Hello, world! on Labyrinth Gardens

Professor Pye

October 24, 2015 8:11 AM

First Year Orientation! by Professor Pye

It was the second year that Sonora had decided to have a first year orientation. The idea was that the first years would be allowed a few hours to meet in the Labyrinth Gardens before the Opening Feast so that they could get to know one another without house prejudice being an issue and without the older students around thereby making it less intimidating a process for those who might otherwise be uncomfortable. This meant that the flying wagons that the students took Sonora arrived at each of the standard magical transportation centers a little earlier than usual, just as they had last year. All the students from the previous years had already done this last year and the new students who would be arriving did not know anything different, however it was still written in large, bright red ink so that no one would cause their wagon party to wait for them.

This year, Alfred Pye was there to greet the students and direct them to their proper place—older students were allowed to go to their dorms or the dining hall to hang out while they waited for the Opening Feast to start while all first years were sent towards the Labyrinth Gardens where the orientation was taking place. Alfie Pye was a young professor. He was only twenty-eight with a full head of hair and scruff. He refused to shave—a sign of rebellion against the ever present father who seemed to dominate all aspects of Alfie’s life even when he was in a different country. He had somewhat come to terms with being forced to leave the Auror department and being ~~tricked~~ sent to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts at Sonora by his father, but the hostility still remained. In fact, Alfie had pretended as though the man didn’t exist for the majority of the past year and a half that he had been working at Sonora.

“Please leave your luggage on the wagon,” he said in his clear, upper-class British accent. “The prairie elves will take your belongings to your rooms so you don’t have to worry about that. Older students please head to your dormitories, first years this way to the gardens.” He spoke loudly, using the Sonoras charm so that he could be heard over the loud popping noises of the prairie elves taking the students’ belongings from the wagon’s storage cubbies to either the proper house for the older students, or a temporary storage room for the first years to wait until they were sorted at which points their things would be taken to the appropriate dorm room while they ate their dinner.

The orientation was taking place in the same large clearing near a circular water fountain as it had last year. Just like last year, there were two buffet tables full of snacks and drinks so that those who were hungry could have something to tide them over until dinner. The same banner from last year that read *First Year Orientation - Welcome to Sonora Academy!* was unfurled over the tables. “First years this way, all other years find either your head of house or one of your prefects to get your house password and make your way to your dorms. You can hang out there or in Cascade Hall until the Feast begins. Thank you!”

He had asked the four seventh year prefects to accompany him to the first year orientation to help answer any questions that students might have had and also to help keep them together as they toured the school. It would also be helpful, he noted, to have Miss Dobson and Miss Vandenberg around to take the first year witches to the ladies’ rooms and point out where they were along the way as he really wasn’t comfortable in doing so. Once Alfie made sure there were no more students lingering in the unloading area, he made his way to the gardens. There were helpful signs posted up for those who couldn’t follow simple verbal directions just to ensure that they all arrived at the same place, in tact.

“Welcome to Sonora,” he said again to get their attention, the Sonoras charm still in effect on his voice. “My name is Professor Pye and I am the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor as well as Head of Aladren House. Before I let you mingle, I’m going to quickly go over a few things that you might need to know about Sonora. Afterwards, myself and my lovely assistants, the seventh year prefects, will take you on a tour of the campus so you can get to know the area before classes start. Then, we’ll go to dinner in Cascade Hall, our dining area where you will take your breakfasts, lunches, and dinners for the rest of the year. At the Opening Feast you will be Sorted.

“There are four Houses at Sonora, Aladren, Teppenpaw, Crotalus, and Pecari. Your House will be like your family here, you will earn points during class and for exceptional behaviour along with other activities over the course of the year though bad behaviour will result in a deduction of points. The House that accumulates the most points during the year will win the House Cup, which is a trophy displayed in the common room of whichever House last won.

“Each House has outstanding qualities and though there are many things that go into determining which will be your house, in general Aladren students are those who enjoy learning, Teppenpaws tend to be on the social side, Crotalus, responsible, and Pecari, adventurous. Don’t worry too much over which House you are placed in just because you don’t think you fit the stereotype—there are exceptions to every rule.

“Sonora is a seven year boarding school as such you will be around these people for the next seven years. Get to know each other and try not to make any judgments based on House. Over your seven years, you will be taking five core classes. Potions, Transfiguration, Charms, Care of Magical Creatures, and my personal favorite, Defense Against the Dark Arts, though I’m biased.” Here, Alfie inserted a little wink. The classes are made such that first years and second years take classes together. Your third year will be the first year of Intermediate Studies. You will be allowed to add electives to your five core classes if you like. In your fifth year you will take a Critical Assessment of Talents and Skills, or CATS test. It’s a standardized test that will help decide which classes you will take in your sixth and seventh years or, Advanced classes.

“If there is an elective course you want to take but is not offered, you can talk to your Head of House to set up an independent study program. There is one other major test you will take while here. It’s another standardized test called the Ridiculously Anal Testing of Skills, or RATS. The results of said test will what will help determine what college, university, apprenticeship, or entry level job you get when you graduate Sonora.

“Extracurricular wise we have a variety of clubs whose information you can gather at that table over there,” Alfie gestured towards a side table a little bit away from the two buffet tables. “Any student is able to create their own club if they don’t find one to satisfy their interests, so long as they have a staff advisor and a place to meet. Each House also has a Quidditch team, a wizarding sport played on broom,” he explained for those who had grown up around Muggles. “Every House has openings this year as both Aladren and Pecari graduated players and Teppenpaw and Crotalus don’t have enough for a full team each so they have combined in the past two years.

“Alright, that’s it for the welcoming talk, please feel free to ask myself or one of the other staff members or prefects for help if you need it, otherwise enjoy the food and the company and don’t forget to pick up a school map and a class schedule from the table with the club information and when it’s time for the tour and the Feast I’ll let you know.”

OOC (Our of Character):
Welcome first years of Sonora! You can post a reply here to ask questions to a staff member or one of the prefects or meet your new classmates. This thread is so that first year students can try out posting and get a hang of the site before you get thrown into the big Opening Feast next week which is open to the entire school and can be a bit overwhelming. If you have any OOC board or catch us in chatzy! We’ll try to have an answer back to you as soon as possible! Remember to keep posts realistic and creative, and also to a minimum of 200 words. Enjoy, and once again so excited to have you here!

Subthreads:

I feel oriented, do you feel oriented? by Benjamin "Hippo" Pierce with Raine and Kyte Collindale

Hello, world! by Joseph Umland with Natalie Varth aka Nat

Here we go. by Nevaeh Reed with Theresa Whittaker

YES! I am finally here by Camden Miller with Tasha DuBois

Equally as excited as everyone. by Daniel Fintoc with Gabe Valenti

10 Professor Pye *First Year Orientation!* 30 Professor Pye 1 5

Benjamin "Hippo" Pierce

October 24, 2015 9:03 PM

I feel oriented, do you feel oriented? by Benjamin "Hippo" Pierce

Ben was hugely excited about starting at Sonora Academy. It was not the school of his forefathers - that one had closed after Aunt Bel's final year - but his youngest uncle and brand new aunt had attended Sonora and had good things to say about it. That was a few years ago, though, so when his wagon arrived at the school hours before dinner and a professor named Pye directed him and the other first years to a clearing with a fountain and food in it for an orientation, he was already well outside of what Uncle Derry had told him he could expect.

This made the excitement even better, because clearly his information was out of date, and he was thrilled that he'd get to make his own explorations and discoveries. Even with his uncle's tales, though, he was sure his new school would be like nothing he'd ever experienced before. He was neither half-blood nor muggleborn, but he'd lived in muggle Boston his whole life and what magic he had seen in his previous eleven years was small and carefully concealed so as not to alert the neighbors to anything weird about them. He'd gone to muggle school and played muggle sports and had muggle friends and the only witches and wizards he knew were family and they were all loads older than him. Uncle Derry and Aunt Reggie were the youngest and they'd graduated five years ago.

As he listened to the professor provide the basic details of the school, Ben listened and nodded along, not surprised by any of it. Gramelia - the name he'd used for his grandmother Amelia for as long as he could recall - had once been a Head of House here, so between her and his aunt and uncle, he was well versed in what the school had by way of Houses, classes, extracurriculars, and exams. Pye was not the professor any of his relatives had known for DADA, so he squirreled away that tidbit, and eagerly grabbed hold of the remark that all Houses were looking for Quidditch players this year. His dad and uncle had both been beaters, and he kept up with all the latest Quidditch and Quadpot stats and news, especially Boston's. He didn't get to fly often - his Dad said it was too risky in the city - but he'd gotten to take up Dad's old broom a few times; that was his absolute favorite part about visiting Great Aunt Lauren's house: she had a fair amount of space and it was shielded from muggles so he could fly as much as he wanted to without worrying about who might see him.

When Professor Pye finished talking, Ben wasted no time in addressing his nearest yearmate about the topic foremost on his mind. "Heya! Are you going to join Quidditch? I can't wait to actually get to play!"

