... on Library

Miss DiAnna Diaz

November 09, 2011 9:48 AM

First years' library orientation by Miss DiAnna Diaz

Last year's pilot attempt at offering first year students a tour of the library had gone well, and so the library orientation was being repeated this year. First years had barely even started their classes, and so many of them had not yet had chance to visit the library. Instead of attending class following breakfast one morning, the first year students were required to meet in the library, at DiAnna's desk near the entrance from the main school (the entrance to the Aladren commons was also concealed within the library, but that would be one landmark she would keep quiet from the rest of the students).

DiAnna herself was waiting to meet the students. Some of them - most notably the Aladrens - had probably seen her around already. Those who hadn't might not be prepared to discover their school librarian was a young woman of twenty-five years, who was perhaps the Muggle fairytale pictoral representation of a witch (minus the warts, of cause). DiAnna's long hair was dyed black, she always wore dark eye make-up, and further whitened her already pale skin. Her wardrobe was composed almost entirely of black, with occasional flashes of purple and red, and was largely made of velvet and lace. Her feet were encased in high-heeled boots, that helped to put her above the height of the younger students (though several of the older kids were still taller).

"Okay, everyone," DiAnna called attention to herself. She'd gotten a lot more confident with addressing large groups of people since she'd accidentally become divinations professor for the past couple of terms. She was, however, pleased to be returning to her original duties this year. "For those of you who don't know me, I'm Miss Diaz, the librarian. This morning we're just going to have a look round the library, because it can be quite daunting when you don't know what you're doing." her words were undoubtedly more or less identical to those she'd spoken to last year's group of first year students.

"Before we start, you should know that you can take out as many books as you like from the library, as long as you're being sensible. They need renewing after a week or they've been charmed to find their way back to the library." How they did this had never been very clear to DiAnna, but they somehow all ended up on her desk without the students' involvement. "Obviously, if you keep having overdue books, you'll be allowed to borrow fewer at one time than someone who returns books promptly, which could get you into trouble at the end of the year when you need to study for exams." It hadn't been a problem before, but it seemed fair to draw their attention to the potential scenario.

"That said, you can stay and study in the librry until ten minutes before curfew, and use any of the books without borrowing them. When you want to check a book out, just find me or one of the library monitors." That was something else she needed to explain. "The library monitors are student volunteers - the sign-up sheet will be going up next week," she pointed to the noticeboard, "and first years are welcome to sign up, too, as monitors or assistants." That was the basics covered; now for the books. "Okay, so if you could all stay together for the tour, that would be great."

Walking round with the first years, DiAnna showed them where they could find all their subject-relevant textbooks and some age-appropriate fiction. She also pointed out the restricted section, and made it very clear that students were not allowed to enter without staff permission. At the end of the tour, she addressed the group once more. "Okay, now you're free to have a look round properly, and if you want to come and check some books out, or if you have any questions, I'll be at my desk."

(OOC: Remember to stick to site rules when you post. You will earn House points for posting here, just as you would in a class.)

Subthreads:

Music to my ears. by Ephanie Lucore with Elijah Errant, Ephanie

... by Angel Shield - Teppenpaw with Jade Owen, Angel, Angel

What a waste of time by Gareth Whitebriar - Crotalus with Meggie Brownbriar, Gareth

Getting oriented and acquainted. by Alicia Bauer with Thaddeus Pierce II, Aladren, Thad Pierce

Smiling and Nodding. by Cepheus Princeton with Waverly Canterbury, Waverly

0 Miss DiAnna Diaz First years' library orientation 0 Miss DiAnna Diaz 1 5

Ephanie Lucore

November 10, 2011 1:18 AM

Music to my ears. by Ephanie Lucore

Ephanie was thrilled to discover that instead of going to class, they would be going to the library. She was lucky enough to have already been through the library to some extent since her house opening was behind a bookcase within the room. However, to have the pleasure of a tour was like a dream come true even if it was coming from someone that looked quite…well…frightening. She had no idea why anyone would want to wear so much black. It just seemed soooo depressing. It was a stark contrast to the scoop neck purple floral print dress she was wearing underneath her required forest green robes. The silver sandals were a nice touch and she could only imagine that they were more comfortable than the high-heeled boots the librarian was wearing.

She didn’t have much time to dwell upon this though as the woman dressed in black began to speak. While Ephanie knew that she was the librarian, she had not known her name and was pleased to learn that her name was Miss Diaz, because despite her dress would undoubtedly end up being of use to her over the course of the next year.

At the mention of the possibility of becoming a library monitor or assistant, a nervous sort of excitement and energy filled Ephanie. What would it be like to have such a responsibility? Her blue eyes looked over the entirety of the library with awe. It would be a dream come true. To know the library inside and out. To know every book down to the very last page. But was she ready? Did she really want to? She would actually have to help others, which would cut into the pure pleasure of working on her own. Dilemmas, dilemmas. She was going to have to seriously think about this.

But that could wait as the expedition of stacks began. Greedily, hungrily, she gazed at as many books as possible, attempting to find the ones that she would want to take out later though it was near impossible since there was so many. Though, her eyes rolled a bit when the age-appropriate fiction was pointed out. Most of the titles she had read quite a while ago and did not come near to the dramatic flair she yearned for. She was already a horrible addict of the soap operas that aired on the WWN (Wizarding Wireless Network.)

Often, she was able to gain an understanding of how one was to behave through the shows. By doing so, she could translate this behavior to analogous situations that occurred in the plays she acted out in their dusty attic. There she could be the woman struggling to keep her family together or the puppet master pulling everyone’s strings. How frequently did the same characters appear in various forms? She wondered how many people actually realized that plays were nothing more than fancier soap operas for those that wished to think of themselves more dignified than indecorous.

Ending the tour, magic words were spoken to her ears. They were free to browse. Her feet nearly danced towards the books. There they were, waiting, waiting just for her. Which to choose first? Should she find something familiar or something new? A newer play caught her attention. It was called The Lion King. She had never heard of it and being an avid cat lover decided to browse through it. She was nearly through the first act when someone bumped into her causing her to drop her book. Sighing she picked it up and glared at the person. “It is customary to say excuse me, especially when you lose someone’s place.”

0 Ephanie Lucore Music to my ears. 0 Ephanie Lucore 0 5

Elijah Errant

November 10, 2011 3:49 PM

Pain to my arm. by Elijah Errant

'She is the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.' The rest of the first years streaming past him, Elijah simply stood staring as the librarian - 'Miss Diaz, Miss Diaz, Miss Diaz, Miss Diaz.' He repeated the heavenly chorus again and again in his mind - cradling his left arm that was slung in a cast against his chest, feeling the beating of his heart, the rhythm picking up. It filled his ears, flushed him with a peculiar heat. 'The library is a wonderful, magical place.' It took him a moment before he followed, hurrying to catch up as the group turned a corner, gently weaving in and out of students to catch up to the front, and to Her. 'What should I say? How should I introduce myself?' His father, Julio, had often gone off on long tangents about the various loves in his lives he had conquered over the years, before he'd settled down and married (three times). 'But I bet father has never ever seen a woman as wonderful, as beautiful...' Dark brown eyes gazed up, feet walking independently of mind and rapidly beating heart. 'Ella es el pináculo de la belleza, de la vida, de todo. Ella es mi corazón, y como sirvo a mi corazón, escuchar sus latidos, seguir su ejemplo, así que voy a servir, escuchar y seguir ella.' Spanish flooded his mind, seeping into the blood that was rushing everywhere in wild torrents. When the tour ended, Elijah paused along with the other first years, leaning back against a bookshelf, gazing up at her, yearning for her eyes to fall down on him.

Sighing a little sadly as she went to go to her desk, Elijah's nails dug into the wood of a shelf, clenching his fingers, trying to work up the courage to go talk to the woman. His woman. The only woman he was sure to ever love the way he loved her now. 'If only I was taller.' While he was doubtlessly mature enough for her, he knew she wouldn't even notice him until he became tall enough. He'd wait a few weeks and then see how much he'd grown. Then he'd approach, lean over her desk and kiss her, her hand in his hand, lead her into the gardens and kiss her again, his Hippogriff Sombra circling above, occasionally shading them from the hot Arizona sun, then land gently on the ground, he'd pick her up and carry her onto the flying beast, Sombra would again take flight, and - abruptly his fantasy stopped the conversation of some kids interrupting the moment. Elijah pushed off from the desk, right hand sinking into the pocket of his forest green robes, gently stroking the surprisingly soft fur of his sleeping pet rat. Against his left thigh he could feel the rosewood wand pressing his skin through the other pocket. He didn’t feel comfortably using it and the brief instance of attempting magic had been rather pathetic since his wand arm was in a cast. He would have to remember to keep the fact that Sombra had wounded him away from Miss Diaz so she wouldn’t feel scared riding her.

