Magical Landscape Painting ((Everyone))

[Damali Rivera]

Damali had been painting ever since she could remember, and her dreams of one day being able to mix the wonders of magic and the beauty of landscape painting came true when she was offered to teach her class at Llanrhystud. She had for so long mixed the two, and had usually come up with some interesting outcomes and techniques for making the paintings either more magical or placing the colors by magic so that they blended to make the shades and colors that you could see in real life, but never on canvas. It was something that had always calmed her.

Hogwarts was visiting the Centre for the summer and this excited Damali. She had attended Hogwarts not too long ago herself and had completed many of the paintings that now hung in her class room there. She had one of the Castle with the owls flying all around it as the sun slowly sat behind it. Her favorite had been done during a thunderstorm late one evening. It showed a not so tiny hut near the Forbidden Forest (she was sure most of the students would recognize the hut and know the owner without it being said) being lit up by beautiful bright blue streaks of lightening. The owners dog could be seen in one of the windows appearing to be somewhat scared of the storm. There were many more, some that had gotten her in trouble as they proved that she had snuck into the Forbidden Forest to paint the strange creatures that lived there. Landscapes had always been Damali's favorite models. Never having to worry about them moving while you were trying to perfect them.

She prepared easels with canvases and paints. Making sure each student also had brushes because there would be a little muggle style painting involved in the classes. She had just gotten everything sat up when students began to come in. "Come in everyone. Feel free to look around at the paintings on the walls, and ask questions about any of them. I'm sure most of what hangs here for this class will be familiar as I redecorated for the occasion." She said ushering everyone in. She knew that they wouldn't be inside very long. She just wanted to go over some fundamentals with them before finding a landscape they could all agree on.

[Aurora Chan]

Aurora slipped her shoes on and tilted her fingers against her forehead with a smile at Kael, sitting on the bed looking at her. "Well, I'm off to the Landscape thingymajig..." Kael, being Kael, rectified her with its proper name. "Yes, yes, that one, whatever, Mr I'm-so-clever Kael. I'm off. See you later." Grinning, Aurora left the cabin, feeling pretty excited about her next class: Magical Landscape Painting, as Kael had correctly informed her before. However, despite her head being filled with thoughts of art, she was also a little worried about Harmony. After all, Ari had entrusted her with her sister's safety, and the kid had run off again to goodness knows where. "Probably with Rex," Aurora thought with some concern. Since Harmony wasn't attending this class and she wasn't in the cabin with Kael, Aurora was basically sure she was with her new best friend somewhere... Hopefully not causing mischief. but that was the good thing about Harmony and Harmony with Rex. Harmony would never inflict pranks on other people, because she had been taught it was an inconvenience. She was too kind and thoughtful to do such things. And it seemed Rex hadn't persuaded her to do so either; they just wanted to be together, evidently. Aurora sighed. What to do about their friendship when Ari found out that their relationship was developing even further than she'd ever expected? Casting the trouble from her mind temporarily, Aurora saw the correct building and entered with some other students.

The classroom was filled with landscape paintings, as expected, and Aurora stared at them in wonderment, admiring the flair and colour used throughout every piece. One of her best styles of art was shading and colours, and she could tell she had chosen a good option in this class. It suited her well. To pick four out of four possible classes would have been overdoing it a little, especially since Harmony and Kael weren't doing any more than two a piece themselves. Aurora wanted to spend some time with her friends too. She was a bit mournful she hadn't picked Ceramics, as Kael said he might take that one, but Aurora couldn't follow the boy around forever like a stalker, especially not after once accusing him of being one. Kael was probably already a little sick of her presence anyway, seeing as he had to share a cabin with her and Little Miss Complicated Harmony Chan. Aurora's worst type of art skill was 3-D art, hence why she hadn't picked ceramics. She wasn't terribly clumsy with her fingers in comparison to her body, but she enjoyed a pencil under her hand, or a paintbrush. It was what she was used to and loved.

Aurora noticed the easels and materials and began to grow more and more excited. She loved art materials at her leisure and disposal. About to head for one of the seats, she was stopped by a voice welcoming the students. Aurora looked up to see a women she assumed was Miss Damali Rivera, the instructor for the Magical Landscape Painting class. She motioned for the pupils to take a closer look at the paintings, so Aurora did so with interest, peering closer at some and admiring the texture and quality of the art, the beauty of them. However, even though she admired the paintings, what Aurora wanted to do most was sit down and paint. That was all that mattered, and that was why she had signed up for the class.

