Welcome to Crotalus on Crotalus Commons

Professor Powell

September 10, 2007 7:44 AM

Welcome to Crotalus by Professor Powell

Having collected the new first year Crotalus students in the Cascade Hall, Sadi led them through the school, pausing every so often to let the stragglers catch up. She eventually came to a halt part way along a corridor, pausing right outside the portrait of Gunter the Zombie.

“I am about to reveal to you the location of your House commons,” she told the assembled students. “You are not to divulge this information to any student from another house, nor are you permitted to enter other house commons, so do not bother to ask.” Sadi turned her attention to the portrait behind her; the inhabitant was dribbling and making an assortment of odd sounds in a rather grotesque manner. “This is the portrait of Gunter the Zombie,” she informed the first years. “You must submit the password, and you will be granted entry to the commons. The current password is anhelo prosperitas.”

At her words, the portrait swung open, as if on hinges, to reveal the entrance to the commons. “Follow me, please,” Sadi said, before stepping through.

Once inside the common room, which was decorated in the house shades of red and silver, Sadi waited for the rest of the students to join her before addressing the group once more. “This is your house common room, the place you will spend a vast proportion of your time here at Sonora. There you will see a stairway” (she indicated it) “to the dormitories. Girls take the hallway to the right, boys to the left. Girls are not allowed into boys’ dormitories and vice versa. There are charms in place to prevent any student from breaking this rule, so you would be unwise to try.” Sadi was not a strict professor by nature, but if she was going to be stern about anything, it was likely to be keeping to the rules.

“You are to be in your dormitories by ten o’clock each night, no exceptions. You are expected to wear your uniform to all lessons, unless your subject tutor has given you explicit permission not to.” Her voice relaxed a little as she continued, now that the rules had been established.

“Should you need me, my office is through this door,” (she indicated it). “Your house prefects are Miss Chrissy Mathers and Miss Jordanna Howard; they should be available to assist you with any problems you may have throughout the course of the year. The House Quidditch captain is Miss Jennifer Zucchero, but please remember that first year students are not permitted to sign up for Quidditch.” Sadi thought she had covered everything, and so paused her speech. “Does anyone have any questions?”

0 Professor Powell Welcome to Crotalus 0 Professor Powell 1 5

Laurie Cider

September 11, 2007 3:51 PM

Homesick much? by Laurie Cider

Laurie did her best to file away the route Professor Powell led them through, but after the third left, left, right, she gave up memorizing, and figured she'd rely on following the crowd for the first week or so of classes. Hopefully, that would suffice. She took small, curious glances at the other first years in her group as they followed hurriedly along. It appeared as if there were far more girls than boys, and secretly, she was glad of it.

Growing up with two older brothers had taught Laurie early on that boys were some of the most annoying, difficult, and dense creatures ever created. She felt that the female race had a much better control of their faculties, and she certainly hoped that the girls who walked with her now would continue to prove this fact. She came to an abrupt halt as Professor Powell pulled up in front of a grotesquely centered painting.

She murmured a small apology to the girl's shoulder she ran into and listened as her Head of House introduced them to Gunter the Zombie and necessary password to enter the dorm. She dipper her head to peer beyond her professor's robed body and saw the beginnings of a room her mother would describe as 'classically decorated.' Laurie stumbled on through to the common room, and bit her cheek in shocked check. The unworldliness of it all hit like a punch in the stomach.

She was 2500 miles away from home, in an exciting but strange and unknown place, and surrounded by a bunch of people she didn't know in the least, who might not like her at all. She felt quite suddenly very lonely, and wished desperately that she might see her mom right then and there.

Her big brother Bryce was always teasing her and calling her a crybaby, but the truth was that Laurie was always quick to tear, and quicker to polish it over with a smile. But at that moment, all it would take is just a touch of kindness from anyone, and she would break down and start crying.

What a great impression that would make: Laurie Cider, Crybaby of Crotalus.

She rubbed at her eyes with the back of her hands, hoping that no one would notice how very bright her brown eyes had turned, and counted the seconds until she'd be dismissed to run up to her new room, claim a bed, and then hide under a pillow for a good hour or two.