“So…” Elijah muttered to himself, scratching the back of his head, fingers digging hard at his scalp beneath the thick mass of dark curls, his dark brown eyes blinking at the rows and rows of shelves. The library wasn’t nearly as fascinating as their guardian, but Elijah knew he didn’t have a chance with the woman unless he spent the future majority of his time here. He was a little worried since his record with librarians was not very good. He couldn’t help delighting in the little flashes of rage that struck their faces as he slowly, leisurely, almost lovingly ripped the pages from their seams. Usually these were at university libraries where they knew him as the son of Julio Errantez, an Ambassador and a generous lover of libraries. Punishing his son might have consequences for them. Elijah wouldn’t have minded so terribly getting in trouble, he didn’t even want the librarians to be hurt. He was just addicted to the way their faces contorted, interested in what pushed their buttons, and amused to find that he had the privilege of studying this in a way few others could get away with. ‘But I won’t do that here, I promise. I’ll be good to these books for her.’

He continued wandering through the rows and rows of shelves, turning around, walking backwards occasionally, invariably swaying in and out of people’s way, even starting to make a game out of it. He imagined flying in the library; mounting his broom and kicking off, dipping down, pulling up sharply to avoid simple pedestrian book lovers, showing off for Miss Diaz who would no doubt appreciate a spark in her endless boredom of simply staring at rustled pages and book titles. “Ow!” A slight hiss escaped his gritted teeth, as Elijah accidentally turned in mid sway out of somebody’s way and into another girl’s, pushing against her with his left arm, the cast slipping a little in the loosened sling. As she gave an audible sigh and picked up her book, he adjusted the sling, raising his eyes to look at her as she glared at him. ‘I don’t seem to have much luck with women these days.’ He thought of Waverly.

“It is customary to say excuse me, especially when you lose someone’s place.”

“Give me a chance and I will.” Elijah fired back at her, brief color rising in his dark caramel skin. He glared back at the girl, but then the pain in his arm throbbed hot once, he closed his eyes, and then the pain settled down again. He opened them, the glare easing off, the lines relaxing into his smoothed over face. “Pardon me,” He gave her a shallow bow, inclining his head and a little of his back. “I didn’t mean to bump into you, and I’m sorry I lost your place.” He straightened up again, his voice a little colored with his Spanish accent but much cooler than normal, affecting the tones he’d learned to use when in polite society when in various Ministry or Pureblood balls around Europe. Hesitating, wanting to move on but not seem rude, he took a step toward the girl, glancing curiously at the title of an apparent play. “Do you… need help with finding your place?” No, that was stupid. “Or something?” He wasn’t really sure what to ask. He cleared his throat and asked again before she could answer. “I’ve never heard of this play. What’s it about?” Okay, well now he was just awkwardly intruding. Elijah felt this immediately and silently gave the girl permission in his mind to be rude and send him on his way.

0 Elijah Errant Pain to my arm. 0 Elijah Errant 0 5

Angel Shield - Teppenpaw

November 12, 2011 4:23 PM

... by Angel Shield - Teppenpaw

The library was rather intimidating to the young albino and after one peak he’d chosen to avoid it. Pale hands were hidden in the overly long sleeves of his black robes as Angel walked silently into the room. He’d decided that seems it wasn’t an actual class he could ware his preferred clothing instead of the school uniform. Black and white were the only shades Angel wore, and the green school robes made him feel uncomfortable so he wore them only when required. He’d learned a long time ago shades that appealed to his eyes didn’t appeal to others. Angel was rarely betrayed by black and white, though from time to time white would turn out to be yellow, but that hadn’t happened to his clothes in a long time.

The thick carpet was pleasant against his bare feet as Angel slipped silently into place at the back of the small group of first years. His quiet presence going unnoticed as the rest of the children focused on the woman standing in front of him. And she was deserving of a look or two. It was rare to see someone comprised of such sharp contrast of light and dark. He observed her under the fringe of his ash white hair as she spoke.

Most people were made up of the middling shades but she was a study of black and white. Similar to himself in that manner but though her skin was white it didn’t quite reach his ethereal degree of paleness. Unlike his own ashen locks hers were made up of midnight and blended in with her ebony robes.

Angel was careful to keep out of the way of his fellow students as they followed the librarian though the massive daunting stacks. How will I ever find anything in here? He wondered as he bit his bottom lip, feeling completely overwhelmed by the the vast number of books. The tour had come to an end with out the ghostly pale boy noticing and he accidental bumped into the person in front of him. He stepped back quickly and dropped his gaze from the mountains of books to the floor at his feet.

0 Angel Shield - Teppenpaw ... 0 Angel Shield - Teppenpaw 0 5

Gareth Whitebriar - Crotalus

November 12, 2011 7:25 PM

What a waste of time by Gareth Whitebriar - Crotalus

While it was nice to get out of classes for the morning the reason was still mind numbingly boring. Really, what child didn’t know how to use a library? And even if they didn’t know, that’s what the librarian was for. I could have been exploring the gardens Gareth thought wistfully as he entered the library and found the group of waiting first years.

His blue eyes widened a bit as he stared at the woman who was supposedly their librarian. She didn’t look like anyone who’d held that title Gareth had ever known. In fact, she didn’t look like any of the adult female’s he’d known. His nose crinkled in distaste at the excess makeup the woman wore. It was rather tacky. Gareth understood that ladies wore makeup, but really that was far too much to be considered decent. That and wearing all black just made her look too pale.

The library was of a good size, not as large as the Blackbriar ancestral library but it had enough selection to be beneficial for school work research. While Gareth wasn’t the most studious of children, he had been blessed, or cursed with very strict tutors. Because of this he was familiar with libraries and navigating them so he followed along with the other students giving her tour very little attention.

Once they were finally released to freely explore the library Gareth turned his back on the strange woman glad that he wouldn’t likely need her assistance in the coming years. Not terribly interested in exploring the stacks Gareth looked around for someone who appeared equally board to spend the remainder of the allotted time with.

0 Gareth Whitebriar - Crotalus What a waste of time 0 Gareth Whitebriar - Crotalus 0 5

Jade Owen

November 14, 2011 12:34 PM

Is that all you have to say for yourself? by Jade Owen

Libraries weren't really Jade's thing. That wasn't to say that she didn't enjoy reading, but to be in a library was to practically procalim to the world that you were a nerd - like the Aladrens - and Jade had no intentions of doing that. She liked books with pictures, and cartoon books, especially about animals. She had ~~stolen~~ borrowed the occasional thriller or horror book from Josephine while her sister had been away at school and scared herself silly for the following couple of weeks, but by and large, Jade had no interest in borrowing books. Hence the tour of the library did not strike her as an especially momentous occasion.

It was, however, required, so the Pecari joined all the other first years in piling into the library instead of class one morning. She blinked a couple of times at the librarian, who looked about as far from Jade's preconception of a librarian as could be measured by any metaphor. She was far too fussy for Jade's tastes - the younger girl couldn't imagine having to spend time in the morning putting on make-up; she barely ever remembered to pull a brush through her chestnut curls. And as for Miss Diaz's outfit, well, ade would rather wear her own patched leggings and faded jersey over a dress any day, no matter how frightening it might make her look.

With limited interest, Jade followed the group around the stacks, picking up details here and there that she thought might be useful to look into later (the Restricted Section definitely being among those listed). When they came to a halt, she apparently did so too abruptly, as someone walked right into her. A quick rise of her unruly eyebrows was all Jade offered as an initial reaction, but then, out of a lack of anything better to do, she turned to see who'd bumped her. The kid had his eyes down examining his feet; no wonder he'd instigated a collision. "Your eyes are useful to see where you're going," she told him cheerfully.

0 Jade Owen Is that all you have to say for yourself? 221 Jade Owen 0 5

Meggie Brownbriar

November 14, 2011 3:49 PM

I had to leave my room for this? by Meggie Brownbriar

Meggie put her light blonde hair up in it’s normal proper style the morning of their Orientation in the Library. Her blue eyes shone behind her glasses with a slight sheen of tears as she thought of her mother. A picture of the woman, Crystin Brownbriar was stuck in a corner of her mirror and daily eleven year old Meggie looked at it. She missed her mother more than anything and anyone in the world. Her mother was her best friend, her confidante, her other half of the diabolical pair.

