Headmaster Bulla

September 06, 2007 9:35 AM
Manfred Bulla, Headmaster of Sonora Academy, remained seated until the last of the first years had been sorted. While the rest of the school had been able to wander into the Cascade Hall relatively at ease, the first years had been held back until the feast was ready to start. At this time they were presented with goblets containing a clear bubbling potion and told to drink up. As happened every year - regardless of some of the more wild stories that some of the students both past and present liked to spread - not long after taking the potion a most remarkable change took each and every student. Rather than remaining their usual colours, their hue from top to toe (including their hair, skin and, according to one curious little boy several years ago, even their nails, teeth and tongues!) altered to reflect the dominant colour of the house they were to join. A bright blue for Aladren, deep red for Crotalus, muddy brown for Pecari and sunshine yellow for Teppenpaw. The effect didn't last for too long, generally no longer than a few minutes, but it was enough that the houses were obvious and the new students could be welcomed by their new housemates. When it was clear that the colours were fading and that seating was being settled, Manfred rose from his seat in the middle of the staff table, took a moment to be certain that his appearance was still neat and orderly and cleared his throat pointedly.

"A new year is upon us," he said, once the students had quietened down. "A new year, and with it new students and new challenges await you all. To our new students, welcome. I am Headmaster Bulla. I'm sure you will enjoy your time here at Sonora Academy, and hope that you will work hard and do your new houses proud. To our returning students, this is a new year to work hard and strive to reach your potential, to make new friends and seek new goals. Indeed, after midterm I will have a very exciting announcement for you all - one which I am sure you will all be terribly curious about until then!" He smiled at the room. It was indeed a very exciting little secret that he was sitting on, but they would learn that for themselves soon enough. It would be something for them to look forward to, and hopefully would inspire them to work hard and enjoy all sorts of areas of the school life. "But that doesn't mean there aren't any announcements for now. Would Mr. Christobel Dupree of Aladren, Miss Jordanna Howard of Crotalus, Mr. Connor Pierce of Pecari and Miss Alexandria Stafford of Teppenpaw please come to the front of the room."

While they were making their way to the front Manfred moved around the staff table, pulling a small box out of his pocket and opening it when all four had gathered around.

"Congratulations," he informed them in a voice intended for them rather than the room at large. "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 do us all proud."

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

"These four will be joining the ranks of Sonoran Prefects. I'm sure you'd all like to offer them some form of congratulations, but as the feast is about to begin I will ask that it not be in the form of mashed potatoes, or indeed any other projectile food. Without further ado," he waved his hand and the feast appeared on each and every table, enough different dishes and drinks that it was unlikely that any of the students would be able to complain about lack of variety. The Prairie Elves under the direction of Tuppy had clearly outdone themselves. "Enjoy."
Subthreads:
39 Headmaster Bulla Let the Opening Feast Begin! 2 Headmaster Bulla 1 5

Holly Greer

September 06, 2007 7:06 PM
The problems had begun with the ride over. When Daddy and his wife, Courtney, and Mom and her husband, Michael, and Holly's younger half-siblings, Molly and Danny (with Dad and Mom, respectively), brought her to the pick-up point, Holly hadn't been sure what to expect. Faeries with pixie dust, magic carpets, or an enchanted bed with a bedknob you turned to make it fly would have been roughly in line with her expectations, but a covered wagon wasn't.

Sure, it turned out to fly which, she supposed, made up for the lack of horses but not entirely. Covered wagons were supposed to have horses. Oxen at the very least. Of course, she would have hated to ride for any length of time in a covered wagon pulled by oxen, so she reluctantly forgave the flying and the lack of horses. Flying also made it get there faster and with fewer bumps, so when the wagon eventually landed in Arizona, a trek that would have taken weeks or even months by horse-drawn wagons from Hollywood, only a small handful of hours later, Holly had accepted that the absence of horses had even been necessary. She still didn't have to be happy about it.

Another problem was that Holly discovered she had a fear of heights. She'd flown in planes a few times, when Mom went to a premiere outside of California and invited Holly along, but that was different. There weren't any seatbelts on the flying wagon and she wouldn't have been surprised if the contraption was old enough to have been an original one from the Oregon Trail. She felt like she was going to die every time they hit an air pocket. Plus, her permed hair was blowing around in the wind and Holly didn't even want to know what it looked like. Also, the seats were realistically dirty for the type of vehicle they were using and Holly's new robes (robes!) were getting mussed.

