Fandom High School

"Right! So." Bob grinned at them, which should have been their first clue. "It's time for your final. That means I get to see if you've actually learned anything."

He set up the Danger Shop like the city in the very first fight they'd had. "There will be attackers, and you'll need to defend yourselves, and all the other civilians in the area." Who appeared but stayed frozen in place for the moment. "However," he waved them at a box of small runestones, "everybody gets one of those. Some of them will tell you that you're actually working for the enemy. You're not required to tell anyone else."

His grin widened. "Enjoy."

"So far," Bob said, in full-on lecture mode, "we've dealt with a number of potential dangers and responses. Now, while getting to blow up things that are trying to blow you up can be incredibly cathartic, sometimes the greatest danger isn't other things."

He rolled his eyes. "If I had a dollar for every time I've seen someone get into danger, then overexert themselves and get into even more trouble...well, let's just say that Harry wouldn't need to work to pay his rent. Even if I just used him as an example."

He shook his head. "Never mind. The point is, you need to know precisely what you can and can't do, what your limits are, and how not to reach them. Even the most seemingly effortless magic takes a toll over time, and small magics can build up. Sustaining a spell or ability takes additional energy, too. And it all has to come from somewhere. Unless you're doing nasty things to get it, which I do not recommend, it mostly comes from or is channeled by you."

Looking over the class, he shrugged. "Since I can't really ask you all to push yourselves to sheer exhaustion as an experiment, I'll just suggest that you work at finding out what you can comfortably do. Do it on your own, or I'm happy to help. What we're going to learn today are methods to counteract or extend those limits. Namely, feed yourself properly, get enough sleep, work regularly with your magic the same way you would a muscle, and above all exercise a bit of common sense, which goes a very long way in any sort of defence.

"So. Any questions?"

"So," Bob said, "( Runes. )

The Danger Room this week was back to simulating a room, this time one that looked a bit like an alchemist's lab, albeit a well-lit one with lots of windows.

"So," he said, clapping his hands, "not all defence is something active. One sort you should definitely learn about is wards. Broadly defined, a ward is anything that keeps something from coming near it, crossing over it, or affecting it. More specifically, they tend to be symbols or substances - or both - that keep away things that want to hurt you. There are a lot of different kinds of ( wards )

Bob was a weirdly Bob combination of smug and disgruntled this week - on the one hand, the pollen couldn't affect him. On the other...it couldn't affect him, damn it. It was a trade-off.

"This week's lesson's rather timely, as it happens," he told the students once they arrived. "Now that you've all had a chance to learn a bit about magic, you need to learn more about how to fight it. Which starts, once again, with knowing it's there. Influence isn't always as up-front as a rock yelling in your head. If you want to find out something's in your mind that doesn't belong, you have to learn your own mind first."

He waved at the room, which became a dimly green-lit place, with plush cushions and low couches all over and gentle music in the background. "Most techniques to do that are fairly similar and start with meditation. It also happens to be a very good way to calm yourself down. Get comfortable, and we'll begin."

Bob scowled as the students filed in. "It seems there's been a slight mishap with the materials for today. So instead, you get a movie, which is hopefully something this room can't mess up too badly. Apparently this one's about some of the dangers of magic."

He punched a few buttons and waved them at the simulated screen. "Enjoy."

"Well," Bob greeted them all, "I hope you enjoyed yourself last week. Your task was to stop the magician from killing you all; well done." More or less. "However, magical opponents don't always come in convenient, easily discovered packages, standing there saying they're going to kill you."

Unless you were Harry. He seemed to attract them.

"So." He waved, and the Shop dissolved into a reasonably well-populated city, people wandering around, the occasional car, and shops along the streets. "Find the magician before he finds you. Stop him before he kills you. Or, well, turns you blue and you're out." Even this school didn't actually let the teachers kill the students. Usually.

Bob waved at them. "Go on."

"Well, hello." Bob greeted them all with a smile that was equal parts grim and wicked. "I'm Hrothbert of Bainbridge. You can call me Sir, or Bob." There was a moment of narrow-eyed daring anyone to say anything about his name.

"In this class, you'll be learning how to defend yourself against magic. Spells, creatures, people using it, whatnot. If you didn't mean to be here, stay anyway. You can probably use it, particularly if you're the sort who can't even make it to the right room for class."

Yes, Bob still called it like he saw it.

"So, introductions, which I imagine you're all heartily sick of by now." His dismissive gesture said how much he cared about that. "What I'd like to know from you is your name, what sorts of magic your world has, what you're familiar with, and what, if any, you have experience in.

"Personally, I'm from Earth, Chicago of around six years ago at the moment. My world has an entire range of beings and magical forces, from dragons to vampires. Magic users - wizards and sorcerers - mostly do their best to keep other humans from being aware of them. I am a sorcerer. My specialities are magical constructs, enchantments, and necromancy. I'm also, since apparently you lot don't gossip near enough, a ghost. I've had well over a millennium to learn all sorts of things, and I've taught generations of wizards."

He eyed them all for a likely candidate, then sighed. "I'll need an assistant to fetch and carry; I'd appreciate volunteers. And introductions."

