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 Posted: Thu Apr 22, 2021 11:34 pm
OWLsCORE Astronomy ~ PAstronomy was pretty, but ultimately Weslyn thought it was a bunch of colored balls in the sky with too-complicated details. She also had bad memories of Astronomy with her birthfather, and hardly studied for Astronomy beyond doing the homework. By the time it came to study for OWLs there was too much to catch up on and she would much rather spend the time working on any other subject. Charms ~ AWeslyn struggled with spellcasting for her first few years, and even though she was much improved by the time her OWLs came around, she wasn’t quite sure on the theoretical details and missed a few points there. She flubbed the first spell of the practical, throwing her off and doing less than ideally on the practical section. It was mostly nerves, and after some reassurance, she was hopeful to have the chance to redeem herself in NEWTs. Defense Against the Dark Arts ~ AWeslyn was pretty skittish in DADA, not only because every new dark creature was a new thing to fear or dislike, but because she didn’t trust herself to deal with them. At first she was very intimidated by Professor Cohen, but this was replaced by a sense of quiet comfort in fifth year. Despite her squeamishness, Wes kept reminding herself to be brave and always worked hard to overcome her concerns. Fifth year was also the first year she was able to dispel a boggart: When the boggart turned into her brothers throwing potatoes at her and casting her out, she faltered and cried for a hot minute before remember their true words and turning the whole thing into a fun water-balloon fight. Herbology ~ OWeslyn put in a solid effort in Herbology from Day 1, thinking it would make her more useful in the kitchen and on the farm. She was intimidated by Professor Hill, but after befriending Willow Hill from her dorm and Aspen Hill in Herbology Club, she felt much more comfortable in class, and her performance in Herbology flourished. Her plants felt and magnified her insecurities in fourth year, causing her grades to sink; however, her weekly attendance and performance in Herbology Club continued to to excel, and it kept her hope and determination up. Over the summer and through fifth year, her herbology scores were first to recover, and by OWLs she was performing outstandingly as usual. History of Magic ~ EWeslyn liked how Professor Powell told stories, and she thought studying History was pretty straightforward. While history had never been her favorite subject, she had always done well in History. She also didn’t feel the same trepidation or doubt from History as she did her exams with practicals. Potions ~ AWeslyn had always done okay in Potions. She wasn’t anything incredible, but she treated it like cooking and generally did okay. However, she was always unnerved by exam atmospheres and mixed up a few potions when writing about them. Luckily she collected herself before the practical, which salvaged her score. Transfiguration ~AWhile initially one of her worst subjects, Weslyn was fascinated by the idea of turning into a creature for herself and from third year on strived diligently to get better at Transfiguration. She practiced a lot, memorized what she didn’t really understand, and asked her housemates for help when needed. One good thing about her fourth year was Eden’s overcome-by-exposure attitude, and she finally managed to conquer hesitations with animal transfiguration after excessive practice—and as long as she could perform the spell effectively, she was convinced she wasn’t hurting the creatures. ELECTIVES Art ~ EWeslyn entered Hogwarts just knitting, but was inspired by Annie Sheehan in the Daily Dragon and Art clubs, which she had joined to hang out with her brothers. She picked up a penchant for drawing animals, particularly sea creatures and underwater environments. By fifth year, her sketching skills had improved remarkably and she was assured by many that it would be an easy OWL for her. However, she was terribly unnerved by the exam conditions and felt like she had forgotten everything she’d learned in class. Her Octopus-in-a-Reef sketch for the practical was supposed to land and blend in, but actually only vibrated, reflecting her nervousness with the exams. Care of Magical Creatures ~ OEven though Weslyn’s main interest was in aquatic animals, Weslyn took to all magical creatures with just as much interest. For each creature she strove to understand not only how it lived but how it flourished and interacted with other creatures—magical or mundane— in the community and ecosystem. Each part of the creature had a certain significance and history, and for every creature, Weslyn was excited to learn where they fit in. She had plenty to write about each creature, and quickly identified the relevant knowledge to ensure the best care of every creature she encountered. Healing ~ EWeslyn figured that healing was something she ought to learn. She wasn’t particularly good at it but really wanted to continue so she put her best effort in. Eden had always seemed to be particularly good at Healing and she picked up a bunch of tips studying with him over third and fourth years. Yukon’s girlfriend dying earlier that summer had her focusing on healing in his stead, wondering what more could have gone wrong. She wasn’t planning to pursue a career in healing, but if she could just do first aid, maybe she could save a creature or even a person from untimely tragedy. Where she struggled in magic theory, with healing theory Weslyn at least could understand and ground her learning in a body. Her bedside manner was gentle and compassionate, if mired in insecurity--even if she knew what to do and what she was doing, she tended to be bad at communicating that knowledge. Muggle Studies ~ OWeslyn brought up Muggle Studies because of a terrible interest in understanding how her birthfather might think of magic, and because her brothers both seemed to think it would be an easy grade to self-study. Come fourth year, she was fairly certain she agreed, but she still attended most classes, even though she wasn’t formally enrolled. Even with minimal studying, she was familiar enough from the classes to ace the OWL. Wizard Law~ ELaw was not the kind of elective that Weslyn ever thought she would ever take, but she had gotten intrigued while looking at Yukon’s assignments in previous years. The class was interesting, and ministry legal jobs sounded like a quiet place where she could work but make a difference. Her real fascination came, of course, with the classification of magical creatures and how the Statute of Secrecy applied to them. She was nerve-wracked by the practical, but as always connected it to magical creature law, and was actually quite satisfied with her response. ----------------------------------------- Weslyn works quite hard in all her classes, but generally has severe test anxiety. She is also learning to prioritize, and to align her studying with her interests -- these slowly growing changes haven't quite shown effect yet though!
