Headmaster Bulla

November 25, 2006 1:28 AM
The sorting for the year officially over, Manfred stood and waited for things to quiet down. The first years, as the tradition went, had each been given a chalice a clear, bubbling potion to drink as they entered the hall were and instructed to drink deeply. And, just like every other sorting in the history of the school, the result had been that the first years had all turned the main colour that represented the house they were to join; bright blue for Aladren, deep red for Crotalus, muddy brown for Pecari and sunshine yellow for Teppenpaw. The colour change lasted a few minutes only, but for the time it was in effect it tended to get some interesting reactions from the new first year students. It had been ever so since the foundation of the school and would ever be thus.

But now that that was over and the students settling into seats, it was time for the second important part of the Opening Feast.

"Welcome," he said when things had quietened down. "Welcome to a new year at Sonora Academy. To our new students, I am Headmaster Bulla. I hope that you enjoy your time here, work hard and do your new houses proud. To our returning students, I'm sure you've all had wonderful holidays and it is good to see you've all returned. I would ask Mr Zack Dill of Aladren, Miss Chrysanthemum Mathers of Crotalus, Miss Mia Kerova of Pecari and Miss Kaylie Brockert of Teppenpaw to all come to the front please."

He moved around the staff table, holding a small box which he opened when the four had arrived.

"Congratulations," he informed them in a quieter voice. "You have all been selected to serve as Prefects for your houses. Remember this is a position of both privilege and responsibility. You will have the power to give and take points, and will be expected to assist your Head of House if a situation arises. I'm sure you will all do us proud."

He handed them each their prefect badges, bronze metal embossed with the badge of Sonora and the word 'prefect' underneath then straightened himself up a little more to address the school once more.

"Congratulations to our four new prefects. Now, I expect that you are all waiting ravenously for the Feast. Wait no longer."

With a wave, the food started to pile up on the tables and jugs of drinks appeared, all ready for the students and staff to tuck in. Manfred, instead of returning to his seat paused a moment, just in case any of the new Prefects wished to say or ask anything.\n\n
Subthreads:
39 Headmaster Bulla Opening Feast 2 Headmaster Bulla 1 5


Chrissy Mathers

November 25, 2006 7:02 PM
Chrissy had had a blissful summer away from her parents and down in DC with her Uncle and his girlfriend. Other than the fact that she had to spend time with the little monster (also known as the girlfriend's son), Chrissy had spent all summer in DC, doing what she wanted, eating what she wanted, wearing the clothes she wanted to. It was bliss. Pure, unequivical, bliss.

But now she was back at sonora, Chrissy had to get back into the real life of being a teenager again. She was still as chubby as she'd always been, but she had grown used to the idea of her never being able to be skinny. It just wasn't in her nature to be on diets. It wasn't like she was unhealthy, she played Quidditch, and was active in all other ways. She just...liked to eat.

Her blonde curls had grown out over the previous year and were now a nice curly wave past her shoulders. Her jeans were low, but not enough to look gross while her shirt was long enough to be considered a risque dress. Luckily enough, her robes were closed so no one would be any wiser with her style choice.

Sitting herself down at the Crotalus table, Chrissy silently waited through the Headmaster's greetings and the sorting. She was too old now to really give a crap where these kids were sorted into. Her first, yes, she was totally and completely impressed. Much the same for her second year. Third and fourth year she had been amused by watching the new firsties, but this year. This year Chrissy just didn't care. And she still had two more years left of this stuff.

Having ignored most of what was going on around her, Chrissy jumped when she heard her name being called. She gave an inward shudder when she was called Chrysanthemum. How she loathed her name. Unsure of why she was being called to the front, Chrissy stood, giving a confused look to the people around her, and made her way to the staff table.

Listening to the Headmaster, Chrissy stared at him dumbfoundedly. Surely he was confused. She should not be the one with this pin. Jenna or Jennifer were better candidates than she. They were friendly and people loved them. Chrissy could hardly stand a conversation or two with...well, with anyone really. Taking the badge from the headmaster, Chrissy made her way back to her seat.