But now she was gone.

The clicking of the hands of her mother’s watch on her golden chain resonated through her body almost like it was her mother and the baby’s heartbeat and Meggie lived off of that beat.

In any case, that morning she, Gareth and the other first years would have Orientation at the Library so she had to forge through anything she was thinking. Besides, Gareth was her cousin and he knew her, that was better than nothing, she knew that. She turned away from the mirror and walked out the door and down to the Library.

She walked into the Library and met the other first years at the desk and waited to see what they would be doing. The Librarian DiAnna Diaz was young with long black hair, dark eye makeup and pale skin. She was wearing all dark colors and on her feet was a pair of high heeled boots. If Meggie was easily intimidated by others the woman may have scared her, but thankfully Meggie was not easily scared. The Librarian introduced herself, telling them what they would be doing that morning and the new Teppenpaw looked around at the other first years as she spoke on and on about Library rules and whatnot. Megan Aaliyah Brownbriar listened just as she should as the woman spoke, but a lot of it went in one ear and out the other as she looked around at the other kids like Gareth.

Speaking of Gareth, she spotted her cousin across the desk area from her and the Brownbriar girl shuffled along the others to make it to her Whitebriar cousin and stood by his side. She knew that he was bored, she could tell by the look in his eyes. They’d both been in much bigger libraries than this one so they were very familiar with how to find things so she sort of lagged behind with him paying almost no attention to it all. She looked to her cousin when the tour was over and whispered to him, “What was the point in that?”

0 Meggie Brownbriar I had to leave my room for this? 0 Meggie Brownbriar 0 5

Alicia Bauer

November 14, 2011 5:08 PM

Getting oriented and acquainted. by Alicia Bauer

Alicia was, she thought, probably more familiar with the library than most of her fellow first years due to living behind it and having taken advantage of some of her free time to look around and learn some of the sections, but she gathered with the other first years, smiling and looking around and trying her best to look excited. Really, she was still worrying that she’d picked the wrong ribbon to hold her bangs back from her face – she’d considered the blue and gold ones she’d worn her first day to celebrate her Sorting, but had finally chosen a red one for today – and was going to be seen as not Aladren enough to win the librarian’s favor, but she didn’t want to wear blue all the time and people think she was so Aladren that she’d only be friends with Aladrens. Besides, she liked how the red ribbon looked in her hair much better, she didn’t want to go all year without wearing it.

She made a few notes in the little notebook she kept in her pocket, particularly about the library monitor thing – that would be great, she should do that – and tried to put it away without it being obvious she was doing anything when the tour began, since she wasn’t sure what people would think of someone taking notes during the library introduction speech, especially when she was an Aladren and supposed to be here anyway.

The tour mostly covered things she had already found, subjects and the age-appropriate fiction section she expected to only check a few token things out of for show, but the restricted section got an honestly covetous look for a second before she caught herself, and even then she glanced at it again as they moved away from it. She knew many of the things in there would go completely over her head even if she could get to them, at least until she knew a little more than she did now, but she couldn’t help but want to go see. There was all that information in there, and she couldn’t have it, and it was as bad as it had been when Rachel had first gone to school and had been playing with her wand all the time and Alicia had just been able to look on and do nothing.

It had been a few months later that she’d started teaching herself as much as she could. That, too, was something to think about.

When they were given permission to wander, she smiled widely, pleased, for a moment, looking at the floor in the same moment before she began to look around the library, wondering where to go first. It was an effort, but she resisted the temptation to head right back to the restricted section and stand there, instead approaching another student with a less excited and more social smile. “There’s lots here, isn’t there?” she said, making a small gesture toward the shelves. “We shouldn’t even have trouble with all Professor Fawcett’s research.”

16 Alicia Bauer Getting oriented and acquainted. 210 Alicia Bauer 0 5

Thaddeus Pierce II, Aladren

November 14, 2011 8:00 PM

Have you succeeded? by Thaddeus Pierce II, Aladren

The library orientation was something Thaddeus had been looking forward to. Granted, he had already explored it a bit on his own (he was, after all, an Aladren, and each time he had passed through on his way to or from the Common Room, he had taken a different circuitous route just to see what other books were available), but a guided tour would provide more information than a simple walk-through could.

Two such examples were the mention of the Monitors and Assistants, which he would definitely be signing up for, and the closed off Restricted Section, which he might not have otherwise known about. The later became an immediate source of curiosity and a goal to be earned in time. It wasn't so much that he wanted to know the kinds of things that would gain a book a restricted status, as that he didn't take well to being told he couldn't know things.

When Ms. Diaz (who was very unlikely to be of pure blood given that she had a job, even before considering her odd mode of dress) finished and retreated to her desk, Thad was seriously tempted to follow after her and pepper her with a variety of questions he had about the history and statistics of the library (she had, after all, made the very generous offer to answer any questions he had), but then Alicia approached and took the decision from him.

He decided that Ms. Diaz wasn't going anywhere and he had plenty of time over the next seven years to ambush her desk and interrogate her for all the knowledge she might be able to impart. In the meantime, there was Alicia Bauer. She was the person from their Opening Feast group that Thad felt the most sure was proper family-approved friend material.

He smiled and gave her an abbreviated bow of welcome. "Good day, Miss Alicia," he greeted, uncertain if he was permitted yet to use her first name, and hoping that the addition of the salutation was enough formality to make up for it if he wasn't.

He just hoped her opening statement wasn't some kind of backhanded reference to Derry's first potions research project. Alicia had one sister who was a prefect who was too old to know about it, but he wasn't sure how old her other sister was; she could have been in Derry's beginner class two years ago. It was bad enough Thad knew his mother had been too old to naturally bear him when she did. He didn't feel that was a fact the rest of his class needed to know as well.

"I am sure it will suit all of our needs," he agreed. "I don't think my family has this many books between the five houses on Mt. Pierce put together." Though, to be fair to his parents' collection, they accounted for about half of the Pierce library by themselves. But the Sonora library was certainly impressive.

0 Thaddeus Pierce II, Aladren Have you succeeded? 0 Thaddeus Pierce II, Aladren 0 5

Cepheus Princeton

November 15, 2011 11:33 AM

Smiling and Nodding. by Cepheus Princeton

Cepheus hadn't gone to the library yet, but he wasn't dying to go there. The library at the Princeton Manor was expansive and impressive in his opinion. He'd spent most of his time there being tutored with his cousins. So to say he'd received more than his share of the library was true. When he heard about the orientation, he had thoughts about not going, but he knew his father would want him to go. Tell him what American libraries looked like. Cepheus thought it silly that his father was always comparing England with America.

He walked into the library and he noticed it had a warm appeal. It would be nice to work in here, he said, appraising his surroundings like he always did. He put his hands into his pockets and followed the librarian around. She wasn't old like other librarians he'd known, which he didn't think twice about. She dressed strangely, and Cepheus didn't like it. But she was the librarian and he probably wouldn't talk to her much anyway except to check out books.

Cepheus wondered what was in the restricted section that could be so bad. He knew there were horrible magical books; his library held a few from the Princeton's past. His father had warned him against a few titles, saying that they could kill a person if one looked at it or turned to a certain page. He wasn't sure why people would make such horrid books, but they were there. Would a school library carry such books as those? He'd have to get a professor to write him a pass one day.

Once they were dismissed, he sighed. Having nothing to do yet, he decided to peruse the shelves and see what he could find. Perhaps something on DADA. As he wandered, he thought about becoming a library monitor. That would mean he'd have to spend more time here in the library than necessary, but it would give him something more to do. That is, if he didn't make the Quidditch team. He supposed he'd think more on that later on.

Once he regained his bearings, he realised he was no longer in the textbook side, but was walking through shelves full of magical fiction. Not exactly his cup of tea, but he began to look at the titles, bored.

40 Cepheus Princeton Smiling and Nodding. 216 Cepheus Princeton 0 5

Angel

November 15, 2011 12:23 PM

... by Angel

Angel watched the girl from the edge of his vision, still apparently studying the carpet his snow colored hair helped to partially obscure his observation. The slightest edge of crimson could be seen under the shield of hair as he watched her. “Yes.” Angel hesitantly agreed. He didn’t say that it was the books, the too tall shelves that had distracted him from what was going on in front of him, instead letting her believe what she wished.