1 Benjamin "Hippo" Pierce I feel oriented, do you feel oriented? 339 Benjamin "Hippo" Pierce 0 5

Raine and Kyte Collindale

October 24, 2015 11:26 PM

I feel disorientated by Raine and Kyte Collindale

This place was just gonna be awful. She’d met enough townie kids to know that they usually weren’t nice to people like her. They made fun of her name and called her family bad things, the mildest of which was probably ‘circus freaks.’ And now she was being made to be in a whole school full of them. She wanted desperately to cling onto her twin, the one little bit of home she’d got with her, but her cousins had said that people might think she was a baby for that, and then she’d get made fun of all over again.

She stuck close to her brother as they listened to the speech from the teacher. Certain words from it hit her like bricks - the reminder that she was going to be here for seven years, that there’d be exams and that most likely she and Kyte were going to be split up from this evening onwards. She’d tried to read the brochure that the snooty looking school official had left with them, after he’d decided that Ma’s lessons weren’t up to scratch for a home-schooling programme. She had tried, but it’d been tricky. It wasn’t that she couldn’t read, she knew her letters ok, but she didn’t do it much, and when it was a big long bit of text it kind of made her head swim - doubly so, as the more information she took in about Sonora, the more nervous it made her about going there. She tried hard to listen to Professor Pye’s speech so that she wouldn’t get in trouble later for not knowing but it all sounded kinda scary.

When the teacher finished, she thought she ought to go and get timetables and what-not, but the boy nearest spoke to her and Kyte before she could.

“Hell no!” her brother exclaimed in response to the boy’s question about joining Quidditch. Raine furiously made ‘that-was-not-polite’ eyes at him, but he didn’t seem to notice, so she switched to an apologetic look towards the boy instead. For all his exclamations, Kyte’s tone had been friendly as he spoke, and there was a big grin on his freckled face. He hadn’t meant no offence so didn’t really see that some might be taken just due to his choice of words.

“I wanna be a stunt flyer in our circus when I grow up,” he explained, giving his head a little flick to get his long, floppy hair out of his eyes. “I get my ankle all messed up mucking around with Bludgers or some such that’s game over for my whole life’s ambition,” he said. “I’m Kyte, by the way, and this here’s my sister, Raine.”

“Hi there,” Raine mumbled. ‘Mousy’ was a good way to describe her, from the colour of her hair, to the way she stood and spoke. She wished Kyte hadn’t said what he just had. She wasn’t ashamed of her family or nothing, quite the opposite. But she’d thought she might try and get to know some people first before she told them what they did. She thought maybe, if they didn’t know, they mightn’t judge her before knowing her. And then, maybe, if they did know her first, they might like her. She’d also been planning to tell people they could call her ‘Rae’ in the hopes that they might think it was short for Rachel or somesuch, and not have any reason to laugh within the first five minutes of meeting her. Kyte had rather seen to that plan within a couple of sentences though. He hadn’t known it was what she wanted, cos he’d have only laughed it off and told her not to fuss none about such things. He’d always been good at making jokes about himself before others could, and getting them to like him that way. Or, if they didn’t, it just slid off him. She guessed it had been a flaw in her plan that it was one she couldn’t tell Kyte but that she’d planned to stick square by him for as long as she could. She resisted the urge to slip her arm through his for support as she waited to see what this boy would make of them.

13 Raine and Kyte Collindale I feel disorientated 327 Raine and Kyte Collindale 0 5

Benjamin "Hippo" Pierce

October 25, 2015 2:29 PM

I don't think that was what they were going for by Benjamin "Hippo" Pierce

Ben's eyes widened at the emphatic refusal to play Quidditch, as much from the curse word as from the foreign idea that somebody wouldn't want to play the sport. Aunt Bel swore often enough that he wasn't unfamiliar with the word, but she was a grown up and Ben was sure Mom would wash out his mouth with soap if he ever dared repeat some of the things Bel said like Kyte just had.

"Um, I'm Hippo," he said, in return to their introductions. Their names were unusual, but no more so than 'Derwent' or 'Hippocrates' so he felt his family had no room to judge. "Er, Ben," he corrected himself, then decided it didn't really matter if his old school nickname followed him here or not. He was used to it. "Either one. Whichever you like. I answer to both." And if there was another Ben in their year, he was definitely going to use Hippo, if only to avoid confusion.

"Stunt flying sounds cool," Ben added to Kyte, looking interested. "Is that on a broom? Is it like the flying equivalent of skate boarding or snowboarding on a half pipe?" He didn't really follow skateboarding, but he'd been fascinated by the snowboarders in the last Winter Olympics. If the word 'circus' had registered in his brain, it had clearly been overwhelmed by the words 'stunt flying' and he gave no indication that he found Kyte's life goal anything other than awesome. Even it if meant Kyte wasn't going to play Quidditch. Which was still weird.

1 Benjamin "Hippo" Pierce I don't think that was what they were going for 339 Benjamin "Hippo" Pierce 0 5

Raine and Kyte Collindale

October 26, 2015 12:35 AM

We don't tend to fit most moulds by Raine and Kyte Collindale

Raine and Kyte took the news that their new acquaintance was named ‘Hippo’ in their stride. Raine thought it a little odd but found it hard to clarify why when most of the names in her family also came from nature or geography. She supposed it was cos Hippos weren’t exactly the prettiest thing to be named after. But then, she was fairly sure they had a cousin named Kale (it was hard to keep track sometimes - she did ok with the first couisns but beyond that she could never keep people straight like Kyte could) and kale - the foodstuff - was kinda gross looking even if it tasted good. And most people didn’t like rain either. Some of the townie kids thought it was right clever and funny to chant the kids’ rhyme ‘rain, rain, go away’ at her. Hippos were probably considered noble or something in some kind of animal symbolism. She thought they were nice, anyway, even if being all big and grey weren’t positives in most books. And Hippo, the boy, was a skinny little piece, so she thought it might not be so easy for people to make fun about that anyway. Though apparently his name was also Ben. This was a little confusing but she didn’t venture to ask. She felt much safer talking to someone whose name was Hippo (even it might also be Ben) because she didn’t think he’d make fun of them. She smiled at him.

“Nice to meet you,” Kyte smiled for both of them. He thought he knew what Hippo meant by skateboarding - they wandered around most of the towns they visited and he’d seen kids on wheeled boards doing tricks. He figured a snowboard was probably the same just on snow. He wasn’t sure what a halfpipe was.

“Kind of,” he answered, feeling that knowing one and a half of the things in question was enough to hedge an answer. “Though someone told me the Muggle circus equivalent is riding a bear, which sounds crazy to me. I mean, a broom ain’t got a temper whereby it’s going to try to rip your head off on a bad day. And I can’t see that you’d be able to do much in the way of tricks on a bear, other than hanging the hell on.” The actual phrase that had been told to him was that, in the Muggle circus, they did bareback riding, but without much of an explanation, he’d had to let his imagination fill in the details.

Raine stared a little incredulously. Hippo had lost her at skateboard and pipes but Kyte still seemed to know what was going on. She’d never worked out how much of it was just his confidence in bluffing, and was often left wondering whether he knew every darn thing, and how. He was more adventurous, certainly. He went out and explored towns. When new bands of cousins or friends of friends of some auntie or other arrived, he made it his business to get to know all of them. She guessed that was how he knew so much more than she did.

“So, you half and half or what then?” Kyte asked bluntly, weighing up the information that Hippo knew both about Quidditch and skateboarding.

“Kyte!” his sister admonished. She wasn’t totally sure that it wasn’t ok to ask that kind of thing but she’d heard some people were touchy about it, and she didn’t think it was a good idea to go around being straight to the point of touchy subjects.

“What?” he objected. “We ain’t got nothing against no-one,” he assured Hippo, “I was just curious as you seem to know all kinds, is all.”

13 Raine and Kyte Collindale We don't tend to fit most moulds 327 Raine and Kyte Collindale 0 5

Hippo

October 26, 2015 11:23 AM

I'm starting to get that by Hippo

Ben blinked a few times. Riding a bear? He admitted he didn't really go to many circuses, and the one had been to had been years ago so he didn't remember much except how big the elephant had been, but he kind of felt he would have remembered someone riding a bear. Maybe his circus didn't do that show or the bear rider was on vacation that day.

Either way, he couldn't figure out how riding a bear could be like riding a broom any more than Kyte could, but having not seen the act in question, he couldn't dispute the comparison either. "Crazy," he agreed, figuring that part was safe enough to say. He didn't want to insult Kyte's dream but if even Kyte thought bear riding was madness . . . surely he wouldn't think Ben thought people who did broom tricks had the same lack of sanity as people who rode bears for a living. Though he guessed if you spend enough time training the bear, maybe it was as good a friend and as reliable to the rider as a horse.

For a moment he just looked confused when Kyte guessed he was half-and-half. Then he remembered he hadn't introduced himself proper-like. Mom said he didn't have to. They weren't that sort. Aunt Bel had also discouraged it from becoming a habit so he didn't come off as weird to the muggles he spent most of his time around. But Dad and Gramelia had taught him the correct form. "Oh, uh, no. Not half and half. I'm," he coughed a little, cleared his throat, stood up straighter, and started over, "I am Benjamin Hippocrates Pierce, of the Boston Pierces." Then he rolled his eyes, shook his head, and relaxed back into his much more casual posture and a normal tone of conversation. "Magical family, muggle living situation," he added by way of explanation on his mixed knowledge.

