Would-Be Christmas Tree Ornament on Cascade Hall

Acting Headmaster Bulla

January 20, 2006 1:08 AM

Let the New Term Commence! by Acting Headmaster Bulla

It was almost a relief to see nothing beyond the ordinary. Manfred, having spent most of his summer at the school rather than pursuing his usual Summer recreation and catching up with his family, was glad of this, but that didn't mean that he felt entirely comfortable taking the spot of the Head of Sonora at the Staff table. It still felt like Lucinda Marnett's chair. It was still Lucinda's chair... after all, she hadn't resigned. She just left to recuperate, and hadn't yet returned.

During the break, Manfred had occasionally had time to wonder if she ever would.

But not today. The wagons, bringing the year's intake of students had been returning to the school all day, and now everyone was seated at their tables. The first years had only just been administered with their potions; the traditional form of sorting at Sonora. Each student was presented with a chalice holding a clear, bubbling liquid. Upon drinking the potion, they temporarily turned the primary colour of their house - Aladren students turned blue, Crotali were red, Pecari brown and Teppenpaw Yellow. It generally didn't last too long but it generally caused some consternation and amusement amongst the students.

Manfred sat a moment longer, and then, knowing it couldn't be put off a moment longer, stood and called for attention.

"Welcome," he said, glad he'd taken the time to think about what he was going to say and even rehearse a little the night before. "To all our new students, I am Acting Headmaster Bulla, and on behalf of the staff and other students I would like to welcome you to Sonora Academy. This school will be your home away from home for the next seven years, and I hope that you all work hard, and enjoy your time here. To our returning students, welcome back. You've had your holidays, and now it's time to return to learning mode. Do your houses proud. Also, the House Quidditch Tournament - which I'm sure you all recall being cancelled last year - will be reinstated this year." He paused, expecting and getting a reaction from that announcement. "But all that can wait. I assume you're all hungry after your trip to school?"

He didn't need to say anything more. Rather, if he had, he might have had some trouble, considering the difference between the length of his speach and those that the Headmistress had been in habit of giving at the start of the year feast. He waved his hand at the room, and the feast magically appeared on the tables.\n\n

Subthreads:

This is cruel and unusual, and I demand recompense! by Michael Tallow with Saul Pierce, Celia Andrews, Eduard Grimaud, Ginger Silverstein

Or should that be 'Simpson'? by Pepper Jones with Briony O'Leary, Pepper

So very wrong! by Devian Dupree with Geoffrey Layne, Devian

I've...turned red?! Nononono! by Tiponi Grisandole with Geoffrey Spindler, Geoff S., Tiponi G.

It's the end of the world as we know it.. by Adam and Kaylie Brockert with Dillon Welsh (with a Zoey Welsh Appearance), Kaylie and Adam

This potion made me dirty!!!! by Ginger Silverstein with saul

Would-Be Christmas Tree Ornament by Lila Gringe with Lila St.Martin

yellow it is then by Rob Stone

Death by Sorting, anyone? by Morgaine Carey with Connor Pierce, Morgaine

Oh wonderful, another year by Tally with Allie St.Martin

I am not THAT sunny. by Melanie Rose with Dalila Bastet

It worked...that's amazing by Günter Heindrich with Zack Dill

I'm not nervous... by Tyranthia Boyd with Stephen Baxter, Ty, Sorrel and Ash, Ash and Sorrel, The Twins

Year three. *low whistle* Wow. by Mia

New term, new Crotali by Professor Dione

Older, wiser, but not at all taller *sigh* by Jennifer Zucchero with Chrissy Mathers, Jennifer, Lily Collins

I love this place... by Anne Wright

Arriving Without a Bang. by Professor Marlowe

Siblings are the darndest things this term... by Gwenhwyfar Carey

Here we are, at the start of all things... by Gabriel Antonious Van Brookhoven IV with Sally Porter

39 Acting Headmaster Bulla Let the New Term Commence! 2 Acting Headmaster Bulla 1 5

Michael Tallow

January 20, 2006 5:07 AM

This is cruel and unusual, and I demand recompense! by Michael Tallow

Michael surveyed the scene before him in a state of subdued shock. Teaming masses of people were somewhat of a novelty, yes, however that was not what put him in such a state. Nor was the cacophony of greetings and non-greetings that bellowed about him. In fact, it wasn't even the garish gobbing of mouths to his left and right as food was shoveled in that caused him to shake with stupored stupefaction.

It was the color brown.

His hands were brown, as were his legs from between his white socks and knee length shorts. His arms were brown, and, after a quick glance down his shirt, so was his stomach and chest. And, even though he couldn't say it with total certainly, he'd be willing to wager a hefty bet that his eyes, normally a very dark blue, were now shaded over in brown as well.

The shock was derived from his total brownness. It was the wrong color. He was supposed to be red. Red like lobsters. Red like communists. Red like the Red Baron.

Instead he was brown like dirt. Brown like the Gestapo. Brown like soggy corn flakes.

Michael was now depressed. He couldn't even summon enough energy to eat, which was only his third favorite hobby, next to bothering his sister and building airplanes, exactly in that order thank you very much. He was so depressed that he couldn't even find a snide pleasure in imagining what it would be like if everyone currently colored red- the color which he was supposed to be- were to suddenly start breaking out in hives that would then transpire into leprosy or something equally painfully and skin peeling. The thought did, however, manage to lift his spirits enough to stop staring at his hands and instead glare at his sister who was laughing at something one of her little- probably once red and definitely not brown- friends had said.

It wasn't fair. Asher didn't like her house; that's what she said at Christmas and all summer. All she did was complain about some girls in there that she called Hens and snobs and some other words that got her mouth washed out with soap over. Michael thought they all sounded just fine to him. Snobs had this great habit of ignoring people they didn't care about, and that's exactly what Michael wanted: to be ignored and left alone. He wasn't at Sonora for friends, or learning, or even, hades forbid, personal growth. He was at school because his father said he had to be. A decision Michael had contested all summer long and had ultimately, upon realizing his zero chance of changing his father's mind, settled upon dealing with since he planned to be sorted in to the sort of house that would leave him alone. Now he was stuck in the Pecari House.

While he didn't know much about the house, he knew that the name sounded suspicious, and that was plenty enough reason for him to dislike it.

There had been a mistake, he finally decided, albeit mentally. “There's been a mistake,” he repeated aloud. “A gross, but easily rectified, mistake. I'm not supposed to be in Pecari.”

Even though his words started out rather softly, they ended more than loud enough for anyone to pick upon, the final syllables cut, dry, and admittedly, rather whiny sounding. Michael Tallow was, at heart, still just a little, selfish, boy after all- but. But, he was rather good at putting together his model airplanes, so it all evened out. Or so his brain often reasoned. \n\n

0 Michael Tallow This is cruel and unusual, and I demand recompense! 1465 Michael Tallow 0 5

Pepper Jones

January 20, 2006 8:24 AM

Or should that be 'Simpson'? by Pepper Jones

Magic was real. Magic was real and she could do it and was going to magic school because of it. A slight part of her had been still expecting it to be a very elaborate joke until she was put in a flying wagon that morning. It had just... flown. Got up off the ground and flown. Now she had to deal with both the shock of being away from her family for the first time and the shock that magic was really, definitely, really real.

She followed everyone into the hall, feeling like her hair, which made up for what it lacked in length and volume most definitely made up for in colour, was causing people to stare. Unless she just gave off more of an air of being lost and confused than the others.

Hands shaking, she took the goblet. Everyone else in the room looked fine. They'd all had to do this last year, or the year before. The school wasn't going to poison her. But what if wizards had a different idea of what was painful or unjust? Trying not to think about the things they did in all the fairy stories she'd made up for her brothers and sisters, she drunk the potion when instructed. At first, she felt no different, but once she caught sight of her hands, and of everyone else, she gave a small squeal and almost dropped her chalice. No one else, the older students, was a colour. They would have to take it away, she reasoned, her heart beat slowing. It really was a rather good joke, she supposed. Theo would have liked it.

She followed the other Simpsons coloured children down to a table, glancing around anxiously. She could deal with large numbers of people, her house had always been full to bursting. But large numbers of people older than (or at the very least the same age as) herself was a new one. She stared around at the table. Some of the older students were chatting amongst themselves, some that caught her eye smiled sympathetically. She caught the eye of someone with still a faint tinge of yellow about them, who looked as unsure as she felt. Even though she wasn't quite sure how to deal with them, the feeling of someone needing looking after was familiar enough for her to be glad to latch onto it.

"Is this all new to you too?" she asked them kindly, "The whole magic thing, I mean, obviously the school is," she added, a slight red making itself obvious under the fading yellow.\n\n

13 Pepper Jones Or should that be 'Simpson'? 74 Pepper Jones 0 5

Saul Pierce

January 20, 2006 8:46 AM

It's not so bad really by Saul Pierce

The ride on the flying wagon had been really cool, Simon had been right about that much. He'd been lying about the giant blue oxen with wings that he'd said pulled them, though, but Saul had kinda figured that. He'd never heard of giant blue oxen with wings before in even to most garish folk tales (Paul Bunyan or someone had a giant blue ox, but she didn't have wings). Anyway, the ride from California to Arizona had been really great and he was definitely going to do some major horseback riding when he got older because as cool as it had been, they'd been a little too high and been going a little too fast to really see everything they'd passed.

Not that he didn't understand why. It was a long journey, and they had to be here in time for the feast, so the sight-seeing had to be limited. Now that he was here, though, there were plenty of sights to see. He gaped in amazement at the falling walls of cascading water that gave the room its name. He stared at all the people, every last one of them a witch or wizard. He came from mixed stock, but they generally kept to the muggle world for the most part. A few magical faires here and there, and of course the political rallies, but mostly he lived in muggle campgrounds all around the state of California. Magic among his family was common, but only done surreptuously. Here, they flaunted it and Saul's eyes grew large with wonder.

He and the other first years were given chalise of a bubbling potion and told to drink it. He did so without hesitation and despite no warning from Simon in this quarter (okay, there had been, but he really didn't think the potion would have made him turn into a parrot that could only say the name of the House he was to be placed in - if only because Simon tended to lie about these sorts of things), he wasn't terribly surprised when he and all the people around him began to turn colors. Brown, red, blue and yellow. He looked down at himself and found he was one of the brown ones.

He had no idea what that meant, but it was still cool. He was brown. Following some of the other brown colored kids to one of the tables, Saul sat down beside a guy who wasn't looking terribly happy by his current skin color. He was going to say something, but he got distracted by the Headmaster talking, and then food appearing in front of him. The food, especially. He was starving and there was meat. He fell upon it like a ravenous lion. He had nothing but respect for the vegans that made up the majority of his family, but their food was awful.

Only the rising voice beside him, stating, "I'm not supposed to be in Pecari," was able to pull him out of his carnivorous bliss.

He swallowed his current bite, and turned toward the other boy. Admittedly, he didn't know much about the houses, but it couldn't be that bad, really. "I'm sure it's a great house," he grinned, "I mean, we're in it, aren't we?"\n\n

1 Saul Pierce It's not so bad really 82 Saul Pierce 0 5

Briony O'Leary

January 20, 2006 9:55 AM

I'd like to be Maggie by Briony O'Leary

She was amazed by the school. It was so large! She had no idea how she would ever find any of her classes. She smiled at the thought, wondered how her dad would react if she walked into his class late, wondered what he was like in the classroom in general. Would he treat her differently? The idea made her a bit nervous.

Her nervousness must have shown, because the next thing she knew, another girl with yellow-colored hands, same as hers was asking her if this was all new to her. The other girl seemed nervous to.

Briony gave the girl a friendly smile, as she replied, "Hi! No magic isn't new to me, but the school sure is. Looks like we're in the same house."

She held up her own yellow hands.\n\n

0 Briony O'Leary I'd like to be Maggie 75 Briony O'Leary 0 5

Devian Dupree

January 20, 2006 10:02 AM

So very wrong! by Devian Dupree

He wasn't like most first years. Most were unsure of themselves, not him. He belonged here. Afterall, he was a Pureblood. The only ones, in his family's opinion that should know magic. He also belonged here, because this is where his cousins were - Chris and Nicoletta. Devian knew he was going to be in the same house as Nicoletta. It was the best house. It was Crotalus. There was no better house and nothing else would do. Confident, he drank the potion to turn his hands one of the four colors.

He stared in horror at his hands. They didn't turn red, they turned blue! No this was all wrong! They should be red!

He tried to keep calm. A Dupree should never show stress, but he couldn't help darting his eyes quickly over the other students. Who else had blue colored hands?

He quickly spotted someone with blue hands. He walked up to them. Hopefully, they were worth associating with.

"Hello. I am Devian Dupree. Obviously, we're in the house," he said, his nose slightly in the air. "And you are?"\n\n

0 Devian Dupree So very wrong! 70 Devian Dupree 0 5

Pepper

January 20, 2006 10:20 AM

So I'm the big sister as usual? by Pepper

Pepper smiled, nodding as the girl held up her own hands.

"So does that mean everyone in your family can do magic?" she asked curiously, missing her own more and more, as the girl said she'd grown up with it. She had previously been working on the theory that everyone was like her, after all, she had no evidence against it, and that magic just popped up in people every now and then. She fidgetted a little. Perhaps if everyone else came from families with people who could do magic, then someone had made a mistake. It made more sense that magic ran in families than it just happened to lodge itself in an otherwise ordinary little girl.

"Does everyone else here usually come from magical families too?" she asked, trying just to sound casually interested, and neither like it worried her nor draw attention to the fact she was either an exception to the rule, or not meant to be here at all. If they turned their own kind colours, she dreaded to think what they'd do to someone not magical at all. Perhaps the myth that they changed people into frogs existed for a reason. The fact she had a lot of spell books and a wand now seemed to prove very little.\n\n

0 Pepper So I'm the big sister as usual? 0 Pepper 0 5

Briony

January 20, 2006 10:42 AM

sly smile You could be Marge by Briony

"According to my father, not everyone is born from parents with magic. He said though that everyone has magic, even Muggles, but they can't use it. So, we have muggleborns, those with magic from nonmagic families. He said it has something to do with genetics, but I tuned him out at that point, because he started doing his professor thing by turning it into a long and boring lecture," she grinned at the other girl. "You'll see what I mean."

Abruptly, her eyes turned wide and sad and she smiled whistfully, "My mom had magic. She was very powerful."

She wished she had known her mother. She wished her mother could see her beginning her training. She wished for a lot of things. She gave a small sigh.\n\n

0 Briony *sly smile* You could be Marge 0 Briony 0 5

Tiponi Grisandole

January 20, 2006 1:47 PM

I've...turned red?! Nononono! by Tiponi Grisandole

Tiponi sat by the other unsorted first years in Cascade Hall, knowing something of what to expect from her tutors but not quite sure how things would turn out. She was expected to drink a potion, as the others were doing while she waited, and her skin would magically turn the color of the house she was supposed to join. It didn't really matter to her where she ended up, so long as there were enough people in it to keep her awake and interested.

Luckily, she was excited enough for now that staying awake wasn’t much of a problem. The wagon ride to the school was a different story. She would find some alternate means of arriving, she promised herself, because it was far too easy to become sleepy on the long ride and she’d already spooked the group she rode with when she woke up from her nap with a scream and an instinctive smack into the side of another passenger’s head. It had been so embarrassing...she hadn’t accidentally hit a stranger in several years, much less one she might have to share a class with. Passing it off with a nervous, wide-eyed laugh and a sincere apology had been the only thing she could think to do at the time.

Taking a few deep breaths as her name was called, she hopped down from her chair and accepted the potion. It was clear and bubbling, the chalice warm in her hands as she drank it down. She felt a little tingle pass through her and the teacher who’d been watching her announced her house as Crotalus. If she remembered correctly, that’s what her parents had been hoping for. How nice that they wouldn’t be disappointed.

The teacher indicated that she should follow along after a trail of red-skinned children and a shiver of a different sort ran down her spine as she started to obey. Tentatively she raised a hand and let out an involuntary scream when she saw that it was the same blood red hue. Several people around her jumped and stared at her with wide eyes, but she was too busy trying to scrub the stuff away to even notice. “No no no no no,” she kept muttering, vigorously rubbing the skin of her hands against her new green robes.

“How do I make the color go away?!” she finally asked, voice frantic as nothing worked. She didn’t notice how quickly it had already started to fade from the other students.
\n\n

0 Tiponi Grisandole I've...turned red?! Nononono! 0 Tiponi Grisandole 0 5

Adam and Kaylie Brockert

January 20, 2006 3:10 PM

It's the end of the world as we know it.. by Adam and Kaylie Brockert

Kaylie walked into the Cascade Hall. She was quite excited about meeting the new students. She was also glad to have her little brother with her at last. Adam was currently trailing after her really close.

"Kaylie," Adam whispered. "Everyone's staring at me." Adam didn't want them to look at him. He just wanted to stick really close to his sister so she could protect him. Kaylie was his best friend and the last two year without her at home had been pretty rough. She took care of him and looked after him.

"I'm sure they aren't" Kaylie reassured him. She gazed around. Actually, there were quite a few people looking at them. Mostly older boys. She hoped they weren't planning to pick on Adam. She'd hex them. She didn't care how much older and bigger they were....or how bad at hexes she was. Nobody was going to hurt her little brother!

The pair sat down at one of the tables. Adam peered down at the goblet in front of him. He was nervous. This was the moment of truth. What house would he be in? It had to be Teppenpaw. That's where Kaylie was. He just had to be in the same house. Otherwise, how would he see her? That's why Adam was at all eager to come to Sonora in the first place. So he could be with his sister again, like before she'd gone off to school. Besides, how could she protect him if he was in a different house?

"Go on, Adam." Kaylie told him. "Drink it."

Adam gulped down the clear liquid. He saw his older sister's face fall before he even noticed his color. He looked down at his hands. They were red. Red like blood. "Red's not Teppenpaw, is it?"

Kaylie shook her head. "I'm sorry, Adam. Red's Crotalus."

No! This couldn't be happening. Adam needed to be with Kaylie. The Crotali would pick on him. She wouldn't be able to protect him if he was in a house where she couldn't get to him or see what was going on.

He felt like he was going to throw up. Tears pricked at Adam's eyes. He wiped at them with his sleeve. He didn't want to cry here, where people could see. They'd pick on him. He knew it, but he couldn't help it.

Kaylie enveloped him in a hug. "Shh..it's okay. I'll still be here for you." She felt just awful for him. Kaylie hated to see him like this, but the sorting potion had spoken and there was no going back.\n\n

11 Adam and Kaylie Brockert It's the end of the world as we know it.. 78 Adam and Kaylie Brockert 0 5

Ginger Silverstein

January 20, 2006 4:51 PM

This potion made me dirty!!!! by Ginger Silverstein

Ginger was amazed, she couldn't believe that her entire life was about to change. Aside from being exicted, adventurous, and happy that she was about to have the wizarding life shown to her, she was very nervous. She was afriad that she wouldn't fit into this life. She knew that the magical community existed, but she didn't know anything else about it. Her aunt was a muggleborn witch, just like her apparently. Her aunt never did magic in front of her or anything. She wanted it all to be a suprise for Ginger. She was so amazed by how beautiful the building was from the outside in. The ride on the wagon was so fun. She didn't even get out her PSP, or Gameboy to play on the way there.

She walked into the Cascade hall, she never saw anything like it! It was just so beautiful and shiny. Ginger's mouth hung open as she saw everything come into view. She sat down in a chair where a chalice with clear liquid that looked like sprite in it. She drank it down, as she was instructed, and saw her hand turn brown. Did this potion turn her into chocolate as well? She licked her hand to see if that's what happened. There was no taste of chocolate, was she suddenly covered in dirt? She reached into her purse, and pulled out some hand sanitizer, and tried to get the color out of her hands.

Suddenly the brown color left her skin, " I'm clean again," she thought happily. She noticed that people were turning different colors as well. A lot of them looked upset that they turned that color. She saw a boy turn blue, it was better than brown in Ginger's opinion. She knew that there was another purpose to drinking this potion, but she forgot. She sat there in deep awe.

Ginger tucked her blond chin length bangs out of her eyes, the rest of her hair was flipped out. She wore a casual pair of jeans, and a white shirt that had a picture of Link from Zelda on it. Zelda was a video game, and the man on her shirt had blond hair, a green outfit, a green elf looking hat, and he carried a sword and a shield.

\n\n

0 Ginger Silverstein This potion made me dirty!!!! 1484 Ginger Silverstein 0 5

Lila Gringe

January 20, 2006 4:54 PM

Would-Be Christmas Tree Ornament by Lila Gringe

Girls, whatever age, have a tendency to worry about their appearances. Even eleven-year-olds who have only recently discovered that they are, in fact, witches. As Lila was. It didn't stop her from noticing the . . . interesting changes that had gone on.

Normally she wasn't one to care much about her appearance, loathing superficiality as she did. Despite this, it's fairly difficult not to be shocked when one's hands- and, Lila assumed, the rest of her- turn suddenly, inexplicably crimson.

No, not inexplicably, the blonde had realized directly after her sip of that bubbling liquid. She wasn't the only one changing colors. So this was to be expected. She had numbly joined her fellow lobsters, at a table that had been filled with non-lobster-looking people, but was now a healthy mix of red and . . . normal.

Now she was sitting at the table, staring at her hands, which were still red. Usually she didn't pay much attention to her skin. But red skin was going a bit too far. She probably looked like a Christmas tree ornament! One of those above-and-beyond-overboard ones with garish red and softer celadon. Why red? Better yet, why had she had to wear green?

Lila realized that her hands had turned back to normal, sometime while she was worrying about looking ridiculous. Well, that was good. The girl looked around her. Hmm. She didn't know a single person.

Not that that wasn't to be expected. After all, she had only just found out that she was a witch. How should she know other magical people?

It didn't seem good, though, for as shy a girl as Lila to start out at a school not knowing anyone. After all, she wasn't about to turn to the person next to her and introduce herself. Maybe she needed to become more outgoing. Or maybe it didn't matter, and she would meet people later.\n\n

0 Lila Gringe Would-Be Christmas Tree Ornament 0 Lila Gringe 0 5

Rob Stone

January 20, 2006 5:57 PM

yellow it is then by Rob Stone

Rob Stone walked into Cascade Hall, the beautiful hall where everyone could eat, talk, and get together. The double doors he had walked into closed behind him, and the sight that met him left him breathless. It was like a door leading to a new world. His crystal blue eyes swept the room, taking in everything at once. This experience, these memories, they would last a lifetime. He swept his light brown hair out of his eyes and seated himself at a table with all of the other new kids.

Rob was a muggleborn, so he didn't really have any magical friends at all. That would take awhile to get used to. He was a new student at Sonora, and felt awfully lonely since there was no one he had to talk to anymore. The acting Head had seemed excited and Rob was equally excited when he recieved his letter of acceptance. He finally had a place where he would be with other magical people. He was a muggleborn, and had no other actual friends that were magical as well. But as he sat in cascade hall, and listened to the chattering of the students, he knew this was a place he would enjoy. He stopped fingering the 12 1/4 inch red oak and cedar wand he had newly purchased at Allivan's and left in his pocket. He walked towards the front of the hall, as he realized it was his turn to be sorted and sat himself down, hoping that with any luck, he would meet some new first year students in his house and would be able to make it at Sonora.

A potion was handed to him and Rob drank it. It tasted cool and refreshing down his throat, almost as if he had had a hard day and he drank cold water to make him feel better. He waited for the potion to take effect, and watched as before his very eyes, he turned into a member of the Simpsons, a muggle show he had watched when he was younger. He was yellow, very yellow. Rob smiled, Teppenpaw it is, he thought. Rob looked around, for any sing of other people who were yellow. He saw a group of kids and headed towards them.

"Hi, I'm Rob Stone, nice to meet you all. So it looks like we are in the same house then huh?"
\n\n

0 Rob Stone yellow it is then 0 Rob Stone 0 5

Geoffrey Layne

January 20, 2006 9:54 PM

I may be worse off than you, pal. by Geoffrey Layne

Geoffrey had received some details of the school in Anne's letters, but he couldn't keep from looking around the dining hall the first years were lead into with a fair amount of interest. Anne had never mentioned that the windows were covered with water, for example, and he had been fully under the impression that the leader of the school was a woman named Marnett, not a man. She had also failed to mention being given a potion at the start of the feast. Geoffrey looked at the chalice a little dubiously, then looked around for Wright. She had a godawful sense of humor, sometimes, but she wouldn't stand by and let him, the only friend she had ever managed to make and keep in her messed-up life, drink something poisonous.

He didn't see her. Typical. He supposed that it hadn't been very likely - Anne was now a second year, Anne probably had at least a few tenuous allies here to reunite with, and the fact that he hadn't seen Anne in person for well over a year left a lot of room for her appearance to have altered - but it would have made him a lot less uneasy about drinking an unknown substance to have it given her seal of approval. Still, what couldn't be mended oughtn't be wept over. With that, Geoffrey shrugged, lifted the chalice to his mouth, and drank what was inside it.

It took him a moment to notice the potion's affect on his appearance. His hands were blue. His arms were blue. The blurry image of his face he could make out in the side of the chalice looked blue. Anne had mentioned that blue was the primary color of Aladren. I'm an Aladren, he thought slowly, eyes still on his hands. A second realization hit him. I'm in Anne's House. Merlin help me. The thought brought something that might have been the cousin of a rueful smile. He liked her as well as he liked anyone and better than most, but there was no denying that Anne had a nasty temper and some...peculiar...ways around those she considered non-hostile.

The man at the top table's speech provided the reasoning behind why Anne hadn't told him the headmistress had been replaced by a headmaster. 'Acting Headmaster' sounded like a temporary position, at least to him. He heard a familiar-sounding whoop from down the table when it was announced that Quidditch was back on, and looked around for the voice's owner without success. It was entirely possible that he had been mistaken anyway, between his own desire to hear that particular voice, the amount of time that had passed since he had heard it, and the other cheering from the crowd.

He had just taken his seat and begun considering food choices when another blue boy walked up to him. He couldn't stop the fractional rise of his eyebrows at the other's manner. Dupree. He'd heard the name before. According to Anne, it was the surname of both Aladren's Keeper she had yet to see play and the name of some girl who had made trouble for Anne's favorite cousin - not that that was saying much. When it came to Anne, 'favorite cousin' was more like 'only cousin I believe worth of permission to breathe air'. She didn't like her family, Anne didn't, but he couldn't really blame her. The St.Martins were famous in Wizarding Charleston for their odd ways, and John had proved himself a real class act when he ditched her after Miz Mary died.

"Pleasure," he said shortly, extending a hand to the other boy. "Geoffrey Layne." The odds were against the other recognizing his surname, given the lack of size and importance the Laynes could lay claim to, but he reckoned that his blood was as pure as the next fellow's and that, therefore, he didn't have to defer to other purebloods. If the aforementioned other purebloods were of a differing opinion, they could go chat with someone else. \n\n

16 Geoffrey Layne I may be worse off than you, pal. 72 Geoffrey Layne 0 5

Geoffrey Spindler

January 20, 2006 10:34 PM

well... at least mom'll be happy. by Geoffrey Spindler

If there was one good point at living so far removed from everyone else, it was that Geoffrey hadn't had to worry about sharing his wagon with anyone for most of the trip to school. Instead he had been able to sit quietly while the wagon rattled through the air, and read the quidditch magazines that his mother had finally allowed him to have back. They were a few months out of date (the more recent ones were still locked up in her desk) but that didn't really matter too much. Except with Quidditch Investor and Geoffrey looked upon that as an exercise if just seeing how the market fluctuated, if not how it was looking right now.