Her tone wasn’t one of reprimand so Angel didn’t feel too badly about his misstep. While they stood the group around them began to disperse through out the massive library as the tour came to an end. As the other students departed Angel continued to observe the girl he’d bumped into. The clothing she wore was rather curious, unlike the robes he’d grown up with. Some of the other students had worn similar outfits during the opening feast though this one seemed to be rather worn out. I wonder if she’s poor Angel thought, not bothered by the question one way or the other simply curious.

Turning slightly to the left Angel studied the titles of the books, unsure of what else to do but believing the interaction to have come to an end in any case. How long must we stay in here? he wondered as he reached out to lightly touch one faded spine still feeling overwhelmed by the mountains of books that surrounded them.

0 Angel ... 0 Angel 0 5

Jade

November 15, 2011 12:56 PM

I thought as much by Jade

While the whitest-blond-she'd-ever-seen hair had been intriguing, when it was matched by the paleness of his face - even paler than Jade's own practically teanslucent skin - it became positively fascinating. Jade wanted to color him in. She'd had a white rat once, named Dexter, before their barn cat Pablo had found and eaten him, and this boy looked just like her white rat. "Do you mind if I call you Dexter?" she asked in a friendly conversational manner. "You remind me of my rat." She'd been going to say her dead rat, but she didn't want him to take it the wrong way and get all offended. She didn't mean it to be offensive in the slightest, but people had a funny way of not getting her meaning.

Some of the others in there group were starting to wander off and take - for some obscure reason - a second look at what they'd already been shown. Jade thought she might as well continue to hang around uber white boy - she had no other interests at that juncture. Dexter was looking at the books now. He touched one of the older looking books in what Jade perceived to be a kind of reverence. She wondered whether he was one of these strange book lovers. "You're not in Aladren, are you?" she asked, wary of his answer. Her experience of Aladrens so far was her older brother James, and he'd put her off the whole bunch of them. She was so lucky to have landed herself in Pecari. Admittedly, Josephine was in the same House, and her sister could be bossy from time to time, but it was also okay to have someone looking out for her. Not that Jade would ever admit that aloud.

0 Jade I thought as much 0 Jade 0 5

Ephanie

November 15, 2011 1:31 PM

You should be more careful. by Ephanie

When the boy sniped back at her, but not with a barb, Ephanie starred at him curiously. He was different. If she had yelled at one of the boys back home, they would have hollered back, maybe even taken the book away from her. Momma said it was because boys took more time to turn into polite gentlemen than it did for girls to become young ladies. She said that when Ephanie became older, nearly all boys would be nice to her, but it would be up to her to find the one that was sincere and worthy of her affections. While she had never told anyone, this terrified her. She didn’t want to become older. She didn’t want the veela part of her to come out. She didn’t want people to be nice to her for that reason. Or worse, she didn’t want to look like a furious veela. They were frightening! And if it did happen, what if she couldn’t look like her again? The whole thing was awful!

Rather than thinking more about it, she turned her attention back to the book flipping through the pages. “No, it’s all right. I found where I was.” She placed her finger in the spot to keep from losing it again. She really wished she had a bookmark, but then she couldn’t very well mark it, as she hadn’t taken it out of the library yet. She would have to do so at the first opportunity she got, however, for now, she would answer the boy’s questions regarding the book. “I haven’t gotten very far in the musical. It’s called The Lion King and it’s about this lion cub named Simba and his uncle is evil. He kills Mufasa, the father and current king, and blamed Simba, so he can take the throne for himself. A lot of the songs are duets though so that’ll be a little awkward unless I can find someone else that can sing and wants to perform this with me.”

Realizing that she hadn’t gotten up off the floor yet, the Aladren stood up, facing the boy more fully. “You don’t happen to sing do you?” Then, just as quickly she waved her hand. “No, that was silly of me. You probably don’t or wouldn’t want to do this. So, what’s that on your arm?” The change of subject was abrupt, but she didn’t want him to feel obligated that he had to do so, because he had lost her place or something. Besides, she was curious to what was on her arm. She had never had a broken bone in her life so she had never seen what was on his arm. And the couple that Phoenix ended up having had been minor and easily fixed, not requiring such a device. “Does it hurt?”

0 Ephanie You should be more careful. 0 Ephanie 0 5

Alicia Bauer

November 15, 2011 1:38 PM

I think I'm doing pretty well. by Alicia Bauer

Talking to Thaddeus wasn’t quite like talking to any of the others in their year, at least of the ones she’d met so far. She could think on it calmly enough when she wasn’t doing it, but during the conversation itself, she couldn’t quite get rid of the knot of anxiety in her stomach even if she relaxed enough to not concentrate on it, and she could not afford to relax because she had to watch herself every moment around him. It would be entirely too easy to make a mistake and get called out on it.

That could happen with anyone, of course, there were a million and two different ways it could happen, but if it was going to happen, she really thought it would be with him, just because he noticed things, and asked questions about them. Alicia would almost say he was nearly as observant as she was, when the only person she thought was actually more observant than she was was her stepfather. That was why, deep down, she almost liked talking to him in spite of it being nerve-wracking, though she wouldn’t admit that even to Jeremy. He’d be horrified by her not being strictly professional about it, kind of.

“Good day,” she said, then decided just not to say his name. She liked the sound of ‘Miss Alicia,’ but calling him ‘Mister Thaddeus’ would sound like she was a house-elf – something she would never, under any circumstances, willingly sound like – and ‘Mr. Pierce’ would sound too formal. She just tried to smile warmly as she said it instead.

She nodded as he spoke about the five houses of Mt. Pierce, wondering if the implication was there that he didn’t exactly have a home library, either. Jeremy had some law books in his home office, and Rachel had a shelf of what Alicia had determined in the five years her sister had been gone to be really stupid novels, and of course she had all her schoolbooks and things, but there wasn’t really a library in her house, the way she had heard there were in some of the really old, big families’. There were definitely nowhere near as many books in all the family houses – home, Dad’s, Granddad’s, Gramma Alma’s, so forth – put together to match this, not even if she counted everyone’s magazines as books and then acknowledged that Aunt Hannah existed for a minute and counted Sam’s comic books. If he still read those; she had as little to do with him as she possibly could, as she did with all of her three aunts and the stupid two’s illegitimate children.

“Most of what my adults have are for people’s specialties,” she said. “My stepfather went to law school, my uncle’s into Potions, Gr….” She stopped before the word became clear, deciding not to mention her grandfather being in international relations. It was technically true, Granddad had been working at a desk there since, as Momma would put it, time out of mind – since before he divorced Gramma Claire and married Gramma Nadia - and he wasn’t likely to retire any time soon, but there was a reason they just put it like that if they had to mention her mother's family and usually tried not to mention her mother's family at all.

“Excuse me," she said instead, after turning the start of a word into a slight cough. "We don't have anything like this, though, either. I can’t even decide what to look at first. Did you see any sections you thought you’d spend a lot of time in?” In case she ever needed to know where to look for him. Knowing things was always useful.

16 Alicia Bauer I think I'm doing pretty well. 210 Alicia Bauer 0 5

Waverly Canterbury

November 15, 2011 2:20 PM

Hello again! by Waverly Canterbury

Waverly woke up fairly early, tired and a little groggy. She had dressed half-hazardly, eyes half-open, but when she remembered that there was going to be a library orientation, her energy came to her. She had gone to the Sonora library once before, and it had marveled her. Now she was actually going to know where things were and hopefully what they meant! She had bounded down to breakfast, ate quickly, and then came early to the library orientation. She wanted to learn everything she could about this wonderful place.

When the tour started, she listened to the librarian's every word. She was probably going to get to know this lady real soon. Waverly couldn't imagine a better place to do homework at night. Except for maybe her lovely common room. That was pretty too. And so, so magical! Waverly still couldn't get over the fact that she was at a magical school. She'd have to get used to calling herself a witch from now on.

Miss Diaz said that there was going to be sign-ups to be a library monitor! Waverly suddenly wanted to be one badly. She could spend all day reading books and looking at the marvelous pictures and everything. Well, she'd probably have to do some monitoring too, but still. It would be worth it. Waverly smiled.

When they were told to look around for themselves, she made a beeline for the fiction section. She wanted to look all around again. She looked at the titles, trying to find a good book. "Ooh!" she exclaimed, and then reminded herself to lower her voice. She pulled out a book called, The Little Witch and her Dragon and Other Stories and began to flip through it. It wasn't a picture book, but it was a compilation of several short stories about a little girl and a dragon and other animals. She was so engrossed that she accidentally bumped into someone. Her head whipped up, brown hair blinding her for a moment before she brushed her hair out of her face.

