The morning after (tag Sawyer) on Teppenpaw Commons

Professor Xavier

October 07, 2016 10:28 AM

HoH Speech by Professor Xavier

Nathan rose from the staff table as the plates cleared. Teppenpaw had drawn a fair group this year, spread evenly enough that nobody would be left without a roommate nor would any of the Teppenpaw first year rooms feel overcrowded. He felt a little bad for the Aladren girls who would need to cram five students into the same space that in Teppenpaw only needed to fit two. That, however, was Alfie Pye's problem not Nathan's.

"Teppenpaw first years, to me, please," he called gathering together the quartet of new Prairie Dogs. This would be a much more manageable group to leas down the halls that the full orientation tour group. Satisfied that he had the correct set of students who had turned yellow, he lead them out of Cascade Hall. "As I mentioned earlier, I'm Professor Xavier," he repeated his introduction, in case they had forgotten or hadn't thought his name was one that mattered to them four hours ago. "And I'm the Head of Teppenpaw, your new House. Welcome to our family. We're pretty well known for being friendly and nice, so you shouldn't have too many problems with your Housemates, but if you ever do, be sure to let me or one of the prefects know and we'll do everything we can to help you settle the dispute."

They had continued to walk down the school corridors as he spoke and he drew attention to their route now. "You may have noticed we're heading toward the hospital wing. Our House entrance is right up the stairs next to that, so if you ever get lost just, ask a portrait to point you to the hospital wing, and that should get you to Teppenpaw, too."

They walked a bit further, and Nathan pointed out a few portraits they could use as either landmarks or reliable sources for directions. "Some portraits will think it funny to misdirect you," he warned, "but if you stick to the witches and wizards labelled as previous professors, you should be safe. Just never ask Professor Clurican about the weather. He'll always tell you its raining." Nathan wasn't sure if this was malicious or if the old Irish founder just assumed it was always raining and never bothered to verify.

This brought them to the large double doors leading into the hospital wing. "Right up here," he told them, ushering them toward the neighboring stairwell. "My office is right at the top, and then some supply closets, and the elf quarters are up here, too," he explained, since this part hadn't been part of the tour earlier, "but I don't recommend bothering them on their home grounds. Elf magic is pretty powerful and too often underestimated."

"Here." Nathan stopped only about halfway up the stairs. "This is our entrance." He pointed at the step below him, "Watch for the one with the diamond shaped chip in it." His toe nudged the spot to draw attention to it.

Now it was time for his least favorite part of his Head Of House duties. "We don't have a password," he apologized. "We have a jig." Dancing on a chipped stair seemed like a terrible idea to him, but so far, knock on wood, he hadn't yet had anyone hurt themselves doing it. "You don't have to be good at it," he promised, the only reassurance he could offer. "You just need to do the right steps in the right order. Like this."

He demonstrated. Nathan was a big man with too many pounds around his middle so it was by no means a graceful or even a dignified dance, but his steps followed the pattern he described out loud, "step, step, step, click your heels, tap, tap, shuffle," he paused briefly, looking at the students, "do it we me, we repeat that two more times, three in total. Step, step, step, click your heels, tap, tap, shuffle. Getting there, one more time. Step, step, step, click your heels, tap, tap, shuffle." On the completion of the third iteration, the wall beside him opened up, revealing the Teppenpaw Common Room, decorated in muted yellow and maroon tones. "Go on in," he invited, and followed after once they were all inside.

Nathan found it a nice relaxing space and he often spent a couple hours each day sitting on one of the comfortable couches or chairs scattered about the room, in the hopes that familiarity bred trust and the students would voluntarily come to him if they had any issues with anything. He enjoyed engaging the students there in conversation and getting to know them. It made him feel like part of the House, not just its overseer, and he hoped the students likewise saw him as a favored uncle with whom they could be comfortable and joke, rather than being an imposing authority figure.

"While you're here, I hope we will all see each other as friends and family, but if things get out of hand, I'm responsible for getting them back in hand. I haven't had to dole out too many detentions so far, and I hope to keep it that way. So just be respectful to each other and school property, and be in the commons by ten, which is when curfew and quiet time starts.

"Your dorms are up those stairs, girls to the right, boys to the left, your room is the one with your year number on it. Going up the wrong set of stairs will just dump you right back here on your bottom so I suggest keeping to your own side."

He pointed over to the wall beside where they had entered. "The bulletin board is there, keep an eye on it for school and club announcements. Teppenpaw is proud that our Jake Manger earned Head Boy tonight. He is one of our prefects, along with Aiden O'Neil and Jemima Wolseithcrafte this year. Liac Reinhardt is our Quidditch Captain, with Ginger Pierce as his assistant. So any of those people, or myself, are good folks to go to if you have a question or problem or just want to talk to somebody. They all wear badges so you can easily identify them as House and School authorities."

He couldn't think of what else he might be forgetting, so he wrapped up his speech there. "I think that's everything. Any questions, please ask, otherwise, converse amongst yourselves or head up to bed. Breakfast is at seven, and I have more maps in my office right over there if you misplaced yours and can't remember how to get there."

OOC: Welcome to Sonora and Teppenpaw House! You may reply here with questions or just chat with and get to know your Housemates. You are now welcome to post your new Teppenpaw on any board except the common rooms of other Houses or the Lounges, because first year Teppenpaw students aren't allowed there. You may continue your feast and orientation posts as long as you like thanks to fuzzy time, which lets you write multiple threads taking place at different tomes simultaneously. Have fun!