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Posted: Sun Jun 20, 2021 8:06 pm
Astronomy - P
Charms - A
Defence Against the Dark Arts - A
Herbology - O
History of Magic - EE
Potions - A
Transfiguration - A
Art - EE
Care of Magical Creatures - O
Healing - E
Muggle Studies - O
Wizard Law - EE
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Cinnabun Gryffie Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Dec 12, 2021 1:24 am
NEWTsCharms ~ ANEWTs were much harder than OWLs, but Weslyn was also much better prepared for the exam atmosphere and had much more time to practice. She put forward a solid effort, particularly in nonverbal spellwork, since she liked being able to cast without a sound. Other complex spells though, still proved difficult, just costing her the E. Defense Against the Dark Arts ~ EDADA hadn’t been Weslyn’s favorite subject but it was required to work in the Wizengamut and Wes sunk as many hours into the subject as she had to, in case the Ministry did have a place for her. As with the OWL, she was nervous but found ways to practice for the exam that helped her get over the initial squeamishness and face the challenge head-on. She was pleasantly surprised to just get the E. Herbology ~ OFor someone so nervous, Weslyn always seemed more at ease around plants and animals. By the end of fifth year she recognized the close emotional bond she had with her plants and from then gardening was almost like meditation for her-- no matter what doubts and insecurities plagued her everyday mind, Wes let them go while she tended to her plants. She put extra care into studying the theoretical side as well, looking into not only the plant properties and care, but also the optimal conditions and how the plant interacted with other flora and fauna in the wild. Four years tutoring and two years of leading the Herbology club (including coming up with activities and field trips!) also helped her express things more clearly and concisely for the written portion. She treated the NEWT exam the same as any other class or herbology club session, and her score faithfully reflected her performance. Potions ~ EWeslyn worked really hard at potions to be good enough to make the Animagus potion. While some complex potions theory still seemed a bit beyond her, she had enough of an idea of how everything worked together and enough experience to be able to fix any mistakes that came up or adapt with alternate ingredients or procedures. She wasn’t making any original potions, but with all the extra practice under her belt, Wes was confident and efficient with her potion-making techniques and skills. Transfiguration ~OWeslyn’s effort in her Animagus studies greatly helped her understanding of Transfiguration in general as well. She studied hard, worked at her skills, and found ways to use transfiguration in event-planning. She recognized how versatile transfiguration could be, and finally, at some point in the spring, floating camouflaged in the Lake in her animagus form, the transfiguration theories that she could only hope to memorize and thoroughly study beforehand clicked together. ELECTIVES Art ~ EWeslyn was much calmer and better prepared for the NEWT exam. She had a better grasp of art theories and artists—particularly notable magizoologists who published their anatomical sketches— and had a plan for the practical that she carried out perfectly. Care of Magical Creatures ~ OWeslyn was still back and forth between working in the Beasts Department of the Ministry of Magic and pursuing aquatic magizoology, but it was clear she would be doing some work with aquatic creatures. Her mermish was better, and her time spent as an octopus offered unique insights and helped her put her creatures knowledge in a very real and lived experience. Her knowledge of herbology also helped her develop not just an understanding of creatures, but how they fit in and interacted with their environments and other creature, making her a very well rounded student in this field. Healing ~ EEncouraged by her E in OWLs, Weslyn continued with healing. She focused more of her efforts into healing animals. Her extra practice gave her a better understanding of how healing worked both practically and theoretically. Knowing she was reliable for first magical aid also helped with her confidence and communication, as she was more confident in her explanations and bedside manner. Muggle Studies ~ EWeslyn had decided at OWLs she was definitely staying in the wizarding world, but was persuaded to take the NEWT exam if only for the extra grade. Who knew how it might be useful? With other classes and head girl duties though, she didn’t attend as many of the classes and again did only minimal studying for the exam. While she knew most of the content from being familiar with the muggle world, without the extra class participation she struggled to succinctly express the content on the exam. Wizard Law~ EAside from Law being a useful subject if she planned to work in the Ministry, Weslyn had enjoyed Wizard Law: She thought it was useful for philosophical discussions and interesting to consider. Although she particularly was interested in legal classifications of magical creatures and how to advocate for these creatures, Wes also learned about how the wider magical society worked through Wizard Law, and looked for where she fit in within that society and how the law might affect the practicalities of her everyday. With increased confidence in herself in her older years she performed better at the law practical, although she had clear strengths and weaknesses in the subject.
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Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2022 6:46 pm
Charms - A
Defence Against the Dark Arts - EE
Herbology - O
Potions - EE
Transfiguration - O
Art - EE
Care of Magical Creatures - O
Healing - EE
Muggle Studies - EE
Wizard Law - EE
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Cinnabun Gryffie Vice Captain
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