Professor Wright
June 21, 2019 2:49 PM
Welcome to Orientation, New Students! by Professor Wright
The older students were possibly slightly surprised to see Professor Grayson Wright outside waiting to direct the first years and remind everyone that the prairie elves would take their baggage up to the dorms, but perhaps less surprised than they might have been two years earlier. He had, after all, done orientation one time before, which was why it had not surprised him that he had been the first choice to do it again when Professor Nathan Xavier was in a position where he could not do so as usual.To those – the first years and any transfer students – who did not know him, nothing about his appearance was the sort of thing to inspire surprise, or even much notice. He was of average height, with dark hair and eyes, and a face so devoid of distinctive features that it was quite possible the new students might primarily identify him as That Professor With The Glasses for a while, as he required the glasses just to get around the school without bumping into things and thus was not seen without them on occasions when he was conscious.
He also talked with his hands a lot, though this was less apparent than usual because he was busy using his hands to point the first years in the right direction as he separated them out of the students he recognized. Said direction was into one of the clearings in the Labyrinth Gardens, where a running fountain stood in the center and there were three tables off to one side, away from the roped-off entrances to other paths. On the first table was a number of folders, each the same forest green color as the students’ robes. These contained class schedules, school maps, and lists of the major school rules students would be expected to follow. On the next table was a variety of snacks – sandwiches, fruits and vegetables, cupcakes, cookies, and various other finger foods – and small plates to eat these on. On the third were small glasses and a selection of water, fruit juices, and fruit punch.
Once everyone seemed to be in or heading in the right direction, Professor Wright left the wagons in the elves’ capable hands and went to face down possibly the most daunting task he’d had since his first lesson: addressing the first years.
“Hello everyone – gather round, please, I don’t want to shout.” Or amplify his voice magically, as that would have been a bit much in such a small space with so few people to address. “Hello, good afternoon. I’m Professor Wright, and starting tomorrow, I’ll be your Charms teacher. Right now, though, I’m your Orientation leader, so – welcome to Sonora Academy.”
To some, it no doubt sounded like he was speaking slowly. This was because he was making an effort to speak reasonably slowly. Sonora had had quite the influx of students who did not consider English as their first language in recent years – in just the past few years, they had had Quebecois French, Russian, and German, with the Quebecois student also speaking Chinese. Even a name which looked like one thing might correlate to a student with a totally different set of language skills, so it was best not to assume too much.
“Sonora is a seven-year school where you will, if you stay with us all those years, gain a thorough education in magical theory and practice. You’ll start out, for your first year, with seven classes – Charms, Care of Magical Creatures, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, Potions, Transfiguration, and flying lessons. You can drop flying lessons in your second year, and begin electives in your third year, if you want. In your fifth year, you’ll take your first set of major exams, the Critical Assessment of Talents and Skills, or CATS. After that, you may select classes to focus on, though you’ll need at least two to graduate and three if you want to pursue your education further after you leave Sonora.”
He thought that was enough terrifying exam talk for the limited attention spans of eleven-year-olds for now. “We know that you all come from different educational backgrounds now,” he said, because this was true. Some might have gone to Muggle elementary schools while others might have had specialized tutors for each subject while others might have had…more unorthodox training. Most fell somewhere on a continuum between the extremes of unschooling and specialized tutors for each subject. “Your professors all have office hours when we can give you extra help in our subjects if you need it, and Professor Skies, our Deputy Headmistress and your Transfiguration teacher, runs special sessions for anyone who needs help with reading and writing English more fluently, or with basic maths. You can see times for those in the schedules in your green folders – everyone get one of those if you don’t have one yet.
“Outside of classes, you’ll have some choice in how you spend your time. We have a variety of clubs and sports here, and you’ll see notices about meetings posted around the schools when the students who organize them are ready to start up for the year. Breakfast is from 6:30 to 8:30 a.m, lunch is from 11:00 to one, and supper is five till seven, but you can find snacks and drinks there between those times as well. Curfew is at ten p.m., and at that time, you’ll need to be inside your Houses – which are part of the main building, don’t worry. They’re four groups of rooms, and tonight, at the Welcoming Feast, you’ll be Sorted into one of them by dipping the blank badges you have now into a cauldron. If your badge turns blue, you’re an Aladren – the House that values learning and problem-solving.” He might have sounded a little proud there; he was a former Aladren as well as Head of the House. “If it turns red, you belong in Crotalus, the House for people who like to be well-prepared for everything. Yellow means you’re in Teppenpaw, the House for our diplomats – and a House which has done very well in the House Cup recently,” he added, lest Teppenpaw sound lame to them. “Finally, if your badge turns brown, that means you’re a Pecari, the House for people who always land on their feet and are always willing to take a chance. All the Houses have other traits, though, so don’t worry if you don’t think any of those things sounds exactly like you – there’s a place for everyone here at Sonora.