1 Hippo I'm starting to get that 339 Hippo 0 5

Joseph Umland

October 26, 2015 8:35 PM

Hello, world! by Joseph Umland

As he and his older brother climbed off the wagon, trying not to stumble over feet that had been in one position for far too long, Joe Umland was surprised by the first two distinct things he heard in the general babble of noise: a British accent on an adult male voice somewhere head of him and a lot of popping noises going on behind him. Joe looked behind him because those noises were closer, wondering if someone was doing magic already, but his brother shook his head.

“Just the laundry goblins,” said John, and Joe nodded. That was John’s inexplicable nickname for prairie elves. Joe had learned more about them from his brother, who’d done one of his research projects on them last year, over the summer than he thought he would have ever wanted to know. John hesitated for a moment, then, and Joe, who still didn’t entirely trust his brother not to try acting like a Proper Big Sibling whose Generic Little Sibling was on his first day of kindergarten, looked up at him with some trepidation until John shrugged and pointed toward the man with the accent who had just commanded them to leave their luggage and split up. “That’s Pye,” he said, as though Joe had not memorized last year’s yearbook over the summer. “He doesn’t give homework. His resemblance to pastry ends there. Have a scone if they have any at orientation, they’re not bad here.”

Joe nodded, John grinned reassuringly, and then, just like that, he was on his own.

For a moment that prospect was intimidating. Joe wandered his neighborhood as freely as his mother would let him, but he knew every step of it. Almost all of his life took place within a kilometer of his house. There was nothing scary about that. This place, though, was completely alien, plus he was in a maze. Since all common sense dictated a certain lack of minotaurs in said maze, though, he grinned, too, and walked toward Professor Pye’s magically amplified voice.

He tried to listen politely to the introductory material, though remembering things John and their older sister Julian had said about this or that made it hard not to laugh at points. And to suppress a new wave of Sorting nerves. His siblings’ descriptions of the Houses, including the two neither of them had ever set foot in, had been a lot more…interesting than Professor Pye’s, but neither their descriptions nor the professor’s did anything to let him know which House he was going to be in, which was a little…nerve-wracking. He thought he was a little of all the things the professor had just mentioned, but not outstandingly any of them. What was it going to be, then?

Talk of classes and clubs did not distract him from that currently all-important question, but the sight of food did. He went over to that table after they were released to socialize and looked for scones, but didn’t see any. He helped himself to a pretty tasty-looking sandwich instead and smiled at another person at the table once it was on his plate. If he was going to get to know people other than his brother (and he had no intention of following John around like a familiar for the rest of the year), then there was no time like the present.

“Here’s hoping my brother wasn’t lying about the food usually being good,” he said. "I'm Joe."

16 Joseph Umland Hello, world! 329 Joseph Umland 0 5

Natalie Varth aka Nat

October 26, 2015 10:15 PM

A Whole New World to Me by Natalie Varth aka Nat

This. Was. Terrifying. And exhilarating. Natalie, who’d never even been on an airplane, was experiencing flight for the first time. Images of flying loops, upside down, arches and somersaults left her mind overwhelmed with the newly realized possibilities that afforded themselves from simply being a witch. She could learn to fly a broom.

The ride wasn’t nearly long enough.

She didn’t have much in the way of luggage for two reasons. One, it was seemingly impossible to find any of the things deemed necessary. The pets (was that what they were?) would have been the easiest to find but were considered a luxury from Natalie’s standpoint, anything marked optional could be done without. Natalie’s family was viewed as being extremely different even within her own neighborhood. Single parent households were common, nuclear families the exception, but no one else was as into adoption as her mom. Their circumstances would have been enviable if there were only one or two kids in the house but with five income was stretched thin. Second, being the oldest meant she was also the one who wore things first, and her younger sisters received her hand me downs. Not wanting to take much of their future clothes with her and seeing as she’d need a uniform that covered everything up anyway, her wardrobe was passed down earlier than strictly necessary.

As she followed the British man she was amazed at the sheer intricacy of the garden. She’d only seen it briefly from above, having been more focused on sticking her head out the wagon (which she was reprimanded for by an older student) until her eyes watered. Thank goodness they were in a clearing or she’d definitely get lost. Not that that wouldn’t be fun in a way but it was possibly better to leave that for a later date.

She knew she should pay more attention to what Professor Pye, the professor of something minoring in something or other, was saying but what he said made no sense. By the time he called for them to mingle she was too stressed by the unfamiliar nomenclature to want to try to make conversation with people. At least on an empty stomach. Finding her way to the food with unprecedented speed a boy greeted her with “Here’s hoping my brother wasn’t lying about the food usually beign good.” Oh great, she thought he knows about the wizarding world already. He introduced himself as Joe.

“Hi, Joe. I’m Natalie, nice to meet you.” She stuck out her hand for him to shake. “I go by Nat. So! What do you usually like to do?” Hopefully this boy would say something like football, though she slightly doubted it. Maybe he was an expert at broom riding though and could teach her. “Do you like brooms?”

7 Natalie Varth aka Nat A Whole New World to Me 331 Natalie Varth aka Nat 0 5

Joe Umland

October 27, 2015 9:08 AM

Welcome! by Joe Umland

Joe moved his sandwich from his right hand to his left so he could shake Nat’s proffered hand correctly. “Nice to meet you, too,” he said, a little relieved to see his conversation starter go over so well. John had insisted Joe carry a book in his pocket, and while Joe was used to that being John’s advice for everything – John himself was never without something to write with and almost never without something to read – his brother had specifically suggested he bring the book along this time ”so you’ll have something to do if your year’s a lot of snobs.” He was glad he had not met one of those first thing on his first day of school.

“I’ve liked flying when I’ve had the chance,” he said when Nat asked if he liked brooms. “I only get to when we’re on vacation, though, ‘cause I live in the city and you can’t fly anywhere near….” His face screwed up in concentration as he tried to remember the exact, amusing wording of the English law. Canadian magical law was a bit drier, though still not as stuffy and earnest as American, at least not the bits included in the history readings Mom had given him over the years. That probably wasn’t a representative sample, but he’d noticed a pattern. “Anywhere near any place where there’s the slightest chance a Muggle might see me,” he tried, smiling. “And one definitely would on my street. So I only do that in the mountains, or a little in Saskatchewan.” His grandparents’ farm wasn’t as isolated as his great-grandparents’ cabin, but it was remote enough for a little low flying, especially since the older locals were generally a little superstitious about ‘old man Umland’, not too inclined to come calling (Grandpa was a quiet sort who had lived alone for several years, and facts like Grandma coming back to live with him again years ago and Dad being an adult who sometimes visited with a wife and five kids had little power compared to that of a legend about the neighbor who supposedly killed his flighty American wife and snobby boarding school son and taxidermied them in the basement), and the younger ones were oblivious even by non-magical standards.

“I’m hoping I get better at it here,” he continued. “But besides that, there’s still puzzles.” He enjoyed jigsaw puzzles a lot. His mother and sister charmed them for him so the pieces would stick to the wall beside his bed without making a mess, as there wasn’t enough floor or table space around the house when all seven members of his family were at home for him to put them together on more common surfaces. He’d just finished the big one he’d gotten last Christmas for the second time before he’d had to start packing up for school and had happily accepted a new one from his sister Julian as a going-away present just before he finished packing up for school. He just hoped his roommates, if he had any, wouldn’t mind the decoration. Or steal or rearrange pieces when he was out just to mess with him. “What do you like to do?” he asked and took a bite of his sandwich as he waited for her answer.

OOC: Credit where credit is due, Joe's quote about flight laws is from Quidditch Through the Ages.

16 Joe Umland Welcome! 329 Joe Umland 0 5

Nat

October 28, 2015 12:43 AM

Thank you! by Nat

Nat was thrilled to hear that Joe had flown before and probably with relative ease since he sounded practiced at it. She’d been worried that riding brooms was a magical wives’ tale. Whereas Joe was hoping to get better she wanted to just be able to do it. And then perfect it ‘til she could beat people at it but she was patient.

Most of what Joe said didn’t make sense to Nat, not knowing where the places he spoke of were or what he was referring to when he used strange words. “What’s a muggle?” she asked with genuine interest. Her imagination ran away with her, conjuring pictures of mythological beasts and creatures from various folklore. When she heard the reply she was a bit disappointed and also confused. Why would they have a word for non-wizards and witches, or at least, couldn’t they have come up with something less bizarre?

“Oh, I guess I was one of those until recently” she admitted after hearing his reply. “None of my family is magical, well, as far as we know of.” She smiled and offered her family’s status freely, not aware that some had prejudices over blood purity. Natalie didn’t know her father so it was possible he had been a wizard but she hadn’t given it a great deal of thought. Her mom didn’t seem surprised by it, which in retrospect was weird but made her feel that an unprejudiced view was the norm. Even if it wasn’t, Nat would have had one, that was just how she was raised.