After a moment of staring in confusion at the badge in her hand, Chrissy looked up at the others at her table. "I think the headmaster has lost his mind." She stated rather matter-of-factly.\n\n
0 Chrissy Mathers Must you have said my full name? 0 Chrissy Mathers 0 5


Gwen Carey

November 25, 2006 8:45 PM
Gwen relaxed visibly in her chair when a small girl with dark hair spilling halfway down her back disappeared into the throng just before a younger-but-taller girl with a Teppenpaw badge on her robes came into her field of vision. Morgaine and Amber were both safely off the wagons, which meant she could call her familial duty done. She didn't look for the twins; they were Anne's responsibility, now, and Anne was in her own hands. Shaking her still too-short-feeling hair back, Gwen smiled politely at her neighbors and began looking around as if searching for someone.

Normally, she would have sat with her friends or on her own (insofar as anyone could sit alone at a gathering of the entire school), but she had taken a seat at a table full of other Crotali, her only requirement being that said table didn't house Cate or Nicoletta or Jordanna. Between the standard-issue green robes and her new haircut, with her hair only just brushing her shoulders, she wouldn't be too easy to recognize from a distance in a crowd, or so she hoped. She didn't want to deal with people, but since dealing with them was inevitable, she'd rather it wasn't people she knew.

The Sorting went as usual - Gwen smiled in the direction of the new Crotali, remembering drinking the potion herself four years previously to the day - and Headmaster Bulla, Charms professor no more, gave the opening speech and announced the prefects. The Aladren and the Teppenpaw were both Seekers, she knew, and Chrissy was one of the Chasers for Crotalus. The food appeared as Chrissy took back the seat not far from Gwen's, and she began filling her plate as the older girl stared at her badge. She surprised herself by smiling when Chrissy announced her theory about Bulla to the table.

"My aunt says this school's never had a sane Head," she said, adding a roll to her plate. "Congradulations, Chrissy." Maybe she shouldn't have called her that. She knew the fifth year vaguely from Quidditch, but they'd never really talked. Chrissy was just what she'd heard other people calling her. She'd apologize if the prefect started looking offended. \n\n
0 Gwen Carey I think Crotalus might be cursed as far as names go. 63 Gwen Carey 0 5


Chrissy

November 26, 2006 11:57 AM
Chrissy threw the badge on the table, not feeling quite right about wearing it just yet. The idea that she would have some sort of authority over others did give her a bit of satisfaction, but it also left a bad taste in her mouth. Did this mean that she was considered a goody-goody? She never went out of her way to cause trouble (or ever thought to cause trouble) but she never got involved either. Or made herself look like she cared to get involved. Was this the school's way of punishing her? Or forcing her to become involved?

It was a horrible punishment if it were.

Sighing, Chrissy started to grab some food. Food always gave her comfort. Food also gave her headaches if her mom was around. "I'd say your Aunt isn't that far off from the truth." Chrissy replied to Gwen, remembering the Headmistress before Bulla was made Headmaster. At least he seemed to have some wit about him whereas his predeccessor seemed to have lost her completely.

At the congratulations by Gwen, Chrissy turned to her for a moment. She knew Gwen from the team, but hadn't really given her the time of day. Gwen seemed...like all the other third years and Chrissy just didn't care for things like that. Her parents did, and Chrissy figured she would end up in the same circle as they were in, but she didn't care to shout it from the rooftops or judge others for not having the same opportunities she had growing up. Of course, she was going by rumor alone and Gwen could really be a decent girl. Sometimes it was hard to tell though. "Thanks Gwen." Chrissy finally answered.

Taking a bite of food and chewing thoughtfully for a moment. "Are you going to stick with us on the team, Gwen?" Chrissy didn't know why she asked this. Gwen was a good beater and seemed to like doing it. But, people often surprised her by suddenly changing their outlook on life and deciding they were no longer going to do the things they loved most.\n\n
0 Chrissy When your roommates were all named Jen.. 0 Chrissy 0 5


Jenna Howard

November 26, 2006 2:38 PM
Yet another summer had come and gone between years of Jenna's stay at Sonora, and what a crazy summer it had been. Of course, one should never expect anything less from the black sheep of a family that practically defined the word prude, but Jenna had been hoping he would focus more on potions, as Isaiah himself had promised her. And she had learned some interesting theories on the art of potion making, and had been allowed to borrow some valuable books on the subject. But days when they had focused on potions and potions alone had been few and far between, as Isaiah had found it far more prudent to teach Jenna to have often near-dangerous amounts of fun which would in turn "make her a more laid-back, relaxed kind of kid".