“Your House will have prefects, who are older students, and a Head, who is a staff member – I’m the Head of Aladren, for instance. They’ll all look after you while you’re here. Your House can earn points based on things you do – excelling in class or in sports, or showing responsibility, or somehow helping the school community and showing leadership. The House with the most points at the end of the year earns the House Cup, and sometimes other privileges – Teppenpaw House has hosted the Cup for a good while now, but last year, Crotalus came within one point, so it's anyone's game and I encourage you all to do your best to help your Houses give the Prairie Dogs some competition.” He decided, regretfully, that it would not be diplomatic to not-entirely-joke about how those of them who were Sorted into Aladren should try extra hard.
“If no-one has any questions about all of that, you can mingle and get to know your classmates for a while and have some snacks until we begin our tour of the mansion. If you do have any questions, feel free to come see me – and welcome again to Sonora.”
OOC (Out of Character) Note:
Welcome first years to Sonora! You can post a reply here to ask staff questions or meet your new classmates. This thread is intended for first year students to have a chance to try out posting and get acclimated to the site before we throw you into the big Opening Feast, which is open to the entire school population and can be a bit overwhelming.
Please remember that anything that happened in the Sandbox was just practice and did not actually occur. (You are welcome, of course, to use any background information you generated about your character during these exercises such as pets, accidental magic, etc, but they have not yet spent any time at Sonora or interacted with any classmates.)
If you enter your email address when you reply, you will be notified when someone responds to your post. This is optional but can be useful for helping you keep track of posts. Please do NOT check the box that says 'show email address,' as this will make it public and may result in spam.
Now, go forth, new first years of Sonora! Post, enjoy, have fun! Everyone here is happy to help out, so if you've got a question, put it on the OOC board or try to catch somebody in the Chatzy and we'll try to get you an answer as quick as we can. Have fun and we’re glad you could join us!
[Credit to Nathan Xavier's author for the content of this OOC notice]
Subthreads: That's me! I'm new, and a student! by Anya Delachene with Emily Lewis
Call me Freddie. by Friederike Albert Zauberhexen with Ellie Alperton
Hi and stuff. [Tag Dathan] by Jezebel Reed-Fischer with Dathan Fischer
Um, hello by Nicolas DiCaprio
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Professor Wright
Welcome to Orientation, New Students!
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Professor Wright
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Anya Delachene
June 21, 2019 11:17 PM
That's me! I'm new, and a student! by Anya Delachene
Jasmine had reported that she and Peyton had their own separate beds, normal beds that people flopped down into instead of climbing onto, but this did not stop Anya from writing 'Dear Prairie Elves: Please deliver this bag to a top bunk, please!' on a note attached to her luggage. It was a magic school, and she was sure the elves could turn her bed into a loft even if there weren't actual bunk-beds available. Bunk-beds would be cool though. She'd always wanted a bunk-bed, but the ranch was big enough that she and her siblings could all have their own rooms, and Jasmine did not want to share with her, and mom and dad wouldn't hear of her and Philippe sharing one, which she thought was kind of dumb but Philippe didn't seem too keen on the idea either so no bunk-bed for her at home. Dad did make her a loft though, and she didn't think she'd enjoy being back down at ground level here at school.Once she checked that the note hadn't come off during the trip, she said good-bye to Jasmine, then checked her ankle to see if it had bruised. There was definitely a red hand-shaped mark on it from where her sister had kept a death grip on her the whole way from California. Anya rubbed it a little, and it hurt some from the pressure. It probably would bruise. She hoped Jasmine wouldn't tattle. Her sister had ensured that Anya hadn't actually been in much danger of falling out of the wagon (or at least triggering the safety charms Anya felt sure must exist, but which Jasmine apparently either didn't believe in or didn't trust), and watching the ground pass under them from that high up was just so awesome, that a little bruise was well worth the experience of hanging half out the back as they crossed over two states.
