U2? on Aladren Commons

Professor Kijewski

April 06, 2008 1:11 PM

Head of House Speech by Professor Kijewski

Kiva left Cascade Hall with a sense of purpose in her stride. This was always the longest walk in her life with the first years tagging along behind her. But, it was part of her duty as Head of House and she would do it with great care. She walked through the halls of the school in a manner that showed she knew these halls like she knew the back of her hand. Occasionally, she would check to be sure none of the children were having a difficult time with things. Every-so-often if she took a passageway or back-tracked, she would pause briefly and make sure everyone was still with her.

Down the corridors and up the staircase. Down the hall and pausing before giant doors with signs about animals. They were standing in front of the library. "I'm about to show you exactly how to enter the Aladren Common room. You are not allowed to reveal this to anyone. Understand?" She asked, surveying the students around her. "Good. Now, my office is just that door there." She pointed to a door a little way down the hallway, "There is also an entrance to it in the common room. Quickly, follow me."

She led them into the library. She took the students through the maze of the library. Row after row of shelves covered in books, they walked between. There were many twists and turns throughout the isles of books that she was sure the students would become lost. Finally, they reached the last corner of the library. Her hands reached up and grasped an old tattered looking book called, Birds of Prey in reference to the Hawk. She pulled on it and the entrance to the Aladren commonroom was revealed. She gestured to the students to go through first and then followed them in after.

The commonroom was a brilliant royal blue filled with large sofas and comfortable chairs. Shelves of books littered the walls and tables surrounded the room. There was a large fireplace against one wall, already lit to make the room a comfortable warm. An occassional painting or portrait decorated the walls the inhabitants watching the young students with amusement or curiosity.

Kiva turned and faced the students, "Hello and welcome to Sonora Academy. This is the Aladren Common Room, your new home. As I have already stated to you, I am your Head of House, Professor Kiva Kijewski. You may call my Professor K if my last name is too hard for you. Boys dorms are on the left and girls are on the right. Curfew is at 10. Anyone caught out after that is susceptable to punishment. My office is through that door there. You'll have to knock first before entering." Kiva told them, giving them a smile.

"Classes start bright and early tomorrow morning, so try not to be late. Zack Dill, Chris Dupree, and Gunther Heinrich are your Aladren Prefects. I'm also happy to say that Zack is also our new Head Boy." Kiva paused for a moment, glancing around for Zack before continuing on with her speech, "The Prefects purpose is to help students around the school. You're all lucky to have these students as your Prefects. I know that Zack has set up a Prefect station in the Library where you can go for help, so if you're ever in need, that's the best place to look. As for the other two, I'm not sure if they have stations, but I'm sure they'll let you all know." Kiva glanced at the two boys she was refering to and smiled before continuing on with her speech,

"You are more than welcome to come to me for anything. I'm sure you are all aware that there is a policy stating that First Years are not allowed on the Quidditch team. Please keep that in mind, but don't let that pursuade you from cheering on your house team or signing up next year. If you have any questions about Quidditch, the Quidditch Captain is Anne Wright. I'm sure she'll be willing to answer you as best she can. Are there any questions?"

Subthreads:

Legalistic quibbling... by Tyrone Astin with Professor K., Delany

Rules are meant to be man-handled. by Ian Grimm with Professor K.

0 Professor Kijewski Head of House Speech 0 Professor Kijewski 1 5

Tyrone Astin

April 07, 2008 3:44 PM

Legalistic quibbling... by Tyrone Astin

Tyrone had, for the most part, stuck to Seamus and Jera’s sides after the feast. Not overly sociable by nature, now that he had someone he vaguely knew—in the “I talked to them and didn’t hex them” sort of way—he had shied away from other people (the noise was giving him headaches anyway) and trailed after Seamus heading up to the dorms. He hadn’t fully paid attention to where they were going on the way up, until they reached the library—and then he had breathed in sharply. There were three ways to get past his barriers instantly, and without any work: be a fellow Gael, talk about Scotland, or show him lots of books. When he realized his common room opened directly into the library, he decided that even if he hated it here, at least he got the best rooms in the place. After all… library on the front porch. Or something like that.