But eventually the wagon had arrived. He self consciously climbed out and started to levitate his luggage out before he was told to leave it and it would be taken to his dormitory for him, and then stood there at a loss until he noticed the students heading indoors and followed them. This place was certainly different to home.

The slightly overweight boy stood near the back of the group as the goblets with the potion were handed out, trying to keep as inobtrusive as possible, and slightly aprehensive about what house he'd end up in. The red shade came as a bit of a surprise... only that morning his Mother had been bemoaning that he would never make her own house, and how he would embarrass and let the entire family down. But it appeared she was wrong. Geoffrey slipped to a table where some others who had turned red headed, still not trying to bring any attention to himself, and thought about this mixed blessing. Although, as he'd also been told at length, he was lucky to even be attending Sonora Academy. His grandmother and mother had talked of sending him elsewhere after the unmittigated disaster of their visit before Christmas. So, his mother might be pleasantly (or not so much) surprised.. but whether that would be good for Geoffrey was yet to be seen.

A girl nearby screamed, and he jumped, looked at her and started to edge away. “How do I make the color go away?!” she asked, and Geoff waited for someone else to answer, still moving away. When it become apparent that no one was answering he paused.

"Don't worry," he said hesitantly. "It'll fade soon. That's what Father said." He fled to an empty seat at a table and at the first opportunity loaded his plate and mouth with food. Perhaps he wouldn't have to talk to anyone else for a while.\n\n

0 Geoffrey Spindler well... at least mom'll be happy. 79 Geoffrey Spindler 0 5

Morgaine Carey

January 20, 2006 11:17 PM

Death by Sorting, anyone? by Morgaine Carey

No one could say she hadn't tried. Morgaine had ducked, dodged, hidden behind accursed tall people, and prayed with every fiber of her being that she would be successful in avoiding Sonora's other resident Carey girl, but she hadn't. She had managed to elude Gwenhwyfar at the transport location and on the wagons, but now, in the Cascade Hall, her accursed sister had caught up with her. The odd thudding in her ears when she made eye contact with Gwen exactly long enough to know she wouldn't get three feet without being accosted drowned out any possibility that she would hear anything in regards to her Sorting. She tried to make a figurative bolt for it - even she had more dignity than to actually run - but it was no use. Gwenhwyfar had been blessed with the longer legs and, at least for the moment, the greater determination of they two.

No one taking a casual glance at the second year Crotalus and the new first year would have thought they were, at least biologically, sisters. Gwenhwyfar was tall, though the oddly fragile look she had acquired since Morgaine had last seen her made her look smaller, blonde-haired, sapphire-eyed, and sickeningly pretty. One day, Morgaine knew the no-longer-pampered ex-favorite would be beautiful, if she lived that long. Morgaine herself was a different story: short, thin, dark, and, in her own opinion, resembling nothing so much as an outsized bowtruckle in a pleated skirt and Sonora robes. The only decent feature she thought she had was her eyes, an odd shade of blue-green, and they were currently narrowed, her customary determined scowl evolving into something darker as she faced the older girl.

"Do not speak to me," she snapped, putting as much effort as she could muster into keeping her voice down. "Leave me alone. We may be in the same House - " she thought it a safe bet, almost all Careys went into Crotalus, except the occasional Pecari weirdo like Clarence - " but that doesn't mean we have to have anything to do with each other. I'd hate to have to write home for a new wardrobe one day into the year because I ruined mine rolling in the dirt." Gwenhwyfar recoiled as if she had been slapped. Morgaine was horrified at the feeling that elicted from her. It wasn't the grief she had expected. It was satisfaction. She had the power to inspire the reaction usually reserved for their father without so much as kicking her sister. It took Gwen a moment to speak.

"Morie..." she began weakly, but Morgaine cut her off, feeling nauseated at both her sister's fragility and that persistent feeling of pleasure that she was the stronger one here. The one who warranted deference. There was something wrong with it. She had never felt like that towards anyone, never mind Gwen. The perfect one. The ex-perfect one.

"Don't call me that. My name is Morgaine. Morgaine Carey, of the Savannah Careys." The pounding in her ears had lessened a little, enough for her to be able to hear, but it was still there. There was too much blood in her head. She still felt sick. "Morgaine Carey of the Savannah Careys, first year Crotalus," she introduced herself, wondering if this was what it felt like to be Gwenhwyfar: fighting off the urge to laugh, cry, or do both hysterically on a second-by-second basis, having little to no idea what was going to come out of her mouth next.

"You're not."

Morgaine blinked in surprise. "What?"

"You're not a Crotalus," Gwen said, sounding a little more on-balance now that she was the one talking about what she knew, or at least thought you knew. "Dahlin'...you're a Pecari." Her sister hesitated, then asked in a would-be casual voice, "How're Father and Edmond doing, by the way?"

Morgaine looked at her hands, trying to process the fact that they were fading from brown to their normal color. The pounding in her ears was louder than ever, which was all for the best. If she had heard that last question, there was no doubt that the fit of hysterical laughter it would have produced would have rivaled Gwenhwyfar at her best, if not quite her - their - mother in her strange times. Pecari. She was in Pecari. Clarence's old House. Father was going to kill her. All of the blood left her head at once, and she rocked drunkenly, fighting what felt like a fainting fit in the works. Gwen grabbed her arm.

"Morgaine? Dahlin', are you all right?" Morgaine blinked at her, just managing to take in the look of concern on her sister's hatefully pretty face.

"Let go of me." When Gwenhwyfar didn't do so automatically, probably out of surprise or not being able to understand the words forced from between Morgaine's clenched teeth, she snapped. "Let go of me!" A few heads turned at the sudden shout, but she didn't notice them. This was all Gwenhwyfar's fault. She was going to be killed by her own father after less than a glorious year of being the favorite, and her stupid sister had the gall to stand there and look concerned. It wasn't fair. Gwenhwyfar was the shame of the family. Gwenhwyfar was the one facing disownment. She hadn't done anything wrong, and this was what she got for it, a one-way ticket to the afterlife. Father was going to kill her. He had made his feelings on brash "Pecari idiots" perfectly clear.

"Don't you touch me, you lowlife blood traitor! I don't care what the Council says, you're not a Carey, not in my book. You're not good enough to be a Carey. Don't you dare stand there and look like you ever cared about me, either! You don't, you hate me like everyone else does, all you care about is your stupid mudblood friends!" Her hands were curled into fists.

It was the feeling of her fingernails cutting into her palms that recalled her to reality. She looked up at her sister. In eleven years, Morgaine had never seen Gwenhwyfar cry when she wasn't having one of her nervous spells, which didn't count, but there was no mistaking the tears currently lining the taller girl's eyes. Dear Merlin, what did I say? What did I say? She knew what the words had been, but what did they mean? If she could say something like that to her own sister...she shook her head violently, trying to displace the thoughts. "Gwen?" Her voice was small and almost shaking. The fingernails of Gwen's right hand were doing a fine job of turning her left wrist as red as it had no doubt been this time last year.

"My name," the other managed to say in a thick voice after a moment of silence that seemed to last a few eons at the least, "is Gwenhwyfar." A spasm seemed to pass over Gwen's face, another sure sign that she was fighting some inner battle as hard as she could. "Gwenhwyfar Carey of the Savannah Careys, second year Crotalus." Morgaine was too stunned to call after the other girl as she swept off towards the Crotalus table, no doubt crying steadily by this point but keeping her head up.

It was only then that Morgaine registered that what felt like the whole Hall was staring straight at her. She had just indulged in a screaming match with the other Carey girl in front of the entire school. Turning slowly on the spot, Morgaine refused to hurry in spite of the eyes prodding her to do so and made her way to the Pecari table and sat down in the nearest seat, back straight and not touching the back of her chair. She was the true Carey here, even if she had been Sorted into Pecari. The Houses were all theoretically equal, at least. Pecaris were supposed to be strong, from what she had read. Strong and survivors. That was her. She could manage this.

That didn't change the fact that her father was going to kill her or change that she had just blown any chance of reconciliation with Gwen. She could still feel people staring at her. The nearest set of eyes was directly across from her at the table. "What d'you think you're looking at?" she snapped, not bothering to apologize for her rudeness and make amends. This House wasn't one that stressed manners, from what she could gather. She would be fitting in. The thought made her almost want to laugh. She didn't. \n\n

0 Morgaine Carey Death by Sorting, anyone? 81 Morgaine Carey 0 5

Tally

January 20, 2006 11:46 PM

Oh wonderful, another year by Tally

Another year had come and gone and Tally was one year older. Thirteen to be exact. She was an actual teenager, but she still felt like the child she had always been. Her hair was an inch shorter and a bit lighter shade of brown from spending much of her summer outdoors. Her skin was tan and she had gained freckles on her nose. She had grown another inch during the summer and now stood at 5'2. Amazing that she was slowly getting taller and no one else seemed to notice or care.

The only thing that anyone seemed to notice was her girly parts. Over the summer the boys that had once considered her a friend, poked fun of her because of her ever growing assests and then each took turns of asking her out. Pfft, as if she'd actually agree to such things. She knew how they really were, had once been apart of that. She couldn't handle that sort of thing at the moment. So, instead, she got to see all her former enemies (ie: the girls around the block) holding hands with her once upon a time friends.

She had finally become the outcast that she never thought she'd be.

Tally's green eyes took in the students as they entered the Hall with a nauseated look in them. She hated the first day of school. Once upon the time she may have been excited for it, anticipating it on the last few days of summer, but not anymore. It had gotten worse. Her curse. And now she feared large crowds of running emotions. She had to keep herself calm. If she kept herself calm then she could control it. Blast hormones! They made everything worse!

The summer, how glad she was that it was over and yet, how much she wished it was still. Her dad and Josh were around more, both forcing her to go back to her Counselor and figure out a strategy to get her through everything. Dad said it was because with her growing up as fast as she was and with all the problems the school had the previous year, he was worried that Tally wouldn't be able to control it. That she would expose herself to everyone.

Tally sighed and put her head in her hands, her eyes staring out at nothing at all. Stupid hormones...How embarrassing it had been to have to go girl shopping with her dad. How nervous he had been. How red in the face Tally had been. A scowl formed on her lips at the memory and Tally immediately wiped the memory from her. It was better not to dwell.

The food appeared in front of her and Tally sat straight up in her seat. At least she hadn't had an episode. So far so good. She took up some food and began to chew. She swallowed a large chunk and then smiled at the person sitting next to her, realizing that they were staring at her. "Oh-er-hi."\n\n

0 Tally Oh wonderful, another year 0 Tally 0 5

Melanie Rose

January 20, 2006 11:54 PM

I am not THAT sunny. by Melanie Rose

There she was. Melanie Rose was finally in the Cascade Hall. All she knew was that food was coming and that she would be put into a house. Being muggle-born and also being the only magical one in her family made her completely clueless about the whole ordeal of the magical world she had entered on a bumpy, long wagon ride that was not as pleasant to her as it seemed the other students.

They handed everyone a clear vial of some concoction but it didn't worry the messy dressed girl. She looked at it with a cold stare and turned her pale face to the other students. A couple of them just shot it down fast as if it were mear water. Maybe it was water. She didn't know but once she seen them start turning colors she was facinated. What ever made this concoction had to deal with a brew. She loved to cook and this is how she knew it. Mixing things was her favorite past time. That was until she looked back to the vial. Shrugging she shot it all down at once, making sure to watch her fingers.

Yellow. A nice, bright, yellow. The color faded onto her skin as if a tan would. Not that it would happen but it did. Looking around she seen three other colors. Red. Blue. And brown. All seemed sensable for her attitude. Red for her bad temper that went nicely with her hair. Blue for her hidden sadness that was harder to see through the anger. And brown for what she believed her dull wasted life. Yellow was just... not able to describe her in her point of view.

"I am not THAT sunny." Melanie muttered as she looked up. She was so deep in though that almost everyone was seated. Quickly, she followed the other yellow colored students and smirked. 'What if I could use this newly found magic to turn someone in to a canary? Or a banana... or atleast something yellow.' She thought to herself as she sat at her table. When the food appeared the thought left her mind and she begun to form nice sizely portions on her plate.\n\n

0 Melanie Rose I am not THAT sunny. 0 Melanie Rose 0 5

Michael Tallow

January 21, 2006 4:17 AM

That's like saying ebola is only temporary. by Michael Tallow

"I'm sure it's a great house. I mean, we're in it, aren't we?"

Gah- cheerfulness! It made him feel both aggravated and clausterphobic at the same time. Cheerful people had this terrible tendency to not only constantly find silver linings amidst typhoons, but they also liked to be overly friendly and take upon missions of sharing the cheerfulness with those who were not of like minds. Cheerful people tended to throng to Michael's side, no matter where he went or how disagreeable he would make himself.

The worst part about it all was that by the time Michael would decide that cheerfulness was something he might possibly be able to tolerate, the person would finally give up on the mission to bring joy to Michael's somewhat taciturn demeanor. This, of course, made him only more aggravated with cheerful people as a whole, since that then also made them undependable.

He pushed down on his short, listless hair- the only brown part left on him thankfully, and unhappily reached for the platter in front of him. Ignoring the fact that the plate was obviously meant to be shared and not commandeered for individual conquering, he dug into it with only half- hearted appetite.

"I don't know what that's supposed to mean," he muttered, his partially chewed food shoved into one cheek and then the other as he worked out the words. "You don't even know who I am. I could be the worst person ever born. You could be the worst person ever born. This could be the worst house ever created."

Michael stared down another forkful of what looked to be shredded pork and then stuffed it in balefully. Yes, he thought to himself as he chewed the best tasting food he'd had since the banquet the winter prior, this year was going to be the worst he'd ever experienced. He swallowed and shoveled in another forkful.

\n\n

0 Michael Tallow That's like saying ebola is only temporary. 1465 Michael Tallow 0 5

Günter Heindrich

January 21, 2006 5:58 AM

It worked...that's amazing by Günter Heindrich

Günter Heindrich stared as, starting at his finger-tips, he started turning Blue. "Hmmm, Aladren then. It seems just right. Well, I'm not complaining." he muttered to himself.

After the Headmaster made his speech, Günter dug in. He was never one to let food go to waste, nor would he let himself go hungry. Though Sonora surely had some sort of magical refridgeration, he was still very hungry and that was reason enough to eat all that he could stuff himself with. He, of course, did this in a dignified manner, which was more than he could say for some of the other students.

Hmmm, maybe while he was just sitting here, eating, he could write a letter to his mom and triplet sisters. His sisters couldn't read but it would be the thought that would count. He admitted that his family was where he weakened his stoic manner. It wasn't his manner to wear his emotions on his sleeve for everyone to see. He didn't bother in front of his family. They knew who he was and how his emotions worked. After all, living with someone gives a new perspective on a person.

This was the only reason he had been worried about coming to school. It was one thing to hold in emotions for a short period of time and then unveil them when you got home, but how does someone deal when home and school are the same place?

It wasn't an answer he was likely to get in one hour. He would find a way though. He wouldn't be branded a fool. He leafed through a book that he had brought with him, forgetting that he had wanted to write to his mom and ignoring the bustle of the Cascade hall.\n\n

0 Günter Heindrich It worked...that's amazing 0 Günter Heindrich 0 5

Devian

January 21, 2006 11:07 AM

Time will tell by Devian

Layne. Layne. Pureblood. Not a well known name, but Pureblood none the less. Yes, he would do for now. Perhaps, for longer.

"Was Aladren the house you were hoping to be in? I was rather hoping for Crotalus, but Aladren is good too. I have a cousin in each," he stated to the other boy. "I haven't seen either yet, but I'm sure they will show up at some point to congratulate me. Though, Nicoletta may be disappointed that I'm not in her house. Do you have any family already here?"

Who his family was and where he wanted to be placed would tell Devian more about the boy. It would tell him if Geoffrey was someone to continue associating with.\n\n

0 Devian Time will tell 0 Devian 0 5

Saul

January 21, 2006 11:27 AM

It is, isn't it? You die or get better, and it's over by Saul

The guy did have a point. Saul didn't have a clue who he was and for all Saul knew he could be a Republican. But he'd already said the house was great, and they were great, so he had to support that opinion until it was proven otherwise.

At any rate, he could lessen the other kid's confusion on one point easily enough. "Well, I'm Saul Pierce, from the California branch." He was one of the small minority who had been born with the last name the clan was known by in wizarding circles, which made it more important than for the rest of his clan to distance himself from the Eastern branches. Well, the Boston folks seemed okay from what Saul had heard of them, but there were only three of them and Regina was holding off on official alliances so far.

"And I've got it on good authority from my cousin, Neil, that the worst house ever created is Aether, over in Salem. It's like they decided to take all their bad eggs and just," he made a jerky funnelly gesture with his hands, "right there, all in one basket." Of course, according to Simon, if the would-be actor could be believed, that was what Pecari was for troublemakers as well. He decided not to mention that part.

Noticing the plate of food his companion was eating from, Saul's stomach growled in eager anticipation of all that non-vegan goodness and he reached over with his fork to pluck away a few bites worth.\n\n

1 Saul It is, isn't it? You die or get better, and it's over 82 Saul 0 5

Geoffrey L.

January 21, 2006 2:10 PM

Time unveils truth, as a rule. by Geoffrey L.

The million-galleon question, Geoffrey thought dryly. Who're my kin and what's my disposition. Aunt Melissa was right about how these things work, then. Exactly how his Uncle Harmon's wife had such an extensive knowledge of the upper-class pureblood world remained a mystery to Geoff, but the evidence had shown her accounts to be true many a time before this. Maybe it had something to do with being an Auror. It couldn't be from experience, because she never failed to make a point of just how minor her family, the Carters, had been before they all died out. She was the last of the line, unless one counted her daughter.

"Crotalus was my father's old House," he said lightly. "I know he would have been pleased if I'd been Sorted into it, but Aladren is perfectly respectable. I knew a St.Martin at home who came out of Aladren." St.Martin was a much better known name than Layne or Wright, though the St.Martin he had known had been disowned and the Wrights, according to the reasearch he'd done in his year of boredom, had their fair share of controversy through the ages. "I'm not aware of any relatives here at the moment, though you never know." He shrugged philisophically. "There's no telling who you'll turn out to be related to if you do a little digging." He set about the task of selecting something on the table that looked edible.

OOC: Out of curiosity, would your name be pronounced Dev-ee-an or Dee-vee-an? \n\n

16 Geoffrey L. Time unveils truth, as a rule. 72 Geoffrey L. 0 5

Allie St.Martin

January 21, 2006 3:13 PM

Do they get any easier? by Allie St.Martin

Allie could feel herself shaking under her robes as she sank into a seat at the table with other people the same color she was...the same bright yellow the potion had turned her. It was beginning to fade, now. If it was fading from her, it had to be fading away from her twin's hands and face. Lila would soon look like Lila again, so like herself and so different all at the same time. Allie felt the trembling of her chin and fluttering at the corners of her eyes that meant she was about to start crying at the very thought of her twin. The blank look Lila had given her when she turned red after Allie turned yellow was still lingering unpleasantly in her mind, as was Lila's response when Allie, believing this meant Lila was as upset about being split up as she was, tried to comfort her.

Allie rarely let things get so far under her skin, especially when it came to the things Lila said. Her sister could be unreservedly scornful and cutting and often was, but Allie was absolutely sure that Li didn't really mean it. They were twins, and twins stuck together, or had until now. Lila had never before said anything that came so close to sounding like it meant she didn't want Allie for a sister. Even though she knew Lila hadn't meant it, it cut deeper than her usual insults ever could.

It couldn't have been only a few weeks ago that she had somehow mustered up the courage to ask Anne to eat dinner with the family the night Allie and Lila got their acceptance letters. Mama hadn't liked it, of course, but it had been Mama who said that it was the twins' day and they could do what they liked. Everyone had managed to be civil, and Uncle Julian had even come out of his lab. It was the most normal things had felt at Magnolia Grove since Gwen was almost disowned and things went all strange with Morgaine and Uncle Alasdair. Everything had been the way it was supposed to be, for a little while, and now everything wasn't. She and Lila had been split up. She had been split up from everyone else she knew, too, but Lila was the one that made no sense. They were twins. Twins had to be exactly alike, didn't they?

A sigh from the girl sitting beside her attracted her attention away from her hands and to the other, an older student slumped at the table with her head in her hands. Allie reflexively checked her own posture; it had been only last week that she made Mama furious by slumping a little without meaning to. It sometimes seemed that making her family furious by doing something without meaning to was the story of her life. The other girl sat up and began to eat. Allie didn't think she could stomach anything until she got used to the idea of not being separated from Lila.

She didn't realize she was staring until the older girl smiled at her. "Oh-er-hi," the girl said. Allie felt her chin shaking as she managed a return smile.

"Hi," she whispered, and then did the thing that made Lila slap her most often and, bizarrely, made Anne be nicer than usual to her: she started crying, mumbling something that sounded vaguely like "I'm sorry" as she fumbled for a handkerchief. She should never mumble. Grandmother Gregory and Lila both said it made her sound like even more of an idiot than normal. Where was that handkerchief? \n\n

16 Allie St.Martin Do they get any easier? 76 Allie St.Martin 0 5

Devian

January 21, 2006 5:55 PM

There are always exceptions to every rule by Devian

Devian nodded with understanding. His parents would be pleased with his choice of initial acquaintances. This boy's family had attended Sonora. Some members had even been in Crotalus and Aladren. Yes, very pleased.

"Well, I will hope that if I ever choose to dig that there are no unpleasant suprises," he said. His mouth turned into a slight sneer at the word 'unpleasant.'

He took an empty seat next to Geoffrey. The meal appeared to be rather inviting. He took some of the pasta that was being offered and a slice of garlic bread. Luckily, he had mints with him. His parents instilled in him that bad breath can ruin the best of situations. No, he could not have bad breath when he planned on being on the top.

"Do you know of anything of the professors?" he asked casually, though he really wanted to know.\n\n

0 Devian There are always exceptions to every rule 0 Devian 0 5

Geoff Layne

January 21, 2006 8:12 PM

Which leaves us to wonder if there are any rules. by Geoff Layne

Geoff had always liked to think himself observant. Even Anne would concede that he didn't miss much, and compliments from her were a little more rare than blue moons. His expression didn't alter when he noted the faint sneer his new companion gave at the end of his sentance. Every family has a few skeletons in the closet, I suppose, he thought."As do we all, pal," he said easily, finally spotting something that fell into the category of definitely ingesitble: flounder. Though the wizarding coastdwellers did eat other things, fish and other seafoods were a staple of his family's diet, and he had never liked eating things he wasn't familiar with.

He paused for a moment on the question about the professors. Revealing what he knew about them would entail revealing his source - Anne, well-known to be the black sheep of the St.Martin family. Lying was definitely a usable option, but a desire to appear well-informed on any topic he ran across made him answer. "A little. I have a friend here in second year who sometimes included bits about the classes in her letters last year. Our Head of House is the Care of Magical Creatures teacher, a woman named Kijewski who tells people they can call her by her first name. Connell - that's the Potions professor - is Head of Pecari. The Astronomy teacher, Dione, is Head of Crotalus and the Acting Headmaster's a Charms master and Head of Teppenpaw. My friend likes those last two the best." Geoffrey allowed himself a short laugh. "No idea why, you never know with her. She's a bit unpredictable."

He paused to shake some salt over his flounder. "Transfiguration and Defense Against the Dark Arts both have new teachers this year. The old ones quit when the weather went south last year." \n\n

16 Geoff Layne Which leaves us to wonder if there are any rules. 72 Geoff Layne 0 5

Tyranthia Boyd

January 22, 2006 12:50 AM

I'm not nervous... by Tyranthia Boyd

Had someone taken a photograph of Ty the year before (which was unlikely, seeing as despite her hobby/talent/obsession with photography, she tended to run away when somebody else produced a camera), it would have pictured a teenager of short stature, entirely unremarkable in looks at first glance with frizzy brown hair covering her face. And had one took a video of her, the viewer would notice the slight curve of her back, the eyes darting around but rarely making eye contact with anyone. The look of someone that’s ashamed of themselves.

The summer had been different for Ty. It had started out as usual. Her mother’s nagging and snide remarks, her father’s quiet presence… although there had been less of that, seeing as he wasn’t around quite as much anymore, her enmity with her sister. But something inside her had finally snapped. She had been staring at herself in the mirror, and suddenly realised several truths about herself. She could sit and wish that she was different, she could quietly loathe herself, or she could do something about it.

What had followed was as if the world had turned upside down. With a knock on her sister’s door and a short conversation (which had not entirely quelled her sister’s suspicion that this was some new hoax) later, she had at last made peace with her older sister Maerin. And in turn, she had discovered much about her that she hadn’t ever begun to suspect. Like the fact that Mae feared she would never be able to do what she wanted, because it wouldn’t be proper, it wouldn’t be right.

And Ty had changed. True, Mae had shown her how to put on makeup and how it would best fit her features, had found the best hair product to tame Ty’s hair into spiral curls, and taken her shopping and gotten new clothes that Ty would have never dreamed of wearing. Physically, the change was so noticeable that the unobservant who barely knew her would fail to recognise her, because there was no about it, she was pretty. But mentally, she had changed as well. She felt self-confidence that she had never felt before, and it was evident in the way she carried herself, in the way that she acted more natural, not so anxious around people. And the voice that always seemed to be in the back of her head, the one that pointed out every single thing wrong about herself; was barely heard now.

So for once, Ty had been excited to go back to Sonora, get out of the house and away from Mother. Mae had helped her chose a light blue shirt (which fell off of the shoulders… on purpose of course, but it bothered her to no end) and denim jeans for wearing under her school robes specifically for today. Had even helped her put on make-up. Although Ty knew how by this time, her sister was far better at it. Ty disliked it, but she couldn’t deny that it made her look a great deal better, so she had settled for the barest basics, just enough to cover-up her freckles and darken her already dark eyelashes (Mae had wanted her to wear eye shadow, insisting that it accentuated her large Spanish eyes, but Ty had put her foot down).

And the small part of her which tried to scream that this wasn’t right, this wasn’t her, was quickly smothered.

Ty entered the Hall. Her squirrel Fiyero sat comfortably on her arm, eyeing each person who walked by curiously. She glanced around. Not that she was looking for Stephen or anything… and if she was, it was because he was her friend. Because she didn’t have any other friends. No, she couldn’t think like that. This year it would be different. She headed to the table to take a seat.\n\n

0 Tyranthia Boyd I'm not nervous... 0 Tyranthia Boyd 0 5

Michael Tallow

January 22, 2006 4:28 AM

Pretty much. by Michael Tallow

"Michael Tallow," Michael gave up grudgingly after Saul introduced himself. His manners, while coarse, were not entirely nonexistent. "But not Mike, or Mikey, or Mikes, or anything like that. Just Michael," he stressed with emphasis. He hated nicknames. "And we're from Montana, I guess, the Montana branch or something. . ."