She was glad when they finally reached the school, but that was when she saw the next problem. Her suitcase was brand new, sparkling pink with glitter and her name (Princess Holly Thistle as she preferred, not Holly Greer like all her official records called her) embroidered across the front of it, going diagonally from one corner to the other. Her father insisted on having her legal name in the travel tag with Daddy's address and phone number, though.

Anyway, her suitcase was beautiful and perfect and the ground was, well, dirt. She wouldn't have been concerned but the fellow who went to unload the luggage from the wagon had to be some kind of alien (a month ago, she would have called it a hallucination, but she reasoned that its ability to manipulate the real world probably meant it wasn't that), and not the Mexican kind. It looked a little like ET but with bigger ears and probably a bit shorter. Holly would have guessed that her suitcase was at least twice its size.

"Careful with that," she instructed anxiously as the creature grabbed hold of her luggage and flinched as it staggered a bit under the bag's weight. Fortunately, a real human blond man came by in time to give an assist and the suitcase was placed on its four wheels with no damage done.

Relaxing a little after that, Holly took out a small handheld mirror and comb to fix her hair. She would have braided it if she'd known she was going to be exposed to that much wind. A good first impression was always important, so she yanked the comb through her snarled tangles until her dark brown hair no longer looked like someone had electrocuted her. Pleased that the perm from her mother's wedding last May remained enough to leave her normally straight hair nicely curled for her first day, she took a deep breath and finally began to move toward the school's entrance.

She was culled away from the older students entering at the same time and instructed to join a group of other kids around her age. She didn't pay them much attention though because her eyes were fixed on the walls. Her private school in North Hollywood had been nothing to be ashamed of, but the paintings here were something else. While the portraits of the school patrons back home seemed to be staring at you no matter where you stood, these portraits actually turned their heads and moved about and otherwise did things portraits were not supposed to do.

For a few rough moments, Holly was sure that her therapist's secretary was wrong about her being a witch and Holly really was going schizophrenic. Paintings did not move. It had to be a visual hallucination. Fortunately, the other kids seemed to see them doing the same things, too, so Holly was able reassure herself that it was probably just magic. Either that, or she was still in Hollywood, in a deep catatonic state, and having a very complex delusional dream. She pinched herself to make sure. "Ouch," she complained as the pain evinced that either this was real or her dream was internally consistent.

Not long after that, they were led into a great hall that not even her old private school could match. Holly managed not to gape, however, because not even this place compared to some of the events she'd gone to with Mom, like the Academy Awards Ceremony. Mom hadn't won Best Actress last year, but getting nominated was almost as good. A goblet was passed into her hands and she drank from it as she was supposed to do.

With dismay, she looked back toward the front of the line and saw them all turning various colors. Looking down at herself, she shrieked as she saw that she'd turned brown. Of course, yellow, red, or blue would have been worse. At least some people actually were brown skinned and her hair and eye color didn't clash with her new coloring. Still, she didn't like changing her race without some kind of warning.

Not falling for the trap to judge her new schoolmates based on skin color (even if it wasn't their natural skin color), she instead looked for the important things. Nail polish, fine clothes, neat hair, and good posture. She'd seen from the other people on her wagon that while Sonora Academy might be a boarding school, it did not have discerning taste when it came to selecting pupils. It would not do to sit with uncouth people. Holly was very delicate.

Even if she wasn't crazy like everybody had thought for so long.

Spotting one girl who appeared to fit her specifications, Holly moved toward her. "Excuse me, may I sit with you?" A study of the other faux-brown skinned people had not revealed anyone of equal social class and she was reluctant to have to deal with the masses. Wasn't that the point of private boarding schools? "I am not convinced the others of my coloring have proper table manners and I would rather avoid watching them chew."\r\n\r\n
1 Holly Greer Dream or reality (wotw) 123 Holly Greer 0 5


Chelsea Brockert

September 08, 2007 4:23 PM
The moment Chelsea arrived at the Hall, she was brought to the goblets with the other first years. She noticed that some seemed scared of this. She gave them a superior look and downed it like Grandpa Frank and her cousin Marshall had downed the booze at her cousin Oliver's wedding. What babies some of those others were! She had even seen one girl's mouth being forced open by another. That was so pathetic . Chelsea was pretty sure even Adam hadn't had that done. Of course he wouldn't have had anyone to do it for him anyway, but she knew that at least her brother tried to maintain some dignity. Or was at least excessively paranoid to the point where he wouldn't want to make the wrong move and be tormented. Chelsea gave the girl a look of total disdain.