And the strangest part about it was Jenna actually kind of liked it. She liked the Weird Sister concerts and the parties. She liked, that is up until this morning, anyway, when she had discovered that she still had half her packing to do as well as a bad case of food poisoning.

That's what she got for letting Isaiah's girlfriend, Lenny (she absolutely refused to be called Lenore) cook for her farewell party. The twenty-four year-old meant well, but she was absolutely horrible at cooking. And now the gray-eyed girl's body hurt all over- especially her stomach, and she just felt generally horrible. The worst part was that since she had to pack, the fifteen year-old didn't have enough time to make or find a remedy for her food poisoning. So, shoving shoulder length brown hair into a ponytail, Jenna had said her goodbyes and dragged herself onto the flying wagon. And needless to say, that had only made matters worse.

Black Weird Sisters sweatshirt hood pulled over her head under disheveled green robes, the paler than usual girl trudged into Cascade Hall and sat by Chrissy and some third-year, and put her head on the table.

The Howard girl only picked up her head when prefects were announced, and clapped especially for Mia and Chrissy, two of the closest things to friends she had at Sonora. Sure, she should have been disappointed to not be chosen for prefect, but in her current state she really didn't care to usher around a bunch of hyper firsties. Merlin they were so loud. She couldn't wait to get to the common room, so she could get to her dorm and sleep.

"Hey Chrissy?" she asked, her voice pained, aware she was interrupting Chrissy's conversation with the third year and not really caring, "They give you the house password yet? I feel like crud."\n\n
0 Jenna Howard I resemble that remark 46 Jenna Howard 0 5

Lily Collins

November 26, 2006 11:56 PM
Lily walked into to the hall. She wasn't paying much attention to the firsties being sorted as she sat down by Chrissy. They were four years younger than her and it was unlikely she'd ever speak to them. The only possibilty for that was if someone ticked her off big time (such as by acting like they were the greatest thing ever, something Lily couldn't stand,) or hopefully wanting to be Keeper for Crotalus. She still wished to replace Earl even though it was all Jennifer's decision and he actually had blocked a goal. Lily just didn't like him. He was arrogant and stupid. Arrogant people were even more obnoxious when they had no right to be. She was just so sick and tired of holding in her opinions and felt a growing desire to tell them off and put them in their place.

She helped herself to some spaghetti, noticing breifly when Jenna Howard sat down with them. Lily didn't know Jenna too well even though they were roommates. She seemed okay though, better than her sister.

Lily clapped for the new prefects, especially Chrissy and Kaylie. She didn't know the other two very well, aside from Zack was really smart and Mia was dating Stephen Baxter. She actually felt a bit sorry for Mia because Stephen would probably end up hurting her. Lily hoped she didn't have real high expectations about it because she was sure to be disappointed.

She heaped some spaghetti on to her fork and shoveled it into her mouth as Chrissy came back. Lily swallowed. "Well, you're better for it than I would be." She laughed a bit. She couldn't see herself being helpful and caring for the younger kids. That was more of a Kaylie thing. Lily was probably the least prefect material of anyone in her class other than the Cravens. She simply didn't have the patience.

Lily listened as Gwen spoke. She hadn't really realized the other beater was there. Lily didn't really mind her now. She seemed a bit looney but at least she wasn't as prissy and snooty as Lily had thought. She'd proven herself in the Quidditch game where she nearly killed the Pecari chaser. Plus, Gwen seemed to dislike Earl as much as she did. "You should really stick with it Gwen." Lily added. "You're a good beater. The only nasty part," she grinned "is that we actually have to prevent our own keeper from being hit." Merlin had she ever felt dirty having to do that last year.

She glanced over at Jenna who'd suddenly spoken. The girl looked terrible! "Um maybe you should go to the infirmary." Lily suggested. "I could walk you there." She looked back at Chrissy, grinning wickedly. "I know Chrissy has to take care of the firsties."\n\n
11 Lily Collins I don't. 45 Lily Collins 0 5


Gwen Carey

November 27, 2006 8:20 PM
A closer look at the neighbors revealed that she might have made a mistake. The other people at the table were not only roommates to each other and not to her, but they were also all older than her to a girl. Great. She either looked desperate or even more out of touch with what was going on than she sometimes pretended to be. There wasn't much to do for it but smile gamely, pretend she hadn't noticed that she was the odd one out, and hope that Profes - Headmaster Bulla had a headache and dismissed them all early.

