De-Gnoming

[Lady Sylvia Saphricorn]

It was Saturday, and over the past month Sylvia Saphricorn had noticed the Gardens of the school were becoming overrun with Gnomes. In the past, gnomes had never been an issue at Koalingo. The grounds beyond the Manor were usually lush and green with the end of the snow season making the lands beyond somewhat fertile. The last couple of years had been quite harsh though, and so all the grounds beyond the Manor wall were dry, brown and arid. This meant that the gnomes came to understand how much nicer it was in the magically protected atmosphere of the school grounds. Here the grass was green, the trees were tall and the garden beds flourished with colour and vitality.

This was why the gnome population was getting out of control, and Professor Saphricorn, and a couple of helpers from her Care of Magical Creatures Class, had decided to take it upon themselves as a duty to rid the Grounds of the foul little creatures that swarmed around in it.

Today she had arrived in a full brimmed had, some overalls and some protective gloves. She knew that when gnomes gathered in such high levels, they tended to become a little bitey, and so she stood, hands on hips, in the middle of the gardens, waiting for her helpers to arrive.

[Shane Moonraker]

Shane arrived on the grounds quite ready for de-gnoming. He knew a lot of people found it to be dull work, but he quite enjoyed swinging the little potato headed ankle biters over the castle wall and into the wilderness. He had learned long ago that gnomes were not to be tolerated. When he was a baby, his parents were visiting his grandparents and they were having a picnic in the garden.

Shane was far to young to remember it of course, but he knew that he had been sat in a baby bouncer on the grass. At one point all of the adults attention had turned to a family game of Quidditch in the same back yard (one without real bludgers) and while the adults plated a gnome had snuck into the grass and had been feasting on the left over picnic. That was until it saw Shane in his bouncer.

Shane would never remember it happening, but he would never forget the pain. The little gnome had attached itself upon his nose and not let go until the adults had noticed what had happened and cursed it to release him.

From that day forward Shane never let go of feeling glad for the ruthless process of de-gnoming.

[Elouise Sullivan]

Elouise arrived for the de-gnoming in full overalls. It was rather warm for such attire but she knew well the damage a gnome could cause if you let it get near enough to exposed flesh. So she was careful.

“Good morning Professor,” she greeted Professor Saphricorn as she came to pull on her gloves getting ready for this mornings exertions.

She’d been told once or twice before that de-gnoming was not a very nice thing to do to a living creature, though she, like everyone else, she expected, had been stung by feeling compassion for Gnomes, and she would not feel compassion for them again.

[Belle Carter]

Belle was looking forward to the de-gnoming. She didn’t have anything against the little knobbly headed creatures, she had never been stupid enough to allow herself to be bitten by one, and her home didn’t actually have a garden where gnomes could congregate and so she had no reason to feel a grudge for them. What she really liked about the whole de-gnoming process was the upper body strength it required and the exercise she got out of doing it.

She was looking quite pleased with the possibility of swinging a little creature like a hammer and chain and flinging it high enough to breach the castle walls. Some might have thought this a little cruel, but she was looking at it with a purely health and mind toning thought, not thinking of the entertainment value at all, though she knew there would be some.

[Jay Rastan]

'This is where being unable to sleep in gets you. Mannual labor"

Jay couldn't help but think to himself as he stepped out of the hallway and into the garden, pulling the brim of his cap down further to protect his eyes against the sudden glare of the sun while mentally berating himself for leaving his sunglasses in his room.

Dressed in a old pair of ripped jeans and a plan white t-shirt and trainers, he really didn't know what to expect. Having had no plans for the morning, Jay recalled hearing about the de-gnoming and decided to check it out, having never done it before. His family had house elves to take care of the grounds keeping.

Standing aside from the other students that had gathered to volunteer to help Lady Saphricorn, taking it all in Shane Moonraker, Elouise Snape and some other younger girl he didn't know, looking to his house's namesake then to the little creatures in the ground taunting them with poked out little tongues, wide grins and waving about their stubby arms.

Without a moments hesitation, Jay pulled out his wand from his pocket and summoned his pair of dragon hide gloves from his trunk in his room.

He wasn't going anywhere near those teeth baring creatures unprepared. Nasty looking things really, looked ready to take a chunk out of him if he wasn't on his guard.

[Mariana Torrenne]

Mariana had nothing against manual labour. In fact when it came to getting rid of garden gnomes she quite enjoyed it. You see, Mariana was one of those who had something against Garden Gnomes. She was muggle born of course so it wasn’t because of something that happened in her childhood but something that happened when she was still settling into the magical world.

She yawned and stretched as she arrived at the gathering, seeing some fellow Saphricorns and couple of Emerindyls, she was pleased not to see any Ruberagons. She stretched her arms as if she were preparing for a workout, “Here we go again,” she muttered.