"Oh, sorry!" Her green eyes took in the boy and then lit up in recognition. "Oh, hi Cepheus! You're here too! How are you liking the library?"

19 Waverly Canterbury Hello again! 218 Waverly Canterbury 0 5

Gareth

November 15, 2011 10:58 PM

It is a chance to catch up by Gareth

He hadn’t had a chance to talk to Meggie sense the carriage ride, so at least catching up with her would help pass the time. “Hmm, I suppose it is for the same reason that we have flying lessons. Perhaps the muggleborns don’t have libraries?” He pondered. It was possible, clearly they didn’t have brooms which lead to the assumption that they could be lacking in many other things as well. Perhaps sometime he would ask, but that could wait for a different day.

As the only two attending Sonora at the moment Gareth felt responsible for Meggie. It was his duty to make sure everything was going well for his cousin and that she was settling in properly. He’d been so focused on his own sorting that he hadn’t caught which house Meggie made it into, though he knew she wasn’t a Crotalus. “Which house did you get? Are you settling in well with your roommates?” Gareth questioned.

Sharing a room was something quite new, and even with the numerous children of the Brownbriar branch he was sure they didn’t have to share. “I made Crotalus, and thankfully only have to share with one bloke. Cepheus is a fine roommate so far, I doubt we’ll have any trouble getting along.” Gareth stated.

0 Gareth It is a chance to catch up 0 Gareth 0 5

Angel

November 16, 2011 11:16 AM

... by Angel

”Do you mind if I call you Dexter?” Angel glanced sideways though his lashes at the girl still standing next to him. It was curious, his mother often called him names not his own. Luka, Ezekiel, Kendra, Daryn, Kade, Sara. Those days were always more difficult, when things were not as they seemed and he learned long ago not to disagree with her. Lady Cynthia only ever called him Angel. Did this girl see the world differently as well?

“No.” Angel said softly. She could call him what ever she wished. The quiet word was almost lost as she began speaking again. Yes, it seemed she did see the world as his mother once did. After all, he didn’t have any particular rat like features. His hand dropped back to his side as he gave the girl his full attention, but still didn’t quite looking at her.

“No. Teppenpaw.” Angel answered. He still wasn’t sure how he felt about living with so many other people, and did his best to keep out of their way. It was awkward, but Angel so far had managed to keep the others from seeing when he had to take his potions, or notice when he couldn’t keep down a meal. Having to explain yet another difference besides the glaringly obvious ones wasn’t something the young albino wished to do.

0 Angel ... 0 Angel 0 5

Cepheus Princeton

November 16, 2011 2:23 PM

Someone's quite chipper. by Cepheus Princeton

Cepheus recognised the muggle-born girl he'd met in the gardens, and couldn't understand how she could be so perky even in the morning. He nodded. "Yes, I heard it was mandatory for first-years." He shrugged. She was probably entranced by the library since she was a muggle-born and all wizarding libraries were magical. "It's just a normal library," he said, not knowing what else to say. "You're enchanted by this, are you not?" he asked, smirking a little. He didn't want to make fun of her for it, though he was sorely tempted to. He thought himself above petty things like that. And besides, she seemed nice.

"What book have you got there?" he asked. "The Little Witch and her Dragon?" He smiled, remembering his childhood, his mum reading it to him before he went to bed. "That's a children's book, fascinating as it may be." He looked up at the shelves, searching for a book. "Hm. Ah, here." He handed Waverly The Seventh Wizard. "It's about an Auror who goes abroad to war and sees how magic is corrupting society. I think he tries to live like a muggle, but he's found out and something happens to him." He shrugged. "It's my favourite book, as of right now."

Cepheus wasn't usually one who delved into fictional works, but this one he had really enjoyed. When Father had read it, he thought it a ridiculous subject, that magic could corrupt a world, but he liked that magic always triumphed in the end. "He gets into trouble with dragons and centaurs too, if you're interested in dragons and other magical creatures. Also, if you want to learn more about magic, you can read some historical books." Why was he helping her? Well, she was a girl, and she was a muggle-born, and he was being nice and trying to make a friend like Father had told him to. Though, he had said with purebloods, not muggle-borns. He looked back into the shelves, seeing if he knew any titles again, and pretending that he hadn't just helped out a muggle-born.

40 Cepheus Princeton Someone's quite chipper. 216 Cepheus Princeton 0 5

Elijah

November 16, 2011 9:39 PM

But then we wouldn't have met. by Elijah

He'd been expecting annoyance but at the surprisingly sudden offer of a duet Elijah's shoulders relaxed and he smiled a little at the girl, head tilting to the side to study her. 'Wow, she's weird.' All girls were, of course, but this one was weird in a different, interesting way. Weird wasn't the actual word to describe it, but Elijah didn't know a better one. "Actually I - " She waved her hand and his words went in its direction, his mouth closing as she dismissed the subject. ' - wouldn't mind.' His stepmother Daniela was well known in Europe for her voice, oftentimes featured on Spanish radio. In Madrid, Carmen's room was next to his and sometimes at night he could hear Daniela sing songs to her daughter, her voice without words a soothing melody that dripped into Elijah's room, pooling around his bed and steadily rising until he was drenched in Daniela's voice. His dreams were always more peaceful on those nights. Wandering around the apartments, he would sometimes come across her singing, and at some point he had joined in. It was the only real communication the two of them had. She'd start alone in an empty room, he'd wander in, and then a quiet duet would blend into the air. There was nothing wrong in it, but neither of them had mentioned it to anyone. It had become a secret, though neither one could figure out why, and so neither he nor her allowed themselves to analyze it.

He was distracted from his disappointment by her focus on his arm. His smile spread and he raised it as much as he could within the sling. “It’s called a cast.” He stated proudly. “I got it from - ” He was about to recount the tale that had just unfurled in his mind; his Uncle Edward being evil, killing his father to gain the title King of Spain (Elijah knew people called Julio Ambassador Errantez, not King, but with all the things he was allowed to get away with, he sometimes wondered if Julio really wasn’t secretly King) and banishing Elijah to the Americas where he’d had to fight for survival, earning eternally traumatizing wounds such as his forever broken arm. However, Elijah realized just in time that he’d only thought of that because the girl had been speaking of a similar event. Too surprised by his own imagination to conjure up another spectacular tale, he continued on but with the truth. “ - my Hippogriff.” His face slightly darkened with lingering resentment. “I spend summers on my pépé’s ranch and when I’m done with my chores I’m allowed to go do whatever. A few of the Tamers took me flying and we were circling the whole Canyon and were coming back into the village. I think I was a little tired or something, my steering became a little off,” Elijah bent his knees a little and extended his right arm, fingers gripping the handle of his imaginary broom. “By the time I was flying back to the ranch I lost a little control. You know, there are different altitudes in the Canyon, and they can make you really dizzy if you’re not used to it. I totally,” He laughed a little. “I totally flew into Sombra - she’s my Hippogriff - by accident. She wasn’t even hurt but she went crazy and attacked me!”

Elijah straightened his stance, letting the broom fall away. “It stings a little now and then, it did during the Opening Feast and I could hardly even lift the spoon to my mouth. But it’s not as bad as when she actually got me with her claws.” He gave an exaggerated grimace. “They went in deep enough to touch bone. I...” He had passed out. “I struggled to get her off but finally the Tamers calmed her down. You can’t just pull Hippogriffs off, you know. They had to calm her down, and then they calmed me down,” Easily done, since he had passed out. “and then they pulled her claws out from my arm. They gave me potions and stuff so it’s healing but this,” He indicated the cast and splint. “Is just to prevent me from moving my arm badly while it’s still healing, and so I don’t do something stupid like signing up for the Quidditch team. But you only need one arm to catch the snitch anyways.” And if he lost his other arm he still had a mouth, and if his mouth was sealed shut he could always just rise in the air, slip over the side of his broom onto the little golden ball, hopefully pinning the stitch to the ground with his falling body.

“So, uh,” He peered again at the title of the girl’s play, trying to subtly bring the subject back around to singing. “You said something about duets?” Subtly was his forté.

0 Elijah But then we wouldn't have met. 0 Elijah 0 5

Waverly

November 16, 2011 10:05 PM

Chipper? That's me! by Waverly

Waverly nodded. "Yeah, the library's super cool." She looked around again, still smiling. It was a normal library with magical properties. Ooh! She liked the sound of that! She looked down at her book when he mentioned it, and nodded when he read off the title. The book certainly looked like a children's book, but she didn't like the way he'd said that. She closed the book, not wanting to look like a child, and was pleasantly surprised when he handed her a book himself.