Her skin was flushed a brilliant blue now. Chelsea wasn't quite sure how to feel about that. Respectable purebloods tended to be Crotali. Those were the kind of friends Chelsea wanted to make (though thanks to her parents' overly tolerant upbringing she'd be friends with even half-bloods or muggleborns who acted right, in other words, like her. ) On the other hand, Adam and her second-cousin Lily were both there. They were embarassing . Even though her brother was better than that freaky little girl who had her mouth forced open, he was still a wimp. Lily was a filthy half-blood (Chelsea didn't have a problem with proper acting ones, but she didn't like having one as a relative ) and a barbarian who enjoyed injuring others.

She wouldn't have wanted Teppenpaw, either,not that she'd ever have been put there. Chelsea was sick and tired of being in the shadow of her "perfect" older sister. Kaylie was such a goodie-goodie too. The only good thing was that she was so naive, gullible and trusting, that she saw everyone as good and Chelsea could easily fool her. She was sort of enjoying how Kaylie was coming apart at the seams, even though she wanted to see her sister married to a nice pureblood like Chris Dupree.

Plus the freaky girl and her friend were in Teppenpaw too. Ew!

As her glance fell on her brother,sitting alone of course, a malicious smirk formed on her lips. People were always trying to build Adam's self-esteem by telling him he was smart. Now Chelsea could have some fun by saying since she was in Aladren, that made her smarter than Adam was.

Chelsea settled back on a chair. None of the new Aladrens looked particularily like people she was eager to greet. She ordered a salad and began to eat, when someone spoke to her

Excuse me, may I sit with you?"

She looked the girl up and down, before deciding she passed inspection. "Yes, you may."

"I am not convinced the others of my coloring have proper table manners and I would rather avoid watching them chew."

Chelsea laughed genuinely. Not too loudly though, as that would not have been ladylike. "You got sorted into Pecari didn't you? They aren't well known for their manners, table or otherwise." She commented before introducing herself. "I am Chelsea Brockert of the Colorado Brockerts. Although my parents, siblings and I live in Portland, Oregon." Their technical branch was Colorado, no matter where her own immediate family lived. Saying Portland Brockerts or Oregon Brockerts was reserved for her little brother, Evan, when he had a family of his own, if that was where he chose to live.
11 Chelsea Brockert And so it begins... 108 Chelsea Brockert 0 5

Holly

September 08, 2007 5:29 PM
Holly looked down at her hands when she was asked if she was in Pecari and found that her skin had returned to her normal tanned hue. "Is that the brown one?" she asked, uncertain, as she took the seat across from the girl who had also stopped being blue. Holly was a bit relieved that it was only a short-lasting effect.

She was a bit taken aback by the introduction and she was certain just saying Holly wasn't going to cut it for her own. She debated with herself how to answer, whether to give her real but exceedingly boring name, or to answer with the one she had taken to calling herself by. She decided to go with the later. 'Greer' was hideously dull and surely any resulting confusion later could be easily explained once the other girl understood what a burden the unattractive name was.

"I am Holly Thistle of the Hollywood Thistles," she said, mimicking the form Chelsea had used, "My father, step-mother, half-sister, and I live in North Hollywood, however," she explained. She wondered if she should add where her mother and step-father lived, but she wasn't sure exactly which city Michael's house was in. They all sort of ran together near LA.
1 Holly In the beginning... 123 Holly 0 5


Chelsea

September 12, 2007 1:56 PM
Chelsea raised her eyebrows at Holly's introduction. "I've never heard of a Thistle family. My mother's family is from Northern California so I'm pretty familiar with pureblood families located there. You're muggle-born aren't you?" She went on. "And yes, Pecari is the brown one. I turned blue, so I am in Aladren myself. We're considered the brainy house. I'm not sure how I was placed there, because school work is hardly my top priority, but the goblet has spoken. Likewise, I am not sure how you, with your manners and dress got placed in Pecari, which is far from full of the respectable. I think there are a few, but very few." She nodded back to the others. "Red people will be in Crotalus and yellow ones go into Teppenpaw."

She leaned back in her seat and considered things. Holly might be a muggle born, yes, but Chelsea could tell that somehow she had managed to evince manners and breeding and seemed to have status amongst the muggle community. (She had been told that there were upper-class muggles just like there were upper-class purebloods) What the new Pecari was lacking, was probably a basic understanding of the magical world she was now a part of. Chelsea could help Holly and teach her how to understand the magical world that she was now a part of.