“Oh, so back to your question- I like puzzles too but I usually only do them with my sister. If my brothers or sisters aren’t around I guess I like playing soccer or flag football the most. Something with a lot of running,” a wide grin spread over her face. “Do you have any siblings? ”

7 Nat Thank you! 331 Nat 0 5

Nevaeh Reed

October 28, 2015 1:05 AM

Here we go. by Nevaeh Reed

“Shh, Scout,” Nevaeh whispered. She wanted to hear what Professor Pye had to say, but Scout was evidently not super fond of the Arizona heat. And who could blame him, through all that thick German Shepard fur? There was summer in Michigan, obviously, but it didn’t usually continue into September, or at least not to this extent. She hoped August was not a constant in their new home.

Her shushing did little to nullify Scout’s pants, but she couldn’t be mad, really, since it was his only way to stay cool. Dogs didn’t have sweat glands like people. (Or did they? Nevaeh wasn’t entirely sure, actually. Her science classes thus far had not prepared her for this dilemma.) In any case, she just had to let Scout pant and try her best to listen to the professor’s speech.

Though she had little to go on, thus far, Professor Pye seemed like a nice enough person. At least, she hoped he was, since she was most likely going to be learning from him for the next seven years. And everything he said was of definite interest to Nevaeh; she wanted to know what to expect with this place. She was already nervous enough going into it, though for more personal reasons than just the new experience, so any information Professor Pye could provide was simply an extra worry alleviated.

Once they were released to grab maps and schedules and such, Nevaeh nudged Scout softly and leaned down to his level. “Want some water?” She tugged his leash gently forward to initiate motion, then allowed him to do his job and lead her toward the concessions table. When Scout stopped walking, indicating they had arrived, Nevaeh pat his head. “Good boy.”

She reached forward and felt the table in front of her, fingers carefully finding glasses. She heard someone come up to the table beside her, which was actually perfect timing. “Hey, can you hand me a glass of water?” she asked politely. “It’s a bit warm out for a dog.” She offered her peer a kind smile to accompany her familiar speech.

12 Nevaeh Reed Here we go. 325 Nevaeh Reed 0 5

Theresa Whittaker

October 28, 2015 1:36 PM

I'm definitely excited about that! by Theresa Whittaker

Tess looked around her excitedly as she listened to Professor Pye’s speech. Today had, so far, been even better than expected. She’d had to get up quite early to arrive at the pick-up point on time, but the journey had been great fun! Tess had only flown once or twice that she could remember, so had spent the entire journey looking out the window at the scenes far below.

Upon reaching Sonora, reality had hit, and she’d started to feel a little nervous as she stood waiting for directions. However, Tess had tried pushed all nerves aside as she’d made her way to the Labyrinth Gardens. As the oldest child in her family she was used to having to do things first, and to be quite honest the thought of finally learning magic was enough to change the butterflies in her stomach to excitement. She’d spent years being envious of her mother’s magical abilities (and had, a few times, got in trouble for ‘borrowing’ her wand) and had been dreaming of starting at a magical school for years.

Tess tried to listen to everything Professor Pye said, although couldn’t help tuning out a little when he started talking about exams, distracted by the people around her. She wondered which of them would end up being in her house. She tuned back in just in time to hear the mention of clubs – something she definitely planned on looking into.

When the professor had finished talking, Tess headed over to the food and drink table, coming up behind a girl with a rather sweet-looking dog. “Of course,” she said in reply, filling up a glass with water and holding it out to her. “I’m Tess, by the way,” she introduced herself, glad to have met this friendly-looking girl.

9 Theresa Whittaker I'm definitely excited about that! 338 Theresa Whittaker 0 5

Joe

October 28, 2015 2:32 PM

We're all glad you came. by Joe

It was possible Nat was just from a pureblood family so isolated that she literally didn’t know people without magical powers existed, but Joe thought it was a lot more likely that her question about Muggles meant that she was Muggleborn. It still surprised him, though. He knew there were people whose whole job was to explain the whole situation to Muggleborns and their families (and get the parents to sign off on the Statute of Secrecy) and would have thought that was one of the basics such a person would explain.

Still, though, maybe her liaison had been new, or it had just been one of Those Days or Those Clients. Neither quite excused it, but that sort of thing did happen. “Erm, people who can’t do magic at all,” he said. “And whose families haven’t for a long time.” Whether or not Squibs were exactly the same thing as Muggles was something nobody ever seemed to have figured out. His brother John wanted to figure it out, but even if he’d had the equipment necessary for studying the DNA or whatever of the sample of the Squib population (a fellow better known as their older brother Paul) John had access to, there were limits to Mom’s accommodation of John’s interest in biology and Joe was pretty sure anything that involved experimenting on one of the other kids would sail right past all of ‘em.

“That’s them, then,” he said when Nat confirmed that none of her family had magic that she knew of. “My mom’s like you – none of her family can do magic, either, as far as we know. It happens, sometimes,” he added casually. “But you’re both witches just like everybody else here. You’re born that way.” Joe knew exactly enough about modern non-magical clichés to know not to add that there was nothing wrong with that, lest someone overhear their conversation and think he was talking about something very, very different. Plus….

”Oh, they’re prejudiced as hell,” his sister had said cheerily when Joe had said the people at Sonora didn’t sound so bad, considering how she’d gotten along with her pureblood roommates and how John got along with his pureblood teammates. ”They’re just so very nice about it. Like Mom talking to someone who thinks reading's bad for you - and isn't trying to join the House of Commons? The, you know, the 'you-poor-fool' smile? They’re so sure of themselves that they don’t even feel the need to tell everyone else about it. We all just know. Well. All of us except our idiot brother, anyway.”

Dad had helpfully come home from work just then, saving Joe from that conversation. John and Julian had just seemed annoyed with each other all summer for some reason they had seemed extremely reluctant to just bring out in the open and deal with. Joe had remembered what Julian said, though. Should he try to explain that to someone he’d just met, or explain what he thought of as more ‘normal’ pureblood problems with Muggleborns, or should he just leave it alone because this was a social event and he would probably end up sounding like the backside of a patronizing mule if he ran any further with that particular ball right now? That last option sounded really appealing as the situation stood, so he decided to go with that for now.

“Four,” he answered about his siblings. “Three brothers and a sister. I’m the youngest. John’s in fourth year. He’s on the Aladren Quidditch team and – “ would probably help Joe with flying if he needed it, but Joe was not sure at all how his brother would feel about being volunteered as tutor to some girl Joe met five minutes ago – “he’s a Beater, so we play sorta-baseball at home.” Which was true. John said this would work out very well if Joe was Sorted into Aladren, as they had just lost their best Chaser and a Chaser’s job was to catch, throw, and dodge balls moving at great speed, all skills Joe had learned in the course of his hard work as an accomplice to the gruesome murder and disposal of a lot of time in the back garden. “It’s more fun when the other three play with us, but you know, they’re all adults now and really busy most of the time. Where are you in birth order?” he asked, curious about her family. Her plurals made him think she might have a good-sized one, too.

16 Joe We're all glad you came. 329 Joe 0 5

Raine and Kyte

October 29, 2015 6:43 AM

Though it seems like you might be similar by Raine and Kyte

Raine wasn’t really used to the grand way that Hippo used to introduce himself, and it would have been a little bit intimidating except he kind of seemed to make a joke about it. Whilst that was good, because he meant he wasn’t serious and scary, she was starting to get the impression he was a lot like Kyte - outgoing, able to laugh at himself a bit. And she liked that, cos she liked Kyte, and it was easy when she got to talking with someone real chatty cos they made up for her, but she was starting to feel like the odd one out too. It’d gone off on a bit of a tangent when they’d talked brooms and she’d not known what to say. All in all, she wasn’t sure it’d really bother either party in this conversation if she wasn’t in it anymore, but she didn’t feel real confident in striking out by herself at this point. Anyway, she didn’t really mind blending into the background. People found it odd that a performer could be so shy but when she went out in the ring, she had all special clothes and make-up. She wasn’t really her anymore. And she knew exactly what to do. In real life, it was harder, and she didn’t have any glitter to hide behind.

“A Pierce, hot dang!” Kyte exclaimed. Raine shifted her gaze to him, wondering why that meant something to him.

“Cousin Kit was telling us about the Pierces,” he reminded her, catching her look.

“I don’t know cousin Kit,” she told him.

“Sure you do!” he said. He knew Raine didn’t keep track of the cousins as well as he did but he was always sure that with a little jogging it’d come back to her, and he didn’t like for her to feel out of the loop if he could help it. “Cousin Kit… He’s one of Auntie Idra’s - she’s one of Mum’s cousins - and she has Kit and Irina, and Layla who did the show with India last summer when Asia was sick.”

“Kyte, I don’t know ’im,” she hissed emphatically, wondering why he always did this. He had to know by now that she just didn’t know. And it was embarrassing in front of a stranger - what kind of idiot must he take her for, for not knowing who was in her own family? At best, she could say that some of the names on his list rang a bell. She thought India and Asia might be sisters. Or a brother and a sister. Or brothers. She thought they were siblings of some kind but it wasn’t always easy to tell what gender anyone in their family was by their name - and, even if you could, whether or not they stuck to it was a whole other issue - which just another added further complications to trying to remember them all.

