[Automated Exam] Johan Klarstein

[Zee Oddwyn]

[[Journal]]

Y1 to Y2 exam

 

[Zee Oddwyn]

"This had better not be another field trip notice." Johan grumbled as he ripped the letter off of his door. He retreated into his room, opening the letter and reading as he went. He footsteps slowed, and he frowned at the note, lips moving as he attempted to puzzle out how to pronounce 'NMBHRAT'.

"Come at anytime." he finished, and took a seat at his desk, an expression of bemusement crossing his face.

"That is correct, then?" he mused, looking at the room he'd called home for several years now. He'd almost forgotten that there was something beyond first year. For the longest time, his life had seemed just one long string of studying interrupted by the occasional foray into lunacy. He flexed his right hand reflexively, and turned the motion into reaching for a cup of tea. A quickly scrawled rune instantly had the liquid at the perfect drinking temperature, and Johan took a sip as he considered what to do.

Well, obviously, he would need to take the exam, no matter how NM the T was. He couldn't stay in Amityville Academy forever. Perhaps the higher years had access to better research materials, but Johan had long ago come to the conclusion that the cure to his family's curse wasn't contained in any of the tomes here. His time hadn't been completely wasted. He'd learned quite a lot about spells, curses, and hexes in general. And while he'd never admit it, he'd also learned a great deal from the field trips. And what he had learned suggested that he would need to look at his family's problem from a new perspective. Perhaps becoming a Knob would help provide it.

"No time like the present." he muttered, putting the cup down. He'd head there now.  

[Zee Oddwyn]

[ 3/10 steps taken through the Cutthroat Kitchen ]

This was not what he'd expected when he thought of an exam. A decrepit little house on the edge of the school grounds. There wasn't even an examiner inside! Just the smell of mold and disuse. But he couldn't go back (he'd already tried the door), so the only way out was through the house. Well, if this really was his exam, he was probably being observed through some means, which meant he would do his best not to fail.

The first room appeared to be some sort of kitchen. Strange, that, having it right after the front door. No hallway, or parl- jack dammit, what had he just stepped in?!  

[Zee Oddwyn]

[ 5/10 steps taken through the Cutthroat Kitchen ]

In his efforts to remove the sticky substance clinging to his foot, Johan tripped over something else, and fell with a splat into a vat of something warm and viscous. Enough of it entered his mouth that he was able to identify it as chocolate.

This did not make the situation any better.  

[Zee Oddwyn]

[ 7/10 steps taken through the Cutthroat Kitchen ]

Robes now heavy with rapidly hardening chocolate, Johan managed to extract himself from the vat, but only made it two more steps towards the other side of the kitchen before the glue on his foot caught on something else. He tripped again, into another vat of melted chocolate.

"Whyyyyyyyyyyyyy?" Johan hissed as he scraped chocolate away from his eyes and nose.  

[Zee Oddwyn]

[ 8/10 steps taken through the Cutthroat Kitchen ]

Now thoroughly coated and delicious, Johan lurched across the tiles, grabbed onto the knob of a door and yanked it open. Something smacked him in the head, dousing him in icy liquid. The chocolate on his shoulders hardened almost instantly, and Johan had to struggle to break it, feeling rather like someone was trying to turn him into a bowl of eye scream.

He was not amused.  

[Zee Oddwyn]

[ 11/10 steps taken through the Cutthroat Kitchen ]

Johan stumped through the rest of the kitchen, alternately cursing at the Academy for their strange concept of what an exam should be, and at himself for expecting anything different. One door finally revealed the path to the next portion of the house, and feeling his hopes rise, Johan took a step through the door... and into something sticky.

It took a moment for him to wrestle the urge to throw a tantrum into something more productive. He quietly scrawled a rune on his robes that dried most of the chocolate into dust, which fell away in aromatic poofs. Whatever was on his feet seemed to be magic-resistant, so he would just have to... make do.  

[Zee Oddwyn]

Oh! Well, this was a little better at least. A library. Though, one without any obvious exits...

Johan took a moment just to peruse the shelves and see if there was anything worth reading. Unfortunately, the books of magic section was severely lacking. Disappointed, Johan began looking for a way out. Since there wasn't an obvious exit, perhaps there was a secret door. And generally if you were going to hide the switch to a secret door, you'd put it in plain sight, so...

The books. One or more of the books would probably open the way. Johan began examining the shelves themselves, looking for signs of increased wear on any one particular section.

Ah, here was some! Johan pulled out one of the books in that area, stared at it for a second, and then jammed it back into place, turned about face and walked as far away from the shelf as he could.  

[Zee Oddwyn]

Was this actually someone's house?! It looked abandoned, but someone had pulled those books out often enough to leave marks on the shelf...

Johan was careful to examine the spines of the books on the next shelf that showed unusual wear. These seemed innocent enough... He pulled out one, and was rewarded when it refused to leave the shelf completely. Nothing happened immediately, though, so Johan examined the surrounding shelves, and found a similar spot. After a quick check, he pulled out another book, and section of the bookshelves swung outward. The way out!

Johan slipped through, well pleased with himself as the shelves swung back into place behind him. Hopefully, he wasn't too far from being finished with this exam.  

[Zee Oddwyn]

Johan again marveled at the strangeness of how this house was laid out. Front door leads to a kitchen, which leads to a library, which holds a secret entrance to the bedroom. Actually, Johan considered, having a hidden bedroom connected to a library wasn't that bad an idea. Had it been him, though, he would have just hid the door with an illusion.

There was another door here, locked. Johan examined the room, trying to find another secret switch, but had no luck. Well then, what exactly was he supposed to do here? Johan returned to the door, and stared at the lock speculatively. Perhaps if he...?

Johan returned to the desk in the room, which held several hair pins. He'd never picked a lock before, but these seemed small enough to fit inside the keyhole. If he used some magic to assist his lack of skill, he might be able to open the lock. He gave it some thought, and then carefully drew the runes for 'Opening' and 'Seeking' over a few of the hairpins.

With the now glowing pins, Johan returned to the lock, and inserted the end of the hair pin into the key hole. With the magic, the end of the hair pin was weakly attracted to the ends of the tumblers, but not in order, and they couldn't force the tumblers upwards themselves. So, Johan spent several minutes on his knees, carefully applying pressure in the spots the hairpins showed him, and finally, finally, he heard a soft click. He tested the knob, and the door swung open, back out into the brisk, fresh October air. He'd done it!

Standing up, and adjusting his sorely abused robes back into order, Johan exited the house with as much dignity as he could muster, considering he was still chocolate-colored from head to foot. He looked about, having expected that someone would be there to acknowledge his passing of failing. Where was the examiner? A snicker from above pulled his attention to a rather smug individual sitting in a tree.

Johan immediately didn't like him. That look. The examiner knew exactly what he'd just put Johan through. Johan glared up at him, and was rewarded with a roll of parchment bounced off his face.

"Congratulations," he said brightly, and flashed Johan a wink. "You're now a Knob."