Welcome to Teppenpaw on Teppenpaw Commons

Acting Headmaster Bulla

February 02, 2006 7:48 PM

Welcome to Teppenpaw by Acting Headmaster Bulla

It was strange the way that his imprompteu promotion had changed the way Manfred operated. Obviously, there was a great deal more stress - the paperwork came in mountainloads; the cabinet, and the ministry and the council and... whatever else of the fractured wizarding governments always wanted to poke their nose in where it wasn't wanted; the owls from concerned parents; the sheer number of things that needed to be done to keep the school running. Some might have thought he had gone soft - it wasn't like he had slowed down for the new students in times past - but there were ways he definitely hadn't changed.

Taking the most direct route from the Hall was one of those things that hadn't changed. He led the Teppenpaws through four winding corridors, up a flight of stairs, paused at his office door to point it out to the new first years and then moved down another flight of stairs before coming to a halt midway down.

"The entrance to your commons is a closely guarded secret. Do not, under any circumstances, tell anyone not from Teppenpaw how to get in here," the fact that telling people was unlikely to show them how to get in wasn't an issue here so much as the principle of the matter. The look he directed at them all was no less serious than that which new Teppenpaws had faced since he had become Head of House. "Now, watch carefully."

In what seemed like tradition, his green robes were lifted to show sensible brown leather shoes. There was a pause that lasted a heartbeat and then he launched into the ten steps of the jig which served as password for the commons. Perhaps there was a note of regret in his movements, after all, it had occured to him that there was question as to whether he would be doing this again. But, as the stairs above the landing sank down, revealing a torchlit circular stairway, he shook away any such thought.

"This way," he said, leading them down the stairs until they went around the last bend and entered the commons proper. The room was comfortably arranged: several sofas in house colours were scattered around, there were armchairs arranged in front of the flickering fireplace, and the room itself was just the temperature, perfect for relaxing with friends, studying, or getting homework done.

"Welcome to Teppenpaw," Manfred said, moving aside so they could enter the room. "In case you weren't paying proper attention at the feast, I am Professor Bulla, your Head of House and also currently the Acting Headmaster." He pointed at the corridors on either side of the room. "The corridor on the right leads to the boys dormitories, and that on the left to the girls - you'll find your trunks are already in there waiting for you. If you need to find me quickly, there is another door to my office just here," he pointed to a door just near the stairs, "you just need to knock. If you have any trouble with the dance and can't get into the commons, I'm sure one of our older students would be pleased to assist you until you get the hang of it. Are there any questions?"\n\n

Subthreads:

Yeah, i got one. by Rob Stone with Professor Bulla, Bianca Tiblin

Jiggity Jig... its Dominic the donkey! XD by Melanie Rose

39 Acting Headmaster Bulla Welcome to Teppenpaw 2 Acting Headmaster Bulla 1 5

Rob Stone

February 03, 2006 10:05 PM

Yeah, i got one. by Rob Stone

Rob watched in fascination as his head of house began to dance in front of his eyes. He realized that was the way to enter Teppenpaw common room. His heart sank. Rob was bad at dancing. Bad. All he could handle was slow dancing, on a good day. This was not good. Not good at all. He would definately need help on that. Maybe Pepper, or Briony, or Emer, some of his new Teppenpaw friends, should be able to help. Surely one of the girls would be good at dancing. If only he had paid more attention to his cousin, Rob thought wistfully. He vaguely heard that his dorm room was on the right. When Professor Bulla asked if there were any questions, Rob realized he had one.

"So how does it work if we want to play Quidditch?" \n\n

0 Rob Stone Yeah, i got one. 0 Rob Stone 0 5

Professor Bulla

February 04, 2006 6:48 AM

And here's an answer by Professor Bulla

For half a second, Manfred thought he might even have managed to get a group who didn't have anything to ask, but a voice piping up swiftly dismissed the idea.

"Quidditch, Mr Stone?" Manfred said, after thinking for a second to put a name to the face of the first year. "You will have to ask Mr Santoro - Teppenpaw's Quidditch Captain - about that. I expect he will have a signup sheet up sometime soon."

"Which reminds me," he moved further into the room so as to be able to point out the noticeboard. "Notices and signup sheets and other such things will go up there. I would advise checking every day or so."\n\n

39 Professor Bulla And here's an answer 2 Professor Bulla 0 5

Bianca Tiblin

February 04, 2006 5:15 PM

Here to say hello. by Bianca Tiblin

Little Bianca had been floating about above the Teppenpaw Common Room when Professor Bulla (it sounded more natural to her than Acting Headmaster Bulla) brought in the first years. She remembered being a first year in Teppenpaw, but that was about a hundred years. If you wanted to get technical about it, she was really only about two years older than the students before her. That was how old she was when she died and how old she still looked. A scrawny thirteen.

Bianca floated on her stomach as if she was lying on the floor. Her feet were tapping silently and her palms supported her mostly transparent head. She smiled as the first years entered with Professor Bulla. She wondered how quickly this bunch would learn that dance. It took her most of her first year to get it right. Professor Bulla was an expert at the jig.

Bianca floated down just a little closer, pretending to be a first year again and listening to the professor's speech silently. Her jade eyes roamed over the new batch of witches and wizards as she twirled the tip of one of her brown pigtails. She seemed to still be unnoticed by the students. Bianca came just a bit closer as a first year asked a question about Quidditch. Bianca was never a huge fan of playing the game but it was really exciting to watch. She decided to step in after Professor Bulla explained that and the notice board. Just to say hello to him and the new students.

"Good evening Professor Bulla." Bianca greeted politely from above the students, sitting up cross legged in the air. He had never been her professor, but she treated him somewhat as if he was. It was just part of her nature. "I hope all is well as Acting Headmaster.” She drifted down beside him. Bianca looked at the new students and spoke, not thinking that maybe they’d be shocked to see a ghost at all, let alone having a ghost start conversing with them.

“Hello Teppenpaw first years. Welcome To Sonora Academy. I’m Bianca Tiblin, a former Teppenpaw myself, and I'm positive you will love it here.”\n\n

0 Bianca Tiblin Here to say hello. 0 Bianca Tiblin 0 5

Melanie Rose

February 04, 2006 5:21 PM

Jiggity Jig... its Dominic the donkey! XD by Melanie Rose

Melanie watched the man who she had been writing to over the summer dance in the hallway as if it was routine. 'Scary.' she thought as she tried not to laugh. That was the way they were supposed to get into the common room. They'd be crazy for her to learn it exactly like the Headmaster so she'd have to put her own twist on it or have the option of falling and spraining her ankle. She didn't pay close attention to anything the crazy man was saying until he spoke about the dorms and asked if anyone had questions. One boy asked about quidditch- what ever that was.

"Is that dance easier than it looks? 'Cause I don't want to break my ankle doing that." She spoke trying not to laugh.\n\n

0 Melanie Rose Jiggity Jig... its Dominic the donkey! XD 0 Melanie Rose 0 5