“Alright, doesn’t matter,” Kyte shrugged it off easily, whilst Raine’s cheeks glowed. “Anyway, he was telling us about the Pierces. They practically run the Medieval fairs all over. Kit’s a juggler,” he explained to both Hippo and Raine, “I think he’s crossed paths with them a few times, and always said they’re right nice folk,” he grinned at Hippo. “So, do you do that kind of stuff too?”

Raine supposed that, if he did, it might explain why Hippo was being so nice to them. It was sort of a pleasant surprise, to find out they had so much in common with one of their yearmates, that they wouldn’t be the only one from a family like theirs. Although that still left the bridge of meeting the real townies to cross. At least they might have an ally though.

OOC - I couldn’t remember whether the Pierces organised the fairs or were just major participants. If inaccurate, it can be chalked up to being third hand info from someone who tends to exaggerate.

13 Raine and Kyte Though it seems like you might be similar 327 Raine and Kyte 0 5

Hippo

October 29, 2015 10:45 AM

Depends on the mould, I guess by Hippo

OOC: They don't run them, they just make up a strong percentage of the cast in the ones they work for, but Ben doesn't know the difference anyway. He just knows they're out west and dress even more out of date than his dad does. BIC:

Ben expected his name to be recognized. The family was political enough to be fairly well known in most pureblood circles. His immediate family stayed out of it for the most part, but DISCUSS was a common dinner time conversation if Aunt Bel or Gramelia were present or even brought up. He'd been quietly warned that some of the more uptight conservative purebloods might hold the close association his family had to that organization - his aunt being a co-founder and his grandmother running a local office out of her house - against him.

He had not pegged Kyte and Raine as uptight conservative types so he startled a little when his name caused such a verbal reaction from Kyte. It wasn't a negative reaction though so he grinned back but that faded as Kyte began explaining to his sister why he recognized it.

The relationship of 'cousin Kit' sounded complicated - not that his own family relationships didn't get complex pretty quickly with Dad being adopted by his cousin, but Kit sounded like he was several degrees of separation away, definitely farther out than Ben knew any of his family, so he didn't blame Raine at all for not knowing who her brother was talking about. He imagined she felt about as confused as he did when Gramelia gave them updates on the goings on of the Pierces in other branches.

Speaking of, Ben himself barely recognized the account of 'his' family as Kyte described them, but he got enough clues to work out where the confusion was coming from. He had kind of assumed that anyone who recognized the Pierce name would be aware of which branch(es) they should associate with or avoid and he'd been clear in stating his, but apparently he'd been wrong. He wasn't sure how he felt about being mistaken for a Californian. At least his Red Sox cap hopefully prevented them from thinking he might support the Angels - or worse, the Oakland Athletics - as his favorite baseball team.

"Um, I think you're talking about the California Pierces," he corrected when asked if he juggled and/or ran Renaissance Faires. "I'm from the Boston branch of the family. I think Gramelia said there was one of those Pierces here, though, in Teppenpaw, if you want to go looking for her. Her name's Ginny or Gigi or something like that. She probably juggles but I don't. My dad dresses up in colonial era garb, works as a tourist guide, and sometimes joins Revolutionary War reenactments, but that's as close to Renaissance Faires as my branch gets."

1 Hippo Depends on the mould, I guess 339 Hippo 0 5

Camden Miller

October 31, 2015 9:58 AM

YES! I am finally here by Camden Miller

It was incredible. No. It was amazing. No! It was magnificent. Well, that was Camden had been thinking about his new found abilities since he had received the letter. Wow. It was amazing. The eleven-year old couldn't really pin the perfect set of adjectives to what he was really feeling. He was elated. He was ecstatic. He was utterly and completely afraid of his new surroundings, but he was ready to tackle them all into the past. Camden was ready for this new exciting adventure. He couldn't wait for it to begin and now it had.

It had been a couple of stressful and hard weeks preceding this lovely event mainly because his parents didn't really know anything about the wizarding world and they had to rely on the witch that had sent her information (BY OWL!) with the letter if they had any questions. It had been days and days of exchanging information and for the eleven-year old to ask question after question of what was waiting for him at Sonora. He was sure Miss Ellacott had ended up being rather miffed with him, but it didn't matter because he was at Sonora. Finally.

The young wizard was happy. And it was fairly obvious by the big goofy grin adorning his face. He was sure his face would stick like that forever. He just couldn't stop smiling. everything was so new and awesome! As soon as he got out of the carriage (A flying carriage! It was like magic!) his feet instigated a quick run for his life, but his mother’s voice resounded inside his head

“Be patient and follow instructions…” she had told him very seriously.

So Camden stopped himself from running away and dutifully - and boringly - followed the man that later on their walk introduced himself as Professor Pye. However, his eyes wandered at his amazing surroundings. Everything seemed dangerous and inviting. His smiled became wider - if that was even possible - as his brain took everything in. Camden was happy. He was excited.

The boy tried to listen carefully to what the older professor was telling them, but his mind was somewhere else. It was going over the gardens that he was sure was full of interesting things. Things that were waiting for him. He didn't realize the speech had finished until everyone around him started scattering around

Crap he thought. He hadn't heard a word that was spoken. For all he knew he had been assigned like lab partners or something. It didn't matter. That was easily solved.

Camden moved swiftly towards the first person that his eyes could see. His smile was still wide and friendly.

“Hi!” he said enthusiastically. “I am Camden,” he introduced himself since that was the polite thing to do - his mother that taught him that. “I am sorry to bother you, but I didn't really catch anything Mr. Pye said,” he confessed with a small laugh at his own expense. “Could you help me out?” he asked hopefully.

0 Camden Miller YES! I am finally here 337 Camden Miller 0 5

Nevaeh

November 01, 2015 11:17 PM

Me too! by Nevaeh

The girl’s positive response did well to relieve some of Nevaeh’s nerves. She was not someone afraid of asking for help--she’d been legally blind her whole life, so help was something she had learned to just accept with dignity--but she had noticed that a lot of people weren’t always interested in helping, especially kids her own age. And she supposed she understood that to an extent, since she rarely wore the stereotypical blind person sunglasses; as far as appearances went, she tended to seem like anybody else. Excluding the harnessed service dog, of course.

“Thanks,” Nevaeh said as she felt the cool glass slide into her grip and accepted it from the girl, who then introduced herself as Tess. “Nice to meet you. I’m Nevaeh.” She bent down to the ground, setting the glass before her dog before returning to her full but unremarkable height. “And this is Scout,” she added, laughing a little at the slurping noises. Hopefully she wouldn’t get in trouble for letting him drink out of one of these glasses. The prairie elves could easily scrub it later.

“What do you think of the school so far?” she asked conversationally, a bit curious about the attributes she lost out on but at the same time in love with the ones she experienced. The flowers of the Gardens were certainly blooming, their scents swirling and combining in new ways every time the wind stirred. Nevaeh didn’t think her lack of sight really heightened her other senses like some people thought, but rather that she just paid more attention to them. At least, that was what she felt. But nonetheless, Tess would, she imagined, have the advantage of sight; Nevaeh assumed the terrain was beautiful, but confirmation from a peer and perhaps a description would have been lovely.

12 Nevaeh Me too! 325 Nevaeh 0 5

Raine and Kyte

November 02, 2015 12:11 AM

Maybe not as close as we'd thought by Raine and Kyte

“Oh,” said Kyte, sounding a little disappointed as Hippo explained he was from a non-juggling part of the family.

“That sounds interesting too,” Raine offered, not wanting Hippo to feel bad, or like they liked him any less for not being a juggler. Kyte seemed a little deflated by it, which she was sure could give that impression but she thought he and Hippo would get on well anyway, and she didn’t want her brother to put a potential friend off. “And your family sounds nigh on as complicated as ours,” she added with a bit of a smile, pleased to find that Hippo didn’t keep track of all his cousins either, so probably didn’t think she was as dumb as she’d worried he might.

“Is Teppenpaw the friendly one or the bouncy one?” Kyte asked, half to Raine - who’d tried more than he had to read the dry and dull school brochure - and half to Hippo, who seemed like he’d know that kind of thing. “Raine and I’ll be in one of those apiece, I reckon,” he added - a look of pain and panic flitted across Raine’s face at the mention of being split up, even though she knew it was more than likely going to be the case. “But I can’t keep straight which is which. They’ve all got such odd names.” This was met with a look of astonishment from Raine. Keeping track of Asia, India, Kale and an infinite kaleidoscope of second and third cousins was no problem, but four house names was too much to get his brain around? She guessed Kyte hadn’t been so motivated to learn about the school beforehand as she had. She liked to know what was coming, whereas he took things as they come, learning it when he needed to know and not before.

“The friendly one,” Raine confirmed.

“Cool, you can probably meet Gigi Pierce at dinner and talk about juggling.” For once, he noticed the look on Raine’s face. Far from being reassured by this, she looked more upset than ever. “It’ll be ok,” he squeezed her hand. “And you’ll be in the bouncy one with me, right?” he grinned at Hippo. So far, their new friend seemed much more like him than he did Raine.