He rammed another forkful of pork into his mouth and considered just what it meant to have a 'California branch' to a family. Did that mean there was a trunk somewhere else? Was this a normal thing? And then did his family have more of them elsewhere? To Michael's knowledge, there was just his Uncle Edmund who lived in British Columbia. He supposed then it was fair to say there was a Vancouver branch to the Tallows. Technically that was.

"Never heard of Aether or Salem," Michael said blithely between bites. "Don't know anything about Pecari either, except what my sister told me. And she never says anything nice about anything."

He shrugged and tried to think about something other than his soon to be appealed house designation. He was certain after a good talk or five with Bulla that things would be worked out properly. He remembered what he had heard last winter at the Alumni Banquet. Bulla used to be a student with Michael's dad, so that had to mean something, and besides, that lady at the banquet had said something about Bulla being underqualified. Something like that anyway. . .

Michael put down his fork for a moment and scanned the Hall briefly for what was his second most important consideration that day: his trunk. Finding no sign of his trunk, or any others for that matter, he finally turned to his first acquaintance that day.

"Where did those elves take our trunks, anyway? I have delicate materials in there and I don't want anything touched."\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

0 Michael Tallow Pretty much. 1465 Michael Tallow 0 5

Mia

January 22, 2006 8:28 AM

Year three. low whistle Wow. by Mia

A girl entered Cascade Hall who in most ways resembled Mia Kerova. She had the same wavy dark brown hair except it was down to her shoulder blades rather than her shoulders. She was a little more than an inch taller. On the thinned out face there were no glasses hiding the hazel eyes. Most of all for her, she thanked the heavens she wore her green school robe over her shirt for a more personal reason.

“It’s all about growing up, sweetie. It’s very complimenting on you. You’ll get used to it. Oh my baby is a young woman already…” Lyn ranted on in an embarrassing motherly way that Mia chose to leave the room and ignore. Lyn wasn’t normally like that. Mia blamed the new guy.

Even with the few differences, it was obvious that the girl was pretty much the same Mia that had been attending Sonora for two years and she was ready to start her third year. It was strange to think about. Three years before this, less even, Mia had no idea she was a witch and if someone said she was, she would’ve had a great urge to give the person a good kick to the jaw. Not that she would’ve.

Mia was also a more mature person mentally. At first, she couldn’t wrap her head around the idea of her mother dating someone even if Lyn and her brothers wouldn’t call it what it was, Mia knew. She was glad that this guy made her mom happy, but she didn’t want her mom to rush into anything and be hurt and she didn’t want to ruin another relationship for her mom. Deep down she knew it was her magic that made her dad leave and she just hoped it wouldn’t be that way with this new guy. For the time being, they weren’t too serious. Just a bunch of lunches and some of the time it wasn’t just the two of them. Mia’s mind was at ease for the most part when she returned to school thanks to a few conference calls with Megan and Jill.

The school was much nicer now that it wasn’t covered in feet of snow. Cascade Hall’s waterfalls were flowing again and the usual dim buzzing of student chatter was very homely. Mia slipped into a seat at the Pecari table as had become her custom. Silk had gone back to the common room to take a nap. She had become accustomed to the awful wagon ride to school but it didn’t become any easier to handle. Mia watched the first years drink the goblet of clear liquid and turn the color of their house. She saw a handful turn brown and wondered if they’d be the usual wacky kids that Pecari got. It wasn’t a bad thing. It just seemed to be a common house trait.

When Professor Bulla gave the welcoming speech that year, Mia wondered where Headmistress Marnett was for so long. After Bulla’s speech and the arrival of the food, Mia began to put some food on her plate. After settling back to the norm of school, ‘Ha, that’s a good one. The norm of a magical school?’ Mia felt all together content though she knew better than to completely stop paying attention to her surroundings. Anything could happen when it came to magic, a lesson well learned.\n\n

0 Mia Year three. *low whistle* Wow. 0 Mia 0 5

Pepper

January 22, 2006 8:32 AM

Ginger hair is attention grabbing enough, thanks by Pepper

"Mugg-?" Pepper began, before the rest of the girl's sentence caught up to her. Muggleborn. Right. She'd have to remember that. It seemed to be what she was. She was about to ask whether there were lots of different types of witches and wizards, and confusing, different names for them all, when the other girl mentioned her mother. And used the past tense.

"I'm sure she's very proud of you right now," she said, putting a comforting arm around Briony's shoulders and giving her a very firm hug. Hugs weren't something Pepper was shy about giving out, even to new people. When someone needed a hug, it didn't matter whether you'd only just met them, it was a cruelty to withhold it. "She's probably looking down at you right now, thinking 'that's my girl' and wishing you wouldn't be sad on your first day of school."

The water flooding down the walls caught her eyes, and she suddenly remembered she was in an entirely different culture.

"Do wizards believe in God?" she asked, wondering how crazy she must have sounded if Briony had no idea about the principles of Christianity.\n\n

0 Pepper Ginger hair is attention grabbing enough, thanks 0 Pepper 0 5

Zack Dill

January 22, 2006 10:06 AM

Of course, they've been turning firsties colors forever by Zack Dill

Zack Dill entered the Cascade Hall with some of the other kids from the Great Lakes region, some of which he remembered from previous wagon rides, some of which were new. He faked jaded disintrest in the sight of the Hall, but even after two full years eating three meals a day here, he still found it stunning. But then, after a summer in his parents' tiny two-bedroom apartment in a bad part of Detriot, anything bright and shiny would look impressive.

Still, he was now thirteen and stood a grand total of four feet and seven inches tall (that was after a disappointing growth spurt of one inch over the summer; he'd gained two inches the previous summer). If he didn't want to be mistaken for one of the new kids - well, he supposed just sitting down and not drinking the potion would give that away, but collaborating evidence always helped. So he tried not to gape anew at the waterfalls and shimmering chandeliers. Tried to pretend that people turning blue was perfectly normal. Tried to pretend that the second-hand clothes he wore under the second-hand school robe didn't look out of place in this shiny place.

He would forget in a few hours, of course. Forget that he came from normal family where normal physics applied to normal life without exception. Forget the existance of his bully of a brother, his gas attendant father, and his grocery store clerk mother. Forget that the bountiful food was so much better than the sparse microwaved dinners that left him underweight and undernourished. Forget the threads were showing on his clothes. Forget that this world was anything but where he was supposed to be.

But the culture shock always got to him at the beginning of the year. The end of the year, too, but that was a let down that the apartment really was a dark and drab and small as he remembered it. His family really was as poor and uneducated and dull as he remembered them. The beginning of the school year though, that was, well, magic.

Better than all the books, movies, and video games because this was real and he was living it.

As the color sorted new kids started to trickle towards seats at the tables, Professor Bulla started talking. Zack listened, because it was a good habit he had, listening to his teachers. But this wasn't class and the information imparted was academically related, so his fingers itched only a little bit to mark down the words into his Charms notebook.

But then the meal arrived and thoughts of notetaking were abruptly vanished. He picked a small amount of each kind of food onto his plate, enough to fill him, but it covered only about half the plate's surface area. He couldn't help but stare at the amount of food taken by the kid across the table from him. "Where do you put it all?" he couldn't stop himself from asking.\n\n

1 Zack Dill Of course, they've been turning firsties colors forever 40 Zack Dill 0 5

Saul

January 22, 2006 10:29 AM

Right then by Saul

"Well, Michael," Saul said, stressing the full name, "I imagine the elves took the trunks up to our rooms. I'd ask my cousin, Simon, there," he nodded toward the staff table where Simon was talking to some lady and probably making a fool of himself because he was Simon and couldn't help that. "But you can't ever believe a word he says. Which is why I don't know a thing about Pecari, either."

Saul took another reverent bite of meat and chewed it slowly and savoured it. When he swallowed and opened his eyes again, he continued as if he hadn't just worshipped a dead animal, "Sadly, I know a lot more about Salem and Aether than I do about Sonora and Pecari. My great-aunt went to the alumni thing here last year even though she isn't an alumni and enjoyed herself immensely. That's all I got out of a reliable source. But they hired Simon, haven't fired him after two years, and Regina liked it here, so it should be, um, interesting."

Looking at the plate in front of the kid on the other side him, Saul noticed a vegetable that he didn't recognize. He reached over with his fork and speared one, then popped it into his mouth and chewed appraisingly. It wasn't bad, but he'd stick to meat until it lost its novelty.\n\n

1 Saul Right then 82 Saul 0 5

Briony

January 22, 2006 10:47 AM

Are you sure? We could dye it blue? by Briony

Briony smiled at the other girl. Thankful for the hug. She missed her mom alot.

"It's okay. I know she's proud of me," she said. Then, to answer the other girl's question, "Yes, some wizards believe in a God or Gods. We have different religions just like Muggles."

She realized that they were still hadn't found their table. Where were all the other yellow handed kids?

"We should look for our table. It would be faster if we split up. Once we find it, we should have a signal, like a whistle. You'll defiently hear me," she said with a wide grin.

She could whistle like no one's business.

OOC: Come post up with Rob and Briony. She'll whistle in this next post so you can come find them. ~^^~\n\n

0 Briony Are you sure? We could dye it blue? 0 Briony 0 5

Dalila Bastet

January 22, 2006 11:30 AM

No...you look more like a lemon by Dalila Bastet

Dalila hadn't touched her food since the start of the feast. Watching the little firsties turn colors and then shriek was much too fun. This entertainment reached its peak when the girl sitting across from her turned bright yellow and yell "I am not that sunny!"

Dalila giggled. "You're right. You look more like lemon than a sun to me. She shouted over a pitcher of water and a basket of rolls.

"Dalila Bastet at your service," she said as she held out her hand to first year. "I'm a second year Teppenpaw; apparently the same as you." Dalila giggled again and waited for the girl to shaker her hand.\n\n

0 Dalila Bastet No...you look more like a lemon 60 Dalila Bastet 0 5

Günter Heindrich

January 22, 2006 12:11 PM

food...what a wonderful thing. by Günter Heindrich

Günter was pulled from THE MAGICAL ACHIEVEMENTS OF VERNA THE INFERNO when he heard a male voice asked "Where do you put it all?"

He looked up from his book to stare at the kid seriously. Not sure if this kid was commenting on his appetite to be rude or if he was just amazed, he answered, giving a sly smile. "Well, it goes down my esophagus and falls into my black hole of a stomach."

He hoped that this kid didn't think that he was a jerk. Amazingly, he never tried to be rude or sound like a smart-allic, it was a way of protecting his stoicism and a way to show people that they couldn't push him around. He had had a lot of trouble with bullies when he was small.

He had been small once. Just because he was only 11 and had already reached his full height of six foot and two inches didn't mean he hadn't been short and scrawny once. Both his parents were taller than was normal.

His muscles were larger than they were when he had been young and picked on and one thing he would not tolerate was someone picking on anyone. "Actually,' he added to his original statement, "I am just hungry and I had a growth spurt over the summer so my mom made me promise I would eat a lot so i would fill out."

\n\n

0 Günter Heindrich food...what a wonderful thing. 0 Günter Heindrich 0 5

Zack Dill

January 22, 2006 4:32 PM

Well, yes, since you'd die without it by Zack Dill

Zack had not looked beyond the plate to the boy sitting beyond it. He should have. That would have answered his question without any further ado or interrupting the kid - if that's what you call an eleven year old giant - from his reading. Gee whiz. Zack hoped he wasn't staring. Not even Nick was that big and Nick had surpassed Zack in height when they were they were two and three, respectively. And this was a new kid? Holy cripes. Zack had hoped he had at least a remote chance of not looking tiny anymore. He was a frellin' third year now and he'd grown four and a half whole inches in the last two years.

"Right," he agreed, probably sounding a little stunned. His eyes felt a little big, too. Great Maker, Zack must look the first year by comparison. He'd been so proud of his jadedness and four feet seven inches, too. Key point there was four feet, he supposed. "Wouldn't know anything about that." Growth spurts. Ha. If it weren't for everyone around him shooting up like rockets, he wouldn't believe in the fallacy. He was probably doomed to dwarfhood. Maybe that was why he was magic. Except Gimli didn't have magic. But then, Gimli had muscles. Like height, that was the other thing Zack lacked. So not a dwarf. He couldn't be a hobbit either because he was too skinny. It was all very disappointing.

"Though, I do like the black hole theory, too," he added, because he didn't want to sound too gloomy. It was a new year back at Sonora and he was determined not to be disheartened by the height of the first years. Detroit was dismal. Arizona was bright and good. "It needs some refinement, or all of earth would get sucked in and time would slow to irrelevance, but there could be some kind of strong magical barriers preventing that sort of thing."

\n\n

1 Zack Dill Well, yes, since you'd die without it 40 Zack Dill 0 5

Stephen Baxter

January 22, 2006 4:32 PM

I wasn't nervous... by Stephen Baxter

Stephen was held up. It wasn't exactly on purpose. More that when he got to school Fido decided that he'd had enough of being shut up inside and not ridden, and took off. It had taken a while to call him back - the broom hadn't even responded to calls and whistles - and when he did come back, Stephen had felt it was only right to take him for a ride. It was a terrible travesty, really, that he hadn't been getting exercised enough. So they did a few rounds of the grounds, and then lower down amongst the statues and hedges of the maze before setting back down at the entrance to the school.

Stephen was grinning, and his hair was windswept in a much more interesting way than its usual look when he entered the hall. Fido had been sent up to his room with a promise that Stephen would talk to Sorrel about getting a quidditch practice arranged soon. And there, just ahead of him, was a familiar looking squirrel.

"Hey fuzz ball," Stephen said, coming up behind Ty and drapping his arm easily over her shoulder as he had been prone to do in years past. "Hey Ty..." his voice trailed off as he actually took the time to look at her. "Wow," he eventaully said, voice slightly strangled. "You look different."

He took his arm off her shoulder and tried a grin which didn't quite work as planned.\n\n

39 Stephen Baxter I wasn't nervous... 49 Stephen Baxter 0 5

Melanie Rose

January 22, 2006 5:23 PM

lemon head (i muttered hehe) by Melanie Rose

Melanie looked up as she was interupted in her putting some food on her plate. It was a girl across from her that had spoken, "You're right. You look more like a lemon than a sun to me. Dalila Bastet at your service. I'm a second year Teppenpaw; apparently the same as you."
She held out her hand and Melanie put down her fork and shook Dalila's hand.

"Melanie Rose. I do believe I can relate to a lemon. I can be as sour as one or that is what I've been told. Anyway, are you not hungry or are you going on a diet?"

Melanie hoped she didn't sound rude. Although she wasn't in the best mood it was better then living with her grandparents. Magic was new in her agenda and she wanted to welcome it more than anything else. She needed a change. A change for the better that is.\n\n

0 Melanie Rose lemon head (i muttered hehe) 0 Melanie Rose 0 5

Dalila

January 22, 2006 10:23 PM

I love those! yum... by Dalila

Dalila giggled again. She found someone who could take her jokes. She released Melanie's hand.

"Oh! I totally forgot! I'm starved!" and to prove this she grabbed aroll and tore a piece off with her teeth. When she had swallowed she started talking again.

"I'm not one to go on a diet. I don't care if gain a million pounds! Food's good and I'm not gunna deprive myself of it."

She finished her roll and proceeded to pile everything she could reach onto her plate.

"So...(she had forgotten her name) what's your background? You pureblood, muggle or somewhere in between? Just curious, not prejudice. There's so many more things to worry about than that."\n\n

0 Dalila I love those! yum... 0 Dalila 0 5

Professor Dione

January 22, 2006 10:35 PM

New term, new Crotali by Professor Dione

Dione took her seat at the staff table, felling somewhat out of place herself. The previous year, she was merely the Astronomy professor, one of the new teachers. It wasn’t until somewhat recently that she was made the head of the Crotalus house. It was something that she had not expected to say the least, and now, she was watching to see who would turn the Crotalus red. In other words, she was looking for the particular students who would be under her jurisdiction.

She watched as the students turned the color of what would be their house; thankfully for Dione, the crimson students were very easy to spot in the mix. Four new students that she could see were to join the Crotalus house. One girl seemed particularly concerned with the colored skin, though not nearly as worried as a young man who was frantically chatting with a girl in Teppenpaw. A relative perhaps? A scream quickly drew her attention as one of her crimson-colored first-years scrubbed at her tinted skin. Was it such a shock to her? She must be a muggleborn, poor child. She was sure to be eaten alive with so many close-minded purebloods in her house. Dione was slightly relieved as she watched the last of the four try to console the frightened girl before going to his seat at the table. Not a bad group, she thought to herself. Though she wouldn’t be able to make any further inferences until classes started.

As the Acting Headmaster stood to give his speech, her attention was drawn away from these new students and focused on his words. The speech to the students was brief and to the point, not the usual ongoing orations that were common with more seasoned headmasters or headmistresses. She could read from his demeanor that he was slightly uneasy and for good reason. Taking on such a responsibility was no easy task. “You’ll do fine. You dealt with last term’s events exceptionally. Just don’t try to compare yourself too much with Headmistress Marnett. Now, enjoy the feast. Save your worries for when something occurs.”\n\n

0 Professor Dione New term, new Crotali 0 Professor Dione 0 5

Tiponi Grisandole

January 22, 2006 10:36 PM

What a great way to start the term... by Tiponi Grisandole

"Don't worry. It'll fade soon. That's what Father said."

Tiponi paused her scrubbing at the words of a boy nearby, watching him scurry away before looking down once more at her crimson hands. Already the color was beginning to resume its normally pale hue and she forced herself to breathe normally. It was a struggle, the moment of panic still lingering strongly in her thoughts. The sensation was unpleasantly similar to that of waking up.

Stupid, of course it was temporary! Why did you have to react like that? It was just a color... Self-consciously gripping her hands in front of her, she walked much more calmly to the table where other formerly red first-years were seated. Her deep brown eyes were still a little wide but she was noticeably calmer than a moment before. Now that the red was fading with every passing moment, she had nothing to panic about and could worry about picking up what shreds of her dignity remained.

Not having anywhere else to settle, she took her place beside the slightly chunky boy who’d tipped her off about the temporary nature of the potion. He was already well started on his meal. She examined the selection before her, absently pushing a strand of straight black hair behind her ear. All of it certainly looked edible, and quite a lot of it was familiar, so she went with what she knew and put small portions of several dishes on her plate. The smells were wonderful but her nervous stomach probably wouldn’t be able to handle much comfortably.

She took a few quick bites and was satisfied, the food up to par with what she was used to at home. Their servants were all capable individuals, the cooks no less so, and she would have been somewhat disappointed if the school didn’t provide equally tasty meals. A few more bites and she turned her head to the student beside her.

“Excuse me,” she began in a pleasant enough tone, “but I don’t think I thanked you for the tip earlier or introduced myself. My name’s Tiponi. What’s yours?”

There, a simple enough introduction and a simple enough question. Hopefully it would be the start of an interesting enough conversation. Eating always made her sleepy, something she couldn’t afford, especially in public. Distractions were absolutely essential and conversation was usually the most effective distraction available.\n\n

0 Tiponi Grisandole What a great way to start the term... 0 Tiponi Grisandole 0 5

Tally

January 22, 2006 11:24 PM

Well...yes and no by Tally

The tears surprised Tally. She sat there with her jaw dropped open in both horror and confusion as the tears spilled from the new firstie. Oh no! What had she done? Had she said something outloud without meaning to? Did she make a mean face without meaning to? Was the girl scared and Tally making it worse? What had she done? What could she do?

For someone with her abilities, Tally was horrid at helping others with their emotions. The girl's obvious sadness only made Tally worried and slightly embarrassed. Not to mention scared. What if this triggered something? Tally couldn't lose control, not now! The only person who knew anything at all besides Chrissy was Mia and she was off sitting with the other Pecaris.

Tally gave a quick look around the hall to see if anyone noticed anything before shakily turning back to the younger girl, "Oh, um, it-it's alright." Tally tried to pat the girl's arm in a comforting manner. Inside Tally was in chaos with herself. Does she talk the girl down and help her out? Or does she cut out and run like heck to the commonrooms and then avoid her as best she could for the remained of her time here at Sonora. She didn't like either choices.

"I didn't mean to make you cry. It'll be alright, really it will." Tally told her in a soothing manner, trying her best to give the girl a reassuring smile. She was a Teppenpaw for crying out loud, this is what they did. She had to get over her stupid curse and be herself. Enjoy herself. School used to be fun. So what if she was becoming more of a girl or that those stupid boys weren't her friends anymore or that they gawked at her or poked fun of her. So what if her dad had her go to the counselor. She was a Teppenpaw and this was what Teppenpaws did.

"Teppenpaws a great house. All of us are friendly and we're all really good friends." She told the girl, this time giving her a real smile that light up her tan face, "I'm Tally Adams, 3rd year. I'm glad you're apart of my house."\n\n

0 Tally Well...yes and no 0 Tally 0 5

Celia Andrews

January 23, 2006 1:43 AM

Yay for being a brownie! by Celia Andrews

Celia walked into the cavernous room, her wide brown eyes zipping from the waterfalls, the long tables, the crystalline waterfalls and chandeliers, and the marble floors that were so shiny, she could see her own reflection in it. She was so distracted by her surroundings that she nearly missed her name being called. She quickly ran up to take her chalice, her button-speckled sneakers squeaking occasionally as she went.

The bubbly stuff in the cup was fascinating. It was like an extra-carbonated soda, or something of the like. Wait…they were supposed to drink it? Celia gave it a wary look; potions like that were the type that turned kids into frogs. Then again, they wouldn’t have dragged us all here just to turn us all into lake-dwelling amphibians, and there were older students there who hadn’t been changed at all. Guessing it was safe and being too curious as to what it tasted like, she downed the potion in a few gulps and waited for the results.

She didn’t feel any different; she knew it was supposed to tell her what house she was in, but how she would be able to tell, she had no idea. She kept watching her hands, waiting for the results. Then, she noticed her hands slowly getting tanner, as if she were in the summer sun and the time was fast-forwarding. But it went farther than a summer tan. By the time it had reached its peak, her skin looked like the color of her pants after playing in a rainstorm.

After spotting more brownie-colored people like herself, she ran to join them. Hopping into a seat, she turned to her closest neighbors, a couple of boys. “Hey guys! My name’s Celia! Can you believe this place? Nothing like normal…I mean, Muggle school.” She paused to gather some food onto her plate since she was just as ravenous as she was excited…which was saying something. After taking a few bites, it hit her that she didn’t even know their names. “So, what’re your names? Are you new to this whole magic thing too?”\n\n

0 Celia Andrews Yay for being a brownie! 0 Celia Andrews 0 5

Geoff S.

January 23, 2006 2:24 AM

could have been worse... by Geoff S.

"What?" Geoff said, half a mouthful of food still in his mouth. He looked around nervously, half expecting his mother to show up and start berating him for speaking with his mouth full, and thus made certain that he chewed and swallowed the mouthful before speaking again. "Erm, you don't need to thank me, I mean, it's not like it's a usual thing. And ... its fine. Don't worry about it. Um, name's Spindler. Geoffrey."

He ducked his head a little further down, in case he had brought further attention to himself by speaking up, and wished freverantly that his father was somewhere nearby. It was odd, being so far away from home and by himself for the first time. Good, in a way, because there was the hope that he wouldn't have to deal with any more of his mother's disdain and efforts to make him acceptable, not that he ever really expected he would be. Bad, because it was so different, and he no longer had his old safety mechanisms to fall back on. Still, unless people had governmental connections, it stood to reason that it was unlikely that most of the other people would put recognise his name... and even if they did, it was possible that they wouldn't put two and two together.

He glanced at the waterfall nearest, and gestured at it nervously. "Pretty impressive, huh." With another glance at the girl, Tiponi, and then a look at the table, he piled a few more things onto his plate. At least food would never make him feel bad in any way.\n\n

0 Geoff S. could have been worse... 0 Geoff S. 0 5

Günter Heindrich

January 23, 2006 6:04 AM

Re: Well, yes, since you'd die without it by Günter Heindrich

Günter was confused. "What is this black hole theory? I don't understand."

He probably sounded like a fool but he really didn't care. This kid actually sounded interesting and was probably someone he could have an intelligent conversation with. Although his mom was a witch, Wizardry and magic hadn't been mentioned at home until three years before when his parents had divorced and his father and brother had gone to live in Berlin. He had been reading a fantasy book for school and had asked if Merlin was real. That had been a fairly informative conversation.

Unfortunatly, his mother hadn't been able to tell him much. She was a ditz, evidently, when it came to wizardry and she told him that she had failed school and then finally dropped out. She had learned a few things though and her best trait was being able to draw maps. In fact that is what she did for a living. She had showed him where and where not to go in the school.

So he had been really excited to come to Sonora. He wanted to learn everything about everything and maybe this guy could help him.\n\n

0 Günter Heindrich Re: Well, yes, since you'd die without it 0 Günter Heindrich 0 5

Saul

January 23, 2006 9:30 AM

Hey, Michael, here's more cheerfulness for you. by Saul

Saul grinned over at the girl who had addressed them. As a life-long performer, he was well aware that enthusiasm and cheerfulness could be infectious, but that didn't stop it from spreading. Especially since he was already preinclined to be so. "Hi, Celia," he greeted back just as happily as they'd been greeted.

"I'm Saul, and this is Michael," he introduced himself and his new Housemate. His eyes drifted down toward her plate and he reached his fork over to snag a particularly appealing looking potato slice. He continued, "I'm from a mixed, I mean, a really really mixed family," then popped the potato into his mouth, chewed twice, then swallowed.

"We're recognized as a wizarding family, and we're raised with people doing magic all around us, but only a little over half of us are actually able to do magic, and we live in Muggle areas." He grinned again, a little more quirkishly this time, "we're sort of like modern day gypsies. We use minivans and an RV instead of covered wagons nowadays, but I think Regina picked Sonora for me half because of the wagons."

"You know what is new, though? School." He looked around the shimmery room once more. "We travel a lot, so we were home taught. Then California tightened its education laws, and Regina's not licensed and she's not likely to get licensed unless she gets some formal schooling herself, so, here I am."

Aware that his family tended to hog the spotlight unless someone took it from them, he glanced over at Michael to see if he had anything he wanted to impart to the conversation. "What about you, Michael?" Because really, what Saul knew about wizarding people was limited to political candidates and which of his cousins and aunts and uncles could do magic.\n\n

1 Saul Hey, Michael, here's more cheerfulness for you. 82 Saul 0 5

Zack Dill

January 23, 2006 10:52 AM

black holes by Zack Dill

Zack frowned back in confusion when the kid disavowed knowledge of his own black hole theory. Then he realized the guy had probably been joking (Zack had difficulty telling sometimes) and had promptly forgotten what he'd said. "The black hole," he prompted, willing the kid to remember, "the one at the bottom of your esophogus."

Pressing onward, no longer caring if the kid remembered his joke or not, Zack further expanded the theory, really starting to get into it, "You're magical, so you instinctively generated magical barriers to prevent it from ingesting the entire solar system instead of just your dinner."

Nodding decisively, he added, "Magic can do that, you know. Overrule every known law of physics. It's maddening. Newton would have hated this stuff."\n\n

1 Zack Dill black holes 40 Zack Dill 0 5

Tiponi Grisandole

January 23, 2006 1:04 PM

It could have made her cherry flavored by Tiponi Grisandole

“Geoffrey,” she murmured, sounding out his name and doing her best to commit it to memory. She wouldn’t be feeling the effects of any food for a good twenty minutes, so she might manage it. A bit more in the way of manners was required, at the very least. “A pleasure to meet you.”

