Miss Howard, Miss Raines on Crotalus Commons

Professor Marlowe

August 13, 2006 6:15 PM

Miss Howard, Miss Raines by Professor Marlowe

With the chaos inherent with getting the new first years into their schedules, getting the older students back into theirs, and a series of letters concerning Viva's divorce, Selina had almost managed to forget about Raines and Howard and their party. She had heard about the - indiscretions - of members of her House in their first Care of Magical Creatures class, which had brought it to more immediate mind for a moment, but Kijewski had handled it, and she'd had her own classes to deal with. Even they, however, hadn't been enough to make her forget about the mess Jordanna and Catherine were determined to embroil themselves and possibly her in for long.

Selina didn't like it - there was very really little mistaking elitism for what it was - but there was nothing to do about it. Clubs and club meetings weren't against any rules, and that was essentially what it was: a club for young purebloods. For now, anyway; the game got darker as they grew up, but there was nothing she could do about that. There would always be some idiots in the world bound and determined to base worth on a pile of old superstitions and prejudices. At least most of the children who would be involved would be purebloods themselves, anyway. Someone was bound to be offended, there was no doubting it, but at least in Crotalus the number of someones would be smaller.

She'd made an effort at cleaning up her office in anticipation of the girls' visit. Fortunately, her habit of spending little time in it had left the mess relatively small and manageable. There were still books piled on top of the shelves instead of stood in them, and the stack of essays to be returned was untidy, but it was good enough. If the two had a less-than-flattering opinion of her, they wouldn't show it too openly now that they wanted her permission for something they wanted, if she knew anything about how their type's minds worked.

Three minutes before Howard and Raines were scheduled to appear, Selina opened the door to her office and began making a show of going over an essay on properties of basic human transfiguration. Better not to look as if their arrival or lack of it was anything she was particularly interested in or worried about. Not playing the game didn't mean she didn't know how the game was played. \n\n

0 Professor Marlowe Miss Howard, Miss Raines 0 Professor Marlowe 1 5

Miss Howard herself

September 12, 2006 7:45 PM

Now that my author finally got off her lazy posterior... by Miss Howard herself

Friday night had finally come, and two hours before her meeting was due to take place, Jordanna had dashed in the bathroom. There was a crisis to be dealt with.

On top of the fact that she (though she’d never admit it) had never attempted to organize a party on her own before, besides the fact that she had to somehow figure out what she wanted with the limited funds supplied by Daddy, she had a huge ugly red pimple just a little left of center on her chin. Armed with her school robes and uniform, a book of charms from one of her aunties, and a box of magical beauty care products, there was a lot of work to be done.

First there had been the preparation process. One does not just walk into these things blindly. She had her hair, face, shoes and nails to work out. Her outfit would have to be her uniform, of course. This was not the time to get in trouble for violations of dress code.

Flipping through the dog-eared pages of “Witch Weekly” she looked for inspiration. Something she could pull off in what was now one hour and fifty-five minutes, and with her limited resources (bringing her entire wardrobe from home had been an impossibility). When she found the page she wanted she propped up the magazine on the sink.

It was a long and hard process, tedious for most whose interests deviated from those of Jordanna. She decided that anyone who thought she was lazy was an idiot, this stuff was hard work.

It was a labor, but a labor she enjoyed. One french twist, lucky daisy broach, straightened out uniform, plus thirty minutes of deciding on and then putting on make up, add five minutes of coaxing herself into those hideous Mary Janes, to a total of an hour and fifty minutes later, and everything but her pimple was deemed acceptable by her high standards of appearance.

That left five minutes to deal with the disaster area- her chin. Her face, oh Merlin, her poor face, how had she not noticed it before? She put on a little make up, but to no avail, she still could see the, loathsome, disgusting pimple.

This was something even the lucky daisy broach she wore couldn’t fix.

There was no point; she’d be late if she looked for an answer anymore. She wasn’t totally sure, but she didn’t think that this was an instance where it was fashionable for one to arrive late.

“Come on Catherine!” she called at the doorway of the dorm room, holding a little red purse in her right hand. She waited thirty seconds, then started down the stairs whether Catherine was following or not. As she entered the common room, she hid her chin behind her color coordinated notes on a scroll of parchment. The less people saw the debacle the better.