She took note of the direction Glasses Dude pointed her toward, but instead of following the hedge paths, she instead decided to forge through the hedges themselves and see if that got her there any faster or just got her lost.
It was the later, but she did eventually find where she was supposed to be by climbing a tree to see over the hedge walls and get a better bearing.
Once in the clearing, she collected a folder (it did not match her robes, because she wasn't wearing hers, which Jasmine and their Mom had been very put out about, but Anya didn't like the robes as they got in her way too much; besides her well-worn Rainbow Dash t-shirt and athletic shorts were much more her style than some boring old green uniform, plus she had actually brushed her curly hair into some semblance of order today so that was more than enough conformance to her mother's dictates about her appearance today) and a cookie. After the cookie was gone, she was thirsty and went back for some water.
She sipped at that while Glasses Dude droned on for like forever about stuff anybody with a big sister here already knew. Of course, it was probable that other people did not have this advantage, but that didn't make it any less super tedious for her. Though she did laugh at the part where he categorized Pecaris as those who landed on their feet. That was where she expected to go, and even if she didn't always stick her landings, she still thought it was particularly applicable to her, given how often she fell and how little she got seriously hurt from it.
When he was finally done talking, she grinned at another new student and asked, "Are you super stoked to be here?" Her expression of excited eagerness and the way she was bouncing on the balls of her feet, and just the general happiness surrounding her suggested quite plainly that Anya herself was, indeed, super stoked to be here.
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Anya Delachene
That's me! I'm new, and a student!
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Emily Lewis
June 22, 2019 12:18 PM
Oddly enough, I believe I fit that description too by Emily Lewis
“Err...” Emily said, mainly as a placeholder while she gathered her thoughts and refocused them away from the teacher who had been talking and to the student who had just addressed her. And, she now noted with mild interest, had somehow managed to avoid wearing the uniform. She experienced a moment of self-consciousness and smoothed her uniform robes in response. The thought that wearing robes was a bit weird popped into her head.“Ahh...” she continued, and started to get a little annoyed with herself.
Her hazel eyes narrowed somewhat, and she flicked open her folder, glancing at it to ground herself. She took a deep breath and scrunched her nose to the side.
“I think so,” she said, a waver in her voice giving away her uncertainty. “It's just all a bit... new.”
The talk from Mr Wright, or Professor Wright, or whatever they were supposed to call him - it certainly felt like she was having to completely shift her understanding of how the world worked in even more ways, and this was just another example - had been enlightening. While she'd learnt a little about what to expect, it seemed there was more still to discover. She also hadn’t expected to miss her family so much either. Even Mags. But maybe this was just what happened when you went off on your own for the first time. It would probably be quieter here, she reasoned.
She glanced at the other student again.
“I'm Emily - Emilia, really, but call me Emily. What's your name?” And, before there was even the chance of a response being given the next words tumbled out in an undignified rush. “Do you suppose there's a library?” She was rustling through the pages of her folder seeking the answer at the same time. After all, there was no guarantee this other first year knew anything more than she did. And, as her brain continued to tick over, concluded more quietly to herself, “stupid question, there must be. What kind of school wouldn’t have a library? I just hope it's not boring.” Wrong word. Her brow furrowed. “Not just, you know, school stuff.”
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Emily Lewis
Oddly enough, I believe I fit that description too
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Emily Lewis
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Anya Delachene
June 22, 2019 10:04 PM
No way! That's so cool! by Anya Delachene
Anya's very first conclusion about Emily was that she did not have an older sister at the school, or none of this would qualify as 'new' even when qualified as 'just all a bit'. But this was totally fine. Anya was perfectly happy to share her advantages as the little sister with her new friend."I'm Anya," she said. "Well, Anastasia," she added, because Emily had offered what her name was short for, too, so it seemed only fair to return the favor. "But my mom's the only one who ever calls me that," she qualified. Usually when she was mad, but Mom was usually mad, at least at Anya, so it wasn't much of a distinction worth mentioning. "I like Anya way better."
