You're Hired (Briony and Tess)

by **Briony Romain** Mon Apr 16, 2012 10:31 pm

Briony had offered up two postions to students in their third year to be her apprentice and this was the first meeting with one of them, she was a little surprised when it wasn't Haley that jumped at the chance, but Tess was also a very able student and she was glad to have her on board.

Already thinking of different things that she could teach her, Briony sat down at the desk in the center of the room, and looked around at all the curious little nicknacks that she had inherited from Headmaster's before her, and she thought for a moment, that she was the first female Head of Hogwarts.

Sighing a little, she drank some of her tea and waited for her new apprentice to arrive.

by **Tess McCartney** Tue Apr 17, 2012 2:43 am

Tess could not believe she got accepted. She had applied for one apprenticeship but had been given two. She had learned that the meetings with her ad Professor Romain made her an applicant for his Transfiguration apprenticeship. She was very nervous more nervous about this apprenticeship than the other.
She knew Professor Romain, he was the Head of her house as well as her mentor because he'd given her confidence. But she did not know his wife too well. Last time she managed to get a conversation with her it had been about breaking a rule of not going outside in the night and no breaking the curfew.
As she reached the door she knocked softly and waited patiently to be allowed in. She had her wand in its holder but she gripped it to give her some confidence. This was a firs step to a new form of change and she was anxious.

by **Briony Romain** Wed Apr 18, 2012 1:55 am

Briony heard a soft knock on the door and she assumed that it was her new apprentice Tess, after all she didn't know who else would be here when she had cleared the space especially for her time with her new close student, and she knew they would get a swift kikc up the arse for disrupting them.

Flicking her wand she opened the door and smirked lightly seeing that it was indeed her new apprentice, and she beckoned her to come in, hoping that she would be what she was looking for, if she was, there would be so much she could teach her.

"Hello there Tess, you're here for the meeting with me correct? Not some unknown drama or something?" she asked, an amused smirk on her lips "Please do sit down." she said, gesturing to the chair in front of her desk, there was going to be some paperwork to attend to before the real training.

by **Tess McCartney** Wed Apr 18, 2012 5:00 am

Tess entered tentatively and smiled bashfully at the Headmistress. She wasn't so sure if the Headmistress was kidding or not but seeing her smirk showed that she was simply teasing, so she grinned in return.

"Yes ma'm"

She was nervous, it hadn't happened before, but now knowing that she was working under the Headmistress was a big load to carry. The Headmistress was a force to reckon with, she was strong willed and she supposed that is why she admired her, she was so strong and seemed to have everything put together.

Hearing her say for her to sit down, she did so and placed her hands on her lap lightly and waited to be told what to do.

by **Briony Romain** Thu Apr 19, 2012 1:50 am

Briony was a little surprised when Tess was so composed, she would have thought that she would have been more excitable, but then she had been spending more and more time with her almost neice Charlotte, and she seemed to have enough excitement for the whole year sometimes.

Seeing as Tess seemed to be waiting for some instructions as to what she was supposed to be doing, Briony thought that she might as well get on with what she was going to need to know to get onto the proper stuff, the next time around when they met.

"Before we start I thought it might be good for you to tell me if there's any area in duelling you're more interested in, magical or physical for example?" she asked, getting out a parchement and quill for her to note down what Tess said "So, basically, if theres anything you've ever wanted to learn, best say so now."

by **Tess McCartney** Thu Apr 19, 2012 7:15 pm

She was wiggling her toes back and forth in her flats trying to hold in her nervousness but excitement. She didn't want to seem like a child to the Headmistress and while she knew she was being foolish, it didn't stop her from just wanting to impress her mentor.

"If I may be honest Headmistress I'd like to learn both. I want to be able to do both...I feel that magical is important and I am leaning towards it, but physical, is an important aspect of dueling. I want to hold up my own out there...not be defenseless" she looked down at her hands as she said this.

by **Briony Romain** Fri Apr 20, 2012 1:55 am

Briony nodded her head and smiled internally, there was something about her that made her feel as if she was being genuine, and that she was truly wanting to look into both ideas of duelling, many people found out that they had a favourite, but she was glad that at the moment she had a clean slate to work with.

"I see, that's very wise, and I think that it would be best to do a really wide bearth for the first few sessions, and then when you have your favourite we will work on that." she smiled lightly.