The small Scottish boy was now mostly hiding behind his Irish friend, and wishing all of this were over with so he could sleep—or possibly that he would be allowed to go find a book. One part of her speech, however, made him stop daydreaming about advanced spell books: Quidditch. Instantly he came to attention, and muttered under his breath at the confirmation about first years not being allowed. He hated that rule. You won’t need a broom, his mother had insisted.

And he hated that she was right.

He made a face, and ran a hand through his blond hair, looking for some weakness in the rule. After a moment, though, he found the loophole, and raised his hand a little. It was only barely visible over Seamus’ head, but it was there. Finally he spoke up, his voice a little uncertain and masking his eagerness--if you got past his accent, that is. “Even if we can’t play… we can at least fly, can't we? Just for fun?” Quidditch was a secondary concern—as long as he could fly. He could wait a year, and anyway, he’d get to practice if only he could fly.

0 Tyrone Astin Legalistic quibbling... 0 Tyrone Astin 0 5

Ian Grimm

April 07, 2008 5:29 PM

Rules are meant to be man-handled. by Ian Grimm

Ian rumpled through his meal, more than a little self-satisfied over having experienced, thus far, none of the supposed pangs of homesickness or alienation that his parents had both warned him of. The Academy had managed to balance both utilitarian architecture and classic aesthetics; his vision, however blurred, much enjoyed taking notes of certain key aspects of it. He was applying to a diligent memory that exact path they took, although, he sensibly thought that if their final destination was somewhere in the library, there was bound to be a more direct route available.

When their Head of House showed them how to gain entrance, out came both his small black notebook, a quill, and his glasses- all in one seamless motion. He jotted down the title, its position on the shelf, and then all three disappeared back into his satchel. Ian appeared, for lack of better words, like a miniaturized daytrader in both is manner and actions. He wore a firmly pressed, dark blue button down collared shirt and black slacks, also neatly starched. Admittedly, he had left behind his BlackBerry and adapted his normal action of notating everything to a more manual route. Half of his trunk contained completely filled notebooks, each annotated and organized so that should anyone mention a name previously heard, he need only reach in, flip to the proper page, and have the information directly on hand.

Once Professor Kijewski had finished with her day care welcome- and no, he certainly was more than capable of managing to pronounce her name, really- his hand immediately raised.

"Ian Grimm," he provided smoothly. "Regarding inner-school business: are there any restrictions preventing the creation of a student-led business?"

He kept his question pointed, yet vague. He was not about to give up all the beans in one go. He had designed his plan, mapped out his seven year stay, to perfection. Currently, he was a first year and bottom of the barrel in terms of station. However, achievement could quickly overtake that. He did not, currently, have the education, physicality, or charisma to gain popularity through those more normal routes, and so he decided to forge his own, and immediately. His family business was, when put simply, the gathering and selling of information. He planned on putting that same practice, however rudimentary, to good work in Sonora as well.

0 Ian Grimm Rules are meant to be man-handled. 110 Ian Grimm 0 5

Professor K.

April 09, 2008 7:18 PM

Can be fun? by Professor K.

Kiva had been saying this speech for six years now and rarely had a question to answer. She wasn't sure whether it was because she explained it well enough for the first years or because they wanted to figure things out on their own. Either were fine with Kiva. After all, this was the house of Aladren and they had a habit of wanting to find things out on their own. Not in the same sense as the Pecaris who liked to explore, but rather, in the sense that they are always trying to find the solutions for equations presented to them in various forms.

So, it came as a bit of a surprise when one of the young first years raised his hand and spoke up. She eyed him for a moment, his words sinking in as she tried to decipher his question through the accent. Kiva never really considered how many students came from outside the United States before, but now that she was thinking about it, there were a fair few running around this school. And that included professors.

"First years are only allowed to fly after they've passed their Flying Lessons." Kiva informed him with a polite smile. What was with kids and flying? Kiva didn't mind being in the air, but she usually had some sort of creature to guide her and not a tiny thin broom. Then again, she hadn't been much of a Quidditch finatic either. In fact, she only went to the game these days to show support for her House. Not that she'd ever just say that to any of her students. Didn't seem like much of team spirit. "However, that area is more for Coach Fox to answer. I'm sure she'll explain it all to you at your first lesson. Until then, I'm sorry I couldn't give you more to go on."\r\n\r\n

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Professor K.