She glanced obligingly at the cascading waterfall, the bruised rings beneath her eyes seeming all the darker as the lights from the walls and ceilings brought them into sharp contrast with her pale skin. The hall was a beautiful sight and she appreciated it as well as she could on so little sleep. She was more in a position to recognize the work put into it. “The enchantments must be incredibly powerful to control the water so thoroughly,” was her comment.

Pausing for another bite or two, she turned once again to look at him. Facing another person and establishing eye contact was usually a good way to keep her interested in a conversation, although it was discouraging when they didn’t return the courtesy. Either way, she had to persevere if she wanted to keep herself from dozing off at the table. She dearly wished they were allowed to go out for a quick walk, but being new, she didn’t know if that was permitted and wasn’t going to chance it.

Smoothing her robes over her knees, she waits for a response before saying anything else. \n\n

0 Tiponi Grisandole It could have made her cherry flavored 0 Tiponi Grisandole 0 5

Celia Andrews

January 23, 2006 2:28 PM

Hey, nothing wrong with a bit of cheer by Celia Andrews

Her eyes looked from Saul to Michael; Saul was friendly enough, but Mike looked a bit down. Was he missing his family, or maybe he was worried about being in this big magic school. She couldn’t blame him if it happened to be the latter. In fact, before the flying wagons, she had been a bit concerned herself. But with all the magic stuff around her, the concern turned to utter enthusiasm. Still, she gave each a quick wave as she continued to eat her fill of the feast.

Though she focused on Saul’s story, it was quite obvious to her when Saul happened to reach over and grab a slice of potato from her plate. Her eyes followed her stolen piece of food as it left her plate and reached the point of no return: Saul’s mouth. This to Celia was a challenge. As Saul continued his story about his family were like gypsies and how he was home schooled, she stealthily reached over with her fork swiped a piece of meat from his own plate, thus avenging her lost potato bite. She savored the taste of victory, which seemed to be marinated and rather scrumptious.

As Saul allowed Mike to join in on the conversation, she gave him her full attention. He hadn’t really spoken up much since she had reached the table, and he looked kind of down. If there was a way she might cheer him up, she would be right on it.\n\n

0 Celia Andrews Hey, nothing wrong with a bit of cheer 0 Celia Andrews 0 5

Melanie Rose

January 23, 2006 4:21 PM

backgrounds.... sigh by Melanie Rose

Melanie put her fork down and looked back at Dalila.

"I would gut myself if I ever turned out over weight by alot but anyway," Melanie thought a minute, "As for my background I'm a muggleborn. There was not a drop of wizarding blood in my family until I came along. How that happened? I have yet to find out."

Melanie shrugged and took a bite of her own roll as she thought about her predicament. She didn't want to be one of those students with no friends but she still was a bit depressive since the beginning of the summer. There had been emotions flaring all summer long because her grandparents were argueing about EVERYTHING. Shrugging again, she let the thoughts leave her mind.

"So what about yourself? Pure... Muggle....etc?"\n\n

0 Melanie Rose backgrounds.... *sigh* 0 Melanie Rose 0 5

Dalila

January 23, 2006 6:33 PM

Why sigh? by Dalila

Dalila grinned, somehow finding what Melanie had said funny. Dalila thought for a second for dramatic purposes.

"I'm half and half...like milk. My mom's the witch, but she's in Egypt studying astronomy." Dalila paused for a moment. She rarely ever got to see her mother anymore and when she's mentioned, it makes her heart ache a little. Dalila regain her composure and tried to cover it up with a broad grin and another forkfull of food before continuing.

"My grandmother lives with my dad and me. She teaches me most of the magic stuff when I'm home, but my dad is no help. He just does technical stuff at this recording studio in Downtown L.A." Dalila stared at her new friend for a second before forming a question.

"Wait, that reminds me - where're you from? I'm from Los Angeles, if you didn't get that already."\n\n

0 Dalila Why sigh? 0 Dalila 0 5

Melanie Rose

January 23, 2006 9:22 PM

characters memories are popping up by Melanie Rose

Dalila's smile some how made Melanie's day a little better. After all she had had the biggest and worst summer ever imaginable to her.

"I'm half and half...like milk. My mom's the witch, but she's in Egypt studying astronomy." Dalila spoke. Melanie noticed the slight but quickly recovered sadness that hit her new aquaintance. It had hit her when she was talking about her mother. Personally, Melanie didn't understand why Dalila would be sad about her mother and didn't want to make any assumption and noted to herself to one day ask her about it. She continued eating as Dalila took a quick bite of her food and then continued;

"My grandmother lives with my dad and me. She teaches me most of the magic stuff when I'm home, but dad is no help. He just does technical stuff at this recording studio in Downtown L.A.... Wait, that reminds me - where're you from? I'm from Los Angeles, if you didn't get that already."

Melanie thought a minute before answering. She wanted to make sure that she was correct in what she was saying.

"I'm originally from Keansburg, New Jersey but moved in with my grandparents to their home in Orangeville, Pennsylvania earlier over the summer."

Melanie tried to put up her first small smile for the year since summer began but was unsure if it was convincing. Normally other people that were saddened by anything knew if another was, too. She had found this out the hard way and wound up punching a friend because they wouldn't let up about asking her if she was okay as they insisted they knew something was wrong. Her friends parents were going through a horrible divorce at the time. Melanie continued in her eating.\n\n

0 Melanie Rose characters memories are popping up 0 Melanie Rose 0 5

Geoff S.

January 23, 2006 9:52 PM

I was thinking more that Mother could have been here... by Geoff S.

Why did she keep on looking at him? Was there a stain on his new robes, food on his face? Geoffrey rubbed his cheek nervously then took another mouthful from his plate, chewing it slowly to give himself time to try and think. But every mouthful must come to an end eventually.

"Yes. You too." Geoffrey wasn't entirely certain it was a pleasure, but then he hadn't really made the acquaintance of any girls before. "And," he paused, looked around and lowered his voice a little more. "I'm not so certain about how powerful they are. There was some disaster last year. They nearly sent me elsewhere, Mother, Father and Grandmother were so upset at it all. But then Professor Bulla was put in charge and apparently that appeased them."

He cut off abruptly again, feeling he had said too much, and shup himself up with another heaped forkful.\n\n

0 Geoff S. I was thinking more that Mother could have been here... 0 Geoff S. 0 5

Ty

January 24, 2006 12:14 AM

I'm still not. I'm not! by Ty

“Wow, you look different.”

Ok, so admittedly, Ty had felt the usual urge to cringe from the physical contact. It had lessened after her summer ordeal thankfully; after all, it had been necessary to allow her sister to touch her hair, but it was still present. However, Ty felt an unexpected pang as he drew it away. The good things, like her friendship with Stephen, weren’t supposed to change.

And was that a good wow or a bad one? Ty didn’t want to think about the implications of the good wow at the moment, so she chose to assume the latter. “Sorr-” she stopped herself. Her sister had pointed out that she needed to stop apologising for her existence. “Yeah, I guess I do. I let my sister buy me a few new clothes… made her happy, and I don’t really care too much about what I wear.” She tried to sound nonchalant. “Not too bad is it?”

Her hand, feeling the horrible absence of the security which her camera seemed to bring, automatically reached for Fi, who had decided that Stephen intended no harm toward Ty and was currently nudging her shoulder as if to remind her that they were standing in the middle of the room, rather then sitting down where they would be getting some food shortly. \n\n

0 Ty I'm still not. I'm not! 0 Ty 0 5

Stephen

January 24, 2006 12:56 AM

Keep on telling yourself that, girlie by Stephen

Stephen took the time that Ty was distracted by her Squirrel to get himself sorted out. This was his friend. This was his all of a sudden much hotter friend. This was not a bad thing. This was a good thing.

"Wait," he said, reaching out again to grab her by the shoulder and pull her to a halt. He let go again quickly enough, and moved ahead, swinging around to look at her head on. "Hmmmm," he mused, letting his eyes take in all the changes. "Turn," he twirled his hand demonstrationally, gesturing for her to do as he'd said. "Hmmm," he said again then grinned. "No, not bad at all, I'd say. Come on, before the sorting is over and all the firsties get the good seats for the eating."

He grabbed her hand and dragged her over to a nearby table - the one she'd had her eye on before - pulling the seat out with a bow and a grin before sitting in the next seat.\n\n

39 Stephen Keep on telling yourself that, girlie 0 Stephen 0 5

Michael Tallow

January 24, 2006 2:55 AM

Oh Circe, Merlin, and Zephaniah. . .cheerfulness! by Michael Tallow

Michael'd often noticed that when girls seemed particularly excited or happy, they tended to bounce. This girl appeared to be no different and in fact further cemented his belief that this was a genetic placement in the female chromosome, which of course was only activated when doubled. Which, in turn, explained why he never, ever, bounced.

Celia introduced herself, Saul gave a story some resembling his own haphazard wizarding background, and then Michael found himself with his mouth full and two faces centered entirely on him. Not one to ever be bothered by attention- he actually preferred it that way- he began to explain, mouth now only half full.

"Family's Pureblood, on both sides, ages and ages back. Mom's from Canada and her family's dated back to the Gauls same as my dad's, 'cepting he's from Georgia originally. We all live in Montana now," he paused only long enough to stuff in another chomp of food and did not wait long enough to swallow. Having manners appeared to have slipped his mind again. "Waxonberry is a really small town, but the whole lot is mixed with magicfolk, so we all went to school together. Pretty boring place, really. Half the school was made up of me, my sister, and brothers one year. Definitely nothing compared to this place. . ."

Michael's words died off as his mouth stopped it furtive chewing. For the first time (and to be honest, he hadn't cared little beyond eating and watching his sister's melodrama, to notice the Cascade Hall during the Banquet), he gave the Hall an real look-over. He stared down the waterfalls, ornate decorations, crowds of children his age and older frocked out in their school robes, and realized that his words were true: Waxonberry was nothing compared to this place.

And for the first time since the calamity of his House designation, Michael had an unpessimistic thought: this was only one room. There was so much more to see yet.

While he didn't smile, or grin, his lips gave a smug turn that some who knew him well might conjecture as a small sign of Michael's own special brand of cheerfulness. \n\n

0 Michael Tallow Oh Circe, Merlin, and Zephaniah. . .cheerfulness! 1465 Michael Tallow 0 5

Sorrel and Ash

January 24, 2006 6:22 AM

'Girlie' being the opperative word by Sorrel and Ash

Once the amusement derived from watching firsties squeal as they turned colours had worn off, it didn't take Ash and Sorrel long to pick Stephen out across the crowded room. Enthusiastically, they bounded over to catch up with their friend, and tell him their disgusting news. They were slightly taken aback by the person sitting next to him.

"Dude, what's with the girlie- holy---!" Ash managed to both blaspheme and swear within the space of a breath as he saw the little scuzzball accompanying Stephen's companian. He stared hard at her face, trying to work out if it was actually the same person. "Squirrel girl?" he asked, incredulously. "You look like you stepped right out of the pages of one our sister's magazines," he said. It was clear from his tone that he didn't mean it as a complement.

Sorrel seemed similarly unimpressed. Ok, she and squirrel girl had never been best of tom-boy buddies, so it wasn't like she'd been personally sold-out on. She didn't even really know what the other girl was into, besides photographs and squirrels. Those had always seemed a bit wussy, but next to make up and giggling had at least been kind of interesting. Plus Stephen was friends with her. And, whilst Stephen seemed to try and befriend anything and everything, it had given Ty the benefit of certain doubts.

"She's gone all girlie girl," Ash said to Stephen, in the sort of tone that both suggested Ty was inherently evil, and registered his absolute bewilderment that Stephen was her. \n\n

0 Sorrel and Ash 'Girlie' being the opperative word 0 Sorrel and Ash 0 5

Tiponi G.

January 24, 2006 6:45 AM

If mine was, I doubt I'd even notice by Tiponi G.

Expecting a rather lackluster response, Tiponi was pleasantly surprised by the tidbit of interest that she received instead. “I’d heard that the headmaster was a woman, so when that man stood up and began to speak I’d just thought I was wrong. I don’t remember him introducing himself...”

Although he probably did, she thought to herself with a sigh, and I just didn’t notice. I wasn’t paying attention to his words at all.

She ate another small, polite forkful and chewed it thoughtfully. The potatoes were very good, but now her mind was on the so-called disaster in the hall last year. What exactly did he mean by that? Was it something natural or magical? Was it through negligence or sheer unlucky chance? “When you say disaster,” she mused aloud, “what exactly do you mean that was so drastic you nearly didn’t go here?”

Her own parents were sending here because it was where they went when they were of a schooling age. Her father had apparently been in Aladren and her mother in Crotalus, so either house would have been appropriate for their potential heir. Misfortune or no, she was destined to go here from birth.\n\n

0 Tiponi G. If mine was, I doubt I'd even notice 0 Tiponi G. 0 5

Celia Andrews

January 24, 2006 8:39 AM

Bwahaha! Cheerfulness! The evilest thing there is! by Celia Andrews

Celia pouted slightly as she mixed her food that was on her plate. These guys all had some sort of magical background. Would she be looked down upon because she was, what did they call it…Muggleborn? It’s not like anyone at home could explain to her how the feast could just appear out of nowhere or how there could be waterfalls flowing out of the walls inside the building. Just then, a thought occurred to her; just how far behind was she compared to the rest of the first-years?

She looked down at her food as she said rather hesitantly, “I’m the only speck of magic in my family. In fact, I didn’t find out I had magi...il last year…” At the thought, she smiled brightly. “It was during gym class. We could choose either basketball or tennis, and I was the only girl to decide to stay in the gym and shoot hoops with the guys. One jerk in particular didn’t think I should be there and threw the ball at my head whenever the teacher wasn’t watching. Eventually, I got so cheezed off that I threw the ball back at him. Right then, the rest of the balls came flying off the shelf and started pelting him over and over, and even followed him when he ran crying from the gym.”

She tossed her tangled blond mane behind her shoulders as she continued to relay the memory, “Yeah, it was around that point that these guys in funny-looking clothes came in, pointed sticks at everyone but me, I didn’t know they were actual wands at the time, and shot light at them. Then everyone went playing basketball again like nothing ever happened, even that mean kid. I guess those guys stopped the balls from chasing him too.”

“Anyway, these weird-dressed people pulled me aside, called my parents, which freaked me out, and told my ‘rents and I that I was a witch. It was a shock, but it wasn’t unbelievable. I’d been doing some pretty weird things other than that, like bouncing up when falling out of trees and stuff like that. Yeah, so that’s when we got a list of magic schools, and Sonora was one of them. It took a lot of saving up to come here. My fam isn’t made of money. But I worked hard right along with them, and we even saved enough to get a brand new wand! So, in a nutshell, that’s how I ended up here.”

Noting to herself that she probably spouted out more than the two guys combined, she giggled to herself, biting her lower lip in embarrassment. “Sorry, my mom always said that I have a big yap.”\n\n

0 Celia Andrews Bwahaha! Cheerfulness! The evilest thing there is! 0 Celia Andrews 0 5

Günter Heindrich

January 24, 2006 10:31 AM

esophagus talk by Günter Heindrich

Günter looked at the kid and laughed, something he usually didn't do in public. He was laughing more at his own stupidity which he told the kid. "It's just that i am not well-versed in conversation. It's unusual for someone to throw my own joke back at me. My mother's a little idiotic and my sisters are three years old. I was taking you seriously. I thought that you were talking about a real black hole."

He stopped laughing forcibly. "Well, so much for an intelligent conversation. I DID end up sounding like an idiot."

It wasn't unusual for this to happen. It was one reason he usually kept his mouth shut. "You know my black hole actually has a bottom. In fact i think i just filled it. Hm...that's never happened before."

He gave the kid a smile. Knowing he was rabbling on and on, again something he almost never did except when he was exposed as an idiot, he asked the kid, "When do we get to go to our dorms?"\n\n

0 Günter Heindrich esophagus talk 0 Günter Heindrich 0 5

Saul

January 24, 2006 12:44 PM

No, no, no, that'd be tofu by Saul

Saul took no notice of Celia snitching some of his meat. He was a little surprised, perhaps, because meat wasn't generally a highly stolen commodity among his primarily vegan relatives and he was generally allowed to eat his pepperoni in peace (discounting the comments and Looks) when he managed to get his hands on some. Mostly, though, he barely registered it because food snatching was just an integral part of any meal and he'd have found it more odd if nobody stole from his plate.

While Michael spoke, he just took another couple of large bites of the pilfered item, before anyone else decided they wanted some of his meat. He'd just taken an especially big forkful when Michael stopped talking and while he was still chewing, trying to reduce it to a size that would allow swallowing, Celia spoke up first. While she was talking, he finished his meat with a final flourish of satisfaction. His now. No one could snatch it from his stomach. (And if they did, he didn't want it anymore, because that was just gross.)

She stopped talking while he was still trying to decide between his own potatoes and the beans as his next area of conquest, so he delayed the seige a little while longer and looked up from his plate with a grin, "Oh, no problem," he assured her, "I come from a family of performers. Trust me, I've heard longer." He involuntarily looked toward the staff table, where Simon was making a grand gesture with his his glass of pumpkin juice, which threatened to spill over at least two of the other people up there.

He shook his head and refocussed on his own table, deciding that maybe it would be better not to claim too close a kinship to his cousin. It wasn't like they looked alike (Saul had dark hair while Simon was a sandy blond) or had the same last name. "Anyway, it was either here or Salem for me. If Aunt Regina even knows of any other schools - well, besides Hogwarts which is where her brother went, but she'd never send me all the way to England - it's news to me. My cousin's a third year at Salem, but I'm the first of the family to attend Sonora as a student."

Well, some relatives might have gone here before, but nobody raised as a California Pierce had, and that was what he meant. Where the people who married into the family had been before they became part of the clan was something he'd never heard much about. Come to think of it, he'd never met his mom's parents or family. Huh. He'd never noticed that before. For all he knew, she'd gone to Sonora. "Well, as far as I know, I'm the first," he qualified. She would have mentioned it, if she had, wouldn't she? He frowned down into his potatoes as if they were withholding the information from him. Yes, he was going to eat those next.\n\n

1 Saul No, no, no, that'd be tofu 82 Saul 0 5

Zack Dill

January 24, 2006 2:29 PM

I have no idea how to top 'esophagus talk' as a subject by Zack Dill

Zack half-smirked and shook his head to show that he wasn't holding the other's failing against him. He didn't mind people forgetting what they'd just said so long as they didn't deny what they'd just said. Or deny other things that Zack knew to be true. That was irritating. But this guy - and he probably should have found out his name by this point but Zack's social skills were about as sharp as the kid claimed his were - hadn't done anything of the sort. He actually sounded like he was willing to talk about real black holes, which Zack would probably hold him to at some point.

In the meantime though, he'd been asked a question that reminded him that he was the older student and the big guy was the newbie. It made him feel important and definitely made up for any lingering disapproval from the forgotten joke or rambling. "Well, when everyone's done eating, the Heads of Houses will round you guys up and show you how to get into your respective common rooms. You'll be subjected to a speech, but Professor Kijewski's aren't very long or too bad. She's the Care of Magical Creature's teacher. After that, the floor is open for questions. When that's over, you're allowed up to your dorms. The elves would have brought your stuff up there already."

He paused for a moment, then decided to ignore the awkwardness and just do it, he stuck his hand across the table and said, "I'm Zack Dill, by the way. I'm a third year."

\n\n

1 Zack Dill I have no idea how to top 'esophagus talk' as a subject 40 Zack Dill 0 5

Dalila

January 24, 2006 6:20 PM

like popcorn? by Dalila

Melanie's smile concerned Dalila. It wasn't a happy smile, or even a pretending-to-be-happy smile. It was down right sad, but Dalila didn't dwell on it long. Sad things hada way of spreading around and Dalila was a strong believer in the proverb Being happy is better than being sad.

So instead of bothering Melanie about it, Dalila did what she liked other people to do to her: ignore the sadness. "So...ummm. New Jersey? I have cousins who live there - near Princeton. Which do ya like better: Jersey or Pennsylvania?"

Dalila finished up her plate of food and then refilled it with a piece of pie and some vanilla ice cream from the trays of desserts that had recently appeared, trying her best to give Melanie her undivided attention while still enjoying the wonders of pie.\n\n

0 Dalila like popcorn? 0 Dalila 0 5

Melanie Rose

January 24, 2006 8:45 PM

With Extra Butter and Cernals by Melanie Rose

Melanie took another bite of her food and looked at the food turning to desserts. This was strange to her but she decided to shrug it off for the better. She knew she'd be seeing this a lot.

"So...ummm. New Jersy? I have cousins who live there- near Princeton. Which do ya like better: Jersey or Pennsylvania?"

Dalilas question couldn't have been easier to answer. Smiling Melanie answered,

"New Jersey to the core. Pennsylvania is full of redneck hicks and rapper wanna-bes except for the occasional normality or old kooks that don't know anything but the old days. Lets just say that I do not belong at my grandparents house like aliens don't belong on planet Earth."

With that Melanie tried to finish off her plate of real food so she could dig into the blueberry pie that looked much like the New Jersey Blueberry Pies.

\n\n

0 Melanie Rose With Extra Butter and Cernals 0 Melanie Rose 0 5

Allie

January 24, 2006 9:13 PM

That's encouraging. by Allie

Finally locating her handkerchief - she had no idea how it had managed to lodge itself up the right sleeve of her robes, she had been sure it was in her pocket - Allie tried to wipe her now rather wet face as best she could while the other girl patted her arm and tried to reassure her. It took her a moment to register that her housemate thought she was the one responsible for Allie's sudden burst of crying. Rubbing the handkerchief hard against the corners of her eyes and blinking rapidly to keep any more water from accumulating, she looked at the girl with something akin to wonder.

"I'm Allie St.Martin," she said after the moment it took her to process everything Tally had just said, then winced reflexively as she remembered that she wasn't supposed to introduce herself to people as Allie. "Alexandra, I mean," she amended quickly, if in a voice still not as steady as she would have liked. "My cousins call me Allie...and Lila and Alban..." She wanted badly to blow her nose, but her mother would have her hide off if she heard about it. Lila would tell Mama if she saw, she wouldn't be a good sister if she didn't try to keep Allie from doing something stupid to make the family look worse than it already did these days.

She wondered if Tally was trying to make fun of her or something similar with the whole bit about Teppenpaws all being such good friends and her being happy Allie was in her House. There was something about Tally's smile that made her want to believe the older girl. "Teppe - Teppenpaw sounds nice," she said. "My cousins're all really good friends like that. I have a lot of cousins. Five of us live together, but there's twelve of us, with my stepcousins and half-cousin." Gwen hadn't been disowned, so it had to still be all right to think of her as a stepcousin, didn't it? "That's counting me and m'brother and sister, too. Alban's seven, and Lila's over there." She waved towards the Crotalus table, not daring to actually look at it. "They put her over there and me here. I didn't think they could do that. That's why I - you know - " She could feel her face heating up. Merlin, she sounded like an idiot. A babbling idiot. "Sorry - I talk too much." \n\n

16 Allie That's encouraging. 76 Allie 0 5

Lila St.Martin

January 24, 2006 9:50 PM

I couldn't resist it... by Lila St.Martin

Lila's eyes moved from her hands to Allie's face. Her twin looked, predictably, confused, but there was dawning comprehension and alarm in the elder-by-three-and-a-half-minutes half's eyes as she reached the same conclusion as Lila. Hands to face. Red hands. Yellow face. The potion they had been required to drink had split them up. Lila's brain told her she needed to do some fast talking to keep Allie from doing something stupid and embarrassing. Her mouth refused to cooperate as she stared at her identical twin, still trying to get past the fact that she and Allie, who had never been more than the length of Magnolia Grove from each other and rarely that far, had been Sorted into different Houses.

"Lila?" Allie's voice sounded smaller and even more timid than normal. "It's okay - it has to be some kind of mix-up, Li, they wouldn't split us up - "

Lila was nearly overwhelmed by a sudden, strange desire to hug her sister and cry, the first action one not performed since they were eight, the second not since that wretched blood traitor Anne broke her nose, which didn't count. She wanted Allie to be her usual stupidly optimistic self and tell her it was going to be all right. It scared her enough to snap her out of her shocked trance and back into a more St.Martin-like frame of mind. The look she gave her twin was contemptuos.

"I would agree with you if the color scheme had been the other way around," she said coldly. "If the potion isn't working, though, then I'm glad. It's bad enough having to be in a House with our mudblood-loving stepcousin. I don't think I could stand having to share a dorm with you and have everyone know I'm stuck with you for my sister." Allie's eyes widened, which did little to improve the dumbstruck look on her too-heavy face...her face that, minus the yellow and some weight, would be the exact duplicate of Lila's. She crushed the faint desire to tell Allie she didn't mean it, that she loved her even if she was stupid as a rock sometimes, and carried on. "You'd better go join all your canary-colored Housemates. I'll see you later." Without waiting to see her twin's reaction, Lila turned and made her way to the Crotalus table, sitting down beside a blonde-haired girl only once she was sure the girl was one of her fellow first years and not Gwenhwyfar.

They couldn't do this. They had to give her Allie back. They were twins, these people couldn't do this. Allie was too stupid to be let loose on her own. She needed someone there to make sure she didn't shame the family. The St.Martins had enough problems between Anne and Gwenhwyfar being blood traitors, Uncle Alasdair going mad, Uncle Julian being mad to begin with, and Eileen talking to dead people at parties. Besides, they were a unit. No one ever talked about Allie. No one ever talked about Lila. They were Allie and Lila, the St.Martin twins. This had to be some kind of nightmare brought on by pre-term anxiety...except it wasn't. She was a Crotalus. Allie was a Teppenpaw. They had taken her sister away from her.

She didn't hear a word of the Acting Headmaster's speech, bent over with her elbows on her knees and her hands hidden in her hair, completely hidden by the girl beside her. She was a twin. Twins, especially identical ones, were often short. Her attention was, however, grabbed by the sudden ruckus coming from the front of the Hall, a bit to one side...she couldn't see the two girls without craning her neck, but she recognized Morgaine Carey's voice. The only person Morgaine would be yelling all of that at would be Gwenhwyfar.

"Great Merlin," she muttered under her breath. "Can't they go one day without doing something...something like this?" Sitting up at last, she pushed her hair back from her face and checked the ribbon in her hair. It would have been beyond ironic if it had been red, but it was green, to match the newly-made school robes she wore. Good. Her face didn't have that tingly feeling that meant she had reddened it pressing the heels of her hands into her cheeks. Good. She was presentable. She was past losing Allie. Who needed that dunce, anyway?

She began selecting her meal from the foods laid out before them, finally taking an interest in her neighbor besides ensuring that they weren't related by marriage or as a shield. "How do you do?" she asked politely. "I am Lila St.Martin, of the South Carolina St.Martins." There were no other St.Martins, of course, but it was all formality. Without the little formalities, the entire pureblood way of life might collapse. "Could you please pass the salad?" \n\n

16 Lila St.Martin I couldn't resist it... 80 Lila St.Martin 0 5

Geoff S.

