Headmaster Bulla

November 11, 2008 9:30 AM
Another new year, Manfred thought to himself as he glanced out the window at the last batch of students alighting from the wagons and heading boisterously towards the main entrance. There were almost certainly Pecari's in that crowd. The sky was starting to darken, so he left his office and strolled down the hall of plants, heading for the main lobby of the school and from there into the Cascade Hall. He acknowledged Mims on his way past, nodding at the old portrait's greeting.

"We'll see," he said to a query. "Just because they've done so well in the past few years doesn't mean that Crotalus has the House Cup wrapped up for this year too! I suspect that Teppenpaw might give them a run for their knuts this year." Or Aladren, or even Pecari, but although he strove to be fair and equal in his treatments of all the students at Sonora, the house one spent seven years in - not to mention was the Head of for some years - did keep some allegiance. "I'm sure you'll keep careful note and be sure to keep me up to date though."

He made his way to the staff table at the front of the room, nodding at Kiva who had come for the feast despite the time and commute, and Sadi who was still acting as his Deputy, but specifically he sought out Charles Schmidt, the new Potions Master.

"And now the test of fire," he said, with an almost unusual amount of levity. "This will be the first time in eight years that anyone new has made the sorting potion. I do hope you've made enough for all our first years." And that it worked, he thought but did not say. The man's appearance gave one small pause for doubt, but his credentials had been quite respectable.

Nodding and indicating that they would talk more later during the feast, if Professor Schmidt wished to, Manfred took to the centre stage. He checked his pocket, patting it to make certain that he hadn't forgotten the box containing the badges he had to give out, and once satisfied looked out over the gathering students. Most of the older years had taken their seats, although a couple dashed in as he decided everyone was there. Directing a look at them that was designed to send them sheepishly to their places, Manfred nodded to indicate that the potion should be brought in and took his seat. The sorting had commenced.

Goblets, filled with a potion somewhat unique to Sonora and generally only known to those who had held the position of Potions Master or Mistress - it was, after all, a strictly held secret - there, were given to each new student while the rest of the school looked on. The potion was clear and bubbling, just as it always did and Manfred nodded with satisfaction. All would go as per normal then.

Of course, for some of those new students, what was about to happen was anything but normal.

The potion changed their colour - from tip to toe, hair, nails and everything - the dominant colour of the house they were to belong to. Those who turned a bright blue were beckoned towards the table where the Aladren students had gathered for the feast, while those who went deep red were summoned to join Crotalus, the muddy brown first years were raucously cheered over to Pecari and the others, who were sunshine yellow were warmly welcomed to Teppenpaw, each by the older students already assembled and well used to seeing this spectacle. The colours didn't last long, generally a few minutes at the most, but that was generally quite long enough for the house to be obvious and the unsuspecting first years to get quite a surprise. Manfred waited until things were starting to settle down again and then stood.

"Good evening," Manfred said to the gathered staff and students. "Here we are again for what promises to be another exciting year at Sonora Academy. I hope you are all rested after your summer holidays and looking forward to a year of learning, quidditch, soccer - if Mister Hodges continues his usual efforts in the gardens - or participating in any of the other clubs and activities that I'm sure will continue this year. I'm sure that Mister Elms and his friends will be looking for new people to join his Novelling Fury, and Mister Ashwood will be continuing with the Charms club amongst others. And, as our older students know, there will be a school concert at the end of the year to celebrate the Summer Solstice. So, there should be plenty to keep you all occupied and enjoying yourselves this year!

Now, there are a few more small announcements to be made, and then you can all enjoy the feast that the Prairie Elves have been working hard to prepare for us. Firstly, I would like to introduce our new Potions Master. As our older students will remember, Professor Connell left in the middle of last year and were lucky enough," if you didn't include the wall and the disruption it had caused, "to secure Professor Hallmond to sub for the spot for the remainder of the year. This year we have a proper replacement, and I hope you will all give Professor Schmidt the proper respect his position deserves."

He moved out to the front of the stage while the students were dutifully clapping their new Professor, pulling the box out of his pocket as he went.