"Oh," she said, surprised that he was sharing his favorite book with her. "Thanks! I'll start reading it. Sounds interesting." She still wanted to read the book of fairy tales, or whatever they were called here. Children's stories?

He was looking at the titles, and she touched his shoulder lightly. "Cepheus? Do you want to go explore the other parts of the library? You could show me which history book to read!" She smiled brightly, hoping he'd agree. He seemed nicer now, and she wanted to get to know him. After all, he was all magical and she had no idea where anything was. If she wanted to be a library monitor, she had to know where things were!

0 Waverly Chipper? That's me! 0 Waverly 0 5

Cepheus Princeton

November 17, 2011 9:50 PM

It's...nice...that one of us is. by Cepheus Princeton

Cepheus involuntarily tensed when she touched his shoulder. Her hand didn't feel strange because of her muggle blood. Maybe it was because he was wearing his robes. He looked into her eyes and hesitated. Should he pursue this "friendship" that she seemed to want? Why should he bow to any muggle-born's wishes? His face contorted slightly, but he remembered that she wasn't demanding him to go like his father had demanded him to go to America. And she wasn't ugly, so he wouldn't be horrified to be seen with her, as long as no one knew of her blood. And unless she somehow bounced out of her own body and went around the entire library. He didn't doubt something like that happening to her. She just seemed so full of energy all the time.

Cepheus nodded curtly. "Fine." He couldn't believe what he had just agreed to, but turned on the heel of his polished black shoe and went to the history section the librarian had showed them earlier. He perused the shelves once more and found the book he was looking for. "Here," he said as he handed her the thick text. "The History of Magic. I think you'll find a lot of useful information in here." It would also bore her to death...but she wasn't a real magical being like he was, so maybe not.

"What..." ...was he doing? Was he actually trying to continue this conversation with her? "...kind of books do you like to read?" he finished. He thought of his father suddenly and his terribly stern, disappointed face.

Cepheus felt guilty, and he could almost hear his father's words: "Muggles and muggle-borns alike are not a part of us, Cepheus. Do your best not to interact with them, professor or peer. They are below us, understand?" Cepheus suddenly felt very cold. He glanced over at Waverly. He had to get out of this situation before they became friends or something of the sort.

40 Cepheus Princeton It's...nice...that one of us is. 216 Cepheus Princeton 0 5

Waverly

November 18, 2011 1:28 PM

So anyway, books! by Waverly

Waverly was delighted that he'd agreed to show her. She followed him as he went past rows of shelves full of books. She was getting distracted, lingering and falling behind a little in curiosity, and then quickly catching up. Oh, she could spend hours in here! Waverly smiled to herself and almost missed her guide when he disappeared between shelves. She quickly followed him again and then he handed her a book. She looked down at it. The book looked old and was falling apart a little, but she eagerly opened it and began flipping pages.

"Wow. Thanks!" She was beginning to immerse herself into it, forgetting that she was with someone else, when Cepheus suddenly said something to her. "What? Sorry. My favorite books?" She smiled brightly. "I like to read a lot of fairy tales. Things with magic and dragons and unicorns; stuff like that. Um, I like reading a lot of books. I'll probably like this one too," she said, holding up Cepheus's favorite book. "I'll get back to you on how good it is." She smiled at him, her green eyes twinkling. "What kind of books do you like? Action ones?" she guessed.

0 Waverly So anyway, books! 0 Waverly 0 5

Jade

November 22, 2011 6:06 PM

Looks like I'll be doing all the talking, then. by Jade

"Oh, well Teppenpaw's okay," Jade replied with a relieved sort of smile. Everyone said that nice people were in Teppenpaw, and everyone couldn't be wrong. Jade hadn't actually spoken to any Teppenpaws before now, so she had no reason to contradict her stereotype, either. Therefore, Dexter must be nice. He even said she could call him Dexter.

"I'm in Pecari," Jade continued to chatter away. "I have a sister in Pecari, too, and a brother in Aladren." She had already let slip on a couple of occasions that she had siblings at the school, so Jade had given up earlier than she expected to on pretending that she wasn't related to James or Josephine. The matching surname was kind of a giveaway. "That's why I was worried you're in Aladren, see?" Her hypothetical question required no response.

Already becoming bored with the lack of directed activity, despite the joy of meeting Dexter, jade began to look around for inspiration. There wasn't much to go on - there were lots of books around and not a whole lot else. She could be creative, though - in the past couple of years while her older siblings had been at school, Jade had learned to entertain herself. So as she looked round at the stacks, an occupation seemed to form itself in her mind.

"Oh hey, do you want to play a game?" she asked Dexter excitedly. "Let's take it in turns to use the book titles to tell a story. You can add other words in, but mostly it has to be the book titles," she laid out the simple rules for them to play. "You go first," she instructed, because she could demonstrate what she meant by using the titles to make a story if she went second. "Just pick any book and read out its title!"

0 Jade Looks like I'll be doing all the talking, then. 0 Jade 0 5

Cepheus Princeton

November 25, 2011 2:20 AM

Quite right. by Cepheus Princeton

Cepheus didn't know if he wanted to share his love of books with her, but his mouth opened anyway. "Mysteries, mostly. Father loathes them, especially the fiction ones. Says they're ghastly things, but I enjoy them. They're entertaining, anyway. I know things like that don't often happen in reality. I've always wondered what it would be like to live as a writer." He smirked at the bookshelves. "Live poor but passionate." He shook his head, unable to comprehend such a life. Rich and passionate he understood.

Cepheus cleared his throat and looked at his watch. "Well, Waverly, it's been nice chatting with you. Enjoy the books. I'm off." He would have tipped his hat to her if he'd brought it, but he hadn't. He turned on his heel again and strode away. What would his father say if he'd known he was fraternising with a muggle-born? Disown him? Keep him from coming home? Even worse, keep him in America all year long?

Cepheus swallowed and put his hands into his pockets. Best keep away from the likes of her or something of the sort.

40 Cepheus Princeton Quite right. 216 Cepheus Princeton 0 5

Thad Pierce

November 26, 2011 6:23 PM

You do seem to be doing well by Thad Pierce

Thad noticed she avoided the name issue entirely, which was probably wise of her, at least until he invited her to use his first name. He wasn't quite sure he was ready to make that invitation to people yet, though, until he knew them a little better. The last thing he wanted was to come across as too casual. That was Derry's crime, and Thad was sure it was what would cost his cousin his birthright, most likely sooner rather than later.

It was better, then, to be too formal, at least at first, and imprint everyone with what a stick-in-the-mud he was as their first impression of him. Then, when he loosened up a little bit, people ought to take that as them being found worthy of his friendship, rather than an inherent fault in Thaddeus's social graces.

He had never claimed to be good at making friends anyway. If he followed formality and polite niceties, he at least wouldn't upset anybody.

With that in mind, he nodded politely as she explained the types of books her family owned. He could only assume, based on the described composition, that none of her adult family members had been an Aladren or a Terrigena, or the breadth of subjects would be wider.

She asked about his interests, though, before he could correct her misconception that his family's collection was equally limited. Obligated to answer that first - if he expected people to answer his multitude of questions, it was only fair to answer any question posed to him to the best of his ability - he said, "I expect I'll read as much as I can from all of the different subject areas."

It was a nice pat Aladren answer, and that was precisely why he felt he needed to explain it further, to prove that he wasn't just saying that to curry favor or to fit into the stereotype. He really did mean it exactly as he'd said it. He smiled a little self-deprecatingly, so she knew that he knew he was weird, and admitted, "When Sonora first hired my - er," Thaddeus stopped abruptly as he realized his mistake; Amelia was nothing to him and the pronoun 'my' was completely misplaced. He backtracked to the beginning of that sentence and continued on, "When Sonora hired Coach Pierce, my parents were concerned I may be placed in her House, so they took measures to ensure I would go to Aladren instead."

He paused for a moment, trying to figure out the best way to say this without making his parents out as some kind of wackos or himself as some kind of manipulated creation. It wasn't like that. He loved his parents dearly, and they had never done anything to make him doubt that they loved him back just as strongly. He was their son as well as their heir. He'd seen Derry interact with his father and knew the difference.

But there had been . . . pavlovian training . . . over the course of six of Thad's most developmental years.