But then...The sooner they were released, the sooner she had to go back to sharing space with her roommates. Rocks and hard places didn't even come into it.

Her father and grandmother were both superstitious to a fault, and some of it had either rubbed off or been passed down. If the signs were anywhere near right, this was going to be another long year.

Old habits, deliberately assumed ones no less than the unintentionally assumed variety, died hard, and she found herself blinking in surprise at being addressed. Gwen doubted it would matter that she hadn't really been woolgathering if anyone had noticed. "Oh, you're welcome," she said, smiling again. "And good luck. Maybe they'll all be too shy or too stuck on themselves to annoy you with a lot of questions." She wasn't sure that had come out the way she meant it.

The food was, as always, delicious. It was always good, but the feasts were the best. The general cuisine could be a bit...casual at times. Connor had never managed to explain to her satisfaction what was so good about that odd pie-thing he and the menu called 'pizza'. She wasn't going to think about him, now. If drifting off would make her look odd, scowling at nothing and muttering would make her look even worse. She used the time it took to swallow a mouthful of chicken to work up an answer to Chrissy and Lily's joint query.

"I'm planning to," she said, then grinned back at Lily. "Though it does get hard not to teach Valentine a...lesson, sometimes." Earl hadn't really done anything personal to her – even in their revolutionary days, they had hardly been exchanging cake recipies - but he had made a convenient scapegoat. He was involved in the mess, but she didn't have to share a dorm with him. Having Nicoletta and Cate out for her blood - she wasn't entirely sure Jordanna realized she existed, which suited her just fine - was bad enough without rekindling the animosity between herself and Asher that had characterized the second half of her first year.

Jenna Howard raised her head, and Gwen set about trying to disappear where she sat before the older girl even began to speak. One fact overwhelmed any other she knew about Jenna Howard, and that was that Jenna Howard was Jordanna Howard's sister. Better to avoid her; she felt a flash of relief at Lily's suggestion that Jenna go to the infirmary. The Howard sisters had never struck her as overly fond of each other, but then, Gwen somehow doubted she and Morgaine had the opposite affect on people. She fixed her attention on her green beans. \n\n
0 Gwen Carey Nor I. 63 Gwen Carey 0 5


Jenna Howard

November 27, 2006 10:06 PM
Jenna was surprised at Lily's offer, as they had never been very close, and let her head fall back into her arms. But even if they had been close friends, she would have turned it down. The resident healer was going to want an explanation of what was causing her illness, after all. And the fifteen year-old had a strong feeling that explaining that she had been at a party where she had been the youngest one by about six and a half years would go over pretty well. There'd only been about thirty people- Isaiah's "closest" friends, and Jenna had met most of them earlier that summer and they weren't too bad. They weren't horrible drunks or anything, though they were a bit too wild for Jenna's liking, and she usually went home early from their parties or found something else to do with Lenny.

But she digressed, the point was, explaining to anyone was much too complicated. And she didn't have the time or energy to explain to anyone in a way that they wouldn't think she was a freak.

"No," she said, her voice muffled by her arms, "I-I don't need to, I don't need to-" she stopped and winced, as pain shot at her stomach like little daggers piercing at her abdomen.

She gave up, she conceded- would the powers that be be happy now?

"You know what?" she said softly, using the table to balance herself as she got up, hunched over from the pain in her stomach. This was getting humiliating, "I think the Infirmary might be a good idea."\n\n
0 Jenna Howard not everyone is so lucky ;) 46 Jenna Howard 0 5


Chrissy

November 28, 2006 8:28 PM
Lily's quick agreement with Chrissy's thought of Gwen staying on the team, caused Chrissy to grin. She knew nothing of the third year, had never really planned on knowing the third year, but...she still liked the girl well enough. And, she seemed sort of lost sometimes. Or, at least, that's how Chrissy saw it. She didn't really know.