Subthreads:

Getting to meet everyone by Sawyer Matheson with Ayla Tremaine

The morning after (tag Sawyer) by Kir McLeod with Sawyer

1 Professor Xavier HoH Speech 28 Professor Xavier 1 5

Sawyer Matheson

October 07, 2016 5:28 PM

Getting to meet everyone by Sawyer Matheson

When the first year Teppenpaws were called, Sawyer followed suit. As they made their way through the school, he looked around with wide eyes. The school was huge in comparison to the modest school he had attended back home. Of course, that school hadn’t needed to house students nor had it needed to worry about extracurriculars. Here, though, it was like a whole new world, one full of possibilities, and one that he was excited to be a part of.

Glancing at the other Teppenpaw students, he saw that there were only three other students – two girls and another boy, none of whom he had had the pleasure of talking to. However, it was the other boy that worried him more since they would be sharing a room for quite some time. He had never actually shared a room before. At home, he had a little sister and she obviously had a separate room. So, this would be a new experience. He hoped that the other boy wouldn’t mind that he had a guitar that he often played. Sawyer didn’t know what he would do without his music. He would be utterly lost.

As they continued, Professor Xavier mentioned that their House was close to the Hospital Wing. He thought this was rather convenient. Sawyer was a little accident prone. Mostly due to the inability to control his own limbs. His mom told him to have patience that he would outgrow the awkwardness, but that wasn’t something that quite reassured him at the moment. He hated that he was always making messes, because his brain and limbs didn’t quite communicate with each other or he would trip over his own feet like the right didn’t know the left was trying to walk. The only coordination seemed to only come when he was playing his guitar. He hated to think what might happen if he tried out for a sport like Quidditch.

A jig? Sawyer blinked in shock and horror. They had to dance a jig? There was going to be absolutely no way that he was going to be able to pull off dancing a jig. He didn’t care if Professor Xavier was telling them that it didn’t have to be good at it. Sawyer wasn’t worried about whether or not he would be good at it. He was worried about the fact that he wouldn’t be able to get the steps at all. He wasn’t concerned about remembering the steps. It was just like a beat. He had rhythm. Just not in his feet. He just knew he would try to shuffle and end up falling flat on his face. He knew he had no choice though and would have to make sure no one was around when attempting to get into his House. If he carried all his books, he would theoretically only have to get back in once a day. The options were not good.

Moving on, Sawyer entered the Common Room. It was warm and inviting. Instantly, he felt like he was at home. It even had a parent-like figure. Though, at least here, the punishment was detention rather than grounding. He had only been grounded once when he was in third grade and a couple of friends had convinced him it would be cool to jump off their roof. Thankfully, he hadn’t broken anything. Mostly due to his magic kicking in to keep him safe, but his parents had seen them and he had gotten grounded and so had his friends. It had ended up being an utterly boring week of being stuck in the house. He didn’t really want to ever repeat the experience.

Sawyer nodded his blonde head slightly in attention as Professor Xavier gave them other important information like where their dorms were and the people that they could go to for assistance. He was glad when it was over. He was beginning to feel tired. It was three hours later back home than it was here, but he didn’t want to be rude and ignore the others. Taking a seat on one of the couches, he waited, making himself busy with the map, while seeing if anyone would join him. When someone approached, he smiled, “Hey, I’m Sawyer Matheson. I can’t believe I’m really here. What about you?”

0 Sawyer Matheson Getting to meet everyone 365 Sawyer Matheson 0 5

Kir McLeod

October 09, 2016 8:16 AM

The morning after (tag Sawyer) by Kir McLeod

Kir was about ready to drop. He’d fallen asleep for a little bit on the wagon, the gentle motion making it almost inevitable, but it wasn’t the most restful sleep, and it had been a long, exciting, exhausting day. Coupled with that was a belly full of food and his body feeling it was several hours later than the clocks here claimed it was…

The directions to the common room more or less passed him by. The jig was something he was confident he could get right if someone showed it to him when his eyes were actually open… He felt very bad that he might actually have nodded off when Professor Xavier was speaking.

At the end of the speech, he dragged himself up to his dorm room. It was very tempting to just lie down on the inviting-looking bed. Just for ‘a second.’ But Kir knew he would fall asleep straight away. He fumbled through his trunk, finding his pyjamas. They were tartan - not the family one, but just whatever the department store in Boston had had. They’d been a gift from his aunt, a bit of a joke one, but he really liked them. They were nice pyjamas. They were soft. And tonight they were unco-operative, as he struggled with the buttons and accidentally put both legs down the same… what was one side of a trouser called? Was it a trouser? After all, they were a pair of trousers… He gave his teeth a quick brush and fell into bed, a brief thought about his absent room-mate flitting through his mind as he did so…

*
In the morning, he awoke to find that the other boy had, at some point, come up and was asleep in the bed opposite. Kir tried to wriggle quietly, getting his book out. Luckily it was easy to find as he’d had it out on the wagon ride. He settled back in bed, trying to to turn the pages softly until the other boy woke up.

“Hi,” Kir smiled, when his room-mate seemed to be with him. “I’m sorry we didn’t really meet last night. I just completely crashed out after the feast. I’m Kir.”

OOC - sorry not to reply to your thread and to give you more work to do, but I had the idea in my head that Kir was just pass-out tired and it wouldn’t budge, even though RP normally ignores such boring practicalities in favour of having a chat. I’m also assuming that they arrive on a Saturday or something, so that the kids don’t have classes their very first day, and therefore they have a little time to chat.

13 Kir McLeod The morning after (tag Sawyer) 366 Kir McLeod 0 5

Ayla Tremaine

October 10, 2016 6:10 AM

Nice to meet you! by Ayla Tremaine

Professor Xavier’s announcement to follow him signaled the end of Ayla’s first feast as an official Sonoran. The new Teppenpaw was a little sad to see it end, but she knew that there would be others. She was full, but not too full, and had met her new roommate. All in all, it had been a rather successful start to life at school in her opinion. She followed her Head of House, along with Gwen and two boys she'd yet to meet, and tried her best to pay attention to where they were going. Thank goodness the school supplied maps.

