I'm feeling red, but I'm seeing blue... on Cascade Hall

Sadi Powell

October 31, 2009 4:08 AM

Welcome to the Opening Feast! by Sadi Powell

The evening was miserable; rain trickled in never-ending dreary streams over the entire state of Arizona, punctuated by an occasional rumble of thunder. The stiffling summer heat only made it all the more unbearable. However, within the grounds of Sonora, where the weather charms were working perfectly, the school appeared beautiful. Sunlight streamed in through the windows of the Cascade Hall, creating a dazzling display of ripples and rainbows as the final rays of the day were reflected by the waterfalls lining the room. Headmistress Sadi Powell had made her way to Sonora in her usual fashion: Apparition. She was wearing her customary plain brown robes and her graying hair was fastened, as usual, in a neat knot at the nape of her neck. She stood quietly in the far corner of the room as returning students noisily made their way into seats, and the first years were gathered by the door. The new students were greeted by Deputy Head Professor Flatt, who looked a little under the weather. He had assured Sadi not half an hour ago that he was fine, but his unusually waxy complexion and a dark ring under each eye told her otherwise. He did, however, seem able to gather the first years together, so Sadi was not concerned for the time being.

When all the wagons were empty, Sadi joined her colleagues - several of them new - at the staff table and called for attention. “Settle down, please,” she said, gentle but commanding, as always. When there was enough quiet to be heard without the assistance of charms, Sadi graced the students with a smile. “To our older students, welcome back. To our first year students, welcome to Sonora Academy.” With Henry’s assistance, each new student was handed a goblet full of a clear, bubbling liquid. When swallowed, this potion would turn the drinker’s skin the corresponding color of the House to which they now belonged: blue for Aladren, yellow for Teppenpaw, red for Crotalus, and brown for Pecari.

Most students enjoyed watching the sorting of the first years. Sadi couldn’t deny that the event had held her interest more thoroughly when she’d been Head of Crotalus, and so could identify her future students, but it was nevertheless an entertaining event. Therefore she waited patiently until all the students had settled once more before returning to her address.

“As always, the prairie elves have provided us with a magnificent feast,” she said, hoping to reel in the attention of those whose minds had wandered. “However, before we eat, I would like to make a few short announcements. Firstly, I would like to congratulate Professor Fawcett on becoming the new potions master here at Sonora, and I would like to welcome back Professor McKindy to teach charms.” Sadi was delighted to welcome back the charms professor, as not only was Aaron a good friend, but she'd had the impression he'd been more popular with the students than his recent counterpart. She was similarly pleased to have John as full time staff, but would miss the freedom of employing a substitute. “I would also," Sadi continued, "like to welcome several new faculty." Her announcement at the end of the previous term that so many of the staff would be leaving them should have indicated to the student that this year would see several new professors. "Our new medic, Cleo Rocamboli," Sadi indicated each new addition to the staff as she mentioned them, "Quidditch Coach Amelia Pierce, Professor Dakin to teach Care of Magical Creatures, Professor Carter to teach transfiguration, and Professor Levy to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts."

“There have also been some alterations in Heads of Houses," Sadi continued after greeting the new professors. Alterations were, of course, necessary, as few of the previous year's Heads remained. "Professor Flatt will continue to lead Teppenpaw, and Professor Fawcett will take charge of Aladren House.” Sadi would normally only elevate staff to Head of House after they'd been teaching at the school for some time, but considering the staff turnover situation this year, she'd been left with little choice. “Crotalus students may welcome Coach Pierce as their Head, and Pecari House will be under care of Professor McKindy.”

“Your Head of House will support and guide you during your time here at Sonora, and they are assisted by prefects and the Head Boy and Head Girl.” Bringing us nicely on to the next announcement, Sadi thought, as she reached into the pocket of her robes and brough forth a small box. “Could this year’s Head Boy, Jose Santoro, and Head Girl, Elly Eriksson, please come to collect their badges.” Sadi congratualted each seventh year, and offered a smile as she handed over the large badges bearing the school crest. “I would like to offer my congratulations this year’s prefects, and ask them please to join me to collect their badges. The prefects are: for Aladren, Grayson Wright. For Teppenpaw, Lucie Dupree. For Crotalus, Laurel Cider, and for Pecari, Holly Greer."

Sadi distributed the badges with a smile and ‘well done’ for each student. She waited for the applause to die down before attracting attention for the last time that evening. “Thank you for listening for so long. I have no more announcements to make, so you are free to enjoy your food.” With a wave of Sadi’s hand, 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 an impressive variety of foods and drinks. Enough, indeed, that no student had yet found the feast lacking, and no student was ever likely to.

As everyone began eating, Sadi made her way to her own seat, and sunk into it, relieved that the hardest part of her day was over. She kept some of her attention of the students, and some of it on Henry Flatt, and some of it on the egg noodles as she dished them onto her plate.

Subthreads:

Teppenpaw First Year! by Tobar Brishen with Kameyrynn Prinzo, Tobar

What a creative way to sort! by Demelza Eagle with Jude Normandy

Deja vu (nm) by Professor Aaron McKindy

Deja vu by Professor Aaron McKindy with Professor Rowan Dakin, Aaron

I'm feeling red, but I'm seeing blue... by Veronica Kerrigan with Rachel Bauer, Veronica

I'm Brown! by Starbuck Gregory with Florenza Di Leo, Starbuck

Uncertain First Year by Anna Berg with James Anthony, Anna, Alessa Hinckley

Sticking with Tradition [Tag: Oliver] by Lutece Anthony with Oliver Abbott, Lutece

Wait a minute, did she just say I'm a Prefect? by Holly Greer with Alexis Ashwood, Cecily Smythe, Anabel McIntosh, Chelsea Brockert, Cecily, Mike Song

Say what, now? (Lucie) by Grayson Wright, I think... with Lucie Dupree, Lucie

New school, new state, new life by Coach Amelia Pierce with Professor John Fawcett

Back, but not better than ever. by Helena Layne with Elly Eriksson, Elly

Crotalus, of course by Ira Stanwick with Jethro Smythe

Stranger in a strange land by Medic Rock with Henry Flatt

Teenage moodiness: check! by Laurel Cider

*Tag Amelia Smythe* Bribes are in tow. by Ian Grimm with Amelia Smythe, Amelia, Ian

Disbelief (tag: Charlie) by Daniel Nash II with Charlotte Abbott, Charlotte

It feels like yesterday we were only 1st years... by Jose and Mateo Santoro

A somewhat messy beginning to second year. . . by David Lancaster

0 Sadi Powell Welcome to the Opening Feast! 3 Sadi Powell 1 5

Tobar Brishen

October 31, 2009 9:33 AM

Teppenpaw First Year! by Tobar Brishen

Tobar Brishen had exited the wagon with a grin; it had felt like home being in the wagon, maybe school wouldn’t be that bad. He had dreaded leading his small gypsy tribe for the four walls of a school, but his father and mother had insisted he get the education they had never had.

Yet now he stood in Cascade Hall his stomach doing acrobatics. He was nervous about the sorting but also the four walls that he was now in. It wasn’t a feeling he was used to due to being the oldest son of the Greenly Brishen, the leader of their tribe.

When the potion was put in his eyes and he wonder what it would due but the Headmistress soon explained. He took a gulp of the potion and looked down as his skin turned yellow. He laughed and smiled. A Teppenpaw he was. He sat down at the table looking around to see if any others had turned yellow.

After the Headmistress introduction of the new teachers and her speech Tobar dug straight in. He wasn’t a shy eater, he was tall and lanky for his age and a growing boy. He needed food! He swallowed his bite and looked at the person next to him and smiled. “Hello! I’m Tobar Brishen.”

0 Tobar Brishen Teppenpaw First Year! 152 Tobar Brishen 0 5

Demelza Eagle

October 31, 2009 9:50 AM

What a creative way to sort! by Demelza Eagle

From coming all the way from Delaware, Demelza had to admit that tiredness was starting to erupt on her. but, nonetheless, the trip had been an exciting one, for it's not like you travel thousands of miles everyday on a covered wagon. She was really looking forward to meeting other kids of her age and the teachers. And she got her wish of meeting a teacher as soon as she descended out of the giant wagon with her fellow first years. There stood a grown man who must be taking the first years in.

Demelza thought he looked slightly intimidating as he introduced himself as Professor Flatt. His waxy complexion certainly made him look more like a vampire than anything. But she thought he spoke rather well, so she dropped that thought and concentrated on what he said... although Demelza wasn't the best listener.

"Did he say we're gonna take a potion to decide our house?" Demelza whispered to her new friend Flo standing next to her. She listened on. but before she could take in the bizarre way of sorting, a goblet was shoved into her hand and she was directed to drink out of it. Demelza looked at the water- like liquid, shrugged, and was one of the first to gulp it down. It didn't really taste like anything, and for a few seconds she was afraid that it didn't work, and was going to be sent back home on the wagon. But then her skin quickly turned a deep shade of brown that clashed horribly with her hair. she glanced over to Flo, who skin also had turned a deep brown complexion, and grinned at her. they were both in Pecari.

She looked over at the new Aldrens and Crotalus students, and couldn't help but surpass a snigger. the Aldrens looked like they were suffocating and the Crotalus looked as though they had been out in the sun too long. but she couldn't linger over it too long because it had soon worn off, and they were all ushered over to their seats. Demelza sat in between some fellow Pecari's and listened to Headmistress Powell. She pulled her long maine of dark brown hair behind her ears and looked up toward the headmistress....

Hearing about all these new appointments seemed to dazzle in Demelza's mind. There were a lot of new appointments to keep track of, and she pitied the Head for all that she had to know. But very soon Demelza realized how hungry she was, and was extremely glad when tons of food appeared (the most amount of food she had ever seen in her entire life) in front of her. Immediately, she dug into her chicken, and thinking bout everything she was about to experience for the next seven years at Sonora. and maybe one day that would be her receiving the Head girl badge. the thought made her smile.

0 Demelza Eagle What a creative way to sort! 157 Demelza Eagle 0 5

Professor Aaron McKindy

October 31, 2009 10:08 AM

Deja vu (nm) by Professor Aaron McKindy

0 Professor Aaron McKindy Deja vu (nm) 0 Professor Aaron McKindy 0 5

Professor Aaron McKindy

October 31, 2009 10:08 AM

Deja vu by Professor Aaron McKindy

Aaron McKindy turned the knob of his old/new classroom, grinning with satisfaction as the heavy door swung open at his urging. The first time he’d arrived at this room, the man recalled, he had spent at least twenty minutes trying to magically unlock the door before even thinking about trying the knob. Things had changed a bit since then. For instance, this time Aaron was not entering Sonora as a complete unknown, turning to teaching simply because his application had been accepted by Manfred Bulla. He was returning to Sonora at the request of his old friend, Sadi Powell, and as a Head of House at that!

Levitating his medium-sized red trunk, Aaron nodded his head approvingly. The room was still a generic classroom, with desks lined up neatly in rows. It was painfully obvious that nobody had been in the room at all over the holidays. He let the trunk rest on one of the desks, then pulled out a small key to unlock it; Aaron McKindy had never been one to leave things about that could be magically unlocked, and he wasn’t about to begin now, especially after spending years teaching in magical schools.

The trunk opened to reveal a plethora of rolled up posters, a mirror, and various other things. It had obviously been the victim of an especially optimizing Enlargement Charm as the trunk held much more than its natural capacity.

Aaron pulled out the posters and began setting up his old/new classroom, sticking the posters to the wall with a Semi-Permanent Sticking Charm that would probably survive what most students could manage to come up with while still allowing removal should the time come again--not that Aaron was planning on being thick enough to leave his position at Sonora once more. He decided to alternate between wizards and Muggles of notable achievement. Nicholas Flamel with the Sorcerer’s Stone, then Albert Camus, a favorite author. Bowman Wright, inventor of the current Golden Snitch, then Manfred von Richtofen. Abraham Peasegood, Robert Jordan. Aaron slipped into an almost trance-like state, sticking the posters up. The repetitive action was soothing, and he probably wouldn’t have noticed if a tornado had hit right next-door.

Eventually, though, even his seemingly endless supply of posters ran out. Aaron smiled in satisfaction at the walls. Most of the wizards, thrilled to be out of the trunk after so many years of storage (as Aaron hadn’t had a classroom at RMI, he had never taken the posters out), were already moving from poster to poster, chatting happily. The Muggle posters didn’t move, of course, even though Aaron had spelled them to speak occasionally. Returning to the trunk, Aaron pulled out a medium-sized, bronze-rimmed mirror and walked carefully to the back of the room, where he hung it in the middle of the wall, between the two windows. Perfect for letting him know unobtrusively what students in the back were doing.

He glanced into the mirror, examining his reflection. Aaron McKindy was approximately six feet in height with longish black hair and grey-green eyes. His height and eyes set him very much apart from most of his short, brown eyed family. His clothing set him apart from most of the sane world.

Aaron was garbed in the same white and grey trainers he’d worn the first time around, but even though he enjoyed the comparative freedom of Muggle styles to the robes of wizards (and dressed as such whenever possible), Aaron was currently wearing his best dress robes: crimson, with a silver, moving dragon Charmed into the design. He gave himself a friendly nod in the mirror, then went over to the red trunk to extract the final item—an old-fashioned top hat made of huge, transparent pink bubbles.

Now that everything really important was worked out, Aaron conjured a cup of hot tea, sat atop a desk, and began illegibly scribbling out ideas for what his first Head of House speech was going to be like.

It was with a distinct satisfaction and slight feeling of excitement that Aaron added the finishing touches on his classroom. The posters—Muggle and Magical alike—decorated the walls as they had in the past, Muggle posters shouting words of advice, Magical ones holding conversations amongst themselves. Aaron’s Head of House speech rested in the pocket of his crimson robes, as the silver dragon Charmed into the design shifted slowly around the fabric. Checking to make sure his top hat (made of huge, transparent, pink bubbles) was resting safely on his head, Aaron nervously grinned and set out for the Opening Feast.

Although the Charms Professor hated feasts, he got the nasty feeling that, as Pecari Head of House, he would be attending an awful lot of them in the future. Although Aaron loved working with the students and considered Sadi to be one of his closest friends, particularly after the favour she and Toma had done him and Garen over the summer, he felt a bit anxious as he entered Cascade Hall. Aaron hid it well, greeting Sadi from afar with a grin and a tip of the hat, but couldn’t chase the butterflies from his stomach as he seated himself in what had been his customary position at the staff table.

Halfway through Sadi’s Opening Speech, it hit him that the only person he knew besides Sadi was Tarquin Reynolds. Aaron certainly had never been the social butterfly of the Sonora staff, but he couldn’t help but feel unnerved at the absence of the familiar faces he had come to associate with Sonora. He had, consciously, known that Kiva, Drake, Manfred, Marian, and the rest had gone for one reason or another, but it hadn’t hit him until now.

Aaron couldn’t help but smile as Elly Eriksson came up to collect her Head Girl badge. He liked the idea of being Pecari Head of House; although they had often gotten into more trouble than the other students he taught (with the brief exception of a pair of Teppenpaws his first teaching year), Aaron was usually amused by the antics they got up to, in class and out of it.

And then the speeching was over and the food was out. Realising his right hand had been fiddling with the ring on his left, Aaron self-consciously reached for the dish on his right, serving himself without examination of the actual dish, then passing it on.

0 Professor Aaron McKindy Deja vu 0 Professor Aaron McKindy 0 5

Jude Normandy

October 31, 2009 10:21 AM

I feel like a lizard! by Jude Normandy

Jude Normandy had been informed that he would have to wear shoes, and it did not make him a particularly happy person.

But despite the discomfort and the annoyance, Jude had kept his shoes on during the entire wagon ride, occupying himself with making comics of the older students’ interactions. He had kept his shoes on as the group of first years were lead to the Cascade Hall, almost valuing the height advantage that they gave him—all inch-and-a-half of it—because the older students looked so much bigger than the first years. And even when he was given a funny drink by an unhealthy looking man who could clearly have used some California sun, only to turn a really interesting shade of brown, Jude had kept his shoes on.

Now that the Headmistress was done talking and there was food at the table where Jude apparently belonged, Pecari, he saw absolutely no need to keep his shoes on. After all, the school robes that Jude was wearing were too big for him, sweeping the floor as he walked. Probably nobody would notice to tell him off, right?

Shoes off, the eleven-year-old wiggled his toes experimentally, grinned, and turned to the girl next to him, who was currently smiling into her chicken. Cool! She looked friendly enough, at least.

“So how cool is this?” Jude asked excitedly, taking some chicken for himself and then speaking with his mouth full. “Woah, this chicken is tasty! I’m Jude, by the way. I guess we’re Housemates, right?”

0 Jude Normandy I feel like a lizard! 0 Jude Normandy 0 5

Veronica Kerrigan

October 31, 2009 10:42 AM

I'm feeling red, but I'm seeing blue... by Veronica Kerrigan

“I wonder what House I’ll be in,” Veronica pondered. She put a finger to her chin as she paused for a moment before turning to her sister. “Actually, I wonder what House you’ll be in. I don’t think we’ll be in the same one, do you? Cassie said that they were all based on personality. Though, I suppose,” she sighed heavily, “that if you actually act the way I’ve been trying to get you to act we could be in the same House.”

While she would never admit it, Veronica was fairly insecure and really didn’t relish the idea of being separated for Delilah, even if her twin annoyed her most of the time, which wasn’t surprising since they were as different as night and day from their personalities to even their appearances. This annoyed Veronica somewhat, because since they didn’t look alike, she figured that they should at least act somewhat alike. They were twins after all and in her opinion that made them special. Unfortunately, she couldn’t always get Delilah to agree to this.

Glancing over, she studied Delilah with a critical eye. “I still can’t believe you chose to wear that.” Delilah was dressed in a pair of jeans - admittedly, these were a nicer pair than her usual ones with rips and tears, but she had on those awful shoes, the ones that she was always drawing or coloring on. It made the entire school required robe look shabby in comparison. Beginning to whine, she asked, “Couldn’t you have at least tried to dress a little more nicely? It is our first day. Don’t you want to make an impression?”

Veronica knew that she certainly did and so she had taken extreme care in her appearance for just this moment. She was wearing a light blue dress that ended above the knees with matching shoes. They had a one-inch heel since she wasn’t allowed to wear anything higher. She had painstakingly worked on her blonde hair to give it the right amount of bounce and curl so it sat just at her shoulders. The finishing touch was a light touch of mascara and berry lip-gloss. She thought she looked amazing even with the addition of the school uniform over it.

She was about to comment on such when a voice called on them to settle down. Huffing a bit at not being able to continue, she crossed her arms to listen to what was being said. It also gave her the opportunity to do what she hadn’t done before and that was to look around. Cassie had described the Hall to them over the summer, repeatedly, but there really were no words for how truly amazing it was with its waterfalls. She also decided immediately that one day when she married a reputable, wealthy pureblood (part of her life plan), she was going to mimic the way they cascaded down in her home.

Her attention was short lived on such matters, however, as something new competed for it. They were going to be drinking the potion now, the one that told them what House they were going to be in for the next seven years. Her stomach was twisting and turning in excitement and fear. She couldn’t wait to see what House she ended up in, sure it would be the best House there was, but she was also afraid as to what Delilah was going to get. Slowly, she sipped down the disgusting brew, waiting for what changes would take place, and then it came…

Her hazel eyes widened in dismay and horror. No. It couldn’t be. How could it be? She was blue. She was in the brain House. The potion had to be lying. It just had to be. This was some utterly foul trick, because there was no way, absolutely none, that she could be in that House. That was the House that her anal-retentive sister, Cassie, was in. Cassie was really smart and actually cared about homework and assignments, which she did not. She only cared about her life plan and this was certainly not apart of it. There just had to be a mistake. There had to be.

A slightly maddening smile appeared on her face. The vial of potion that she had received had been tainted and the solution was simple. When things quieted down a bit, she would just have to go talk to the Headmistress and explain the situation. She would obviously see reason and would probably even insist that she be given a new vial to ensure that she was placed in the correct House. Yes, that was it. That was what she would do.

Until then, she decided to go sit calmly at the Aladren table since she was still blue. She would eat the lovely dinner and talk to the residents of that table. Even if she weren’t going to be sitting there the next day, it wouldn’t hurt to make a good impression on them. After all, to achieve ultimate power, one had to have supporters and in large quantities. Yes, another part of the life plan. Without looking at Delilah, who she knew couldn’t possibly be blue, she said, “Let’s meet up at breakfast tomorrow to compare notes. I have some work to do.”

With this, she stride with a confidence that she didn’t really feel over to where the other blue students were sitting. Taking a ladylike seat, she gave an award-winning smile to the closest one. “Hello. I’m Veronica Kerrigan of the North Carolina Kerrigans.” That’s how she had heard her grandmother introduce herself thousands of times. It was how all good purebloods, meaning those worth anything, were supposed to introduce themselves. “And you are?”

0 Veronica Kerrigan I'm feeling red, but I'm seeing blue... 151 Veronica Kerrigan 0 5

Demelza Eagle

October 31, 2009 10:49 AM

What a character... by Demelza Eagle

Demelza couldn't help but laugh at Jude as he spoke to her. Sadly, though, at the moment she laughed, she was in the middle of drinking her milk, which squirted out of her nose. Still laughing intently, she threw her hands up to her face, embarrassed at her foolishness. Did anyone see that?

"Sorry," Demelza muttered through her laughs, and then answered his question. "I'm Demelza, and well, I'm sure you really think I'm the brightest person after you just saw that," she said sarcastically.

"Hey, you want to hear a joke?" She asked trying to spark up conversation, "What did Delaware?" She thought this joke as very comical, being from Delaware. She really didn't wait for an answer as she spoke again quickly.

"What class do you anticipate the most? Are your parents magical? Why are you shoes off?" She asked, looking down at his feet. Oh no, she was doing it again. Rambling on and on and never stop talking... well, she supposed that she was giving jude an early impression of her personality....

0 Demelza Eagle What a character... 157 Demelza Eagle 0 5

Jude

October 31, 2009 11:00 AM

I could say the same by Jude

Although Jude wasn’t exactly in the girls-have-cooties stage of his life, he was pretty excited when the girl he was talking to, who then introduced herself as Demelza, squirted milk out of her nose. That officially made her a not-lame girl. Jude didn’t particularly like hanging out with the girls who did their hair up all nice and only talked about popular music and what was on TV. The eleven-year-old didn’t watch much TV either; he spent most of his time outside, hanging out. And as far as popular music went, Jude was of the opinion that it was pretty boring. Then again, maybe he was a little bit of a music snob—his parents had named him after a Beatles song, after all.

“I thought it was pretty cool,” Jude said honestly, grinning as his blue eyes examined the girl, who then went on to sort of half-tell a joke and bombard him with questions. The boy’s eyes grew wide as he tried to keep track of exactly what was going on; in the interest of keeping the conversation in one piece, he decided to skip the Delaware joke (even though he had never heard it before) and just go on to answering Demelza’s questions. He decided that he would have to call her Mel. Demelza was the sort of name that Jude was going to trip over whenever he said it.

“I don’t know,” Jude answered in the same sort of rapid-fire way the questions were being asked. “And no, my dad’s an artist and my mom’s an environmentalist. I live in California. And I don’t like shoes,” the Pecari made a disdainful face when he said the word ‘shoes’. “Can I call you Mel? I think that would be an awesome nickname. Are your parents magical? Why are your shoes on?” The boy thought that trading question-for-question was a good plan. Plus, he had never really understood why people wore shoes. His dad usually didn’t. He said it inhibited his Art. He even said it with the capital letter attached.

All over Cascade Hall, there were people eating and talking, and it was probably more people than Jude had ever seen in one place ever, except the one week he’d attended normal public school before his parents had decided to homeschool him.

0 Jude I could say the same 0 Jude 0 5

Starbuck Gregory

October 31, 2009 11:26 AM

I'm Brown! by Starbuck Gregory

Starbuck Gregory entered the hall with wide eyes. She was a witch, it had been true, and she thought it was an elaborate hoax set up by some television show but after the long ride in the wagons she was sure it was real. Being a muggleborn she worried she would be behind everyone in the school but it seemed all the first years were amazed just as she was.

The drink that the Professor had given her tasty a bit odd but she shrugged it off and laughed when everyone began to change colors. She gasped as her pale skin turned brown, she was a Pecari! She giggled a bit as she made her way over to the table and sat down. She sighed a bit with a smile as she looked at all the food in front of her. It was crazy how all of it had just appeared.

She smiled at the people around her and said. “Hey I’m Starbuck Gregory.” She hoped her housemates wouldn’t try to shorten her name to Star or Buck. It annoyed her to death but she grabbed some food as she filled her plate she said. “Isn’t this exciting?”

0 Starbuck Gregory I'm Brown! 0 Starbuck Gregory 0 5

Professor Rowan Dakin

October 31, 2009 11:37 AM

Nervous addition by Professor Rowan Dakin

Rowan Dakin was nervous she had come to Sonora seeking a change in pace from Dragon Keeper and become the Care of Magical Creatures Professor. But now sitting at the start of term feast her stomached ached. She would be replacing a beloved and respected Professor would the students hold that against her? She hoped it would not but one never knew.

Rowan took the dish from the Charms Professor and passed it on. She had taken few items as she was too nervous to eat but she figured since she was here she should start to get to know her fellow staff. “Hello.” She said with a smile. “You are Aaron McKindy the Charms Professor correct?” She paused and laughed. “I am Rowan Dakin the new Care of Magical Creatures Professor.”

She wore her red robes and made sure they covered the scars on her arms from the Dragons she had kept over the years. “I’m a bit nervous but from what I’ve heard you’re a returning professor so I’m sure you’re not nervous.”

0 Professor Rowan Dakin Nervous addition 0 Professor Rowan Dakin 0 5

Delilah Kerrigan

October 31, 2009 11:38 AM

Just inserting myself in grins by Delilah Kerrigan

Delilah smiled politely as Veronica rambled on, but in truth, she wasn’t paying much attention to her sister. There were just too many other things going on. In addition to looking around the awesomeness of the Hall, there were so many new faces. Aside from going out somewhere, she didn’t normally see so many people. They lived in a small, gated community. Small, because though there was a lot of land, there weren’t many homes. Each house was like hers in that it was fairly large with a decent sized yard. It was one of the extravagances allowed by her father and only because it was actually an investment. Or maybe it was because her grandmother had made him. Who knew?

It didn’t really matter. No, all that mattered right now was trying to figure out who all these people were. She wanted to know which ones she was going to be in a House with and she really hoped that they weren’t anything at all like Veronica. She loved her sister, but sometimes, she was just too much, like how she was complaining about her shoes. Delilah looked down at her blue and white shoes that were made rainbow with all the other colors on them and wondered what was wrong with them. She happened to like them. They were like a walking memory. She could see the black cat that she had drawn on them last Halloween and then there were signatures and sayings from her friends. Maybe she would even have new friends to write on them, which put a wide grin on her face.

Oh, the moment was coming! There were the goblets just waiting to tell them what House they would be in. She knew that there was absolutely no way that she would turn blue. Blue was the color Cassie had turned and she was in the smart House. Oh, it wasn’t that she wasn’t intelligent, because she was. It just wasn’t academically. School tended to be a bit of a struggle, but it might have had something to do with her attention span or maybe it was just procrastination, because she could always find something better to do than actually learn all of the boring stuff like harassing Cassie all about the different Houses. Oh, she hoped, she hoped. She knew exactly which one she wanted to be in from all of the stories. She eagerly took the goblet.

Brown! Yes, she was brown! Brown meant Pecari. She had heard of the wildness of the bunch. Cassie didn’t much care for them, but then Cassie was Cassie. Actually, Veronica probably wouldn’t care too much for them either, but it was a House suited to Delilah. She couldn’t wait, which made it a really good thing that it seemed as though her sister couldn’t wait either, as she was already gone. Huh. Delilah hadn’t even seen which color Veronica had turned. Oh, well. She gave a shrug. She didn’t suppose it mattered that much as she would find out eventually since hadn’t Veronica said something about breakfast? Hopefully, she remembered.

Joining a bunch of others that looked around her age, she caught the tail end of a conversation and while it wasn’t really her question to answer, she answered it anyhow, “Because they’re fun to draw on.” She said this as she put one foot up on the chair to show off one of the brightly marked up shoes before replacing the shoe with her bottom as she sat down. “Hi. I’m Delilah. Guess we’ll be seeing a lot of each other since we’re in the same House.” She gave a toothy grin to the new faces. “So, what did I miss?” She asked as she took a large helping of the macaroni and cheese. She didn’t think there was anything better in the world than macaroni and cheese. Mmmm. Cheese.

0 Delilah Kerrigan Just inserting myself in *grins* 158 Delilah Kerrigan 0 5

Demelza Eagle

October 31, 2009 12:09 PM

Ah, yes, good point! by Demelza Eagle

Demelza was glad that Delilah had interrupted, because she didn't have a smart answer as to why she wears shoes.

"My answer, too," she smiled at Jude and Delilah. Then, she went head on to answering Jude's questions, although slower this time...

"Mel, I have to say, is an awesome nickname. And, yes, both of my parents are magical. My dad is a muggle-born and my mom is a half-blood. I love to learn all I can about muggles. Oh, and I think that is awesome that your dad is an artist. I'm sort of an artist, if you count musically. I don't care all that much about popular stuff, but I enjoy composing my own songs a lot. I'm an amazing singer, if I do say so myself. Like your guys names," she said, pointing at them," well, your names are in popular songs... oh, man , if only I had a guitar. Oh, well, I'll just sing then." She took a deep breath and let her beautiful voice ring out.

"Hey, Jude. Don't make it bad. Take a sad song, and make it better!" She decided to stop there and then sang a song with Delilah in it, "Hey there, Delilah, what's it like in New York City? I'm a thousand miles away from you, and please do keep pretty, oh, yes you do...," Demelza stopped and thought hard for a few moments, but then smiled.

