House, Magic, Classes, Item

[ronstadt]

Curriculum Major: Fantastics
Sight Factors: The playing or creation of music (can range from snapping fingers to full concerts)
Sound Factors: Music.
Semantic Factors: Music.
The Curriculum of deception, misdirection, and illusion, Fantastics is as much art as it is science. One of the most flexible Curricula and with even its weakest spells being remarkably versatile and useful, Fantastics is admired and revered for its spectacle, yet loathed and bemoaned for its potential for misuse. Indeed, Fantastics was deliberately codified around music, in order to make its usage more recognizable, and merchants and guards all know to be wary of a seemingly-innocent person snapping their fingers or whistling a tune. Fantastics is also notable for being the only Curriculum which readily allows even nonwizards to participate essentially as equals; a Fantastics-wielding conductor can forge the music of an entire orchestra to their use.

Curriculum Minor: Thaumaturgy
Sight Factors: Midair gestures, performed either with a hand or a small magical focus (wand, feather, occasionally a fork if caught off guard at the lunch table)
Sound Factors: The name of the spell in question.
Semantic Factors: Fundamental Principles of Wizarding (latest edition).
Magic for magic’s sake, argued either to be the purest Curriculum or the most elementary, Thaumaturgy covers those effects which are, simply put, ‘magic’. Sensing the use of magic, for example, falls under Thaumaturgy. Discovery can get you a blast of flame or frost or wind to launch at an opponent, but only Thamaturgy can shoot magic at your foe. Modification can transform the air around you into a shield, but Thaumaturgy can create a ward of magic that blocks everything you wish it to block. And so on, and so forth; if an effect does not fall under another Curricula, it can be found here. Because of its foundational use in magic, the Magicadamies actively direct and monitor the codification of Thaumaturgy, releasing a new volume of the Fundamental Principles of Wizarding semiannually.

Metacurriculum: Glyphics
Sight Factors: As spell, plus glyphs drawn in prepared enchanted ink
Sound Factors: As spell, plus the addition of a metronymic sound.
Semantic Factors: The inscription of glyphs in perfect time.
Glyphics is the art of creating a ‘freestanding’ spell, one that awaits the proper time and place to go off, independent of its maker. Most commonly, glyphics are used to create wards or traps on the wizards’ home or belongings, though warfare can see offensive use of these as occult land mines or ballista bolts with detonating sigils upon them. Glyphics can even accomplish much of what Forging can in practical terms; a Glyphed sword can burst into flames just as a Forged one can. (The tradeoff, for the curious, is that a Glyph is less powerful than a comparable Forged item, and the Glyph will fade while the Forging never will.) As such, Glyphics is immensely popular among wizards.

House Valhudor
Housemaster: Professor Sicenzi Trent
Colors: Red fore, orange back.
Room: 911
Valhudor is a larger than life House, as befits the masters of Fantastics, and because its members all need to know at least some music for their school, a fairly loud and chaotic one as well. Most Valhudor students seek to command attention, eager to put themselves first and foremost for everything in classes or hobbies or everyday life; in a House of performers, audience is a measure of success. These competitions are always friendly as a rule (save those involving Eiather students), since Fantastics is also a cooperative school.
Some few Valhudor students, however, take the opposite approach -- going quiet, blending in, and being forgotten. Oftentimes even other Valhudor students half-forget their quieter fellows exists, and the loud environment of the House at large is excellent training for one who takes the subtle approach to Fantastics.
Rival House: Eiather. Quite unsurprisingly, Valhudor takes incredible affront at those who focus on boring old truth and facts over a good show, feeling that the users of Intimations often go out of their way to spoil stories and ruin performances just for the sake of being ‘right’.

Magical Item: Professor Esquid's Golem Arms
Eager to have a helping hand in the magic labs, Prof. E. developed a set of golem arms -- in reality, actual golems shaped like arms, each connected to a central hub that straps snugly onto the back. The arms are glass, stone, ice, and metal, and each is very versatile, capable of manipulating things and occasionally deploying a large sawblade or welding torch or the like. The only downside is that these are not nifty mind-controlled arms, they are golems, meaning you must instruct them on what to do, they are free-willed to an extent, and they are not very bright in the slightest.