January 24, 2006 10:30 PM

Yeah... you've got to work on paying proper attention by Geoff S.

This was getting more and more disconcerting. Why did she keep on talking to him? Weren't girls more interested in talking to other girls? Or dolls? Or something? Geoffrey strained his brain, trying to think of instances when he had been anywhere near the presence of a girl before, and was stuck with a just a few vague memories of a young ribbon-bedecked banshee screaming for another dolly. He effected a weak smile as his mouthful was finished and any chance at an excuse to not reply evaporated.

"The disaster?" he replied, a little surprised that she hadn't heard. Perhaps her parents had been amongst those who didn't attend the Alumni tour which he had heard Grandmother refer to as 'begging for funds dressed up as something important'. "Well," he said slowly, looking carefully at Tiponi to try and gauge her reaction to what he was saying, "from what I heard, when they had some of the alumni here just before Christmas - Mother, Father and Grandmother attended - something went wrong with the weather charms around the school and it was hit by a massive mudstorm. Mud and thunder and lightning everywhere. The infirmary was completely ruined, Mother said, and... well, all in all, it was disastrous. Grandmother refused to make a donation, and threatened to send me elsewhere. But then, Father heard from Mr Bulla - Professor Bulla's father - that Headmistress Marnett had gone away for a while, and that Professor Bulla was in charge, so they decided to let me come here after all. Father, Mother and Grandmother were all in Crotalus, so I expect they'll be happy when I write to let them know. I can't say I ever really expected to be sorted this way..." he trailed off.\n\n

0 Geoff S. Yeah... you've got to work on paying proper attention 0 Geoff S. 0 5

Tiponi G.

January 24, 2006 11:47 PM

But the water...it's so rhythmic and soothing by Tiponi G.

Not noticing his discomfort at being continuously addressed, the thought of leaving him be to eat his meal in the silence he desired never even crossed Tiponi’s mind. Even if it had, she would have quashed it for her own selfish reasons and carried on with the conversation to keep herself occupied and awake. He was providing her with interesting facts about the school if nothing else.

“I’m not sure why my parents didn’t attend the alumni event,” she thought aloud. “We’re not very high on the ladder of pureblooded families, or at least that’s what I’ve gathered, so they wouldn’t have been as desirable guests as some of the larger family names. I don’t even know if they received an invitation or not. For all I know, they could have come and not been swayed by the storm. I don’t know much about what they do, really.”

It was a few minutes before his last comment about sorting even registered and she’d ingested a few more potatoes and a bite of chicken in that time. “They’ll be happy at your being in this house?” she asked him, the statement likely seeming oddly random and out of place after the long pause in conversation. “I don’t know much about it, really, except that my mother was part of it.”

She took a few more bites, her eyes absently wandering across the waterfalls and water-laden windows. Such an interesting display...and the constant, steady fall of water was such a soothing sound. It was so repetitive and calming. She could feel her eyes droop just by watching the fall of water and was having trouble ignoring the pull of dearly-needed sleep.\n\n

0 Tiponi G. But the water...it's so rhythmic and soothing 0 Tiponi G. 0 5

Eduard Grimaud

January 25, 2006 1:24 AM

Dinner. Finally. by Eduard Grimaud

Eduard Grimaud sat down at the brown table near two boys and an overly excited girl. Compared to her, they looked like dead men at a funeral. Despite his lateness, he wasn't overly enthusiastic about meeting new people. On any other occasion he would thrive in a group, but he was still depressed from the last lecture his mother had given him before leaving Canada. But Sonora was going to be a place to escape his mother and the events of the holidays.

'I couldn't help overhearing that your family are performers. My dad's a musician,' he said with the vague touch of a french accent. Grim realised he hadn't introduced himself. 'I'm Eduard Grimaud, but people call me Grim,' he said, trying to stay cool. He grabbed a potato from the tables and started filling his plate. At least food couldn't lecture him on the importance of being a serious student.

He started to cheer up as he realised that most of these students were in the same situation - new school, new people - and they were just as worried as first impressions as he was.

'My family all went to school in France. This is the first time I've seen Sonora. It's not that impressive - is it?' As soon as the words escaped his mouth, he realised he was being a snob, the type of person he hated. He wanted to hit himself in the head, but he decided to eat another potato instead.

\n\n

0 Eduard Grimaud Dinner. Finally. 0 Eduard Grimaud 0 5

Günter Heindrich

January 25, 2006 12:46 PM

Neither do I...it just came to my head...GRIN by Günter Heindrich

Günter looked at the hand that had just suddenly appeared in his field of vision. He blinked surprised at it when the kid said, "I'm Zack Dill, by the way. I'm a third year."

Günter shook the kid's-no Zack's hand. He'd have to hope that he would remember his name the next morning. Names and faces were something he had trouble with, though he tried not to admit it. "My name is Günter Heindrich, first year obviously."

He looked at Zack's face, waiting for a reaction to his very much German name. People alway's questioned it for some odd reason, though he didn't see how it was different from any other name except that it was extremely complicated to learn how to spell when you are in grade school and too long. This wasn't even counting his middle name which he did not utter outside of his own house.\n\n

0 Günter Heindrich Neither do I...it just came to my head...*GRIN* 0 Günter Heindrich 0 5

Lila Gringe

January 25, 2006 5:16 PM

And I have to say I don't blame you. by Lila Gringe

At first, Lila hadn't paid much attention to the girl who had taken the seat beside her. That was, until she realized that, whoever she was, her fellow lobster was practically hiding. Immediately, her eyebrows flew near her hairline. Everyone else was changing colors. What was wrong with it? By now, she'd overcome most of her surprise. Or at least she appeared to have.

Appearances. Ooops. Quickly, she brought her eyebrows back down, schooling her features into a normal expression. Better. Much better. She couldn't see herself, of course, but the girl knew from experience that she looked calm, albeit a bit overly polite as opposed to casual. Oh, well. It was better than looking surprised at the behavior of her housemate.

And then the girl spoke up, and Lila's eyebrows were raised again, although this time she was much quicker at recovering her outward calm. Another Lila. In her year, in her house. Wonderful.

But what was that bit about the South Carolina St.Martins supposed to mean? How many people actually had enough branches of family to distinguish them by location? Lila nearly arched her eyebrows yet again. By now, however, she was ready to stop herself.

For a moment, Lila wasn't sure what to say, confronted by such formality. It was certainly a good thing that her father was normally so formal. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been positive how to respond.

"I'm well, thank you, and yourself?" she replied, with a cordial smile. Introduction . . . introduction. . . For a split second, she wondered if she should follow the other girl's lead and give her place of origin as well as her name. But then she decided that was unnecessary.

"I'm Lila Gringe. It is a pleasure to meet you." She nodded politely, handing the salad to the other Lila. The action also served to remind her that she needed to eat something as well. Hmm.

She examined the dishes near her for a moment, and served herself from a dish of green beans, a dish of mashed potatoes, and a basket of bread. Not too much, not too little, and nothing extremely unhealthy. Perfect.

Very slightly, she turned back to the other girl, waiting to see if her housemate was going to continue the conversation. Lila herself wouldn't have been able to carry it on herself without carefully pretending she was confident, but if the other girl wished to continue, then continue she would.\n\n

0 Lila Gringe And I have to say I don't blame you. 0 Lila Gringe 0 5

Jennifer Zucchero

January 25, 2006 5:48 PM

Older, wiser, but not at all taller sigh by Jennifer Zucchero

Despite the problems with getting her visa and the overly protective ambassadors and staff at the American Ministry of Magic’s embassy, Jennifer had had a very good time in Brazil over the summer. For the first month, she had spent most of her time just in the area around the embassy, but then slowly her father had gotten less uptight about security and let her wander around freely.

She wasn’t sure the last time she had had so much fun. She had filled up almost her entire drawing pad with little sketches of the insanity of places like the market place. However, despite religiously applying sunblock, during the last three days of her stay there, Jennifer had gotten the worst sunburn. Now, after about a week of spending every free moment with the anti-burn ointment, she looked a little better, no longer looking like a dark-haried lobster, but it still wasn’t that pretty.

She had gotten side tracked when she got to school, looking around for a few minutes rather than head directly into Cascade Hall. She had worried about poor Scurry all summer long, since she had no idea what had happened to him after the professors discovered what was going on, and she wanted to see if anyone could tell her what happened to the little thing.

However, she saw him run into two of the first years, and concluded that, no matter what it turned out he had done, his job was probably safe. Fears assuaged, she headed into Cascade right as Bulla was finishing his speech.

It shocked her a little, how much everyone had grown over the summer. Well, almost everyone. She saw Zack Dill over at the Aladren table, and noted that he had also not grown much, and took a small bit of comfort in that. He was the extent of it, though. She sighed as she headed over to the Crotalus table, occasionally meeting some of her friends’ eyes and nodding with a smile.

While she certainly looked older than she had when she left, she was still shorter than most of the first years, and the pink skin and slightly peeling nose probably didn’t do much to help her as far as looking older went. She had measured herself before she left Brazil, and she hadn't grown more than about a quarter of an inch over the summer. And although her small stature helped her ability as a seeker phenominally, she still wanted to be able to see over the heads of the firsties without standing on her toes. This, obviously, wasn't the year that was going to happen.
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

0 Jennifer Zucchero Older, wiser, but not at all taller *sigh* 48 Jennifer Zucchero 0 5

Dalila

January 25, 2006 7:31 PM

You mean Kernals? Or maybe Colonals? lol by Dalila

Dalila laughed so suddenly at Melanie's joke, that a bit of pie shot out of her mouth. Dalila blushed before wiping the chewed food off her face and pretending it didn't happen.

"You just described L.A. but replace the redneck hicks with spoiled Valley Girls. But unlike you, I belong where I live. California's in my blood, but I do like traveling."

Dalila chewed the rest of her apple pie thoughtfully, trying to remember, something Melanie had said that had caught her attention.

"You live with your grandparents?"\n\n

0 Dalila You mean Kernals? Or maybe Colonals? lol 0 Dalila 0 5

Melanie Rose

January 25, 2006 9:10 PM

Sorry bad spelling day!? hehe! by Melanie Rose

Melanie ducked as Dalila's chewed peice of pie flew from her mouth with out trying to laugh. It wasn't normal for that to happen.

"You just described L.A. but replace the redneck hicks with spoiled Valley Girls. But unlike you, I belong where I live. California's in my blood, but I do like traveling." Dalila spoke as she recovered from her food spitting olympic move and then continued eating as if trying to forget it. It also looked like she was in thought.

Ah! Melanie thought to herself. She was doing it again- being way to observant for her own good. Then again she thought about the Teppenpaw description and that Teppenpaws were basically the ones who represented the school. Normally, people who represent something were observant in her sense.

"You live with your grandparents?" Dalila spoke out of the blue.

Melanie slowly chewed what was the last of what was on her plate and swallowed. This was a touchy subject. Her somewhat happy composure went to a sour deep in thought one. She didn't want to say much about why she was in Pennsylvania but it was starting to look unbeatable. But there it was! The golden passage through it all. Gaining her composure back to a normal monotonous state she spoke,

"Yeah, there was a slight problem at my Jersey home and I was forced to go live with the only other family I had left. That would be my stuck up always argueing grandparents. I really don't know how they got married. Infact the last arguement was about whether to let me attend on of the magical schools. But Gram won as long as Pop got to choose which one."
\n\n

0 Melanie Rose Sorry bad spelling day!? hehe! 0 Melanie Rose 0 5

Lila St.Martin

January 25, 2006 9:18 PM

At least we're not the only same-namers. by Lila St.Martin

Lila noticed the slight raise of her housemate's eyebrows when she said her name and kept her face carefully blank. There had been a time, as recently as her grandfather's day, when there had been no shadow over the respectability of the St.Martin day. Those who tried to cast one were punctually disowned and never mentioned again, leaving the family stronger than before. Since his death, Eileen had been in charge and had...stirred the waters. The family was in no danger of earning the sort of reputation currently enjoyed by their steprelatives the Savannah Careys, but things were not as well as they could have been.

Another possible reason for her housemate's surprise was revealed when the other girl revealed her name. Lila couldn't repress a sense of faint indignation. It was bad enough having to share a face with someone, but even her name? And if this girl turned out to have a horrid reputation, people might get confused over which Lila was flouting convention...she tried to push the thoughts out of her mind and inclined her head slightly. "Very well, thank you," she said, politely neutral. "The pleasure's mine. What a coincidence that we should have the same name." Gringe...she didn't recognize it. Not a South Carolinian or Georgian pureblood, then, and not likely to be from Virginia.

"Thank you," she said again when the salad reached her. Excellent dish, salad. She dished a small portion onto her plate and supplemented it with a small roll. It wouldn't be proper to act as if she had too much of an appetite. Carefully gathering some of the salad onto her fork, making sure no bits were hanging off at odd angles, she took a bite and swallowed before noticing that Lila Gringe was turned a little in her direction. "Were you glad to be Sorted into Crotalus?" she asked, deciding it was as good a conversation starter as any. \n\n

16 Lila St.Martin At least we're not the only same-namers. 80 Lila St.Martin 0 5

Chrissy Mathers

January 25, 2006 10:19 PM

I'm with you on the height thing by Chrissy Mathers

A girl of 4'9 and curly blonde hair entered the hall after a rush of other students. Her body seemed to have expanded a bit more widthwise, but everything else about her seemed to be the same. Chrissy Mathers was thirteen now. Thirteen years old but still looked ten. Well, minus her round hips and obvious bossoms. Chrissy Mathers had the face of an angel...with a chip on her shoulder.

Her summer had been horrible. She had spent much of it in Virginia with her grandparents and if she wasn't off doing something with them, she was stuck in a small room having another fight with her mother. The woman never seemed to stop. Everything Chrissy did was wrong. And the more her mother controlled her, the more Chrissy wanted to stick it to her.

So, she found her revenge in food. Chrissy had eaten many many things over the summer, and it showed. She had gone up in a dress size and her baby fat was still apparent on her round face. Her mother was none to pleased. Chrissy didn't mind the weight. She thought it gave her character. But, according to her mother, it was repulsive and Chrissy would end up alone, miserable, and fat. So, she had placed Chrissy on a diet. A lot of good it did. Chrissy lost no weight. She didn't gain any more, but she didn't lose any either, much to her mother's resentment.

Chrissy looked around the Hall for anyone familiar. She noticed Tally first, her best friend since forever, but the girl seemed content on staring at nothing, so Chrissy turned and headed over to the Crotalus table. It seemed so lonely without Jenna around. Chrissy missed her friend and wished she would return soon. Though she was able to spot Jennifer and wandered over to her. "Hey Jennifer, mind if I sit here?"\n\n

0 Chrissy Mathers I'm with you on the height thing 0 Chrissy Mathers 0 5

Dillon Welsh (with a Zoey Welsh Appearance)

January 25, 2006 10:49 PM

and I feel fiiiiiiine (not really) by Dillon Welsh (with a Zoey Welsh Appearance)

Dillon and Zoey had left the carriage and made their way down the paths (much happy that the water had receeded and the paths had returned to their usual beautiful way) and through the entrance doors and again through the large doors that led them into Cascade Hall.

Zoey paused briefly to have a look around, "The waterfalls are moving again. That's a good sign, right?"

"Yeah, I think they had it all sorted out by the end of last term. We shouldn't have to worry."

"Still though, that was one wicked second year. I don't even want to think about what might happen this year." Dillon shrugged at that. His sister was right, there was no telling what could happen now that they were third years. "Anyway, I better go sit with my house. I'll see you later, Dill."

"Bye Zoe." Dillon watched his sister walk off. He was happy that over the summer she had been able to seperate more from him and had found a group of friends of her own. She was getting more confidence in herself, which made everything easier on him.

He made his way over to the Teppenpaw table and sat down next to a girl consoling some boy. It took him a moment to even realize who the girl was. "Hey, you're Kaylie, right? From the Quidditch team?" He asked her. He was certain that she was, but not positive. His hazel eyes landed on the obviously upset and a frown formed at the corner of his mouth.

"Er-is he alright?"\n\n

6 Dillon Welsh (with a Zoey Welsh Appearance) and I feel fiiiiiiine (not really) 44 Dillon Welsh (with a Zoey Welsh Appearance) 0 5

Stephen

January 26, 2006 12:46 AM

aww, come on guys by Stephen

"What?" Stephen asked, looking at Ash and Sorrel, then back at Ty. Well, it wasn't that he hadn't noticed that she was different. He had. He really, really had. "She looks good, huh?" he told them. "Pretty." He found himself looking at Ty again, and that grin just taking over. "You really do look good," he assured her.

She did. He wasn't entirely sure what it was. Her hair was different, yes, and... she looked like she'd done something with her face. It made her look older. It made her more noticable. Stephen liked it. It occured to him that here was a girl, just like Kimmy had been a girl, but in this case, here was one who was in on the whole magical conspiracy thing, which meant that he wouldn't have to not truely be himself. It didn't occur to him that she might not be interested. Everyone liked him, and he took it for granted.

He grinned some more as he slung his arm back around Ty's shoulder and turned back to his friends. "Man, it's so great to be back at Sonora. Don't get me wrong - holidays were brilliant fun, but I really like it here. Plus, it's ever so slightly... slower at home, you know? Nothing happeneing all the time like it is here with you guys. Just hanging out with my mates. What'd you guys get up to over the holidays?"\n\n

39 Stephen aww, come on guys 0 Stephen 0 5

Saul

January 26, 2006 5:20 PM

hey, lookit this, Michael, we're popular. by Saul

Saul grinned greeting as another boy joined their table just as he finished talking. Interest sparked, if only in a purely professional way, when the newcomer said his father was a 'musician'. He opened his mouth to question further - what does he play, where does he play, and how well known is he - but the other boy continued on before Saul could interrupt. Had he known the guy more than three seconds, he would have felt no guilt in talking over him, but they had barely met and in fact Saul didn't even know the fellow's name, so Saul was on his best behaviour and politely didn't.

It was just as well, because the next words were an introduction that provided the aforementioned name. So, Michael, Celia, and Grim. Saul committed the names to memory. He himself was not a performer - his personal musical talent was the fantastic ability to draw horribly painful noises from even the best instruments - but he was still taught early that it impressed people if you remembered their names.

Then all other comments he'd been thinking of offering next abruptly vanished in a metaphorical puff of smoke. "This is the first time I've seen Sonora. It's not that impressive - is it?"

Saul stared at Grim as if the other boy had grown not only a second head, but a third one as well. "It's got waterfalls as walls," he couldn't help but point out, in case the guy was blind and hadn't noticed, "and we're in the middle of a desert."\n\n

1 Saul hey, lookit this, Michael, we're popular. 82 Saul 0 5

Zack Dill

January 26, 2006 5:38 PM

howdy, Günter Heindrich by Zack Dill

Hand taken, Zack shook as sharp and as firm as his substandard size allowed with the six foot behemoth. Handshakes, he'd read somewhere, were a measure some people used to judge by, and he didn't want to come across as more wimpy than he had to.

"Nice to meet you, Günter Heindrich," he said, feeling oddly compelled to say the full name with as good a mimicry of the German accent as he could manage. Having spent long months carefully practicing proper pronounciation of Kling-on words, he felt he did a decent job of it.

"Well," he added, when he realized he'd probably just sounded pretty dumb to the actual German, especially since all of the preceeding words were spoken in his normal Detroit-native dialect. "If you ever have any questions about the school or the classes, I'll be glad to help." After all, it was only smart for someone as small as him to make friends with someone as big as Günter.\n\n

1 Zack Dill howdy, Günter Heindrich 40 Zack Dill 0 5

Anne Wright

January 26, 2006 9:01 PM

I love this place... by Anne Wright

Even without the heeled things her aunt mocked by calling shoes on, Anne was taller than she had been when she last set foot in the Cascade Hall which, unfortunately, meant that the only clothing she had that fit consisted of the items she had been given over the summer at Magnolia Grove, clothes she suspected had once been a subdivision of Gwenhwyfar's wardrobe kept at their grandmother's estate. The blue top and black skirt, though they showed what she considered an admirable level of House loyalty, didn't really seem to work too well with the dark green robes she wore over them, which didn't help to make her inconspicuos. Anne loved it for the simple reason that the mix had made it look like Aunt Sarah's blood pressure went through the roof. She would have paid money to see her aunt's reaction to some of the stunts she planned to pull this year, but Lila's would do.

She didn't find her cousins to see how they were Sorted. There was no way in heck either of them would make Aladren, and to come poking her nose in would make it look like she cared which Houses they went into. She wouldn't have minded knowing about Allie - things were weird with the elder St.Martin girl, somehow not friendly or hostile - but if she could go through the next six years without acknowledging Lila Evangeline St.Martin's existence, that would be well and good for everyone involved. Taking a seat at the Aladren table, she kicked off her shoes and turned in her seat so that she was facing the front of the room and the Acting Headmaster.

The first part of the speech was more or less what she'd expected, sans Marnett. Welcome to the firsties, welcome back to everyone else, do well by your House, and et cetera. It was near the end of the speech that Professor Bulla managed to catch her attention. She joined in on the cheering and clapping that followed the announcement that Quidditch was back on enthusiastically. Sure, her team was probably going to be squished like a skeeter in August, but at least they'd get to try this time around. If she was left in the lurch for a Beater again, she was seriously going to try recruiting Kijewski. Anyone with the guts to deal with magical beasts all day long certainly had the guts to face a Bludger. A broken jaw was nothing compared to the things some of the creatures in the textbook could do to a person.

She considered applauding again when the food appeared, only realizing how hungry she was when she saw it materialize on the plates. Dishing some decent-looking roast, a hunk of Sonora's excellent bread, and what appeared to be some kind of stew onto a plate and admiring the placements of it for a moment, she set herself to the task of eating it. Though she did restrain herself enough to keep food from going everywhere, including her neighbors but most specifically over herself, it took the good-sized plate of food a surprisingly short time to disappear. \n\n

16 Anne Wright I love this place... 59 Anne Wright 0 5

saul

January 26, 2006 9:44 PM

ooc by saul

hey, if you want to join us at the Pecari table, we're down at the bottom of the thread. If you'd like, you can be the unidenified person who is sitting on Saul's other side (the side that Michael's not on) and had an unidentified vegetable stolen from them in Saul's second? - I think it was his second - post.\n\n

1 saul ooc 82 saul 0 5

Celia Andrews

January 27, 2006 9:44 AM

Nah, you're just Pecari by Celia Andrews

Celia breathed an inward sigh of relief; she hadn’t scared anyone off with her enthusiasm. Not that she could really be blamed for it. It was a magic school! She wasn’t going to be studying math or geography, she was going to learn about magic with an honest to goodness wand! It did seem sort of silly being so excited and all. No one else around her felt so giddy, but Celia could have cared less. For once in her life, she couldn’t wait until classes.

As Eduard sat down at the table and started speaking, Celia’s thoughts automatically went to the French elective she had taken in school. He had the same sort of accent as her teacher did. Then, he said his name. Definitely a Frenchie. His nickname automatically brought pics of the Grim Reaper to mind, though he didn’t really look that grim. She could tell he wasn’t in the best of moods, though.

“This is the first time I've seen Sonora. It's not that impressive - is it?”

Celia could almost feel herself physically sink. Not that impressive? What planet did he come from where this place was ‘unimpressive’? Or were waterfalls coming out of the walls commonplace in magical societies? Her confidence was slightly bolstered by Saul’s comment about the same waterfalls. So they weren’t usual decorations. Still, Grim’s blasé attitude about Sonora left a bad taste in her mouth. “I think it’s pretty impressive…”
\n\n

0 Celia Andrews Nah, you're just Pecari 0 Celia Andrews 0 5

Lila Gringe

January 27, 2006 12:21 PM

Ah, small blessings. by Lila Gringe

"You're welcome," she replied politely. Lila had considered saying something in response to the comment about their names, but then decided that there wasn't much to say, aside from simple agreement. Which was a bit pointless. Words weren't made to be wasted, after all.

Now she was in over her head. Lila had realized that the changing colors thing had had a purpose- to divide the students into groups- but she hadn't known anything about the groups. Not even the names.

"Crotalus?" she echoed. "Oh, is that what it's called?" After all, how was she supposed to know what a group of students at a school of magic was called? Her parents were, after all, decidedly nonmagical. Or at least her father was. She was fairly certain that her mother had been, but her father avoided talking about her mother.\n\n

0 Lila Gringe Ah, small blessings. 0 Lila Gringe 0 5

Ginger Silverstein

January 27, 2006 3:48 PM

I am too Confused smile by Ginger Silverstein

Ginger saw that everyone who had turned certain colors started to go to different tables. Ginger followed a girl far behind who had turned brown as well. She had a very nervous look on her face, but she knew that this place couldn't be too bad. She tucked some of her blond chin length hair out of her eyes, and approached the table after she could finally work up the courage. She saw a few people sitting there.

She was worried that they would find her weird, or not like her. Her dark green eyes slightly narrowed. "Um, i-is it okay if I sit here?" She asked with a very petit, scared, nervous voice. It was a wonder she could even get herself to talk in a situation like this. Introductions were always the hardest to make in times like this. \n\n

0 Ginger Silverstein I am too *Confused smile* 1484 Ginger Silverstein 0 5

Tally

January 27, 2006 4:04 PM

Would you have preferred a lie? by Tally

Tally was still so very uncertain with how to respond to the girl's obvious emotional distress. Had it been at any other time, Tally would have consoled her immediately without fear or worry. But, at the moment, Tally was more worried with keeping herself calm that consoling someone seemed to take a lot out of her as well as making her mind go completely blank with how to help her.

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you Alexandra or Allie or whatever it is you prefer to be called." Tally greeted her. Tally let her hand drop from the girl's arm as she rambled about her cousins. Tally didn't have any cousins. Or, at least, she didn't know any. Her father was an only child while her mother had been disowned by her family. So, if Tally had any living relatives besides her father and brother, than she was unaware of them.

Tally allowed her eyes to follow the girl's hand in the direction of the Crotalus table. Some of Tally's friends were over there, but she seemed to know so few of them. The girl was upset because she and her sister were seperated. That made sense.

"It's alright, nothing to be embarrassed about." Tally told the younger girl when she noticed the blush. "As for you and your sister being seperated, I wouldn't worry to much about it. The good thing about Sonora is that it's such a small magical school that you're bound to bump into her." Surprisingly, the words she spoke, Tally actually took to heart. She always looked forward to running into her friends in other houses. Made the day go by quicker.

"Plus, since the two of you are in the same year, you'll be in the same classes. If it helps any, there are other twins around here that have been seperated as well. Like Dillon-" Tally pointed down the table where a tall fellow with auburn hair and glass was sitting beside Tally's roommate, Kaylie, were located, "and his twin were seperated. They're doing fine though. Don't worry, you'll do just fine."\n\n

0 Tally Would you have preferred a lie? 0 Tally 0 5

Günter Heindrich

January 27, 2006 5:01 PM

guten Morgen, Herr Dill! (ooc: do you have IM) by Günter Heindrich

Günter smiled at the attempted pronunciation of his name. It was a good try, but Dill's accent kind of threw off trying to use a German accent. "It's okay. I am not even perfect at using an accent and I lived with someone with a real German accent. Granted my dad knew a little English but only enough to cope so I actually learned three languages by the time I was eight. The Third was Japanese. My mother was born in Japan."