"Now, I would like to call some students to the front of the room. If Mr Paul Tarwater of Aladren, Mr José Santoro of Crotalus, Miss Elfenbein Eriksson of Pecari and Miss Eavan Valentine of Teppenpaw could make their way up here... Oh yes, and if Miss Izabella Santoro and Mr Christobel Dupree of Aladren could join them..."

With a wordless gesture and smile, he left the older two students off to one side while he greeted the first four summoned in a voice lowered from the tone he had used to talk to the entire gathering.

"Congratulations all of you. As I'm quite certain you've worked out you four have been selected to serve as prefects. Please 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 and the Head Boy and Head Girl if a situation arises. I'm sure you will do us all proud in your new capacity."

All four were handed prefect badges - bronze metal embossed with the crest of Sonora and the word 'Prefect' underneath the crest. Manfred straightened up again afterwards to address the school again.

"A round of applause for the four students who have been chosen to join the ranks of our school prefects. I won't keep them up here, although I'm sure I'll be talking with them all very soon," he shooed them back down towards their friends, paying particular attention to Josh before beckoning the new Crotalus Prefect's older sister and Mr Dupress over. "And last, but most certainly not least, our new Head Boy and Head Girl." He handed the two the last remaining badges from the box, but made sure not to close it, as the interim badges that had been handed out at the end of last year would have to be returned to the box. They were a little bigger than the Prefect badges, one of which Christobel had already pinned to his uniform, and the Quidditch Captain badges although were of the same basic pattern - the school crest and the title of their newly official role embossed smartly into the metal. "I'll need the interim presumptive badges back," he said quietly to them both, taking advantage of the congratulatory noise the rest of the hall had erupted in.

He returned the badges to their box once they were handed to him, and closed the lid, before slipping it back into his pocket.

"As I can't justify keeping you from your feast any longer," he said with a what might have been a twinkle in his eye, "Enjoy!"

He waved his hand and each and every table was suddenly groaning under a multitude of dishes plates and jugs, each filled to the brim with one or another of a quite impressive variety of foods and drinks. Enough, indeed, that no student had yet found the feast lacking, and no student was ever likely too.

As he moved back to his seat, he noticed another person in the hall. He frowned, pausing midstep. The man in the far corner of the room nodded at him and then slipped out of the room. Manfred stood there for a moment, looking at the door he had left by and obviously thinking before continuing to his seat.

"How is Emery getting on?" he asked Kiva, as he selected some food distractedly.\r\n\r\n
Subthreads:
39 Headmaster Bulla Let the Opening Feast Commence! 2 Headmaster Bulla 1 5


Cecily Smythe

November 12, 2008 3:06 PM
Cecily was feeling rather apprehensive about this year. There were going to be far too many of her family within the school for her to ever properly relax, she knew it. Not only was Lucas’ little sister a terrible tell-tale, but Cynthia had started Sonora, too. That just wasn’t fair. Lucas was a quiet sort, so Cecily could ignore him most of the time, but Cynthia was far too outspoken. She couldn’t be ignored. Besides, Cecily spent most of her holidays trying to stop Milly and Cynthia from killing each other. Somehow she feared this pastime might transfer to school. At least those two weren’t likely to spend much time in class with each other but, as had been predicted, they would all three of them be in the same house.

She was determined not to let it bother her, but family coupled with warring roommates wasn’t going to be fun. Despite Laurie’s pleading in the yearbook, Cecily couldn’t imagine that she and Anabel were going to see eye-to-eye for very long with Renaye.