"I could write way better songs about you guys, though," she said, grinning.

"Oh, and Dela wore a New Jersey," Demelza winked at Jude.

0 Demelza Eagle Ah, yes, good point! 157 Demelza Eagle 0 5

Anna Berg

October 31, 2009 1:48 PM

Uncertain First Year by Anna Berg

Anna filed into Cascade hall with the other First Years. She was at the very back of the group—one of the stragglers. Her robes were too long, and she tripped on the hem once, jostling a student in front of her.

“Sorry,” she muttered, pulling the voluminous robes tighter around her thin frame. She looked around with amazement at the waterfalls. Now I know why they call it Cascade Hall, she mused.

She observed the other students, and with chagrin, realized that she was not as formally dressed as any of them. Suddenly she was glad for the plain black robe that concealed her old, ripped jeans and Converse’s—which happened to be falling apart on her feet. She self-consciously readjusted the dark gray hood that poked out of the collar of her robes.

When it was her turn to be sorted, she took the goblet and drank timidly, eyes on her feet. She looked down at her hands and almost dropped the goblet. They were blue! She gasped and scurried off to the table belonging to Aladren House. Her long, strawberry hair fell over her face, concealing the blush that crept up her neck and into her cheeks. She absolutely loathed being up in front of people, and turning blue made it all the worse. She sat quickly and turned her attention back to the sorting ceremony. She observed those around her—an unconscious habit—and smiled. Her gaze settled on Victoria, whose blonde hair and light blue dress stood out amid the sea of black.

Anna had no friends, no idea where she was going or how she would get there, but she supposed she would get through it like the rest of her life—one day at a time.

0 Anna Berg Uncertain First Year 0 Anna Berg 0 5

Kameyrynn Prinzo

October 31, 2009 1:54 PM

And it begins... by Kameyrynn Prinzo

Kameyrynn Prinzo spent most of the wagon ride adding small braids to her long blond hair and listening to the other students talk, by the time they reached the school about half her head was completed.

As she stood with the other first years waiting for the sorting she looked them over, hoping that maybe one of them would look like her, or any of the other students at that. Not really paying attention to the sorting going on she continued to scan the room.

When her name was called the first time she didn't hear it. As it was called again she whipped her head around narrowly missing hitting her nearest neighbors with her hair. "Sssorry" she muttered to them as she went forward and took the goblet.

Briefly looking into the goblet she smiled and drank it down her skin turning yellow. Muttering to herself "Yellow iss ssso not my color.." She took her seat at the Teppenpaw table and continued her look around.

As the feast started she served herself a well rounded meal and started to tuck in when the yellow skinned boy beside her turned and introduced himself as Tobar Brishen.

Finishing what was in her mouth and swallowing she turned to him and smiled. Offering her hand she said in a harsh sibilant whisper "Hi, I'm Kameyrynn Prinzsso, but you can call me Kamey." She paused for a moment. "Ssso? What do you think of all thisss?"

0 Kameyrynn Prinzo And it begins... 0 Kameyrynn Prinzo 0 5

Tobar

October 31, 2009 2:06 PM

too many walls! by Tobar

Tobar smiled at Kamey she seemed to have a bit of a speech issue but that was no problem for him. He shrugged as he looked around a bit amazed. “It’s a bit too small for me. I’m used to camping in wide open spaces.” He said as he pushed his black hair out of his face and playing with his gold hoop earring nervously. He had earned that just two years ago in his small tribe but he was sure the girl next to him wouldn’t know what it meant.

“I’m the first in my family to come to a school like this but I’m far from a muggleborn. So I’m nervous to see what is all about.” He said with a grin. “What about you? Any family members here to give you a leg up on how this all works?” He hoped it came out friendly, sometimes his odd accent got in the way of people understanding him. It was a mixture of Romania, English, and Germany the three places he had been raised in his gypsy tribe before coming to America two years ago.

0 Tobar too many walls! 0 Tobar 0 5

Adelita Garcia and Dulce Garcia

October 31, 2009 2:32 PM

Then tear them down! by Adelita Garcia and Dulce Garcia

The Garcia sisters climbed out of the wagons one right after the other almost as soon as the wagons had touched ground. This was Lita’s third year coming to Sonora and she still didn’t like the carriages. She hated heights that she wasn’t controlling and as such, she felt sick to her stomach when flying in the wagon. Dulce, on the other hand, looked completely unperturbed by the ride. Of course, that was Dulce for you. She never allowed anything to remotely face her emotionally. She kept all that bottled up and only let it out when she was playing one of her many instruments.

“Okay, Dulce, we separate here. Good luck with the sorting!” Adelita chimed before wandering off to find her best friend. The summer for the girls had been busy and fun. As usual, they spent part of their summer on the Mexican shores in Acapulco with the Santoro side of their family before moving on to spend time with the Chavez’s in Spain. The remaining portion of their summer was spent in their home town of San Francisco where their Garcia side resided and where their friends waited for them. During this portion of their summer, Adelita danced with her group and participated in the summer recital while Dulce continued to take lessons with the piano, violin, and drums. However, this summer was slightly different because Lita got to spend time with Charlie and go to a concert! It had been new and exciting and Lita hadn’t stopped talking about it for weeks.

Now standing amongst the other first years, Dulce looked rather bored waiting to be told when to take a sip. Finally giving the okay, Dulce took a gulp and waited. Finally, the yellow of her skin caused a reaction from Dulce. Her eyes widened ever so slightly and a look of confusion overcame for a split second. If Lita hadn’t been watching her, she might have missed it completely. Still, Dulce turned and walked to the Teppenpaw table as though she had known that was where she was going to be sorted all along.

Dulce knew about the various houses and the traits in which the students were supposed to portray in order to be in that house to begin with. Teppenpaws were known for being friendly and for being diplomatic. Dulce wasn’t necessarily friendly. She wasn’t unfriendly, but she didn’t go out of her way to be extra nice to people. In fact, Dulce tried to avoid people all together. She wasn’t very good at socializing and so, in order to avoid any sort of embarrassment, she just didn’t socialize. Instead, she did all her communicating through the keys of a piano, the strings of her violin, or the beat of her drums.

Beside her, two other first years were talking, but the boy had an interesting accent. Dulce had been many places and since her mother was not an English speaker, Dulce liked to learn about other languages. “Excuse me, sorry to interrupt, but I was wondering where your accent is from?” She asked the boy.

0 Adelita Garcia and Dulce Garcia Then tear them down! 0 Adelita Garcia and Dulce Garcia 0 5

Jude

October 31, 2009 2:39 PM

Haha I knew I would be popular! by Jude

Although Jude did not approve of shoes, he thought that he could make an exception for the shoes of the girl who walked up and plunked her (shoed) foot on the chair to show Jude and Mel the drawings on them. The eleven-year-old could make out a black cat and other drawings, some signatures, some other words. He had to admit that was pretty cool. They were like a scrapbook you could walk on or something! Since Jude got the idea that this school was not going to be a footware-optional establishment, he might have to consider the new girl—Delilah’s—take on this. It sounded like fun, anyway. Scrapbook-shoes would make excellent Christmas presents. Jude would have to remember that when the holidays were a bit closer.

“I’m Jude, and this is Mel,” the light-brown haired boy introduced the two of them to Delilah as he followed her lead and scooped some cheesy macaroni and cheese onto his plate. Somehow, Jude had missed his favourite food ever! It had to be all the new people and excitement around. While he was doing that, Mel was answering his questions, which he figured pretty much would catch Delilah up on what was going on. And as it turned out, Mel was an artist too! A musical artist, and one that knew songs involving both Jude and Delilah’s names. The boy grinned as Mel demonstrated her talent.

Then Mel finished the Delaware joke, and Jude laughed. State jokes always made him laugh, probably because they were usually corny. His mom usually laughed and shook her head and said something about corny jokes running in the guys in the family, but Jude didn’t really mind.

“So guys,” Jude said with a grin, looking up at the staff table. “Did you see who Headmistress Powell pointed out as our Head of House? Was it that guy with the pink bubble top hat? ‘Cause I think he looks almost as cool as we do,” the boy added, with a wink at the other two.

0 Jude Haha I knew I would be popular! 0 Jude 0 5

Jude

October 31, 2009 2:39 PM

OOC by Jude

Hey Mel, I just responded to Delilah's post, so let's work from there on okay?

0 Jude OOC 0 Jude 0 5

Tobar

October 31, 2009 2:42 PM

I don't think our Headmistress would like that! by Tobar

Tobar smiled at the second girl, it didn’t matter to him that she had asked where his accent was from it how to explain it. Certain families in the wizarding world looked down on gypsy families like his. Yet he was proud of his heritage he was from a long line of seers, and some of the best witches and wizards of their time.

“Where isn’t it from?” He asked with a laugh. “I’m from all over but it is mainly a Romanian, English, and Germanic accent. Those countries are were I spent most of my formative years.” He smiled again and looked at her.

“Tobar Brishen, and you are?” He asked with a raised eyebrow once again hoping he was coming off friendly. He did want to fit in and he had enough going against him already.

0 Tobar I don't think our Headmistress would like that! 0 Tobar 0 5

Kameyrynn Prinzo

October 31, 2009 2:45 PM

Re: too many walls! by Kameyrynn Prinzo

Kamey took a quick bite of food while Tobar was talking. She sized him up from the corner of her eye, taking in his lank form and dark hair. She grinned a little as he started playing with his earing in an almost seemingly nervous habit. One she herself could understand as she was consciously trying not to bounce or tap her feet. "I'm usssed to dining hallsss like thisss one.. though not quite ssso big." she said.

"Asss to family membersss here, I really don't know, but i kinda hope ssso. I wasss found when I wasss about three in the wreckage of a boat and grew up in an orphanage. I'm usssed to the whole boading school-like feel." she paused. "It'sss not ssso bad, there isss usssually sssomeone around to hang out with. Really it'sss about all I know.

"You know, I don't think I've ever been out of the city sssince I was turned over to the orphanage. Though I wasss kinda lucky, the Madam wasss a sssquib, ssso sshe knew what wasss happening when I ssstarted throwing around acssidental magic."

"I can't ssseem to placsse your acssent. It sssoundsss sssomewhat germanic, but with a touch of sssomething ssslavic maybe?" Kamey paused again her eyes going a little wide. "Wow, Sorry! I don't think I've babbled thisss much sssince before my firssst performancsse."

She blused a little as she turned back to her plate, her hair falling down to hide her face a bit. One of her hands began tapping out a beat on the table top and a rustling could be heard under the table as one of her legs bounced to the same beat. I can't believe I was babbling like that, she thought, he's going to think i'm some sort of girly girl fluff headed blond.

0 Kameyrynn Prinzo Re: too many walls! 0 Kameyrynn Prinzo 0 5

Tobar

October 31, 2009 2:58 PM

Nonsense! by Tobar

He smiled as she talked and took a couple bites of food making sure to appear as he was listening to her. When she said that he had grown up in an orphanage, no one should have to grow up in one of those. Then again he knew that his way of life was a bit odd. Gypsies took great pride in how close even the extended family was.

He smiled and nodded. “I’m not used to anything but wagons, tents, and the occasional night in a small inn. I used to wide open spaces.” He said with a smile. “These walls aren’t wide open.”

“As for my accent it’s Germanic, English, and Romania, it’s where I’m from. All over the place we gypsies rarely stay in one place long!” He grinned. “We just came to America within the last couples of years, so my parents could find a school that suited our family.”

He waved his hand to dismiss her apology. “I’ve lived with lots of females I’m so used to babbling, yours is not nearly as annoying as theirs.” He said with a wink and laugh.

0 Tobar Nonsense! 0 Tobar 0 5

Lutece Anthony

October 31, 2009 3:10 PM

Sticking with Tradition [Tag: Oliver] by Lutece Anthony

Lutece had spent the summer at her dad’s with James, living amongst Star Wars action figures and learning how not to trip over the life-sized Ewok. Why was her family so creepy? Lutece had no idea. But the girl had also begun wearing real make-up over the summer, and had convinced her father to let her order some tailored school robes like one of the older RMI girls had last year, so she didn’t look quite so boring on the first day of her sixth year at Sonora. After all, Lutece Anthony was Sixteen now, and if her parents weren’t quite so lame/she didn’t have many friends, she would have had a Super Sweet 16, like on MTV (except she was less of a spoiled brat). Anyway, sixteen was old enough to do loads of things, like get a driver’s permit (check), wear real makeup (check), and date boys.

And there was one particular boy that she had her eye on.

Maybe it was because Oliver was the cutest boy in her year, even if he did insist on wearing those silly glasses. Maybe it was because Oliver had been one of Lutece’s most consistent friends throughout her years at Sonora, even when she hadn’t believed in magic as a silly first year and had ruined his potion in the first Potions class. Or maybe it was because Talen, who she had harboured a mild crush on last year, played for the other team. But whatever the reason, Lutece liked Oliver. A lot.

And he was dating someone else>

But regardless of that small matter, Lutece walked over to him and plunked herself down next to him as soon as they all exited the wagon. They had been together at the feast for the past five years, and Lutece saw absolutely no reason to change that now. After all, building traditions was important! Besides, she was a prefect now, so Oliver HAD to take her more seriously, right?

As soon as Headmistress Powell stopped talking (and Lutece had clapped for Laurie, who was now the second Crotalus prefect), the blue-green-eyed girl turned to Oliver and removed his glasses.

“Oliver, how many times do I have to tell you that you look cuter without your glasses?” she teased, before putting the eyeware back on his head, hoping that he would notice a.) her makeup, b.) her haircut, c.) her new, specially tailored robes, or d.) all of the above.

0 Lutece Anthony Sticking with Tradition [Tag: Oliver] 100 Lutece Anthony 0 5

Aaron

October 31, 2009 3:36 PM

Is the hat scaring you? by Aaron

“Hello. You are Aaron McKindy, the Charms Professor, correct?”

Aaron started as the woman next to him took the dish and passed it, feeling as though the butterflies had just turned into a pack of rabid doxies. How did she know...? The man made the effort to smile, none of his anxiety showing through. Sadi had clearly mentioned him to the other new staff members, that was all. No need to overreact and make people think he was insane. Er, rather, more insane than the pink bubble hat and the crimson dragon robes would make them think, anyway.

“Nice to meet you, Rowan,” the man said as he moved to run his left hand through his hair, then stopped himself, disguising the movement as a move towards the sweet peas that were sitting on the table in front of him. He served himself, then returned his left hand to his lap. The Italian didn’t want to bring attention on the gold, Celtic-patterned ring on his left hand, even though he knew nobody but Tarq and Sadi would notice the difference. And Sadi knew, so that didn’t even matter. “Things have changed a bit since I’ve been here, though. Only Tarq,” Aaron motioned in the librarian’s direction, “and Sadi are left, of people I worked with.”

That was a good thing, he supposed. Godric, Aaron’s cat, had stayed on Pearl Street with Garen. He wouldn’t have gotten on with Twitch, the former Head of Teppenpaw’s cat, anyway. And Aaron supposed that Amy and Wolfe had finally eloped together or something like that. Mostly, he was satisfied that nobody would really remember him aside from the students, and that was fine with him.

“So what made you choose teaching?” the professor asked, attempting to be conversational. It wasn’t his best skill. Although the majority of his family were politicians, Aaron hadn’t quite inherited the glibness that they had. Of course, all things told, Aaron was quite a bit different from his family. And, all things told, was perfectly happy keeping it that way.

0 Aaron Is the hat scaring you? 0 Aaron 0 5

Rowan

October 31, 2009 3:52 PM

Oh no its quite nice by Rowan

Aaron had looked shocked when she had guessed his name but she smiled and nodded. “Nice to meet you too Aaron.” She said after he stopped speaking. She took a small bite and looked around the hall. It was packed and she was starting to dislike the constant chatter, meals had been the one quiet thing in her life, now they seemed they would be filled with chatter.

“I needed a change of pace.” She said with a smile. “I was a Dragon Keeper for the longest time I was tired of not having eyebrows.” She laughed and looked over at the other Professor.

She knew her old profession was an odd one for a tiny girl such as herself but she had loved Dragons and all sorts of magical creatures since she a child. “And yourself what made you choose teaching.”

0 Rowan Oh no its quite nice 0 Rowan 0 5

Demelza

October 31, 2009 3:55 PM

You always know what to say. by Demelza

Demelza was glad to see that Jude had no reply to why she wears shoes. She smirked slightly at this because she could clearly see the contrasting opinions fighting in Jude's brain.

She was quite satisfied when Jude laughed at her Delaware joke. Nobody laughs at that joke because, well, she had to face it. It was very corny. She also knew a joke about Tennessee, but before she decided to say it, Jude said something about their head of house, Professor McKindy, was it? Demelza wasn't sure, but whoever Jude was pointing to, he sure did look funny. A million jokes popped up in Demelza's head, but the one Jude said changed her joke.

Laughing, Demelza replied, "Yeah, that bubble top hat puts your hair in comparison with a corn flake," and thinking she just had to add this, "But, without me and Delilah, Jude, he would be be waayy cooler than you." She said, catching Delilah's eye.

0 Demelza You always know what to say. 0 Demelza 0 5

Aaron

October 31, 2009 4:04 PM

Are you sure? by Aaron

Now was about the time in any given feast where Aaron would make his excuses and hide in the library or his office. Unfortunately, his new duties as Pecari Head of House kind of precluded that lovely alternative. The Hall was getting loud now, the first years overcoming their reticence and adding their voices to the chatter. Every so often, the man’s grey-green eyes would stray towards the Pecari table. Although he recognised a few faces from earlier, there were a good deal of younger students that Aaron didn’t even recognise by sight. As for the first years...well, he was probably just as excited to meet them as they were to be here. The man had already decided that he was going to do a magical demo, based on the Muggle game ‘Jumanji’ (which Garen’s godson, Henry, had introduced him to over the summer). He was excited!

Rowan made him chuckle slightly with her comment about eyebrows. The man did run his hand through his black hair this time, wondering what else to say. He felt as though it would be rude to comment on the odd choice of job for a woman of her stature—Rowan was small, and not just in comparison to his larger size—but at the same time couldn’t find anything better to say. Dragons were chancy beasts, and Aaron had never been a fan of any sort of magical creature. The closest he had ever gotten were his frogs (the ones he Transfigured and Charmed to make the bubbles on his hat) and Godric. Of course, if Godric were actually magical, Aaron was quite sure the cat would have killed him by now. He got on well with Caliban, Garen’s parrot, and Garen himself, but couldn’t find anything better to do than attack Aaron. And anything that was attached to him.

“I enjoy Charms,” Aaron responded, somewhat blandly. He didn’t particularly want to discuss his actual reasoning behind taking the Sonora job either the first time or the second time. “I worked in industry and design for a bit, but decided teaching was the less, ah, soul-sucking option.” and teaching in Arizona was much better for his health and sanity than teaching in Colorado.

0 Aaron Are you sure? 0 Aaron 0 5

Rowan

October 31, 2009 4:24 PM

Postive! by Rowan

Rowan smiled at the fact that he enjoyed charms. She had been horrid at charms as a child but didn’t want to say so in front of the charms professor. “Charms are nice, and I can understand taking the less soul sucking option.” She smiled easily. The other professor seemed a bit ill at ease in the hall. She wondered if he was put off by something she had said but hoped it wasn’t. Maybe he was just as nervous as she was.

Rowan played with her bracelet and calmed her thinking of the one she had left behind. It was odd to think she would never seen him again, after taking the job here at Sonora he had left her, he was not the settling down type. So this was her fresh start, the thing had to do for herself and not for anyone else.

She smiled at Aaron and said. “So is it usually this loud in here or is it just because it’s the start of term?” She hoped it wasn’t so loud or she would be taking a lot of meals in her room or office.

0 Rowan Postive! 0 Rowan 0 5

Aaron

October 31, 2009 4:53 PM

This is quite a tricky little hat, I've got to say by Aaron

To be perfectly honest, Aaron had worked quite a few different jobs in his time. The job he had left Sonora for, the Japanese toy design one, had driven him absolutely up the wall though. It wasn’t just that he hadn’t wanted to pick up a fourth language (Japanese) in addition to the other three he spoke fluently (Gaelic, Italian, and English). It wasn’t even that it was on the other side of the world from everybody he knew, because if anything, that had been a plus. It had honestly been the discomfort and monotony of working with adults day in and day out. Aaron rarely felt comfortable around adults. He tended to be shy, reticent around adults. He was particularly uncomfortable around pureblooded ones. Children, on the other hand, tended to enjoy his lessons just as much as he did.

“Well, it’s not precisely Charms,” Aaron felt the need to clarify that he didn’t just fiddle around with a good cleaning spell. “I design most of my own clothing, that sort of thing. It’s kind of a combination between Charmswork and Transfigurations.” That was an important clarification, he felt. So often, the word ‘Charms’ just directed the mind towards things like Alohomora when it was really so much more. And Charms had a natural leaning towards being combined with Transfigurations too, making for a really interesting experience. His frogs had always good-naturedly gone along with all of that for years now. Aaron re-adjusted his pink, bubbled tophat as he thought about the frogs. He had knocked it aside while running his hand through his hair earlier.

“It’s usually not this loud,” the man replied to Rowan’s question, somewhat pensively as he finished off the sweet peas. And it usually wasn’t. Aaron just disliked being around people and crowds, for the most part. At least this feast was going better than the last one he had attended, which had been part of the reason he had finally left RMI to teach at Sonora again. Of course, it couldn’t very well be going worse than that one had. He still felt bad for inflicting his family on Garen. “The kids calm down after awhile, and they usually aren’t all present at the same time either. You can always take meals in the office, though, or skip out early on feasts.” Aaron grinned wrly. “I used to do that. I can’t anymore, though...I’m going to have to lead my kids to Pecari at the end of this.”

The excited feeling swelled in his stomach again. He couldn’t believe that he had gone from practically being declared persona non gratis at one school to being promoted to Head of House at another. Just another reason why he had made the right choice to return to Sonora. Aaron already felt more himself than he had in quite a long while. In fact, he was in such a good mood that he felt as though he should offer the new professor some hospitality.

“In fact, if you want, you could stop by my office sometime,” he offered. His new office was connected to the Pecari Commons, presumably so he could stop them from wreaking havoc. Aaron doubted it would help much. “we could have tea, and I make some very interesting cookies.” They tended to be iguana shaped, and winking. It wasn’t just his clothes Aaron Charmed, after all!

0 Aaron This is quite a tricky little hat, I've got to say 0 Aaron 0 5

Rowan

October 31, 2009 5:14 PM

Cookies! by Rowan

Rowan smiled when Aaron said she could skip out early on feasts and let out a sigh of reliefe. “Well I’m glad to know I can skip out on the feasts early, I enjoy quiet calm meals. Not loud chattering, such as this.” She said with smile.

“It’s too bad that you can’t skip out early on feasts, but it is a good thing because you’re the head of Pecari.” She smiled and patted his shoulder empathically. “I think I’ll finish this feast up though I’d like to see how the school works fully.” Rowan swept her hair back and closed her eyes she would have headache later tonight but she didn’t think it would look good for a first term professor to leave the table in the middle of the feast.

She grinned at his offer of tea and interesting cookies. Her eyes lit up she may be an adult but she loved cookies especially interesting ones. “I think I might have to take you up on that offer! I love cookies, in fact you probably shouldn’t have said something, and I have a bit of a sweet tooth. Thankfully I’ve had a horrid time trying to cook!” She winked and laughed. “So do tell me more about these interesting cookies. What makes the so interesting?

0 Rowan Cookies! 0 Rowan 0 5

Holly Greer

October 31, 2009 5:34 PM

Wait a minute, did she just say I'm a Prefect? by Holly Greer

Holly, as she usually did, ignored the tables generally reserved for her House in favor of the one where she and the other Ladies tended to congregate, which was closer to the Crotalus region of the Hall. As the Headmistress welcomed in the new first years, Holly gave them little mind as none of them were of much interest to her.

She gave the new professors a little more attention, and hoped none of them were going to be like Flatt the First. She was glad Fawcett was taking potions. She didn't like potions, even with him teaching it, but at least he was better than some of the other potion masters they'd had.

More important, though was the Prefect entitlements. She didn't expect one herself, being neither typical Pecari material nor of completely stable mind, but any of the other Ladies were obvious choices. She frowned in disappointment when Grayson Wright got it instead of Chelsea, and it deepened into affront when Laurie Cider got it for Crotalus instead of Cecily or Anabel (though that one could have gone much worse than Laurie, she thought it could have certainly gone better as well). She was about to comment to her friends that Sonora clearly had little respect for more respectable members of society when she heard her own name.

"What?" she asked, looking the other Ladies to see if they could collaborate that Holly hadn't imagined it, but Raoul wasn't getting up, so she must have heard right. When she got up to the front, the Headmistress pinned on the badge and told her congradulations, so obviously, she really had been named prefect.

Returning to the table she looked at her friends - not a one of them a Pecari; Raoul was the only one left in her house that she could tolerate now that Morgaine had graduated - and wondered aloud, "How did I get Prefect? Of Pecari? Is this a punishment for something? I'm not anything like Elly Erikkson or Irene Liddowe or Saul Pierce, am I?" She sounded genuinely worried that this might be a possibility.

The Powers That Be had put her into those same shoes, put her in charge of leading Sonora's most disreputable House, which, under normal circumstances she liked to pretend she wasn't even a part of. And if the past few years were any indication, she was probably going to have do some kind of prefect collaboration with both Elly and Irene now.

And she didn't deal well with pressure.

Who's insane idea was it to make her, of all people, a Prefect?

She pulled out a vial of her anti-anxiety potion and drank it down quickly.

1 Holly Greer Wait a minute, did she just say I'm a Prefect? 123 Holly Greer 0 5

Rachel Bauer

October 31, 2009 7:31 PM

I'm just the opposite. by Rachel Bauer

On her first day of school, everything about Rachel Bauer was perfect. Her pale hair fell exactly to her shoulders, the gentle waves held perfectly in place by a good bit of charmwork from her mother. The collar of her white blouse was as crisp as the pleats of her black skirt, a mix also chosen by her mother to ensure that her House colors were not radically opposed to what she was already wearing. Small diamonds sparkled in her ears, and another hung on the end of the fine gold chain around her neck. A testament to the importance of the day existed in the careful application of mascara and lip gloss to her eyelashes and lips, something Momma usually thought was improper for an eleven-year-old. Her nails, too, were freshly manicured, shining with polish under the lights of the Cascade Hall.

What only a very careful observer with a dash of ESP would have noticed, however, was that the perfection of Rachel's day began and ended on the surface.

As she stood with the other first years and a sickly wizard by the doors, she had to work hard to remain still and calm so no one would think she was nervous about the Sorting, or just twitchy. She was neither. All Laynes, according to her mother, went into Crotalus or Aladren, and besides, she had a bigger problem to worry about.

She had always wanted to be an Aladren because she was a smart, independent person who could never live up to the Crotalus ideal of the submissive little woman. Since the middle of last month, she'd also wanted to be one so she could stay alive. They weren't exactly well-acquainted - and Rachel prayed daily, now, that they never would be - but she had seen enough of Aunt Helena to suspect Helena was just as good at sharing as she was, and about half of the memorable moments of Rachel's childhood had involved doing bodily harm to her sisters to get what she wanted.

With her fellow first years, Rachel took a goblet of clear, bubbly potion and stared into its depths. Here it was. Here was the moment. In a few seconds, she would know. Taking as deep a breath as she could without being obvious, she tried to swallow most of it in one and almost choked. Not her most dignified moment ever, but then, Alicia was the only one of their parents’ three girls who’d taken easily to being a lady after Momma married Jeremy. Kate was impossible at it, Rachel had to put her mind to it, but Alicia had been so little when it happened that she’d grown up in it; she was more Douglas than Bauer or Layne, now.

After a moment, she got her breath back, looked down at her hands to see what the final verdict as, and lost her powers of respiration all over again. Oh, no. Oh, no, no no, no, no.

She'd just turned bright red.

Momma would be happy - she had, before she'd dropped out to marry Dad, been a Crotalus Quidditch captain and the Sonora Head Girl. Jeremy, her stepfather, would be happy - he felt that Crotali had the best chance in life. Granddad might be happy - he had been a Crotalus himself. Dad wouldn't care - he had been a Teppenpaw, but he had spent his whole life in crazy love with a Crotalus, even after she'd left him. They weren't here, though.

Helena was. And, if the look she was giving her niece right now was anything to go by, she would see any attempt Rachel made to join the table as grounds to stab her with a fork.

Rachel did not want to get stabbed with a fork, or with any other implement Helena could find to stab her with. How she was to blame for everything wrong in Helena's life, she had no idea, but she knew how to deal with unpleasant facts. It only took a moment's hesitation for her to decide to forget about the rules and go sit down at another table, doing her best to ignore any odd looks she got from the blue first years she was sitting with.

Another girl – who, by the looks of it, was further proof that a girl could be pretty and care about her appearance and still be intelligent – joined the table and spoke to her almost at once. Since Veronica was still somewhat bluish, Rachel had to assume she was still looking kind of red. If asked, she’d just tell the truth in a snotty tone of voice; she wasn’t going to snub an idea that worked just because it wasn’t hers, and that always seemed to work out for Alicia. For the meantime, she was going to ignore the issue altogether. “Rachel Bauer,” she replied. “Of the Arizona Bauers.” Her father was a half-blood and had no problem with that, but another thing she’d learned since becoming Jeremy’s stepdaughter was that if she acted like she was a pureblood, people tended not to argue the point with her. Also immaterial was that, for the past three years, she’d spent almost no time in Arizona, but had lived in L.A. with Momma and Jeremy instead. “It’s very nice to meet you, Ver - Miss Kerrigan.”