He waited.

"So far," Bob said, in full-on lecture mode, "we've dealt with a number of potential dangers and responses. Now, while getting to blow up things that are trying to blow you up can be incredibly cathartic, sometimes the greatest danger isn't other things."

He gave them all a stern look. "If I had a dollar for every time I've seen someone get into danger, then overexert themselves and get into even more trouble...well, Harry wouldn't need to work to pay his rent. Even if I just used him as an example."

He shook himself. "Never mind. The point is, you need to know precisely what you can and can't do, what your limits are, and how not to reach them. Even the most seemingly effortless magic takes a toll over time, and small magics can build up. Sustaining a spell or ability takes additional energy, too. And it all has to come from somewhere. Unless you're doing nasty things to get it, which," he nodded at Anders assuming he's here "is often where blood magics come in, it mostly comes from or is channeled by you."

Looking them over, he shrugged. "Since I can't exactly ask you all to push yourselves to sheer exhaustion as an experiment, I'll simply suggest that you work at finding out what you can comfortably do. On your own, or I'm pleased to help. What we're going to learn today are methods to counteract or extend those limits. Namely, feed yourself properly, get enough sleep, work regularly with your magic the same way you would a muscle, and above all exercise a bit of common sense. A bit of common sense goes a very long way in any sort of defence.

"So. Any questions?"

Bob was uncharacteristically silent as the students filed in, and he stood there and looked at them all for a long moment once they were there. A class on defence against magic, and he had failed half of them already.

Bob sighed.

( Read more... )

"Well, I've had no screaming diatribes from the school board, so I'll assume last week's lesson was a success." Bob wasted no time in getting down to business.

"So. ( Runes. )

[OOC: Sigh. So apparently Windows hates Unicode. I'll upload the glyphs as a pic tonight once I'm on my Mac. Sorry, guys!]

This week, the students would find themselves stepping into a simulated night-time street straight out of a mystery film. Bright street lights and neon, with intervening pools of darkness. Empty cars parked along the streets, stores boarded up for the evening. Occasional pedestrians or cars passed by.

"Since it's come to my attention that everyone's likely to be a bit antsy today and maybe need a distraction, I thought we'd put a few things into practice."

Bob beamed in a way that meant you should probably all worry.

A man hurried down the street toward them, looking back over his shoulder occasionally, his whole attitude screaming fear and paranoia.

Then, about a block away, ( the street erupted )

The students this week would find themselves back in the Danger Shop scriptorium, with a wide open space on one end and the desks pointed at it.

"Last week we went over finding magical objects," Bob began. "With any luck, that'll give you a bit of grounding in what magic feels like. But magic's not always so straightforward. Magic is will, remember. It works very well at affecting will."

He nodded to Elsa. "Put it up here, please." ( Read more... )

The Danger Shop this week was split in half. One half was a classroom - well, Bob's idea of a classroom, which was more like a scriptorium than a modern classroom. The other half looked like it had last week - exactly as it had last week.

"Last week, your job was to stop our fictional Warden Morgan from fictionally killing every fictional person in the fictional city," Bob said. "Since I doubt everybody here knew what each other person was doing, I'm going to play it back for you now."( Read more... )

Bob crossed his arms and eyed the students somewhat sternly as they settled in. Anyone making extra fuss got extra glare.

When all of those niceties were over, he spoke.

"Good afternoon. My name is Hrothbert of Bainbridge. Which, contrary to the school's belief, does not make 'Bainbridge' my surname. I haven't got one. If you're particularly conservative and formal, which in my experience few teenagers are, you may call me Sir. Otherwise, you can call me Bob."

There would be no jokes about the lack of impressiveness of that name, okay? It had sentimental value.

"This class is defending yourself against magic. If you didn't sign up for it or intend to be here, save yourself the embarrassment and stay anyway. You can probably use it, particularly if you're the sort who can't even make it to the right room for class."

Hey, Bob called it like he saw it.

"I'm told the first week, it's traditional to give introductions. What I'd like to know from you - apart from your name - is what sorts of magic your world has, what you're familiar with, and what, if any, you have experience in. If the answer to all of those questions is 'none', don't worry - it won't be for long.

"I'll go first, shall I? I'm from Earth, most recently Chicago of around six years ago from the island's point of view. My world contains an entire range of beings and magical forces, from dragons to vampires. Magic users - wizards and sorcerers - for the most part do their best to keep the general human population from being aware of them. My specialities as a sorcerer are magical constructs, enchantments, and necromancy. I've had well over a millennium to learn all sorts of things, and I've taught generations of wizards."

He gave them all a sardonic look. "And no, I'm not particularly long-lived for my kind. Should you decide you need to hand me anything, don't bother." He waved his hand through the desk behind him; a golden glow where they met was the only indication it was there.

"I will, understandably, need an assistant to fetch and carry things, take messages, and so forth." He glanced over the class and picked the most responsible-looking person he could. "You, the girl with the white hair. Congratulations, you've got the job." He smiled at Elsa.

"Now, your introductions please."