Too bad someone had to decide to talk to her then. . .\r\n\r\n

0 Laurie Cider Homesick much? 0 Laurie Cider 0 5

Renaye and Josh Warren (WotWx2)

September 12, 2007 7:11 PM

I hear ice cream works for that. by Renaye and Josh Warren (WotWx2)

Renaye

Renaye stood with the rest of the group, trying to make her own mental notes of what turn was where and what one was after that and... Urgh... To many turns. They finally arrived at the Common room to be faced with a portrait of Gunter the Zombie. He looked... nice... (please note sarcasm). They stopped in front of dear Gunter and Renaye felt the girl behind her bump into her. She mumbled an apology and Raye returned it.

Renaye looked around at everyone. They were all pretty short. Or Renaye was kind of tall. Not really tall, just about two inches above average. Same as Josh. Some people may have been taller, but Raye was up there with Josh and the other people. The only person who really made her feel short was Professor Powell. Renaye's blonde head was still quite closer to the ground than hers.

Raye seriously hoped everyone liked Quidditch in her dorm. She had brought posters and blankets with her team, the Montrose Magpies, evinced on them. She was sure Josh had brought his U.S. team stuff, his Magpies stuff, his Falcons stuff... A lot of people were probably nervous. Pshh, she was excited! It's a magic school! What's not to love?

Josh

Josh was feeling a little nervous. As he ran a hand through his balck hair, he thought, What if all my roommates hate me? He didn't want to be the guy with a million girl-friends because all the guys thought he was weirdly quiet. He looked around to see the girl next to him looked as nervous as he did. Well, maybe she wasn't nervous, but she didn't look confortable, that was for sure. It was then that he evinced his Girls-get-me-to-talk-somehow-ness by saying,

"Don't worry. I'm sure it's going to be fine." In saying this he seemed to be convincing himself too. In fact, now that he thought about it, Irene would make sure they didn't fade into nothingness. She always had their back for whatever it was. She had said that her friends would love to hang out with them... He closed his bright blue eyes for the briefest of a second. It wasn't that he didn't want to be her friend, it was that he always had girl-friends. It seemed like a time for change. But change could wait, right? At least for a few minutes...

"It's just been the first few hours, right?"

0 Renaye and Josh Warren (WotWx2) I hear ice cream works for that. 0 Renaye and Josh Warren (WotWx2) 0 5

Laurie Cider

September 13, 2007 2:14 AM

I so just had an oreo sundae. WotW (aha!) by Laurie Cider

"Don't worry. I'm sure it's going to be fine."

Laurie's knee-jerk emotional reaction evinced itself palpably. Her eyes welled up and the urge to sniffle tickled at her nose frustratingly. She tried mentally reciting the alphabet backwards, a calming method she often used to go to sleep during thunderstorms. (The lightning always set off stomach-fulls of anxiousness that made her fingers twitch and eyes dart.) That helped quell the feeling for the most part. The boy's next words did the rest of the job:

"It's just been the first few hours, right?"

The non sequitur was enough to startle her out of the cloying need to sit down and bawl. "What? Oh, yeah, it's only been a couple of hours. We got here at what, two o'clock?" She took a glance at her watch and quickly realized that it showed Florida time, not Arizona time. Were they three hours behind here, or was it two? Did Sonora even operate under timezone rules? "So I think it's eight now, although it might be seven. I'm not too sure."

She wiped her palm across her thigh to rid it of any dampness, tear-caused or otherwise, and struggled up a lackluster smile. "Laurie Cider, most recently from St. Pete, Florida." She held out her hand a little awkwardly, not sure how to handle the situation. Normally, she didn't have to do an introduction type thing. All through elementary school, her teachers had always done some kind of name-game so that everyone could get to know each other. And after five years in the same school, it was hard not to see familiar faces every year. She road the bus with the same kids since first grade; played pick-up games of kickball with the same neighborhood kids every year; students outside of her class might know her from her YMCA swim team or from the softball little league she played in every spring. Besides, there had always been her brothers who went before her. Tim was only two years older, and Bryce six. Teachers and coaches had come across one of them at some point and time. This whole going up and introducing herself felt so very alien. And for the first time, she was the one trail-blazing.

"I'm really not good at this," Laurie apologized. "I feel like we should be doing some kind of two truths and a lie game right now. This is all feeling very twilight zone-ish, but in the good twilight zone sense where people don't end up with pigs as faces. Does this feel unreal at all to you?"