Jordanna knew full well that her parents were watching what she did this year, but especially with her party. This had to be a success. She inhaled deeply, then exhaled, regaining her composure. Good business deals were made emotions were detached- she could not afford to be nervous.

About a minute before the meeting was set to start, Jordanna was at the doorway, feeling more confident, regaining her poise. Her knuckles rapped lightly on the doorframe.

“Good evening, Professor Marlowe, may we come in?” she asked.\n\n

0 Miss Howard herself Now that my author finally got off her lazy posterior... 0 Miss Howard herself 0 5

Professor Marlowe

September 16, 2006 1:17 AM

...Mine will be forced to do the same? by Professor Marlowe

Three minutes should not have been long enough to become engrossed in anything, but Selina missed the moment where making a show of grading a rather poorly written essay crossed over into actually taking an interest in grading - not to mention correcting - a rather poorly written essay. The startled jump as Jordanna Howard knocked on the ajar door was both genuine and in no way something she had planned to do during this inevitably-unpleasant meeting. Hurridly putting the parchment aside, she tried to recapture some sense of professorly dignity by assuming a stern look. She couldn't have said how well it went over, or if it went over at all. "Of course," she said levelly, gesturing to the two chairs placed across from her desk. "Sit."

In her first year teaching, before she was Head of Crotalus, the apparently infamous then-second years had consisted of Gwenhwyfar Carey, an occasionally spaced-out friendless loner, Nicoletta Dupree, who had apparently existed to rule Catherine Raines, Catherine Raines, whose main talent in life seemed to be making herself look good, and Earl Valentine, the year's only male, who apparently disliked and was disliked by them all. Rejoining Crotalus when Selina joined it were Asher Tallow and Jordanna Howard. While Tallow had kept to herself for the most part, Howard had to be either charismatic beyond belief or a former House leader. Since Selina had felt no inclination towards kissing Howards's shoes, she was willing to bet on it being the latter.

All of which added up to mean that Raines being here was strictly political, a theory that a few quick letters to her sister-in-law and father, sent off the second day of term, seemed to confirm. Eve, without Edwin, wasn't much of an entity in her own right, and Richard no longer made many long trips to the States, but between them, they were able to put together a decent enough picture of where the girls and their families stood. Selina almost amused herself with images of the fallout if Raines tried to put forth an original idea, but found it too improbable-seeming to devote the time to.

"Close the door, if you would," she said, addressing neither girl specifically but guessing it would be Raines who obeyed the order. She gave the documents in Howard's hands a passing glance, then looked at the schedule she hadn't yet managed to lose, as if needing a reminder of what they were there for. "As I understand it," she said, lacing her fingers together on her desk, "you girls wish to host some kind of event for the students who came in after yourselves. Why don't you fill me in on the details?" \n\n

0 Professor Marlowe ...Mine will be forced to do the same? 0 Professor Marlowe 0 5

Miss Raines

September 20, 2006 4:58 PM

Mine, too. by Miss Raines

Thank Merlin Jordanna's in her robes. Catherine had almost fainted on the spot when Kijewski lit into them during class, and had no desire to face any teacher without the official school uniform again. Facing Marlowe while blatantly breaking a school rule sounded almost worse than facing Bulla, because Transfiguration had been the scene for some of her more memorably awful blunders, and the tall woman had seen them all. Besides, blatantly breaking the rules in front of Marlowe wasn't exactly high on the list of good ways to get Marlowe to go along with what she and Jordanna wanted. Catherine stopped her hands from smoothing her own robes nervously and continued fastening an earring. She had to be perfect. Jordanna would be in a killing mood if this fell through, and if she thought the falling-through was Catherine's fault...

She had to bite back a curse as she accidentally stabbed herself in the side of the head with her earring post. She wasn't going to think about it.

The look she gave the image confronting her in the dorm mirror as she finished was one of deep dissatisfaction. Her face and nose were too long, her hair was too, well, brown, her eyes were the wrong shade of blue...it was all awful. Raking her long fingers through the bottom few charm-manufactured curls and biting her lips, she forced herself to resist the temptation to layer up more makeup, try for an updo, or just plead sick and avoid being seen until she figured out how to fix herself. Molding her face into a smile despite its complete lack of inclination to assume the expression, she felt slightly better; she'd always had a nice smile. Further musings on the topic were prevented by Hurricane Jordanna's progression through the room and out the door, a quick come-along called back to Catherine.