He paused to take a bite of a cookie and then said. "Oh and I'll take you up on that help. I'm not sure if my mom's map is right."

\n\n

0 Günter Heindrich guten Morgen, Herr Dill! (ooc: do you have IM) 0 Günter Heindrich 0 5

Lila St.Martin

January 27, 2006 6:25 PM

The basis of an optimistic life. by Lila St.Martin

"Crotalus? Oh, is that what it's called?" Lila stared at her housemate for a moment, blinking a few times in surprise. Was she being serious, or were her parents a pair of mental freaks like Aunt Mary and Uncle John who went Muggle? It never occurred to her that the other Lila's parents might be Muggles, even after the mess with Gwenhwyfar the previous year. After a moment, she reclaimed her power of speech.

"Yes," she said. "It is. This is Crotalus House. The House for decent, respectable people with a degree of sense." Her eyes flickered towards the much-less-reputable Pecari table her stepcousin now sat at. She wished she could say she was surprised that Morgaine ended up in even worse straits than her sister, but the younger Carey had never put any effort into behaving properly or given any indication that she found her manners in any way lacking.

Lila decided the most tactful route she could take would be to change the subject. "Where are you from?" she asked, taking another bite of her salad. "My sister - " she made a short, dismissive gesture in the direction of the Teppenpaw table without looking around - "and I are from South Carolina, obviously. Magnolia Grove's the estate name, it's not far from Charleston." \n\n

16 Lila St.Martin The basis of an optimistic life. 80 Lila St.Martin 0 5

Dalila

January 27, 2006 6:33 PM

It's okay...better than a bad spelling month by Dalila

Melanie was hiding something and Dalila knew it. But they had known each other, what?, like an hour. Melanie didn't need to spill her deepest secrets to her, and frankly, Dalila didn't really want to pry. The last thing she wanted was to scare away a new friend by being too nosy.

"Okay. Well, I'm glad your grandfather decided to send you here. For me there wasn't a choice. Both my mother and grandmother were Tepps and my father has very little courage when standing up against them." Dalila laughed out loud. Her father's cowardice was a fond joke of her family's.

Dalila finished her pie in silence, trying to come up with a new topic of conversation.

"So what are you looking forward to learning?" It was a stupid question, but it was the best she could up with at such short notice.

OOC: Could you try to not repeat what I write in your posts? It gets a little annoying to have to reread things and I'm sure you could connect the posts just fine without doing so. Thanks.\n\n

0 Dalila It's okay...better than a bad spelling month 0 Dalila 0 5

Professor Marlowe

January 27, 2006 11:05 PM

Arriving Without a Bang. by Professor Marlowe

From what she had retained of the Randall siblings' many enthusiastic lectures on their old school when they discovered she was teaching there, Sonora Academy was a very different school from Hogwarts: smaller, more relaxed in its rules, more rigid in its Sortings, and with a House system that seemed to jumble up elements of all the Houses she was familiar with into each, one way or another. Genevieve had been a Pecari and Lionel an Aladren, Houses seeming to her as much opposites as the brother and sister who had been in them. Of course, no two of her half-siblings were very much alike, so it wasn't surprising.

It would be interesting to know if the first years find this nearly as nerve-wracking as I do, she thought dryly, looking surrpetitiously around the Grea - Cascade Hall from her position at the faculty table. Though the entirely normal ceiling caught her off-guard whenever she glanced at it to check the weather, the waterfalls over the windows made up for it. Very pretty, that. There was no denying that Sonora was a small school, but the architects had managed to make it a fairly impressive one. She noticed that her fingers were beginning to drum on the edge of the table and twisted them together in her lap. There was no reason for her to be nervous. Not that she was.

Her right hand soon had to leave her lap to help hide a yawn. In Massachusetts, she would have been getting off work at the pharmacy, give or take an hour or so for the time difference, not starting things off, and she normally wouldn't have gone the previous night with only three hours worth of sleep. Fine. She had been nervous. It wasn't every day that she started doing what she'd been planning to do since she was fourteen, and changing jobs after twelve years at the same place with the same boss was no easy ride, either.

She gave the Acting Headmaster - her boss, for the moment - attention during his speech until she had ascertained that it was entirely directed towards the students. The food that appeared after the speech seemed up to Father's standards, at least. She began to eat with more relish than she had for several days, trying not to let herself think about the fact it felt like the entire room was staring. From what she had put together of things, new professors coming in was nothing to set up a fuss about these days. \n\n

0 Professor Marlowe Arriving Without a Bang. 0 Professor Marlowe 0 5

Melanie Rose

January 28, 2006 10:52 AM

lol, I messed up the whole post above but oh well by Melanie Rose

Melanie smiled and thought a minute. She didn't really think about what she would like to learn. She didn't even do that in normal schooling. Mentally sighing she thought of all the movies she had ever seen and compared them to her hobbies and such. She already knew most movies were probably not even close to the real living witches and wizards or atleast she hoped not. Putting the thoughts away as quickly as they came, she took a small slice of Blueberry pie.

"Actually, being new to this and all, It's pretty hard to think up the types of classes we have here. I've seen movies and stuff about witches and wizards but I'm not to sure on how true they are." Melanie took a bite of her pie and chewed. She swallowed it down and thought a minute.

"Thinking about it. If it has to do with cooking or something like it, that will probably be the one I enjoy most."

She took another bite and continued to think. She did this a lot for no apparent reason. She always thought her parents had dropped her on her head as a child but they would never admit to it. She thought this because of her way of thinking constantly or being observant. There were other reasons but Melanie couldn't think of them right now.\n\n

0 Melanie Rose lol, I messed up the whole post above but oh well 0 Melanie Rose 0 5

Kaylie and Adam

January 28, 2006 2:20 PM

He doesn't by Kaylie and Adam

Kaylie rubbed Adam's back. "Shh..It'll be okay, Adam. I'm sure of it." The poor kid! He was so upset. Suddenly, she heard her name and turned to see a tall red-haired boy with glasses. "Yes, I am." She replied. "And you're Dillon, right? The Keeper?"

Adam froze. There was someone else there. An older boy. He looked at the ground and wiped his eyes on his sleeves. He didn't want this boy to see him cry. He tried not to let boys in particular see him cry, except Marshall. They'd laugh at him. Tease him. Beat him up. Like Devin did.

He heard the other boy ask the question. No! Adam thought. I'm not all right and I never will be! I don't want to be in Crotalus. I'll never see Kaylie. Everyone will be mean to me. He didn't say this, of course. Adam was too scared to say it around that boy. The other boy might be cruel to him.

Kaylie looked at her little brother. " This is my brother Adam. He's just a bit upset over his sorting. He wanted to be in Teppenpaw with me but he's in Crotalus instead."
\n\n

11 Kaylie and Adam He doesn't 43 Kaylie and Adam 0 5

Lila Gringe

January 28, 2006 3:55 PM

Pity that's not the only kind. by Lila Gringe

Decent, respectable people. A degree of sense. That fit Lila, at least in her own opinion. Her mouth formed a silent "o", and then reverted to its normal state.

Well. That made sense, she supposed. Dividing students into groups based on who they were. Not who their parents were, mind you, who they were. Although she wondered- wouldn't it be simpler not to divide them? Why go to the trouble of separating them? She nearly spoke that thought aloud, but decided against it just in time, instead taking a small bite of mashed potatoes.

"I'm from Nevada, about fifteen miles away from Carson City," she answered, and then added "Oh, you have a sister?" She didn't ask anything specific about the girl's sister, leaving the topic open in case the other Lila didn't want to talk about her sister. Lila had caught the gesture made by the other girl, and allowed herself to glance in that direction momentarily, but that didn't really mean much.\n\n

0 Lila Gringe Pity that's not the only kind. 0 Lila Gringe 0 5

Eduard Grimaud

January 28, 2006 4:22 PM

worst first day. by Eduard Grimaud

Their faces said it all.

Eduard Grimaud had managed to stuff up his first day at school. He'd offended his house mates, people he had to live with for the next few years of his magical life. When two of them defended the Hall, he knew his stupidity was going to cost him a few friendships. They were probably wondering why he wasn't in Crotalus.

He looked around. Cascade Hall was genuinely impressive. Grim had lived his life looking through the spoilt, critical eyes of his mother. He had sworn to leave that all behind, but at his first moment on his own, his big mouth and mother's tounge came spitting out.

He wanted to share with them the events of the holidays that had affected his mood, but he hardly knew them, and worse still, he doubted they were his friends.

'Mon dieu. Je suis trop nul,' he thought.

This called for drastic measures.

He picked up the plate of potatoes and gave one to each of the first year Pecaris sitting around him, their eyes wider than before. He doubted they were going to eat the potatoes after he had touched them. Like a herbology teacher, he held up one as an example.

'This is a potato. When it is not cooked, it is as good as a rock. If I am ever a snob, please throw one at me. For the next three years, you have that right.'
\n\n

0 Eduard Grimaud worst first day. 0 Eduard Grimaud 0 5

Gwenhwyfar Carey

January 28, 2006 8:05 PM

Siblings are the darndest things this term... by Gwenhwyfar Carey

Gwen found breathing much harder than usual as she made her way towards the Crotalus table, but she didn't start crying. The only excuse for crying was when it was strategically timed to aid a situation. Doing so now would just make her look weak, a spineless little idiot crumbling under the weight of a few very publicly shouted insults from her baby sister. She was fine. All she needed to do was keep breathing, keep her head up, and remember that she was a Carey. Morgaine's opinion couldn't take that away from her, at least. Only the entire Family Council could take that, and she had Andrew on her side there. She sat down at the Crotalus table and felt a rush of hot, salty tears come into her eyes when a colder, more authoritative version of her own voice began berating her.

You should have been expecting it. Morgaine's in it for her own skin and won't do anything she thinks might result in Father turning on her instead of you. She's the one with brains in the Savannah Carey clan.

"Shut up," Gwen mumbled under her breath. She couldn't have an episode here. Not after she and Morgaine had already proved embarrassments to the family by publicly engaging in a quarrel.

You're the worse disappointment. At least Morgaine has an excuse for being an unprincipled and mannerless little brat. You don't have one for betraying everything your family stands for and driving yourself to internal dialogues when you got caught out.

Internal dialogues, Gwen told herself - her other self? - firmly. Nothing real. Just insecurity with no place in a Carey. I'm not listening. Not listening anymore.

Keep dreaming.

Gwen realized her elbows were on the table and her forehead was pressed into her hands. Sitting up as quickly as she could, she forced a neutral expression onto her face and folded her hands in her lap. She was fine. She had gotten more of a grip on things over the summer, and the argument with Morgaine had triggered a temporary set-back. Even a few months earlier, she would have been driven over that line between self-control and the lack of it by hearing Morie say anything akin to that, but this time she hadn't even started crying. Everything was fine.

She finally looked around the table, taking in the new first years and quickly moving past anyone she knew. Though she was a bit thinner and paler than she had been when she left Sonora at the end of the year and a little less than an inch taller, her appearance had hardly altered at all, in her opinion. Aunt Rosamund, who had grown oddly fussy about her around midsummer, had disagreed, saying that she looked peakish and dosing her with some rather nasty-tasting potion for the whole last week of vacation. Rosamund had also insisted that she be allowed to do Gwen's hair and pick out what she was going to wear. It was completely inexplicable and Gwen wasn't sure how far she should trust her aunt's apparent affection, but she would take what she could get. The closest thing to word from her father she had gotten all summer was school supplies and nothing at all from anyone else, and beggars couldn't be choosers.

She ducked her head back towards the table when she saw Lila St.Martin sitting at the Crotalus table talking to another first year without her twin. How in Hades was she supposed to face Lila? Her interactions with her stepcousin had always been perfectly straightforward before she came to Sonora, but Merlin only knew how Lila would see things as standing now. Gwen was fairly sure it wasn't the same way she had before everything fell apart.

"Wonderful," she said aloud, not caring who heard her. Her reputation was down the well anyway. "Just wonderful." She reached for her fork to stab something on her plate before realizing that the latter object was still empty. \n\n

0 Gwenhwyfar Carey Siblings are the darndest things this term... 63 Gwenhwyfar Carey 0 5

Celia Andrews

January 28, 2006 9:05 PM

Psh, it's not too bad. We have a new friend at the table! by Celia Andrews

Celia turned to face the newcomer. She looked sort of nervous, sort of shy. Just the type of person who needed a bit of companionship, served up in the only way Celia knew. She practically pulled Ginger into the seat next to her, giving her a bright smile. “What do you mean ‘is it okay if I sit here’? You’re a Pecari, we’re all Pecari. Sure you are! Oh, I’m Celia. What’s your name?”

She would have intently listened to hear Ginger introduce herself if she had not been handed a potato. She looked at the spud questioningly, then gave the same look to Grim. But as he explained what the potato was, and its new purpose, she cracked a grin. “Whatever you say, Professor Grim! Since this was just a minor offense…” She sliced off wedge of the potato, positioning it with her finger like a paper football. She then flicked it with the free hand, launching it towards Grim. All it did was give a quick tap on his cheek before falling back onto the table, but that’s all she wanted it to do. “And it’s good!”\n\n

0 Celia Andrews Psh, it's not too bad. We have a new friend at the table! 0 Celia Andrews 0 5

Ginger Silverstein

January 28, 2006 10:27 PM

Blushes by Ginger Silverstein

Ginger nearly jumped when the girl suddenly practically pulled her to the table. It's not that Ginger really minded it at all, she was just very nervous. She felt happy on the inside that she was amongst friendly people, well they sure seemed it.

She was shaking a little bit, but she had a feeling that she was going to be fine. This place was simply fabulous. "Th-thank you," she said to Celia when she had Ginger sit down next to her.Ginger held her boney, pale hand out to shake. Her hand had a small scar on it. "My-my name's Ginger." She said with a small, nervous grin.

She manged to let out a slight nervous giggle when Celia flicked the potato peice at the boy. \n\n

0 Ginger Silverstein *Blushes* 1484 Ginger Silverstein 0 5

Connor Pierce

January 28, 2006 11:12 PM

Cheerful little firstie, aren't you? by Connor Pierce

Connor tried to attract minimal attention to himself as he slipped in to the Cascade Hall. The freeze-and-flood scenario that had made up the end of his first year had made him more than a little anxious to see how much damage Avalon had acquired, and Sonora always had enough food for even late comers. His and Gwen's hideout would probably need a bit of cleaning, but it was more or less intact. Grabbing the first seat he saw at the Pecari table, he noticed that the first years all still seemed to be different colors. He wasn't too awfully late, then.

He was just starting to get slightly bored and wish that the Acting Head would get on with it when a girl's voice he didn't recognize yelling at someone else caught his attention. The name Carey appeared not long after the girl - a short first year starting to fade from Pecari brown to a more regular color - began her tirade. Leaning back in his chair a little, he was able to see who the firstie was screaming at. Only one person in Sonora had hair that shade of blonde, and the face was familiar enough, too. Who'd this chick think she was, anyway? It didn't seem too likely that she and Gwen were related, since even members of Muggle families unobsessed with keeping the genes a certain way usually bore some resemblance to each other. Firstie Girl said something he couldn't hear once she stopped yelling, and Gwen said something back before heading towards the other Crotali.

Connor wasn't the only person watching the bratty first year incredulously as she in her turn headed towards her House table. To his dissatisfaction, the chair she prissily settled into was directly across from his. He had already decided he didn't like her for the simple reason that she had tried messing with Gwen when she sealed the deal by demanding to know what he thought he was looking at.

"You, last time I checked," he shot back, annoyed. "Not illegal, is it?" He considered informing her that she'd just been yelling at his best - all right, only - friend here at Sonora and had better be getting off her pedastal real fast, but decided against it. That might just make things worse. "Who are you, anyway? The Queen of Sheba?" On reflection, that didn't seem much more diplomatic... \n\n

0 Connor Pierce Cheerful little firstie, aren't you? 68 Connor Pierce 0 5

Geoff S.

January 29, 2006 12:37 AM

oh...kaaaaaay... by Geoff S.

"Your Mother didn't talk about it?" Geoff asked, surprise definitely fueling the move. "I mean, Father doesn't really talk much about when he was at school - doesn't talk much at all, at least when I'm around - but mother generally has a lot to say on the subject. 'Crotalus is the more respectable of the houses', 'Crotalus is where anyone who is anyone is sorted'."

There was also 'You're a disgrace to the name Spindler and a blight on the name Sanderson - it would take a miracle for you to be in Crotalus.', but he wasn't silly enough to say that out loud.

And anyway, he noticed, she wasn't really paying attention anymore. Geoffrey felt a stab of annoyance. Here he was, being bombarded by talk and questions by this girl, and the second he acquises, she loses interest?! Although... she looked weird too.

He frowned, looking at the food longingly, and then came to a decision. His plate was pushed a little away and he turned in his seat so he was facing her properly. "Tiponi...?" Just because a decision had been reached, didn't mean that he was confident in it yet.\n\n

0 Geoff S. oh...kaaaaaay... 0 Geoff S. 0 5

Dalila

January 29, 2006 12:38 AM

that's ok...happens to everyone by Dalila

For some odd reason, Dalila really liked this girl, and being one to speak her mind on such matters, she did so.

"I like you. Very few firsties - especially muggleborn firsties - would be this cool on their very first day involving magic." Dalila smiled again (something she does quite often) Then she answered Melanie's question.

"You'd probably like potions then," she started. "There's so much cutting and simmering and getting things just right..." she tapered off, having nothing to really say about the class until.

"I think potions is okay, but it's not my best subject. That's astronomy, but I don't like the teacher much...kinda weird. But, oh well." Dalia stopped and scanned the remains of the dessert trays and decided she didn't want anymore. She was tired, and turning her honey colored eyes back to Melanie, she started a stream of conversation in this direction

"God, I'm exhausted! That long, bumpy trip and then all this food...I'm just glad I'm not dead! I wonder if we can go to bed yet. You must be ever sleepier than I am, this being all new to you. Or are you too excited to sleep?"\n\n

0 Dalila that's ok...happens to everyone 0 Dalila 0 5

Gabriel Antonious Van Brookhoven IV

January 29, 2006 12:08 PM

Here we are, at the start of all things... by Gabriel Antonious Van Brookhoven IV

The wagon ride was interesting for one who had only been exposed to magic half of his life. Rather, he had some magical influences and some non-magical influences, both of which combined to make a very confused but interesting childhood for one young bookworm. So being surrounded by an almost entirely magical school was something new for him. Gabe took it in stride fairly well though, and simply followed the others when they arrived at the school and formed a line to be sorted. One by one he watched as other boys and girls walked up to the teacher who was handing out the vials, and to his surprise he watched their skin tone turn one of four colors after they drank the contents. Of course, he’d known about it intellectually – Mom had told him about her time at Sonora, and how she’d been sorted – but it was another thing entirely to see it happen for himself. Rather predictably, his eyes lit up with anticipation and he tried to figure out just how each student was being chosen. There didn’t seem to be a pattern as far as he could tell, no matter how hard he studied it. No, no pattern at all. He didn’t worry about missing his name, as there were quite a lot of students and Van Brookhoven was likely to come only toward the end. Having a name that began with a V will do that to you.

Finally – finally! – his name was called, and he walked up to the teacher while cringing a bit at the sound of his full name. Really, did Mom have to include the entire thing in the registration? It sounded so utterly pompous, no matter that his Dad had the same name, and his Dad, and his Dad, and his Dad. To himself he swore (for the umpteenth time) that if he were to ever have children, he would never inflict that God-awful name on any of them. It would be far too cruel.

Accepting the potion, Gabe downed it and then looked at the bare skin of his hands, waiting for the expected color change. For a second nothing happened, and then he blinked in surprise as the hue suddenly changed from his normal tone to a brilliant blue that covered him from head to foot. It hadn’t been a gradual spread from, say, his fingertips along to the rest of his body, or a slow change from tan to blue. No, he’d been skin-colored one second and blue the next. So that meant...Aladren? Yes, he rather thought that that was his House now. Smiling a bit to himself, he thought that Mom would be proud of his accomplishments, no matter that she’d been in Teppenpaw herself.

Settling down at the Aladren table and smiling shyly at his new House-mates, he tucked into his food quietly and reflected on the fact that he was glad Anna had never come to Sonora, or else she would be on his back constantly. Even now, he could almost hear her teasing voice in the back of his head: Well, at least it doesn’t clash! True. Dark brown hair and gray-green eyes didn’t really clash with blue that badly. Still, he’d be rather relieved when it faded away.\n\n

0 Gabriel Antonious Van Brookhoven IV Here we are, at the start of all things... 0 Gabriel Antonious Van Brookhoven IV 0 5

Melanie Rose

January 29, 2006 12:57 PM

I guess so, hehe! by Melanie Rose

Melanie smiled. Her first friend wouldn't even be in her own grade and knew alot more about any of this new criteria that had been dumped on her. Taking in what Dalila spoke of and her comments, all she could do was think of a reply. There she was thinking again as she finished off her pie slice.

"Um... Thanks? Sorry, I'm not good with complimenting. And potions... Is basically like cooking with out the normal food? If I'm correct." Melanie smiled. She knew what subject she couldn't wait to get to now. Infact, she wasn't tired at all and wanted to get to classes.

"And how can you be tired? I'm WIDE awake and not even cause I'm excited! My gram wanted to get me on stuff for insomnia. When do we get to go to classes? Do we atleast get our books today?" Melanie started to bounce in her seat. Food gave her energy. The pie did her in. The sugar plus the blueberries and an added whipped topping meant it would equal a sugar high Melanie Rose.\n\n

0 Melanie Rose I guess so, hehe! 0 Melanie Rose 0 5

Lila St.Martin

January 29, 2006 5:22 PM

That's debatable. by Lila St.Martin

Nevada. No wonder Lila had never heard of the Gringe family. Social activity did not cease to exist past the Mississippi River, but it did drop dramatically the further west one went, from her understanding of the situation. Nevada was also right next to Arizona...shouldn't the other Lila have been anticipating coming to Sonora her entire life? Of course, some would have said it made more sense for South Carolinians to go to Salem, since it was at least on the same coast. She took a drink of her water before nodding acceptance of the other girl's place of origin.

She nodded again when the other girl asked about her sister. "Yes. Her name's Alexandra, but she's generally referred to as Allie. She and I are twins, but it's not very difficult to tell us apart. She keeps her hair shorter than mine." Lila used her free hand to indicate where Allie's hair stopped at her collarbones and then to point out that her own hair fell halfway down her back. She refrained from pointing out the other differences between herself and her twin, but vowed for the upteenth time never to let herself go like that. \n\n

16 Lila St.Martin That's debatable. 80 Lila St.Martin 0 5

Allie

January 29, 2006 8:32 PM

Not really... by Allie

Allie knew Tally probably meant well, but being told that she shouldn't be embarrassed only served to make her more so. Letting herself think about the fact she'd been acting like the stereotypical neurotic little firstie in front of one of the older students didn't help. Still, the idea that she might not be completely cut off from contact with her twin was reassuring. She gave Tally a weak smile and felt a little of the heat in her cheeks recede.

"Th - Thank you," she said, forgetting to wince and backtrack after stammering. "Y - You're probably right... No, you are...you're one of the older students...I'm sorry..." She was running out of things to say fast, and neither Mama nor Lila was here to help her. She would have taken any aid she could get from any source just now, but none was forthcoming. She was going to have to bluff it out herself.

Closing her eyes, she tried to pretend for a moment that she was back at Magnolia Grove and was having this discussion with Julian V. He was one of the nicer cousins, certainly the nicest of the ones who lived at Magnolia Grove. She still stammer a bit if Lila wasn't there to tell her what to say, but she would be able to contruct logical sentences and tell a connected story if called upon to do so. Opening her eyes, she saw very clearly that Tally was not Julian, but the fantasy had calmed her down a little.

"I'm fine now," she said, and attempted to prove it by beginning to serve herself something from the nearest dish. It didn't matter what it was. Food was always good. It didn't object to being eaten or to her eating it. "I'm sorry for bothering you. I - It's nice being in your House." She ducked her head for a moment before saying, very fast, "And I like Allie better than Alexandra." \n\n

16 Allie Not really... 76 Allie 0 5

Celia Andrews

January 30, 2006 2:23 PM

Hey, your face is red! Hope you didn't change to Crotalus! by Celia Andrews

She looked Ginger after making her outstanding goal kick, wondering why she was shaking so much. It wasn’t cold in there, not as far as she could see. Hmm, maybe she just gets cold easy. No matter. She talked kinda shaky too, but that was easy enough to look over too.

It took Celia a bit to notice Ginger’s hand was outstretched, waiting for the customary handshake. Scratching her head and biting her lower lip, she shook her hand with a slightly embarrassed grin. “Great to meet ya. Sorry for the delay. I’m a bit of a twit sometimes.

Looking down at her new friend’s hand again, she saw something that they had in common: scars. They sort of looked like the ones that crisscrossed all over her own hands, though not nearly as noticeable, or as many. Still, there was always a story behind a scar, and some of them were really interesting. Perhaps there was a cool story behind this one too. “Hey, where’d you get that one? The scar?”\n\n

0 Celia Andrews Hey, your face is red! Hope you didn't change to Crotalus! 0 Celia Andrews 0 5

Dalila

January 30, 2006 6:13 PM

The firstie's so excited! by Dalila

Dalila gave Melanie a sleepy smile. "I'd be excited too, but I spent all last night getting the excitement out of me. Never slept a wink." She punctuated this with a stifled yawn.

"We start classes tomorrow, so stop getting all worked up." Melanie's energy was giving Dalila a second wind. She still felt tired, but had a need to stay awake to keep up with the obviously sugar-high Melanie.

"Boy, you're gunna have the best time here...as long as you don't get turned into a pig by your charms partner on accident or something." \n\n

0 Dalila The firstie's so excited! 0 Dalila 0 5

Ginger Silverstein

January 30, 2006 6:14 PM

I hope not... by Ginger Silverstein

Ginger gave Celia a weak smile after she shook Ginger's hand. She was begining to feel a little more comfortable. "I'm sure everyone can be sometimes," she said meekly after Celia explained how should be a twit sometimes.

Ginger giggled when Celia asked how she got the scar on her hand. It wasn't a very big scar, but if one looked, they could sure tell it was there. "It's kind of f-funny really." She managed to stutter out. "I-it was mother's day, and I was cooking my mom some breakfast. I must have used too small of a pan or something. Because there was a lot of grease in the pan, and it was popping a lot. When I went to turn a few peices over, I got burned with some bacon grease on my hand." She gently ran her hand over her scar. "I still cooked it though," she said with a grin. "The scar was worth it, because I love my mom." She smiled widely, pleased with her accomplishment in the past. \n\n

0 Ginger Silverstein I hope not... 1484 Ginger Silverstein 0 5

Melanie Rose

January 30, 2006 9:15 PM

I'm bouncin' off the walls again!~ sugarcult by Melanie Rose

Melanie stopped bouncing as she dropped her jaw, put down the goblet she had just picked up and stared at Dalila. She had been shocked.

"Students have been turned into pigs?!" She questioned. If they could turn into pigs then they could... No. Melanie refused to think about it. Nothing of the sort could happen. Pigs didn't bug her but another animal did. She couldn't bare to think of it.