April 09, 2008 8:01 PM

Only by professionals by Professor K.

Kiva's attention was turned away by the blonde boy when another first year posed a question. She took in his appearance first before actually taking the moment to think about his question. He seemed rather assertive in nature. Kiva was yet to determine whether that sort of nature was an actual good one. Head strong would always be good to have, but when in abundance, suddenly one was labeled arrogant or aggressive. Though she didn't think anything remotely negative about any of these first years, she often wondered how they would turn out by the time they reached seventh year.

"Well..." She started, uncertain as to how to answer his question. As far as she knew, there were no restrictions on creating a club, but she was sure there were some depending on what exactly the organization was. "I know that we have a couple of clubs led by students. The Charms Club, led by Josiah Ashwood and the Novelling Fury, led by Echo Elms. They're are certian types of clubs that need an Advisor, like Charms, because they deal with magic." Kiva explained. "And, whenever anything deals directly with magic, an adult should be present incase something backfires. That sad, clubs that are entirely for fun, like the Novelling Fury can be completely run by the students without faculty being present because it using nothing more then a quill, parchment, and some imagination."

Kiva grinned. In all honesty, she had been surprised that a Pecari had thought of something like that. She knew Echo was a smart boy, but his friends (well, really, his House), wasn't known to have the type of attention span to handle such an intense amount of writing and dedication. "There is also talk of a newspaper, but that is headed by Professor Flatt and you'll have to direct all your questions to him since it's still in the early stages of development." She paused for a moment, a frown appearing as she thought back on what she had said.

"Anyway, to answer your question, there very well may be restrictions to any school organization. However, that really depends on the type of organization and what's involved in it. That's something you can discuss in private with myself, another professor, or the Headmaster, if you don't feel comfortable with discussing it with everyone else just yet."

0 Professor K. Only by professionals 0 Professor K. 0 5

Delany

April 10, 2008 8:27 PM

U2? by Delany

Delany stared around the library in awe. Thousands of books adorned the walls. She had just finished the feast and was now accompying the rest of the first year students to their new common room! and the best part was, it was in the library! She had loved books since she was 4. Anything. She could sit and read for hours. She tried to pay attention to the twists and turns but was soon lost. She quickly jogged up to the rest of the group. Professor K was explaining how to get into the common room. Delany payed close attention and looked around. A blonde boy near the front was muttering under his breath. She watched as he looked up and spoke out, in a thick accent.

“Even if we can’t play… we can at least fly, can't we? Just for fun?” he said.

Oh My gosh. He liked flying to? that is so cool. maybe they could fly together. for practice. and fun.

Delany was pulled away from antoher boy, who was certainly determined to keep track of things, for he had a paper pad, quill, and was pushing glasses up in front of his eyes. When Delany had finished hearing his question she turned back to hte blonde boy. He was standing there at the front. She quickly passed through the group to stand next to him.

"Hi. I'm Delany. You like flying too? Maybe we could practice together sometime. maybe not this year, if we're not allowed, but next year? becuase i love to fly, at lest when im not studying or reading or any other stuff. but its cool." she said. Uh-oh. she was rambling. she must sound completly idiotic.

There goes her first impression. She looked over nervously at him.

"I mean...If you want someone to fly with. I'm free. or whenever. maybe we could just...ok. never mind. well, no, if you want someone to fly with, I can fly." She said before looking at his face.

Great. this was perfect. ok not really. she just hoped he said something back.

0 Delany U2? 0 Delany 0 5

Tyrone Astin

April 11, 2008 9:43 AM

Why rock'n'roll? by Tyrone Astin

Unfortunately for Delany, Tyrone was tired, a little headachy, and too overwhelmed by life. And if there was anything he handled badly, it was his emotions. The visibly crestfallen expression on his face was gone in an instant as he quieted down and hid behind Seamus again, wondering what that weird boy with the pad was, and what in Merlin’s name was he thinking? He was reminded forcibly that he had not chosen to come here.