Chrissy, who was still trying to wrap her mind around the idea of her being a Prefect, hadn't noticed Jenna's arrival until the girl began to speak. Turning slightly at her words, Chrissy frowned and shook her head. Was she suppose to know the password ahead of time because she was a Prefect? She had no idea, did she miss that somewhere? Suddenly, the idea that she was supposed to know rules and passwords and everything about Sonora crept into her mind and made Chrissy suddenly feel very nausceous.

"Hardy har har." Chrissy said, making a face at Lily. Though she probably didn't show it on the outside, Chrissy was freaking out on the inside. She was not the right person for his. The worst indeed. This should be Jennifer's or Jenna's or...anyone's, Chrissy wasn't good enough for this job.

Jenna's sudden movement forced Chrissy from her thoughts and stare at her friend. Concern registered onto Chrissy's pale face. "Jenna, are you alright? What's wrong?" Jenna had already missed an entire year of school for reasons unknown to Chrissy, she didn't want to go through another school year without her good friend.\n\n
0 Chrissy Well...I was going on the name thing... 0 Chrissy 0 5

Lily

November 30, 2006 1:03 AM
"Yea," Lily replied to Gwen. "Maybe a stray bludger will hit him during practice." She snickered. "After all, we do need to practice knocking people out. I mean, that's a good strategy. It totally worked for Teppenpaw." Lily paused to take a drink of milk. "Maybe we'll get really lucky and get a new Keeper this term. Or a reserve who can step in if Earl meets with an 'unfortunate accident." She was using the term unfortunate rather loosely.

She shrugged as Jenna insisted she didn't want to go and turned back to Gwen. "Maybe we could lock him up somewhere until the spots are filled." Lily joked. Well, half-joked. It truly didn't seem like a bad idea. "We could slip him a sleeping potion, levitate the body, stash it in a closet somewhere. Give him food and water and a bucket and let him out when sign-ups are done."

Lily gazed back up when Jenna changed her mind. "Okay." She pushed back her plate. Her roommate really did look like she needed medical attention. She seemed way too sick to be sitting in the Hall.\n\n
11 Lily My author already had a Jenna. 45 Lily 0 5


Jenna Howard

November 30, 2006 7:12 PM
Jenna swallowed, and tried to stand up as straight as she possibly could. She didn't want to explain, she didn't want to talk at all. She was tired and all she wanted was for the pain to stop so that she could take a nap. Her mind however, must have not felt like being very cooperative today. It refused to focus on anything other than the pain in her stomach and how she felt like she was going to die, and how annoying it would be to die before she even graduated school, or traveled, or did anything interesting. Of course it was an exaggeration, she was indeed, not in any danger of dying, but when one is sick one doesn't tend to think very rationally.

"Stomach," she muttered in answer to Chrissy’s question of what was the problem, squeezing her eyelids together for a minute, as if that would bring back everything into focus, then nodded at Lily, "Yeah, let’s go.”

Then, amidst the fogginess of the craziness that was currently going on inside her mind, one strain of logical reasoning came forward. If everyone was here, that meant everyone , right?

“Wait- is the medic, is he in the Hall?”
\n\n
0 Jenna Howard My author was nearly named Jenna 46 Jenna Howard 0 5


Chrissy

December 01, 2006 7:22 PM
Chrissy had to frown as she listened to Lily speak. Having been her roommate long enough, Chrissy knew the sort of grudges Lily carried around. But, she never really knew the depth to which they ran. After sitting there for a few minutes, Chrissy figured out just how deep they truly ran.

And it completely surprised her.

"Whoa, Lily, all this hostile has to be bad for your skin." Chrissy said, half-jokingly. Her brown eyes were slightly larger than normal when she spoke as she watched Lily. "I know Earl has rocks for brains, but all this aggression towards him can't be good for the team." Chrissy said to her roommate before glancing at Gwen. "Have no fear, Gwen, I promise none of us bite." Chrissy said, in hopes to help ease any uncomfortableness between the fourth year and them.