0 Laurie Cider I so just had an oreo sundae. WotW (aha!) 0 Laurie Cider 0 5

Josh

September 13, 2007 3:36 PM

Whoa, crazy coincidence! by Josh

"What? Oh, yeah, it's only been a couple of hours. We got here at what, two o'clock?"

Josh smiled, glad that she was feeling better. "Something like that," he said checking his own watch. "I'm on Michigan time, so I don't really know how far behind we are..."

The girl held out her hand as she introduced herself. Her name was Laurie Cider. That was cool! It was like apple cider. Back in Michigan last year, Josh took Elaina out to the back woods. There were actually some apple trees there. They came back with their arms full of apples. In the spirit of the situation, Uncle Mike ran to the store for apple cider. That stuff was so good.

I'm really not good at this," Laurie said. Josh shook his head.

"No worries. I don't think there's a way to be good at introducing yourself," he said. He paused for a moment and remembered. "Oh yeah, I'm Josh Warren, from Charlevoix, Michigan or Grand Rapids, Michigan. Depends if my parents are out of town or not."

He should just say Charlevoix. He was never at the place he was taught to call home. Mom and Dad were always flying off somewhere, be it California or New Zeland. They wouldn't come home for weeks. The current record is ten months. They left for Japan to work on the engineering of a new broom in December. Well, guess what, it's September and there is still an unsurprising lack of parents.

"I feel like we should be doing some kind of two truths and a lie game right now. This is all feeling very twilight zone-ish, but in the good twilight zone sense where people don't end up with pigs as faces. Does this feel unreal at all to you?"

Josh shrugged. "It's kind of crazy actually being here after thinking about it for forever," he said. "But my cousin goes here too: Irene. She's in Pecari. I heard about a lot from her. My twin sister," he pointed to Raye, sitting on a couch, writing a letter to Mom, "is right there, so having her around makes it easier too."

He couldn't believe he was talking this much. It was crazy. He could tell he was doing it because Laurie was a girl. Josh wasn't sure why, but girls get him to talk. They don't even have to say anything. Man... He was going to be the guy-friend again...

0 Josh Whoa, crazy coincidence! 0 Josh 0 5

Laurie Cider

September 13, 2007 11:13 PM

Except, I'm working on a milkshake right now. by Laurie Cider

Laurie's thoughts skittered over the mention of two homes. She supposed Josh might have divorced parents. Many of her friends had split weekdays with their parents, shared holidays and alternating weekends all. In her fourth grade class, at least half of her classmates had raised their hands when asked if their parents had divorced, or if they were living in a blended family. The whole 'parents out of town or not' part though, threw her one. She very much wanted to ask what he meant, but she bit her tongue instead.

There was a very thick line between curiosity and rudeness, and she really needn't trip over it.

"No worries. I don't think there's a way to be good at introducing yourself."

She felt the grin tugging up on her lips. "Thanks. Good to know that I'm not a complete failure." His next words sent her eyes darting across the room to a blond haired girl seated nearby. He had a twin! Lucky. Well, maybe not necessarily, she mentally amended. She thought of her own brothers. Bryce was always teasing her and making fun of the fact she was shorter than him. Tim showed his brotherly affection by calling her kind names like 'larva' and 'leper.' She knew they both loved her, just as she loved them, and while she really kind of wished that one of them was here with her, Laurie wasn't completely self-deceiving. She knew after just a few hours, her brothers would start getting annoying again, and they'd fight like they always do.

"Pretty cool that you and your sister got into the same house. So you knew about Sonora for a long time? My dad had some stories about when he went here, but since neither of my brothers showed any magic before, we all kind of thought that I'd go the same route." She gave an impish shrug. "Just goes to show third time's the charm, I guess."

Some of the other first years were making movements toward the stairwells, and Laurie caught sight of her own trunk, a hand-me-down from her dad, as well as her mom's old army bag. "I think we're supposed to go check in with our rooms or something." She made motions to leave, and then paused. "Thanks by the way, for talking to me. I was feeling really kind of homesick for a minute there. So thanks, it's cool to have a friend in the house."

She grinned as she strapped on her mom's green canvas bag. She really did feel so much better in the small bit of time since entering the common room. More of that morning's excitement was pouring into her, displacing the bad feelings of before. Laurie Cider felt that really, truly, good things were going to start.

0 Laurie Cider Except, I'm working on a milkshake right now. 0 Laurie Cider 0 5