16 Rachel Bauer I'm just the opposite. 154 Rachel Bauer 0 5

Grayson Wright, I think...

October 31, 2009 11:25 PM

Say what, now? (Lucie) by Grayson Wright, I think...

Maybe only living a state away from the school, and so not being on the wagons for as long, contributed to it, but it didn't strike Gray as hard to eat after arriving at school for his fifth year. He was, in fact, looking forward to it a great deal - so much so that he was coming up with a play in his head on the topic of starving students being held up by a chain of firsties and the Headmistress' speech. He had never been a very impatient person, he thought, but surely they'd learn who their professors were in the next day or two anyway...

It probably didn't, as his mother claimed, help that he'd grown several inches since the previous September. He was now of about average height for a fifteen-year-old guy (sixteen in just seventeen days), which was a considerable improvement over being shorter than some of the girls. The appetite that came with it, though, wasn't as welcome, and neither were all the expeditions to buy new clothes. If he hadn't had to go on those expeditions, he'd still not know a lot of things about his cousin-sister (sisin? couster?) that he really didn't need to know. He also wouldn't have been traumatized by the weird shop ladies, which could only have been an improvement to his life.

He clapped distractedly for Professor Fawcett and the new Heads (neither of whom he had ever spoken a word to in his life, and who he did not expect to initiate contact with now). Surely they could eat after they heard who the new prefects were. Surely...

..."Grayson Wright"

For a moment, Gray thought he'd been caught daydreaming and was now being told off. Then he heard a reference to Lucie, Laurie, and Holly. He did the math, adding six and carrying four and so forth, but had trouble believing that he'd come to the right conclusion. If he was right, then Headmistress Powell - who he had always assumed was sane - had just said he was a prefect.

He followed the girls up front, wondering when the punch line was going to be introduced and how embarrassed he'd be after it was. Though he disliked her personally, he couldn't deny that Chelsea had connections. She was part of one of the Big Families, who had representatives in many years at Sonora and were pretty much institutions there. He was Gray Wright. His main claims to fame were that his cousin had been a severely obsessed and moderately effective Quidditch captain two years ago and that he'd written a play for the school Concert. He was the weird kid who made up names for the creatures in Care of Magical Creatures and turned Potions into a theatrical production on occasion. He wouldn't have been prefect material even if Chelsea's parents hadn't probably donated more money to the school last year than his parents had made in that same year.

In spite of this, the Headmistress seemed to be giving him a badge, and no one seemed to be laughing at him. He looked at the badge blankly, still half-waiting for Powell to say there had been a mistake or for the joke to become obvious. When they were allowed to leave the front, instead of going back to Aladren (which would have been the proper thing to do, considering that he was a prefect, but he figured that he could get away with forgetting he was one right now), he followed Lucie and sat down across from her, nodding to the nearby student who gave him an odd look. Gray was used to getting odd looks. His father threw them around like candy when he was at home.

As the feast appeared, he looked at the badge hard, then held it up for Lucie to see. "Does this thing look like a fake to you, or did she just make us prefects?"

16 Grayson Wright, I think... Say what, now? (Lucie) 113 Grayson Wright, I think... 0 5

Coach Amelia Pierce

October 31, 2009 11:34 PM

New school, new state, new life by Coach Amelia Pierce

Sonora's new Quidditch coach had the same name as the previous one. That was the extent, so far as Amelia Pierce knew, of their similarities. Unlike Amelia Fox, who was purportedly training for the next World Cup, Amelia Pierce hadn't competetively flown a broom since she graduated from Salem Institute a little over a decade ago.

Now thirty-three, the dark haired woman currently sitting in Sonora's Cascade Hall had never played Quidditch professionally and the extent of her fame was limited to the New England pureblood circles who couldn't quite decide if she was the Boston Pierces' only saving grace, or the one primarily responsible for the whole branch falling so far into disrepute.

A slip of a paper from a now defunct college in Scotland told her she was qualified to coach Quidditch in schools professionally, and Durmstrang had even hired her for two years, proving that the degree was actually worth something, but even that job had ended nine years ago, once the family schism took her full attention and derailed her youthful, feminist dreams of being a Career Woman and turning her into a mother instead.

Derry and Bel were, of course, grown and on their own by now, leaving her free to once again rekindle her old job.

But she felt woefully inadequate to fill Amelia Fox's shoes now. Maybe if she'd done something else Quidditch related since she left Durmstrang, it might have been different, but the closest she'd gotten was running the Boston office of DISCUSS and trying to help counter some of the allegations made against the League by WAIL.

Maybe it was that work, or the leadership inherent in being the Matriarch of a pureblood family (even if it was only the four person small Boston Pierces), or maybe it was her Aether affiliation at Salem, or perhaps it was even her previous teaching experience at Durmstrang, but Sadi Powell had not only asked her to Coach at the school, but also take on the Head of House position for Crotalus.

To be perfectly honest, Amelia was far less anxious about that part of her new job than the coaching. Her aptitude for paperwork and conflict resolution were well practiced and top-notch. It was her Quidditch skills that were downright rusty.

Still, she'd been a team captain before the seventh year students had even been born, and she'd been teaching kids how to fly and play the game for even longer than that, so it was mostly the comparision to Amelia Fox that was really intimidating her. She could do her job, she was perfectly well qualified for it, but the shoes she was filling seemed huge.

But tonight wasn't the day to worry on that. Tonight was the Welcoming Feast. The Headmistress mentioned her twice during her speech, once as the new Quidditch Coach, and then again as the new Head of Crotalus. She smiled and lifted a hand both times to indication which of the new staff Headmistress Powell was talking about. It was actually hugely reassuring to not be the only new staff member but she really hadn't expected there to be so many of them.

As the food came out, Amy filled her plate and turned to the staff member to her left with a polite smile. She'd been at the school for most of the last couple days, setting up her room and office off Crotalus's common area, but aside from Sadi and Henry Flatt, she hadn't really met too many of the others.

"Hello," she greeted, trying to balance professionalism with friendliness and not quite sure if she hit the right mix. She smiled a little awkwardly, and wondered if maybe she should offer a handshake or some kind of modified sitting curtsy. Opting against either, she just added, "I'm Amelia Pierce, the new Quidditch Coach, and Head of Crotalus."

She smiled again, a bit bemused by her own new job titles. They made her sound much more impressive than she thought she ought to. Of course, they had nothing on 'matriarch of the Boston Pierces' but that was another can of worms entirely. Certainly not something she was going to bring up now. Instead she waved around the Hall and looked out across the students. "Never really heard much about Sonora until recently. I went to Salem Institute as a kid. How well do you know the school?"

1 Coach Amelia Pierce New school, new state, new life 20 Coach Amelia Pierce 0 5

Helena Layne

November 01, 2009 12:09 AM

Back, but not better than ever. by Helena Layne

As she stepped into the familiar bright light of the Sonora foyer, its paintings and floor mural unaltered from exactly what they had been at the end of June, Helena shut her eyes and breathed deeply.

She did this for two reasons. One was that it was nice - it was wonderful - to be back where she had patterns to follow, rules to live by, and the personal lives the adults presumably lead didn't affect her in any way. The other was to avoid looking at her.

Though there had to be a hundred people here, Helena's gaze had been drawn immediately to a girl with light blonde hair who was shorter than she was. She hadn't seen a face, but a thing she was quickly discovering was how easy it was to be sure she was looking at a person she could blame for coming in and ruining her life. She hadn't wanted a second look to confirm it, and she wasn't going to take one. She felt that it was bad enough to know that the little princess was here to mess up her drama-free zone without actually seeing her.

A very small, very rational corner of her brain told her it wasn't really fair to blame a firstie for ruining her life, especially when her life was only ruined because her father and mother were pathological liars. Helena told that voice, in no uncertain terms, to shut up. She couldn't hate Mum or Daddy, which left hating that woman and her kids. It wasn't fair, but neither was Geoff cutting her off the same way Anne had done to him because he associated her with the whole bloody mess at home, which had imploded again as soon as they'd thought it was settling down.

Once she sat down in the Cascade Hall, she found she could actually pay attention to Professor Powell. Unfortunately, paying attention to the Headmistress meant having all that attention quickly redirected to the firsties, who were too tiny to believe and the majority of whom she barely saw as she found herself, once again, looking at her.

When she looked like she was choking, Helena almost moved, feeling a vague sense of responsibility, before she checked herself. No way was she admitting that she was, in any way, associated with her. Within a few seconds, Helena had to bite her tongue to keep from swearing, which she'd become relatively good at over the summer. There was no way this was happening. Though she knew how ridiculous it was even as she thought it, she still couldn't help but think that she would not allow it.

She was in Crotalus. She was going to be in the common room, under Helena's feet, pretty much all the time for the rest of the year. That would make her goal of pretending that the girl didn't exist even harder than it would have been anyway. Helena really wished that she knew which deity she'd pissed off, because she'd like the chance to atone for it before things got worse.

That, at least, was something Daddy had once said that could be believed: it could always get worse. It wasn't quite as comforting as she thought it was meant to be.

To Helena's surprise, she met her eyes from across the room - and then walked away. She didn't even come and sit at the other end of the table. Instead, she went over to the Aladrens, taking what Helena suspected was Geoff's old seat but imagined she was too paranoid to identify in good faith. Helena blinked, surprised. What had possessed the girl to do that?

She was not going to obsess over this. There was no point. What was done, was done; she couldn't change it. All she'd done by trying to fix things was make them worse, and what could she do from Arizona, anyway? She had to try to get a life and get on with it, as though nothing were wrong. The mature, responsible thing to do would have been to make an appointment with a licensed psychologist and get it out of her system, but Sonora didn't have a shrink anymore, which left repression as her only option. She turned to look for the nearest familiar face and then spoke, trying her best, which wasn't half-bad, to sound normal.

"Hey," she said with a smile. "Good summer?"

16 Helena Layne Back, but not better than ever. 88 Helena Layne 0 5

Kameyrynn Prinzo

November 01, 2009 1:35 AM

Dinner looks interesting (Teppenpaw table tie in) by Kameyrynn Prinzo

(ooc this is to tie the two Teppenpaw first year conversations together if that is ok with folks)

Kamey blushed into her food again for a moment using the time to finish what was in her mouth while she turned over in her mind the information she had learned about Tobar. Cool, he's a gypsy, she thought. That should be interesting to learn about. She peaked out from around her curtain of blond hair and smiled shyly at Tobar "Uhm.. yeah.. sssee I don't get the whole family thing, most kidsss were never at the orphanage long enough to create a sssibling like bond."

Kamey looked to the other girl and said in her hoarse whisper as she offered her hand and a smile. "Hi,I'm Kamey. Do you know any of the upper yearsss? or the Professsersss? I'm really not sssure what to exssspect." Her low whisper makes it very hard for others to overhear what she says. "I mean I knew about magic before thisss but I don't think I've ever conssciousssly ussed it." She paused again taking a breath before she muttered "Note to ssself: ssstop babbling."

0 Kameyrynn Prinzo Dinner looks interesting (Teppenpaw table tie in) 0 Kameyrynn Prinzo 0 5

Professor John Fawcett

November 01, 2009 1:50 AM

Sounds like you've got a full plate there by Professor John Fawcett

Counting the new Aladrens with some disappointment, John Fawcett clapped when it seemed appropriate (otherwise known as when everyone else was doing it; social graces were not his strong suit), bowed slightly in his seat when he heard his own name mentioned, and tried to figure out how in the world he'd ended up here.

It was not, of course, that he didn't feel a great deal of affection for Sonora Academy. He did. His first alma mater stood higher in his regard than a lot of people he'd known over the years, and he'd made a point of sending some sort of donation to it every year since he'd graduated from it. The problem was that he'd never seen himself settling down to teach basic Potions to eleven-to-eighteen-year-olds. He was a Magisociologist, for Merlin's sake; he'd only gotten his Potions degree because his wife, his junior by quite a few years, had wanted them to attend college together and, more immediately, had seen that he was slipping into total apathy after losing his position at UCLA. It had just been gathering dust on his wall for the eight years since then, seldom thought about and occasionally left off of paperwork when he forgot about it entirely.

Since Allison had bullied him into taking a job subbing for a Care of Magical Creatures teacher, though, he'd been very slowly warming to the idea of general education. Either the taste had to be acquired, or he was just desperate to teach again and actually use his skills constructively, but, on a whim, he had stayed for additional jobs and, on a downright reckless whim, had decided to join up full time, not really expecting it to work. Who was going to hire a sociologist - however respected he'd once been - when they could have one of the people who'd actually spent a life immersed in field work?

It had worked, and he was Head of Aladren. Allison hadn't known what to think when he'd told her that. She'd liked the idea of him having a steady paycheck, but not of his duties being so onerous that she was the one who'd have to take off weekends for visits. He'd heard quite a lot of muttering about being careful what she wished for, and more than a few slurs against his former (or should he call it his current?) House.

As the feast appeared, the staff member next to him spoke. Looking, as he often did, somewhat surprised at being addressed in a social manner and by another adult, John nodded to her, fixing her name and face into his memory. It sounded oddly familiar... "Good evening," he said. "John Fawcett, the Potions professor and Aladren Head of House."

The reference to Salem made it click. There was a pureblood family named Pierce. He remembered that, now; they'd thrown a few members out some years ago, and the rumors (Allison, it seemed, met everyone at the bar and remembered every word they said) had briefly brought his interest in the psychology of disownment back to the surface before he'd decided the research would be too difficult to bother with. That had been a bad year for him, and he suspected for her, too; Allison said respectable pureblood women no longer had much to do with Quidditch. That irritated Al to no end; she had no use for the game herself, but didn't like anyone telling her that she couldn't do what she pleased, and his very reasonably pointing out that WAIL couldn't care less about the activities of the Muggleborn wife of a luckless academic had just made it necessary for him to refresh his knowledge of how to duck.

But she wanted to know what he knew about the school, not about her. "A fair bit," he acknowledged, looking around the Hall. "I graduated from Sonora myself. Aladren." He gestured slightly toward the table of Aladrens. "I've also been subbing here for the past..." He tried to do the math and failed. Retirement had not done his sense of time any favors; he should have quit it years before he had and saved a good portion of his mind. "I think three years, but I won't swear to that. My mother and wife came here, too - Crotali."

And that was why he felt sorry for Amelia Pierce. His mama had been extraordinarily unlucky; in addition to being the weakest witch magically he had ever met, to the point that she'd been able to hide what she was completely until John and his sister Carlene had turned up magical, she had come to Sonora as a Muggleborn Crotalus with the surname Carey. She'd quit school at fifteen and married a Muggle professor of English literature four years later. Allison, too, had been dealt a rough hand; she'd been the privileged daughter of an oil baron in her former life, and realizing that the pureblood majority of her House did not know or care who J.D. Wagner was had not gone down well with her. Her mother blamed him for her liberal tendencies; Allison herself blamed Crotalus. The Crotali had never given him any overt problems in his years of teaching them, but if his mother and Allison's stories were true, Amelia was going to have her hands full.

0 Professor John Fawcett Sounds like you've got a full plate there 19 Professor John Fawcett 0 5

James Anthony

November 01, 2009 9:49 AM

Quite Certain Third Year by James Anthony

James had spent his summer sharing his small room in his dad’s apartment (really some sort of glorified closet, and no he was not joking) with a life-sized Ewok, and he was not particularly thrilled with that. All things told, James was not pleased with the changes that had happened in his life since he had come to Sonora. Grace had been furious when he got a letter and she didn’t; Mom had been furious when their father had insisted he attend Sonora. Liss really didn’t care either way, but she was their mother’s child from her first marriage. All of that had eventually led to the current state of affairs (Separation that all four children swore was going to end in divorce).

Lutece didn’t care about any of that. She was too busy in her own little world of being a girl. James frowned at this thought and pushed his glasses up his nose as he waited at the Aladren table for Headmistress Powell to begin her speech. James, on the other hand, occasionally found that this conflict disturbed him, even in the depths of his studies. By the end of last year he had completed fourth year level work in most of his classes. Although he hadn’t gotten much done over the summer, he felt confident that he would progress to at least the fifth year while the rest of his peers were busy dallying at grade level.

The Headmistress spoke, and James observed. Nothing particularly interesting with Prefect assignments or any of that, although he was disturbed to note the amount of new professors. Even more disturbing was the one sitting with the obnoxious pink hat at the top table. James did not think that man looked capable of teaching any sort of serious class, and made a mental note to find out which professor he was to enable James to circumvent any flaws in teaching style by extra studying in that course’s material.

During the speech, a small, first-year girl had somehow seated herself next to James, and the boy brushed back his neatly combed brown hair as his blue-green eyes examined the girl. She had strawberry blonde hair and, if he was not mistaken, a slight blush underneath the blue colouring of the skin. With a sigh, he decided he ought to do the right thing and make her comfortable in Aladren House. At least she was probably intelligent to carry on a human conversation, unlike most of her peers.

This group of first years was probably particularly dense, as there was a definite dearth of Aladrens. Oh well. James pushed his glasses up his nose again as he prepared his segway into conversation with the obviously cowed first year.

“Congratulations on your Sorting,” the third year said seriously. “This is certainly the ideal House for one with serious academic intentions. Would you like some parsnips?”

0 James Anthony Quite Certain Third Year 126 James Anthony 0 5

Oliver Abbott

November 01, 2009 12:17 PM

Six years certainly qualifies for tradition by Oliver Abbott

Oliver had enjoyed his summer more than usual. True, there had been huge family rows, which he had carefully avoided, and a bout of 'flu had run through the hotel, keeping him in bed and in a foul mood for practically an entire week (though he'd had a chance to read almost the entire potions course for the year, so he wasn't complaining too loudly). But also he'd taken Hannah to see an awesome Quidditch game - The Chimeras played their best this season - and also to Charlie's concert, which hadn't turned out too bad, either. Plus his parents had employed a new doorman, called Michael, who was only a bit older than Oliver. He'd worked the summer to save up for Yale, so he said, and after his shifts the two boys had spent time together doing nothing much.

As they approached the school, Oliver even said to Charlie that he was looking forward to this year. She'd merely replied, "Duh, there's a ball at the end of it. How awesome is that?" and pushed her way past him to get off the wagon first and go find her own friends. Oliver shuffled his way further down the Crotalus table, and wasn't in the least bit surprised to be joined by Lutece. The same thing had happened every other year - it was practically a tradition by now.

"Hey," he said in a vague attempt at greeting, but didn't manage anything else before the Headmistress started speaking. He clapped half-heartedly at introduction of staff, prefects (Holly Greer? Really? She was a headcase), and other sundries. Eager to start eating, Oliver was somewhat disgruntled when Lutece took his glasses off. Yet this was an old argument, too, so his frustration was minimal. "And how many times do I have to tell you," he said, outwardly ignoring the backhanded compliment but acknowledging it to himself, "that I still need them to see?" He even managed a gracious smile as she replaced them for him. She wasn't all that bad these days - much nicer than the whiny kid she'd been their first couple of years. In fact, Oliver had even thought she was pretty hot last year. In a really obvious way, like some of the girls in the lower year tried to look glamorous by wearing too much make-up and clothes too old for them. This year - Oliver tried a subtle sideways glance as he reached for the macaroni cheese - she looked good. She wasn't beautiful like Hannah, who Oliver was sure would be stunning even if she'd just woken up after a seriously heavy night, but there was something enticing about her. Maybe it was just how forward she was with her flirting. Oliver wasn't use to that in girls (well, he'd seen his sister do it plenty, but obviously he'd never been on thereceiving end of that. Ew.).

"So," he said, piling pasta onto his plate and trying to keep sounding as normal as possible, "how lousy was your summer?" He grinned at her - teasing Lutece was just so easy to do.

0 Oliver Abbott Six years certainly qualifies for tradition 99 Oliver Abbott 0 5

Alexis Ashwood

November 01, 2009 1:03 PM

I think so! by Alexis Ashwood

This summer had been the most eventful summer Alexis Ashwood had ever experienced. First, her sister had chosen homeschooling instead of going to Sonora. It wouldn’t have been such a big deal if it wasn’t for the fact she only made the choice because she was embarrassed by Alexis. The red head had then been forbidden from playing Quidditch, and, this time, her parents meant it. She had been sent back to summer schooling, etiquette lessons, and social engagements.

Oh, and speaking of engagements, her parents got her engaged.

She sat at the Crotalus table, hardly listening to the Headmistress speak. She wanted to be homeschooled, too, but her parents wouldn’t listen. She had to socialize with the proper people, get herself out there again. Obviously that wasn’t going to work. No one at Sonora really liked her. Maybe Renaye and Josh did, but once she quit Quidditch, they wouldn’t have any reason to talk. And Alexis still didn’t think Laurie liked her anyway. Holly was the only person who seemed to truly like her, but since Holly was so close to the ladies…

"How did I get Prefect? Of Pecari? Is this a punishment for something? I'm not anything like Elly Erikkson or Irene Liddowe or Saul Pierce, am I?"

Alexis looked over at Holly, the new Pecari prefect. Alexis hadn’t expected to get prefect so she wasn’t disappointed. Holly should be happy about being a prefect, but given the previous prefects Pecari, she would’ve been worried, too.

“Don’t worry; you’re nothing like them.” Alexis found herself saying. “Maybe they finally realized the group of people they were giving power to, as prefects, and decided to put a stop to it. You were obviously the right choice.” She glanced away and took a sip of her pumpkin juice. Holly had been directing her question to the Ladies, not Alexis. Alexis had to rejoin the Ladies, though. There was nowhere else at Sonora where she actually belonged. Her years of rebellion against her pureblood heritage had most likely ruined any chance she had of being a part of the Ladies ever again.

0 Alexis Ashwood I think so! 117 Alexis Ashwood 0 5

Ira Stanwick

November 01, 2009 1:07 PM

Crotalus, of course by Ira Stanwick

Ira Stanwick had hated the long wagon ride; it was just so undignified for a pureblood of his status. He would rather have walked the whole way to the new school. As he stretched and worked the kinks out he scoffed at the chattering students around him. He was sure none of these people were going to live up to his standards. He would have to talk to father about getting to school some other way next time.

As he walked into the hall he thought it was a pleasant enough but hated waiting to see what house he was going to be in. He hoped he would be in Crotalus. That was where all the purebloods went according to father. As he drank the potion he smiled at the fact that he turned red. Ah yes something had gone right today.

He strode over to the Crotalus table like he owned it and brushed his short hair out of his face. He sat down and looked about. Luckily the person who sat next to him looked respectful. He nodded at the other person and said. “Ira Stanwick, of the Connecticut Stanwicks, and your?” He didn’t smile nor did he hold out his hand to shake, if he person next to him was a mudblood he didn’t want to soil himself by touching them.

0 Ira Stanwick Crotalus, of course 0 Ira Stanwick 0 5

Cecily Smythe

November 01, 2009 2:09 PM

It's an omen of future glory by Cecily Smythe

Returning to school was always tiresome. Cecily simply wouldn't tolerate it if she didn't have such marvelous friends to return to. Disregarding her sister's enquiries about whether they should sit together (sure, she loved Amelia, but an entire summer of her was exhausting), Cecily headed directly for the table she usually shared with the other Ladies and sat down next to Holly.

Cecily watched the first years be sorted with very minimal interest. She had no relatives attending Sonora this year, though her second cousin Anthony was starting at RMI. Merlin had at least saved her the trouble of having to deal with him. She was in fith year now, and far too old to be bothered by pesky younger relatives.

Headmistress Powell was talking again, and introducing all the new staff members. Cecily couldn't really care, though she did notice that a new counsellor wasn't introduced; Counselor Nelson had left at the end of last year. Cecily wondered how long it would take for Holly to notice, and what her friend's reaction would be to the news. Her ponderings were interrupted by the announcement of the prefects. Cecily could hardly be disappointed that Laurie was made prefect. She would have liked the title for herself, but the title only - she wasn't interested in doing any of the work that came with it. Again, her thoughts were halted with the announcement of the Pecari prefect. Cecily loked at Hooly with an odd expression on her face, a confusing mix of jealousy, pity, disbelief, and pride. She applauded more enthusiastically than she would have none if none of the Ladies had been selected, and while Holly was gone she shared a quick comment with the other Ladies. "I assume I'm not the only one of us surprised." Yes, Holly was her friend, and she was a proper Lady, but there was no escaping that Holly was a bit peculiar. She relied on calming potions and counseling just to get by. That sort of thing led to the sort of craziness demonstrated by most of the Savannah Careys.

"How did I get Prefect? Of Pecari? Is this a punishment for something? I'm not anything like Elly Erikkson or Irene Liddowe or Saul Pierce, am I?" Holly said when she returned. Cecily was preparing to answer that of course her friend wasn't like the other Pecari idiots, when Alexis jumped right into their conversation. Honestly, that girl had no class. Though, she did have a good point.

"That's the first intelligent thing I've ever heard you say," Cecily said scathingly, smirking at the other Ladies. "Did a Bludger finally hit some sense into you?" Would be the only good thing Quidditch ever did Cecily thought.

0 Cecily Smythe It's an omen of future glory 122 Cecily Smythe 0 5

Elly Eriksson

November 01, 2009 3:04 PM

Can't say the same. by Elly Eriksson

Elly's summer had been truly phenomenal. Aside from the last week - which had been pretty good because she'd laughed it up in Austria with her parents and her cousins, went ice-skating on a frozen lake and watched groundhog Day in German, which was truly hilarious - she'd spent the entire summer in a covered wagon with Saul, travelling the Oregon Trail. Well, the first part of it, anyway. Saul was carrying on while Elly had to go see her family and then come back to school for her final year.

Wow, final year - that was almost as exciting as the summer. Elly had a lot to live up to this year. As if leading the Pecari team (which practically only had four people on it, now) to glory wouldn't be hard enough, she'd had the title of Head Girl thrust upon her, too. Last year, when the announcement had been made, Elly could barely believe it, but she'd been beyond excited. Now she'd had plenty of time over the summer to discuss it with Saul, she was still excited, but she also felt - guilty? That wasn't quite it, but that was certainly close to how she was feeling. Elly knew she had as much right to the position as any of the other girls whose names had been on the ballott, but she didn't feel as though she'd really earned it in the same way. Everything had always come easily to Elly - making friends, joining in, getting away with things. True enough she had to work twice as hard as everyone else to accomplish a new spell, but in the big picture called Life, things like that barely counted.

When she collected her badge from the Headmistress, Elly missed the exuberant yelling and cheering that would have occurred if Saul, Echo or Meredith were still at Sonora. Would she still have been voted Head Girl if her best friends had stayed at school to keep her in trouble? It didn't matter, anyway. Elly had practise at being responsbile - she had being a prefect and Assistant Quidditch Captain to thank for that. She was comfortable with working with others and making new friends. Like Saul said, she would be fine. Now she'd convinced herself, Elly just had to convince everyone else. She knew Jose hadn't been thrilled to have her as a partner, so to speak, but then Elly voted for Matt, so they were in the same boat. Still, she was determined to start the year on the right foot, so she followed Josh back to the Crotalus area to have a quick chat with him at the start of the feast.

But then Elly saw the look on Helena's face, and without conscious decision she sat by her, instead. "Hey," Elly returned the greeting with a smile of her own. "Yeah, my summer was great, thanks." Elly couldn't hide her joy - it really had been an amazing time. "Um, so, are you okay?" she asked Helena, lowering her voice a little because that's what you did when you thought someone was upset by something. "You seem..." Elly hesitated a split second while she found the right word, "down."

0 Elly Eriksson Can't say the same. 92 Elly Eriksson 0 5

Anna Berg

November 01, 2009 3:46 PM

Timid Introduction by Anna Berg

Anna looked up sharply as the boy next to her offered her parsnips. What they were, she had no idea, but she spooned a few onto her plate nonetheless.

"Thank you," she replied quietly, feeling very small amid all the chatter and hustle and bustle. The hall was loud; everyone's conversations were echoing off the waterfalls and bouncing back into her ears. She paused to sample the parsnips, and upon finding that they were not, in fact, a poisonous concoction, she swallowed. "I'm Anna, by the way."

She looked up at James for the first time and smiled faintly. Her skin had subsided to a pale grayish tint, and it made her appear more sickly than usual. She glanced back down at her plate shyly and picked at the parsnips. She wasn't very hungry; she supposed it was mostly nerves.

He looks like the brainy type, she thought. Fitting for one in Aladren House.

0 Anna Berg Timid Introduction 0 Anna Berg 0 5

Florenza Di Leo

November 01, 2009 4:37 PM

Well duh! It is the best color! by Florenza Di Leo

Florenza wasn't nervous, not really. It was interesting to start a new school - like an adventure! She had joined the rest of the first years as they'd entered Cascade Hall and could have jumped for joy! It was truly beautiful, with the rippling waterfalls and the chandeliers. She was dazzled! Every great American wizard in history had attended this very school and she intended to be one that students would be remembering for years to come. Florenza looked everyone at the tables straight in the eye and she couldn't help but grin.

The sorting came as a bit of a surprise. Her family had refused to tell her what exactly went on. Her elder cousin, Alessio, had insisted that you had to fight the house animals and whichever one you defeated would be your house emblem. However, it turned out to be a potion you had to drink. It turned your face the color of your house and Florenza enjoyed the startled looks on everyone's face. Eventually, it was her turn. Di Leo was fairly near the beginning of the alphabet. She walked confidently to the front of the hall and took a sip of the sweet yet sour potion. There were a few tense moments and then she watched as her olive skin darkened several shades until it was a deep brown. She was a Pecari!