[Jay Rastan]

Having taken a step backwards so he could lean against the wall of castle, he had seen some movement out of the corner of his eye that was followed by the noise of some yawning.

Jay turned his head to see another of his housemates joining the activity. He couldn't help but crack a grin while tkinking if he had to be awake at this time he might as well spend it in some good company. So far the turn out did not prove his thoughts wrong.

"Hey Mariana" Jay said in greetings to his female fellow house member, in a somewhat louder tone than what was required. "Bit early on a Saturday, don't you think?"

Jay had a muggle complex. As like most purebloods, but Jay's was completely unintentional and he hadn't even known until he had started at Koalingo and had it called to his intention. When talking to muggles or muggleborns in general his voice would rise to as if he was calling to someone across a room. His volume just short of a yell, which of caused his a lot of unwanted attention and embarrassment.

Jay had that feeling he had just done it again. But on the bright side, he knew he no longer talked to them like they didn't understand plain as day English.

[Mariana Torrenne]

Mariana winced when Jay shouted at her, she couldn’t believe how she had not expected it to happen he had been doing it to her every time they spoke since she had arrived in the school five years ago. Having been caught off guard she looked for a moment like someone had belted her in the ear with a beaters bat before she shook her head, composing herself she looked back at Jay and answered in just as high a tone, “YES! IT IS A BIT EARLY ISNT IT,”

The look on her face was one of concerned bewilderment. She was in her fifth year now, how could he have not understood, a half a decade later, that he did not need to yell at her to be heard. Mariana’s friends said to her that this was all just nerves. ‘He’s just nervous because he likes you, boy’s do silly things when they like a girl,’ Mariana agreed that boys did silly things in the company of females, but she did not agree that this boy liked her, she was a little on the plumper side, and he exercised every morning before five o’clock, it didn’t seem possible. She was concerned moreover; that he really thought he needed to yell to her, she didn’t know why though.

“I HEARD SOME PEOPLE ARE ACTUALLY STILL TRYING TO SLEEP!” She shouted to him again with her eyes wide as if she were placing emphasis on every single word. Some people looked at her, but she knew that since Jay was doing it too, this would just be dismissed as a couple of loud Saphricorn; a statement heard many times throughout Koalingo’s history; Mariana did not doubt.

She smiled, deciding after a while that this was becoming something of a very fun game and she felt herself vastly more awake then she had been a moment ago. “SO! HAVE YOU PERFORMED A DE-GNOMING BEFORE?”

[Jay Rastan]

'Why is she yelling at me?' Jay couldn't help but wonder as one eyebrow shot up his forehead and he gave her a look which could only be described as pure confusion and, even if he would never admit it, a slight trace of fear.

Many muggleborns or half bloods always looked at him in a queer fashion when he talked to them. He was starting to wonder if maybe he did need to start talking slow for them to understand him, as well. But all poor Jay could was look up and down at himself to wonder why she was looking at him like they hadn't been in the same house and same school for the past five years.

"THEY ARE LUCKY IF THEY CAN SLEEP IN WOULDN'T YOU SAY?" Jay yelled back wondering, now for the fiftith time in the past minute why she yelled at him. He was a pureblood, he wasn't the one who was hearing impared, she was the one who need him to yell.

"MY PARENTS HAVE HOUSE ELVES TO DO OUR GARDENING AND GET RID OF THE GNOMES. THEY LOOK PRETTY VICIOUS I RECKON. DID YOU SEE THE TEETH ON THAT ONE?" Jay pointed to the one that had been taunting him earlier. "HOW ABOUT YOU? EVER HAD ANYTHING TO DO WITH THEM?"

Over the past five years when Jay had conversed with Mariana she often gave him that same look and yelled at him totally out of the blue. Jay got worried about her sometimes thinking maybe she was sick, or maybe someone had hexed her and now she couldn't control her volume level.

"YOU HAVE A FUNNY LOOK ON YOUR FACE. ARE YOU FEELING SICK?" Jay asked feeling quite concerned for the well of the girl who was somewhat of a friend. They were friendly enough to each other, didn't mind being in each others accompany, Jay didn't think she was to hard on the eye either, but he wasn't about to after a fifth year now was he? So he couldn't help but feel that maybe she shouldn't be de- gnoming if she wasn't up to it.

[Mariana Torrenne]

'Why is she yelling at me?' Mariana really didn’t understand it, and though it did not offend her, she was somewhat confused and had been for a very long time. Why did he insist on yelling, why, when it was so early and she just wanted to go back up to the dormitory and go back to sleep.