"My parents encouraged learning above all other things." He smiled, feeling more than a little pleased about the next fact, "When I asked 'why?' over and over until my parent's couldn't answer anymore, instead of getting annoyed like most people would, my parents brought me to my mother's collection of books - she was a Terrigena, that was Sonora's most Aladren-like House, so she had books about a wide range of different things," Thad was pleased to have worked that into his answer. "Then they showed me how to find the answers for myself."

He waved a hand around the library, "I still have a lot of questions." She'd been present for the Head of House speech the night before, so she probably had an inkling that he wasn't joking.

"What about you? What sections look the most interesting to you?"

1 Thad Pierce You do seem to be doing well 213 Thad Pierce 0 5

Waverly

November 27, 2011 4:03 AM

Okay...bye! by Waverly

Waverly smiled. There was a similarity between them! She liked mysteries too, like Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys and Sherlock Holmes; she wondered if magical folks knew about those books. Oh, she hoped they did. Otherwise they'd be missing out! Though she seemed to have been missing out a little by being, well, a muggle. She'd introduce her sister to all of this new stuff. Waverly had never thought of living as a writer.

Mom was an artist, but she also had a bakery, and she wasn't a writer. Or famous or anything. Mom was more of a musical person. She liked to write songs, but was too shy to show her stuff to the public. Her dad had told her that, and Waverly had wanted him to show the whole world, because it was good. But he wouldn't. One day, Waverly had told herself, she would get her mom's stuff published, or whatever they did with compositions.

She'd lost her train of thought, and Cepheus was getting ready to leave. "Oh, already?" she said, but he had already turned around. She looked at the books she had now, and looked at his retreating figure. Hm. He was a mystery in himself. Waverly shrugged. It kind of looked like they were becoming friends, so whatever. She smiled at the books she had, excited to read some magical books.

0 Waverly Okay...bye! 0 Waverly 0 5

Angel

November 27, 2011 3:49 PM

... by Angel

Angel didn’t see why her brother being in Aladren would equate to him being the same, but didn’t attempt to get her to clarify the statement. He simply gave a small nod of agreement as she spoke on about her different siblings and their houses. Did all girls talk so much? Angel wondered as she chatted away, it seemed to be a pattern with the girls he’d interacted with so far.

He wasn’t accustomed to games, but the description of it further convinced Angel that this girl saw the world as his mother once had. Don’t step on the shadows Angel, you’ll fall though He could still see her intense wild gaze in his mind as she whispered hushedly so no one would overhear, not that there was anyone else in the house to hear them. And for the next hour, or day, or week he would have to take care how he moved, where he stepped to avoid the shadows. It never served him well to argue that the shadows were harmless, easier to simply do as she wished until she forgot the danger they represented.

It would have been easier to avoid the shadows than to do as Jade wished of him. But, like his mother he would do as she wished to keep her happy. Knowing already that this was going to be unpleasant Angel hesitantly took one of the books off the shelf. He would have preferred to keep his shortcomings to himself, but was incapable of telling her no. “Seven….Signs…That…You..Are…A…Seer…” Angel read the words slowly, not quite stumbling over them but the long pause before each clearly showed that reading was not the albino’s strong suit. He kept his crimson gaze on the book held loosely in his pale hands, not wanting to look up and see the condescending sneer he always saw when Lady Cynthia tested his progress.

0 Angel ... 0 Angel 0 5

Alicia Bauer

November 29, 2011 10:03 AM

Thank you. by Alicia Bauer

Alicia wasn’t sure what to make of the completely neat answer about reading as much as possible from everything possible. Sure, she would actually be doing that this year, or at least planned to do that, but…well, the rules were all different for her, for one thing, because she was a girl, and there was what a person said and what they did, too. Did he mean it (in which case she would have to very carefully almost always know just a little less than he did, which would be irritating since she wouldn’t know how much he actually knew unless she started stalking his reading), or was it just a nicety, an expected response from an Aladren in a new library?

Her thoughts about that, though, were completely swept aside by his brief stumble over Coach Pierce. When Sonora first hired his what? She had guessed that Coach Pierce had to be a relation, they looked very similar and Jeremy had told her Pierce had once been a socialite, nothing much to do with the, er, ‘family’ in California, before she got thrown out for all the usual things girls from old families sometimes got disowned for, but what was she in that sentence?

It probably, she consoled herself, didn’t matter, though. Whatever she had been, she wasn’t now. She’d remember Thaddeus had said it, come close to owning the woman somehow, but it didn’t seem likely to be very useful unless she found out they were secretly friends when they shouldn’t be.

Other people’s childhoods were interesting to her, though, so she was distracted easily enough by his description of how his parents had tried to keep him out of Crotalus. If anything, Momma and Jeremy had been aiming the other way, since the only family members to go into Aladren instead of Crotalus, Gramma Claire and Uncle Geoff, were also the least successful ones except for Aunt Lavinia and Kate, but now his parents were happy and she was happy and it was all well. She laughed when he said he still had a lot of questions, remembering the welcoming speech and how relieved she’d been that he had questions so she had time to think of one so the professor would notice her. “Really?” she asked lightly. “I guess it’s good that we live here, then.”

Here, with all this knowledge at their fingertips, once they worked out how to look for it and sort through it and focus on what was relevant in it. Whoever knew the most had the most power, everyone knew that. The power of spells and the other kind, the kind she’d seen her mother spend her whole life working toward. This was a place of…not knowing, exactly. Of finding out. She looked around, considering her answer for what interested her most.

“History, maybe,” she settled finally. There were many things that everyone knew that she just didn’t. Things she was going to have to improve herself in very quickly if she wanted to fit in. “Maybe Charms theory. It’s really all so interesting.” She smiled, realizing her answer was as pat as his had been. “I think my mother and my stepfather were trying to get me into Crotalus, but they never told me not to like to learn everything, either.” That was an understatement on so many levels, if not quite the way his parents had done it. Though that way, she guessed, too; no one had ever gotten either of her sisters a Latin tutor so they could understand spell construction better and more easily.

16 Alicia Bauer Thank you. 210 Alicia Bauer 0 5

Meggie

November 29, 2011 7:16 PM

Can we catch a Quaffle instead? by Meggie

“Yes… I guess so.” Meggie answered her cousin. “Though where do they get their books to read then if they haven’t any libraries?” She asked him. Megan shrugged her shoulders. “Oh well. It doesn’t really matter anyway.” she added to Gareth before he would have a chance to speak himself.

Which house did you get? Are you settling in with your roommates? Gareth asked her.

"Oh." she said. "I'm a Teppenpaw." she paused to decide how to put her time there at Sonora to him like a proper young lady. She didn't feel proper and didn't want to be for that matter. Ever since her mother had passed away she hadn't wanted to act like a young lady. She'd much rather spend her spare time roughing it up with the boys. If only her father would LET her! Meggie wanted nothing more than to fly and play Quidditch like the boys could do. But her father had expressly forbade her to go and do anything of the sort.

It made her mad.

Instead of thinking about that mess, she turned her thoughts back to what Gareth had asked her. She was sure that he noticed her pause, but she tried to fake a smile to show that she'd just been thinking of classes and whatnot and not how it felt to be a girl who wanted to do things like the boys. To be a girl without a mother to show her the right way for her to be a lady didn't help the situation.

"Oh yes, things are fine in my room. I have only one roommate. Her name is Morana. She seems alright so far. I mean to say, we haven't had any trouble..." she added before she actually looked into Gareth's eyes to try to read what he was thinking.

"What about you?" she asked him.

I made Crotalus and thankfully I only have to share with one bloke. Cepheus is a fine roommate so far. I doubt we'll have any trouble getting along.

"Great!" Meggie went on. "So what's it like in Crotalus? Who's your favorite teacher? Class? Are you going out for Quidditch?" she threw question after question at her cousin for many different reasons.

Firstly, she wanted to take the focus off herself. Secondly she wanted to be sure he (if he noticed) forgot her pause altogether. Thirdly, because she really wanted to know. She waited patiently for her answers standing there watching her cousin.

0 Meggie Can we catch a Quaffle instead? 0 Meggie 0 5

Gareth

December 01, 2011 10:45 PM

You know that’s not allowed by Gareth

His cousin’s sudden barrage of questions made Gareth chuckle. “Hold on a moment Meggs! Let me answer the first question before you ask ten more.” He said, smiling to take the sting out of the words. “Crotalus isn’t bad at all, the rooms are smaller than home, and of course we have to share but it isn’t too terrible. My housemates are mostly Purebloods so that’s great, although we do have a girl as our Quidditch Captain.” His voice made it clear exactly what he thought of that little fact, but being on the team was expected of him, so he would do his best to keep his opinion on the matter to himself.