Jotting this down on the parchment, Briony hummed, and then thought of something else they should talk about before hand; "Well then, we should evalutate what physical duelling you are going to be good at, weapons and all of that. Have you done any before? Martial arts? Anything like that?"

by **Tess McCartney** Fri Apr 20, 2012 7:54 am

Tess smiled softly and nodded happily at the thought she was able to be taught both. She wanted to be very knowledgeable in a subject that people do their apprenticeship. She shrugged a bit, embarrassed at her own idea as to what 'physical form of fighting' it was weak willed and at the moment she blamed her mother.

"I...I do not use swords, never held one even" she said softly. "I only know movement and such through dance, gymnastics and meditation. But for weapons, I know some archery."

She felt incompetent and wondered if the Headmistress' other apprentices were even more qualified than she was. She bit her lower lip, fighting a frown, this was much harder than she expected.

by **Briony Romain** Sat Apr 21, 2012 6:53 am

Briony smiled lightly, there were things that could be worked with in Tess's knowledge, there were elements that made up a good fighter there already, but it also meant that Briony did not have to deal with other peoples training and attempt to re-train Tess the way that she would do it.

Which made her job a heck of a lot easier.

"I see, no sword training, but that is not the be all and end all, it is relatively easy to pick up too." she noted down "Some knowledge of basic movements, which are co-incidently used to make up some gentle martial arts? Such as Tai-Chi, so you're not that far off them either, and archery, a skill that not many people possess, as it takes patience and more than blunt force."

Hoping to make Tess feel better about her skills Briony continued; "I am going to ask you several questions, these questions will determine what personal weapon I will give you, and you will train with this weapon until your sick of the sight of it, okay?"

by **Tess McCartney** Sat Apr 21, 2012 9:02 am

Tess was knowledgeable of Headmistress Romain's bluntness and was expecting a blow, but when she didn't receive it, she was surprised and relieved. Seeing her smile, a small one graced on her face and waited for what she was going to say.

She felt a swell of pride as she was told that archery was something rare, and she mentally thanked her mother for teaching her this. Archery took a sharp eye, she knew this and posture something that was taught to her, but Tai-Chi seemed so foreign to her. Perhaps would take too much patience and she only had a limited amount.

"That'd be fine Headmistress" she replied.

She wondered exactly what she would be asked, but she figured honesty was the best policy.

by **Briony Romain** Sun Apr 22, 2012 4:57 am

Briony smiled swiftly and then let the expression drop from her face, she didn't want to ruin her reputation as the person she was juts because of a few baby hormones that had suddenly come on the scene, she rummaged through some notes that she had made, and then she nodded her head, making a small noise in the back of her throat.

"Well, the first is more of a test, we are going to get you to hold various weapons and perforn a few moves from them, after this, I will know what sort of weight you are able to comfortably manover at."

Gesturing to the wall of her office, Briony tapped a small rune on the wall, and out came several cases of weapons, hidden within the stone, taking a small daggar out, a short sword, a rapier, a heavier much longer sword, and a broadstaff, she gestured to them.

"Take you pick where you want to start, it's probably best to work upwards in weight."

by **Tess McCartney** Sun Apr 22, 2012 11:31 am

Tess tilted her head in confusion as she saw the Headmistress change expressions. As sad as it was, she realized that this was the Headmistress most people knew. Smiles were a bit foreign, but Tess preferred it, it put her at ease. She didn't take it as an insult, but rather took it in stride.

The noise that emitted from the Headmistress looked at her bewildered.

"Okay" she said softly.

Seeing the weapons she studied all of them carefully wondering where to start, but taking in the Headmistress' suggestion she picked up the dagger. She caressed the sharp end and raised her brow at it's sharpness.

"Do I throw it, or.." she trailed off.

by **Briony Romain** Sun Apr 22, 2012 11:42 pm

Briony saw that Tess was following her advice and she nodded her head when she asked her if she was supposed to throw it or something, this was all part of Briony's training, but her first reaction to the weapon she could tell what he preffered style of fighting was, and that was to use long range attacks, such as throwing.

"Of course, you can either throw it, practice some thrusts with it, a daggar is a good weapon but it only goes so far, it's most likely going to be a back up when other weapons are taken away from you, when you are disarmed." she nodded a little bit and tapped her wand.

Out from the floor rose a dummy, and Briony gestured at it;

"You may use the dummy to test out thrusts and throwing practice with the daggar."

by **Tess McCartney** Mon Apr 23, 2012 2:17 pm

Looking at the dagger, she noticed how it was crooked, the metal was obvious to prevent the dagger from being pulled out to easily, to cause damage even. She wasn't going to simply go and stab it, she looked at it and she imagined it being soft of like an arrow. She aimed at the dummy surmising that it'd be simply to throw it from afar, then come closer to stab the dummy.