Out of all the wizards Mariana had met over the years at Koalingo, she had never quite found one more … odd then Jay. He seemed cute enough, he was involved in many school things, just like this one, and he didn’t seem to be a stupid boy, though sometimes she had to wonder, as she watched him talk to her; was he touched in the head? Was there something wrong with him? Something mental.

”YES VERY LUCKY, I WOULD NOT MIND BEING BACK IN BED MYSELF,” she yelled at him for what was the umpteenth time in five years. A lot ot the time, she didn’t yell at him not having the energy for it, but she was finding that it was waking her up, and she knew she would need to be on her toes today.

"A HOUSE ELF? AT HOME SOUNDS WONDERFUL! I HAD TO DO ALL MY OWN CHORES GROWING UP, BUT WE DIDN’T HAVE GARDEN GNOMES LIKE THIS IN OUR GARDEN, NOT ENOUGH MAGIC I RECKON,” she wondered what it would have been like having a house elf, she had wanted someone to do her chores for her her whole life. Her brother was the only other person at home, and while he did a lot of her chores for her when she was feeling upset, he didn’t do them all the time as a house elf would, and she always had to pay him back somehow, “SOUNDS LIKE FUN,”

Mariana maintained her look of confusion and yes, she would admit it, a twinge of fear. Sometimes the way he yelled her caught her by surprise and she could not tell whether he was yelling because he was angry with her or not, but every time when she noticed who was talking to her it all seemed normal.

”A FUNNY LOOK ON MY FACE, YOU SAY? NO I AM FEELING QUITE FINE ACTUALLY, JUST A LITTLE SLEEPY,” She thought about it at that moment, he had brought up the topic, maybe she would ask him at last, though she didn’t feel it would be appropriate to shout it so that everyone else could hear her, she lowered her voice, directing it straight at him and asked, “What about you, Jay, are you – you know – feeling, ok today, nothing odd happening with you?”

[Jay Rastan]

"YEAH IT'S PRETTY AWESOME HAVING HOUSE ELVES TO DO ALL THE MENIAL TASKS AROUND THE MANOR. vALPOT IS MY PERSONAL HOUSE ELF. SHE CAME TO KOALINGO WITH ME WHEN I STARTED" Jay said, with a shrug like it was just a normal thing to have your own house elf, which to him it was.

"VALPOT CAME TO THE MANOR WHEN I WAS FIVE AND BEGGED MY PARENTS TO TAKE HER ON AS PART OF THE STAFF. THE BEST SERVENT IS ONE WHO LOVES THEIR JOB MY FATHER SAYS. SHE WOULD NEVER LET ME DO ANYTHING TO HELP HER." Jay looked around the garden again and it seems like nothing at all had changed in the time he had been speaking to Mariana. He couldn't help but feel like they were never going to get on with the work, he could be sleeping or swimming or working on his tan, something of greater importance.

Clearing his throat which suddenly seemed a little dry, Jay lifted a hand to shield his eyes from the sun, so he didn't silly squinting. Jay was starting to seriously worry for Mariana's mental state. First she started yelling at him for no apparent reason, then she whispered to him. Maybe she had sniffed one of those special magical herbs his cousin had shown him... Although she really didn't seem the type.

"Especially the women, they are all mental and wild all in one pretty little package, mark my words Cousin! I'm not tickling the dragon on you with this. Take my word for it" Jay had scoffed when his cousin had told him this, thinking his cousin was just teasing his new bride while winking at Jay. Now he could tell that his cousin was being very serious.

When she asked if he was feeling alright, he gave her the same confused look as before. Giving himself a once over, he thought he looked alright and he felt in top shape.

'Now she is imagining other people are sick. Maybe I should get her to the school nurse or something...'

Following Mariana's lead, Jay lowered his voice to a whisper... Well, in his own mind he had, in reality he was still shouting to the younger girl.

"ANYTHING ODD HAPPEN TO ME TODAY? NAH NOTHING, I'M FEELING OKAY, GIVEN THE TIME OF MORNING AND ALL. HOW ABOUT YOU? YOU WEREN'T HEXED ON YOUR WAY HERE WERE YOU?"

Jay subconciously ran his hand through his hair, ruffling his hair slightly cause it to lean to the right side, matching his slightly widened brown eyes showing a innocent concern for his companion, leaving him in a over all clueless look and air about him.

[Lady Sylvia Saphricorn]

“I am sorry, but when you two are quite finished,“ Lady Saphricorn looked at both of them with a pretty stern exterior. She was all for people being up at this hour, but she was a little disappointed in the two students, especially two from her own house. For having a blatant disregard for the right of others to sleep and/or enjoy the peace and quiet of these early hours. She looked at both of them a moment longer as if daring them to open their mouths again. When they didn’t she smiled again.