She was looking forward to getting to know her housemates, year mates, and basically as many people as she could. Mother had said to be as involved as possible, and Ayla was very eager to comply. She didn't see a negative side to it anyhow. How could being busy and making lots of friends possibly be bad? Sonora was going to be amazing, even if she was a Teppenpaw. Ayla could just feel it.

The young girl smiled and waved at a few of the paintings as they passed. She had a knack for remembering faces, and though portraits were free to move about from frame to frame, Ayla imagined it might be useful to get to know them too. She desperately tried to stifle a giggle as Xavier demonstrated the jig they were required to perform in order to access the Teppenpaw common room-- it was definitely a site to see. She'd never been more grateful that her mother had insisted on ballet lessons. She'd been decent at picking up choreography, and the jig seemed simple enough, so the petite blonde couldn't foresee an issue getting in. Assuming she could find the right staircase, of course.

As the group entered the common room, Ayla was filled with mixed emotions. The decor was definitely more dated than that of the Tremaine estate, but it still had a certain hominess about it. This was it. This is where she'd spend her evenings for the next seven years. It could be worse, the young girl thought, at least she wasn't in Pecari. She could only imagine what the decor looked like with that horrible color scheme.

Ayla made note of where the bulletin board was, as well as the location of the Head’s office and which dormitory was where. Hopefully she'd be able to remember it all, as the past day had been crammed full of information. She smiled brightly and thanked the professor as the school tour officially came to an end. One of the boys broke off for the dormitories before they'd had a chance to mingle causing a frown to form on Ayla’s full lips. She couldn't tell if he was anti-social or just tired, but she hoped for the latter. She knew she’d have plenty of time to get to know Gwen, so since they still had time before bed, she figured she’d introduce herself to the other boy.

She was still fairly wound up from the day’s festivities and though she considered plopping down beside him on the couch, that wouldn’t be very fitting of a lady. Plus she was wearing a dress. Luckily, there was an armchair near where the blonde boy was sitting. She settled herself in the chair, making sure to smooth out her robes and cross her ankles. He smiled at her and introduced himself. Ayla noticed that Sawyer had a nice smile, and didn’t use the standard introduction used by society purebloods. She supposed that would happen at some point, and he parents had instructed her that she should be nice regardless of blood status. Maybe she belonged in Teppenpaw after all.

“Nice to meet you Sawyer!” Ayla said, returning his smile. “I’m Ayla Tremaine, of the Palo Alto Tremaines.” She wasn’t sure if he’d care about any of that, but it felt strange to say anything other than what she’d practiced. “I’m thrilled to be here as well. It feels like I’ve waited for my whole life to be here. There’s so much to do, and see, and learn. It’s almost overwhelming.” She brushed her blonde hair back from her shoulders and let her gaze settle on the map Sawyer was looking at. “How was the feast for you? Do you think you will be able to find your way back down to Cascade Hall for breakfast in the morning?”

5 Ayla Tremaine Nice to meet you! 367 Ayla Tremaine 0 5

Sawyer

October 10, 2016 7:37 PM

You too! by Sawyer

Sawyer was glad when someone joined him. He grinned at the girl who introduced herself as Ayla Tremaine from Palo Alto. “Nice to meet you too. Yeah, I know what you mean. It is a little overwhelming.” He was from a small community. He lived in a small community where everyone knew everyone else and none of it involved a jig. “That dance was certainly something.” He left out the part where he was sure that he would end up falling flat on his face trying to do it.

He put a hand on his stomach. “I think I overdid it. I’ve never had some of the dishes that were served. They were really good and that’s saying something cause my mom is an amazing cook. She created some of the menu items at my family’s restaurant. There’s nothing like my mom’s blackberry cobbler.” He was started to get hungry just thinking about it. “I could really go for a piece right now.”

“Yeah, I think so. Maybe. I mean we have a map so that should be helpful. Plus, there were all those things that the Professor pointed out. But we could always navigate down the breakfast together? Strength in numbers and all that,” he joked. He had gone on numerous camping trips with his family, so he didn’t think that getting back down would be too difficult. Plus, later on, he might be able to find one of the other first year Teppenpaws to walk back with and they could do the jig.

Sawyer brushed some hair out of his blue eyes. His hair was always a mess and tended to fall into his face. “There are a lot of different classes than what I had back home. We talked about magic in school, but we weren’t allowed to actually practice it.” Of course, kids still did some, but they weren’t allowed to do anything significant since they hadn’t learned to control the magic yet. He didn’t really know the reasoning behind it all. “What are you looking forward to? I can’t wait to take Care of Magical Creatures.” His aunt and uncle had a farm in Tennessee where he got to ride horses and tend to cattle. It was seriously great. He loved music, but being on the land was a close second.

0 Sawyer You too! 365 Sawyer 0 5

Sawyer

October 10, 2016 7:54 PM

Good Morning! by Sawyer

When Sawyer had come up, he hadn’t quite expected his roommate to already be asleep, but he supposed it was understandable. The day had been rather eventful, especially after a long ride in a wagon. At least, his had been long. He wasn’t sure where the other boy was from. For all Sawyer knew, they could have been on the same wagon, but then, it had been rather full.

As soon as he realized that the other boy was asleep, Sawyer had tried to make as little noise as possible, though it was impossible to make none. The trunk had squeaked a bit as he had pulled out his own pajamas and being him, he had bumped his knee on the blasted thing while trying to put the clothing on. Finally, when all was said and done, he had made it into the bed, which he found was quite comfortable.

Lying in bed, he had allowed his mind to think about the day. He had met some nice people and he was hopeful they would continue a friendship. Thinking about this, he had gradually drifted to sleep.