She squinted and bit her bottom lip. Her vision, she realized, had improved because of her lessons of transformation with Professor Romain. It was easier to pinpoint it, and with a curve of her arm, and a right flick of her wrist the dagger went flying towards the target.

The dagger immediately hit the target and dug in deep. She rushed towards the dummy and pulled it out with some difficulty. Once she pulled it out, she struggled, but managed to stab it, it made her feel more awkward than throwing it and faced the Headmistress with uncertainty.

"Could it be possible for me to use the dagger exclusively as a throwing object?"

She felt her stomach clench at the thought of having to stab someone to death. She ignored the tremor and awaited further instruction.

by **Briony Romain** Tue Apr 24, 2012 12:04 am

Briony watched what was happening between Tess, and the weapon, and she thought that it was quite interesting, if not what she would have thought would happen form what she had initially said to her, the fact that Tess was more likely to go for a long range weapon was one that would test Briony as well, although she was able to use these weapons, her real ability lay in close combat.

Seeing her attempt the assault on the dummy, she hummed lightly, the shot made with the dagger was good, she just needed to get faster and hitting some of the vitals when she threw, after all, that was what you needed to focus on in duelling, where to hit on a person to make them crumble so you could either walk away unharmed, or win the fight.

The stabbing was not so good, but Briony could help her there when their training developed more over the years;

"Of course, this is merely an exercise so I can see what you are more comfortable with, so if you feel you can only use the dagger when throwing, then do so. Perhaps we should move onto the next weapon that takes your fancy?" she suggested.

by **Tess McCartney** Tue Apr 24, 2012 12:55 pm

Tess nodded and looked at the dummy. She didn't want to think about how this could possibly be a person that she will one day be forced to stab. But she knew she needed to get out of that emotional state of hers, she needed to be cold, colder than before and become a soldier for war.

"I'll try to improve on the aiming" she said. "And short range"

Her eyes trailed back towards the weapons and skipped over the short sword, she figured it would be the same as the dagger and picked up the rapier. It was an older weapon, used in history long ago, but elegant. She picked it up the rapier and waved it out, trying to get the hang of it. It was light and fluid, she realized she liked this.

Walking towards the dummy, she moved flicked her wrists side to side trying to get it's movements. She had seen fencers before, and she moved her body forward and made a slashing movement over the dummy's abdomen. She was surprised at how sharp it was and felt that she liked the rapier very much.

by **Briony Romain** Tue Apr 24, 2012 6:55 pm

Briony smiled a little bit, after all this was going to be something entirely new to Tess, she might have thought about this in the past, but actually getting out there, duelling and killing, it was very different, and if what Briony taught her was only used in self defence, she would understand that, at least she would know it, and she would have passed on her skills to another.

"We will work on that together, in the next session, don't worry as part of this apprenticeship I will be here every step of the way to help and guide you, everything we do we'll do together." Briony nodded, speaking in a firm yet gentle voice, very odd for her.

Seeing how Tess skipped to the rapier, Briony wondered if she would favour it, it was one of the weapons that she too liked to use, but rarely got the chance to, after all, who could use a weapon like this in an enclosed alley way? However, there were ways to get around this, if Tess had her heart set on it becoming one of her weapons of choice.

Watching her move with the Rapier, Briony smirked lightly;

"You're very good with that, for a beginner, is it easier to weild than the dagger?" she asked, leaning against the wall and crossing her arms.

by **Tess McCartney** Tue Apr 24, 2012 7:03 pm

Tess nodded with a wider smile. The rapier was much more her style, being light she never really had to force it to move, but with her body language it seemed to follow her. She moved towards the dummy once more, slashing it, it was deep, very deep, but it didn't take too much strength and she appreciated that.

"It's much more comfortable. It's as if I've used one before" she commented.

She obviously hadn't but it felt natural. She wasn't forcing something, and she liked that bit a lot. She realized that with the dagger it took a sharp eye, which she had learned through archery but it also forced the person to get close to use it. Too close. But with the rapier it kept a distance and the movements were more in her control without enforcing her strength.

"It's movements are easier to manage as well" she replied happy that the Headmistress thought she was good at this. "It's my top choice at the moment"

by **Briony Romain** Tue Apr 24, 2012 11:51 pm

Glad to see that her student was happy and taking to at least one of the weapons that she had to offer, Briony smiled gently and she sat down on one of the chairs in the office, she would hopefully do some work with the rapier when they next met then seeing that she seemed to respond the best to this one.

"It's a lot easier to make movements with, because the blade is so thin and narrow, it will be a lot easier to learn and fight with, you wont get as much shock waves as you would do with a sword...here."