Lost in thoughts, Cecily didn’t really notice where she sat in the Hall. Even when the food arrived, she didn’t feel inspired to take any. Instead she stared without seeing at a spot on the table top. “Better stuck with them here than at home, I suppose,” she said aloud. Her voice didn’t hold its usual enthusiasm, and it took her a short while to realise someone had replied to her musing. “Pardon?” she said, not having registered the initial utterance.
0 Cecily Smythe This can't be good 122 Cecily Smythe 0 5


Kendra Paully

November 14, 2008 4:08 PM
Kendra didn’t really like the extravagance of having your skin turn an abnormal color. She found it slightly disturbing, if not helpful at the least. She could tell who the other first years were and what table was actually her table. She peered down at her skin, hoping for nothing other than red. Her heart fluctuated as she saw the red glow from her skin. She squealed to herself and tried to walk calmly over to the Crotalus table. Once she got to the table she looked it over and sighed. She had no one to sit with. She tried to find an open spot that wasn't surrounded by people that talked obnoxiously. She found a spot a bit farther from the end and sat down. She sat and waited for the rest of the first years to sit down also.

She noticed that even as her skin wasn't completely back to its original color, it was still wearing off fairly quickly. She smiled and looked over to see how many people had been accepted to the other houses. She smiled as she saw a fair amount of first years sitting down and also examining their skin.

There was a fair amount of shouting as prefects and head boy and girl were chosen and then the Headmaster started the feast. Kendra looked around the table and scooped potatoes and two pieces of buttered bread onto her plate. She peered next to her and noticed a girl who seemed to be contemplating a difficult situation in her head. Kendra tried to focus on her meal and get to the commons as quickly as she could, but her attention kept getting caught by the girl. Kendra had almost focused completely on her meal when the girl started muttering to herself. Kendra listened in, even thought every fiber in her body told her to mind her own business.

“Better stuck with them here than at home, I suppose,” she said aloud.

"They can't be that bad, whoever they are." Kendra replied, forgetting that she wasn't being talked to. She realized this fact as soon as she had said it. Her eyes widened and she stiffened. She glanced over at the girl. She seemed to not have noticed. Almost as if in slow motion, Kendra saw the girl turn to face her.

"Pardon?" she said.

She must not have heard her entirely the first time. Kendra contemplated simply saying she was asking for some food near the girl, but realized that the food there was not to her liking. She looked back up at the girl and breathed silently, or so she tried.

"Uh. Well, they can't really be that bad, but not that I would know. I don't know anyone here." Kendra said quickly, hoping to not cause offense of any kind. She smiled what she thought to be a friendly yet slightly appologetic smile before waiting for the girl to react.
0 Kendra Paully What's not good? 0 Kendra Paully 0 5


Chelsea Brockert

November 14, 2008 4:16 PM
Chelsea was honestly glad to be back at school. It was awful to be stuck at home. She would much prefer to be back at Sonora with her friends than back in Portland with her family. While she was incredibly proud to be a member of the Brockert clan,Chelsea wasn't overly fond of her siblings. Adam was a wimp, Kaylie was an idiot (which somewhat worked to Chelsea's advantage) and she downright hated Nina. Plus, if it weren't for Adam, Evan and Kaylie, she would be heir. Nina was simply a pain in her backside. The only one she could find no immediate objection to was Hope, and Chelsea merely wasn't interested in the six year old.

Not to mention, nearly everything this summer focused on Kaylie and Adam, what with Kaylie graduating and going off to college and Adam having to go start learning his heirship duties and getting his CATS results. The plus with her brother's thing, was that he wasn't actually home most of the summer. It irritated Chelsea, however, that Adam was the one who got to go off and spend the summer in their great-grandparents' luxurious mansion and attend elegant parties. She would have made a much impression than he probably did.

She scanned the Cascade Hall, looking for one of her friends and spotted Cecily. Chelsea walked over and sat across from her. She was about to greet the Crotalus girl when Cecily spoke.

“Better stuck with them here than at home, I suppose,"

A look of confusion came to Chelsea's face. Was she talking about Laurie and Renaye? The Aladren gave an involuntary shudder at the mere thought of them being in her house. "Whom do you mean?"

“Pardon?”

"I asked whom you meant" Chelsea replied, helping herself to a salad. Puberty had been kind to her thus far, though she would have given anything to have Kaylie's chest, but it would never hurt to start watching what she ate, most of the time. Plus, she was in public, she wasn't going to lower herself to acting unladylike and eating like a pig.
11 Chelsea Brockert I suppose it could be worse... 108 Chelsea Brockert 0 5