"Have they been turned into any other animals? Or disgusting things like... reptiles or amphibians?"

Suddering only slightly she managed to take a sip from her goblet. The drink tasted sweet and surprisingly it wasn't milk like most schools try to shove down their students throats.
\n\n

0 Melanie Rose I'm bouncin' off the walls again!~ sugarcult 0 Melanie Rose 0 5

Lila Gringe

January 30, 2006 10:35 PM

By an optimist, I assume? by Lila Gringe

Twins. Amazing. Lila had never met any twins, either together or by themselves, before. This other Lila didn't seem to be exactly different from normal people due to that. Not that she was much like other, normal people. Of course, Lila supposed, when you came from a place called Magnolia Grove, you were certain to be more formal than normal.

Lila nearly asked what it was like to be a twin. It was a close thing. Then, of course, she realized how stupid and typical it would sound to ask such a thing. She nodded, and then offered "I haven't any siblings, but I imagine it's nice to have someone to talk to all of the time."

True enough, that. Not that she would be likely to talk to anyone in a conversation initiated by herself. Even someone as familiar as she imagined a sibling would be. Sometimes, she wished she wasn't so shy. Other times, she was simply glad for an excuse not to talk to people.\n\n

0 Lila Gringe By an optimist, I assume? 0 Lila Gringe 0 5

Celia Andrews

January 30, 2006 10:55 PM

Yeah, they seem kinda stiff to me. by Celia Andrews

Celia looked at her hands disapprovingly. She didn’t have many burn scars, at least not ones that lasted long. Though she had many scars, the burn marks that she received for trying to pull cookies off the pan too early never left any permanent marks. Not like the times she played sword fight with sticks, or the many scrapes and scratches from bike crashes, or falling out of trees an umpteen number of times. Those left the cat-like scratches that never really faded, marks that were badges of adventuring honor. She was proud to say that she definitely had the most out of all her siblings.

“Burn scars, huh? Those are nasty business. Mine are all from cuts, scratches, and scrapes. But that’s really nice that you’d do that for your mom. I think I’d try that too, but my mom’s banned me from anything that involves anything that has the potential of causing a fire, and the stove’s a big one. That one all started when I tried to make a bonfire on the stove so I could make s’mores…That didn’t turn out so well.”\n\n

0 Celia Andrews Yeah, they seem kinda stiff to me. 0 Celia Andrews 0 5

Ginger Silverstein

January 30, 2006 11:13 PM

Just a tad, cept that crying boy over there points. by Ginger Silverstein

Ginger nodded when Celia said her bit about burn scars. "Yeah, I don't have too many cut scars. Maybe a small one on my leg." She shrugged, "Can't remember what that one's from though." She said honestly, she was still shaking, but she wasn't stuttering as much.

She burst into a mini fit of gigles when Celia told her her story about why she wasn't allowed to use the stove anymore. This girl was very amusing, very ignorant, but so was Ginger. She shook her head in amusment. "Oh wow, that sounds funny. What exactly happened?" She asked, almost dreading the answer. She wasn't sure what sort of answer she was going to get. Her parents could possibly be magical, and Ginger could probably hear something about magic in this story! \n\n

0 Ginger Silverstein Just a tad, cept that crying boy over there *points*. 1484 Ginger Silverstein 0 5

Morgaine

January 31, 2006 8:50 PM

No, and I have no intentions of being one. by Morgaine

Morgaine wasn't impressed by the appearance or mode of speech employed by her Housemate. "It is as far as you're concerned," she snapped, folding her arms defensively and kicking the leg of her chair to keep from kicking her charming dinner companion. "I'm a Carey. You aren't. You shouldn't look at me unless I tell you to, and I'm not going to. I don't like dealing with the lower orders if I can help it." It was mean, but she consoled herself with the thought that she could have made it one heck of a lot meaner if she had put her mind to it.

She gave the boy a look that suggested he was a complete idiot nonwithstanding the fact he looked like he might be anywhere from seven inches to a foot taller than her when he asked who she was. She had already made that point perfectly clear in her first speech. She was a Carey. That was all he should have needed to know. "Morgaine Carey, of the Savannah Careys," she said, trying to make her irritation with him clear through her still woefully apparent anger towards the whole situation. "Second daughter of Alasdair Carey, patriarch of the Savannah Careys." If he was dense enough to ask about the first daughter, she didn't know if she could be held accountable for any objects that got thrown. \n\n

0 Morgaine No, and I have no intentions of being one. 0 Morgaine 0 5

Dalila

January 31, 2006 9:27 PM

Lookin' like a fool again? by Dalila

Melanie's expression was priceless. Her grandmother would even have laughed at the droppe jaw and wide eyes of the first year. Dalila couldn't helped but laugh so hard tears streamed down her cheeks.

"I'm...sorry!" she managed to gasp out after a few seconds. "But you looked...so scared! Total Kodak moment!"

When Dalila's laughs resided, she wiped the tears from her eyes and tried to explain.

"People can get turned into animal around here. It's kinda what happens when you get a whole bunch of beginners practicing magic. I've never seen it myself, but then again, I'm only a second year. Something like its bound to happen by the time we graduate, though. Human transfiguration is part of the requirement, and people can actually turn into a certain animal whenever they want! They're called Animagi. I wish I could turn into a jaguar...but I suck at transfiguration. It'll never happen.

"You sound like you were thinking of a certain terrifying aniaml? You mind telling me what it is that you're so freaked out over?"\n\n

0 Dalila Lookin' like a fool again? 0 Dalila 0 5

Jennifer

February 01, 2006 1:03 AM

Poor, pathetic us by Jennifer

It took Jennifer a moment to realize that she was in fact the Jennifer being talked to, and looked up at her blonde friend. "What is the point of asking that question?" She asked, gesturing for Chrissy to sit. "I mean, unless you're totally ignorant of basic manners, you don't say no. It's like asking how someone's doing. The answer's always going to be fine, just like the answer to your question is always going to be yes."

She grinned at the other girl, and gestured towards the congregation of new students at their table. "So, any opinion of the new firsties? By this time last year, I think the new second years had already started drawing lines and having fights, so it's probably a good sign that it hasn't started again yet."

She gave her friend another look. She looked different, not necessarily in a bad way, though. She looked like she had put on a bit of weight, but it didn't make her look that bad. Just...different.

"So, how did your summer go?" She finished. "Spend lots of time with Tally? You two do live near each other, right?" She remembered a few conversations with Chrissy about Tally and her older brother, Josh. She couldn't remember ever hearing Chrissy say much about her family, besides the fact that, while being proper purebloods, they were somewhat more lenient than most.\n\n

0 Jennifer Poor, pathetic us 0 Jennifer 0 5

Sally Porter

February 01, 2006 1:28 AM

For you, at least by Sally Porter

Sally Porter had figured out a few things after her somewhat disasterous first year. She had been far too willing to play with almost any fire she could find, so, naturally, she had gotten burned a great deal.

Going home her first year, her older sister Laura had finally gotten sick of her complaining about her problems at school, and told her to just keep her head down and be quiet until she figured it all out. So that's how Sally had spent the majority of her second year, observing more than impulsively acting. Third year was a new term, fortunately, and she decided she had a decent grasp of where everything stood now, so it was time to try and start anew.

Glancing up, she saw one of the new first years settle in the seat across from her. He looked rather shy, poor thing, and seemed a bit self-conscious, if she was reading his expression correctly.

Taking pity on the younger student, she said cheerfully, her distinct Texan twang obvious from the first syllable, "Welcome to Aladren, irrefutably the best house out of the four, although the other three might attempt to argue that fact. My name’s Sally, Sally Porter. I’m a third year.” Pushing a strand of blond hair that had fallen into her eyes behind an ear, she smiled at him, and inquired, “So, what’s your name?”
\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

0 Sally Porter For you, at least 0 Sally Porter 0 5

Ash and Sorrel

February 01, 2006 11:17 AM

Back away slowly.... by Ash and Sorrel

The twins stared at Stephen for several moments, waiting for him to laugh and tell them he was kidding. He didn't. He just sat there with his arm around the plastic-girly like it was normal.

"Pretty?" Ash asked eventually. "Since when do you like pretty, girly things?" He almost called him 'queer' for it, but that didn't seem like it would quite work, given the circumstances.

"Yeah," voiced Sorrel, "Girly girls are like doilies. They're good to look at, if you like that sort of thing, but utterly pointless. As soon as you try to do anything but stare at them you get told off for mussing them up."

It was weird having to tell Stephen all this. It was Stephen. He'd always known, thought, felt, whatever it. It was, to the twins, weirder than if he'd grown an extra head. And a lot less cool. If Zack Dill had popped up at that moment, and voiced the opinion that Stephen had been replaced by a pod-person double, or similar, they wouldn't have laughed about him being a geek.

"You're acting like Mariella and Simple Simon," said Ash, "Who decided to take things one step further and get engaged. So we're sick of icky, gooey couple crud," he informed Stephen. "If you decide to screw your head back on straight, and decide you'd rather not play with Barbies, we'll be over there," he jerked his head, before he and Sorrel turned their backs and stalked off. \n\n

0 Ash and Sorrel Back away slowly.... 0 Ash and Sorrel 0 5

Zack Dill

February 01, 2006 2:06 PM

But it's not morning. by Zack Dill

OOC: AIM name is 'Bel n Derry' but I'm rarely on that. YIM name is 'dhrelva' and I'm on that more often, but usually invisably. BIC:

Zack nodded in understanding as Günter explained about his language woes growing up. Not that Zack could sympathize through experience - his parents were both solely English speakers and he was the one who subjected his relatives to foreign languages not the other way around - but Zack had a vivid imagination and could guess what Günter might have gone through.

Zack was actually somewhat envious. He'd had to learn all his extra languages through books, tv, and movies and hadn't been able to actually talk with a native speaker. Of course, native speakers of any Tolkien or Alien languages were kind of hard to come by in Detroit. Or anywhere else on normal Earth. He hadn't seen evidence of them being anyone's native language on magical Earth yet, but he'd only been to Sonora, and he was withholding judgement as yet.

As Günter took him up on his offer to show him the ropes, Zack nodded again, this time in general agreeableness. "No problem." He pointed up toward the staff table where the Professor for Care of Magical Creatures was just getting up. "Looks like Kijewski is getting ready to give you guys the start of term orientation."

He stood, and tipped an imaginary hat with one finger, "I'll catch you around. If I'm not in class, the third year dorm, or the common room, you can probably find me at the table next to the window in the 'Sciences' section." Technically, that area of the library had a sign labeling it 'Muggle Sciences' but Zack had a philosophical objection to that word and he refused to use it himself. 'Non-magical people', 'mundanes', 'normals' were perfectly adequate words for the same concept and didn't make Nick or any of the other bullies who liked stuffing littler people into lockers and closets sound unassuming or harmless.\n\n

1 Zack Dill But it's not morning. 40 Zack Dill 0 5

Melanie Rose

February 01, 2006 3:35 PM

It's raining cats, dogs, and slimy things by Melanie Rose

Melanie tried to think of a way to to tell Dalila her reason of a jaw dropping expression. It was hard to put into words with out looking like a fool. Finally, she balled it all up and sighed,

"I...Hate....Frogs." Melanie spoke looking down, " They are the most horrid creatures I have ever seen and I think they should all be cut up and thrown to the fish and let the british queen eat the legs. I hear they like them over there. But anyway, Me and frog's dont get along. I even play that frogger game just to get hit by cars. The fear of frogs isn't like one of those 'Ew! Get it away!' types. For me its, 'RuN! ThEy ArE TaKiNg OvEr!' while hysterically crying of course."

Melanie tried not to laugh at the sudden reactment she had just pulled of the classic 'aliens are taking over.' It was very typical for her to express things like that when she was sugar high. She only hoped Dalila wouldn't laugh at her fear. Then again, most people didn't know about it and she hoped no one around her but Dalila was listening.\n\n

0 Melanie Rose It's raining cats, dogs, and slimy things 0 Melanie Rose 0 5

Günter Heindrich

February 01, 2006 4:37 PM

I know....I realized that after I posted it...lol by Günter Heindrich

"Cool," Günter said. "I'll see you then."

He got up and walked towards where the other first-year Aladrens were gathering. He sighed. He was probably the tallest one here and some of the other students looked aback at his size as well. Oh well, once they got to know him, maybe they would realize that he could be nice no matter his size.

\n\n

0 Günter Heindrich I know....I realized that after I posted it...lol 0 Günter Heindrich 0 5

Lila St.Martin

February 02, 2006 5:40 PM

Anyone, really. by Lila St.Martin

Lila's fork paused for a fraction of a second on its way back down for the last of her salad when the other Lila commented that she didn't have any siblings, but she managed to get her hand moving again before it was noticeable. There were two options, then: either the other Lila was from one of the families that either didn't or couldn't object to having a girl as heir, or she was the daughter of some lesser son whose importance was small enough for it not to matter that he didn't have a son of his own. She was her father's favorite, but she knew perfectly well that, being technically younger than Allie and a girl to Alban's boy, she stood little to no chance of inheriting a great deal. The St.Martins had learned their lesson about putting women in authority very well from the almost thirty years of Eileen's reign over the family.

She decided not to worry about it, for the moment. If she had someone respectable to deal with, said someone's father's lack of a male heir could be hanged. From the more recent stories of Sonora to reach the St.Martins, she wasn't likely to find many here that she could be seen in public with. The impressions she had gotten of her other three Housemates she had noticed - two neurotics and and one who didn't seem to be doing much yet - indicated she was going to have to make do with what she could get.

"I suppose so," she replied politely. "Allie and I are opposites in personality, but it's easy to get used to someone when you've been around them since before you were born." She smiled a little and decided against mentioning the fact that even after eleven years and a bit more of being constantly around her sister, she still found her impossible, annoying, and hopelessly brainless. "I have a brother as well - Alban - but he's only seven and usually preoccupied with his Latin or his painting. His tutors believe he may have real talent in language and the arts." She wouldn't mention Alban's occasional peculiarity, either. There was no more need to advertise her brother's quirks of personality than there was for her sister or her stepcousins. \n\n

16 Lila St.Martin Anyone, really. 80 Lila St.Martin 0 5

Lila Gringe

February 02, 2006 6:38 PM

I beg to differ. by Lila Gringe

Latin, at seven? Yet again Lila's eyebrows were about to jump to her hairline. Once again, however, she squashed the impulse.

But still! Latin at seven? She had begun her study of French at nine, but French wasn't a dead language. She was far more likely to use it than anyone was likely to use Latin. And there was a two year difference between seven and nine. Although two years wasn't much, with that age range. Just a few years older, though, and two years meant a world of differences.

But that was beside the point. The point was that being immersed in Latin at seven and being preoccupied with it was almost certainly a sign of profundity. "Does he enjoy it?" she asked, honestly curious. She hadn't particularly enjoyed French at nine- it was just another thing to be studied, at the time. Now, of course, she was glad she knew it.

And then she realized that her question hadn't exactly been clear. "Latin, I mean," she clarified.\n\n

0 Lila Gringe I beg to differ. 0 Lila Gringe 0 5

Dalila

February 02, 2006 7:45 PM

Or frogs? by Dalila

She couldn't help it. It was funny. DAlila tried covering up her hysteric giggles by covering her mouth, but she doubted it would do any good. She listened to every word Melanie said all the while trying to calm her fit of giggles.

"I'm really, really sorry," she managed to get out at last. "I wasn't prepared for-for frogs. I was expecting acromantula or bears or something like that. Frogs is a little out there." She hoped her aplogy worked. She really didn't mean to laugh, but frogs?

"Plus, I wasn't just laughing at the frong thing...it's more of the way you did the whole They're taking over bit. That was great.

"I hope you can handle dead ones, though. We use them all the time in potions and we might have to do a bit with charms and transfiguration too, but I bet you could ask yuor partners or something, if they could handle them. Some people might have a toad as a pet too, so watch out. If you hate frogs, you picked the wrong school to go to," Dalila said, with a hint of laughter in he voice.

\n\n

0 Dalila Or frogs? 0 Dalila 0 5

Melanie Rose

February 02, 2006 9:34 PM

Man, I should send you a copy of my app. its great! by Melanie Rose

Melanie watched as Dalila laughed. Although, She did understand why. Frogs was a pretty dumb fear. Batrachophobia was something horrible but halarious. Sometimes, Melanie didn't understand why she was afraid of them but then the whole 'incident' just happened to replay in her mind.

"No need for sorrys." She assured, " And welcome to the world of Miss. Melanie's exaggeration. I speak it fluently and live it. If it wasn't for me becoming a witch I probably would have been an actress." Melanie spoke looking around and watching other tables make their way out of the hall.

"I really hope they are dead cause I don't mind them dead." Melanie thought about the second incident and bit her lip, "If you heard the stories about the war between me and frogs then it would probably make you laugh even harder." \n\n

0 Melanie Rose Man, I should send you a copy of my app. its great! 0 Melanie Rose 0 5

Lila St.Martin

February 02, 2006 9:56 PM

About the virtues of optimism being debatable? by Lila St.Martin

Finishing the salad, Lila progressed to the roll. Observing the amount of water left in her glass, she decided it would have to be spared for when she finished the roll. It wouldn't look right to take a second. The bread was good, if with more butter worked into it than she liked and with a foreign-seeming taste that served to remind her that she was a long way from home and would remain in that condition for months at a time for the next seven years. Whether or not that was a good or bad thing was still a bit above her, but so long as no one else worked out her uncertainty on that matter or any other, it didn't especially matter. It was what was seen, not what was, that mattered. That was the essential thing that Allie had never understood.

The question from her companion pulled her out of her thoughts and back to the immediate situation. She was glad of the excuse for her brief hesitation provided by the other girl's clarification of her question and extended it by taking another bite of her roll; it wasn't a query she was very eager to answer. The truth was that she didn't know very much about what her brother did and didn't like. Alban lived in a box that included only himself and to which only his favorite tutors were ever allowed even brief visits. He made himself scarce around the twins, unless he wanted Allie to be a captive audience for his rare outbursts of contented talk about his studies. As for Lila, she saw him at the table during meals and maybe passed him in the hallways.

For a moment, she had a very clear picture of Alban bent over one of his numerous books or sitting in front of his easel, a thin, painfully shy little thing of lighter coloring than her or Allie with a semblance of their mother's sharp features. Father and Mother swore up and down every year on his birthday that this would be the year Alban finally got over whatever-it-was that made him so different from the other boys in the family, but Alban never changed. The only times she had ever heard of him being stirred out of his usual habits were when Eileen, Father, or his tutors deemed something too difficult for him to take on. He had been trying to persuade them to let him begin learning Greek for six months, and had won a victory in that battle just before Allie and Lila left home when he got the tutor on his side.

No, Alban didn't like his Latin. He was absolutely infatuated with it. "He enjoys all sorts of things like that," she said finally. One just didn't confess to someone whose acquaintance had been made less than an hour earlier that your brother was obsessed with dead languages. "He's made Latin a kind of hobby. Allie and I learned a bit of it in our language studies when we were younger, but neither of us had the knack for it and went to studying other things. Allie took up pencil sketches, and I took up dancing." Eileen had been disappointed when Lila showed no inclination for her own tap dancing, but the family had generally agreed that ballet was as good of a way as any of helping to reinforce her French. She finished her roll and drank down the last of her water. A good meal. \n\n

16 Lila St.Martin About the virtues of optimism being debatable? 80 Lila St.Martin 0 5

Ty

February 03, 2006 12:04 AM

Or not by Ty

"You look like you stepped right out of the pages of one our sister's magazines."

Ty turned slightly red. Our sisters would get along then she thought dully. Ok, this had been a mistake… wait, no, she couldn’t think that way. She couldn’t do it. She was going to dress however she damn well pleased. She wasn’t going to let anybody make those decisions for her. With this thought, she opened her mouth to say something, but was beat by Stephen.

He assured her that she looked good, and Ty relaxed slightly. It wasn’t as if the twins were her friends. Really, their opinions didn’t matter. Shouldn’t anyway. She couldn’t manage to say anything in return, and was quite content to let Stephen change the topic. Sure, they could hate her. It was better than being ignored wasn’t it? Back when she was invisible, she had been… well, miserable. She could deal with this.

"Girly girls are like doilies. They're good to look at, if you like that sort of thing, but utterly pointless. As soon as you try to do anything but stare at them you get told off for mussing them up."

Something inside Ty snapped. Her hands balled into fists. Fi had scampered off to find food at some point, so she didn’t need to worry about him getting involved. She wanted to tell them exactly what she thought of their stupid judgmental way of thinking, but –

"If you decide to screw your head back on straight, and decide you'd rather not play with Barbies, we'll be over there."

Ty shoved her chair back, jerking away from Stephen and rising to her feet. She walked swiftly over to the twins and planted herself firmly in front of them. “If you’ve got something to say about me, say it to my face,” she snarled. Without giving them chance to speak, she continued furiously. “If you’re criticising the way I dress, are you any better than those stupid gossips that always stand in the corner at parties and whisper about how bad somebody’s clothes are? Why should you care about what I want to wear? If you didn’t care about people’s clothes, you wouldn’t! You’re being hypocritical, f(edited here) judgmental idiots!”

With that, she shoved past them roughly to return to her seat.

(OOC: Sorry about the delay, first I didn’t get an email telling me somebody had responded, and then I’ve had to study for a huge maths test for a few days.)
\n\n

0 Ty Or not 0 Ty 0 5

Stephen

February 03, 2006 8:18 AM

Wait... are you fighting over how she looks, or me? by Stephen

Stephen, to be perfectly frank, was a little taken aback by what Sorrel and Ash had said. While, yes, on principle, he agreed that the type of person who was all dressed up and was all about the image wasn't worth hanging around with... Ty wasn't like that. Well, she hadn't been last year, and just because she'd gone to a bit of effort this year didn't mean she'd gone over to the Dark Side (although, this was figuratively speaking. The Dark Side was cool, and they didn't whine half so much)!

He really hadn't expected a reaction like this from one of his friends - from Sorrel especially. His grin faded as a look of hurt and confusion took over his face. And then Ty jerked away and left him too.

He gaped, open mouthed, as Ty told the Craven's off. Particularly the last bit. He actually hesitated when she returned to her seat, before putting his arm back around her.

"Sorrel, dude, she's right you know. Just because she's pretty and all that doesn't mean she's not the same Ty as she was last year and the year before." Actually, this was a good point, Stephen realised. He wondered if her camera was around somewhere. "When you've got your heads screwed on straight again," he said, frowning, "you know where to find me."

This wasn't quite the start to the year he'd envisioned.\n\n

39 Stephen Wait... are you fighting over how she looks, or me? 0 Stephen 0 5

Connor

February 03, 2006 7:16 PM

You do seem to be looking for trouble, though. by Connor

Connor's immediate impulse to tell the firstie to watch her attitude was cut off when she backed up her slightly insane-sounding claims of superiority with the claim that she was a Carey. He was pretty sure that, after hanging around her for around a year, he knew Gwen's surname, and this first year who claimed to share it looked nothing like her. He remembered Gwen saying something about how her family was split up into lots of little subdivisions that were pretty much inbred and didn't trust each other at all. Maybe that was it.

The firstie's next claim, however, resulted in her supposedly hallowed features being subjected to a blank stare. Gwen talked all the time about her brother and sister. The sister's name was Morgaine, and the whole Savannah Carey thing she was so picky about was right. The age was right. The father's name he had heard mentioned less often because of Gwen's apparent dislike of remembering his existence, but Alasdair was a name like Gwenhwyfar - not what qualified as normal in Connor's world and so easily remembered. It all added up to mean that Gwen's Morgaine and the girl in front of him were one and the same. This girl was Gwen's sister?

No way. Gwen had always made Morgaine out to be her equivalent of Beverly. The kid was either delusional - from other things Gwen had said about her family, it wasn't impossible - or lying. Nothing else really made much sense. "Sure," he said, a little sarcastically. Sane or not, the first year annoyed him. Four-foot-tall loudmouths really weren't in a position to consider anyone dirt under their feet, and one of the things he remembered best about his father was Billy's insistence that their family had been more or less well-to-do before the Depression. "You keep on like that, Milady. Not sure if Gwen'll think the same on it, though." \n\n

0 Connor You do seem to be looking for trouble, though. 68 Connor 0 5

Morgaine

February 03, 2006 9:32 PM

Consider who my father is... by Morgaine

The obvious sarcasm of the 'Milady' decreased her already low opinion of her as-yet unintroduced fellow Pecari. She hadn't come here to be on the wrong end of some jerk's jokes. She had come here to get as far away from her increasingly deranged father as humanely possible. Well, technically she hadn't been given much choice in the matter, but the point was that whoever-he-was had absolutely no right to look up at her as he had a moment earlier, never mind actually speak to her. The sarcasm just served to make it more intolerable. Her thin hands clutched at her skirt.

"I don't expect you to understand what that means in the big scheme of things," she began, striving for every bit of haughty she could muster, when the last thing he'd said finally sank it properly. Not sure if Gwen'll think the same on it, though. Gwen wasn't that uncommon of a name - at least, she didn't think it was - but the chances of there being someone else named Gwen here who might have an objection to her calling herself Alasdair Carey's daughter was slim to none. The shortening of her sister's name implied either a major stepping out of his place or familiarity. She swore internally, borrowing a few especially impolite terms from her father's vocabulary, and decided that it had been good of her not to say any of it aloud.

"If you're talking about the other Carey girl," she said coldly, "then you might want to know that her name is Gwenhwyfar. Only her friends are allowed to call her Gwen." A memory from the summer before Gwen left home snank up on her. Gwen, Allie, Lila, and Clarissa had been trying on the most outrageous combinations of clothing they could find in some old trunks, calling each other by the odd shortenings of each other's names they had formed, Gwen having the only one that sounded even vaguely normal. She remembered with startling clarity just how jealous she had been, watching her perfect sister acting like a complete idiot with her friends while she was stuck listening to Alban mutter in Latin. She shook it off. "If you were one of her mudblood friends, then you'd do better to find yourself another friend." Her voice was rising steadily as she glared at the guy. "She's nothing and nobody and my sister, so you can just leave - her - alone."

Oh, heckfires alive. She had just referred to Gwenhwyfar as her sister. "She's dead to me, but there's some in the family who still hope she might be redeemed," she added, hoping to regain a little lost ground just for the principle of it, since she doubted whoever-he-was would understand it at all. This evening was going from bad to worse. \n\n

0 Morgaine Consider who my father is... 0 Morgaine 0 5

Connor

February 03, 2006 10:25 PM

This is Pecari. We don't put much stock in that kinda stuff by Connor

There was no doubt that the firstie thought a lot of herself when she started out her speech - or, to be more accurate, thought a lot of her family name. Gwen had made allusions that made it sound like a lot of purebloods became obsessed with the age and importance of their families. The sudden switch in tact from that train of thought was unexpected; he'd expected to be lectured on the importance of the Carey family for the rest of dinner. Gwen and Adam were all right, he supposed, but he was becoming rapidly more convinced that every single pureblood alive's elevator was just a little short of the top floor and more than a little for some of them.

"I am one of her friends," he said bluntly after she finished her rant. Morgaine's little speech did two things: reinforced that she wasn't much of a personality and confirmed that she was Gwen's sister. Good God, their mother had to have had an affair or one of them was a changeling. He couldn't imagine a person more opposite Gwen Carey than Morgaine Carey, up to and including the Crotalus snots of her year. "Sorry if you've got a problem with that."