Briony picked up another rapier that was in the cupboard and held it in her right hand, tossing it to and fro for a little bit, before gently holding it up in a duelling stance, pointed at Tess;

"Im going to strike your blade with mine, and feel the tremors that run up your wrist when I do so."

With a hard strick Briony hit the rapier, but not hard enough for it to fall out of Tess's hands, she wanted to be able to show her what she had set out to after all; when she struck, she felt the shockwave a little herself as the weapons vibrated lightly.

"Think of how much harder that would be with a larger sword."

by **Tess McCartney** Wed Apr 25, 2012 8:23 am

Tess smiled softly, and waited for the tremor to occur. As she felt the other rapier hit the one she currently held and she felt the tremors sent down her hands knew that and towards her arms. She needed a firm grip she realized and she needed a firm hand.

She looked at the Headmistress and nodded. Rapiers were long and thing for quick light movements but it's sharpness was the danger there. With a sword there was force behind the movements and the sharpness even more dangerous, enough to kill someone with one swoop.

"I can only imagine" she said trailing her eyes towards the sword itself.

by **Briony Romain** Wed Apr 25, 2012 6:23 pm

Briony smiled and placed her rapier back on it's mount, then she turned to Tess and wondered what weapon she would pick next, after all, it was all an insight into her mind, it was very useful to see the way that her mind worked, or did not work, when presented with a weapon, because Briony did not want to make her student learn something that they did not like, and were not going to use.

Watching Tess for a moment, Briony ran a hand through her hair and went back to sitting down at her desk, she thought for a moment about a technique that she herself had heard of and hoped to master, the ability to combine weapons with magic.

"So, at the moment the rapier is the favourite." she smirked "Anything else on the rack that takes your fancy? I think we will move onto the more, long range weaponry when you're done with these." she added.

by **Tess McCartney** Thu Apr 26, 2012 4:41 am

Tess nodded and looked at the rest of the weapons. The sword; she knew she had to try it. It only made sense after all if was the classical weapon to use she supposed out of the choices.

"The sword" she murmured towards the Headmistress and she picked it up.

It was heavier than expected and her footing needed to be firm she realized. She looked at it curiously, it might seem foolish of her doing this, but she had a reason. In reality she wanted to check it's differences, for one thing it took her whole top body to move it rather than her wrist like the rapier.

Once she got used to the added weight, she rushed towards the dummy and moved her whole upper body to slash the dummy. It was sharp; she realized this because the dummy was cut, but certain parts of it's leather exterior were keeping it together..barely.

"Wow" she whispered.

by **Briony Romain** Thu Apr 26, 2012 7:23 pm

Briony noted that Tess was now going to be trying out the sword and she smirked a little bit, it would be interesting to see how she would handle the different weights of the sword to the rapier, and if she would be able to accommodate herself to the new weapon.

"One of the marks of a master duellist, is not only magic, but the ability to adapt to any situation that you find yourself in, so, if you need to use a certain spell you must do so without thinking, this is the same for physical duelling also, you must be able to use any weapon you can."

Seein that she was able to adapt herself reasonably to the new weight and the swing of the sword, Briony watched her run for the dummy and slash, the girl had power that much could be said for her, but besides that, it was obvious that she was not aware of it herself.

"Sharpness is only one thing, the strength of the wielder also counts when it comes to swordmanship, you're stronger than you look." she smirked."

by **Tess McCartney** Thu Apr 26, 2012 7:54 pm

Tess looked at the sword and then herself wondering if the Headmistress saw something she didn't. She fails to see herself as someone other than the weak willed and shy Slytherin.

She's not one to dish out compliments unless deserved at part of her thought.

Perhaps she did deserve to be her apprentice and she found a part of her preening at the compliments. Still she didn't want to be arrogant and she felt herself smile bashfully at the compliment.

"Thank you" she said "I'll try to keep that in mind"

Perhaps she needed to move up to the sword...with proper tutelage that is.

by **Briony Romain** Fri Apr 27, 2012 6:21 pm

Briony nodded her head, a small smirk still in place on her lips, she had thought that it was going to be interesting working with Tess and she was right, she could very much see a master of duelling in her with the right training and she came to stand next to the wall of weapons.

Wondering through them she thought about what she might pick next, and perhaps she thought it would be time to get her fighting with one of the weapons that she had picked.

"Would you feel up to picking a weapon, and having a spar? Not with me I look a bit like a doughnut with this stomach, but one of the dummies, I shall enchant it to move for you?" she asked thinking it might be a bit more interesting, then just picking up weapons.