In the morning, he woke up with a pillow over his head and half the blanket on the floor. Well, that was awkward. Rubbing at his eyes, he opened one to peer over at the other boy. A good yawn later, he opened both eyes. “Morning. Glad to meet you, Kir. I’m Sawyer. Last night was quite something, wasn’t it? I’ve never seen such a Feast like that one was. And the Professor doing that jig? Too bad you didn’t stay though, you could have met Ayla. She’s in our House and really nice.”

0 Sawyer Good Morning! 365 Sawyer 0 5

Ayla

October 12, 2016 2:04 AM

I'm glad we're in this together. by Ayla

There was that smile again. Ayla always had a feeling that when she got to school one of her favorite things was going to be being around boys that weren't her brothers. Granted, at nearly 12, she wasn't expecting to find a boyfriend right away (or even for a few years), but it was awfully fun to think about. And offhand, Sawyer was pretty cute.

“I was expecting a password, not a dance. Thankfully I've had a little training in ballet, so hopefully I'll manage. I feel bad for Professor Xavier though, having to do the jig for each new year. He definitely has confidence.” She added with a smile, trying her best not to laugh again.

She couldn't stop herself from laughing when Sawyer explained about his mom's cooking and said he could go for dessert only seconds after saying he'd eaten too much at the feast. It seemed very typical of a boy his age. He was right though, blackberry cobbler did sound pretty good.

“Your family owns a restaurant? How interesting! Where are you located?” The Tremaine family were involved in magical law, which was pretty boring for the 11 year-old. Her mom never cooked either, they had house elves for that, so that piqued her interest also. “Does your mother cook at the restaurant?”

Ayla felt a jolt in her heart when Sawyer suggested that they go down to breakfast together. She knew it was innocent offer by the way he finished up his statement, but it still was a little thrilling. No boy had ever offered to walk her to breakfast before, so this sort of thing was going to take some getting used to.

“That sounds lovely!” She said with a grin, her green eyes sparkling in the light of the common room. “I'm not sure how great my map reading skills are, so I'll be happy for the company.” She wondered if they were required to sit at their house tables during meals. She wouldn't mind sitting and eating with Sawyer, but she was eager to catch up with Kit as well. She wondered how things were going for the other girl and all her roommates.

Ayla nodded as Sawyer described his previous magical education. “We had a lot of theory classes too. By we, I mean my brother Milo and I. He's 10. It'll be nice to finally get to use my wand for the first time. Care of Magical creatures should be fun though!” As she said the word creatures, she remembered that she had one up in her dorm waiting for her. She wanted to run upstairs and get her cat, but she knew the feast would be over soon, and the common room would be flooded with older students. For now it was probably best that Albus stay in her dormitory.

“I'm also looking forward to all the different clubs and groups. I hope the list Professor Xavier gave us isn't the complete one. I'll be sad if there is nothing of a musical nature.”

5 Ayla I'm glad we're in this together. 367 Ayla 0 5

Sawyer

October 13, 2016 8:31 PM

I'll Stand By You by Sawyer

“Ballet? Yeah? My mom made us go to one. All the girls looked like they were dancing around on their tiptoes and the guys did abnormal jumps. I swear they must have been Wizards, but my mom told me they just had a lot of training,” Sawyer stated in regards to the ballet world. He hadn’t really enjoyed the performance and had been bored for most of it except for when they had flown around on the stage. No muggle should have been able to do that.

He nodded his head. “It’s called Krabby’s.” The name was self-explanatory that they served seafood. “We live near Cape Cod. That’s probably the easiest way to explain where we live. The restaurant’s right on the water. It’s great. We have an outdoor space where you can eat and you can see fish and stuff swimming around.” In the summer, he would get to eat lunch outside with the cool breezes.

“My mom helps sometimes and she experiements to add new dishes to the menu, but there’s a staff that does most of the work. She has to manage the place though. What about your family? What do they do?” Sawyer asked, curious to what Ayla’s family was like.

The left side of Sawyer’s mouth curved up in a half grin. “Sounds like a plan. Have you met anyone else here yet? It’ll be nice to start getting to know everyone. I like that it’s not a big school. I know some of the other magical schools are quite a bit larger. It seems like you can get lost in the crowd somewhere like that.” The Teppenpaw wasn’t a fan of crowds. He liked things more relaxed.

“Me neither. Mine is poplar with unicorn hair.” When he had received his wand, he was told that the poplar wood chooses wizards and witches of moral character. He wasn’t sure if that was true or not, but it was a nice thought. And the unicorn hair was supposed to produce consistent magic. He felt like that was also suited to him. It was interesting to think about the different wands that each person he met would have and why they would have that particular wand. “I think it’s a good wand.”

“I have a sister. Jenna. She’ll be coming to Sonora, not next year, but the year after.” He didn’t say too much more about his sister. She was a bit of a pain sometimes. She was always trying to be the center of attention. He figured that Ayla would probably get the whole sibling thing since she had a little brother.

Sawyer’s eyes lit up with interest when the other Teppenpaw mentioned music. “Music is awesome. I play the guitar. It’s actually up in my room. I want to expand and learn a few other instruments. It would be great if there was a group where we could experiment with different styles. Do you play anything?”

0 Sawyer I'll Stand By You 365 Sawyer 0 5

Ayla

October 15, 2016 3:11 PM

And sit by me at breakfast! by Ayla

Ayla laughed at the description Sawyer gave her of the ballet he’d seen. It seemed pretty accurate, honestly. It was a lot of hard work, and maybe that way why Ayla hadn’t stuck with it, she had other things she liked to do and a dance schedule was more demanding than she appreciated. She was going to explain that the girls were wearing special shoes that let them dance that way, but no one liked a know-it-all.