“I wouldn’t say I have a favorite teacher yet, but the DADA class is pretty good, and potions.” Gareth said as he gave her questions some thought. Getting use to having a Professor for each subject instead of a tutor who taught all the subjects took as much time to get accustomed to as the fact that he was learning with other students and not just his brother. It was different, but not necessarily in a bad way. He’d found that having a professor for each subject lent itself well to them being experts on their chosen subjects. With the tutors they knew each subject of course, but they knew some better than others. It was pleasant to deal with people who had in depth knowledge about each subject.

“Of course, there’s an open beaters position and an open chaser. Those are the ones I’m best at so it shouldn’t be too difficult to get one of them.” He said, finding the question somewhat odd considering that the males of the families always played. Even if they are completely unsuited for it they still attempt to make the team Gareth thought. There were times when he wished Quidditch wasn’t such a strong tradition in the family. Had he the choice he would have preferred to keep his feet on the ground. At least my fear of heights doesn’t really affect my ability to play He thought, and he wasn’t bad, on the contrary he was fairly skilled at both beating and chasing. It simply wasn’t something he enjoyed much.

0 Gareth You know that’s not allowed 0 Gareth 0 5

Meggie

December 04, 2011 1:54 AM

I know... And I'm not happy about it! by Meggie

Meggie had sent a barrage of questions at Gareth and it looked like it had done its magic. It didn't seem to her that he'd caught her pause, though if he did he didn't show it. He chuckled, called her Meggs (which was his endearing nickname for her) and told her to hold on a moment. She nodded to him and waited for him to answer her first question about Crotalus house. He told her about the size of the rooms, the fact that there were mostly purebloods in his house, how the Quidditch Captain of their team was a girl.

Megan Brownbriar knew exactly what her cousin thought about that, but she thought the exact opposite. "A girl? Really? Well then why can't I play!" she said, interrupting him. She felt bad about it for a second, but then she really wanted her question answered. "I mean really, if she can do it, why can't I?" she said, pausing. "And don't tell me because the Briar brothers say so. What's the big deal, anyway!?" she asked him. She wanted to bring him back to reality. The Brownbriar girl wanted her opinions known too. She was better than people could make her out to be and she knew it.

He went on, almost like he was ignoring her. Meggie knew his thought on it, but he was a boy! There was a difference in her mind from the Whitebriar branch and the Brownbriar branch. It wasn't all because she was a girl and he a boy though either. Meggie had a feeling that at least one of her siblings agreed with her, though she wasn't positive on that fact. Gareth went on to tell her that he didn't have a favorite teacher yet, but that he liked Defense Against the Dark Arts and Potions. She knew that he was reflecting on how his tutors differed from the teachers there at school, but she didn't care. Her thoughts were running away with her and it was then that she knew it.

A part of her wanted to try out for the Teppenpaw team anyway, even though her father had forbade it.

He went on to talk about the Crotalus Quidditch team having an open Chaser and Beater position and she nodded in a faraway fashion. The eleven year old wished that she could be Seeker. It was a dream of hers which she knew if she wanted to stay a Brownbriar she needed to ignore.

She hated that.

"Great!" Meggie said with a fake enthusiasm which she'd been perfecting as of late. Meggie knew that Gareth hated flight. His little fear of heights was something she'd discovered months before, but she'd said it to nobody and wasn't planning on giving his little secret away. It seemed to her that the pair should just switch completely! She wanted to play and he didn't, what was the matter with that?

0 Meggie I know... And I'm not happy about it! 0 Meggie 0 5

Gareth

December 07, 2011 11:08 PM

You don’t have to be happy, just behaved by Gareth

Gareth’s eyes flashed when Meggs started to rant about why it wasn’t fair that she couldn’t play. The unhealthy obsession his cousin had for unladylike things wasn’t unknown to him and Gareth refused to dignify her angry words with a reply. Instead he continued answering her prior questions and hoped she’d just let it drop. Just as the males of the line were required to play or at least attempt to make the team the females were not, that was how things had always been and to break tradition had its consequences.

Her ‘Great’ sounded quite forced and Gareth could tell she was still brooding about not being permitted to play. Why would she want to play anyway? It’s dangerous and as a girl she’s far more likely to get hurt. He just couldn’t understand her thought process. If he could he would avoid playing but here she was still upset that she wasn’t allowed to play. After the fiasco with Nydia Redbriar joining her house team and how willful she became Gareth didn’t know why any of the other girls would want to follow in her footsteps. Especially in light of her premature demise.

It was very tempting to just let it go, and pretend like Meggs little outburst hadn’t happened, but as the only male of the family at school it was his duty to look after her and make sure she didn’t do anything foolish. Reaching out, Gareth grabbed Meggie’s wrist and tugged her deeper into the library so they could talk without being overheard. “Look Meggs, I know you’re feeling rebellious but don’t do anything stupid alright? I’d hate to see you end up like Nydia, not that Uncle Wyn will react so harshly but you know he’ll pull you out of school and leave you to tend the babies until you get your head on straight. Is that what you want?” He asked harshly. Though the words were not kind, they held worry for her.

0 Gareth You don’t have to be happy, just behaved 0 Gareth 0 5

Meggie

December 26, 2011 3:40 PM

Why? by Meggie

Meggie saw Gareth's eyes flash when she started her rant, but she didn't stop. Why should she stop doing something because she knew he didn't like it? She was a woman of her own, wasn't she? He ignored her ranting though, which sort of made her mad. Why is he making my feelings out to be nothing more than pure stupidity? she wondered angrily. Instead he went on answering her other questions. She replied to him in her fake glee at his chance of Beater or Chaser for Crotalus and wondered without really caring, if he'd noticed. Why couldn't she play? Nydia had done it, sure, she'd been sent away from the Redbriar line for doing it, but she was good. The Teppenpaw couldn't figure out why she couldn't play, after all, she knew that her cousin was good at it and she was a girl!

Out of nowhere Gareth reached out and grabbed her wrist. He tugged her deeper into the Library and spoke in an almost angry tone. He was harsh with his words and all she could do was glare at him. "Look Gareth, it's different for you. You don't know how it feels to be where I am, to feel what I feel, remember what I had..." she started, pulling her mouth into a tight circle.

"Yes, I'm feeling rebellious. What else can I do? I have no Momma anymore to teach me to be a lady. What have I got? You? Come on Gareth, you're a boy! You get to do all the fun things in life. What do I get? That's right, take care of the babies. You're the girl Meggie. It's all up to you... You're the one they look to, you're the one they go to. It shouldn't be me Gareth! It should be Momma!" she finished, breathing deeply and hammering her hands down on the nearby desk.

Finally it was all out... Her feelings were all out there like dirty laundry right in the middle of the Library.

Now what?

0 Meggie Why? 0 Meggie 0 5

Gareth

January 13, 2012 4:02 PM

Because that is your duty by Gareth

“Enough.” He said sternly. They were new to the school, and it was their duty to show these Americans that the Whitebriar, and Brownbriar lines were worth a place here, that it would be good to make connections with them. That would never happen if Meggs didn’t keep quiet about her family’s private matters. Some things just weren’t spoken about in public. In fact he probably shouldn’t have brought up Nydia. While it was likely no one in America had heard of the eldest Redbriar’s shame, and her suspicious death, it wouldn’t do to risk it. They had to present a strong face to the other Pureblood families and not reveal such weakness. That was the whole point of coming here, and Grandfather would be angry if they messed it up.

“Look, I know things haven’t been easy for you. But you have to keep it together Meghan.” He rarely ever used her real name, and using it now just underlined how serious he was about this. “We have a duty to our families to prosper here and not make a spectacle of ourselves. Obviously I can’t teach you how to be a girl but Megs, there’s plenty of proper girls in this school, just watch what they do.” He said with exasperation. It didn’t seem too hard from his point of view, just be polite and don’t do things that clearly weren’t lady like, such as Quidditch.

He gave her another stern look, clearly trying to mimic their older cousins when one of the littles got too far out of line. While he wasn’t sure how successful the look was, he hoped it got the point across. Uncle Wyn wasn’t terribly strict with his children, Gareth knew, perhaps that had been a mistake. Merlin, keeping her in line is going to be so troublesome.

0 Gareth Because that is your duty 0 Gareth 0 5