Anya's second conclusion about Emily was that she'd get sorted into Aladren, if the library was the first thing she wanted to know about. Though the fact that she was interested in the not-boring, not-class books was promising. "Jasmine says - Jasmine's my sister, she's a fifth year now - the library's pretty big. And my Uncle Daniel - he used to go here a long time ago - said it's got good books about a lot of subjects. But he's an Aladren, so I don't know if he just meant class subjects or not."
"I'm guessing you don't have any relatives who came here before?" she asked. "Aside from my uncle and sister, both my parents were Sonorans, too, so I basically grew up on stories about this place. I'm sooo excited that it's finally my turn to come. I figure I'll be a Pecari like Mom and Dad." Well, like Mom and Dad was probably the wrong way to put it. Raoul Delachene had been quiet and easy going, and the very definition of adaptable. Holly Delachene, formerly Greer, on the other hand . . . well, there was very little Anya and her mother had in common, starting with blood, given that Anya and Jasmine were both adopted. Even for non-hereditary things like life goals and interests, Jasmine took after Mom far more than Anya did, and Jasmine had ended up in Crotalus. Mom did not so much adapt to the world around her, as interpret the world around her the way she wanted it to be.
Unfortunately, Anya was never going to conform to the idea of what Mom wanted her daughter to be like and the disconnect between Reality and What Mom Wanted led to a lot of use of Anya's full name. Anya was not a princess. Anya wanted nothing to do with princesses. She wanted Adventure, and Excitement, and she'd far rather be the capable, scrappy protagonist of her wild story than just some entitled girl who wore pretty dresses, sang songs, and lived happily ever after with some dumb prince.
"What sort of Not School Stuff are you hoping to find?" she asked curiously, jumping back to the previous line of conversation as if they'd never left it.
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Anya Delachene
No way! That's so cool!
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Anya Delachene
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Emily Lewis
June 27, 2019 7:59 AM
Yeah, about that... by Emily Lewis
“Hmm?” Emily said, as her attention was grabbed back by the other girl. It took a moment before the introduction filtered through and she filed away the name in her mind under ‘things to remember’. “Like the Romanov Grand Duchess? Cool.” That she knew this mainly because of the animated movie which had been a favourite of Abby’s two years ago she didn’t mention. Although when it was revealed that Anya’s sister was named Jasmine she started to seriously wonder if there was some animated movie theme going on here.Uncle Daniel? Was there an Uncle Daniel in a cartoon? She tried to think back to the old Disney movies she’d watched and failed to find a match. For a moment she wondered about Abby’s morning cartoons before she dismissed them as too recent to have had any influence on someone being called Uncle Daniel.
Although, she noted after a moment, it was probably just Daniel. This led to a new trip down the rabbit hole with a similar lack of results. Her knowledge on the topic just wasn’t thorough enough. Maybe Jack would know: he was a TV fanatic.
Topic to include in first letter home, she mentally noted.
Of course, it might not have been animated. There were plenty of Daniels in books. There was Daniel in the bible. And there was Daniel in Danny the Champion of the World. Iron Fist was a Daniel. Did it count if it was a comic?
It was about this time that she tuned back into the conversation. Something had caught her attention. Some indication that she should say something. There had been something. Something… A tone. A question! A question she should probably answer. Which would be easier if she had been listening.
“Sorry,” she apologised, “I think I was distracted. What did you ask?”
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Emily Lewis
Yeah, about that...
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Emily Lewis
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Anya
June 27, 2019 1:31 PM
About what? by Anya
“Exactly,” Anya confirmed when Emily identified the source of her name, and further cemented the impression that she was going to be an Aladren by the lack of mentioning the Dreamworks movie. Of course, Emily might not have access to muggle movies, but that only made the likelihood of her knowing about the Grand Duchess even more remote. She rolled her eyes and added, “My mom has a thing for princesses.”Anya tilted her head and regarded Emily a little curiously when she was requested to repeat herself. She was kind of used to Jasmine not listening to her - well, that was unfair. Jasmine listened. Jasmine just did not comprehend if Anya ventured too far from the conversational topics of Disney or horses. If she started talking gymnastics or mountain climbing, or, Merlin forbid, geology then Jasmine looked at Anya like she had started talking in French or something. It was the same polite but quizzical look her older sister used when Grand-mère said something privately to Grand-père in their native language.