Florenza danced over to the table where her fellow Pecaris were applauding her. She sat there fidgetting until another Pecari joined the table. Starbuck Gregory. She must be muggle born with a surname like that, Florenza thought as the girl introduced herself and started shovelling food onto her plate.
"isn't this exciting?" Starbuck asked. It was exciting. Unbelievably exciting.
"Hell yeah! I can't wait to get started!" Florenza replied following the girl's example and grabbing some food, " I'm Florenza, by the way, but you can call me Flo. I'm from New York City but my whole family is Italian ( hence the unusual name). So are you muggle born? Your name doesn't sound familiar."

0 Florenza Di Leo Well duh! It is the best color! 0 Florenza Di Leo 0 5

Starbuck

November 01, 2009 5:00 PM

It's a good color! by Starbuck

Starbuck took a bite and smiled at Flo’s reply eager reply. She swallowed quickly and nodded when she asked if she was muggleborn “I’m assuming you mean my parents are non-magical.” She said with a smile. “If so yup I’m a muggleborn from Ohio. Do most wizards have the same name or something?”

She took another bite then looked around at Flo as she pushed her golden red hair out of her face and looked over at the girl. “So I assume you’re not a muggleborn. You probably have a leg up on me.”

She frowned a bit. “If you do please give me the heads up about this school. I’m really nervous but I’m aslo excited to start learning.” She laughed and bit her lip, she was excited to be away from home, it wasn’t a very nice place to be anymore, not since the accident. Not that any one hear would know about it and that made Starbuck happier then she had been since that day.

0 Starbuck It's a good color! 0 Starbuck 0 5

Florenza

November 01, 2009 5:21 PM

Not just good, GREAT! by Florenza

Florenza chewed hungrily on a mouthful of pasta as Starbuck replied to her question. So she was a muggleborn! A pretty clueless one at that! Florenza had often imagined living a life where no one used magic but once she realized what the restrictions were she got scared and thought of chocolate muffins instead. Starbuck admitted that she was a little nervous about Sonora and Florenza wasn't surprised. It must be terrifying coming from a muggle family. She'd also asked about surnames and Flo thought that she better clear things up for her new friend.

" No, not all wizards have the same names but you can just tell. Gregory doesn't sound particularly magical so it was just a guess," Flo explained giving a warm smile and helping herself to some more pasta. The trip had made her ravenous. She continued her explantion, "I'm not muggle born, no. I'm pureblood actually. In the end though it's not that important. We're all new so we can all learn together! I'm most looking forward to Quidditch but I'm quite excited about potions too. My mom owns an Apothecary and a brewery, you see, so I'm really into that. What about you? Got any idea what you might like?"

0 Florenza Not just good, GREAT! 0 Florenza 0 5

Starbuck

November 01, 2009 5:36 PM

It is the most excellet color! by Starbuck

Starbuck smiled as she ate a bit more mashed potatoes as she wished she had been born magical. It was hard coming here to study something that had only existed in fairytales before. Now she was here she could see it was real, and nothing seemed to make sense. Ah she would learn all in time she was sure of it.

“As for the rest of it I’m excited about Charms! From the textbooks at least it seems the most interesting. Of course I’ll know once I’ve tried them out, and then I’ll have to choose.” She laughed as she smiled at Flo.

“My parents own a farm; the most magical thing they ever saw was a huge pumpkin they grew. You are lucky you grew up in the magical world.” She paused for a moment as she took another bite. Once she swallowed she asked. “So is what is this Qudditch? I didn’t see a text book on that.” She frowned scared that she had missed a book and now wouldn’t be able to get it because term had started.

0 Starbuck It is the most excellet color! 0 Starbuck 0 5

Flo

November 01, 2009 5:51 PM

The most magical color! by Flo

Flo grinned at Starbuck, who she had taken a great liking to. She had lived in the city all her life and she loved it, the thought of growing up in the country was alien to her. Starbuck seemed funny and sweet, and Flo wouldn't be surprised if, like most muggleborns, she had read up on every thing about Sonora. However, when the topic turned to Quidditch Flo was in her element.

"quidditch is the most amazing sport in the world! You're on brooms and there are seven people in a team. Three chasers, two beaters, a seeker and a keeper. The Chasers pass the quaffle and try and score, the keeper defends the goal, the beaters hit the bludgers and the seeker catches the snitch!" Flo took a gulp of air after realizing she hadn't taken a breath that whole time.
"I usually play chaser but I'm pretty versatile, do you think you'll try out for the team if you gt the chance?"

0 Flo The most magical color! 0 Flo 0 5

Starbuck

November 01, 2009 5:58 PM

ooo Sports! by Starbuck

As Flo explained Quidditch Starbuck’s eyes lit up. A sport! Having grown up in the country and with four older brothers had made her a bit of a tomboy. She loved all sports, football, basketball, baseball, soccer you name it Starbuck was on a team for it. And now hearing about this magical sport Starbuck knew it would become a favorite of hers. “Would I!” Starbuck cried with a smile. “It sounds most awesome!”

“I love sports and oh what you just explained sounds so awesome, except, I’ve never been on a broom.” She said with frown. “Though I can’t wait to try to fly, I heard we get flying lessons this year. Seems you won’t be needing them though.” She laughed and leaned in. “I’ll just have my own private tutor in flying then.” She grinned once more and took a couple of bites.

0 Starbuck ooo Sports! 0 Starbuck 0 5

Demelza Eagle

November 01, 2009 7:11 PM

Oh, sorry, did I introduce myself? by Demelza Eagle

Demelza was so absolved with her conversation with Jude, that when a scribbled on rainbow colored shoe plopped next to her, it took her by so much surprise, she forgot that there was a person wearing the awesome shoe. Pausing after her smart remark to Jude about his hair and popular stats, she turned to Delilah and introduced herself, even though Jude introduced her, she figured she ought to introduce herself.

"Hey, Delilah, I'm Demelza Eagle. Sorry if you think my name if Mel, but that's what this kids calls me," She said, pointing at Jude to her other side, "But you can call me 'Mel' too. Jude made it up."

"Hey, wanna hear a joke?" Demelza asked, thinking that she didn't want to lose her reputation for telling corny state jokes.

"What did Tennessee?" She paused for an answer, but before giving Delilah the chance to answer it, she said, "What Arkansan!"

"HAHAHA!" Demelza exclaimed very sarcastically, slapping her knee like an old man. She was almost sure people around her thought she looked crazy.

"Anyway, I'll go through the same questions with you that I asked Jude. What subject do you anticipate the most? Are your parents magical? And can I sign your shoe, 'cause I just can't resist the urge. Not with all the pretty colors on it, anyway," Demelza said this all really fast. She really did want to sign her shoe. It looked like the coolest thing she had ever seen.

Demelza may have been looking really ridiculous on the outside, what with wearing a bright yellow, green, and blue head band, but inside she was smiling so happily. She now had two friends; the two coolest friends she has ever had. And, though she didn't want to admit it, outside her family, they were the only two friends she has and has ever had.

And that made her the happiest girl in the entire hall. Right?

0 Demelza Eagle Oh, sorry, did I introduce myself? 157 Demelza Eagle 0 5

James

November 01, 2009 7:11 PM

There's really no need to be timid by James

It seemed as though the first year to whom James had just begun speaking was not, indeed, possessive of a particularly loquacious personality. As someone who had grown up with an excessive plethora of those (all three of his sisters and his mother loved nothing better than to talk. Incessantly. Generally regarding clothing.), James was somewhat unused to this new concept. However, he deemed that it was his duty to encourage the first year to ‘come out of her shell’, as it were. After all, he did aspire to be prefect one day, and possibly Head Boy as well. It was probably an excellent place to begin, shepherding first years. And perhaps James would find a friend or two. There were very few students he found close enough in drive and intellect to himself that he could actually consider friends. Charlie Abbott, although not nearly as intelligent as he was, was nevertheless very pretty.

This year, James aspired to ask her out, perhaps to the rumoured ball at the end of the year. He was not quite the ball sort of person, but would be willing to put up with such a trivialty if it meant that Charlie would consent to go with him. Elsewise, he would probably content himself with a nice read in the library. Surely the librarian would not be attending the ball, anyway. Balls were traditionally heterosexual events, and James’s intuition, within which he put much stock, told him that Tarquin Reynolds was not likely to participate in heterosexual events.

Regardless, the brown-haired third year’s current duty was not to pry into the secrets that Sonora’s staff held, but rather to make conversation with the almost unnervingly silent first year.

“Nice to meet you, Anna,” James said courteously, with a smile contrived to be friendly as he pushed his brown-rimmed glasses up his nose once more. “My name is James Anthony, and I’m a third year. My sister, Lutece, is a Crotalus Prefect,” he added, somewhat proud of his familial connections, although he could not for the life of him figure out what sort of madman would appoint Lutece to be in charge of anything. She was extraordinarily emotional, going into sulks over the smallest thing. She also had a disproportionate perception of her own popularity, in James’s not-so-humble opinion.

“Do you have any questions about Sonora or Aladren?” the boy asked, deciding that this would be the best place to begin. After all, he did pride himself upon the vastness of his knowledge in all aspects, including Sonora. “It can be quite intimidating, at first.” James himself had never felt intimidated by Sonora that he could remember, but he felt that the conversation might progress more rapidly if he demonstrated some sort of empathy with the younger Aladren.

0 James There's really no need to be timid 0 James 0 5

Demelza Eagle

November 01, 2009 7:35 PM

Couldn't help but butt into a talk about quidditch... by Demelza Eagle

Demelza turned her head away from Jude and Delilah for a moment as she heard her favorite sport in the entire world mentioned. Quidditch. Of course, she couldn't help but butt in...

"Quidditch!" She excliamed, not knowing whether the two girls would get mad at her for intruding in their conversation. "I love quidditch! I'm a great beater... er, well, at least my brother say so," Demelza said, trying to sound somewhat humble. "I'm Demelza Eagle by the way. I'm in Pecari with you gals. So, you like quidditch?"

"My brother, Jamie, just graduated from an Australian school, and he's trying out as a beater for their national Quidditch team. Pretty cool, eh?"

"I wanna try out for the house team, what about you guys?" Demelza said this all too fast, but she didn't care. Quidditch always made her so excited!

0 Demelza Eagle Couldn't help but butt into a talk about quidditch... 157 Demelza Eagle 0 5

Anna

November 01, 2009 7:40 PM

Shall we call it caution? by Anna

Anna smiled. Her skin had returned to its natural ivory tone, and she felt marginally better after putting down several of the parsnips in rapid succession. She was growing quite partial to them. Having grown up with a predominantly male influence, she was used to microwaved 'TV dinners' and instant pudding. Anything on this table seemed a treat. She reached over her plate for a scrumptious-looking pastry, pulling her over-sized sleeve back so as to avoid dragging it through her food. Several scars were exposed to the light, and she covered them quickly, mentally kicking herself.

She glanced at him warily, praying he hadn't seen the scars. She was marginally more confident now that she knew he was going to at least attempt to be friendly toward her. Nevertheless, she would tread carefully. You never did know with strangers. And he was, indeed, still a stranger.

She had to admit, there was a certain quality about him that made her relax her guard. But by no means was she going to fully drop her defenses. Instead, she kept her thoughts to herself, biting her lip pensively.

"These magical concepts are all new to me," she said. "I...suppose I could use some help sorting through them."

This had been her longest utterance since stepping out of her father's little Toyota and into the covered wagon. She looked around at the other students. Most of them had to be Purebloods or at least Halfbloods. She was a Muggleborn, and it worried her. What if there had been a mistake, and someone else was meant to receive her acceptance letter? What if she was a Squib--or whatever they called nonmagical people. She didn't think she could bear that. She wanted to do well in her classes, maybe even be one of the top students. Who knew? Maybe one day...

But let's not think too far ahead, she thought. Be realistic. One day at a time.

0 Anna Shall we call it caution? 0 Anna 0 5

James

November 01, 2009 8:06 PM

Caution is a wise thing to have, particularly around here by James

Quite thankfully, the diminutive female first year had cottoned onto both the ideas of consuming food and making conversation. James smiled in distinct satisfaction as Anna consumed several parsnips. He himself enjoyed parsnips, and helped himself to a few. He also served himself some nice, white chicken breast (with a slight, lemony marinade) and some mashed potatoes, which he neatly waved his wand over. The potatoes formed a hollow, circular cone, and James poured gravy inside. He had long since come to the conclusion that this was the most efficient way to evenly distribute the flavour of the gravy into the mashed potatoes. Once that was done, he turned his attention to the rest of the food. Noting a platter of pastries, James considered selecting one after he completed his meal. Anna, however, did not seem to have these same, rational restrictions upon her dietary intake, and reached for a pastry immediately. At least she had consumed something of value first, James noted critically.

Interesting. Although her bare arm was only visible for a moment, James distinctly noticed a set of scars upon the appendage. The first year quickly covered her arm with the sleeve of her robe, and James was far too polite as to enquire about something quite so personal, but he made a mental note to himself to examine this question further in the future. Perhaps the not-too-distant future. After all, James would be severely hindered in his quest for information regarding his professors before class actually began. In the past few years, he felt as though he had been a tad lax in his extracurricular studies, but was determined to rectify this drastic error this year.

“That is quite normal,” James nodded in response to Anna’s acknowledgement of the overwhelming nature of magical concepts. “I take it, then, that you are not of magical heritage? Don’t worry, I have no intention of holding such a thing against you. The majority of our House is quite enlightened in regards to such things. Unlike,” James added, with a touch of scorn, “our Crotalus peers. My sister had the misfortune to enter directly into Crotalus House from a nonmagical family, and I fear it did permanently damage her social standing. Most Crotali are not worth socialising with, however.” James did not hold a particularly high opinion of those not in Crotalus House. He felt as though most of them were quite far beneath him in regards to intelligence.

“Is there anything in particular you require assistance with?” James asked further, attempting to find a median of conversation that did not necessarily revolve around him discussing the social environs of Sonora. Although fascinating, the blue-green-eyed boy had no doubt that the intricacies of the situation would terrify the already reticent first year, and that was certainly not his motivation. Although he had begun this exercise with the intention of furthering his potential in the competition for House Leadership, James was, somewhat astoundingly, developing a sort of quasi-protective feeling towards the first year.

0 James Caution is a wise thing to have, particularly around here 0 James 0 5

Anna

November 01, 2009 8:37 PM

Lacking Experience by Anna

Anna observed as James magicked his potatoes into a cone. She touched her own wand, concealed in an inner pocket of her robes, and grew even more apprehensive. The whole idea of actually manipulating anything, much less food, was disconcerting at best. She hoped she would become more accustomed to the concept as the years progressed. After all, she would be here for the next seven years of her life.

She nibbled on the corner of her pastry, which was filled with raspberry jelly, and licked her lips satisfactorily. Raspberry was her favorite. She smiled unconsciously, remembering a time when she was three and her brother--eight years her senior-- had given her her first taste of raspberry jelly.She recalled having the sticky substance smeared across her plump baby cheeks and getting stuck in her long hair. Raspberry had forever been her favorite.

Anna's mahogany eyes were alert as she surveyed the people--more specifically, James. He seemed like a thinker, though he was much more vocal than she with his thoughts. She saw him glance at her arm, and a sinking feeling hit her. He was probably making all sorts of wild assumptions.

She nodded. "Yes, I'm Muggleborn. Thank you...for not thinking less of me." She glanced over at the Crotalus table. They didn't look like an unfriendly bunch, but (as the old cliche goes) appearances can be deceiving.

"I do need a little...well, a lot of practice with my wand. I really don't know how to hold it or anything." The man at the wand shop had taught her, but that was about the only thing she didn't recall at this point. She was rather ashamed of this, and ducked her head, taking another bite of the pastry. What if he thought she was unintelligent and incapable of retaining the knowledge required for, well, anything?

0 Anna Lacking Experience 0 Anna 0 5

Dulce Garcia

November 01, 2009 10:22 PM

Did you expect something terrible? by Dulce Garcia

The boy answered her with a laugh and a bit of a brush-off joke. But, eventually he did explain that the accent was mainly three various dialects. Dulce had to respect him for growing up in various lands. Although she was born and raised in San Francisco, she spent so much of her life in Spain and Mexico that it felt like home in those countries just as much as it did in San Francisco. It was rare for Dulce to meet another person who lived in more than one county.

The girl also asked the same question, but she had picked up on where the accents may have come from. Dulce was a little flabbergasted that the girl knew how to tell the accents apart, but then, perhaps she had also been apart of those countries like he had? Dulce could tell a Spanish from a Mexican accent when most people wouldn’t even notice a different between the two, so she really couldn’t say much regarding this issue.

The boy expanded on his accent by explaining that his family were nomads and travelled to various places. Although Dulce was aware of what Gypsies were, she didn’t understand the prejudices that associated with them. Of course, Dulce was a sheltered child, so that might have been a reason for it.

Dulce had returned to her food assuming that the conversation she had briefly had with the other first years was completed only to find that both of them were expecting something more than her. “I’m Dulce Garcia.” She told the both of them when asked of her name. “I have a sister who’s a third year and Tios who are seventh years. Actually, my Tio is the new Head Boy.” Dulce added, realizing that she actually had someone with whom they could associate with her. “My sister said that most of the teachers left last term for some various reasons, so I think they’re all new.”

As an after thought, Dulce added, “Del, my sister, says that most of the classes are pretty fun and we can work in groups. She says that some of the professors are strict, but aren’t overly terrible. I think we’ll be alright.”

6 Dulce Garcia Did you expect something terrible? 153 Dulce Garcia 0 5

Veronica

November 02, 2009 12:01 AM

Sounds as though we're a match. by Veronica

With the way the girl introduced herself, Veronica’s eyes lit up with interest. She couldn’t be one hundred percent sure, because there was always the chance that Rachel was simply mimicking the way she had presented herself, but it sounded as though she was what her grandmother would call with approval a young lady of breeding. To which, Veronica would have to agree judging by not only her manners, but by her appearance. They were very subtle things and possibly things that would be unnoticed by those that were not of the same caliber, but they made a world of difference and stated exactly what her place was in the world.

It was one that Veronica hoped that she shared as well, but it was hard to be sure. There wasn’t anyone that she could really ask without feeling like she was going to be judged. It wasn’t as though she had a mother to ask since she had left long ago without a word and her grandmother would say something about how proper ladies didn’t talk about their feelings, about how they shoved them down into the pit of their stomachs so they didn’t eat so much, and left it at that. It was all about the face they put on to the world and Veronica was certainly trying to put on one that said that she was the ‘It’ girl.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you as well, Miss Bauer, but please, call me Veronica,” she said with the right touch of formality and informality. It was enough that said that she wanted to continue the conversation and that there was a possibility of friendship without seeming like she was desperate and that anyone would do, which was certainly not the case. There already seemed to be some that she would prefer not to be around. Her gaze went to her sister. She desperately hoped that Delilah would heed her advice and not make friends with the wrong sort. It was easier at home since everyone within the gates was considered appropriate.

However, that didn’t prevent them from acting inappropriately by doing outdoor activities like climbing trees or exploring. The worst was when they played sports. She didn’t understand it at all. Well, she understood when the boys played. They were boys after all, but why her sister of all people wanted to was beyond her. It meant getting dirty and sweaty. It meant being less than perfect and in her world, anything less than perfect was not to be tolerated. Perhaps, that made her more like Cassie than she actually wanted to admit, but it was in different areas since she could care less about academics, which really made being in Aladren mind boggling for her.

Focused on Rachel, she only just realized that the other girl had a vague tint of red to her rather than the same lingering blue that Veronica had. Raising an eyebrow, she asked as politely as possible, “Not that I mind talking to you for I certainly am glad that you came over, but doesn’t being red mean that you should be at the Crotalus table?” While she wasn’t about to admit it, Crotalus had been her first choice to where she had wanted to be sorted. With the rumors surrounding Pecari regarding pranks, sugary sweet niceness of Teppenpaw, and the braininess of Aladren, it seemed the only House worth being in. Though, in her opinion the third was the worst option for her ultimate life plan.

0 Veronica Sounds as though we're a match. 0 Veronica 0 5

Kameyrynn Prinzo

November 02, 2009 12:11 AM

Not really though 'foot-in-mouth' seems to be on the menu... by Kameyrynn Prinzo

Kamey was very glad that there was another girl in her year she hated when she had a room to herself, even when she had to hide certain things. It would just have been strange to not have someone else around. She always found it easier to sleep if there was another in the room. And to her it seemed like it was always so. Kamey felt a little sorry for Tobar though, being the only boy, maybe he would room with the second years, or even possibly enjoys the solitude after a large family.

As Dulce spoke of who she knew Kamey ran the words through her mind. Tio, she thought, it could be like zio I guess. A small crease came to her forhead as she continued the line of thought. Maybe in spanish or portugese they are both close to Italian. Though being related to the Headboy is kinda cool. But her uncle that young, I guess this is another with a large family. Wait! Tio...Zio... Uncle

Before her line of thought caught up to her mouth Kamey stopped the small movements that her hands and feet were doing and blurted out in her hoarse whisper, "He's your uncle?" she then abruptly bit her lip and muttered "Sssorry, that wasss rahter rude of me." and her fingers began tapping on the table again.

0 Kameyrynn Prinzo Not really though 'foot-in-mouth' seems to be on the menu... 0 Kameyrynn Prinzo 0 5

Medic Rock

November 02, 2009 1:29 AM

Stranger in a strange land by Medic Rock

Cleo Rocamboli had worked as a Medic before, but not in a school. True, she had done a few stints at both magical and Muggle hospitals—the Muggles were always so curious how Cleo’s patients nearly always had a remarkable recovery rate, but nothing she’d done would have tipped them off to the actual source of her medical prowess. Since her mother was a Muggle, Cleo’s parents had raised her and her brother Jarrett to be functional in both the wizarding and Muggle worlds. However, Cleo had never been enrolled or employed in a magical school; Jarrett and Cleo’s father had taught them magic at home while they attended public school for Muggles. The woman had only been in a school like this once, when a medical emergency had required the presence of a more experienced Healer than the institute’s Medic. The boy had been set right; the foolish student had simply taken much too high a dose of Deflating Draught. Cleo had learned not to underestimate any potions—even the most mundane Draught of Peace could do damage.

Still, she hoped that Sonora Academy would be a welcome distraction from her life. What with her mother’s worsening Multiple Sclerosis, Teo’s liver cancer, and their impending divorce, and the fact that the divorce had been, for now, postponed because of the liver cancer, Cleo needed something to take her mind off of everything.

Due to the wet weather, Cleo’s russet hair had moved from “wildly curly” to “untamable”. Once in the breathtaking Cascade Hall, with its weather-controlling charms, the Medic’s hair relaxed from the humidity enough for Cleo to successfully restrain with her favorite scarf; a black fabric patterned with stars that noticeably winked if you looked closely. The scarf was from the Muggle world, an old gift from Teo, but Cleo had enchanted it herself. Charms, along with Divination, had always been one of her favorite areas of study—though, as a Healer, Cleo was also partial to Potions and Herbology.

As Headmistress Powell—Sadi, that was her name—introduced the new staff, Cleo blushed beneath all her freckles and gave a cheerful wave at the students, trying not to let her nervousness show in her bright blue eyes. It was ridiculous, the woman thought; she had nothing, after all, to be nervous about. Still, it was a comfort to know that Cleo was not the only new faculty member. Hopefully, this meant she would be forgiven for not knowing the ropes—though Cleo didn’t know how many of the new professors were Sonora alumni. She applauded politely for those who were now Head students and Prefects, trying to memorize their faces. With any luck, these were the students she could rely on if she needed any help.

Cleo described herself as neither extroverted nor introverted, but she was currently tending towards that latter. It was not as though she was the youngest person on staff—she was thirty-seven, for goodness’ sakes—but she felt somehow out of her depth at Sonora. Even the “new” Charms professor, who looked younger than her, had taught here before. And there were so many people…Cleo could hardly imagine that many young wizards cooped up in a school. There had been enough accidents with just herself and Jarrett around. But Cleo was an optimist, so she would make this work for her.

The Medic was so lost in thought that it was only her colleague’s expectant gaze at her continued silence that made Cleo realize that one of her new coworkers had just spoken to her. Blue eyes focusing on the coworker’s face, Cleo laughed a little and said, “Sorry—my mind must have wandered off, there. What did you say?” Great, she thought sarcastically, you’ve already established yourself as the space case. Lovely.

0 Medic Rock Stranger in a strange land 0 Medic Rock 0 5

Alessa Hinckley

November 02, 2009 1:45 AM

In caution? by Alessa Hinckley

Alessa stood with the first years waiting to take the Sorting Potion. She was curious not only to see what house she would be in but who would be in what house. Alessa was always oddly curious about stuff like that.

She hadn't been too happy to be attending Sonora. The plan was always for her to attend Salem, but that had closed and now she had to go to school in the desert, where it was hot and bright. Alessa did not like bright light and would have preferred to go someplace rainy and cloudy.

The first year moved with her yearmates to take the potion. Alessa, being a pureblood, was accustomed to taking potions for everything and had little worry about drinking one designed for sorting.

She turned a brilliant blue, which the Headmistress had said (and Alessa already knew) was the color for Aladren. Alessa joined the others at the Aladren table and sat, surveying the food. She wondered what to take. Alessa was a rather picky eater. Many foods had a weird texture to them, like pudding at times. Water always tasted nasty to her too. She finally decided on spaghetti, since the sauce didn't seem to have any mushrooms in it. Alessa couldn't stand mushrooms.

Unfortunately, the hall was getting a little loud for her. Many conversations were going on and she had never liked that. In addition to food textures and bright light, Alessa had issues with what she called people noise. It wasn't that she hated people themselves, in fact, she had little experience with ones her own age. It was just that when a lot of them were speaking at once, even if it wasn't to her, she felt the need to escape-and she was starting to feel that now.

The one conversation she could hear clearly was the two people sitting next to her, another first year girl like herself and an older boy. Alessa had kind of wanted to join them, she really wanted to make friends-she didn't care that they were muggleborns- but she felt it was hard to break in. The etiquette lessons she'd had did not help especially as she found it hard to pay attention anyway when something did not especially interest her. Plus the hall was crowded and noisy and it was hard to focus and she even felt a bit sick.

Eventually, Alessa just couldn't take it. "Um, excuse me," she adressed the older boy, "When are we going to be led to our rooms?" As an after thought she turned to the girl, Anna, "I'm Alessa Hinckley." She wondered if she should add her family branch, it was unlikely they would have heard of her family-though the boy, James, might have heard of her mother's family, there were several Brockerts at Sonora,she thought her mom's cousin's daughter Pippa was a third year- but it was always what she'd been taught. At the moment though, it wasn't too important to her, (not that she cared much usually really. Alessa didn't even understand the whole point of the traditional pureblood greetings other than they were traditional.) All she really cared about at this point was escaping.

11 Alessa Hinckley In caution? 150 Alessa Hinckley 0 5

Amelia Pierce

November 02, 2009 2:22 AM

Yep; I've got potatoes and salad and broccoli and steak ... by Amelia Pierce

Amy nodded in acknowledgement as John introduced himself - another Head of House (for the one Amelia couldn't help but mentally think of as Terrigenas) and the newly full-time potions professor. She was inclined to like him better for that - potions had been her favorite subject in school.

She also mentally tagged him as her go-to guy if she had any questions that she didn't want to bother the Headmistress or Deputy Headmaster with. Even if he was new to the potions position, he still sounded like he had bit of seniority and certainly had significantly more experience navigating the school than she did.

Plus, his wife and mother had been in her new adopted House, which was probably completely insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but it still gave her a sense of connection to him that was probably entirely all in her head. She was an Aether. He was an Aladren. That she was now Head of the House that two of his relatives had long since graduated from was a very tenuous commonality at best.

Still, she thought it boded well that she was already starting to count Crotalus alumni as fellow Housemates, as much as she would have an unfamiliar Aether alumni.

"Potions," she said, reaching for a probably more tangible common interest. "I always liked potions. Even worked in the field for a couple months part-time, right after . . ." the disownment, the end of her life as she'd known it back then, the family division, ". . . after I quit coaching at Durmstrang. Needed something a little closer to home. I'd just adopted two of my younger cousins, but we needed the money, and the potion shop was hiring. Didn't pay much though, so I didn't stay there long."

She laughed ruefully and shook her head. "Looking forward to my first paycheck here. Family's hurting pretty bad from the economy. My last job gave us a decent check up until it went bankrupt and stopped being able to pay me, about six months ago. Pierces used to be poor, back before the gold rush, but, Merlin, you don't realize how much you need money until you suddenly don't have it anymore. Dru offered me another loan, but I am not going to put the Boston Pierces back into the debt of the New Hampshire branch again if I can possibly avoid it. I just finished paying back the first one last year. And then, my youngest is a sophmore in college, which, let me tell you, isn't at all cheap. Do you have any kids?"

He'd mentioned he had a wife, so she didn't think she was out of bounds to ask. Had he struck her as single, as her own lack of mention of a husband and equal lack of a wedding ring on her finger might have implied, it might have been an impolite question, but he was married and she'd already twice mentioned her own kids, so that changed the propriety of the situation entirely. Besides, she was curious.

1 Amelia Pierce Yep; I've got potatoes and salad and broccoli and steak ... 20 Amelia Pierce 0 5

Headmistress Powell

November 02, 2009 3:20 AM

OOC by Headmistress Powell

Hi Demelza, while I appreciate you eagerness to talk to as many people as possible, it often gets very confusing if you try to post in two areas of the same thread at the same time. For the time being, please just stick to one thread.

Thank you.