“Yeah, my parents have always been great about letting us try things we’re interested in. Plus ballet helps with posture and poise. Or so mom said. It really wasn’t my thing, after all, but I’m glad I gave it a try. I take it it wasn’t your style either, if you’ve only been to one?” From her experience, it took a special kind of guy to actually be interested in ballet, her brother wasn’t one of those either. Mother was very involved in all sorts of organizations back home, and often went to the ballet. When they were younger, she insisted they go with her for the cultural enrichment. However, this was back before Milo became so incorrigible.

“Your restaurant sounds amazing!” She said with a dimpled grin. “Where I’m from in California, we’re right by the San Francisco Bay, so fresh seafood is never in short supply. That’s really nice that your mom gets to have a hand in the menu, but doesn’t have to do all the cooking. Is your dad involved in the restaurant too?” Ayla was already mentally planning a trip to the East Coast, as long as she could get her parents to agree, she didn’t see why they couldn’t visit Kit’s family in Connecticut and then go to Massachusetts and go to Sawyer’s restaurant. Afterall, the two places seemed so close together.

Ayla pulled her attention away from her imaginary adventure and back to Sawyer as he asked what her family did. In her opinion, her family business wasn’t nearly as fun as having a restaurant. “My Dad is a civil litigation trial lawyer. It’s kind of a family business. My grandpa is a lawyer too, and my great grandpa, thought he is retired, was a lawyer, so he just oversees things. My uncle Roland is a criminal prosecutor up north, and yeah...we’re a law family.” She shrugged. “My mom doesn’t work, she is kind of the face of the family though, so she’s always having lunch with this committee, or going to a gala for that group. I have busy parents.” While that was true, Ayla never really felt like they weren’t available for her, or that she wasn’t loved.

“Yes!” The girl said excitedly when asked if she’d met anyone else yet. “I had a chance to speak with our housemate Gwen during the feast. She’s from Colorado, and really nice. She has cousins here too. And then there is Kit Reid, she’s great too, and from Connecticut. How about you?” She left out the part about both of the other girls being purebloods. Usually the only people who cared about that sort of thing were other people of the same status, and since she didn’t know about Sawyer’s lineage, she didn’t want to bring it up and seem rude. Blood purity was a weird thing to talk about, but her parents thought it was important. Ayla, wasn’t so sure of it herself.

“I’m glad the school is a bit on the smaller side as well, it’ll make for more personal relationships, I think. I’d be so nice to get to know everyone, I mean, obviously we’re all spread out across the country, it’d be nice to have those connections.” As she said that last part, she couldn’t help but think she sounded a lot like her mother. It wasn’t untrue, but she liked the idea of being friends with lots of different types of people, not just ones that might be beneficial down the road.

“I have unicorn hair too! Mine is elm though.” She didn’t know a whole lot about the details of what makes a wand good, or what the specific elements mean, but she thought hers was pretty enough, and it felt good in her hand. “I’m sure it’s a good wand, if it picked you.” Ayla added with a smile.

“Only one sister? That must be nice. I have two of each. Milo, my brother, will be here next term. Assuming he doesn’t turn out to be a squib, which would honestly be hilarious and horrible at the same time.” Luckily Magnus Tremaine V had a second son in Ayla’s youngest brother Declan, but it would still be funny if Magnus VI, better known as Milo, turned out not to have magic. A squib for an heir would be the worst kind of insult nature could throw at a pure blooded family like the Tremaines. Milo had already shown a few signs though, so there really wasn’t much need for concern, but it was still funny to think about.

Had it not been getting late in the evening, Ayla might have insisted that Sawyer retrieve his guitar and play something. She played the piano, which she loved well enough, but singing was her favorite. “Isn’t it though? That’s really cool that you play guitar. What else do you think you’d like to try?” She asked, leaning toward him in her chair a little. “I’ve been playing piano since I was 4, and singing since...well, I could talk I guess. I’ve been taking voice lessons for a few years though. Do you sing too?” She asked, trying to imagine what Sawyer would look like with a guitar across his knee.

5 Ayla And sit by me at breakfast! 367 Ayla 0 5

Sawyer

October 16, 2016 1:40 AM

Don't You Forget About Me by Sawyer

“My dad doesn’t really get too involved with the restaurant besides financial and, of course, eating there. My dad is a pastor for our church,” Sawyer explained. “So, everyone pretty much knows me and my family back home. It’s a bit strange having to start somewhere new.”

“Oh, wow,” Sawyer stated slowly. “That’s an impressive family line. I can’t imagine having so many lawyers in one family. I guess it would be pretty hard to win an argument,” he joked. But he was serious about it being an impressive family. It was also good, because lawyers were generally people that fought for justice, for the good. “Do you think you’ll become a lawyer?” It was probably a difficult question, but sometimes, your path was clear. He knew that he wanted to pursue music even if he didn’t know exactly what he wanted to do with it.

Sawyer nodded. “I met Flo. She was sorted into Aladren so I’m guessing she’s pretty smart. Academically, at least,” he said with a smile. He didn’t want to imply in any way that Ayla wasn’t smart. It was simply Aladren was known for being academically gifted. “I think everyone is smart in their own way though.” He really did believe that. It was just that a lot of people placed that intelligence on academics.

His face suddenly felt hot and he ducked his head a bit to allow his hair to hide the fact. He had never really been complimented by a girl outside of his family. Lacey Bittleman didn’t count since she had followed him around since the second grade when he had made the mistake of pulling her braid, which somehow signaled that they were some sort of ‘couple.’ But in reality, it was completely one-sided.

“Yeah. She’s enough though. Jenna’s a bit of a handful,” Sawyer replied. “I think it would be nice to have a brother.” He loved his sister, but he couldn’t relate to her at all. She didn’t like the outdoors or playing sports or anything that he really liked. If he had a brother, he could teach him all the things that he knew. “Well, if he did end up being a squib, it wouldn’t be the worse thing,” Sawyer said diplomatically. “It would just mean that something else was planned for him.”