Emily’s face did not have that expression. It was different. More like she just hadn’t heard instead of not understanding. Anya wondered if she was hard of hearing. Uncle Luke’s dad was like that. Anya didn’t usually make a habit of mumbling, but maybe she had turned too far too the side for lip reading? She had been looking around, taking in the Gardens.
But no, just distracted, Emily said, which was fair. There was plenty to be distracted by here. But just in case, Anya faced her directly and spoke clearly, and a little louder than before. “I wondered if there was anything specific you wanted to find in the library?”
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Anya
About what?
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Anya
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Emily Lewis
June 27, 2019 5:44 PM
My point exactly by Emily Lewis
“Oh, stories,” Emily answered both relieved that Anya has just apparently repeated her question without making a fuss and a little perplexed about why the volume had increased. She supposed that perhaps it was because of the gaggle of other students around them, and the noise that seemed to happen whenever you got a few people together was giving Anya trouble, and so matched her in volume. “Poetry, maybe. Do magic people write poetry?”Gaggle was such an interesting word. And really, it was the perfect word - she had a quick glance around at the rest of her apparent new classmates - yes, definitely the perfect word for a collective of first year witches and wizards. Why should it be confined to geese? Of course, there might even be a word that they used for a group of themselves.
Or ourselves, she mentally corrected. I'm one of those people.
The thought was bemusing and a slight half smile twitched on her lips. It was strange to think of herself as one of the majority. It wasn’t as it she’d had no friends before this. She'd had several back at school and in the neighbourhood. And there was her family too. There were enough of them, for sure. But this seemed slightly different.
Although, she drew herself short, it wouldn’t be all that different if she couldn’t keep focused on one conversation. She wondered if there had been a significant pause, and hoped she hadn’t missed anything this time. After all, it was possible that this might be her first magical - also magical - friend at this new school. Her eyes sharpened as she reigned in her mental musings to pay attention to Anya again.
“Maybe,” she coughed and cleared her throat as she remembered halfway through the word that the volume had increased and she should at least try to maintain that increase unless a there was a reasonable reason to decrease again. ”Sorry, maybe etymology too,” she admitted.
The last one was where she tended to lose people. She'd discovered it just last year when her teacher had taught them some of the basics about word origins and they'd all got to make monsters and accurately name them based on their features. It stood out as a highlight of her education to date. The other kids had just mainly enjoyed playing around with cardboard, scissors, paints and other craft supplies. Emily had lost herself in the creation of the perfect word.
“Do you like stories?” She ventured to ask. It didn’t quite seem right to specifically ask whether Anya liked words yet.
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Emily Lewis
My point exactly
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Anya
June 27, 2019 11:33 PM
Who needs points? by Anya
“Stories are good,” Anya admitted. They were, if nothing else, more interesting than most other books in the library. She could rarely sit still long enough to read or watch them, but she liked the concept of stories on the whole.Etymology, on the other hand, was a little trickier to enthuse about with her new friend. Not least because Anya wasn’t entirely sure if that was the study of words or the study of bugs, and the context of them being a thing to read about in the library didn’t really narrow the options any, and the ideal method about enthusing about words was very different than the ideal method for enthusing about bugs. And just saying, “Yeah, etymology! Woot! Go that!” would make it horribly obvious she didn’t know what they were talking about and she didn’t want to sound dumb. So she didn’t say that either.
Luckily, she was saved from this predicament by being asked if she liked stories. Anya was pretty sure she’d just said she did, but she’d forgotten to talk loudly, so maybe it was a hearing issue. She didn’t want to pry though, so didn’t comment on it and just repeated at the higher volume, “Stories are good!”
She far preferred having her own adventures to reading about someone else’s, so she didn’t actually read a whole lot of fiction. But there were more ways to enjoy stories than just reading about them.
“Me and my brother have been playing an ongoing superhero plot for ages. My superpower is that I can fly, and his is that he can turn into a car. He was on a big transformer kick when we started. And my secret identity is basically Lois Lane, because she’s awesome, but I was seven and thought I was clever and super subtle, so my secret identity name is Lisa Ludwig. And Philippe was five so he wasn’t subtle at all, and his secret identity is Drake Mallard because Darkwing Duck is the the best tv show ever. Do you ever make up your own stories, or do you mostly like reading them?”
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Anya
Who needs points?
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