0 Headmistress Powell OOC 0 Headmistress Powell 0 5

Demelza Eagle

November 02, 2009 7:11 AM

Opps... sorry! (nm) (nm) by Demelza Eagle

0 Demelza Eagle Opps... sorry! (nm) (nm) 157 Demelza Eagle 0 5

Lutece

November 02, 2009 9:09 AM

Wanna play Potions again? by Lutece

“Contacts,” Lutece asserted with a nod, her token response to Oliver’s token protest. She had been after him about the glasses for years, but truthfully, she would have been a bit unnerved if he had actually listened to her and gotten rid of the glasses. They were, in their own weird, nerdy way, a part of Oliver. Who was actually kind of weird and nerdy, so that was probably why they suited each other quite so well. Years ago, upon her arrival at Sonora, who would have imagined that Lutece Anthony would be friends with such a nerdy kid? Actually, even now it caused her father and brother to snicker. The brother who, Lutece noticed with a somewhat disdainful look, was currently trying to pick up first years or something. James was just as much or a weird, nerdy kid as Oliver, although he also had more of an unbearable ego.

“Euegh,” Lutece groaned, making a half-flounce backwards as she considered bludgeoning herself to death with the plate in front of her. “I’m living with James and my father because Mom’s being too much of a—“ she decided that the word she wanted to use might permanently scar Oliver’s perpetually dense mind and changed her mind halfway through “pain about the whole magic thing. James was all emo the entire summer because Grace is still sulking that she didn’t get a letter, and dad moved this creepy army of Ewoks into the apartment too, and it’s already teeny.” The brown-haired girl sighed, miniature rant over. “My family is psychotic. Why is my family psychotic? Oh,” Lutece added, as an afterthought, watching James talk to the little blonde first year. “and James has developed some sort of undying love for your sister. I hate my life.”

The sixth year examined the dishes in front of her, immediately discarding the idea of eating carrots, broccolli, or chicken and finally settling on the bowl of garlic pasta slightly to her left. Lutece detested red pasta. It tasted of tomatoes more than anything else, and it stained like no other. In short, gross! Not that anything would show up on these stupid school robes, but Lutece still didn’t want to take the chance. She would have to learn a bleaching Charm. Of course, since their crazy ex-Charms teacher seemed to be back, the Crotalus had pretty much discarded any hope of learning something practical like that. Not that the one they’d had for the last couple of years would do anything practical like that either.

“So was your summer full of sunshine and happiness?” Lutece asked lightly, serving herself the pasta. It was a bit drippy, which made her grimace with distaste, but overall it still stood superior to the other varieties.

0 Lutece Wanna play Potions again? 0 Lutece 0 5

James

November 02, 2009 9:37 AM

Fear not, I have plenty of both by James

Although James was loathe to make human-animal comparisons, despite his knowledge that both the Patronus and the Animagus form of a witch or wizard manifested as an animal similar to said witch or wizard in characteristics (or, that was, characteristics ascribed to it through lore, both Magical and Muggle), he could not help but compare Anna to some sort of small, rodentine mammal. Predominantly, James thought, this was due to her overwhelming shyness and the manner in which she began to consume the pastry she had chosen. However, James was aware that it was quite normal for first years to behave in such a manner. Not, of course, that he had ever been quite that silly himself, but several of his peers had. This was quite probably the reason the younger Anthony regarded many of said peers with a particular amount of disdain.

“I, too, am a Muggleborn,” James felt as though he had not made this quite clear. “It would be quite foolish of me to convey any sort of disdain towards a Housemate simply because of the so-called ‘purity’ of their blood. Besides, you will come to find that many of these ‘pureblooded’ are much less adept at the magical arts than some of those of Muggle descent.”

Anna then preceded to divulge that her primary area of worry and doubt was her wandwork. James nodded understandingly. If he had not wrangled the information out of his older sister before embarking upon his wagon journey to Sonora for the first time, he might have been at such a loss himself. The owner of the shop from which he had purchased his wand had been rather unhelpful, even given the astounding precociousness James had demonstrated in regards to understanding the properties and characteristics of the various wand types.

However, before James had the opportunity to begin this very basic explanation to Anna, another first year joined their conversation. The brown-haired boy smiled at the younger girl in welcome, quite pleased with the popularity he seemed to be holding among the younger years. Perhaps he would indeed accomplish his goal of becoming Prefect and, ultimately, Head Boy! The Aladren pushed his glasses up his nose again as he examined the new first year. James felt a small twinge of annoyance as the girl introduced herself to Anna, but not to James; then again, he supposed that it was a positive sign that she was addressing questions towards him. He had often been told as a child that he had a sort of charismatic aura about him, and although the boy was not credulous enough to believe in auras, he did appreciate this evaluation of his personality.

“We should be lead to our Commons within the next thirty minutes,” James estimated, examining his (analog) watch for a brief moment. “It is nice to meet you, Alessa. My name is James, and this is Anna. We were just discussing the intricacies of the first year of magical schooling; would you like to join us?”

0 James Fear not, I have plenty of both 0 James 0 5

Anna

November 02, 2009 10:13 AM

In Magical Concepts by Anna

Anna jumped when the other girl spoke, startled. She was usually very observant, so this was an unwelcome surprise. She chided herself on being too involved in the conversation with James, and smiled a little. She didn't want to seem unfriendly, after all.

She looked up at the girl, feeling very diminutive in her presence. She was taller by several inches, and although everyone was, Alessa seemed taller. Maybe it was the way she carried herself. Anna didn't know, and probably would never know, seeing as she could barely carry on a conversation with James. She made a mental note to practice her 'people skills'.

"Anna Berg," she squeaked, sounding like something akin to a mouse. She sat between the two taller students, feeling a little claustrophobic. She nibbled on her pastry, watching the two carefully. "Pleasure to meet you."

0 Anna In Magical Concepts 0 Anna 0 5

Lucie Dupree

November 02, 2009 12:12 PM

The world is topsy-turvy by Lucie Dupree

Summer had been a rather interesting and while also a bit odd, Lucie hated to see it end. Once school had ended, final arrangements had been made for the wedding. She still couldn’t believe that Devian had actually gone through with the marriage to Rosalind Rabindra. She would have thought his wandering eye would have been enough for him to question whether or not he could enter something so sacred when he knew he couldn’t be loyal. While at school, even with Rosalind around, he had held a thing for Bella Santoro and one for Helena Layne.

Though, thankfully, in her opinion, both had been unrealized. She liked Bella enough, but she didn’t think she would be very good for Devian. She seemed the type that could cause waves and that wouldn’t sit well with her parents, especially not with the one that was to lead them all. Besides, with Danae and Josh’s betrothal, they already had a connection to the Santoro family so another one, while acceptable, was not needed. As for Helena, it was more that the only way he could have been with her was to do what Nicoletta did and leave the family.

As much as she disagreed with Devian sometimes, she loved her brother. It was already weird that he was no longer living at home. After the wedding (she had gotten to be a bridesmaid – very exciting), they had gone on their honeymoon and when they had gotten back, they had moved into their own place. Now, it was just she and Danae at home and soon, it would be just her. Unless, by some chance, she ended up getting married first, which she hoped wasn’t the case. She was still trying to find a way out of it, but how? She thought she had come up with a solution last year, but it had become apparent that it wasn’t going to work.

Lucie was so deep in concentration on formulating a new plan that one might have thought her a statue. She wasn’t even eating any of the delicious food before her. She might have stayed this was for the entire feast if the sound of her name hadn’t broken into her thoughts. Glancing up in concern, she caught the rest of the announcement. Oddly enough, she wasn’t surprised that she had ended up with the title of prefect. It had been a fifty-fifty chance to whether or not she would get it, which really she wouldn’t have been surprised if it had gone the other way either.

No, what took her by surprise were her fellow prefects as she got up to go along with them, especially Laurel Cider. If anyone had gotten it in Crotalus, she would have thought it would have been Anabel or maybe Cecily since they seemed to be the leaders of their little group. Weren’t natural leaders, among other qualities, usually looked for when choosing prefects? Not to mention the fact that Laurie had been tied to the same boy for how long? Didn’t she want to see what else was out there? Were they going to get married? It seemed silly to not at least see what other people were like. Maybe she was scared, but if she was, then that meant that she might not have tried anything really and how could one be expected to give any advice to others if they never left their own little box?

Of course, it wasn’t like the Headmistress knew of all these little dramas. Or maybe she did and that’s why Laurie had been picked. Being with the same person also suggested a form of stability, which was probably good in a prefect. Although, that brought up the question of how Holly had become a prefect. Everyone knew that she wasn’t exactly stable, so that one really boggled Lucie’s mind. But then there might have been traits in the other options that might have made Holly’s flaws pale in comparison. She wondered if that had been the case in determining between her and Josiah. Who knew? Then, there was Grayson versus Chelsea. She would have thought Chelsea would have been picked before Grayson since Chelsea’s sister, Kaylie, had once been a prefect, but then that didn’t necessarily mean Chelsea would be the same.

Then, Grayson did participate. Wasn’t being able to work in a group and be helpful part of the role of prefect? The four of them would have to work with each other. Maybe that was it. Maybe the Headmistress hoped they would bring out the best of each other to be awesome role models. That sounded like a good theory and she decided to go with it. She wondered what her positive and negative traits would be. What would make her an awful prefect and what would make her a great prefect? It was hard to tell since she knew the logic behind her thinking that obviously someone else wouldn’t know and so something that seemed awful to someone else might not seem the same to her. More logic to why they had all been chosen.

While standing with the others, she snuck a look over at Grayson. He was taller than her now, which made her notice him a bit more. She had flirted with him before and she liked him as a friend, but had never really considered anything more seriously. Oh, it wasn’t that he had been displeasing to the eye, because he hadn’t. It was just a combination that she was discovering flirting and that he had been a little height-challenged. She liked when the guy was taller than her. It made him seem manlier. She didn’t think she could ever date someone that was shorter or even the same height that she was, which made it a really good thing that she was short. It gave her more options even if Rook was still in the picture.

After she got her badge, Lucie headed back to where she had been sitting previously. She paused to admire the badge a moment before her stomach gave an unhappy growl. She was about to reach for one of the many dishes when the person across from her gave her pause. She hadn’t expected Grayson to come sit at her table. Not that she minded in the least as it would give them the opportunity to catch up before getting back into the swing of the busyness of classes, which this would probably be the worst year ever since they would have C.A.T.S. It was a rather anxious thought, because she knew that she had to do well on them for a multitude of reasons that she didn’t really want to think about at the moment.

Thankfully, at that moment, Grayson made her laugh at his disbelief that they were made prefects. “I’m fairly certain that she made us prefects. Otherwise, it would be a horrible joke on Laurie and Holly as well,” she stated as she brushed back some of her long blonde hair. It wasn’t as long as it had been in previous years since she had gotten it cut over the summer, but it was better styled bringing out more curls than just her natural ones. It wasn’t the only noticeable change. Her face was devoid of any of the chubbiness of childhood. Her skill with makeup had improved making her skin glow and her blue eyes look wider. Even the rest of her body was changing. She felt very feminine and with the addition of the badge, she felt very grown up. She had a good feeling that it was going to be a great year.

0 Lucie Dupree The world is topsy-turvy 114 Lucie Dupree 0 5

Florenza

November 02, 2009 1:33 PM

Yeah, they are pretty awesome! by Florenza

Flo took another satisfying mouthful of pasta as she watched Starbuck get excited over the idea of Quidditch. Personally, she adored Quidditch and everything to do with it. The feeling of flying, with the wind in your hair was almost as theraputic as running laps of Central Park. She'd been playing Quidditch since she was seven and her whole family were incredibly competitive, as was she.

Starbuck mentioned not being able to fly and Florenza was a bit confused for a second. A witch? Not bieng able to fly? Then she remebered this girl was muggle born and cursed herself for being so forgetful.
"I'll just have my own private tutor in flying then," Starbuck said, leaning in.
"Oh, I don't know!" Flo exclaimed, "I'm not the best person to get lessons from. I need immediate results so I'm far to impatient for teaching!" She laughed and gazed around the hall, smiling at anyone who looked her way. then she thought of something.
"Hey, Starbuck? Are there in first year guys in Pecari? It's just I dont remeber seeing any sit down?"

0 Florenza Yeah, they are pretty awesome! 0 Florenza 0 5

Starbuck

November 02, 2009 5:52 PM

Hmm by Starbuck

Starbuck looked around the table and nodded. “I think his name was Jude or something.” She paused as she set down her fork finally full. “But besides him I don’t think we have any other boys.” She said with a smile. She stifled a yawn as she looked around the hall.

She was exhausted now that she had eaten but it looked like the feast was still going strong. “I wonder what our rooms going to be like. I hope the beds are comfy, I’m really spoiled with my bed.” She laughed and smiled at Flo.

0 Starbuck Hmm 0 Starbuck 0 5

Tobar

November 02, 2009 5:59 PM

Tasty but not as good as my moms by Tobar

Tobar looked between the two girls and smiled. He liked Kamey for her uniqueness, and Dulce seemed to be nice enough but it sucked to be the only boy in Teppenpaw that year. He patted the table and smiled.

“So do you girls want to go out for Quidditch? I can’t wait, though I don’t think they’ll allow first years to join.” He frowned and hoped he would be able to at least try out for the team. He swiped his black hair out of his face.

0 Tobar Tasty but not as good as my moms 0 Tobar 0 5

Dulce

November 02, 2009 9:49 PM

It never is. by Dulce

Kamey’s sudden outburst startled Dulce rather splendidly. She reacted with a slight jump from her spot before turning her curious gaze at the girl beside her. Look wise, the two girls were completely opposite. While Kamey had blonde hair and blue eyes, Dulce had long dark brown hair that fell in waves down the middle of her back and light hazel eyes that stuck out shockingly against her olive toned skin. While her sister had a round face and was particularly feminine, Dulce had a square face and a prominent chin that made her look quite like their father.

Although she would never be defined as tomboyish, Dulce wasn’t really a girly girl either. She didn’t care about getting dirty, she wore skirts when she wanted to and ripped jeans without a second thought. She always left her hair down; doing nothing more to it than maybe clipping what would normally be bangs back slightly while she played. She did that because for her, her long hair was like a shield. She didn’t mind talking, she just didn’t like it. And, she discovered early on that if her hair was hiding her face, people tended to ignore her.

Today, however, her sister had forced her to wear her hair back and out of her face so that people would talk to her. “Yes, he is.” Dulce replied trying to understand why this would be interesting. “My mother is the oldest of nine. My uncles are the youngest.” It never occurred to Dulce that the size of her family would intrigue others. To her, this was the norm just as speaking Spanish as fluently as she spoke English was second nature for her. “It’s okay.” Dulce said, trying to reassure the girl that her outburst wasn’t any problem. “Is it odd that they are?”

Taking her fork in her hand again to resume eating, the conversation moved on to Quidditch. “No.” Dulce said rather matter-of-factly. “My mother would be upset with me and I don’t want to harm myself in a way that would prevent me from playing the piano.” That was true enough. Her mother would have killed her if she found out she was playing quidditch. Not because her mother didn’t think girls could play, but because she was worried that Dulce or Adelita would harm their bodies permanently that would prevent them from doing the things that they loved. But, more than harming herself, Dulce just wasn’t into sports.

“My Tio-er-not the ones who are here, but a different one,” Dulce explained. “He plays for the Portuguese Quidditch team. He’s a beater. We go to all the home games. Or, we did before I started here.” Dulce could watch a game and get excited while she was there, but she knew she would never participate in one. “What is the thrill with playing if there’s a possibility of getting hurt?” Dulce asked, curious to know the answer that they gave her.

0 Dulce It never is. 0 Dulce 0 5

Anna

November 02, 2009 9:57 PM

Lovely; I wish to leave by Anna

Anna fidgeted with the long sleeves of her robe, eyes darting here and there, trying to take everything in. She couldn't look everywhere at once, however, so she settled back on Alessa and James. She was beginning to feel rather crowded, despite the cavernous hall and its light, airy appearance. The noises around her were pressing in, and all she wanted was to go to bed.

She set the half-eaten pastry on the plate in front of her, swallowing what she had in her mouth before turning to James.

"Are we allowed to leave the feast early?" she inquired, voice sounding strangled even to her own ears. The smells of all the different kinds of food mixed together was making her nauseous, and she suspected it was because she was unaccustomed to so much tantalizing flavor and diversity. She eyed a platter of chicken breast with interest, but had a feeling she would be sick if she ate it.

She sighed. Why did she have to be such a problem child? She looked down at her hands in her lap, unconsciously rubbed the place on her right arm where the scars were. She looked back up at James, hoping he would say yes and she could escape to her room--wherever that happened to be.

That presented another problem. If she left early, she probably would miss out on the customary speech given by her Head of House, which would mean she would have to speak to someone to find out what she had missed. While she liked having a few friends, she did not relish the idea of missing the speech due to a delicate stomach.

0 Anna Lovely; I wish to leave 0 Anna 0 5

Kameyrynn Prinzo

November 02, 2009 10:19 PM

Re: It never is. by Kameyrynn Prinzo

Kamey nodded to Dulce as she explained her family. Wow, she thought, it seems as if I am the only one with out a family here. She thought back to her dreams when she first got her letter, hoping beyond hope that her twin would be here and that she would no longer be alone. But it seems that it was not to be. Her family may still be out there somewhere, but she should not think about it so much she realized. If she found them it would be a great thing, if not, then she would mourn them in time.

Glad that Tobar changed the topic Kamey let out the breath she had been holding and picked up her fork to continue eating. "I might go out for Quidditch eventually, I've never played before or even flown before for that matter ssso not this year definately." she replied in her hoarse whisper "I will need sssomething to keep me in ssshape though if I want to be a part of the Sssummer production back home. What other fitnessss clubsss are available that I can get into?"

0 Kameyrynn Prinzo Re: It never is. 0 Kameyrynn Prinzo 0 5

Anabel McIntosh

November 03, 2009 12:10 AM

Well, it could be worse by Anabel McIntosh

It had finally happened; that wretch Amy Fox was finally part of her family and she had had no say in it. There had been no way to stop it and for the last year she had been silent with her mortification. It had been difficult over the previous year, knowing that the psycho Coach Fox was engaged to her uncle. It hadn't helped that she had had to see the woman every day. "Aunt" Amy had finally made some sense, however, and had left the school for good. Anabel might not be free of the shame of having someone like Amy in her family, but at least she was no longer a daily reminder.

Seated in her usual seat with the ladies, Anabel watched in shock as Holly was named as Pecari's prefect. It was unusual to be sure and she couldn't help but nod at Cecily's comment. "Definitely not," she muttered matter-of-factly before Holly returned to her seat.

Anabel's head whipped around as Alexis responded to Holly. Did the girl actually think that she could regain her spot with them after all that she had done? She was an embarrassment. She had tried to make a mockery of them and, in the end, it had backfired in her face.

"Did a Bludger finally hit some sense into you?" Anabel fought the urge to snort as she took a sip of her pumpkin juice. Her eyes were full of laughter as she shot a glance at Cecily.

"Well, whatever it is, she does have a point," Anabel said after a moment. Think of all the good things you can do with a position of power."

0 Anabel McIntosh Well, it could be worse 120 Anabel McIntosh 0 5

Chelsea Brockert

November 03, 2009 1:58 AM

How so? by Chelsea Brockert

Chelsea watched the first years' sorting with more interest than in previous years, because her dreadful younger sister Nina was among them. She loathed the younger girl and was just hoping she wouldn't be in Aladren with her. Not that Chelsea particularly liked being in Aladren. With an odd mixture of disgust and relief, she saw Nina was had turned brown, she was to be in Pecari.

Next, Headmistress Powell gave her speech. The only part of it that she really cared about was the prefect announcements and Chelsea was immensely displeased when Grayson Wright's name was called instead of hers. How could they? Grayson was a total nerd with sub-par social skills. She was the one who deserved to be prefect.

Maybe it was her parents' fault. Maybe they weren't donating enough money to Sonora. Had they been diverting the funds to SUM to make sure Marshall didn't get expelled? If that was the case, then Chelsea resented her cousin more than ever. Just because his own parents didn't want anything to do with him didn't mean he had to take Chelsea's.

To make matters worse, Laurie Cider had gotten for Crotalus rather than Cecily or Anabel. Cecily liked Laurie, but Chelsea thought she was as goody-goody as they came. She almost felt bad for the new Crotali, but at the moment she certainly didn't care. Plus, Chelsea had heard somewhere that Laurie, not Lila St. Martin, was the one who came up with that travesty of a play Crotalus put on at the concert two years ago. Why on earth had they given her prefect after that? As hostile as Chelsea was feeling towards Grayson at the moment, at least Aladren's play had made sense.

Chelsea couldn't say too much about Lucie Dupree's appointment, as she was pretty much the only Teppenpaw. Besides, she was a Dupree.

When Holly's name was called, Chelsea tried to feel happy for her friend, and she did, really, but she should have had the same power, the same title. Grayson wouldn't know what to do with it. Just like Adam wouldn't know what to do with the title of patriarch someday.

"I assume I'm not the only one of us surprised."

"Indeed," agreed Chelsea. Not only was Holly not the type that didn't handle pressure well, but after the other three had been passed over, Chelsea was surprised anyone respectable was made prefect.

"How did I get Prefect? Of Pecari? Is this a punishment for something? I'm not anything like Elly Erikkson or Irene Liddowe or Saul Pierce, am I?"

Holly had brought up an interesting point. Grayson had much more in common with Paul Tarwater and Lucas Smythe and the stereotypical Aladren than she did. Chelsea had no more desire to talk to most of her housemates than Holly did the other Pecaris.

Besides,what if she had become Prefect and then Quentin was made one in two years? Chelsea cringed inwardly at the thought of having to work on the Concert with him .

Before Chelsea or Anabel or Cecily could assure Holly that she was nothing like those repulsive human beings she had named, another voice chimed in.

“Don’t worry; you’re nothing like them.” Alexis found herself saying. “Maybe they finally realized the group of people they were giving power to, as prefects, and decided to put a stop to it. You were obviously the right choice.” .

Chelsea felt a wave of disgust wash over her. Why did she have to deal with Alexis the Traitor right now ? There was nobody else she less wanted to be around at the moment. (Except maybe Nina...or Jenaye...or Laurie...or Grayson, but Alexis would definitely be on the list.)

She snickered at Cecily's response to Alexis. If only she'd been hit in the head! Or back. "If they were putting a stop to giving it to undeserving people, then they wouldn't have passed the rest of us over." Chelsea informed the traitor coldly. She turned back to Holly, "Anabel's right, power is a wonderful thing." Okay, Alexis had been the one to point out to Holly initially that being prefect was a good thing, but Chelsea certainly wasn't about to give her any credit. " Nina was just sorted into Pecari,though, do give her a hard time." Her distaste for her sister was evident, it was the same tone she always used for the younger girl, the same one she used when she discussed anyone she didn't like.

11 Chelsea Brockert How so? 108 Chelsea Brockert 0 5

Jude

November 03, 2009 6:34 AM

OOC by Jude

Hey Mel, I'm not ignoring you, I just don't want to leave Delilah behind in the thread! When she posts, I'll respond to both of you, all right?

0 Jude OOC 0 Jude 0 5

Demelza Eagle

November 03, 2009 6:41 AM

OOC by Demelza Eagle

Of course, I didn't think that! I was actually waiting for Delilah, too! We'll just have to wait for her! Delilah... hello! ;)

0 Demelza Eagle OOC 157 Demelza Eagle 0 5

Henry Flatt

November 03, 2009 9:20 AM

I grok the feeling. by Henry Flatt

Henry knew that it was only concern that caused the eyes of the Headmistress to follow him as he went through his welcoming duties. He also knew that the well-meaning enquiries from other members of the staff were all part of common courtesy. The variant on glandular fever he had contracted after midterm had lingered far longer than the healers had anticipated, and then coupled with the unexpected loss of his mother over the summer-- the toll on him had translated rather drastically into the physical. He had lost far too much weight-- pounds that did not need losing-- and gone too many nights without restful sleep. And yet, returning to the school, returning to Sonora, was a much welcomed respite. He desperately craved normalcy, and the promise of classes and scholastic duties meant hours upon hours of mental occupation.

Anything that secured distraction was welcome. Anything.

His gaze traveled the room, surveying the newest flock of first years. They seemed younger than ever, their enthusiasm and excitement innocently annoying in its seeming effortlessness. He brought his eyes back to the staff table, reminding himself that a smile, however artificial, was nevertheless necessary for his position. The en masse hiring of much of the new staff members was a bit unsettling. He already missed the presence of the former Care of Magical Creatures professor, and due to his absence over the summer break, he'd had only the past two days to acquaint himself with the new staff. The sudden lack of any real friends among the staff left him feeling even more isolated; Sadi Powell had been beyond supportive, but his comfort level with the person who was, effectively, his boss was still awkward.

Absently, his hand twisted the engagement ring on his finger, a going-away gift from Pamela. They were supposed to have wed only a few weeks earlier, his mother's death delaying the event. Pamela had rearranged her calendar immediately, coordinating with her guest list on a new date near the Christmas holidays. Henry had agreed at the time, too numb to consider logistics or seating plans. He had attended the funeral without her, and after the wake, he stayed with his father, assisting with the probate enquiries and selling of the farm. His father offered the land to Henry, over a hundred acres of well seasoned earth, prime for the wheat his family had grown for four generations. And for a moment, Henry had been tempted to leave it all behind, his job with the Cabinet, his teaching position at Sonora, his engagement with Pamela-- to leave all of it and settle into the day-to-day simplicity of the farm.

But Pamela's letter had arrived with the ring and the post-script from Megan, and he remembered himself.

Henry closed his eyes and exhaled slowly; he needed to remember the art of living properly again, and as his mother had told him for the first eighteen years of his life, no day was complete without a good meal. "The squash please," he asked to his right, a touch of discomfort preventing him from further familiarity.

When the new medic proceeded to only stare blankly, his smile gained a more natural quality, and upon her voiced admission, he nearly laughed. "It's all right. Just, the squash, if you would, and, I know the Headmistress already managed the intros, but it's Henry."

0 Henry Flatt I grok the feeling. 18 Henry Flatt 0 5

Holly Greer

November 03, 2009 9:33 AM

I could have a nervous breakdown. Like right now. by Holly Greer

As if being named Prefect of Pecari (or Prefect generally, no matter how much the other Ladies seemed to think it was a good thing to have) wasn't bad enough, her friends had to start bickering. She was already in the process of gulping down an anti-anxiety vial, but she wasn't sure it was going to be strong enough or kick in fast enough for this situation. Her hands were already starting to shake, so she grabbed the table and started to breathe using the exercises her therapist had taught her.

(And hadn't Professor Powell said Ms. Nelson was leaving, and there'd been no mention of a new therapist today - oh, Merlin, Holly was going to die this year. Prefect, fighting friends, not to mention CATS, all without a psychologist . . . was the administration trying to give her a breakdown?)

The breathing exercises were obviously not helping, and her knuckles were turning white, and the reassurances heaped her way were completely undermined by the comments and looks thrown at Alexis. Holly did not handle conflict well, and it was even worse when it was between people she liked. She still didn't understand exactly what caused the fall out between Alexis and the other Ladies, aside from that it had something to do with brooms and Quidditch, but normally they avoided each other better than this and Holly didn't have to deal with it in person. That drama tended to keep itself mostly to the Crotalus dorm, which was the one saving grace of being a Pecari.

"Please," she got out after a second effort to calm herself was marginally successful, though she was looking more at her white knuckled fingers than she was at her friends, "don't fight." She took in another wavering breath and looked at Cecily who was the only one who had made an outright unfriendly remark, "Try to be nice. It's the Welcoming Feast." Normally, she probably wouldn't have stood up for Alexis against all of them, but Alexis was right there, they were being rude, and well, maybe her new badge was already going to her head and making her crazier than normal. "Be welcoming for one hour."

Which sort of brought her back to Chelsea. Holly turned to look at first her friend, then the little kids who were starting to fade from that awful brown color she'd turned four years ago (which, admittedly, as skin colors go, was much better than blue, yellow, or red - she just hadn't been wearing clothes suited for a dark skin shade).

"Which one's Nina?" she asked, more because she though someone related to Chelsea, regardless of what her sister thought of her, might be marginally less awful than the standard Pecari than because she had any intention of giving the girl a hard time as Chelsea requested. Holly herself rarely spoke well of Molly, but she loved her baby sister dearly as long as Molly didn't touch her things. Holly naturally assumed the difficulties between Chelsea and Nina were similar.

1 Holly Greer I could have a nervous breakdown. Like right now. 123 Holly Greer 0 5

Laurel Cider

November 03, 2009 12:01 PM

Teenage moodiness: check! by Laurel Cider

Summer break, Laurie had decided within the first two weeks of it, was over-rated. Despite living all of ten minutes from some of the most beautiful beaches in Florida, she'd spent the majority of her summer trapped indoors, grounded by her parents for all manner of unfair and undue reasons. First, it was because she was smart talking- and disagreeing with her mother's opinion on what color to paint her room was not back talk; and then it was because she was caught drinking tea for breakfast but not coffee like her coffee-addicted parents and older brothers did. And then there was the three week enforced house arrest for having made a teeny fire in the fireplace to talk with Josh and Renaye.

"You have a cellphone for this kind of thing!" her father had said. Never mind the fact that he ignored his status as a wizard and how for every other wizard and witch, using the Floo was completely normal.

It was ridiculous, and what made it all the more frustrating was that Laurie understood why her parents were being so irrational. Every little delineation that she made from the Cider way was, to them, a further distancing between herself and the family. She wished, in a way, they knew that she knew, so that she could reassure them. Just because she wanted to paint her walls something other than purple didn't mean that she didn't want to be a Cider anymore.

God, if only they knew how much she had hated that week-end spent with the Grimms. It had been the most uncomfortable, awkward experience of her life, and her only lifeline had been Ian Grimm. But then, if they had known about the week-end, they'd also have known about her lying to them, and most definitely that would have resulted in her being grounded forever.

She entered the Cascade Hall directly from arrival, ignoring Ian entirely, and avoiding both Renaye and Josh. She took a seat at one of the back tables, paying little attention to those around her, and stared glumly at her empty plate. Laurie didn't like feeling so moody, but there it was. She was unhappy, unsettled, and longing for something that she didn't know the word for.