"Oh and a muggle-born is someone who has no magical relatives, such as you. It's considered very rare that a muggle-born will have magical relatives, except their own children someday. A pureblood, such as me, is someone whose family is all magical. A half-blood is a combination of both, like the offspring of a muggle and a pureblood. That's the simplest way to explain that, but there are other ways to be one, like if a muggle-born married a pureblood, their children would still be half-bloods. One must have four magical grandparents to be considered pure. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me." Chelsea gave Holly another genuine smile. After all, Chelsea was an Aladren, which meant she was smart, and she was pureblood, so she could tell Holly just about anything she needed to know about the magical world.
11 Chelsea ...I wasn't supposed to be evil. (Wotw) 108 Chelsea 0 5


Anabel McIntosh

September 13, 2007 11:15 AM
It had all started with the murder of Kay Love. Although quite young at the time, Anabel could still recall her father's reaction to the news that there had been a murder at Salem, and that her cousin Leslie had witnessed it no less. Several generations of McIntoshes had attended Salem. It was given that she would be attending the school as well. But on that day, her father began to question the safety of the school and the administration's standards.

It had only become worse as the years continued and more incidents occurred. One by one, her cousins Trey and Lizzy had too departed for Salem. The school began to be covered in the media and her father's reservations regarding the school became louder and more pronounced.

Her father put his foot down finally following the battle. Anabel, unable to fall asleep, had decided to sneak downstairs for a glass of water. Finding her parents in deep conversation, Anabel had remained outside the kitchen doors, hidden in the shadows. 'Students,' he had stated to her mother, 'should be safe in their environment. The faculty at Salem should have done everything in their power to keep those students safe. Trey and Elizabeth were there. I don't understand John. He knows the risks and yet continues to send them back.'

Her father had paused then, his jaw setting as he stared straight at her mother. 'I don't care if our family has been doing so for generations. I won't have Anabel attend that school.'

Anabel had gone to bed that night full of nerves and endless, unanswerable questions. When she awoke the next morning, she had finally come to a decision as a grin formed on her face. Unlike her cousins, who had been dragged down by the reputations of former generations, she would have the opportunity to attend another school. She would be the first, the only.

And she couldn't wait.

***

Breathing in deeply, Anabel held her head high and entered the school. Being the first McIntosh to attend a school besides Salem, she would have the welcome opportunity of making her family's mark on this new school. She could set the pace, avoiding the legacy left by her family and the shadow of her elder cousins. She was the first, the brightest, the only.

Smoothing her robes, Anabel prepared herself for the revealing process. Unlike her cousins, she had arrived at school unaware as to what house she would be entering. The anxiety and excitement were nearly consuming her. As a means to distract herself, Anabel found herself measuring up the students surrounding her. Her nose wrinkled at a few- she hoped they wouldn't be in her house!

Squaring her shoulders, she turned her attention to the chalice being offered to her. Brow quirking, she considered it for a moment. Looking around her, she noticed that other students had already begun to drink theirs. She couldn't let them outdo her. With a mock salute of the chalice, Anabel downed the contents.

Moments passed before she noticed that a change had occurred. Her eyes easily landed on the manicured hand holding the goblet and widened as she realized that it had turned a bright shade of red. Closing her eyes momentarily, she tried to remember exactly what she had read about each house. Red was…Crotalus; she was almost positive. She hoped the house would at least be acceptable to her.

Entering the hall, Anabel noticed that the other first years were moving off to their respective houses. She stepped forward and began making her way to greet her housemates. She had only made it a portion of the way before she paused, hearing the conversation between two of her fellow first years. “One must have four magical grandparents to be considered pure. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me,” the girl in blue was saying to one in brown.

Taking just one more glance at the group of Crotali, Anabel decided she’d much rather spend the feast with these girls. Waiting for a break in their conversation, Anabel smiled brightly before introducing herself, “Anabel McIntosh, of the Georgia McIntoshes. Would you mind terribly if I joined you? Some of the other first years seem to be…” she paused as she tried to think of an appropriate word, “strange.”
0 Anabel McIntosh And then there were three. 120 Anabel McIntosh 0 5

Holly

September 13, 2007 11:49 AM
Holly was about to ask Chelsea what she meant when that was made unnecessary by a helpful explanation that came without prompting. It made sense, she supposed, though she wasn't sure she like the implication that she herself wasn't 'pure'. Of course, as none of her grandparents had magic, perhaps that simply meant she was a pureblood muggleborn. Yes, that made sense. Her blood wasn't mixed either.