Sawyer found himself moving closer to Ayla in his excitement over a fellow music lover. “Singing is great. I’m part of my church’s choir. I love making music any way I can. I think it’s amazing that you sing and play the piano. I’d like to learn the piano as well as drums, the flute, pretty much anything. What type of music do you usually play? Maybe we could try playing together sometime? I haven’t really tried working with someone else.”

0 Sawyer Don't You Forget About Me 365 Sawyer 0 5

Kir

October 16, 2016 2:11 AM

Making up for lost time by Kir

Sawyer seemed chirpy and friendly, no mean feat given that he’d literally just woken up, and Kir was forced to smile as his room-mate chattered away.

“Nice to meet you. Yeah, the whole day was really cool but the feast was definitely the best. At least I know one good thing about school - I don’t think I’ll be hungry whilst I’m here! I kind of can’t wait for dinner time already. I mean, I know they won’t put all that on every night but everything I tried was just delicious. My favourite was the beef pie. How about you?” He groaned slightly at the mention of the jig, although his mood wasn’t really dampened.

“My eyes were practically closing by the time we got here. I have no idea what the steps even are! Do you remember? If not, I’m sure we could get one of the prefects or someone to show us.” He was sure people took time to learn it every year, and was sure they’d solve the problem easily enough.

“Oh. Well. I’m sure I’ll meet her soon enough,” he smiled, when Sawyer mentioned meeting a girl from their house. He did regret it a bit. It wasn’t nice feeling like everyone else was further on in making friends than him. He wasn’t even sure he’d really connected with the people he’d spoken to at the feast or orientation, and now Sawyer seemed to count this girl amongst his friends already. But they were only a day into term, he tried to tell himself. Surely it couldn’t be too bad already...

“So… Where are you from? And what’s your family like? I mean, like.. You have any brothers or sisters? What do your folks do?” he elaborated. If he wanted friends, then the best thing to do seemed to be to try to make up lost ground now.

13 Kir Making up for lost time 366 Kir 0 5

Ayla

October 17, 2016 1:48 PM

Impossible by Ayla

Ayla’s brow furrowed slightly as Sawyer described his father’s profession. She wasn’t completely sure what all being a pastor entailed, really. The Tremaine’s didn’t subscribe to any organized religion, but definitely believed in a higher power. She’d never gone to church, or cracked open a bible, so she didn’t really understand the entire institution. She was struggling with something to say on the topic, as she didn’t want to say the wrong thing or come off as completely ignorant, so she was glad when he also mentioned how odd it was to have to start fresh.

“Oh how interesting!” She settled on just vaguely addressing it. It seemed like the safest bet. “I’m sure it is weird going from being a big fish in a little pond to, well, a first year in a school across the country. Thankfully this pond isn’t too big, and who knows, if you eat enough, maybe you’ll be a big fish here too in time.” She said with a shrug. It was kind of a weird analogy, but she went with it anyway. She knew her family name didn’t pack as much of a punch here either, but that just meant it was up to her to represent them. That’s what her parents had told her anyway. That was the main reason why she’d gone out of her way to make sure she’d already talked to two other people today. She was the face of her family here, and she planned to be as friendly and social as possible. The worst thing in the world would be for someone to think ill of her family because of something she’d done. Plus, Milo was coming next term, and she couldn’t trust him to help her build her family’s reputation amongst her classmates. It was kind of a lot to put on an 11 year-old, but Ayla took her responsibilities very seriously.

She laughed at Sawyer’s comments about her family. She’d never really considered them impressive, they were just her family, but she supposed they might be. It wasn’t particularly easy to do that they did, and it took a lot of time and practice to be successful in their fields. He pegged them as far as arguments went though. That was part of the reason Uncle Roland had moved north to Redding, California. It was a smaller town, but he liked having distance between himself and his older brother. “You have no idea.” Ayla started with a smile. “Big family holidays are the worst.”

Ayla wrinkled her nose when he asked if she thought she’d be a lawyer in the future. “No way.” She replied. “I don’t know that I’d like to marry one either. My dad is always at the office, or in court, I want someone who will actually be home each night in time for dinner. My brother is expected to follow in our father’s footsteps though.” She left out the part about how she didn’t plan on having a career at all. Society girls were expected to raise children and be homemakers. Some would be involved in different charities and organizations, but social obligations were the priority over having a job.

A frown threatened to form on the Teppenpaw’s full lips when her housemate mentioned “Flo” and that she must be smart. So she wasn’t wrong in thinking that everyone would assume that the Aladren girls were smarter than she was after all. His follow up comment made her feel a little bit better, but she couldn’t help feeling like she needed to prove herself somehow. She pushed the thought aside for now though, she was sure Sawyer didn’t really mean anything by it, and she wasn’t going to let it ruin their conversation.

“I have a sister like that too, and it makes for a great big headache when you combine her with Milo.” Ayla said with a sympathetic groan. Milo had always been a thorn in her side, and then Olenna came along, and she was almost exactly the same. It didn’t help that Lenn basically worshiped Milo. Ayla was just sure that her parents were playing a cruel joke on her with them. She’d been eager to please them, and strictly stuck to their rules, and then they gave her two rambunctious siblings. Ayla craved a close relationship with her sister, one like she’d read about and saw in her cousins, but she just didn’t have anything in common with Lenn outside of not loving ballet and thinking Uncle Roland smelled like corn. She’d been ecstatic when her parents blessed her with Aurelia though. Even though she was only four, she was already polite and ladylike, just like her oldest sister.

“Do you think your parents will have any more kids?” She asked, thought it was probably not the most appropriate of questions. She knew it wasn’t uncommon for parents to stop once they’ve had one of each gender, but maybe there was a chance Sawyer could have a brother. She wasn’t even sure he own parents were finished procreating. She shuddered a little at the thought of more siblings.

