Fidget the elf owl
February 28, 2017 7:04 PM
A message for Captain John Umland by Fidget the elf owl
Isis did not have her own personal owl, so she had selected one of the available school owls from the owlery. Fidget the elf owl seemed the most friendly, and so she sent him off to Aladren commons. Fidget flew with gusto, puffing out his feathered chest proudly as he bolted out passed the bigger owls. Not a lot of people picked the happy little guy, so he was very glad to be selected for this delivery of the utmost importance, toting his envelope all the way to Aladren and dropping it off on the desk of one Mr. John Umland. It read as such:Captain John Umland,
Congratulations on your promotion to Quidditch Captain, although I’m certain it comes as no surprise after your reign as Assistant Captain. This year, as you probably already know, you will be responsible for posting sign-ups, running tryouts, reserving the Pitch, and scheduling and facilitating team practices. You will also have to select an Assistant Captain. My recommendation is Louis Valois.
If you would rather have a different assistant or feel you cannot carry out these duties, please owl me so that we may discuss your reasoning and figure out other options for the team’s future. Otherwise, feel free to inform Louis yourself. Congratulations once again, and good luck this season.
Signed,
Isis Carter.
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A message for Captain John Umland
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John Umland
March 20, 2017 3:14 PM
Delegation, I like it. by John Umland
The assistant captain issue was one John would have rather not dealt with, and it occurred to him later that the wording of Carter’s e-mail could have been a tacit request for him to step down because of the incident with the headmaster and promote both Jack and Louis. Interesting wording, if you feel you cannot carry out these duties. If he hadn’t felt up to it, after all, the correct course of action would have been for him to mention that last year.Since he had already posted the list, though, he decided to do some delegating and make his problem the younger student’s problem. As soon as he got a chance, he approached Louis.
“Hey, Louis,” said John. Mom would have wanted him to try to speak French to Louis, but John imagined his grammar would be so mangled as to render him incomprehensible even if he could find the necessary vocabulary in a timely manner. His reading French had never extended beyond maybe a second grade level and had decayed from its peak, and he was someone who was not considered good at composing novel sentiments in even his first language. “Carter’s put you up for Assistant Captain.”
He did not know whether to mention the possibility of Jack taking offense outright and so omitted it, just making sure to mention Carter to distance himself from the mess. He smiled and managed to joke, “I guess she thought it would be too complicated to have Jack and John. Anyway, it’s yours if you want it. I have no objection.”
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John Umland
Delegation, I like it.
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Louis Valois
March 21, 2017 12:05 PM
Can I delegate my problems to someone? by Louis Valois
By the time the feast ended and Louis was able to make his way to the Aladren common room, he didn’t want much more than to collapse into bed and try and fall asleep. The prefect problem was something he was really hoping to avoid thinking about anymore today. He wasn’t sure how to handle it, and his brain was trying to claim that tomorrow would be a much better day to think about or. Or the day after that. Or even the day after that. Or maybe he should run away and become a hermit.He’d just made it into the common room (only a flight of stairs to go) when he found himself talking - or, rather, being talked to - by John. That wasn’t exactly part of the plan, but John wasn’t known for unnecessarily long conversations about trivial matters, so Louis shrugged to himself and tuned in. And wait, what did John just say?
Louis stared uncomprehendingly at John for a second, and then continued staring a moment longer as his brain caught up with the situation at hand. Did he mind being given AQC over Jack? Well, it wasn’t exactly the same as the prefect situation, although Louis still wasn’t sure if anyone completely impartial would say it was entirely fair. He wondered why Carter had chosen him. He wasn’t aware that they’d bonded in any way, so it made no sense for her to choose him over Jack.
“Okay, thanks,” he replied, still mildly confused but willing to go with it. After all, John had stated that he had no objections, which Louis was going to take as a compliment. “Are you sure Jack won’t mind? I don’t want to cause deep division on the team, or anything of the sort.” He vaguely waved his hands about to indicate the drama potential this had. Merlin, he needed this day to stop dumping things like this on him. He didn’t mind being given responsibilities, but why did they always have to come at the expense of someone else?
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Louis Valois
Can I delegate my problems to someone?
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John Umland
March 24, 2017 5:31 PM
As long as it ain't me. by John Umland
For a moment, Louis’ very valid point – that passing over Jack could lead to deep division on the team – struck a chord even though the apathy which had settled over John when he’d realized there might be a problem. Once upon a time, he’d been prepared to walk away from the team, leaving it high and dry, if Clark had been passed over, and he suspected that everyone knowing this was a possibility was no small part of why he and Clark had not both been passed over for Jack. He shrugged, now a little uncomfortably.“I have no idea,” he said honestly. The Assistant Captain’s job was to cover the captain’s back and deal with stuff the captain didn’t have the time or inclination to deal with when possible. Louis could prove if he was up for the job right now. “I haven’t had a chance to catch up with anyone much yet except the Headmaster’s collection of torture implements. I don’t know. Guess you’ll have to ask him if you want to know.”
He knew he was being neither kind nor fair to Louis, who was younger than Jack, was being shoved into an awkward spot without warning, and was being asked to take on two difficult jobs at once when John had never seen him as the sturdy type. He reminded John of Julian’s friend Charles sometimes, a little bit. “For all I know, Jack told Carter he didn’t want the job, and it’s all good,” he said, trying to be a bit nicer. It, whatever ‘it’ was, wasn’t Louis’ fault, and John was a prefect. That meant he had a duty to be kind and fair to the younger Aladrens and try, as far as he knew how, to make them feel better about things, and God knew the first part of his evening had demonstrated why it was not good to neglect one’s duties for one’s preferences.
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As long as it ain't me.
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