13 Raine and Kyte Maybe not as close as we'd thought 327 Raine and Kyte 0 5

Tasha DuBois

November 02, 2015 3:43 PM

Me too! by Tasha DuBois

Nine months. She was going to be here nine months. Tasha wasn't used to being in one place for so long, especially around kids her own age. Nor had she admittedly been on her own. Well, except that one time that she'd been lost in the Netherlands a few years ago but that had been different. Sort of terrifying. She'd spent the day going in and out of funny smelling cafes looking for her parents.

Of course, she wasn't totally on her own. Her cousin Duncan was here, a prefect for Teppenpaw. Part of Tasha hoped that she'd be with him, not so much because she was needy and scared, but because she really liked the sixth year, even if she hadn't necessarily spent a lot of time with him growing up. Instead, Tasha had spent most of them going from country to country with her parents, her mother loved travel and it was what Tasha was used to. She was more afraid of being bored here or missing out on some fun new place her parents were going than she was being on her own. Sonora was not the streets of a foreign country.

Tasha had spent the last week visiting her grandparents-her mother's father and step-mother-and getting her school supplies. The latter had been fun, but really, it had gotten awkward when her step-grandmother Claudia's mother Gloria Royce had shown up. Mother had never had anything good to say about Mrs.Royce, and Tasha could see why. Mrs. Royce didn't really like Mother or Tasha either so the new first year was glad to board the wagon in Colorado with a good many of her distant cousins. Duncan had been on their wagon too, having gotten on in Montana.

So she'd said goodbye to the lot with the exception of Angelique who was also a first year, though the two girls had gotten separated in the hoard of first year students and went to orientation. Tasha listened as Professor Pye dumped a lot of information on them, considering the characteristics of each one. She thought Aladren sounded good, she did love learning, but she'd heard a lot about the houses all before, getting a full rundown from a lot of her older cousins on the ride here. One of them, Fabian, had mentioned Aladrens tended to be exceedingly uptight and not much fun at all. To which one of the twins had replied that Fabian's dad had been one.

As for the others, she supposed she could be considered responsible. Teppenpaws were actually more nice than necessarily social because it was not the same thing but Tasha rather considered herself in the middle on both in terms of kindness and sociability. Whether or not she was adventurous depended on one's definition of the word, Tasha liked to go new places and try different foods but she wasn't crazy about dangerous situations.

Then again, Professor Pye did say that there were exceptions to every rule. She supposed that meant there were exceptions to what Fabian thought the "rules" were too. Like apparently his father wasn't an especially uptight Aladren.

She noted the professor's comments about their classes and what they'd have to do later on in their Sonora careers. It seemed like the former was pretty standard and Tasha felt it was way too early to worry about CATS and RATS. And she'd never been a very sporty person, so she had zero interest in joining Quidditch.

However, she was interested in looking over the clubs, she knew there was a book club and a baking club, for instance. Granted, Tasha was more interested in eating different foods, than cooking them. In fact, she was more interested in seeing what they were serving right now, but before she could, the boy next to her spoke.

Tasha nodded. "Understandable, it was an awful lot of information to take in. By the way, I'm Natasha DuBois, of the French DuBois, but you can call me Tasha." She gave him a friendly smile. "What in particular do you want to know?"

11 Tasha DuBois Me too! 323 Tasha DuBois 0 5

Ben

November 02, 2015 9:36 PM

Perhaps not by Ben

Kyte definitely sound a bit let down that Ben wasn't a juggler and while Raine wasn't as obvious about it, he suspected she was, too. "I could try to learn," he offered. "Could you teach me?" He wasn't entirely clear on whether they were jugglers themselves, or if that was just Cousin Kit, while they handled the broom tricks. He thought he might be better suited to learning the broom tricks, but hey, he was willing to give anything a try and he had good eye-hand coordination.

He shrugged a bit and smiled back when Raine suggested their families were equally complicated. He guessed maybe they were, but in probably very different ways. Delving into the intricacies of his family - especially if they were counting the other branches - wasn't really something he was too keen on doing, so he let the subject drop there.

Fortunately, Kyte came in again then with a new topic. Ben blinked at him a few times after the twins had a short exchange about Houses and the assumption that Raine would be in Teppenpaw. "The bouncy one?" he repeated, moderately confused. He was familiar with the Houses, and by process of elimination he guessed, "You mean Pecari?" mostly because neither Aladren or Crotalus seemed at all bouncy to him and Teppenpaw was eliminated as the 'friendly one'. "Yeah, I figure I'll probably be Pecari. Pretty sure Professor Pye said it was the 'adventurous' House, though. Where'd you get 'bouncy' from?"

1 Ben Perhaps not 339 Ben 0 5

Raine and Kyte

November 03, 2015 7:20 AM

But seems we could fix it by Raine and Kyte

“Sure we could,” Kyte beamed, glad at Ben’s enthusiasm about juggling “I mean, it’s neither of our specialties - Raine’s is acrobatics,” he added, as this hadn’t been mentioned yet, “But you pick up the basics of most things in our family. Plus, being a stunt rider can be a kinda short-lived. I figure, if I get too old or mess up a knee or something, I’ll go into clowning, so I try to keep my hand in with all types of juggling. Except contact. That’s just crazy hard and you need more patience than I’ve got.”

Apparently Pecari was more properly described as ‘adventurous’ not bouncy but Kyte shrugged lightly at Ben’s question.

“It was the one that I remember sounded most like me, and I’m quite bouncy. Anyway, don’t those two go together? I mean, can you be not bouncy and still like adventures?” Kyte tried to slump a bit, letting go of the natural alert and bouncy tension that always ran through him. In as flat and unenthusiastic tone he drawled, “I love adventuring, it’s great. Let’s go have fun,” shaking himself back to his usual self, he added, “Can’t see that being too common.”

Raine thought it might be possible to be adventurous but not bouncy. She would never have described herself as it but she usually liked new things when someone, usually Kyte, helped her to try to them. And sometimes, she’d go off by herself just to enjoy the world, and see how many sounds she could hear and smells she could smell when everything was calm and quiet. It wasn’t exactly wild but it was sort of exploring. She thought if there was someone a little bit like her, only just a bit braver, so they could do those things without their twin holding their hand, or wander further on their walks, then she thought they could be adventurous without being bouncy, but she didn’t say so.

13 Raine and Kyte But seems we could fix it 327 Raine and Kyte 0 5

Daniel Fintoc

November 03, 2015 4:14 PM

Equally as excited as everyone. by Daniel Fintoc

In many respects Daniel felt that Sonora was the best thing that had ever happened to him, not that it had really ‘happened’ yet. It would give him a chance to shine and escape the ranch life that he was so unsuited to. Daniel thought himself to be of fair intelligence and a good socialite. He didn't feel that Chuck was the same, much more the typical farmworker than the studious academic and although he was friendly, he was always friendly with the wrong people - just like his father. So Daniel had been really looking forward to going to school for several years before he finally stepped out of the flying wagon and set foot on Arizona turf.

The first thing that struck Daniel about Professor Pye was his accent. Daniel had always been good at imitations but a lack of diversity in the people he had mixed with growing up meant he had had little exposure to a variety of people. He was aware that Sonora was something of a melting pot of cultures and this preconception only served to enhance his enthusiasm for the place. Although he never seemed to have quite the same huge appetite that many of his older cousins and uncles did, Daniel had to admit that the sight of the two buffet tables sparked a feeling of hunger in his stomach and he thought he might have to grab something to nibble on to keep him going until the Opening Feast.

As Professor Pye gave an overview of the school system and the basic need-to-knows, Daniel listened politely in case there were gaps in his knowledge. When the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor finished speaking, he did as advised and collected a map and schedule before making his way over to the buffet table without trying to appear to eager about it.

“Hi, I’m Daniel Fintoc of the Colorado Fintocs,” he introduced himself to the nearest student once he had selected some appropriate nibbles. It wasn’t as though he was particularly nervous as he quite enjoyed socialising but something felt a little off about the way he’d spoken. Maybe he just wasn’t used to introduce himself in such a fashion yet or maybe he was already feeling the pressure that only he had laid upon himself to do well. “Have you any guesses as to which house you’ll be sorted into?” Daniel was rather intrigued by the whole house-sorting process and the question as to which house he’d end up in was something he’d toyed with quite a bit of late. It wasn’t as though he had any specific wishes as they all seemed to have some good qualities but merely curiosity.

8 Daniel Fintoc Equally as excited as everyone. 333 Daniel Fintoc 0 5

Camden Miller

November 03, 2015 5:49 PM

We are here together! by Camden Miller

For a fleet second Camden was taken aback by the the formality of the girl in front of him. Natasha Dubois from the French Dubois. That really didn't mean anything to him other than her family came from France. That was about it. Deep down he was intimidated by the girl’s grand introduction. He was sure it meant something to her. Like something big, but to him it was just pompous and a bit over the top. Regardless, his smile never faltered, “Well, Tasha,” he tried the offered nickname with excitement. This probably meant they were sort of friends, “I didn't hear anything he said,” he confessed a bit embarrassed about his lack of attention.