So, when he realized he was being addressed by someone, he nearly jumped out of his skin as he turned to look at her, expression blank for a moment as he tried to figure out why she was talking to him. His eyes flicked up briefly to glance at her face before returning, rather firmly, to their previous occupation of memorizing the pattern on the rug. “She said there’d be classes,” he pointed out in a slightly sullen tone. He did badly with new people, generally—he’d already almost made a girl cry.

And then that… strange offer. Request. Thing. He withdrew a little more, refusing to actually look up at her—he had trouble meeting people’s eyes when he was nervous. It made no sense to him. But for the sake of politeness (as he promised his mother he’d be good and he didn’t want to give his parents a reason to be mad at him), he just said softly, “Yeah, maybe. But it’s a whiles away yet.” He didn’t mention he planned to fly one way or another and rules be damned. “Not much use plannin’ on next year till we know if we’re gonna live through this one.” He didn’t realize he’d forgotten to introduce himself—to either the girl or the teacher.

0 Tyrone Astin Why rock'n'roll? 0 Tyrone Astin 0 5

Seamus McFarlan

April 11, 2008 7:03 PM

Why not punk? by Seamus McFarlan

Seamus was liking Sonora more and more. First Cascade Hall and all its splendor, then he found out that the Head Boy himself was part of his house, and now he discovered that the way to his new home was through the library. As such a library! More books than a body could read in a life time! Proudly he step through the magical opening. Why the place looked like it belonged to a mansion and for the next seven years it would be his very own home. It didn’t hurt that of all the colors in the rainbow, blue happened to be a particular favorite of his.

Almost all the wonderful feelings died as quickly as a flame in the hearth when water was thrown at it when he learned not only were first years banned from flying lessons, but the would be no free flying at all until they passed a flying class. Not fair! They should be able to test out. They should open the tryouts to all comers and let talent decide if a first year could be on the team or not.

He was about to stand up to the Head of House, Ms. Professor K, not because he disliked her personally, but because she was the only representitive of the ruling establishment that lorded over them and voice his opinion when he heard a girl named Delany began babbling at Tyrone who was standing behind him, asking him if he wanted to go flying with her. Delany’s name sounded as though she might come from his home, but her foreign accent gave away that she was an American.

“Yeah, maybe. But it’s a whiles away yet.” Tyrone answered her in a very grouchy voice. One thing you could say for Scotts, they could get gloomy enough to make in rain in the middle of a draught. “Not much use plannin’ on next year till we know if we’re gonna live through this one.”

“Are ye daft?” Seamus broke in, all charm and smiles. “Of course we’ll survive, if only t’ make the bloody rule makers eat their words. They’ll see we’re so good at flyin’ and playin’, they’ll weep great tears of regret that they wouldna’ allow the likes of us on the team and be beggin’ us t’ sign up next year.”

He graced Delany with a mischievous grin that made his dark green eyes dance merrily. “I’m Seamus McFarlan. An’ me cara brónach, here is Tyrone Astin. And it’d be a delight to fly with you as soon as they deem us worthy to assault these skies.”

Tonight was the first night in his school. The first night on his own without four older sisters smothering him with their teasing and mothering. Seamus felt like this called for a party. But if Tyrone didn’t lighten up soon, the evening may as well be a wake. Then he remembered something stuck carefully in the bottom of his trunk. He’d had every intention of tacking it over his bed anyway, why not brag a little now.

“Say, guess what I brought along wi’ me from home.” Seamus began mysteriously. “Tis a Kenmare Kestrels banner! Hand signed by the whole team and a half a dozen mascots. Me da and Uncle James own the Cosmos, so they gave them each one after a victory party there one night and Da gave me his!”

Seamus didn’t bother to explain what the Cosmos was. Every member of the Wizarding community in the United Kingdom had at least heard of the fancy nightclub. All the celebrities, entertainment, political, and sports alike deemed it the “place to be”.\n

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Delany

April 11, 2008 8:41 PM

Cause' i love it. by Delany

Delany looked at Tyrone. His answer had seemed a little...down. Like he didn't think he'd make it through first year. Maybe he was nervous. It was their first day. But Seamus seemed nice. And very excited. Delany noticed that his eyes were dark green, like hers, but hers were misty green, and sparkled when he smiled. Maybe they could be friends? It would be cool. And it sounded like he Loved flying.

