Ismene. "Miss Swift, not everything can be learned in a book. Books often provide the theory by the theory is meaningless without experimentation. And for Earth magic in particular constant practice is important. As I'd like to consider myself an expert on me, I think I'd know how my time is best spent."

  

[September Lynch]

Amber kept her face expressionless as Miss Ruggles addressed her, her blue-eyed (for that was the color of her eyes that day) gaze steadily assessing the young woman before her. Miss Ruggles' calmness rather unnerved her, and she did not wish for her discomfort to be known. However, Miss Ruggles certainly had a point - she would be risking their chance to win the House Cup that year if she proceeded to practice her (messy, in Amber's opinion) magic in the Forbidden Forest, but the least Miss Ruggles could do was ensure that no one was near whilst she was honing her skills. Poor Miss Swift was a representation of the misfortune that could befall another due to Miss Ruggles' practices.

"Well, Miss Ruggles, I do believe that there is nothing more to say on the matter," Amber asserted calmly as she turned to Ismene to assess the damage that had been done of her hair, and she once again had to stifle a giggle. The back of the woman's head was truly a mess, and she did not envy Miss Swift's attempts to remove the muddy substance (which was now drying up, Amber noted), though the thought that perhaps her hair could have been the one that was damaged caused Amber's amusement to disperse as fast as it had come.

"Miss Swift," she addressed the other young lady after she examined the mud-splattered hair, "perhaps we could use a cleaning charm to clean up the damage a bit? You can get rid of the rest once we return to the castle."

Words: 262 | Tag: Ismene & Emily | Outfit: School Robes

  

[Ismene Swift]

Maybe if she went into the forest she could be eaten by something and that would be the end of that.

Ismene knew such notions were uncharitable, but really, could the girl not at least have gone well away from the footpath, far away from the saner students? Why should the Hufflepuff have to be a victim of lack of common sense?!

She knew, though, that she would speak cruelly if she addressed the culprit again, so she bit her tongue, ignored the troublemaker, and focused her attentions on Miss Lynch instead.

“Could you?” she asked helplessly, trying her best not to allow it to come out as a whine. “It’s so terrible an angle for me to do it myself, and I suspect I do not wish to know the extent of the damage.”

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[Emily Ruggles]

Good. There was nothing more to say on the matter. She was glad that was clear. It had been a terrible and unfortunate accident but such accidents were likely to happen when people practiced magic as they should. Really...All this fuss over some hair and mud? If Emily had been on the receiving end she wouldn't have whined nearly as much.

But there was no point in retorting to either girl. It was obvious there would be no benefit. Emily wasn't cruel and she wasn't prone to talking to the walls which would essentially be what she was doing if she continued. Some people simply refused to listen.

"I could do the charm as an apology if you wish," Emily said politely, determined to keep her calm demeanor and good graces. Yes, Miss Swift had overreacted. But it was still Emily's fault she was in that state. And she was sorry for it.

  

[Ismene Swift]

Ismene had seen Miss Ruggles’ magical skill first-hand and was not keen to let the Gryffindor “practice” on her—especially not when she had been the cause of the damage!

“I daresay Miss Lynch is entirely capable,” the Hufflepuff replied, tone entirely emotionless so as to avoid a snide edge. She just wanted this whole ordeal to be over before someone important (like Mr. Huxley!) saw her in her messy state!

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[September Lynch]

Amber arched an eyebrow in Miss Ruggles' direction. The young woman was obviously a dimwit if she believed that Ismene would allow her anywhere near her hair! Not after the damage she had done to it! Nonetheless, Amber simply kept quiet as she watched Miss Swift make her own decision, and unsurprisingly, Ismene had decided to forego Miss Ruggles' offer.

Removing her wand from the pocket of her school robes, Amber moved a step closer to Ismene. This was a spell she had performed many times during her student career, and she was confident that she would not further botch Miss Swift's poor hair. With that in mind, Amber pointed her wand at the muddy mess, and in a clear voice administered the Cleaning Charm.

After scrutinizing her handiwork, and concluding that there was nothing more to be done, Amber said to Miss Swift, "Well, the mud has not entirely disappeared, but it looks better than before. If we hurry, we can return to the castle and remove the rest of the mud before anyone notices the damage."

Words: 178 | Tag: Ismene & Emily | Outfit: School Robes

  

[Ismene Swift]

Better, Ismene thought, was close enough—anything to remove the bulk of the damage without enlisting the ‘help’ of the errant Gryffindor. She thanked her friend politely, still eyeing the other girl warily. Really, Ismene thought, some students could use some remedial etiquette! That her own behaviour had not been as ladylike as it could have been was something the Hufflepuff elected to ignore altogether, preferring to focus on the enemy.

“Let’s go quickly, then; I should hate for things to get any worse!” she offered brightly.

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