Her addition only served to make him more confused. Gwen had made it pretty clear her family wasn't too happy with her for not meeting some kind of whacked-out pureblood standards, but Morgaine made it sound pretty serious, unless considering one's relatives dead was a common reaction to trivial offenses in their world. Careys were weird. "She doesn't need redeeming," he said finally, feeling obliged to defend her. "Gwen's pretty awesome just like she is, s'far as I'm concerned. And pretty much alive, too. What'd she do to you, anyway?" \n\n

0 Connor This is Pecari. We don't put much stock in that kinda stuff 68 Connor 0 5

Lila Gringe

February 04, 2006 2:59 PM

About who would debate lives all being optimistic. by Lila Gringe

"I see," Lila replied politely, not looking shocked at all. Shocked, of course, was what she was. Still. Latin, a hobby? The other Lila's brother would certainly be interesting to meet, she imagined. She had never met someone who actually enjoyed a dead language. It sounded a strange thing to do. After all, a dead language certainly had no practical value.

Then she realized something: she was actually calming down. She had gotten this far, and so there didn't seem to be much reason to worry anymore. Now, her surprise showed slightly, and she took a bite of mashed potatoes, to cover her surprise.

It really was surprising, to her. Usually, Lila was off guard and uncomfortable while talking to someone for any amount of time. If she did calm down, it usually took a while- often up to half an hour. She would estimate that it had been maybe two thirds of that. So she was improving. Gradually, she supposed- it was only now that she was truly noticing it, she'd guess. Now that hte girl thought of it, there had been other times when it was rather quicker than the average that had stayed in her mind.

FInally she realized she should say something. As soon as she swallowed the mashed potatoes, she asked "What type of dancing?" Her tone was the politely curious one she'd been carefully using. It was always better to be safe. And curiousity could sometimes offend.\n\n

0 Lila Gringe About who would debate lives all being optimistic. 0 Lila Gringe 0 5

Lila St.Martin

February 04, 2006 9:59 PM

I misunderstood the question. That would be the Aladrens. by Lila St.Martin

Lila wanted badly to shoot the other Lila a look that suggested she had better start thinking something else if she was thinking Alban was mental, a desire born out of the sense of family loyalty her father had drilled into her from the cradle, but she didn't do it. That sort of thing wasn't appropriate for this situation, and there was probably a degree of truth to it. Alban was too smart and too reclusive to ever achieve anything socially, but he was a St.Martin and could probably have a marriage arranged along the lines of Uncle Julian's - his wife would be used to put a face of respectability on everything in public while he amused himself and occasionally signed papers. It had worked for Uncle Julian, Aunt Anna, his alchemy obsession, and South Carolinian society for years.

Unlike her Housemate, Lila had not completely relaxed yet, and her continued formality, though only those who knew what she was like when comfortable, would know it. The conversation seemed to be going well and the other Lila seemed fairly respectable, but she had been warier than normal of others since last year. She had never seen it coming, and being blindsided was very far down on the list of things she enjoyed. It would be necessary to establish friendships and alliances here, of course, but she'd have to do it cautiously. Literally anyone could be out to betray her, discredit her, or, intentionally or not, make her look bad for befriending them. She couldn't go through all that again.

There was a moment of silence before the other Lila said something. Not a good sign, she decided. In the old group at home, there had never been awkward silences. Gwen would say something insane-sounding or Allie would do something hilarious before one could get started properly. Of course, they were both now officially out...she could deal with silences so long as they were brief. It hadn't been that awkward of a silence. "Ballet," she said in response to the other girl's question. "I learned basic ballroom dancing, of course, and my step-grandmother taught me a bit of tap, but ballet has been my major area of study for about four years now. I daresay my instructor won't be pleased with me losing ground because of school, but there's not really anything for it." Madame had finally said she was ready for pointe shoes, too. Yet another way in which school was not her friend. \n\n

16 Lila St.Martin I misunderstood the question. That would be the Aladrens. 80 Lila St.Martin 0 5

Lila Gringe

February 04, 2006 10:52 PM

Touché. by Lila Gringe

Ballet. A little brother who, at seven, immersed himself in Latin. An estate called Magnolia Grove. Yes, Lila had managed to end up as table- and house-mate to what literature would call a Southern Belle. A magical one, but a belle nonetheless.

Lila wasn't unhappy with that knowledge, though. Quite the opposite, in fact. She hadn't had a chance to interact with anyone of this sort- a sort she knew only from books. Whether this girl was a behavioral clone of Scarlett O'Hara would be interesting to find out. So far, she seemed far more polite and formal than the fictional flirt. Of course, polite and formal to Lila's standards meant that, by normal standards, one was polite and formal to an extreme fault.

Whether that was a good thing or a bad thing was a question on which the jury was still out. Lila had the faintest suspicion that it was the latter.

"I'm certain you could practice," Lila suggested. "There must be a place that wouldn't be crowded at a certain time of day, or some such opportunity."\n\n

0 Lila Gringe Touché. 0 Lila Gringe 0 5

Dalila

February 05, 2006 2:35 PM

Okay! by Dalila

"I bet it would," Dalila replied. "So many things make me laugh,if I hadn't been a witch I would've been a clown. And, don't worry. Any frogs we'd be using in potions would be dead."

Dalila watchedas the food magically disappeared from the table and the Heads of House began fileing their students away to their dormitories.

"Hey, look, we're being called," Dalila said, pointing to the Acting Headmaster leading some of the Teppenpaws out of Cascade Hall.

"C'mon, let's get out of here! You'll be able to see where you'll be living for the next seven years." Dalila got up, stretched in an exaggerated way and motioned fort Melanie to follow her.

"You can tell me all about the frog war on our way."\n\n

0 Dalila Okay! 0 Dalila 0 5

Lily Collins

February 05, 2006 4:50 PM

I grew. Sorry. by Lily Collins

Lily had had a pretty good summer. After Christmas, she'd gotten word from Grandma Amelia and her mom that they'd arranged for Lily to live with the former. Her mom didn't really want her to stay after the Christmas incident, Lily didn't want to and Grandma had came up with the idea fo Lily to move on it. This was great for her. She no longer had to deal with her mother and her stuck-up way of life, she'd be exposed to more magic, plus Grandma Amelia and Grandpa Owen lived in Pennsylvania, which was a blue state. (Not that her grandparents knew what this meant and Grandma had looked quite confused when Lily mentioned it.) She also had been able to claim the entire third floor of the house for herself.

Not to mention, she'd grown up a bit. Lily had grown a few inches and her body was beginning to take on a more mature womanly shape. She now also had tops that fit her better and under her robes wore a dark blue (which was close enough to black) Happy Bunny shirt that said "School prepares you for the real world, which also sucks" and a pair of cut-off blue jean shorts.

She scanned the hall, figuring she probably should sit with her own house at least at this feast. It made sense anyway, as Lily really didn't know anyone outside her own house except Kaylie anyway. First however, she had to find someone from Crotalus she could actually stand. She didn't care much for the now second years.

Lily spotted her two roommates, Chrissy and Jennifer and walked over smiling. She sat down next to Jennifer. "Hey," she greeted them. \n\n

11 Lily Collins I grew. Sorry. 45 Lily Collins 0 5

Lila St.Martin

February 05, 2006 6:37 PM

I could never name my daughter for a shade of red... by Lila St.Martin

Lila smiled politely after Lila Two, as she had decided to mentally refer to her housemate, suggested she might be able to find some out-of-the-way spot to practice in. No way it would work. There would be no instructor, no practice clothes, no audience, and probably no barre or music. She gave a philisophical raise of one shoulder. "Maybe," she said, deciding it wouldn't be good to tell her housemate her actual opinion of the idea right now. "I mostly do it because Mama and Daddy insist on all of us studying the arts. We can't let the Charleston Careys outdo us in anything, but especially not in culture or class." The St.Martin-Charleston Carey feud was old and famous in the Lowcountry, but she didn't know how far common knowledge of it would have spread.

If she was being honest with herself, she would miss her ballet - Madame's slightly accented voice calling out the count, the out-of-style Morgaine-Carey-esque plait Madame insisted she wear her hair in for lessons, the complexity of the forms, even the occasional pain. There was something soothing about the inflexibility of the art, and a sense that brilliance was always to be attained in the next set of steps. The praise it won from her clueless parents, sister, and cousins didn't hurt, either. She was sure she'd survive without it, though. She was past the tutor stage, after all, and even those who didn't understand such things would probably give her a hard time about being the nutty first year with a dance fixation.

True leaders never allowed themselves to do anything that might earn them a hard time.

She noticed with some regret that the feast was starting to wrap up when a youngish woman in blue robes called the Aladrens to follow her. A few moments later, she saw woman whose large snakehead brooch and red trimmings seemed pretty likely to indicate that she was Head of Crotalus begin to move. Lila gave Two a quick once-over and made one of the quick decisions she had been horrified to discover came part and parcel with her new role as leader instead of second-in-command. Standing as the Head of House called for new Crotali, she turned towards Two and said, as casually as she could, "You can sit at my breakfast table tomorrow, if you want." It was tricky, making that sound like a normal offer from an equal instead of the demi-honor it would have been at home, but she pulled it off well enough. \n\n

16 Lila St.Martin I could never name my daughter for a shade of red... 80 Lila St.Martin 0 5

Dillon

February 05, 2006 11:40 PM

That's a shame by Dillon

"That's right, I'm Dillon the Keeper." Dillon replied with a pleased smile. Finally, someone who knew him. That meant that he was sort of known, right? He didn't have to really worry about being invisible (although, at his height surely that was hard) but at least someone knew his name. That's what counted anyway.

Dillon looked the younger boy over with an easy flick of his eyes. He seemed scared, much like Dillon had been when he had first stepped foot into Cascade Hall. But, he had survived all this time and Zoey (who was much worse when it came to new things) had survived without him. Surely this boy would be alright.

"I wouldn't worry about it Adam. It's surprising how many people are willing to go out of their way to help out others." Dillon told the kid, trying to make him feel a bit better. "Besides, the schools small enough so that you'll see your sister at least once a day, if not more."\n\n

6 Dillon That's a shame 44 Dillon 0 5

Tally

February 05, 2006 11:47 PM

Well, that settles it then by Tally

Tally's cheeks hurt from smiling so much. She ought to be used to it, smiling came so naturally to her. Still though...her cheeks were sore. "No need to thank me, just doing what comes naturally." Or whatever... Tally thought to herself. "And really, no need to keep apologizing either. You're new and worried. It's completely understandable. Like, in my first year, my friend, Mia, had a really mean prank pulled on her the first day. She was so upset." The memory of Mia being covered in paint brought out a chuckle.

"You see, she's a muggleborn, so she didn't know anything of magic. Luckily enough, I had learned the cleaning charm from my dad and was able to get her fix up right quick. It's a funny memory to have, but I'm sure she was humiliated for a few minutes." Tally paused for a moment before shaking her head. "I'm sorry, I rambled. The point of what I was saying though, was that everyone goes though something on their first day. No need to fret."

Tally heard the Heads of Houses start to call out to the first years. "Oh, it looks like you're being called away. I'm going to go off ahead now." Tally stood and swiped a bisquit from her plate. "I've heard this speech before. I'll see you in the common room, Allie." Tally told the younger girl and wandered off.\n\n

0 Tally Well, that settles it then 0 Tally 0 5

Lila Gringe

February 06, 2006 5:26 PM

I couldn't either, but it isn't such a bad name. by Lila Gringe

Charleston Careys. South Carolina St.Martins. Somehow, Lila had the feeling she was in over her head. Certainly, she had been sophisticated enough to carry on a conversation with a 'South Carolina St.Martin'- although what the significance of coming from South Carolina was was beyond her- but she wasn't particularly concerned with anyone's provenance. Their place of origin had nothing to do with the kind of person they were- well, not really, anyhow.

"Charleston Careys?" she echoed, hoping that, being from Nevada, she wouldn't be expected to know a family obviously from South Carolina. After all, South Carolina and Nevada were on opposite sides of the country. Social intrigue didn't travel that far, as far as she knew. That said, she wasn't exactly one to comment, not knowing much about social intrigue anyhow.

As the other Lila stood, the blonde girl did as well, not sure if she was pleased or displeased about the end of the feast. On the one hand, she was rather tired from travelling- she hadn't, of course, been able to travel by airplane to Sonora- and she would be able to get some sleep, but on the other, she'd been enjoying the conversation. Although bits of it had seemed a bit . . . strange. For the most part, she had enjoyed interacting with another person, though.

Lila took a moment to consider the other girl's offer, but not a long moment; hardly a noticeable one, actually. She had had a feeling that she was being judged, which irritated her slightly- but it wasn't prejudice, really, which would have truly annoyed her. And it would be good to get to know the other girl a bit more.

"I'd like that," she replied, deciding quickly. She glanced over at the woman calling for all the new Crotali. "Shall we go, then?"\n\n

0 Lila Gringe I couldn't either, but it isn't such a bad name. 0 Lila Gringe 0 5

Lila St.Martin

February 06, 2006 7:19 PM

Just very famous and a good source of puns. by Lila St.Martin

"Charleston Careys," Lila repeated, nodding confirmation. "That's the name the South Carolina branch of the family usually uses. They've been enemies of my family since the oldest Anthony - I can never remember how many of them there are - married the last of the Hamiltons." She gave a slightly dry laugh. "I've always felt a bit sorry for the Savannah Careys. They've been allied to the Charleston Careys since they broke things off with the Virginia Careys, but they're actually more related to us. My step-grandmother is the Savannah patriarch's mother." The tiniest twist of the right corner of her mouth would have betrayed her distaste at listing Eileen and Uncle Alasdair as associates to those who knew her well, but she thought it safe to say that Two wouldn't have noticed.

"There's two Careys - Savannah Careys, that is - here right now," she continued, hoping against hope that Two wouldn't work out that the step-grandmother thing made them her stepcousins. "Gwenhwyfar's a second year in our House, and Morgaine's a Pecari in our year. They're sisters, and you'll avoid them if you want to keep any sort of good reputation." She was being nicer than anyone would expect her to be, giving the other girl friendly advice despite the breach of family loyalty. The fact that Gwen had betrayed the aforementioned family and that she had never liked Morgaine had nothing to do with it.

She put her question to her same-name roommate as she stood and nodded at the answer. She hadn't really expected a no. No one had told her no since she was old enough to walk and talk at the same time...well, almost since. Besides, it was all part of the game. "Pleasure's mine," she said at the response question, and began to make her way towards the Head of House. \n\n

16 Lila St.Martin Just very famous and a good source of puns. 80 Lila St.Martin 0 5

Melanie Rose

February 06, 2006 8:57 PM

Whats your email? I'll get it to you. by Melanie Rose

Melanie nodded and got up with no stretch but the cracking of her fingers. Some thought it disgusting but to her it was only human impulse. As they walked Melanie decided to answer Dalila's request and tell her about the war.

"Well, It started when I was little. I blame my dad, the evil thing. We were fishing and my dad dumped a whole bucket of frogs on me. Hence, He started the war when I was .... I think five. Believe me there are more incidents to hear but I'll tell you more later."

With that she sighed. Dad. What she'd give to have him chase her with a frog at this point in time. Missing her family was new to her. She never had to actually leave her family or they have to leave her but hopefully she'd like the school enough to stay and keep away from her grandparents home for a long while. Maybe they'd come and visit and so she could hex them or something. Scratch that. She was too nice.\n\n

0 Melanie Rose Whats your email? I'll get it to you. 0 Melanie Rose 0 5

Lila Gringe

February 08, 2006 6:55 PM

That's really a burden for only a name. by Lila Gringe

Well, that was a lot of information to receive all at once. Not that she hadn't asked for it; it was just slightly overwhelming. It was also a bit confusing.

As far as Lila could follow it, the basic points of the other Lila's speech were that the Charleston Careys didn't get along with the South Carolina St.Martins- due to a marriage that didn't exactly seem to have anything to do with either family- the Savannah Careys were allied with the Charleston Careys but not with the Virginia Careys, and that the South Carolina St.Martins were related to the Savannah Careys. Wow.

'Social intrigue' didn't quite cover it.

It took effort to keep Lila from gaping. She had thought American politics confusing when first introduced to them at ten, but southern familial politics were just as- if not more- complex, in her opinion.

Avoid Gwenhwyfar and Morgaine Carey? That was an interesting thing to say. Obviously they had a bad reputation, but her housemate had been vague enough that Lila hadn't the faintest idea why. The only thing she could deduce was that the Carey sisters were somehow related to Lila St.Martin- which meant that her fellow Crotalus would certainly know more about their reputations than Lila herself.

Of course, the bad reputation thing only made Lila curious about the two girls her roommate had mentioned. Curiosity killed the cat, she knew. Then again, satisfaction brought her back. On the one hand, it would be interesting to discreetly find out why Gwenhwyfar and Morgaine Carey had a bad reputation. On the other, it would be a bit blunt to just ask one of them 'Why does Lila St.Martin seem to not like you?' And blunt was one thing Lila Gringe certainly was not.

Lila waited a moment before heading for the Crotalus Head of House- falling in step with her housemate might seem clingy, which wouldn't exactly be positive. She didn't want to seem desperate for friends- which she wasn't. She wanted friends, of course, but desperateness wasn't just an unwieldy word. It was also a bad thing for a reputation.

She didn't particularly care about a reputation, but in the beginning of something, she was certain it was smart to cultivate a good one.\n\n

0 Lila Gringe That's really a burden for only a name. 0 Lila Gringe 0 5

Dalila

February 08, 2006 8:53 PM

Just click on my name points up by Dalila

Dalila grinned. Everything that came out of the first year's mouth seemed to do that, and Dalila liked it that way.

"Well, I'd definitely like to hear more on your 'war' with frogs...whenever you wanna tell me. I wish my dad were that cool. He's a little pansy. Not that I don't love him to death, but-" This was getting into an odd teritory.

"He'd probably be more freaked out by the frogs than I would. I take after my mom, luckily. Up for anything." She decided to ignre the gnawing feeing in her stomach that appeared whenever she thought about her mother.

If only she could work inside this country... Dalila mused as they followed Acting Headmaster Bulla back to the common room.\n\n

0 Dalila Just click on my name *points up* 0 Dalila 0 5

Morgaine

February 08, 2006 9:10 PM

I noticed. by Morgaine

Morgaine didn't try to keep her face from openly showing a mix of outraged shock at whoever-he-was' continued use of the diminuitive form of her sister's name and contempt for his apparent regard for her sister. Gwen was an actress, all right, and she was lucky. It might fall apart eventually, but by that point she had usually gotten what she wanted out of the deal and was about to find retaining the illusion difficult. She could pull the wool over virtually anyone's eyes. The only time Morgaine had ever heard of everything completely blowing up in her face was last year. More proof that everyone's luck had to run out eventually.

"That," she said in answer to his question, "is none of your business." She was trying for that crisp, superior tone Gwen had down to a fault. "Things that happen between Careys are between Careys. You're stupider than you look if you stick your nose in them." It wasn't working. The first part had been all right, but Gwen's tone didn't work with the last bit of wording. Comebacks weren't Morgaine's strength, especially when she technically lacked anything to come back to. She should have gone to another school. She should have stayed at Bellevue and grown up a hermit. She could never win after her sister made her overly-dramatic mark. She kicked the table leg again for good measure.

She was saved by the summoning of the Pecari first years by a woman she assumed was the Head of House. Without bidding the president of Gwen's fan club a good evening, she pushed her still-empty plate away, stood, and pushed her seat under the table. She was easily lost among the other new members of her House, and it didn't seem as if there was so much as a single person shorter than her. She didn't bother thinking about it for long. She was going to have to deal with worse than being the apparent shortest, if her impressions of the House from Clarence and books were anything to go by. She wasn't going to think about when word got back to her father, either. \n\n

0 Morgaine I noticed. 0 Morgaine 0 5

Adam and Kaylie

February 10, 2006 5:00 PM

Yes, it is, by Adam and Kaylie

Adam looked up at the boy, his eyes slightly red. "Really?" He still wasn't sure. This guy seemed okay, he was a Teppenpaw, but Adam still wasn't sure he could believe him. After all, Adam didn't know him. He really only trusted and felt comfortable with Kaylie, Marshall or his parents. His little sisters weren't especially threatening either.

Kaylie looked from Adam to Dillon and back at her brother. "That's right," She assured him. "I'll sit with you at meals and hang out with you all the time." She gave her brother a wide cheerful smile. "You know I wouldn't abandon you." Kaylie told him.

Just then, a woman stood up and announced for the Crotalus first years to follow her. Adam's eyes grew round as saucers. This woman looked scary! She reminded him of a vampire. "Kaylie.." Adam whispered. "Do I actually have to...go with her "

Kaylie nearly laughed. "I'm afraid so, Adam. Don't worry. She's not really that bad."

But Adam remained unconvinced. Shaking, he stood up from the table and went to the front of the room. His stomach was more nervous than ever. He felt like he was going to vomit. Adam shot his sister and the boy a terrified look as he followed his Head of House out of the room.

Kaylie watched, worry growing inside her. Adam looked so terrified. She hoped he'd be okay. She knew he wasn't strong. Please don't let them be like last year's Crotali She thought inwardly. Adam was fragile and last year's group had a bad reputation. He wouldn't last around that type, even though he wasn't a muggle-born.\n\n

11 Adam and Kaylie Yes, it is, 78 Adam and Kaylie 0 5

The Twins

February 15, 2006 12:59 PM

Yeah, Ash is just mad about you... by The Twins

The twins were a little taken aback by Ty's tirade. Girly girls didn't usually come flavoured with Tabasco. As she flounced back to her seat, they followed. It was bad enough that they'd just taken a public dressing down from a girly girl; they weren't going to let her have the last word too.

The way they saw it, if you copied the glossies, you were making yourself an image of someone else, and that invited comparisson and criticism, because there was no more to that world than evaluating people by something less than skin deep, so there was no other way to relate to and evaluate them; as soon as you dressed a certain way just because someone told you to, you surrendered your personality, so that was all that was left to go on.

The Cravens were not that articulate, however. If someone had put that idea to them, they would have agreed with it, but they could not put it into those words themselves. Girly girls just sucked, and Stephen was meant to agree with them on that. He was backing up Ty though. Perhaps, although they would never admit it, they had been unfair in their judgement of her, but Stephen had always been their best friend, and always hated girly girls. The rule was guilty until proven innocent, and it was a Catch 22 anyway, because in order to prove yourself ungirly, and having enough of a personality - as Ty had just done - there was no good reason to be looking like you'd just stepped from a magazine.

Their heads were screwed on just right, so they stayed put. They were going to get to the bottom of whether Ty was kosher or not, and if not, snap Stephen out of it.

"If you're so fiesty, and won't take nothing from us," tried Ash, on the verge of articulating some slightly higher level of thought, "then why do you take people telling you what to wear? It doesn't make sense."

"And if you're the same girl as always, where's the camera?" asked Sorrel.

\n\n

0 The Twins Yeah, Ash is just mad about you... 0 The Twins 0 5

Tiponi G.

February 16, 2006 8:42 AM

blinkblink Pardon? by Tiponi G.

If Tiponi had been at home and starting to doze off, calling her name wouldn't have done much to catch her drifting attention. She was so used to it that she didn't even notice it there. Because this was a new place, though, she wasn't comfortable in her surroundings yet and hearing her name spoken by a relatively new voice was enough to bring her back into focus.

She blinked a few times to clear the haze from her eyes and turned her head back towards Geoffrey. It probably looked like she hadn't been paying attention...which in truth, she hadn't. A few ideas had come through, like the fact that Crotalus was looked well upon by someone. Considering who they'd been talking about, probably by one or both of his parents.

"I'm sorry," she apologized with a slightly anxious and embarrassed smile. "I didn't mean to zone out there. I'm just a little tired from the long ride. Thank you for waking me up, though. I wouldn't have wanted to doze off in the middle of all these people. That would have been so awkward."

For one, I would have freaked everyone out when I woke up. The thought was a sour and worrying one. She'd already created a bad impression with one of the other people in her coach. She didn't want to add 'public humiliation before classes even started' to the list. Come to think of it, she didn't want Geoff to add 'ignorant girl who doesn't pay attention' either, but she wasn't sure if the damage had already been done or not.\n\n

0 Tiponi G. *blinkblink* Pardon? 0 Tiponi G. 0 5

Acting Headmaster Bulla

Let the New Term Commence! by Acting Headmaster Bulla

Michael Tallow

This is cruel and unusual, and I demand recompense! by Michael Tallow

Pepper Jones

Or should that be 'Simpson'? by Pepper Jones

Saul Pierce

It's not so bad really by Saul Pierce

Briony O'Leary

I'd like to be Maggie by Briony O'Leary

Devian Dupree

So very wrong! by Devian Dupree

Pepper

So I'm the big sister as usual? by Pepper

Briony

*sly smile* You could be Marge by Briony

Tiponi Grisandole

I've...turned red?! Nononono! by Tiponi Grisandole

Adam and Kaylie Brockert

It's the end of the world as we know it.. by Adam and Kaylie Brockert

Ginger Silverstein

This potion made me dirty!!!! by Ginger Silverstein

Lila Gringe

Would-Be Christmas Tree Ornament by Lila Gringe

Rob Stone

yellow it is then by Rob Stone

Geoffrey Layne

I may be worse off than you, pal. by Geoffrey Layne

Geoffrey Spindler

well... at least mom'll be happy. by Geoffrey Spindler

Morgaine Carey

Death by Sorting, anyone? by Morgaine Carey

Tally

Oh wonderful, another year by Tally

Melanie Rose

I am not THAT sunny. by Melanie Rose

Michael Tallow

That's like saying ebola is only temporary. by Michael Tallow

Günter Heindrich

It worked...that's amazing by Günter Heindrich

Devian

Time will tell by Devian

Saul

It is, isn't it? You die or get better, and it's over by Saul

Geoffrey L.

Time unveils truth, as a rule. by Geoffrey L.

Allie St.Martin

Do they get any easier? by Allie St.Martin

Devian

There are always exceptions to every rule by Devian

Geoff Layne

Which leaves us to wonder if there are any rules. by Geoff Layne

Tyranthia Boyd

I'm not nervous... by Tyranthia Boyd

Michael Tallow

Pretty much. by Michael Tallow

Mia

Year three. *low whistle* Wow. by Mia

Pepper

Ginger hair is attention grabbing enough, thanks by Pepper

Zack Dill

Of course, they've been turning firsties colors forever by Zack Dill

Saul

Right then by Saul

Briony

Are you sure? We could dye it blue? by Briony

Dalila Bastet

No...you look more like a lemon by Dalila Bastet

Günter Heindrich

food...what a wonderful thing. by Günter Heindrich

Zack Dill

Well, yes, since you'd die without it by Zack Dill

Stephen Baxter

I <i>wasn't</i> nervous... by Stephen Baxter

Melanie Rose

lemon head (i muttered hehe) by Melanie Rose

Dalila

I love those! yum... by Dalila

Professor Dione

New term, new Crotali by Professor Dione

sly smile You could be Marge by Briony

Year three. low whistle Wow. by Mia