"Your right. We'll definatly make it past first year. piece of cake." She said smiling in Seamus' direction. She quickly pulled her dirty blonde hair behind her shoulders, a habit she had when she was really excited. "Maybe if your not doing anything, if you like reading, we could find some books to read?"

She looked over at Seamus and quickly glanced at Tyrone. Maybe he was just nervous. She was sure they were both awEsome people.

0 Delany Cause' i love it. 0 Delany 0 5

Tyrone Astin

April 12, 2008 5:50 AM

So, not so much with the Brahms thing? by Tyrone Astin

He knew Seamus disapproved of that glumness. (Seamus was reminding him more and more of his cousin now.) It was in the quick way he jumped on the awkwardness left by his own rather singular prediction of their chance of physical survival—although he meant more a sort of emotional and mental kind of no-chance-of-surviving than the physical. Or so he thought. Now that he reflected on it, he wasn’t entirely sure. After all, who knew what strange and random desert creatures might come and attack them in the dead of night? They might have horrible claws, or some device by which to get all the water out of a person, as that was a logical ability for a creature living in a place with almost no water to have…

Quickly stopping that train of thought before his imagination took him too far, he came to a quick decision. Being friendly to Jera and Seamus at the feast has drained the boy’s naturally low social resources, and he sighed a little and hoped Seamus wouldn’t hate him. He’d hate to have the one person he knew and could talk to in Gaelic in his house hate him. Still, with his eyes keeping their steady focus on the ground, he tried to speak up. “Actually, I…”

Then he stopped, and his jaw dropped a little. The Cosmos? He stared at Seamus. “Bloody hell. You’re that McFarlan?” he squeaked. His eyes were wide. After all, that was the Cosmos. Everyone knew about it. Not that Tyrone, at his age and with his interests, was much for the idea of nightclubs, or followed politicians and stars much. (Nor did he look at the private lives of sportsmen, unless something tragic happened. He felt it was their business and not his.) But everyone knew about the Cosmos. He continued gaping at Seamus for a minute—feeling distinctly like an out-of-place farmboy—before shaking himself a little and returning to what he’d mean to say.

“…You can tell me later. Actually, it was a really long trip from home, and I’m tired. The books won’t run, and I want to get everything unpacked. Maybe look around later. But I need to rest a little.” Truth be told, it had little to do with physical exhaustion and everything to do with needing to curl up and get away from people for a while. But he wasn’t going to mention that.

0 Tyrone Astin So, not so much with the Brahms thing? 0 Tyrone Astin 0 5

Delany

April 12, 2008 5:06 PM

Nope. by Delany

Delany watched as Tyrone stared at Seamus. Obviously, this Cosmos' place was important in Europe. But, being Delany, she had no clue what. Ever since she was 9 she didn't get into public drama's. She watched quietly as Tyrone turned back to her.

“…You can tell me later. Actually, it was a really long trip from home, and I’m tired. The books won’t run, and I want to get everything unpacked. Maybe look around later. But I need to rest a little.” he said.

"That's fine. I would be tired to if I had traveled that far. What about you Seamus?" She asked as she turned toward Seamus. She smiled a little as she looked over at him.

0 Delany Nope. 0 Delany 0 5

Seamus

April 13, 2008 12:11 PM

The classics are the best by Seamus

Seamus couldn’t help but puff out a bit with pride at Tyrone’s reaction. He didn’t use that little bit of news to his advantage often, but he couldn’t help but feel a little proud that he belonged to “those McFarlans”. Someday, he hope to take over as his father and uncle did when his grandpa wanted to retire. He was more disappointed that Tyrone didn’t jump at the chance to see his glorious banner. He thought for sure that would put some sort of spark in the boy’s eye seeing how much he liked Quidditch.

“Right, mate,” Seamus replied and bid his new friend good night. It seemed obvious to him that Tyrone wanted some privacy. “There’ll be plenty of time for exploring’ later.”

Delany repeated her invitation to look through the library. Seamus didn’t really want to spend the first night doing such a quiet activity, but rowdy fun didn’t seem in the cards either with a roommate that wanted to go to bed already.

“Why not.” he shrugged.

OOC: Meet you in the library.\n

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