It really wasn't his fault! Everything was so new to him. He was dying to know everything the wizarding world had to offer him. For the first time he was excited about his classes starting. How could he not? When he was going to learn charms and transfiguration! whatever the hell those were. He was just all around excited about this new life. Tasha didn't seem that awestruck.

He laughed a bit, “it's just that I was so excited and amazed by our surroundings that I got distracted.” Camden hoped he seemed somewhat cool still. The girl in front of him seemed so cool and collected. Maybe she had been raised in a wizarding household. Miss Ellacott had told him such families existed. She had explained to him that he was a Muggleborn - a wizard born from Muggle (non-magical) people. Camden had a lot to catch up on. “This is so new to me,” he confessed after a moment of hesitation.

“Will you please give me a short version of the speech? Anything important I might need to know before the term actually starts?” His face showed a mixture of happiness, excitement and embarrassment at his lack of listening skills. That had always been a problem for the eleven-year old. He got distracted way too easily. His big brown-eyes melted into big puppy eyes imploring Tasha for the help he desperately needed. It would be more embarrassing to head over where Professor Pye was standing and ask what he had said because it would read like ‘No, Professor. There are more important things than what you have to say’ or something along those lines. He couldn't be that disrespectful on the first day at Sonora!

0 Camden Miller We are here together! 337 Camden Miller 0 5

Tess Whittaker

November 04, 2015 3:41 PM

Then again, who wouldn't be? by Tess Whittaker

Tess grinned as Nevaeh introduced Scout, and laughed too at him eagerly drinking the water. “He’s lovely,” she replied. “I've always wanted a dog, but my parents are more cat people.” She assumed that Scout was some sort of service dog, looking at his harness.

“I think the school’s beautiful!” she enthused. “Well, I've only properly seen these gardens so far, of course, but they’re just so green and colourful!” She really did find the Labyrinth Gardens beautiful – definitely somewhere she planned to spend lots of time. Tess loved spending time outside, as there was always so much to see and do, especially having been brought up in the countryside. She couldn't wait to see the inside of Sonora either – she was sure it would be equally wonderful.

“So how much do you know about Sonora?” she asked. “I can’t wait to get started learning magic – and the idea of living in a magical environment is just so exciting!” Thoughts of all the fun one could have with magic had already been swirling around Tess’s head – she was sure it would be good for more than just lessons.

“Also what house do you reckon you’ll be in?” she added. She’d spent the last few days wondering where she would end up, but had found herself stuck between Teppenpaw and Pecari. She’d decided she was probably too irresponsible for Crotalus, and whilst she appreciated learning it wasn’t her biggest priority! Then again, she mused, she could be proved wrong.

9 Tess Whittaker Then again, who wouldn't be? 338 Tess Whittaker 0 5

Ben

November 04, 2015 10:12 PM

I'm always willing to add to my skills by Ben

If Ben had to come up with a few words to describe himself, he was quite sure 'bouncy' would not top the list or be one of the runners-up either. Personally, he'd have chosen 'sporty' as his primary adjective. But he guessed it was a synonym of 'enthusiastic' and he probably would pick that one pretty quickly for his list. He was less sure bouncy and adventurous were synonyms, but Kyte's pantomime was pretty convincing.

"Guess not," he agreed.

Returning to the earlier topic, he asked curiously, "What is contact juggling and why is it so hard?" It sounded like a challenge to him. If it really was as difficult as Kyte said, he'd probably let it go in favor of other athletic pursuits, but if it was something he could use for cross training, it might be worth investigating.

Suddenly, without waiting for a response to his first question, he asked abruptly, "Were you guys hungry? I'm hungry all of a sudden." It likely had something to do with the scents now drifting toward them as the breeze changed directions, but he was totally craving a fresh baked cookie right this instant.

1 Ben I'm always willing to add to my skills 339 Ben 0 5

Gabe Valenti

November 06, 2015 1:45 AM

Enduringly Enthusiastic by Gabe Valenti

“And they call this safe?”

Ma stood tall, hands on hips, her dark eyes so much like Gabe’s own, and sized up the unusual mode of transportation sent to take away her baby. He knew she wasn't pleased.

“Um, magic?” Gabe replied sheepishly, putting on his biggest smile to try and ease the mood. Surely that would remind her of his teeth, newly straightened and braces-free. A happy thought.

Ma sighed, but was clearly unimpressed. She was dressed in a suit, she still had to go to work today. Like normal. Like the Valenti family hadn’t just discovered that their youngest son was a wizard. His siblings had been as excited as he to discover that there really was magic. But they were currently in Pennsylvania, with Dad for a Little League tournament. Valenti summers usually meant tanned olive skin, and plenty of baseball. And then Gabe turned eleven.

“Well, you look very nice, Gabey,” Ma said, brushing a small wrinkle out of his new robes. There’d been a haircut before school, new clothes and everything. It was the Valenti way, even if they didn’t know much about the magic world, Ma made sure her kids looked good.

And with promises to write every day, he was off, away from his home in a suburb of New York, on a crazy flying contraption and on his way to Arizona. He’d never been so far away from home before. He’d never been without his family for so long before. Or Internet. Man, wizards were strange.

There wasn’t much to do on the wagon, and nobody to talk to, so Gabe continued his book about Quidditch, and ate some of the cookies Dad had baked just the night before. As active as he was, baby fat still rounded the edges of Gabe’s face. Ma said he would outgrow this someday.

It felt like forever until he arrived at school, and some British dude told him to leave his luggage behind, so the little goblins could get them. Gabe shrugged it off, straightening out his robes as he approached the other first years. He’d been convinced the whole robe thing was a practical joke, designed to mess with him on his first day as a real wizard. One look around the room put him at ease - oddly enough, this was the norm.

Soon enough, the British dude started talking. Mussing his dark hair, Gabe made sure to focus. He wasn’t quite sure what a prefect was, but he did know about the Houses, from the brochures his parents had scoured through about the school. He liked the idea of teams, the idea of family away from home. Not that these kids could ever replace his siblings, Mattie and Ems. But they were magic, like him, something his siblings didn’t have. Gabe had never really not been part of a group before, it would be great to meet some new friends.

The New Yorker’s plan to focus faced a hurdle as the speech went on to talk about classes - boring. It’s not that Gabe disliked school, or wasn’t excited for magic. It’s just that sitting at a desk was so boring, when he could be flying or fighting wizard battles or something. Perhaps magic school wouldn’t be like the normal ones he’d always attended.

When the talking finished, his stomach led him over to the buffet. Usually the only place he saw this much food was at his Nonna’s for Sunday dinners. A small pang hit his stomach, he wouldn’t be going to any of those anytime soon.

Gabe smiled politely as one of the other first years introduced himself. Daniel Fintoc of the Colorado Fintocs. Was that supposed to mean something? Was there a roster or something he was supposed to have memorized prior to arrival? No, his parents would have mentioned it. Although his parents were not wizards, they were accountants, and very thorough. This must just be some weird wizarding thing.

“Gabe Valenti, I have never been to Colorado, but I would like to ski there someday,” he introduced himself, a good-humored grin on his face, his New York accent more apparent than he realized. Everyone he knew talked like him, so what did it matter? Gabe loved social situations, the chance to meet someone new, the chance to make someone smile. Yes, it was much better now that he was with his new classmates, than being alone in that flying wagon. That is what he should be focused on here - so many new people, from all over the country, probably. He could daydream about Nonna’s branzino later.

“No idea,” he shrugged, in his usual, easy confident manner, before amending, “Definitely not Crotalus,” as the baby of the family, responsibility was the last thing on his mind, “Probably not Aladren. Pecari and Teppenpaw both sound alright. How about you?”

0 Gabe Valenti Enduringly Enthusiastic 330 Gabe Valenti 0 5

Daniel Fintoc

November 10, 2015 12:08 PM

An abundance of alliteration! by Daniel Fintoc

The response that Daniel received to his introduction and attempt at conversation was not entirely as he had expected. That is not to say it wasn’t appreciated but the young Fintoc found himself immediately trying to draw up conclusions on the background of his fellow first year. Daniel just couldn’t understand why anyone in their right minds would want to go to Colorado for anything unrelated to animals or farming but the boy was probably just trying to be polite, either that or Daniel was exceedingly ignorant about his home county - which in all honesty wasn’t that unlikely considering how before now his life had been centred around the family ranch.

“Nice to meet you, Gabe,” the extent of Daniel’s formalities ended before they’d barely existed because in truth he wasn’t entirely sure how to apply his knowledge of correct decorum to school life. Of course he’d been brought up to know how his world worked but the Fintocs tended to just skim through the basics with their children because, besides Granddad Fintoc, they’d all quite frankly ceased to care about that kind of thing so long as business continued to run smoothly.