Jordanna was reviewing her notes the whole way to Marlowe's office, a preoccupation Catherine couldn't help envying her. Apart from giving twitchy hands and a nervous brain something to occupy themselves with, it looked smart, competent, professional. All the things it was important for them to look just now, in short. Pasting the smile back on her face and trying to convince herself that she was just walking behind Jordanna instead of tagging along after her, she slid into the Head of House's office behind her friend, willing Marlowe to believe she was invisible. The invitation to sit meant that it wasn't going to happen. Halfway to one of the chairs, she was caught off-guard by an order to close the door that she immediately followed.

Catherine could feel herself starting to blush. Jumping at orders, closing doors like a maid...it wasn't right. She was going to be the matriarch of the Raines family. Her husband was probably going to be some idiot of a younger son she would have to rule. She couldn't afford to be like she was, but Marlowe was talking and Catherine's father was going to live for a long time yet. Sitting down quickly, she smoothed her robes without realizing she was doing it. Jordanna had the notes. Jordanna would do the talking. Even if she'd had the notes, it was more or less a given that Catherine would have made a mess of it all, anyway. Catherine just hoped that Jordanna would not make a mess of it quickly, because while there were places she would have liked less to have been, there weren't many that were springing to mind in the moment. \n\n

0 Miss Raines Mine, too. 0 Miss Raines 0 5

Miss Howard is finally back

October 23, 2006 4:46 PM

Here, generosity is key by Miss Howard is finally back

OOC: You know how when you have those really important posts that you can't think of a reply to write away and so you put it aside for the time being, and then the time being becomes over a month? Yep, happened to me. Sorry about that, won't happen again.

BIC:
There was reason enough for Jordanna not to be smiling. The blond teen felt disgusted with her face; disgusted by the plainness of the school uniform she wore; annoyance at the necessity to suck up to her mixed blood-loving head of house to get her party; and last but far from least, irritation at the fact that she knew very well that in order for her party to go through, she’d have to invite the impurities in the house as well. But smile she did, if only to keep the atmosphere in the room from getting too cold. Generosity did not tend to cultivate in cold places, and generosity was what she was looking for.

She sat up straight and poised at her seat to the left of Catherine, glad that she was there if only because knowing she had support gave the affluent girl an extra dose of confidence.

Placing her bag on the floor to the left of her chair, three sheets of parchment each one foot long and none any wider than average computer paper (though Jordanna had no knowledge of that)sat neatly on her lap. The first page had a list of necessities, from to the cost it would take to mail the backup silver tea set and red silk table cloth from home (with the Howard emblem on them, of course), to silver crepe streamers, to a centerpiece (the word “inquire” was written next to it, seeing as she was sure they had to have a decent vase somewhere in the school). There was also a list of snacks, mostly fruits and deserts that were not terribly messy. Napkins she figured the school must have in a long forgotten storage room somewhere, although it was on the list anyway. Invitations could also be found on the list in dark red ink, and next to that was written Catherine’s name, as she had offered her servant’s penmanship skills on that one.

The second page was a diagram of the common room, and since Jordanna was definitely not an artist, it was rather simple. Circles with a “c” in the center were chairs pushed to the corners of the room (by the elves, of course) there was a long rectangle signifying the table (it was just assumed that she would sit at the head of the table, seeing as this was her brainchild and all) and a small circle in the center of the table labeled “v” signifying a vase for the centerpiece. The x’s situated around the table denoted chairs (there was a legend explaining all the symbols in the bottom left corner) and a note in the right hand corner that streamers and such things would be hung around the room in addition to its usual décor. It was explicitly stated that prairie elves would be used to do such work.

The third page had a list of first and second year names the pale girl had collected- in an attempt to make sure that she had spelled them all correctly. Really. There was also a list of questions, such as what the attire of the party would be and if it was possible to cage Asher Tallow so as to keep her from ruining things.

