Coach Pierce

December 29, 2012 2:31 PM

A letter to Topher Calhoun by Coach Pierce

Teppenpaw's situation was the normal one. A captain graduated, an assistant captain got promoted, a new assistant got named. Sometimes, however, the chain was broken. That was the case with Crotalus this year. Amelia had recently received word that Renee Errant would not be able to fulfill the duties of captain next year so both a new Captain and a new Assistant Captain would need to be named.

Looking over the previous year's roster, the Coach was glad to see there were at least enough reserves that her House would only need to recruit one more student to replace the two graduating seventh years and Renee if she couldn't return as a normal player either. Among those six remaining next year, Topher Calhoun was the oldest. Having no objection to him leading the team, she addressed her end-of-year promotion letter to him. It would no doubt come as much more of a shock to him than Kate's would to her.

Captain Calhoun,

Congratulations on your promotion to Quidditch Captain. Due to other obligations, Miss Errant will not be able to take that post as originally expected. If you find you are similarly unable to do so, please let me know as soon as possible so other arrangements can be made for next year. She may still be available in an advisory role if you need some help, however you will be primarily responsible for posting the sign-up sheet at the beginning of next year, reserving the pitch for your team, running try-outs, and hosting practices throughout the year. If you have any questions on how to accomplish any of these tasks, please let me know and I will be glad to help.

Additional assistance can be counted on from your Assistant Captain. I recommend Linus Macaulay, though you may of course choose someone else if you feel you would work better with them.


Linus and Paul were the same year. As fellow beaters, Topher might prefer Paul, though he had mostly sat as a team reserve. Linus had been a first string player more often than Paul had which was why she had made her recommendation as she had. Still it would not be the first time a reserve got promoted to assistant captain if that was the way it went. Cepheus and Gareth were also both fine choices, but younger, and Amelia generally did not recommend younger students unless the older ones were unfit.

If you do wish to appoint someone else, please owl me with your new choice and I will be sure they receive the assistant captain badge next term. You may pass on the news of their promotion yourself.

Good luck and Congratulations,
Coach Amelia Pierce


She attached the letter to the leg of her great eagle owl, Boomer, and sent him away to find Mr. Calhoun.
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Topher Calhoun

January 02, 2013 6:16 PM

Gloating by Topher Calhoun

He had other family and tolerable relationships with them, but as far as Topher was concerned, communication between him and home when he was at school was something that went pretty strictly between him and his parents. Yeah, he’d sign a birthday card for his grandma or somebody every now and then, but it was always Mom who forwarded it to him so he could do that, and presumably her or his dad who handed over the card in question on the birthday or anniversary it was for after that. In the past two years, he had given in to exchanging birthday greetings with his half-sister as well, without the knowledge or interference of either of their parents, but that was about the only non-Mom mail he ever got.
 
When he saw an owl that didn’t belong to his mom approaching him, then, he assumed it was Caroline and was confused about why she’d write to him now before he recognized it as Coach Pierce’s owl and felt his heart thump uncomfortably as he tried to remember what he might have screwed up more than usually badly lately. Unfortunately, his mind did not offer up any suggestions about why she might send him a letter, leaving him to wonder and worry as he untied the parchment and then opened it.
 
Seeing that the first word was congratulations, he breathed easier, since he didn’t think a teacher would use sarcasm in a letter quite like that, and then he stopped and stared at the letter for a second longer before a grin slowly spread across his face. He had always expected to become captain, but only to do it in his seventh year; now, he was going to be the youngest captain in the school (however unimpressive it was when he was only going to be a year younger than the other three) and the first captain from his year, which meant he’d have a year’s experience in the role over Arnold Carey when they faced each other in their seventh year. Finally, he thought something might be going Crotalus’ way.
 
Not to mention his. Truly, this year, the sky was raining gold and he was the man with a big bucket. First he’d become prefect, now he was a Quidditch captain, it seemed he was just moving right up, and that felt good. Who knew? Maybe at this point, it wouldn’t be completely unreasonable to hope for a shot at Head Boy.
 
First, though, he had to find Linus and see if he accepted the position of Assistant. Then he had to write back to Coach Pierce about that and how he formally accepted the position. Then he really should corner Sam and try to find out as much about captaining as possible in a short period, but he thought he could take some time between the letter and that to just gloat for a while. Everyone deserved a little time to gloat after getting some good news, didn’t they?
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