"Feel better, Jenna." Chrissy said to the girl, though still looking concerned, even more so when Jenna spoke or moved. Chrissy looked around the hall for a moment, trying to see if she could locate the man that the Pecari house probably still hated for his actions the year previously. "Well, I think that's him there-" Chrissy pointed to a male leaving the hall, "But, I didn't really get a good look at the face."\n\n
0 Chrissy I know too many J-E-N-...s 0 Chrissy 0 5


Gwen Carey

December 02, 2006 7:21 PM
Gwen nodded approvingly to Lily's suggestions for ridding themselves of Earl without thinking. They left each other alone, but the animosity was there, and Gwen was more than half-convinced that he held up his end of the live-and-let-live bargain because he thought she was crazy, and that couldn't last. Once she was definitely in or definitely out of the family, she would have to be as mundane and normal as humanely possible. Locking Earl up in a closet was even more unfeasible than the crazy plans the old crowd had come up with in first year, but it was fun to imagine. Chrissy seemed to disagree.

Reluctantly, Gwen admitted that Chrissy did have a point. If things came to a head between the Beaters and the Keeper, Jenny might decide to do something about it. She'd have a hard time replacing even one of them, much less all three, but if she felt like making an example...Gwen liked what she did. It was an approved, non-punishment-garnering way of channeling frustration and made her part of a group again. Maybe things could stay at a simmer for three more years. Three years wasn't very long. Not really.

Being addressed again caught her off-guard even more this time than it had the first. "Wha - oh. That's good to know." She found a grin to make the words light. "Earl's a sneaking rat, though. If we could just put Catherine Raines and Nicoletta Dupree in the closet with him..." The grin became a dreamy smile. Something told her that if everyone came out alive, Nikki and Cate would no longer be quite such good friends.

Jenna looked sick to dying, almost, which meant that, regardless of whatever she might have thought, done, or wanted to do under other circumstances, attacking Gwen Carey was most likely somewhere low on her list of priorities at the moment. Jordanna was also the Hen Gwen thought she had personally offended the least. It was reasonably safe to act normally, here. "I'm pretty sure that is him," she said, her eyes following Chrissy's to the man walking out. "Wolfe. He's probably heading back to the hospital wing." \n\n
0 Gwen Carey It could be worse. You could be named Lilac. 63 Gwen Carey 0 5

Lily

December 02, 2006 8:31 PM
Lily made a face at her friend. "Hey, at least I agreed to giving him food and water. Besides, this is an improvement over last year, when I basically wanted him beheaded."

She began to snigger as Gwen spoke. Lily knew the fourth year was all right. "I don't really like them much either." She said in reply to the stuff about Catherine and Nicoletta. "Though not as much as Earl." In fact the only one of the fourth year Crotali she liked was Gwen. Although she didn't know much about Asher Tallow about other than the scene she made in Care of Magical Creatures and that she actually liked Earl. That showed to Lily that she wasn't the best judge of character.

"Hmm, yea, that would make sense." She agreed about the medic. Unfortunately, the man was leaving. Lily sighed. "I guess we can follow him. I'll walk up there with you still." She could talk to Chrissy and Gwen later. She wanted to get to know Jenna better too since they were roommates and the girl did not inspire homicidal feelings in Lily. Though right now, when Jenna was sick wasn't really going to be the time.\n\n
11 Lily Or Geranium. 45 Lily 0 5


Jenna Howard

December 03, 2006 12:06 AM
Jenna overheard the conversation (how could she not, really, she was after all, standing right next to them) and despite what her overly-distressed mind was telling her, cracked a smile, and said matter-of-factly, "They're Jordie's friends- it would offend their pureblooded-ness to be in any sort of awkward situation with a non-pureblood." Actually, Jenna was not aware of Earl's blood status. But considering Jordanna's indifference to him, she figured he was no pureblooded heir to anything.

She took a deep breath in, and then exhaled, trying to gain back some clarity. Jenna was not going to die, as her mind repeatedly insisted she would. At least, not today, anyway. Sure her stomach hurt and she felt like garbage, but she was going to be okay. Tomorrow, all of this was going to be a bad memory. The brunette just needed to keep repeating that inside her mind, banishing the bad thoughts just as one might try to ward off vampires with garlic.

"Right," she said tiredly, crossing her arms around her waist, "Let's go stalk the medic. See you later, I guess." Jenna made her way out of the Hall, assuming that Lily was going with her. If Lily wasn't coming, well, that was fine too. Either way, this was all going to be really weird.

OOC: I'll go start a thread in the Hospital Wing now.\n\n
0 Jenna Howard Does anyone really name their kid that? 46 Jenna Howard 0 5