[Leah Matthews R7]

"Which class are you going to again?"

Leah looked up at the question, glancing to her cousin who was sitting nonchalently on the bed, flicking through a girly magazine about famous couples. As expected when the two girls signed up for the Llanrhystud trip, Leah and Kiley were sharing a room, along with two other girls in their year. At the moment it was only occupied by the Matthews cousins, as the other half of the four were out and about exploring. Leah turned from the windowsill and sat down on the other bottom bunk, watching Kiley with some interest. "The Magical Landscape Painting class. It starts today," Leah informed Kiley, playing with her hair as its end ponytail curled around her neck like a playful snake. "Are you sure you're not coming?" she teased the Hufflepuff, knowing full well that Kiley would certainly not be. Her cousin wasn't interested in that sort of art. But for Leah, painting was the type she enjoyed, and it was the only class she planned to take during this idyllic holiday with her classmates. "What are you reading anyway?" Leah asked as she stood up and went to grab her jacket, knowing it was almost time to depart for her class (Leah was never late, only early). No doubt Kiley's answer would be Hello! or OK! or something like that. Leah had, over the years, memorised the names of Kiley's favourite magazines; it was hard not to when you saw her reading them at least once a week. Leah could never understand her friend's obsession with them. Its contents were boring and pointless; she didn't care who so and so was dating, and who had dumped so and so. That didn't mean anything to Leah at all. But she had accepted many years ago that this was a part of Kiley's personality she could not change, and Leah loved her all the same.

As expected, Kiley answered with the familiar reply of "Oh, just OK! magazine. They've got a big photo spread of David Beckham and Posh Spice with their kids." Leah nodded her assent patiently, barely processing the meaning behind Kiley's words as the Hufflepuff rattled on about the relationships between superstars. Sending her customary genial smile, Leah made a polite goodbye to her cousin, laughing fondly to herself because Kiley would always be Kiley - obsessed with love and relationships and romance - and left the cabin, shrugging her leather jacket around her tighter and zipping it to her collar. She was wearing muggle clothing - a pair of jeans and a baggy sweater - which made it easier to maneouvre around the woodland campus. Leah walked briskly across the Welsh forest, glancing at the sky now and then to note the fair weather. Meanwhile, she also admired her surroundings; Leah enjoyed nature, things like flowers and trees. It was another reason why she had signed up for the Magical Landscape Painting class. Leah wasn't used to spending such a long time without a textbook and a lesson on academic subjects, but she was finding it easier to adapt to than she had expected. Kiley had teased her about getting withdrawal symptoms, which Leah had laughingly dismissed, but she had some inward concerns about it anyway. However, upon arriving at Llanrhystud, Leah had found it relaxing rather than stressful, and her environment helped. She didn't have to worry about homework and essays and making sure her memory was fully functional. She just had to be enthusiastic, enjoy what she was doing, and take new skills away with her. Leah couldn't wait to start.

As per usual, Leah was about ten minutes early, and she wandered around the classroom admiring the large paintings hanging along the walls. Some were extremely beautiful, and Leah gazed upon them in appreciation and awe. She could never paint like this. Art was something Leah could accept she could never perfect. Being a perfectionist, it was painful to acknowledge flaws, but Leah had learnt over the years that she had to recognise her own weaknesses and not fall victim to them. She wasn't bothered about being good at sport any more; Leah had never excelled at physical activities. She wasn't normally clumsy, but give her a ball and a bat and she has simply no hand-to-eye coordination. Art was different though. Leah was terrible at sports, but she wasn't terrible at art. She just wasn't brilliant. It had frustrated Leah, but then she had realised that art is based on an opinion. Every individual sees a painting from their own perspective, and they may either like it or hate it. You cannot get everyone to admire one of your masterpieces. When Leah fell upon this fact, she found some liberation; now she didn't have to expect so much of herself when she put pencil to canvas. After all, why strive for perfection when it didn't exist in the world of art? Leah's thoughts were drawn from the paintings and her own perceptions on artistic style, however, when the instructor called for the other students, who had arrived whilst Leah had been admiring the art, to gather around. Damali Rivera was the teacher, and Leah listened to her keenly. Her curious brain rolled into action and she felt her inquisitiveness appease a little as the instructor went on. Hopefully the lesson would begin soon.