Distraction probably.

Maybe.

A brief distraction came with the welcoming speech; Laurie listened dutifully to the long introduction of new staff members, a repetition of congratulations to the Head Boy and Head Girl, and then stonily stumbled to the front to receive her own badge. Laurel Cider was now a prefect; distantly, she felt pleased and outwardly she managed the appropriate sort of smile. A few additional words of congratulations followed her return to her seat, and to those she responded as necessary. But once seated, the badge cold and solid in her hand, her brown eyes immediately sought out the small band of girls that made up the majority of the female fifth years: the Ladies. She couldn't hear their words, but between Holly's shocked and somewhat askance expression, as well as the body language from Anabel and Chelsea, Laurie couldn't help but feel that her appointment was not one necessary seconded by her classmates.

She tore her gaze from the group and affixed it on her plate, still empty despite the availability of food around her. "Just fabulous," she muttered, more to herself than to any of her neighbors. Nevertheless, her words must have carried, as one of them spoke up.

0 Laurel Cider Teenage moodiness: check! 118 Laurel Cider 0 5

Ian Grimm

November 03, 2009 12:15 PM

Tag Amelia Smythe Bribes are in tow. by Ian Grimm

Ian Grimm wasted no time in scanning the Cascade Hall, finding the blond individual in question, and planting himself in the seat next to her. Regretful as it was, Amelia still remained the one classmate that he found above tolerable, and after the completely unenjoyable summer he had just endured, he felt the need for some distracting prattle. Amelia Smythe was good for that sort of thing. Prattle that is. Most of the time her distraction was unwanted.

Besides, he could use the opportunity to slip in a question or ten regarding her older sister. After a year of proper investigation into the female population of Sonora, limited to those within a certain age range, his grandmother had agreed upon a list of ten of potential future wives.

Ugh. The word was just as distasteful in thought as it was when spoken. Nevertheless, the short list had included both Amelia and Cecily Smythe, and so Ian had hidden the unexpected press of pleasure when his grandmother had underlined Cecily's name in particular. Amelia existing on the list was unfortunate, but since she occupied a space that would otherwise need to be filled, Ian supposed it wasn't all bad.

He tossed the traditional basket of summer favors in his classmate's direction, assured that as usual, she would enjoy the assorted (and exclusive) collection of jewelry, chocolates, and perfumes. Citrine seemed to be the precious stone of choice for the northeastern elite this year, and his mother had spent an entire breakfast gushing over the delicate finds. Something or the other about only fifty pieces existing out of the entire collection and her having requisitioned of over half of them.

Ian hardly cared about that sort of thing. "Tell me something entertaining," he ordered by lieu of greeting, his tone nevertheless sounding somewhat pleasant. For those familiar with Ian's manner of address, the command translated in the more common politesse as a generalized enquiry after Amelia's summer. But as always, Ian hardly cared about that sort of thing.

Although, and his eyes drifted only somewhat unwillingly toward Cecily's direction, he imagined he'd not address her quite so roughly.

0 Ian Grimm *Tag Amelia Smythe* Bribes are in tow. 110 Ian Grimm 0 5

Daniel Nash II

November 03, 2009 1:14 PM

Disbelief (tag: Charlie) by Daniel Nash II

Daniel's summer had been insanely busy. Mom was seriously dating a guy named Anton, who had gone out of his way to try to bond with Daniel whenever they were both staying at Mom's house - which seemed to be whenever Daniel was there. Dad had primary custody now, but there had been a few weeks here and there where Daniel had spent the night at Mom's.

If Anton wasn't already living there with her, they were only half a formality away from it. Then, yesterday, Anton had proposed. Daniel had witnessed it. It had taken all his acting ability to smile and congratulate Mom when she said yes, instead of running away, locking himself in his room, and starting to kick things.

On Dad's end, he was still living with Barry. They were one legal ceremony away from married, and seemed content to keep it that way, which was perfectly fine with Daniel. Dad had asked him once if he wanted them to fill out the paper work for a civil union, to make it a little more formal, but Danny had adamantly told him "No!" Barry had been a bit hurt and Dad a bit surprised, until Danny reminded them how well the formality worked for Mom. He'd much rather have Barry around than a piece of paper that said they'd been a legal family for a couple months before the divorce. Or whatever you called the break-up of a civil union.

Professionally, Street Beat had brought Daniel back for all of the summer episodes again, and since he was into his third season now, Nate had a lot of continuity to keep track of, and not all of the writers were as good about keeping it straight as Barry was. Daniel had needed to get a couple of re-writes done when they'd contradicted earlier episodes. Of course, Barry had the advantage of living in the same house as Daniel, so he could double check his facts as he wrote his first drafts, which were much easier to fix.

Barry still wasn't listening to Daniel's advice about not including the half-naked Dad scenes, but at least he took Daniel's sensibilities into account when he wrote what Nate had to see. After Daniel had made Mark re-write three scenes in the same episode, the next one Mark wrote had included Nate walking in on something that would scar Daniel's poor alter-ego for life. Daniel would know. He'd had the same experience a couple years ago, except Dad and Barry hadn't known he'd seen. Daniel didn't scream and slam doors as readily as Nate did.

Of course, if it had been Mom and Dad, like Nate got an eyeful of, instead of Dad and Barry, who were at least in a healthy relationship, he very well might have.

The only reason Daniel wasn't positive that scene had been a retaliation against his nit-picking was because Barry had fought with Mark just before that episode got written, too. It was common knowledge among the writers that Barry hated heated scenes between Matt Bealer and his ex-wife. It was also more than possible that Mark was clever enough to get his revenge against the both of them with one fell scene. It had been nearly as awkward watching it in their living room as it had been filming it, because at least Barry wasn't there during filming.

And since Daniel was thirteen now, Dad took the next commercial break as an opportunity to give him The Talk. That had just been painful. Dad had needed to walk the very fine line of pointing out the dangers of consequences without outright calling Daniel's entire existence a terrible mistake and the biggest regret of his life. Despite knowing his Dad loved him, Dan didn't quite pull off the right balance and Daniel came out of it feeling guilty for being born and somewhat wary of girls in general.

Which brought him back to Sonora and, specifically, to Charlie. He had no clear idea of the current status of their relationship, which was disturbing in its own right, as Daniel liked things to be clearly distinguished as one thing or another, but he also wasn't sure if maybe he shouldn't have a girlfriend until he knew better if he took after his mom or his dad. Charlie was very easy on the eyes and all, but so were the Valentine twins. And that, he was quite sure, was not a thought most boys his age had.

It was perhaps a prudent idea to talk to Charlie and let her know some of what was on his mind. So, instead of sitting at Aladren's table as was his norm, he visited Teppenpaw for the dinner. "Hey, Charlie," he greeted her as he sat down near where she'd chosen to sit. Before they could discuss anything, though, the Headmistress began speaking, and Daniel turned to give her his attention.

Most of it was normal stuff - firsties, new staff, Head Girl and Boy, the prefects - until the last prefect was named. Daniel's mouth fell open in the least practiced expression of surprise he had ever displayed. He was too surprised even to give a proper surprised face.

"Holly?" he repeated in disbelief, looking to Charlie for support because, whatever else she might be, she was the only person in the school he'd really ever confided in. "Tell me they did not just name my sister a prefect," he pleaded.

But Holly was standing up and moving toward the staff table. She looked a little pale, a little confused, but she looked steady on her feet. Daniel fidgeted in place as he watched her, an overt display of worry he wasn't even aware he was projecting. "Mom's getting married again, and now this?" Of course, Holly didn't know about that bit yet. That was Mom's news to share, but if he could have his way, Holly wouldn't know until the divorce came through. Being her crisis brother was a lot easier when Holly didn't know there was a crisis.

Now there was all together too much crisis to go around.

1 Daniel Nash II Disbelief (tag: Charlie) 130 Daniel Nash II 0 5

Helena

November 03, 2009 1:30 PM

Well, you can say half of it. by Helena

For a few seconds, Helena experienced a thrill of horror at the realization of who she was speaking to. This had little to nothing to do with Elly personally, and was more about a sudden certainty that, somehow, she'd let herself become so distracted that she'd joined the Pecaris for dinner and was about to have a lot of explaining to do.

Then her common sense kicked back in. The table she was at possessed a gang of annoying fifth year girls. It also had quite a few other people she knew for a fact to be Crotali and a few small red people. Elly had come over from Pecari instead of Helena coming over from Crotalus. She wasn't so strung out as all that, which meant normality could ensue. She laughed, sounding faintly embarrassed, when Elly asked if she was all right.

Oh, yeah. Daddy just has this other daughter who's rich as sin, and it turns out Geoff's not my brother and Lavinia's, he's hers. Oh, didn't I ever mention Vin around here? She's a Squib, but we don't talk about that - Daddy thinks no one would ever marry me if we did, and God forbid I actually do something productive with my life and marry someone I can talk civilly to. But anyway, Geoff has this other mother who's dead, and he never knew about this any more than I did, so now he's not speaking to anyone as far as I know. His niece is here, though, and she's living in my House as of tonight. How 'bout them Ashwinders?

Yeah. The Grand Canyon would fill up with water before she uttered those sentences. Even in her head, it sounded way, way too crazy to have happened.

"Oh, I'm fine," she said instead, waving it off. "Headache. I swear, the wagons are still murder to ride all the way from South Carolina." The long ride had gotten easier over the years, but it was still unpleasant. "Thanks, though." It was nice of Elly to ask; in the other girl's position, Helena suspected she would have read it as Elly still being sore over the Head Girl thing and went on about her business. "So, you excited for this year? I've always heard seventh is awful, but I've got a good feeling about it."

16 Helena Well, you can say half of it. 88 Helena 0 5

Gray

November 03, 2009 5:46 PM

At least the hurly-burly's done. by Gray

Gray considered Lucie's point. He could see someone with an incredibly cruel sense of humor running that kind of number on Holly to watch her completely break down after it became apparent that she wasn't really a prefect, and he and Lucie were probably considered only marginally saner than she was because they didn't cry in class or abuse drugs, but Laurie was way too normal for it. No mental instability, that he'd seen, whatsoever; he even thought she managed to sustain an impressive number of stable relationships. Making a fool of Anabel would, no doubt, get much more of a response, so Laurie was probably a real prefect.

If Laurie really was a prefect, then setting the rest of them up would fall kind of flat.

That would completely defeat the sadistic point.

Therefore, they really were prefects.

"Mom's gonna flip," he said in wonderment at the conclusion of this logic, imagining how his mother was likely to react to the news that her only child had just beaten a Brockert for something. It would probably involve fainting and screaming. Screaming, though, made him think of another person flipping. "If they decide I'm Quidditch captain next, I quit school."

It was half a joke - he was abysmal at Quidditch, and had only signed up in his fourth year because the team had been short - but being an artist did not give him a death wish, and he had no desire to see how his cousin would react to that event. Anne was in therapy now, but Gray wasn't sure it was working. For one thing, she was lying to everyone she knew except him about it, and for another, becoming girly and cooperative on the surface didn't prevent all of her new hobbies (including writing really bad poems) from involving a lot of simulated violence. Gray was half-convinced at times that her friends and boyfriend didn't actually exist outside of her head, either. It was going to be a few years before he trusted her not to be an itsy-bitsy bit territorial about her old job.

Since he couldn't do anything about that or the fact that he'd just been handed power on a plate, though, Gray's badge was carefully put down and his attention sent to more profitable areas, such as dinner and Lucie. She looked... different, somehow. Recognizably Lucie, just different. He chalked this up to the same thing he had chalked Anne's sudden interest in make-up and clothes: Some Weird Girl Thing. There was no way he'd ever understand it, but the effect was nice. "So, uh, do anything interesting this summer? Your brother graduated last year, didn't he?"

16 Gray At least the hurly-burly's done. 113 Gray 0 5

Rachel

November 03, 2009 8:26 PM

Sounds like it. by Rachel

Her ruse seemed to have passed muster, which was as much a reason for Rachel’s smile as the favorable reception. Wouldn’t Momma be proud. As far as Emily Douglas was concerned, her first marriage had been a horrible mistake that had to be denied at all costs. That was why Rachel sometimes worried about what was going to happen to Kate; her middle sister had taken it the hardest when their parents had split up, and Rachel wasn’t sure Kate had ever gotten over it.

Actually, Rachel wasn’t entirely sure she’d gotten over it. Jeremy had always been nice to her, but at the end of the day, he was Raleigh and Isaac's father, not hers, and the truth was that getting three stepdaughters to make something out of had been a real downside to the deal of marrying her mother for him. Dad had sometimes behaved as though she and Kate were boys, but in the entire part of his marriage to Momma that she could remember, she'd never felt guilty for existing. That, though, wasn’t something she liked to think about. There was no need to carry on about what couldn’t be helped.

“Veronica,” she repeated warmly, then touched her own chest slightly and added, “It’s Rachel.”

Her smile faded slightly when she was, indeed, called on her coloration. “I should,” she said, forgetting her formal, older person’s voice for a moment. “My half-aunt’s a seventh year over there, though, and she’s completely mentally unstable.” She shrugged. “I decided I didn't want to be in a scene my first night here, and she has no concept of time and place."

She looked at Veronica’s fading blue hands with a touch of envy. “You’re lucky to be in Aladren. Some of my Crotalus relatives are…strange.” She wanted to say ‘weird’, but thought that might be a little too informal. It was also true that her Aladren Gramma Claire had been the queen of having issues, but all that seemed like a little too much information for this stage of their relationship. Aladren Uncle Whatever-His-Name-Was had issues with Momma being his sister, but she hadn’t heard anything to suggest he was actually crazy, which made his House preferable to her other option. There were, after all, stories that gave her the impression that Momma and Granddad hadn't always been all the way there, either.

OOC: And at last, enough is up on WtS for this to make some kind of sense.

16 Rachel Sounds like it. 154 Rachel 0 5

Alexis Ashwood

November 03, 2009 9:22 PM

I definitely say that's the worst. by Alexis Ashwood

The first Lady who chose to speak was Cecily, not that Alexis was surprised. Cecily was, in her opinion, the head of the Ladies. If there was anyone Alexis had to win over once again, it was Cecily Smythe. That was going to be hard. Very, very hard. Seeing that Cecily hated her and wasn’t afraid to say it.

Cecily was very vocal in her dislike for Alexis at the moment. The red head bit her tongue. What hurt even more than Cecily’s comment was hearing all the other Ladies basically agree in one way or another. Retaliating wasn’t in her best interests at all. She took another sip out of her goblet instead, contemplating what she was supposed to say. Opening her mouth to speak, Alexis was stopped by Holly.

She gave Holly a small smile. It took a lot of bravery to defend a traitor like herself. Even if Holly wasn’t directly defending Alexis, the red head knew the intention was there. She laughed a little. “It’s okay Holly; Cecily’s right.” She looked at the other girl. “A bludger did hit some sense into me. I had a nice bump on the head to prove it.” That wasn’t fighting, right?

Chelsea’s sister was entering Sonora, it seemed. Alexis wished that her sister would enter. Even if the girl was a pain, if she would agree to enter, then it would show her parents that she wasn’t such an embarrassment. Maybe if she made amends with the Ladies, regained her reputation, her sister could transfer in. One could only hope life could work out the way she wanted it to. First things first: survive the rest of the feast.

0 Alexis Ashwood I definitely say that's the worst. 117 Alexis Ashwood 0 5

Elly

November 04, 2009 1:57 PM

That is true. I am back. by Elly

Helena waved off her apparent blue mood by attributing it to a wagon-ride headache. "You're telling me," Elly replied with a laugh. "I had a nine hour flight from Vienna, and got the wagon in Virginia. Just as well I slept on the plane, 'coz I'm on about 4 in the morning." As if on cue, she stifled what would otherwise have been an enormous yawn. She supposed an uncomfortable wagon ride could send you a bit grumpy, especially if it gave you a headache. Not that Helena seemed particularly grumpy, but she certainly wasn't on Elly's level of cheer. "Plus I spent like three months riding a wagon, so it's a bit weird to be off again so soon, to be honest." With a cheery smile, Elly picked up a single breadstick and started munching it, not sure yet whether she would sit there and eat or head back to the Pecari table.

"So, you excited for this year? I've always heard seventh is awful, but I've got a good feeling about it." Helena said. Elly considered this for a couple of second while she swallowed her current mouthful, a small frown indicating she was giving the question some thought.

"I'm defintiely excited," she replied, "but I'm also sort of terrified." Elly laughed - terror wasn't something she would normally confess to experiencing, but if something could give her nightmares wherein she exploded the potions lab, killed a couple of first years with some out-of-control fireworks and got expelled from Sonora, then yes, she could attribute the emotion. "What if I run the Quidditch team into the ground, mess up the end of year activities and fail all my exams?" She voiced her more sensible concerns. At least she was only taking three subjects - Elly had seen the state of Saul and Geoff at the end of last year, at could at least be greatful she wasn't an academic enthusiast.

Speaking of Geoff... "How's your brother, anyway? Got all Os, I expect." Elly smiled; she could now admit to herself the crush she'd had on Helena's brother last year. It would have just been embarrassing if she'd allowed herself to be aware of it at the time. Especially as she had always thought he'd been the other part of a couple with Anne Wright.

0 Elly That is true. I am back. 0 Elly 0 5

Cecily

November 04, 2009 5:03 PM

I definitely say you're deluded by Cecily

"Try to be nice. It's the Welcoming Feast." Holly said, surprising Cecily somewhat. It wasn't the sentiment that was unexpected - of course it was easier if one's friends didn't express open hostility at every opportunity - but that Holly was actually standing up to the rest of them, perhaps even on Alexis' behalf. Cecily raised an ironic eyebrow at her prefect friend, but did back off, nevertheless. Alexis, on the other hand, seemed to think this was an opportunity to further insert herself into the conversation. How very riling. The only way Cecily could see to deal with the situation was to ignore Alexis entirely, and not just for now - she and Anabel could ignore the redhead all night if they wanted to, and for the rest of the next day, too.

On a slightly more pleasant topic, Cecily paid a little attention as Chelsea identified her younger sister. It was occasions like these when Cecily could be proud of her relatives. Yes, Cynthia was unpleasant and unapproachable, Lucas was inarticulate and idiotic, Dana was simple and simpering, and Amelia was immeasurably full of herself, but at least they were all proper; they all had good breeding and good manners (when it mattered, at any rate). Cecily rarely had occasion to feel ashamed of any of them. She did feel sorry for her peers on this count, though it was fairly normal for families to have a black sheep, or the odd scandal every so often. "Holly can keep an eye on her," Cecily said to Chelsea, only being mildly resentful to Holly in exchange for her earlier entreaty about not fighting.

"So," she said, in an attempt to revert the conversation back to - well, a conversation. "No return of Flatt senior, the vile Quidditch Coach has, thankfully, left us, and Lila St Martin is no longer hovering around us moments from a complete breakdown," (she couldn't help but glance at Holly a little as she said this, but this time the insult was not intended). "All in all it can't be a bad year."

0 Cecily I definitely say you're deluded 0 Cecily 0 5

Jethro Smythe

November 04, 2009 5:17 PM

It's not all it's cracked up to be by Jethro Smythe

His sister had said that this year was going to be much easier than the previous year, and so Jethro was feeling quite relaxed when he arrived back at Sonora. His first year hadn't been especially difficult, but the social conventions had been tiresome to learn, and then locating classrooms had presented an issue. Throw in learning names of staff and students and there was simply no room left in Jethro's head for the subject material he'd been taught. That's why this year would be easier. He had learned the names of all the students in his own year, and Cynthia had helped him to revise them over the summer. He could remember where all the classrooms were, and it was unfortunate that most of his professors would be new, but Jethro had a lot less to learn already. He might even pass some of his classes this year, which he knew would make his parents very happy.

Even through the wagon ride Jethro's usually haphazard hair had managed to stay neat, along with his brand new and heavily pressed robes. His sister had deposited him at one end of the Crotalus table, and gone to sit right at the other. Jethro assumed this was because she was much older and therefore she shouldn't sit with the younger students. As if to support his theory, the vacant seat next to Jethro was taken by a new first year - Jethro could tell because his skin was red.

The stranger introduced himself. He gave his first name, his surname, and his family branch. Jethro nodded to demonstrate he had heard and understood the statement, and his study of social conventions last year let him know that it was now his turn to reply in kind. "Jethro Smythe of the Illinois Smythes," he said, even though the last bit was fairly silly - even Cynthia said so - because all of the Smythes now lived in Illinois, anyway. "It's nice to meet you," Jethro added after his introduction, because that was sometimes a nice thing to say to make new people feel welcome.

0 Jethro Smythe It's not all it's cracked up to be 146 Jethro Smythe 0 5

Amelia Smythe

November 04, 2009 5:40 PM

Bribes accepted, but not without fuss by Amelia Smythe

By the time they were returning to school, Amelia really wondered what was the point of the summer. Time away from the certifiable idiots that roamed Sonora was truly appreciated, but she'd been practically confined to the house so her skin didn't freckle, and her mother had just gone on about how slender Cecily was in comparison to Amelia. That's because her older sister was about three feet tall, Amelia exaggerated Cecily's shorter stature. There was absolutley nothing wrong with Amelia's figure anyway. She might have needed larger uniform robes for the start of this year, but she was a little about average height for her age and fourteen years old was surely an acceptable age to have developed curves. Besides, Amelia had been more focussed on her hair, which she was still growing, and she'd convinced her mother to fund a new potion treatment that kept her not-so-natural golden blonde color for much longer, and looking more like it was truly her own. As far as Amelia was concerned it wasn't cheating - she was naturally blonde, but it didn't hurt to give the color a little encouragement. Particularly as she wasn't allowed to sun-bleach it like normal people.

On arrival to Sonora, Amelia had suggested that she and Cecily sit together. It was odd - somehow over the summer she'd forgotten that her sister had a close circle of friends (whereas, despite her efforts, Amelia could hardly be considered to be popular). Feeling deflated, Amelia sat with other Crotali, trying her best to ignore both Cecily and Cynthia, and pouted to nobody in particular.

Until someone in particular took the seat next to her, presenting the annual summer favours, which Amelia had certainly been hoping for, but not really expecting on this occasion. She didn't both with verbalising her thanks - this was Ian Grimm, he would hardly care about such things. Amelia didn't even both to look through the basket's contents; she knew they would be high quality and very pleasing. Also she was annoyed with Ian, and she didn't want him to see that he might be the cause of some temporary satisfaction. "Tell me something entertaining," he said, and Amelia was irritatingly familiar - bordering on fond - with his abrupt method of communicating.

Deciding that subtlety would be lost on her Aladren yearmate, Amelia said airily, "Entertaning? Oh, I heard that you're keeping a romantic eye out for my sister." Perhaps romantic hadn't been the best word of choice in this instant, but it wasn't as though Amelia had rehearsed this. Nevertheless, she did consider it to be entertaining. Firstly that Ian could even contemplate that Cecily would be interested in him, and secondly that he thought he could make enquiries - albeit in a slight and informal manner - without Amelia finding out. Why hadn't he confided with her in the first place? "That entertained me all summer," she added.

0 Amelia Smythe Bribes accepted, but not without fuss 121 Amelia Smythe 0 5

Jose and Mateo Santoro

November 04, 2009 5:59 PM

It feels like yesterday we were only 1st years... by Jose and Mateo Santoro

Josh and Matt left the wagons for their first day of the last year of their time at Sonora Academy. There was a bittersweet feeling about it all that both twins were mute to discuss. This time next year, they would be in separate places of their lives. Josh would be living somewhere in Spain with his soon to be wife, attending University to become an Architect, while Matt would be living with family until he found a place of his own doing whatever it was that inspired him at the time. Although they would continue to remain the close, they would no longer be dependable on one another, but rather, independent and in the real world.

Neither twin wanted to admit how terrifying that thought was to them. Josh, who had his life planned out, was worried that it would all fall apart. Matt, who had nothing planned out, thought life would be nothing but disappointing. But, instead of discussing any of this, the twins separated at the doors of Cascade Hall and made their way to their respective tables. Matt to Pecari and Josh to Crotalus.

Sitting down beside Danae, Matt acknowledged her and the other Pecaris around them. It might have been strange for him to be seated next to her a couple of years ago, but since he had been seeing more and more of her with the betrothal between her and his brother, that Matt felt they might as well consider themselves family at this point. Besides, out of all the other Seventh Year Pecaris, Danae was the only one he felt any type of closeness too. Even if it was only because of Josh.

Josh managed to find a spot somewhat near Helena, but not directly beside her like he had in years previous. Helena was someone Josh could consider a friend within the house. And the more time he spent with her, the more he enjoyed her personality. Before sitting down, Josh contemplated sitting with his brother and Danae, or even asking Helena to sit over there with them, but the Headmistress was already standing up, so Josh ignored his first thoughts and sat down to listen to his last Welcoming Speech.

Already well aware of his status as Head Boy, Josh accepted the badge with a slight smile and made his way back to his table. Half way there, he realized that Elly had followed him. Confusion set in for a split second but with her abrupt change in direction to sit with Helena, Josh turned and made his way over to Matt at the Pecari table. “Man, this is already a start to a strange year.” Josh commented when he took a seat. “I don’t even want to think about all the things I’m going to have to do as Head Boy on top of R.A.T.S. and the Ball at the end of the year.”

“Oh yeah! The ball. Dude, that’ll be fun. A nice break from all the drama called Sonora.” Matt replied, a sly grin spreading across his face as he looked at all the eligible girls he could ask.

“Hey, don’t go stringing another girl along.” Josh warned, but his only response from his brother was an even wider grin and an innocent expression that clearly stated ‘Who Me?’ across it.

6 Jose and Mateo Santoro It feels like yesterday we were only 1st years... 95 Jose and Mateo Santoro 0 5

Ian Grimm

November 05, 2009 10:27 AM

I already calculated that in, thank you very much. by Ian Grimm

Ian was grateful nothing happened to be in his mouth when Amelia replied. He would have either choked or spit it out, and both possibilities would have been unfortunate. He glared, put out, at his classmate, not at all enjoying that knowing expression she currently hailed. Romantic? Ian didn't know the first thing about romantic anything. He had some vague notion that romance included tailcoats and flowers, and for whatever reason, the thought also included a white horse and singing.

And Ian did not sing. Not since he was nine years old and finally managed to blackmail his way out of St. Jude's All Boys Choir.

His glare settled into more of his typical frown; he supposed, upon an extremely brief amount of reflection, that he hadn't exactly been subtle about his burgeoning preference for Amelia's older sister. Even now, his eyes, not entirely unwillingly, strayed over to her table, her petite frame easily separated from the subpar others around her. He sighed mutely and slumped slightly in his seat, busying his hands with removing his glasses.

"Doesn't take much then, does it?" he said, but without any real bite. Amelia was unfortunately rather observant, and despite Ian's many other talents, he was not exactly the best of liars. Which was strange since he could bluff his way through most encounters with adults. He'd managed to convince one of his father's business collegues for years that Ian suffered from a degenerative disease that made him appear significantly younger than he really was. The man currently believed that Ian was nearing his thirty-second birthday.

Cutting his losses, some of which included a large amount of pride, he decided to explain, pretending at a diffident disinterest despite his forced tone, "I had to make a list, for my grandmother, and she just happened to stand out a bit. That's all it is, nothing special or entertaining about it at all." And then feeling the ridiculousness of the statement, he gave up entirely. "She's not attached to anyone is she?"

0 Ian Grimm I already calculated that in, thank you very much. 110 Ian Grimm 0 5

David Lancaster

November 05, 2009 11:10 AM

A somewhat messy beginning to second year. . . by David Lancaster

David Lancaster was glad to be back at Sonora, seated in the Cascade Hall, and about to face another of its generously delicious meals. His summer had allowed none of the semi-independence he had grown used to during his first year away at school.

David's mother received her temporary duty orders two days after he arrived home. Three months in Bahrain, and despite all of her reassurances that she would be no where near any real combat, he nevertheless the spent the rest of his summer with an anxious knot of worry and concern sitting in his stomach. His father decided that the best way to relieve that knot was with constant occupation, and so, David spent his summer break stuck on a tennis court and then on a soccer field. He'd asked to join the little league summer team, but apparently baseball wasn't active enough of a distraction.

Which was too bad, David liked baseball. He liked the feel of a ball slamming into his mitt, his palm sore and hot from the contact. He liked the way his baseball cap fit low on his forehead, the bill hiding half of the horizon from constant view. He especially liked the wind-up of a pitch, stretching his arm back and pulling in his leg, his entire body tensed for a perfect second, and then the release! He could pitch for the rest of his life, he felt, and never get tired of that feeling.

But baseball had been relegated to free-time only, and David had hardly any of that. The three games he managed to get in had been done on the sly, on the days in which tennis or soccer had been cancelled.

He'd made a friend, an Italian girl a year older than him named Nuncia. She'd been angry with him when he left, her semi-fluent English devolving into a string of words he only partially understood. He caught the oft-repeated Idiota! however. David had her letter, three pages of Italian and English decorated with the occasional heart, in his backpack which now sat under his legs. His sun-darkened face watched with interest throughout the Headmistress's speech as the new staff members were introduced, the new prefects announced, and the new first years sorted. It was a strange feeling to be in his second year and supposed seasonedly with experience.

Some things had changed for sure. His wand felt natural in his pocket, a weight he had missed during the summer. The charms surrounding him on the walls and on the table held no real surprise beyond the menu items chosen. Even the bits and pieces of vocabulary that drifted to his ears sounded less foreign and more familar. It was a nice, secure sort of change, and in David's own quiet way, the realization made him rather glad. He smiled crookedly as he helped himself to one of the center salads, pausing only when he realized the dressing was out of reach.