But now for the explanation- it had to be clear, concise, and it had to be said as Professor Marlowe wanted to hear it, “We believe that it is our duty to aid our younger counterparts. They deserve to have older student whom they know they could talk to. Someone to let them know what being a Crotalus student is all about. I know that such people would have been very beneficial while I was acclimating to Sonora or when having difficulties in classes or with other students and such. Also, as it is a social event, people will obviously get to know their housemates better. We hope that this will inspire,” she paused as her mind grasped for the right words, “House unity.”

The third year separated the first two pages from the last, and offered them to her Head of House, “We’ve come up with, some, er,” mentally she berated herself for her stutter, “Rough plans of what would be necessary to make all of this happen.”\n\n

0 Miss Howard is finally back Here, generosity is key 0 Miss Howard is finally back 0 5

Professor Marlowe

November 07, 2006 8:13 PM

Indeed. by Professor Marlowe

Selina smiled thinly at Jordanna's explanation of her aims in throwing her party. The fine art of honeying up to the professor was as old as studentkind; Selina had done her fair share of it, and still remembered the technique. She still didn't know if there were any professors who actually believed the politically correct drivel their would-be pets handed them on demand. Maybe those who had never been pets themselves would, or the utterly, hopelessly vain. There was an outside chance that the girl was an honest philanthropist or the like, but Selina wouldn't have wagered on it.

"Of course," she said, carefully toneless. "More unity within the House could only be to the better, and Merlin knows the first years always need someone to show them the way from here to the Hall. I've heard of such things being done in other Houses." That was very likely not what Jordanna meant at all, but it was the truth. Sonora was small, as such things were reckoned, but Selina could see how it would be overwhelming to someone who'd never been in anything larger, or with so many people.

One eyebrow tried to twitch upward as she gave the "rough" plans a casual glance, and was stilled as she began looking at them properly. The formality the two were pulling out of her was becoming annoying, but training meant she wouldn't be able to drop it till she was through with the pair. "Your plans appear quite adequate to me," she said, still deciphering the map. She did not mention just how rough her idea of how to arrange such things was. Their mothers - or their mothers' servants - would know how if they themselves didn't already.

"How many of the school's elves would you require to do your...arranging, Miss Howard?" she asked. "One or two, of course, clean the common room on a regular basis, but more would require special permission to use for any length of time. The rest of the school won't be shut down for you." In truth, Selina was seriously considering running all of this past her superiors regardless of the numbers, but there was no need for the girl to know that. \n\n

0 Professor Marlowe Indeed. 0 Professor Marlowe 0 5

Jordanna Howard

November 23, 2006 12:04 PM

ideas, ideas by Jordanna Howard

"...Merlin knows the first years always need someone to show them the way from here to the Hall. I've heard of such things being done in other Houses."

Older students choosing to show around younger students? Jordanna had always thought that was best left to prefects or someone, but now that she thought of it; she kind of liked the idea. Made the little firsties dependable on you, made them thankful for you, even. The blond liked the sound of a whole year of Crotalus students feeling like they owed her something. Oh, it was much too late to do that with the firsties this year, for seeing as they were Crotalus students she'd be surprised if they hadn't found their way by now- but she'd keep it in mind for next year- that was a promise.

But now, back to business, and business meant thinking of how many elves she would need. The Howards really only had one house elf, although Jordanna would always say that technically they had three. The only thing was that one was so old he was practically a walking corpse, and the other was so young that he mostly followed his mother around the house, learning how things ought to be done. But she knew that if a house of the size of her home could be kept in good repair by little more than one elf, it really ought not to take more than one elf to set up everything in the Crotalus common room.

“And we don’t expect it to,” Jordanna said in response to Marlowe’s statement that the school wouldn’t stop functioning for them. Did Marlowe think she was stupid or something? “I think three prairie elves would suffice,” she said evenly.

Hey, whoever said the blond was a utilitarian? Yes, just enough so that Marlowe would have to ask special permission, just enough to not be frugal and not extremely extravagant, either. Let the headmaster know that Jordanna was planning a party, let them know that she meant to make a name for herself. The more people who knew, the better in her opinion. Yes, three was the perfect number.

“We also wanted to ask you about the dress code, Professor,” Jordanna queried, “Since it will take place entirely in the common room, we really do not think it is necessary to enforce the dress code.”\n\n

0 Jordanna Howard ideas, ideas 65 Jordanna Howard 0 5