She couldn’t help but appear slightly fake as she smiled at all of the students gathered. She was pleased to see so many but a little more then disappointed that half the students who said they would come, did not actually show up. She walked back to a small pile of gloves she had dropped upon her arrival. A couple of house elves had already run off with a pair and so she thought it a bit of a mockery and knew they must deal with them post-haste.

“Okey dokey, can everyone who needs them please put on a pair of gloves and lets get started, we don’t want to be here all morning, but if we need to be… we need to be,” she smiled wondering if any of them considered this to be something of a threat. No, this was not mandatory, but now that they were here she would expect them to see it through.\

“Now, who would like to demonstrate the correct way to de-gnome, making sure of course to aim high enough, we want them out of the castle, not decorating the walls, Professor Emerindyl and the Magical Creatures Protection Pact of 1425 would not be very pleased with us,” she put her hands on her waste and strands of her hair danced with the wind. She looked quite capable of manual labour, and yet at the same time serenely beautiful.

[Jay Rastan]

Jay felt about bit sheepish about the way his Head of House had spoken to him. He was just talking to a fellow housemate while they were waiting, he didn't see what was wrong with that. Didn't all house heads want at least some inner house unity?

Jay just didn't understand the female species at times, and he had the feeling he never would.

Listening to Lady Saphricorn he couldn't help but glance at Mariana out the corner of his eye. When asked for someone to explan how to De-gnome properly, he knew this wasn't exactly the right time but he hesitantly raised his hand to get Lady Saphricorn's attention for a moment.

"Um, excuse me Lady Saphricorn. You might need to speak up slightly, Mariana isn't a pureblood and even thought you're only a few feet away she probably can't hear a word you have said. You know how muggles and muggleborns are hard on hearing."

Jay lowered his arm from the air, feeling proud of himself. He, unlike the others in the class hadn't thought about poor Mariana and how hard of hearing she must be, since she was not a pureblood. Smiling to himself, Jay realised he had just done his good deed for the day.

[Elouise Sullivan]

If a pin was to drop out of the sky and land in the grass, you would have heard it now. The silence that followed the Saphricorn’s little speech was deafening. Elouise didn’t understand it, Saphricorn’s always seemed so nice, and she never thought she would hear one insulting another from their own house about being a muggle born.

Elouise kind of just stood, rooted to the spot in suspended animation, she really wasn’t sure what would happen next.

For a moment she considered that surely Lady Saphricorn would say something to him. Elouise knew of Jay though and this didn’t make a whole lot of sense. He didn’t appear the type that went around insulting muggle born’s of being inadequate. Elouise decided though that this attitude was quite unacceptable, and if Professor Saphricorn didn’t say anything about it, Elouise certainly would.

She coughed through the silence, hoping this might jolt their professor into saying something to him. Elouise could see already that the Professor just seemed to want to get on with the degnoming, but honestly… this was a bit ridiculous, and Elouise believed; just a little bit more important.

Elouise already had her gloves though, and so while she didn’t plan to be disobedient, she also didn’t feel Jay should get away with his prejudices against muggle borns, and would not start moving as if nothing happened. And so the silence remained deafening, and would hopefully be broken by one incredibly angry Professor.

[Lady Sylvia Saphricorn]

Sylvia Saphricorn gasped in shock, her eyes widening slightly as she looked at the boy who was a member of her own house. To say she was speechless at the moment would be an understatement, of all her time at Koalingo watching as many over her students grown from frightened and timid little first years to kind, compassionate graduating seventh years and none of them had left her as short for words as Jay Rastan had in that one comment.

Looking at a few students that had gathered here this morning to help her de-gnome the school garden, she could see mixed feelings written across their faces, some of disbelief, at least one of anger and more than a few of confusion. This, and a cough offered by Miss Snape shattered the silence and Lady Saphricorn’s shock. A frown marred her face as she looked at the boy in question.

“Mr Rastan![/i] I have never in my time at Koalingo been more shocked and disappointed of a student in my own house” Sylvia’s soft, yet stern voice along with her frown would speak volumes to anyone who know her. “What on earth possessed you to say such a thing about a fellow student, in particularly one of your housemates? Well?”

Lady Saphricorn, after having taught Jay and Mariana for years knew not of any animosity between them of any nature so could see exactly how much of a left field comment this was. Replaying what had been said over her head something was nagging her that she should have picked up.

’You know how muggles and muggleborns are hard on hearing’

He must have been told by some sort of authority figure tell him as such and that would be why he had said such a thing. It Lady Saphricorn couldn’t help but think that might explained why he was looking pretty happy and not slightly ill intentioned.

“Who told that muggleborns and muggles have insufficient hearing?” She asked, wonder exactly how some other pureblood wizard and witches could be so ignorant of another civilization at their doorsteps. At the moment all thought of de-gnoming had been put on the back burner.