He hesitated to ask his neighbor and instead decided upon stretching that little bit extra; the end result was a spilled decanter of ranch dressing, a good portion of which landed on his lap. David stared, unsurprised by the product of his patent clumsiness, and it was with only dim realization that someone was addressing him that he looked up from his lap. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

0 David Lancaster A somewhat messy beginning to second year. . . 0 David Lancaster 0 5

Delilah

November 05, 2009 2:56 PM

Learning all the important things by Delilah

When Mel burst out into song, it was a really good thing that Delilah was in the middle of cheesy goodness bites. Otherwise, they would have gotten an eyeful of a mouthful. Her mouth was distorted between wanting to drop over in shock and wanting to grin. She couldn’t believe her new friend had such a brilliant singing voice, but at the same time, it was even more brilliant that the other girl had just let loose like that. She could already tell that they were going to be great friends. Mel was super zany. She loved it!

“Wow!” Delilah exclaimed. “That was really great! I don’t know either song, but still wow.” Being a pureblood (and from one whose grandmother was stuck on pureblood traditions), she didn’t know too much about muggle songs, but she could still tell when someone was good or not. If Mel hadn’t been, she was sure her and probably Jude’s ears would have been hurting something fierce. Sometimes her dad tried to sing, but it was just terrible! They were too nice to say anything though since it would probably hurt his feelings.

Before she could say more, Jude piped in with a comment about their Head of House. Her brown eyes travelled to where the man in the pink bubble hat was. It was quite a hat! If that really were him, she was glad for that. It would be awful if they had one of the other professors. There was one that looked a bit edgy. She was wearing all black and her lipstick was so dark, it was actually black as well. If she remembered correctly, they had named her as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, but Delilah couldn’t remember the actual name. That was nothing new though.

She often had trouble remembering names. Faces and certain odd traits were always easier like Mr. Bubblehat and Miss Edgy. Mel and Jude were easier to remember since they had been talking, but it got a little more complicated when Mel stated that her actual name was Demelza. She had no idea how she was ever going to remember that and figured that she would just stick to Mel, but now she had the term Cornflake stuck in her head for Jude thanks to Mel. She wondered if he would actually mind being called Cornflake. It was certainly different.

She didn’t get the chance to ask, however, as Mel continued on to bombard her with questions. She didn’t mind though. The girl’s energy was hard to resist. “Oh, definitely Transfiguration. It’s just so cool to change one thing to another. If I could do that, I could have a different face every single day! The second would probably be Charms, because if I can’t do the different face, maybe I can learn how to change my hair to a different color every day. Wouldn’t it be cool to have pink hair, then purple hair, then maybe even green hair? Then, it really wouldn’t be cornflake hair,” she said excitedly.

Her smile dimmed a little at the thought of her parents. “Um, well, both are magical, but my mom’s not in our lives. It’s just me, Veronica, Cassie, and dad. What about you? Do you have any brothers or sisters? Are they here? Both of my sisters are in Aladren.” She made a face at this. It wasn’t that she had anything against the House, but she much preferred to be in Pecari to Aladren. She wasn’t very smart and she couldn’t imagine caring that much about grades and schoolwork. She would much rather have fun, which her new friends certainly were.

She pulled her leg so that her shoe was on the chair with her to see how much free space was left. Hmm. Maybe she would need to switch to the new pair she had brought. “I don’t think there’s any room left, but you can be the first one to sign my new pair. I have markers in my bag so you can go crazy. Jude, do you want to sign them too?” She hoped so. Her new shoes would need lots of signatures and pictures to make them feel comfortable. Plain, boring shoes were just that. Plain and boring and that certainly wasn’t her.

0 Delilah Learning all the important things 0 Delilah 0 5

Demelza Eagle

November 05, 2009 5:30 PM

Oh, boy, this is gonna be GREAT! by Demelza Eagle

Demelza gave the biggest smile in the world as Jude and Delilah appreciated her singing.

"Thanks," she squealed. It felt awesome to have someone love your best talents.

She had really good thoughts about Delilah and Jude. She guessed that Delilah was a pureblood (how else would she not know those really famous muggle songs?) and she seemed really nice. Demelza could tell that she shared the same energy as her. which made them perfect together, because if you weren't happy and energetic, well, then you wouldn't do good with a person like herself.

Jude, as she knew was muggleborn, so she guessed that some things of wizarding tradition were rather strange to him. But Demelza knew a lot about wizard and muggle traditions. She had a lot of muggle relatives, and hardly any wizard ones. Her dad, being a muggleborn, only had his two bothers in his family that were wizards. And her mom... well, her family was complicated. Her mom's mom (Demelza's grandmother) was a muggleborn. But Demelza's grandmother was from a really long pureblood line. But her died when her mom was young, so she never knew him. In fact, her grandmother from her mom's side is the only grandparent she has. Never knew her dad's parents. But she most certainly knows her dad's siblings (her mom was an only child). Uncle Ethan and Uncle Andrew. But uncle Ethan was over all the time. Demelza loved Uncle Ethan. He was so cool!

Delilah definitely had just as much excitement as Demelza about classes. Finally, Demelza could tell all her brothers and sister about all the magic she's learning.

But when Delilah told her that her mom had died, Demelza immediately regretted asking, and she wasn't going to push that an further.

"I'm really excited for DADA! My brother says he thinks I'll be great at it!" Demelza's brother Jamie told her this. But Jamie was her closest brother, and always encouraged her. But Demelza thought that Delilah put up a good argument about why she was excited for transfiguration and charms. A new style everyday....

"I have a lot of siblings," Demelza counted off on her fingers. "Joel, Tommy, Joe, Will, Mickey, Jamie, and Glen, for the boys. And Beth, Katlin, and Luna for the girls Anyway, none have them have gone to Sonora. My parents send us to schools all around the world! Katlin and Glen are younger than me, but the rest are older. For example, my brother Jamie went to a school in Australia, and now he is going to try out for their national quidditch team. By the way, do you like quidditch?" Demelza asked this to Jude too, even though she knew he was muggleborn.

Delilah told her she could sign her new pair of shoes. Demelza's eyes lit up at this. She grinned at the thought of having her signature on her friend's shoe for everyone to see. That was so cool!

0 Demelza Eagle Oh, boy, this is gonna be GREAT! 157 Demelza Eagle 0 5

Helena

November 05, 2009 6:14 PM

Until the end of the term, anyway. by Helena

For a moment, Helena simply looked confused. The words were all standard English, but they seemed meaningless; it could have as easily been standard Arabic. Plains were what could be found out West, and it was not physically possible to go from Vienna to Virginia on a broom in nine hours. Not short of very strange and probably dangerous magics that only the very brave and very stupid would try, anyway.

Then her brain caught up. If it was this slow on the uptake once classes started, she was dead meat. Having not seen an actual Muggle since she was eleven was no reason to let her (admittedly not stellar; she could pass for one if it was a matter of necessity, but only a slightly eccentric and old-fashioned one) knowledge of Muggles slip away altogether.

"Oh," she said. "You're talking about airyplanes, not geography." She thought that was what the metal bird Muggles flew in was called, anyway. "I was wondering how you managed to cross the Atlantic in nine hours."

She wondered what it would be like, riding an airyplane. It sounded more comfortable than a broom, and the person going to the destination didn't have to steer or even be aware of where the location was, but she had heard they had a rather distressing habit of sometimes falling out of the sky and - for some reason - proceeding to explode. Maybe just sitting a broom had its advantages after all. Of course, if she did that, she might get tired and fall off and drown, which was far from ideal, and...

...And she had no reason to think about all that. It wasn't as if she was planning any transcontinental trips. She did, however, seriously consider it when her brother came up.

"You know him so well," she said lightly. "I think he made an E in Charms, actually, but it didn't seem to bother him much." It had never happened, but she could almost hear it in her head as he announced what Devian and Morgaine could do with their richness-equals-worth theories. She knew her brother very well; much better, in fact, than he knew her.

"He's all moved out now," she added, to cover for why she'd lack details in a major way if asked for them. "He came out to California at the end of July." At least, a few comments her father had let slip had made it sound like he'd gone to find Anne, succeeded, and then had his position betrayed to Mark by said Anne (Anne being subtle enough to pass for the double agent hurt her brain; the girl she'd known had been, among other issues, about as capable of sneaking as a dull-minded elephant), and Anne had evidently become attached to her relatives in California. Once Anne was attached to some poor person, place, or thing, she tended to stay with it. A lot. Sometimes a little too much.

"So, why were you on a wagon all summer?" Apart from being a little uncomfortable lying to someone who'd always been, as far as she could remember, perfectly decent to her, she was curious. She knew for a fact that Muggles had moved on from wagons to cars (that word, she was sure of) years and years ago, despite the fact that some people believed cars would cause the end of the world. She couldn't imagine why anyone would voluntarily ride around in a wagon, though...

16 Helena Until the end of the term, anyway. 88 Helena 0 5

Veronica

November 05, 2009 7:06 PM

Shame we aren't in the same House. by Veronica

Rachel’s admission that she wished to be in Aladren took Veronica back a bit, but also pleased her immensely. Being the envy of someone else was part of the guide to being popular. Only popular people were the envy of someone else. Of course, at the moment, she wasn’t fully idolized in the way that meant people wanted to be her. She was merely the common type of envy that everyone had at one time or another, but it was a start. Although, she only wanted to be the semi-envy of Rachel, because to be the full envy of the girl would take them away from their heading towards friendship status. In truth, it was best that they be the envy of everyone.

Actually, she envied Rachel a bit. She was rather pretty, but then that also made her a match for Veronica. Both being blonde, she had the rather pleasurable thought that they could be heartbreaking popular blondes together. Yes, they would take the school by storm. Of this, she had no doubt, but there were other things of more importance at the moment. She nodded at Rachel’s mention of her aunt. “She sounds very uncouth, but I understand your pain. My sister, Cassie, is in this House and she’s very odd. She has like one friend. Some guy by the name of Edmond.”

Seriously, though, she couldn’t imagine that anyone by the name of Edmond could be one of the popular kids. He had to be a nerd just like her sister. She bit back a sigh. Coming into the school would have been so much easier if Cassie had set the path to popularity instead of sticking in her shell of school perfection. Oh, well. There wasn’t much that she could do about it now. She would just have to associate with her as little as possible. Maybe she could even be switched into Crotalus with Rachel after she explained the situation. Until then…”We should just avoid them,” telling her new friend her plan.

She pondered avoiding her twin as well. It was a little mean, but it would be better than being embarrassed. Although, Delilah was in the same class as her, so people would probably figure out eventually that they were related, if not sisters. It was unavoidable. She really should try to make her over again. Maybe this time she would let her, but somehow she doubted it. Delilah was stubborn to a fault, but then so was she. Any time that they got into a fight, she usually came out the victor. Hopefully, Rachel wasn’t so stubborn, otherwise, there would be a major problem and she didn’t want that.

“You should sit here every day,” Veronica stated. It was a just in case her plan to get out of Aladren failed. Besides, so far, she hadn’t seen anyone in the House that she wanted to be friends with, but she could have been wrong. “Unless, of course, you end up with wonderful roommates.” She glanced over to the Crotalus table. “What do you think they’re like?”

0 Veronica Shame we aren't in the same House. 0 Veronica 0 5

Lucie

November 05, 2009 10:19 PM

Very true. by Lucie

OOC: I meant Liz Guthrie not Josiah. That’s what happens when you have too many characters swimming around in your head wanting to post. :P

BIC:

Though, she didn’t say it, Lucie had to agree that quitting school was a good idea if they made Gray Quidditch Captain. In her opinion, he was the most academically gifted person in the class, but physically gifted, he was not. She wouldn’t say that though since she didn’t want him to perceive her as being rude. Lately, what people thought of her was taking greater precedence in her life. She wasn’t really sure, but supposed it had something to do with her mother’s training. There were so many rules, more than ever before! Maybe because it must have been successful since Danae was going to marry a Santoro and she wasn’t the only one.

“Yeah, Devian graduated last year. He’s being prepped for a position in my dad’s company. He moved into his own place about a month ago and he got married. Actually, it was to a girl that was in your house. Rosalind Rabindra. I was a bridesmaid. The dress was actually really nice and in a lavender. I had to partner Rosie’s cousin, Curtis, though,” Lucie said with a face. Curtis was only thirteen. Her betrothed had been the best man and had walked down the aisle with the maid of honor, Rosie’s sister, Audrey.

“Aside from that, it was the usual, you know? I had to spend time with Rook, getting to know him and all.” She stuck her tongue out slightly at that one. She couldn’t stand him at all. He was an arrogant jerk who seemed that all women should immediately adore him. The fact that she didn’t seemed to displease him greatly and only upped his attempts. It was terrible! She had thought about inviting Grayson to the wedding, but had thought better of it. For one, it would probably have upped Rook’s trying. The other had to do with her parents’ disapproval, especially her father’s.

As was polite, she asked, “What about your summer? Was it good?” Besides being polite, she was genuinely interested. She wondered if Anne was still living at home. If not, what she was up to, what Gray was up to. How his room was going. Had he done any extra credit work over the summer? She figured that like her he had probably done a lot of reading. “So, how many books did you get to? Or were you too busy writing? The play Aladren did last year was amazing. I don’t know if I ever got around to telling you that.”

0 Lucie Very true. 0 Lucie 0 5

Alessa

November 06, 2009 4:06 AM

Me too by Alessa

Rats, another half hour of this. The noise was bouncing off the walls, echoing in Alessa's ears. Conversations were swirling around her and she wanted to leave badly. She didn't know if she could take another thirty minutes. Alessa looked around for a clock, she didn't wear a watch as they irritated her wrist.

"We were just discussing the intricacies of the first year of magical schooling; would you like to join us?”

James had introduced himself and Anna, "It's nice to meet you too." Alessa replied the way she had been taught. "Sure, I'll join you."It wasn't as if she could go anywhere anyway, and maybe she had something to say on the intracacies of magical schooling.

"I was supposed to go to Salem,but it closed, so my parents decided to send me here, because my mom's family has always gone here. Still do." Alessa took a drink of her apple juice. She had considered orange juice but she hadn't known if it would be pulp free. Alessa couldn't stand pulp so apple juice had been a better alternative.

"Are we allowed to leave the feast early?" .

Alessa looked from her roommate to James eagerly. If this was how Anna thought, the next seven years might not be too bad. She just hoped her other roommates weren't the loud type. They shouldn't be. Aladrens were brains, it was the Pecaris who were loud. She didn't know if she was really a brain though. Alessa wasn't interested in many subjects and had a hard time focusing on the ones that she wasn't and some topics were so intolerable that they gave Alessa a headache. "That's a great idea," she said, feeling more enthused than she had about anything since she'd gotten here. "Can we?" She asked James eagerly.

11 Alessa Me too 150 Alessa 0 5

Charlotte Abbott

November 06, 2009 6:19 AM

There's a lot of that going round by Charlotte Abbott

Going back to school was sort of a relief. Sure Charlie had enjoyed the holidays for the most part. She'd seen Potions X in concert, which had been awesome, and she'd finally managed to convince her parents to let her have pointe lessons (though not before they'd grounded her for a week for learning it with Lita at school). But Julian had totally been a loser the whole time, and Oliver wasn't around much, and Charlotte had been left to her own devices for almost an entire summer. It was uplifting at first, but got old real quick. Besides, there was a ball at the end of this year. That was truly wonderful. Oliver had tried to convince her that it wasn't that much of a big deal, but he'd been with hannah our years ago, and that was still pretty much the deal. So of course it wasn't a big deal for him. Charlie, on the other hand, had her options open. She'd always thought Mike was rather cute, and she hadn't spoken to Ethan much, but hoped to remedy that this year. James had made it clear at the end of last year he totally had a thing for her, and of course there was Daniel, for whom Charlie definitely had a soft spot (and was the reason she had again watched Street Beat all summer, despite her parents' disapproval).

In fact, as Charlotte took a seat at the crotalus table and, spying Adelita, waved her friend over to join her, Daniel sat down on Charlie's other side. "Hi," she cheerfully returned his greeting, surprised he chose to sit there, instead of with his own house, but not at all disappointed. They were silent through the Headmistress' welcome - that is until Holly Greer got named prefect for Pecari. Charlie couldn't help but giggle at Daniel's reaction. "That's what she said," she told him with an apologetic smile.

"Mom's getting married again, and now this?" Daniel said, and Charlie stopped laughing.

"Wait, you mom's getting married again?" she said. Then instantly she realized that was being way too nosey, and she automatically clamped a hand over her mouth, as if ashamed of it. "Sorry," she said, "that was really rude." Relaxing again easily, Charlie tried to lighten the mood. "Don't worry about Holly - there are always three prefects," she said matter-of-factly, "so she can't get into too much trouble, can she?"

0 Charlotte Abbott There's a lot of that going round 135 Charlotte Abbott 0 5

Daniel Nash II

November 06, 2009 10:33 AM

Think we can contain it, and sell it as a potion ingredient? by Daniel Nash II

Daniel started to nod at the question about his mom, but then Charlie remembered before he did that it wasn't common knowledge yet and he probably shouldn't be talking about it. It was only a matter of time though. Mom would probably make an official statement to the press about it as soon as she told Holly and Luke and Dad and Holly and Luke's Dads and everyone else who should hear it from her first.

Fortunately, though, Charlie was thoughtful enough to not make Daniel chose between talking and not talking about it, and changed the subject back to Holly. Which was its own minefield in its own right, to be honest.

He rubbed at the temples of his forehead and grimaced, barely even noticing the food that appeared on the table in front of him. He wasn't like his sister - he relied on healthy living, a steady routine, and a cynical outlook on life to get him through the worst days - but for just one moment he was sorely envious of her little vials of potion that would make him feel better, if only for a little while. Heck, he'd settle for an aspirin or a sugar pill placebo.

"You obviously don't know Holly very well," he answered dryly. His tone acknowledged that there was little reason why Charlie would know Holly very well, and that he certainly didn't hold it against her that she didn't. "Let's just say my sister can turn a spider crawling up a wall into major emotional trauma." He took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair. The charms he'd put on it in anticipation of a long bumpy wagon ride made sure it resumed its original neat style as soon as his fingers left it.

He cursed. "I'm the freaking little brother. I want to pull her hair and steal her dolls, not be her bloody keeper. I hate crisis times."

1 Daniel Nash II Think we can contain it, and sell it as a potion ingredient? 130 Daniel Nash II 0 5

James

November 06, 2009 7:34 PM

Just a bit longer, I promise by James

James was now faced with quite the severe conundrum. On the one hand, he had successfully stepped into the shoes of responsibility, so to speak, and was clearly mentoring a pair of confused first years. On the other hand, both first years seemed somewhat determined to get out of the Finer Diner as soon as possible, a sentiment that James could understand to an extent. After all, he assumed that the experience could be quite overwhelming to some first years. The Opening Feast was a bit loud, after all, and not everybody was quite as socially adept as James was. It was just that adroitness that was creating the conundrum James was currently battling with. He was disinclined to do anything to irritate the pair of first years, but at the same time, he knew it was the Head of House in charge of leading the first years to the Commons. Additionally, James did not know if the manner for entering the Commons had changed for the new year. It was rather an unfortunate situation.

“I’m afraid not,” James answered the girls. “And after all, I have not been informed of any changes in entrance to the Commons and it would not be an advantageous situation for any of us to become lost or stranded on the first day of school. “ This was not to mention the negative effects it could have on James’s own future career as an Aladren Prefect. Although Lutece had managed to become a Prefect despite her annually increasing levels of shallowness and insanity, she was also in Crotalus House, quite possibly the House James detested the most. It was his personal opinion that little good came out of that House; after all, he had never been much for the proud or the pureblooded. It was true—he had been a bit cowed as a naive first year, but after his first few classes and the realisation that he was immensely more talented than any of them, James had quickly dispensed with the intimidated feeling.

“Although if it is the noise bothering you,” the third year added, “I could attempt a Dampening Charm. Although I have not quite reached perfect proficiency,” it was a relatively complicated Charm, and James had been unable to practise over the break. Curse the Trace and restrictions on Underage Magic. The younger Anthony was of the firm opinion that the truly competent ought to be able to practise their talent outside of the classroom. But no matter. That worry was for the future; James did, after all, aspire to excel in Wizarding Politics after his graduation.

“Alessa, I take it that you are of magical ancestry, then,” the brown-haired boy nodded seriously. “What are you most anticipating this school year then? And you, Anna?” Hopefully, if the girls were engaged in amicable conversation, they would be less inclined to feel the discomfort the Opening Feast was clearly giving them.

0 James Just a bit longer, I promise 0 James 0 5

Anna

November 06, 2009 7:38 PM

That is a pleasant surprise by Anna

Anna was startled to find that Alessa agreed, and so wholeheartedly. She was used to being the odd one out, having a tendency to step back from the social aspect of life. So it was with some joy that she found that Alessa wanted to leave as badly as she did. She hoped they could be friends. Maybe they would even wind up as roommates.

Anna had heard rumors about the different houses, and was glad she had been placed in Aladren. Not only were the students of Aladren intelligent and goal-oriented, they were quiet--for the most part. At present, the entire hall was filled with boisterous people and it was giving the red-haired girl a headache.

Anna looked from one to the other hopefully. She did feel somewhat queasy, and did not relish the idea of regurgitating the little she had consumed. She took a small sip of her chocolate milk. That helped a little.

0 Anna That is a pleasant surprise 0 Anna 0 5

Anna

November 06, 2009 7:50 PM

Ah, well, it was worth a shot by Anna

Anna sighed resignedly and turned back to Alessa, shrugging as if to say, "We did our best."

She did not particularly enjoy receiving bad news, but she had had her fair share of such, having found out at age nine that her mother had died during childbirth. She looked around again, trying to focus her attention on anything but the noise beating a strange, obnoxious tattoo inside her skull.

What was she most anticipating? Anna felt a stab of panic. She didn't have the slightest clue what her classes were, and knew absolutely nothing about magic--unless you counted Muggle stories and myths. She looked at James and shrugged, trying to smile. She succeeded only in making herself look more nauseous.

"I, uh..." she swallowed hard. "I don't know, to be honest."

She felt like an idiot. Merlin, why had she not read up on the school, or the magical community at the very least? Instead, she had read the letter and been so overwhelmed by the fact that there even was a magical community in existence that she neglected to do anything about it. She had bought her books, wand and supplies, of course. But she had only given the textbooks a cursory glance before the start of term. A fine Aladren she was turning out to be.

0 Anna Ah, well, it was worth a shot 0 Anna 0 5

Gray

November 07, 2009 1:59 AM

Of course it is. Would I lie to you? by Gray

To judge by Lucie's expression, Rosalind Rabindra (who Gray only remembered because of that bet between Layne and Anne, who'd both believed Morgaine Carey would not tolerate being compared to another smart girl but disagreed about how long it would take Morgaine to figure out a way to push Rosalind off a cliff) came with better connections than she did with in-laws. Lucie's expression went on to suggest that time hadn't improved Mr. Chess Piece the Fiance, either.

Gray gave very careful consideration to what to say. It wasn't like he could exactly grasp her situation. Not only was he a guy (usually the more powerful party in the sort of pureblood world she lived in, which was one reason he couldn't see how it worked; Dad couldn't take care of himself, never mind run a family), but the Wrights didn't do arranged marriage. His parents had begun to get pushy about his lack of a girlfriend, but his father had married a Squib. There wasn't much forcing the kid into a union distasteful to him after that. Lucie had worse luck there than he did, which was an odd concept.

"I'd, uh, offer to go beat them up for you," he said after consideration, "but I don't think that would work well."

Some geeks were incapable of admitting what they were. Gray was not such a traitor to the Code of the Supernerd. Maybe, in a moment of temporary insanity, he had flirted with some other ideologies in his fourth year, but he was better now. His muse was almost completely back, which meant he did not need another outlet for frustration, and he was very secure in his identity. The only person he wanted to prove much of anything to was his father, and he was smart enough to know that was about as likely as Anne ending up happily married.

Anne might have found someone willing to date her, but that wasn't the same as getting married. Gray was sure there was only one person in the world stupid enough to want to marry Anne, and that was Layne, who she clearly didn't want.

Any thoughts he might have had about his summer went right out of his head when Lucie complimented his play. Even he wasn't sure if he was more pleased or embarrassed to hear that she'd liked it. He liked compliments as much as the next fellow, but he never quite knew what to do with them. It was one of those things he'd have to work on, if by some chance he did become an internationally respected author someday. "Oh, uh, thanks, Luce," he mumbled, getting the impression his ears weren't quite their normal color. "Anne helped a lot - she didn't trust me not to put the Olympians in it or something."

He grimaced at the vivid mental images of Anne's handwriting that comment brought up. He never wanted to think about the love poems (or the fact that he'd come to the conclusion they were mostly or entirely about Lucie's cousin) ever again. Most of her stuff was just badly-composed angst, with bits and pieces of going on in horrid metaphors about Quidditch and talking about what she'd like to do to the guy who killed her mother. The romantic stuff was sappier than the average pine tree. He had learned a lot of lessons about the importance of respecting other people's privacy from those poems and her diary.

"She, uh, wasn't around the house much this summer - summer classes and a social life - so I got a lot of reading done. Fifteen books. It was almost like being an only child again." A note of satisfaction about that faded as he began to look a bit guilty. "That might, uh, have been kinda my fault, though. Layne turned up for some reason, and she knows I don't like him."

16 Gray Of course it is. Would I lie to you? 113 Gray 0 5

Rachel

November 07, 2009 10:23 PM

I guess there's always honorary memberships? by Rachel

Rachel nodded understandingly as Veronica mentioned her big sister. She was the eldest in her family, of course, but an odd sibling was probably an odd sibling either way. She was sure that reversing their birth order wouldn't have changed her relationship with Kate at all. Eldest Child Kate would, perhaps, have been a little less good-natured about totally ignoring Rachel's advice, but Rachel couldn't believe there was a universe in which Kate could be less responsive to it than she was in this one.

"That sounds like a good idea," she said when Veronica came up with the idea to avoid their relatives. In the interests of politeness, she decided not to mention that she'd had no intentions of going anywhere near Helena anyway.

Not that she was afraid of Helena, of course. Rachel refused to be intimidated by another girl, especially after she'd noted that girl's penchant for fuzzy articles of pink clothing. Part of her wanted to march over to the forbidden table and throw down the gloves - or, better yet, keep them on while she punched her aunt in the face. It was just that the sensible part recognized that unless she was a prodigy, there was no way Rachel could hope to beat someone with six years of Defense classes and Quidditch practices behind her in a physical or magical fight. She felt fully aware of the difference between not being a cowardly pushover and actually being flat-out stupid.

Besides, fighting wasn't ladylike. If she hit her mother's sister, no matter how good her reason was for doing it, it didn't seem outside the realm of possibility that she'd be disowned or something. She was sure Dad would stick by her if that happened, but darn it, she liked having her nails done every week and her robes custom-fitted. Dad was great, she loved Dad, but Dad had no money for that.

When Veronica opened the Aladren table to her indefinitely, Rachel was hard-put not to grin like a bit of an idiot. Not only would she be able to avoid Helena, but she was proving Kate's predictions that she was too uptight to make friends wrong less than an hour after her arrival. She did, though, smile. "I'm not sure they exist," she said when asked about her prospective roommates. "I didn't see another red girl - just a few boys." She smiled again. "Though of course you'd be welcome to join us if they are here and awesome." Rachel glanced down the table, where there were at least two other Aladren girls. "What do you think yours will be like?"

16 Rachel I guess there's always honorary memberships? 154 Rachel 0 5

Nina Brockert

November 08, 2009 3:17 AM

It sure is! by Nina Brockert

Nina drank down the Sorting Potion and turned a muddy brown color that meant she was in Pecari. That was fine, it was where Nina always thought she'd go. It wasn't that she thought Pecari was better than any of the other houses but she felt she would fit in better there then she would Crotalus or Aladren. Plus, Nina was rather glad not to share a house with Chelsea. The two sisters did not get along at all. On the other hand, she would have liked to keep an eye on the Aladren. At the moment though, Nina was just taking some joy in the fact that Chelsea had not been named prefect. Chelsea with power would have been a horrible thing.

She joined the other Pecaris at what appeared to be the House's table. There seemed to be a lot of first year girls which was cool. Nina didn't care about having her own room and hoped she would make friends with them. Not that she had to limit herself just to Pecari. Nina looked forward to making friends with everyone. In fact, her older brother had somewhat jokingly told her he'd disown her if she became an exclusionist.

Currently though, she was seated next to two girls and the one first year Pecari guy. Nina was looking for an opportunity to break into the conversation but it seemed a bit for a few moments that she wouldn't be able to get a word in edgewise. She watched as Delilah showed off her shoes (which were awesome. Chelsea would probably be mortified at the sight of them which made Nina like them all the more.)

"Joel, Tommy, Joe, Will, Mickey, Jamie, and Glen, for the boys. And Beth, Katlin, and Luna for the girls Anyway, none have them have gone to Sonora. My parents send us to schools all around the world! Katlin and Glen are younger than me, but the rest are older. For example, my brother Jamie went to a school in Australia, and now he is going to try out for their national quidditch team. By the way, do you like quidditch?"

Nina nearly choked on her juice. "You have even more siblings than I do!" Now it was her turn to talk a lot, "I'm Nina Brockert. I only have five siblings, two older sisters, an older brother, a younger sister and a younger brother. Oh, and my cousin lives with us when not at school." She took a breath, "My sister Chelsea is an Aladren too, like yours," she said to Delilah. "I suggest you all avoid her. She's evil ." Nina turned back to Mel. "My family has almost all gone here, except my cousins, well first cousins. I have lots of distant cousins here. Why do your siblings go to different schools?" Nina didn't think it made sense. It had been an oddity in her family that Marshall and his two siblings hadn't gone to Sonora but that was just because Uncle Liam was being a jerk as usual.