The Teppenpaw girl nodded in agreement that being a squib wasn’t the worst thing ever. She knew he was right, but the last thing her family needed was for someone to reject her because of questionable genes.

“That’s so cool!” Ayla exclaimed when Sawyer revealed he was in choir and also liked singing. “Thanks, I think it’s great that you’re so open to learning new instruments. I should expand my horizons too. Maybe I could play guitar too! Ooo! Or ukulele, because they are adorable. I usually play classical on the piano, but I am branching out. I do some jazz now, and my instructor has let me dabble a little in muggle pop music. My parents don’t know that part, but music in an international language! Why limit yourself, right?!” Ayla pursed her lips together to stop herself from bubbling over any further, but she couldn’t help it. She’d never met anyone outside of her instructor who liked music as much as she did. At least openly anyhow.

“Yes! Please! I’d love to make music with you!” She gushed. “I haven’t really either, aside from during lessons, but that’s different, you know? Oh, Sawyer, I’m so happy to have met you!”

5 Ayla Impossible 367 Ayla 0 5

Sawyer

October 20, 2016 9:24 PM

I'll Stand by You by Sawyer

Sawyer couldn’t help laughing at the fish description Ayla gave. “I don’t really think that I want to be that big of a fish. Maybe a koi will do.” He wanted to get to know his classmates and the school, but he didn’t want to get to the point where he wasn’t learning and growing anymore. He thought that perhaps he would travel someday to see what else was out in the world.

“Oh, I guess holidays can be quite chaotic. We usually have service and we help out at the food shelter on Christmas Eve. Then, the next day, we visit family,” he explained. Sawyer liked that he could help others. It made him feel good. But admittedly, he liked presents as well. “We usually come home from my aunt and uncle’s with a lot of homemade items like jams and the like. They own a farm. My aunt also knits so she usually makes each of us something. Last year, she made me a sweater.” It was really nice, made from real wool, and was quite warm.

The Teppenpaw frowned slightly. “I can’t imagine having to follow in someone’s footsteps. It doesn’t seem right. You should be able to do whatever you want to do. If I followed in my father’s footsteps, I would have to become a pastor. My father is a great man and has done a lot of good things. If I followed in his footsteps, it would be an honor. But it wouldn’t make me happy.” He thought that maybe someday he would do something involving music. He didn’t know exactly what, but something.

He wasn’t really sure what to say about Ayla’s sister or that her brother seemed to follow suit. A part of him hoped that Jenna wouldn’t end up friends with Milo. Otherwise, it seemed they might be able to cause a ruckus together. He could only imagine how that would go. Jenna could certainly be persuasive when she wanted to be.

“Oh, I’m not sure,” Sawyer answered. “I don’t think so. I could end up with more cousins though. My aunt Regina already has four.” His aunt Regina had only been married for six years and already had four kids so he thought it was a better bet that she might have another before his parents did. “The oldest is five and the youngest is two. All boys. My uncle always jokes that he’s building a Quidditch team.”

He found it interesting that Ayla had already begun branching out in the musical field. “Well, since we’re going to be working together, maybe you could teach me piano and I can help you with guitar. I’d like to learn a bit of jazz and muggle music too. I’m not sure if we would be able to get a hold of ukulele or not, but we can try.”

0 Sawyer I'll Stand by You 365 Sawyer 0 5

Sawyer

November 02, 2016 12:31 AM

This is the Time by Sawyer

“Oh, there was this green stuff that was pretty good. I forget what it was called, but it was amazing.” He really wished that he had remembered, but he figured that he had an entire year to find out what it was called again. “Maybe I’ll be able to have it again tonight. I might try the beef pie too since I didn’t have any last night.” One of the best parts of school so far was the food. The restaurant had an amazing menu, but the dishes were more coastline based than anything else. He was enjoying being able to taste things that he didn’t really get to have back home.

“Um…” Sawyer wasn’t sure if he should say that he did or didn’t know the steps. If he admitted to knowing the steps, then he might be asked to repeat the steps, which would not be a good idea since he felt like he would make a fool of himself. However, if he didn’t, then he would be lying and that was just not who he was. “Yeah, I remember the steps. They seemed pretty easy, but I think it would be best to have someone older show us the steps.” That seemed like the best sort of compromise. He didn’t lie, but it also meant that he didn’t have to try the steps in front of anyone.

Sawyer yawned slightly. He felt like he had overslept even though he hadn’t really. It was more of a matter that he had gone to bed later and therefore woken up later than he normally did. He was definitely a morning person though and was ready to get his day going. Getting out of bed, he started making his bed. He wasn’t sure if the elves here also did things like make beds, but he had been taught to do those things for himself. “I’m from Massachusetts. My family is small. It’s my parents and my sister, Jenna. I have family in Tennessee too. My aunt, uncle, and grandparents all live there.” He wished that he got to see them, especially his grandparents more.

“Jenna will be coming here in a couple of years. So, you’ll get to meet her unless you visit us sometime over vacation.” It may have seemed a bit early to extend such an invitation, but Sawyer’s family believed in an open door policy. “My parents own a restaurant, but my mom is the one that manages it. My dad works more for our church. He’s the pastor. What about you? Family? Siblings?” He glanced over with a smile to show he was genuinely interested in what he had to say.

0 Sawyer This is the Time 365 Sawyer 0 5

Kir

November 02, 2016 6:41 AM

Hurrah by Kir

“You’ll have to point that out to me next time you see it,” he smiled, as Sawyer said he’d eaten some ‘green stuff.’ As descriptions went, he didn’t think it was an especially solid basis off which to explore, although the thought of tasting a variety of dishes wasn’t exactly unappealing. He expected that most of what Sonora had to offer was good. Still, he would like to know when he tried Sawyer’s particular green stuff, just because it was nice to know.