Before she could think of a question to ask or thank Chelsea for her offer - both of which she intended to do - another girl joined them, sporting the red skin of which was the one Chelsea had said? Croatatius? No, Croatalius? No, Crotalus. That was it.

Holly smiled at her in warm greeting because she, too, seemed to exhibit all the earmarks of the upper crust. She even used the same formula that Chelsea had used to introduce herself. "Hello, Anabel," she said, "you may certainly join us. I am Holly Thistle of the Hollywood Thistles. All eight of my grandparents are non-magical." Because that was twice as many grandparents as most people had, she added in explanation, "My parents are both re-married."
1 Holly Welcome then 123 Holly 0 5


Anabel

September 17, 2007 12:28 PM
Taking a seat, Anabel listened as Holly introduce herself. The Hollywood Thistles. Well, she had never heard of them. It was easily explain, however, when Holly continued, stating that her family was non-magical. "Ah, so you're a Muggleborn," Anabel stated. "Well, welcome to the wizarding world," she finished, smiling broadly.

Being Muggleborn wasn't so terrible though, Anabel reminded herself. Her Aunt Miranda was one, and she was perfectly acceptable. Of course, Holly had stated that her parents were re-married, which of course meant that her parents had divorced. Divorce was something that just wasn't really done in the wizarding world, at least not between the most exclusive families. However- Holly had said that she was from Hollywood. Hollywood, she recalled, was an area for the powerful and posh Muggles. The ones that were known to star in those movies.

Smoothing her hands softly over her robes- Anabel was relieved to note that the bright red was fading away- she looked at Holly once more, smiling as she inspected her. The girl was of the upper crust, of that she was certain. From the way Holly dressed to the way she spoke, it was evident that she was beyond acceptable company.

Her smile warmed. "Isn't Hollywood where they make some of those Muggle movies? My cousin has taken me to a few of them and they were pretty neat. Have you seen many?"



\r\n\r\n
0 Anabel Thanks 0 Anabel 0 5


Chelsea

September 18, 2007 1:00 PM
Chelsea's brown eyes glittered as she smiled widely up at Anabel. A McIntosh was someone from a prominent family, the South she believed. She wasn't as familiar with the family as she was with some others aside from that they were purebloods given they didn't attend Sonora before. However, she knew full well they were important and Anabel seemed to have class.

She waited as Holly finished and then introduced herself. "I am Chelsea Brockert of the Colorado Brockerts." Chelsea assumed Anabel would have heard of her family, being that she had heard of Anabel's. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Anabel."

Chelsea listened as Anabel mentioned Hollywood being place for posh and powerful Muggles. Nice! That must be why Holly had proper manners. She herself had never seen a movie and really wasn't sure what they were. To her, learning about Muggle culture simply wasn't that important. Of course, now she might have to in order to better understand Holly's life a little. The important thing was that at least she seemed like one of them in attitude and style, no matter what her background.
11 Chelsea You're welcome. 108 Chelsea 0 5

Holly

September 23, 2007 5:57 PM
Anabel and Chelsea both seemed like more than decent people, Holly was pleased to note. Both were properly mannered, well dressed, and fine company. Anabel even seemed to know a little bit about Hollywood, which would save a lot of explaining. "Yes, Hollywood is where the muggles," she put an extra bit of emphasis on the strange new word, "make movies. My mother is an actress. She's been in tons of them, though I'm only allowed to watch the ones that are PG."

For Chelsea's sake, because she seemed to know as much about the muggle world as Holly did the magical one, she added, "That means there's very little violence, bad language, or nudity and is suitable for children. She's in a bunch of dramas that get a little explicit, which I think is why she keeps getting divorced. Michael is step dad number six." She held up a thumb on one hand and all five fingers on the other to demonstrate the number of remarriages Holly had lived through (her own dad was husband number 3). "But that's pretty normal for Hollywood celebrities. It's the paparazzi, you know? Every little thing gets blown out of proportion and is in the news for weeks. Michael's also an actor, so the tabloids are already talking about how rocky their marriage is even though it's not, yet."

She rolled her eyes and sighed heavily. "Daddy's the District Attorney of Los Angeles, and he isn't in the news half as much and when he is, it's about work, which is why his second marriage is still going. And my step-mother, Courtney, owns her own catering business and isn't in the news at all, so her first marriage is doing great."
1 Holly And so we are three 123 Holly 0 5