Gabe Valenti didn’t introduce himself in the “proper” way but Daniel had already been forewarned that not everyone would do so at Sonora, and that didn’t necessarily apply only to those that weren’t part of pureblood society. And even if he were to take Gabe’s manner and unfamiliar name to mean what he first assumed it meant before questioning himself that was no reason to snub the other eleven year old straight off. Obviously it would mean that Gabe was not a valuable connection but that wasn’t to say he deserved to be treated as he were of no worth entirely. Daniel may have been very sheltered from much of the society which his own family mixed amongst but that didn’t make him a total fool. Only three or four years ago his uncle had married a half-blood and made him all the more aware of the prejudices surrounding blood status. That wasn’t to say that Daniel didn’t share a lot of the stereotypical beliefs of someone in his position in society to some degree but whilst many were worried about blood, he was simply well-educated in the importance of names and wealth.

Daniel nodded as Gabe answered his question with a slightly vague break down of his house suitability but found that he was even more clueless when the question was returned. It wasn’t as though he hadn’t thought on the subject on numerous occasions because he really had but every time he was stumped. Occasionally he would settle on a particular house only to change his mind again shortly afterwards. It was rather alarming to think that he couldn’t make a good assessment of his own character but he supposed that was why students weren’t given the choice in the first place. His whole family seemed to be riding on him being an Aladren and Daniel thought he should be quite flattered by the idea, if it wasn’t for the slight pressure he felt it added. Would they be disappointed if he didn’t make it into Aladren? The more likely alternative was that they wouldn’t even care so long as he was happy but Daniel had come to think of it as a possibility of a turning point in history, something he would probably later tell himself to check his ego about. Him being of any significance to Fintoc history was almost laughable, at least to Granddad Fintoc anyway.

“I’m not too sure,” Daniel admitted to Gabe after a moment’s hesitation. “My family all think I’m headed for Aladren but I don’t know, the other houses have qualities I think I can relate too. Do you have family here?” He wasn’t so much trying to suss the other boy out, just making polite conversation and trying to get to know his peers as soon as possible, but he did take note of the Gabe’s accent that was so unlike his own.

8 Daniel Fintoc An abundance of alliteration! 333 Daniel Fintoc 0 5

Tasha

November 10, 2015 8:03 PM

Yes, we are! by Tasha

Tasha nodded sympathetically. "It's okay." She personally had seen an awful lot in her life, places most of her classmates had probably never even heard of and she could understand someone who hadn't would be really impressed with something new in their life. Tasha usually was.

And the way he said that he was new didn't just suggest that he'd never been away from home before, like her-though technically she just hadn't been away without her parents around other kids her age. Truthfully, sometimes, Tasha wasn't quite sure where exactly home was. Her mother was American and her father was French, so she had dual citizenship and she'd gone to so many other places. Anyway, Camden sort of made it sound like he was new to magic completely .

That wasn't really something Tasha knew a lot about. Even going to other countries, she'd seen more about how other magical cultures worked. She smiled at Camden though. "No problem! Well, okay, so there are four houses, Aladren, Teppenpaw, Crotalus, and Pecari. A house is sort of like a second family. Aladrens are...well, they like to learn." She decided to go with the traditional version rather than Fabian's. "Teppenpaws are really nice and friendly, my cousin is one of the prefects there. Let's see...Crotali tend to be very proper and respectable and responsible." Crotali were hard to define. "And Pecaris are adventurous types."

Tasha went on. "Let's see, he mentioned the Quidditch teams. It's a magical sport played on brooms. All of the houses need people this year. There's information on student lead clubs over there." She nodded in the general of the table. "And if there's something you're interested in and there's not a club for it, you can always start one. Oh, and he talked about some big tests we'll have when we're older, which we don't have to worry about yet and will most likely hear an awful lot about when they get closer." First year was way too soon to think about CATS.

She gave Camden another smile. "Hey, any time there's anything you want to know about, I'm happy to answer it okay?" Tasha really did want him to feel welcome at Sonora and in the magical world as a whole.

11 Tasha Yes, we are! 323 Tasha 0 5

Gabe

November 11, 2015 10:25 AM

And also enigmatic answers by Gabe

Gabe let out a short laugh when Daniel mentioned Aladren, “Oh, Ma would love it if I ended up there,” his mother was extremely thorough, and naturally had read each and every pamphlet that had arrived along with the news of her youngest son’s magic, “I'll be the first of my family at Sonora,”he answered, unconcerned by the small talk, his mind focused more on what he would do once school actually started, “I bet classes here will be more interesting than my old school, but I’m more excited for Quidditch, really.”

He remembered the look on his parents’ faces when he had presented them with the Quidditch handbook while getting school supplies at the magic bookstore. The Valentis did not look forward to the idea of their youngest son, riding around on a broom, midair, to put it mildly. Very mildly. But if Gabe was going to be a wizard now, of course he was going to play wizard sports! Flying was the class he most looked forward to in school. It did kind of scare him, in the sense that last time he had been on a roller coaster, he’d gotten motion sickness. It would be the worst if he couldn’t play the school sport because of his stomach. He was certain that there must be some sort of magical solution for that. From his brief experiences with magic over the past two months, he had determined that magic had a solution for practically everything.

“Do you play?” he asked eagerly. It would be super cool if the first kid he talked to at his new school already knew the wizard sport, or could maybe even teach him. Sure, Gabe had his book, he thought he had a decent grasp on the rules. Why, he read about what it was like to fly all his life, in storybooks for school. It wasn't the same. He imagined it was a lot like skiing, what with the rush, and the wind against his cheeks turning olive skin rosy. Oh, why wasn't flying part of orientation! Maybe after dinner, he'd sneak out and find out for himself.

0 Gabe And also enigmatic answers 330 Gabe 0 5

Natalie Varth

November 12, 2015 9:31 PM

Especially me by Natalie Varth

Natalie’s case was unusual. Marigold, by all accounts and for all intensive purposes, was Natalie's mother. And she was not a witch. Marigold had no husband and Natalie didn't want to inherit anything, even something as cool as a penchant for magic, from someone who would leave Marigold. So, by Nat's account, her “father” wasn't a wizard. It shouldn't have been overlooked that Marigold was hiding the truth, it wasn’t an oversight though that no-one had been assigned to fill Natalie in. Marigold was more than capable.

Oblivious to her family’s magical lineage and her “mother’s” deception, Natalie continued to believe she was “born that way” as Joe put it. Randomly gifted, nothing to do with inheriting it. She was indeed born that way-but it was almost guaranteed she'd be a witch. After all, Marigold’s sister and brother in law were both talented in the ways of magic and by no means the first of their lines, their daughter surely would've inherited it.

Not knowing anything about this though, Natalie was glad to have the subject changed as Joe answered her question. Four siblings, just like her! Joe brought up another interesting fact, the sport Quidditch was offered here. She didn't rightly know what Quidditch was but if it was anything like baseball on brooms she was in. That's what it sounded like at least. She was at a disadvantage not having had practice like Joe but maybe they could practice together. From what he said it sounded like the more the merrier while playing, surely there was an extension in there somewhere she could be part of.

“I also have for siblings but I'm the eldest” she started. “It’s me then my sister Amanda, my brothers Carter and Jerry, then my youngest sister Andrea.” She missed them already but just saying their names helped. “It's just us and our mom.”

OOC: Sorry for the late post, I really didn't want to rewrite this after my first attempt didn't post and I lost it. My bad

7 Natalie Varth Especially me 331 Natalie Varth 0 5

Professor Pye

*First Year Orientation!* by Professor Pye

Benjamin "Hippo" Pierce

I feel oriented, do you feel oriented? by Benjamin "Hippo" Pierce

Raine and Kyte Collindale

I feel disorientated by Raine and Kyte Collindale

Benjamin "Hippo" Pierce

I don't think that was what they were going for by Benjamin "Hippo" Pierce

Raine and Kyte Collindale

We don't tend to fit most moulds by Raine and Kyte Collindale

Hippo

I'm starting to get that by Hippo

Joseph Umland

Hello, world! by Joseph Umland

Natalie Varth aka Nat

A Whole New World to Me by Natalie Varth aka Nat

Joe Umland

Welcome! by Joe Umland

Nat

Thank you! by Nat

Nevaeh Reed

Here we go. by Nevaeh Reed

Theresa Whittaker

I'm definitely excited about that! by Theresa Whittaker

Joe

We're all glad you came. by Joe

Raine and Kyte

Though it seems like you might be similar by Raine and Kyte

Hippo

Depends on the mould, I guess by Hippo

Camden Miller

YES! I am finally here by Camden Miller

Nevaeh

Me too! by Nevaeh

Raine and Kyte

Maybe not as close as we'd thought by Raine and Kyte

Tasha DuBois

Me too! by Tasha DuBois

Ben

Perhaps not by Ben

Raine and Kyte

But seems we could fix it by Raine and Kyte

Daniel Fintoc

Equally as excited as everyone. by Daniel Fintoc

Camden Miller

We are here together! by Camden Miller

Tess Whittaker

Then again, who wouldn't be? by Tess Whittaker

Ben

I'm always willing to add to my skills by Ben

Gabe Valenti

Enduringly Enthusiastic by Gabe Valenti

Daniel Fintoc

An abundance of alliteration! by Daniel Fintoc

Tasha

Yes, we are! by Tasha

Gabe

And also enigmatic answers by Gabe

Natalie Varth

Especially me by Natalie Varth

First Year Orientation! by Professor Pye