“Ok, sounds like a plan,” Kir nodded, as Sawyer said he knew the steps but it might be better to get someone older to show them how to do it properly. He guessed that recreating a jig that one had only learnt last night, in front of someone one had only met that morning, wasn’t really something everyone wanted to do, especially when they’d only just woken up. It was useful to know that if he at least stuck with Sawyer for breakfast, he wouldn’t end up locked out, even if they couldn’t find an older student, but he wasn’t going to make him dance if he didn’t feel like it right now.

As Sawyer got up, he followed suit. The main reason he’d stayed in bed this long was because he didn’t want to disturb the other boy, and that was no longer an issue. He began making his bed as well whilst they talked.

“That sounds really cool,” he grinned, when Saywer said his family ran a restaurant. He also smiled as Sawyer talked already about the possibility of him coming over the summer. It wasn’t exactly an invitation yet, but the default assumption that they would be friends was nice. He found himself glad he had been sorted into Teppenpaw. He might have some tricky conversations in the future, some people who were at odds with him, but it seemed like his room was going to be a comfortable sort of place to be.

“Little sister too, Nessa,” he commented, when Sawyer asked about his family. “At home it’s us and my parents. My aunt, dad’s sister, and her wife live near us. They’re the only family on my dad’s side. I have more relatives through my mum. We see our grandparents quite a lot but not so much of the others..” He wondered whether that made his family sound strange, or whether it just did to him because he knew there was a Deep Dark Secret at the centre of why his dad’s side of the family was so small. He’d heard Muggles didn’t live as long as wizards, so maybe if Sawyer assumed his grandparents on his dad’s side were Muggles (a thought which amused him) he might just assume they were dead by now, and then there wouldn’t really be anything odd about the situation.

“My family’s mostly involved in running a charity,” he added, as Saywer had explained what his parents did. And because he figured Sawyer’s next question would be inevitable, he pre-empted it. “It does a lot of things, but one of the main focuses is helping disowned Purebloods get back on their feet.” He wondered if his room-mate would join the dots to the lack of paternal relatives once he had that bit of the puzzle… It didn’t matter. Kir was pretty proud of who he was, and he didn’t like feeling like it was a shameful secret, which avoiding the subject always made him feel. He knew that it wasn’t it was just… complicated, and sometimes a heavy topic, and that made it not worth opening up with everyone. But Sawyer was going to live with him for the next seven years. Sawyer was going to find all this out eventually. At least, if he found it out by them talking about it, Kir would know his reaction.

13 Kir Hurrah 366 Kir 0 5

Sawyer

November 03, 2016 9:58 PM

On and On by Sawyer

“Oh, definitely,” Sawyer reassured the other boy to the green dish. It was definitely worth trying in his opinion. Though, he was sure there would be lots of other things to try as well. Being a growing boy, he had a healthy appetite and didn’t hesitate to try whatever was put in front of him. Thinking about food, he started thinking about breakfast, “I can’t wait to see what’s for breakfast. I hope they have sausage.” He was also thinking about eggs, toast, juice, maybe some fruit. Just the thought had his stomach growling.

Sawyer breathed a sigh of relief that he wouldn’t be required to perform the jig in front of anyone. It would be embarrassing enough to have to try and do the steps on his own. He could just see himself falling on his bottom while sidestepping. There were times when he was willing to laugh at himself. Dancing was just not one of those times. It played on his insecurity about his awkwardness.

Sawyer paused and tilted his head slightly. Her wife? Had he heard that correctly? He wasn’t sure if he should ask or pretend that he hadn’t heard that. He wasn’t even sure what he thought about it. He had heard of people that liked their own gender, but had never given it any more thought than that. He didn’t even know anyone that was. Was that something that was even allowed? He decided he would get advice from his father as to how to approach such situations.

“That’s awesome,” Sawyer stated, meaning it. “My family does charity work too. Not like yours though. Ours is a little more traditional like helping at the food bank. Is it specifically just purebloods? And what would they be getting disowned from?” Sawyer was a little innocent when it came to the larger Pureblood world at hand. He was fortunate enough to live a simpler life.

0 Sawyer On and On 365 Sawyer 0 5

Kir

November 13, 2016 11:45 PM

And to breakfast by Kir

“That’s really good,” Kir smiled, when Sawyer said his family did charity stuff like food banks. “The world needs as many people as possible who are willing to help each other out.

“Mostly… I mean, we cover quite a few bases like…” he trailed off, deciding it was going to be easier to give the Pureblood bit first, as it explained so many of their reasons for being involved in other causes. “So, some Pureblood families, the ones that are really focussed on blood purity and stuff, well… They want their kids to follow certain rules. And if they don’t, they’ll sometimes chuck them out. It varies from family to family… Some still practise arranged marriages. Some let the children choose but it has to be another member of Pureblood society. So, things like dating Muggleborns or Halfbloods can lead to them being kicked out of their families. Being gay is also usually a big no-no - anything that doesn’t lead to having more Pureblood babies and continuing the family line. So, we’re pretty active in civil rights for those groups too, like Muggleborns, or the gay community,” he explained, it being easier to answer Sawyer’s first question after his second. “If witches or wizards got kicked out of their families for other reasons, we’d try to help, but sometimes we’re not the best placed. We would always try to send them to someone would could help better though.

“I… I guess it’s not the cheeriest subject,” he added. That didn’t mean it wasn’t important and he was glad he’d talked with Sawyer about it, but he felt the subject definitely came with an atmosphere and, as it was his subject, he felt obliged to get them away from it again. “Shall we go get some breakfast?” he asked.

13 Kir And to breakfast 366 Kir 0 5