Mel mentioned her brother was trying out for the Australian Quidditch team. Nina couldn't imagine Adam ever doing that. Her older brother hated the sport but she didn't. "I personally love Quidditch, but I'm not supposed to play. My mom won't let me or my siblings since my oldest sister got hurt." She didn't think it was fair. The person who had injured Kaylie was their cousin Lily and she had graduated too. Still, Nina knew full well that if she played, Chelsea would rat her out. She'd done that to Alexis and Chelsea didn't like Nina much more than she did the other fifth year.

11 Nina Brockert It sure is! 156 Nina Brockert 0 5

Elly

November 08, 2009 4:29 AM

Then we'll be here no more by Elly

"Oh, you're talking about airyplanes, not geography," Helena said, and Elly couldn't help but laugh again. It was so bizarre; she herself had received enough practise by now to seamlessly slip between magic and Muggle conversations (and indeed, lifestyles). Elly sometimes forgot that others didn't have that same flexibility, born from never needing to execute that habitual switch.

"Yeah, sorry," Elly added. "I spent the last week with my Muggle family, and I forget that sometimes I need translating," she explained. Then after a brief catch-up on Geoff, Helena asked Elly about her summer: in particular, how she'd come to spend so much time on a wagon. "Well, Saul had this idea to do the Oregon Trail," Elly said, her tone indicating it hadn't perhaps been a brilliant plan, and her infectious smile indicating that hadn't mattered. "We started off in Missouri, and he's still going on to Oregon even as we speak." Elly interrupted herself with a laugh, then said, "I'm sure he'll get there some day. I didn't know he was planning on building the wagon himself," Elly told Helena, with the air of someone sharing a particularly funny joke. "The Sonora wagons are luxury, I swear." She knew Saul hadn't wanted to use magic on his trip, but Elly was sure she wouldn't have survived without the odd spell here and there - cushioning charms in particular. "It was brillant, anyway." She told Helena, and decided to leave it there, because she knew there were very few people in the world who would be interested in hearing in detail what the two of them had accomplished over the summer.

"How about you?" Elly asked her Crotalus yearmate. "Any exciting adventures to speak of?" Deciding to stay talking to Helena, at least for the time being, Elly poured some juice into the empty goblet in front of her, and drank while she listened.

0 Elly Then we'll be here no more 0 Elly 0 5

Oliver

November 08, 2009 4:47 AM

That does not sound right by Oliver

Oddly, Lutece's family started to sound a little like Oliver's own - the part where his siblings argued, and his parents had a total freak out about magic. The similarities stopped at Ewoks though - Oliver had to laugh. Nobody else he'd ever met ever had to share living quarters with sci-fi teddy bears. "And James has developed some sort of undying love for your sister," Lutece added.

"No way," Oliver replied, though his tone demonstrated his interest in the topic was limited. "Shame for him she's obsessed with that Danny Nash in their year," he added. He didn't specifically know this was true, but Street Beat couldn't really be that gripping, could it? Oliver didn't care either way - not until he caught them doing anything he didn't want to see, then of course he'd have to tell whichever geeky Aladren to keep the hell away from his sister. Until then he didn't care.

"Yeah, actually," Oliver replied to Lutece's query about his summer. He'd started eating already, and spoke between mouthfuls as he expanded on his answer. "Sun was shining, birds were singing. I went to a Quidditch game." He neglected to mention he took Hannah to said game. "Got the 'flu, had to hide from a few World Wars that mostly took place in the kitchen, did extra school studying. Yeah, it was the best," he said dryly.

Shovelling another mouthful of food into his mouth, Oliver discovered he had nothing else to say about his summer. He didn't prattle away at the best of times, and found that he really didn't want to share anything about taking a group of girls to a rock concert, or watching his sister dance ballet, or sneaking out with Julian to smoke one of Michael's cigarettes. Was there nothing in his summer he was proud of? "Oh yeah, I passed all my exams," he added as a delayed after-thought. "Guess we'll get through this after all, huh."

0 Oliver That does not sound right 0 Oliver 0 5

Demelza

November 08, 2009 8:30 AM

Oh...really?! by Demelza

At first, Demelza felt like laughing when Nina told her to watch out for her sister. She figured it was just a sisters love/hate relation ship thing. Although, Nina said it with a type of cold bitterness, which is what stopped Demelza from laughing. Demelza couldn't imagine talking about one of her sisters like that. (Luna was pretty mean and grouchy at time, but Demelza wouldn't exactly call her evil.) But Chelsea seemed to ring a bell... didn't she pick a fight with that other first year Pecari on the wagon ride? If so, then perhaps Demelza could see why Nina calls her sister evil.

"Wow, you have a lot of siblings here. For me, it's just me here. My parents send us to schools around the world because it's fun! My dad says it's good for us to explore as many places as we can. My dad is a wand maker, and goes to around places in the world to find wand wood, and my mom used to be an adventurer, searching for unseen mystical creatures... sounds weird, right? Yeah... I know. But no other family members are taking that path." Demelza paused for a munuet, and then to show that her fanily wasn't all that weird, she added "My twin brothers, Will and Mickey, both go to the same school! But, that's it, I guess..."

"I think my cousin Jake is coming here next year,though!" Demelza suddenly remembered. Jake was her favorite cousin, seeing as they both share a love for making music. They're both the loud ones in the family. Hehe.

When Nina said she wanted to play quidditch, but wasn't allowed to, Demelza's jaw dropped. She couldn't imagine having someone not give her permission to do something. Her brothers always encouraged her to be rebellious. And, most importantly, Demelza couldn't believe she wasn't allowed to play just because her sister once got hurt! Her brothers had gotten hurt way too many times to even count. And a lot of times it would happen right in her own back yard. Hehe...

0 Demelza Oh...really?! 0 Demelza 0 5

Nina

November 08, 2009 4:11 PM

OOC by Nina

Demelza, just so you know, stuff that was written on the OOC board before the term started is just that, OOC. It never really happened IC. Chelsea doesn't even know who any of the first years are (except Nina, of course)

I'm going to wait for Jude and Delilah to go before I do an actual post.

11 Nina OOC 156 Nina 0 5

Amelia

November 08, 2009 5:06 PM

insert witty comeback here by Amelia

Ian's reaction was practically a delight to Amelia. It evoked the same sort of pleasure a child experiences when they've successfully manipulated a parent to get his or her own way. It almost made it worth him stalking Cecily just so she could have witnessed the singular moment of shock that flashed across Ian's features. Amelia felt oddly like she'd obtained a miniature victory. She could even ignore his half-hearted attempt at insult. "Not really," she readily agreed in what she was sure was an irritatingly light-hearted manner. "I'm easily amused."

As her disgruntled friend made an effort to save his dignity and explain himself, Amelia helped herself to a large amount of fried chicken, simply because it was the unhealthiest thing on the table, and she'd been on nothing but sald all summer (or so her mother thought, which was practically the same thing). So apparently Cecily stood out as a potential bride for the bespectacled Ian Grimm. Coming to the Opening Feast was worth it just for that revelation, nevermind the food. Still, Amelia was pleased - though she couldn't explain why - that ian didn't profess to some schoolboy crush on Cecily. That would have been perverted.

"Attached?" Amelia repeated, then snorted a little as she laughed. "Doubtful. She wouldn't tell me anyway, but she's got her sights on a big name, lots of money, an average level of scandal." She paused to lick some chicken grease off her finger. "Dupree or Rothchilde or someone like that. I don't know of any attachments. There's certainly nothing formal," Amelia clarified, just in case Ian didn't care about Cecily's romantic fantasies. "Betrothals won't be discussed until she's sixteen, so maybe over the summer." Or maybe even later, because Cynthia hadn't been presented with a single suitor yet, and Ivy had only met her fiance over the summer. There was prudence in keeping family weddings to a maximum of one a year, or so all the women kept saying.

"Isn't your grandmother starting a bit, well, early?" Amelia asked, knowing she was not quite within social protocol but not at all caring. From her knowledge of arranged marriages, the groom was always considerably older than the bride. Cecily was older than Ian. It could only suggest one thing: scandal. "You don't have some horrendous family secret, do you?" If anyone could hide it, it would be the Grimms - they could simply threaten to out every other family if anyone dared to acknowledge it.

0 Amelia *insert witty comeback here* 0 Amelia 0 5

Charlotte

November 09, 2009 9:28 AM

Sure. I'm all about extracurricular activities. by Charlotte

Wow, Daniel was getting seriously stressed out about his sister. No, Charlie didn't know Holly at all, but Oliver said all the girls in her year were crazy. Maybe insanity loves company. Yet for someone who was lamenting another's susceptibility to drama, Daniel was sure freaking out. "Crisis?" Charlie repeated, astounded. She was sure this would be funny if Daniel didn't look quite so stressed out. "A crisis is the whole staff getting sick, catching your brothers smoking with the new doorman, and being grounded for doing something you love and are good at," she said, which had started off as putting Daniel's complaint into perspective and ended up as a rant about her own life. She thought she'd better get back on track.

"I mean, don't let it bother you. There's a medic and a Head of House and other prefects and Holly has loads of friends" - if where she was sitting was anything to go by - "so let them handle her, yeah?" If Holly was anything like Charlotte herself, she'd just be annoyed at the protective brother stance, anyway. Sometimes it was nice when Oliver looked out for her, but it got pesky if he did it too often. "Plus it might be good for her to have some responsibility." This time Charlie was simply repeating some typical grown-up thing to say, and wasn't sure if it had any real sense to it, but it seemed like a good thing to say at the time.

That said, Charlotte was now truly done with talking about Daniel's half-sister. To signal this, she started filling her plate with spicy wedges and baked beans, and changed the topic of conversation. So how was your summer?" she asked, knowing at least part of what it entailed, from Daniel's slip moments ago about his mom's remarrying, and from watching tv all summer. She still wasn't sure whether she should mention her obsessive behaviour to Daniel or not, and so kept it quiet for the time being.

0 Charlotte Sure. I'm all about extracurricular activities. 0 Charlotte 0 5

Alessa

November 10, 2009 2:02 AM

It sure was. by Alessa

Alessa wasn't pleased that they couldn't leave until their Head of House called them. She really hated the noise. The first year wasn't very accustomed to being around groups of people especially ones her own age. Her parents had parties sometimes and she was glad that she never had to do more than put in an appearance. Alessa hoped it wasn't always like this, otherwise eating was going to be an even bigger chore than it already was given her dislike of certain textures.

“Although if it is the noise bothering you,I could attempt a Dampening Charm. Although I have not quite reached perfect proficiency,”

She nodded "That would be much appreciated." Alessa hoped Anna would agree as well. She then replied to what James said next. "I am indeed of magical ancestry. All my family is magic. Except my aunt, she's a muggle, but she's not a biological relative, she just married my uncle. I suppose their kids wouldn't be of all magical ancestry either then."

Alessa paused as Anna mentioned she didn't know what she was looking forward too, before answering the question herself. " At the moment, what I'm anticipating most is leaving the Hall and going to my room. Classwise, I was looking forward to History," She loved history and geneology. Alessa didn't have a problem with non-purebloods but she found the way the pureblood families interconnected fascinating and usually remembered how they did, oddly enough. "But I heard really awful things about Professor Flatt. Like that he smokes cigars in class and shows gory pictures" though Alessa didn't care about this "and verbally abuses his students especially purebloods." That she cared about. Alessa didn't like the thought of being verbally abused "I thought he got fired, but then I found out he's the Deputy Head."

"What about our Head of House? What's he like?" Alessa was unfamiliar with the name Fawcett. It was neither pureblood, nor had she heard the dreadful rumors about him like she had Professor Flatt. "And our housemates, is there anyone we should avoid? What about the students in other houses?"

11 Alessa It sure was. 150 Alessa 0 5

Helena

November 10, 2009 4:36 PM

It's sad. by Helena

Helena forced a smile as Elly laughed at her plains/planes mix-up. She thought she might normally have been at least mildly irked, but couldn't trust herself to judge if something was actually offensive at the moment. She'd been irritated to discover how much easier she was to irritate now, which hadn't helped the condition at all.

It was interesting, though, to think of why she’d never heard of a Muggleborn superiority movement, or at least a half-blood one. She was a witch and proud of it, but she could see the benefits of being able to move between worlds with ease. What she couldn’t do with that ability…Half-bloods, it seemed to her, were ideally placed to take over the world, because they could – theoretically, if their parents were smart – have a near-complete knowledge of Muggle and Magical customs and technologies. Separation and ignorance was the basis of the status quo, in which neither society dominated the other; if the half-bloods ever decided to muck that up, the status quo would go straight out the window.

The whole pureblood program really was very stupid. Daddy had always favored her above Geoff, but he’d limited his ambitions for her to a marriage above her station and using her new contacts to help her brother because she was a girl. By rejecting Muggleborns, half-bloods, and women out of hand as inferiors with no useful contributions to make to society (except, of course, manual labor and babies), it seemed to her that the richest and most influential sector of society was cutting off its own wand hand to spite its arm.

The direction of her thoughts was starting to make her uncomfortable, though – it was so very Daddy, in spirit if not details. She wasn’t ruthless and proactive. It just wasn’t her. She took circumstances and worked from there to turn them to her advantage, but she didn’t actively plan to make things happen. Summer talk was almost a welcome distraction.

“I can imagine,” she said faintly when Elly said the wagon Saul had constructed made the Sonora ones look luxurious. She’d never really thought about it before, but a wagon seemed like it could be a very complicated thing to build. For one thing, the body of it had to be strong enough to hold the rider and all of his stuff up and provide shelter from the elements. For another, it had a lot of parts. Most of all, though, it had to be one complicated piece of magic that made the thing fly. “I’m glad you had fun, though.”

She decided not to ask if they were together. It had sure looked that way at the end of last year, and this trip made it sound more likely, but it was none of her business, and she knew, courtesy of Geoff, how irritating it could be to have people asking about her love life. She would have listened to his unfounded accusations that she was having a sordid little affair with Josh all day now if it just meant he came back and things went back to normal, but it had been irritating at the time.

And then it was her turn to talk about what she'd done.

"No adventures I can think of," Helena said lightly, taking a sip of water. "We had some relatives visit right before Geoff left, and I finished half of a cross-stitch project and caught up on my soap, but that was about it."

16 Helena It's sad. 88 Helena 0 5

Ian

November 10, 2009 4:52 PM

insert better comment here by Ian

"Isn't your grandmother starting a bit, well, early?"

Ian had thought the same thing himself when the task had first been put to him the summer before. But he was turning fifteen this year, and as he had been instructed every year since he first started keeping his black notebooks of information, the earlier a job is undertaken, the more time available to properly plot its success. Grandmother Nora apparently took the 'early' portion of that maxim very seriously. She had explained the necessity of an early start as being of the utmost importance in ensuring that any future granddaughter-in-law of hers was gained through more than political manuevering.

Grandmother Nora had used the words 'love' and 'caring' specifically, but Ian tried his best to ignore those kinds of words.

"No, I don't have a horrendous family secret," he retorted peckishly. "My grandmother seems to think that establishing a relationship early in life is critical to a future partnership." His opinion on that was more than evident in his tone. "Do you really think I want to spend my time bothering with girls? Aside from you," Ian purposely left out any mention of Cecily, despite noting once again that she looked awfully different from other girls, "the lot of them are about as note-worthy as a street drain."

Ian uncrossed his arms, his posture screaming 'sulk,' and bypassed the usual meal fare for the carafe of milk near his elbow. He used his other hand to dig out the box of multi-colored cereal he'd liberated from his kitchen before leaving that morning. Once his bowl was filled and his spoon in hand, he further untroubled himself. "I don't see the point of it. It's bothersome and annoying alltogether, and now, with this ball at the end of the year--" he broke off and sated his pique with a mouthful of the cereal. And then gesturing with his spoon, slightly revitalized by the comforting sugar now flowing through his system, he turned to better face his partner.

"Knowing you, you're probably all in a tizz and a dither about the end of the year. I wouldn't be surprised if you hadn't planned out your method of attack already."

0 Ian *insert better comment here* 0 Ian 0 5

James

November 10, 2009 6:06 PM

What was, will be by James

James frowned a bit to himself upon hearing that Anna had not thought about what there was to anticipate at Sonora. He had thought that curiosity—intellectual curiosity, to be certain, but the more mundane sort as well—was a requirement to be an Aladren. James prided himself on his curiosity, at least. It was one of the many reasons he considered himself highly proficient at magic as compared to his peers. Then again, with the work ethic of many of his peers, James was of the firm belief that he could train a chimpanzee to do more advanced magic in an equal amount of time. Then again, with some of the staffing and the staff changes in the past several years, he could hardly blame some of them. It certainly was unnerving to walk into a classroom only to find a new teacher year after year. But then again, in Muggle schools, that was how things worked. Odd.

Well, it was possible that Alessa was simply overwhelmed and a bit shy. The brown-haired boy pushed his glasses up his nose and decided it would be unfair to judge the first year quite this early in the year. After all, first years had much in common with the smaller avian species: they tended to imprint on the first person (or thing) that demonstrated any sort of authority. James was quite pleased to have been imprinted on by two of the smaller students, and determined that he would, as the year progressed, assist them in the acquisition of what he considered to be the basic skills of knowledge.

Over the summer, he had been contemplating a tutoring booth in the library where he could sit and do his work and offer help to younger (or, in some cases, older) students as needed. In light of the new arrivals, James decided this would be an excellent idea. Additionally, it could enable him to network socially in a way that would not otherwise be achieved. How thrilling!

Upon Alessa’s request, James pulled out his wand, made a complicated, funny sort of movement, and muttered something under his breath. The noise emanating from the areas of the hall in front of him settled to what he would refer to as a ‘dull roar’ while the noise emanating from the areas of the hall behind him maintained their usual level of ear-splitting chatter. It was, as he had warned the first years, imperfect, but hoped that it would assist in making them more at ease.

“It would be highly unprofessional of me to comment on the professionality of Sonora’s teaching staff,” James responded to Alessa’s questions primly. He was very cognisant that stepping on the wrong side of any of the teachers might cost him his aspirations of Prefecthood, but beyond that, James truly did believe he should act in the most professional way possible. Good habits were cultivated young, in his opinion. “But we have had two separate Professor Flatts at our school. I believe that the current Deputy Headmaster is related to the former History of Magic professor. As far as the social aspect of Sonora goes, I have been unable as such to find a group of peers as interested as I in academic pursuits, and have consequently limited my social expeditions to the Aladren Commons and the library. The librarian is quite nice and rather helpful, by the way.”

|OOC| Anna, you can put your responses to Alessa's post and my post in the same post and just respond to me, if you want. Just so you know. ;)

0 James What was, will be 0 James 0 5

Lutece

November 11, 2009 6:48 AM

Sounds fun to me by Lutece

As she rolled her blue-green eyes and pushed her light brown hair back at Oliver’s laughter, Lutece couldn’t help but grinning a bit in satisfaction. The Crotalus enjoyed making Oliver laugh, partially because she’d read in a magazine that it was supposed to help some chemical or other that would make people more partial to liking each other. Lutece had been too embarrassed to ask James about that, so she took it as truth anyway. But of course, she couldn’t let Oliver think that she liked him or something like that. He did, after all, have a Girlfriend. Just because the girlfriend was someone Lutece loathed with a certain degree of passion (perhaps solely because she was dating Oliver) didn’t mean she was allowed to make it absolutely blatant that she fancied him. Much, anyway.

“Not funny!” the sixteen-year-old objected, half grinning as she did so. When it came to Charlie liking someone besides James, though, Lutece felt a little bit of regret for her younger brother, annoying as he might be. “Clearly—“ Lutece began before she stopped herself. She was enjoying her yearly Feast tradition with Oliver and Hannah wasn’t there, and there was no need to ruin this with pointing out that Oliver had as good a taste in girlfriends as he did in eyewear. Which was, of course, to say he almost completely lacked one.

“You’re disgusting,” Lutece replied with another roll of her eyes in response to the sun shining and birds singing bit of Oliver’s description of his summer. “Sorry about the Wars,” she added. After years of living with her parents, Lutece understood very well what he was talking about. Both Lutece and James, after all, were absolutely thankful for going to boarding school; it meant that they only had to deal with the family drama for three months or so in a year, and that was more than enough for either one of them. Sure, James was usually busy with his nose in a book (geek) and didn’t seem to care, but Lutece knew that she did, and it was an awful pain.

Of course Oliver had passed all of his exams. Oliver was almost as geeky as James. Lutece took a bite of food before responding to that one. “And I nearly passed all of mine!” she added cheerily, deciding not to grumble about the ones she had barely not-passed. “I got an E on Potions, actually. I blame you.”

0 Lutece Sounds fun to me 0 Lutece 0 5

Anna

November 11, 2009 5:25 PM

Is it time to go? by Anna

The sound level in the room dropped somewhat when James performed the complicated-looking spell. This made Anna feel a little less anxious. She sipped her juice, which was just about empty. She looked up at the head table. Professor Fawcett had stood and was gathering the first years together.

"Alessa, look," she said. "I think we can go now."

She glanced at the other Aladrens. Many of the younger ones were standing, looking around nervously. She stood up, threw one leg over the side of the bench, and was about to step over with the other when the hem of her robes caught on a table leg and sent her sprawling to the floor. On the way down, she reached out for something to hold on to, and accidentally hit James' arm. She picked herself up quickly and straightened her robes, pushing her long hair out of her face, which was bright red.

"I'm sorry!" she exclaimed, slapping a hand across her mouth. Her face became even redder, if that was possible.

|OOC| Oops. I guess I didn't realize that. Thanks. :)

0 Anna Is it time to go? 0 Anna 0 5

Oliver

November 12, 2009 3:43 PM

...No comment by Oliver

If Lutece was still trying to kill Oliver (she had certainly made several not-so-cleverly-disguised attempts in the past, including incidents with Quidditch equipment and with badly brewed potions), she was coming close to succeeding. He almost choked on his pasta when she told him she got an E in potions. In fact, he did choke a little, but managed to sort himself out quite rapidly, and after a few gulps of pumpkin juice he was right as rain again.

"You took me by surprise," he told Lutece with a slightly guilty-looking grin, in explanation of his short coughing episode. "But hey, that's - well done." If he sounded impressed it's because he was. He hadn't noticed it, but Lutece had stopped making potentially explosive potions mistakes a while ago; it was flattering that she thought Oliver had something to do with that. It was something else, too. Oliver was grinning now because he was impressed at her grade - he liked that she'd apparently taken to one of his own interests. It was ... sexy? Shovelling food hastily into his mouth once again to mask his expression, Oliver couldn't help his mind from wondering what grade Hannah had obtained in potions. He'd better change the subject, and quickly. Despite how tempting it was to tell Lutece he'd gotten an O in the subject.

"So what are you taking this year?" Oliver asked. Well, okay, so it wasn't a complete change in subject, but maybe they would be taking completely different classes. Then hopefully Lutece could direct the topic to something that wasn't school related. That was the problem with the summer - Oliver felt all his social skills fizzle into nothing over the weeks they had practically no use. Now he was choking on pasta and talking to girls about classes.

0 Oliver ...No comment 0 Oliver 0 5

Mike Song

November 13, 2009 4:56 PM

Definitely Interrupting by Mike Song

Mike Song had a mission. As usual, his attempt to write Holly over the summer had resulted in failure. All eleven of the letters-- admittedly, just postcards-- had been returned. He didn't know if she had e-mail or not, mostly because she had all but ignored him during the past year, so he couldn't try that. But he was determined; so what if she was two grades above him. So what if she was an older woman. These details were but minor challenges to strengthen his resolve. And this year, he had decided, was the one that would prove a success. This was the year of the ball.

And if it took asking her every single day, Mike was going to get Holly Thistle of the Hollywood Thistles to be his date.

The only thing currently posing a hurdle to his endeavor was the flock of other fifth year girls around her. Mike had no worries about taking on maybe one or two of them, but the whole bunch? Even for someone like him, the idea was daunting. He was distracted from the Welcoming Speech, his applause arriving belatedly and with only half of his concentration applied. He perked up when he heard of Holly's appointment to prefect; even better, his future girlfriend would have the authority to get him out of trouble. Exactly perfect.

Mike caught his sister staring at him from her place at the Aladren table, but ignored her expression. The police had only given him a warning after all, and it wasn't like he had done anything illegal. He just didn't think he should have to cater to the every whim of some random tourist. Why should he have to pose for a picture for some over-weight inlander? Why should he have to play nice and smile all the time? Mike was convinced that had he been Anglo, the tourist would never have bothered with him. The cops seemed to only care that Mike had damaged personal property, not the reason for it. And now that had Euna watching him like he was about to go postal or something.

Hardly. He just wanted to get a head-start on Holly, and that meant starting immediately.

Mike shot up from his seat, pausing briefly to sweep back his hair, adjust his sneakers, and pick at his shirt, making it hang just-so from his shoulders. He'd grown since his second year, a fair amount of inches that promised him a future of further increase. He flaunted that height as he walked over to where the titular Ladies of the Fifth Court sat, and seeing no real opening for his interruption, he decided to barge on in.

"Holly Thistle of the Hollywood Thistles, would you go to the dance with me?"

0 Mike Song Definitely Interrupting 0 Mike Song 0 5

Amelia

November 15, 2009 10:50 AM

You always have to have the last word, don't you? by Amelia

Anelia was disappointed that Ian wasn't going to reveal some hidden scandal about his family, but she could hardly say she was surprised. If he were going to share something like that with her (and the past year of his Cecily obsession indicated that was unlikely) he probably wouldn't do so in the Cascade Hall at the opening feast, where all and sundry could listen in. Instead he made mention of his grandmother, and a belief improving relationships, yada yada. Plus he singled Amelia out from 'most girls' - should she be worried by that? Being singled out by Ian Grimm was not necessarily a good thing. Yes, Amelia was pleased that he could stand her company because she could tolerate his, likewise, and the same couldn't be said for very many other people. The concern she now had was whether that made her peculiar in some way, and if it did, would that matter? Amelia wasn't the type to worry about immaterial things like that, so she dismissed the concerns as quickly as they'd formed, and set about eating her fried chicken as she listened to Ian continue with his complaints.

"Knowing you, you're probably all in a tizz and a dither about the end of the year. I wouldn't be surprised if you hadn't planned out your method of attack already." His ranting climaxed into a very mild insult about Amelia's current feelings towards the ball at the end of the year. The blonde knew better than to think Ian was purposefully insulting her - this was just his way of asking of she had a date in mind.

"Not of attack as such," Amelia replied lazily, "more of defeat. If some dashing and dim-witted boy asks me to go with him, I'll smile and simper and look lovely for him. Otherwise I figured I'd just go with you," she liked some grease off her fingers. "I mean, at least I know I could tolerate your company for a few hours." Amelia paused and looked at Ian better to view his reaction. "Of course that was my plan before I realised you were in love with my sister."

0 Amelia You always have to have the last word, don't you? 0 Amelia 0 5

Lucie

November 15, 2009 1:06 PM

Maybe by Lucie

The picture of Grayson beating up Rook was enough to send Lucie into a fit of giggles. “No, no, I don’t think it would.” Though, Grayson had grown, Rook still had more muscle on him. Besides, the idea of Grayson beating anyone up was just ridiculous. He just wasn’t that sort of person. Lucie didn’t think he was even capable of hurting a mouse, which was actually a very good thing. She liked that Gray wasn’t a ‘tough’ guy since it seemed that most acted like jerks trying to keep up some sort of image of being that. Rook was kind of like one of those guys. That’s probably why her dad liked him so well. He was perfect for the family business.

She hated the family business. It was as if her family members were the Olympians to be feared. They ruined everything and she worried that if she would follow in that tradition. Was she setting Gray up as her friend only to knock him down? No, that was silly. She liked him and it was adorable how his ears turned red over her compliment. “You’re welcome. At any rate, the two of you did a great job and I don’t think it would have been so bad if the Olympians were in it. You could have gone a lot of ways with that.” She was already thinking of some amusing twists and turns that could have happened, but then that was natural with meddlesome forces.

It didn’t seem as if Grayson had too many meddling forces over the summer since he had gotten so much reading done. She hadn’t really gotten any done and she would have commented on that if the conversation hadn’t turned to Geoffrey Layne. She raised her eyebrow in interest. “Oh? Why don’t you like him? Didn’t he date Anne or something?” She had heard that somewhere, but she couldn’t recall. If they had dated that probably made leading Quidditch together previously a bit awkward, but what was more important was Gray’s reaction. She couldn’t picture him not really liking someone.

0 Lucie Maybe 0 Lucie 0 5

Holly Greer

November 15, 2009 10:35 PM

Okay, this is the other way it could be worse. by Holly Greer

Holly was less than impressed by the show of effort her peers were giving in 'welcoming' Alexis for the Feast. All she asked of any of them was to keep their disagreement where she couldn't see it, but this was clearly too much to expect when they were all seated at the same table.

Still, she couldn't see how to fix the problem, and ignoring it in favor of discussing Nina Brockert seemed be the lesser evil, so she was almost content to go along with that until another Pecari presented himself as a greater distraction.

Under other circumstances, Holly might have considered that maybe this could provide a common enemy to unite them, but she was far too apalled by Mike Song's approach, nevermind his question - Good Lord, his completely horrifying question - to spare a thought for anything else.

Thank God she was already fully under the influence of an entire vial of anti-anxiety potion, or she might have had a breakdown right there. She fumbled for another one anyway. She was going to need its extra strength.

"No!" she denied, deigning the question with a high-pitched answer because not doing so might possibly encourage him. Obviously, he was already deluded since he'd asked in the first place. Even if she didn't already have Raoul, Mike Song was both far too young and far to common to even consider as a potential date. Even putting Mike Song and the word 'date' in the same sentence made her shudder.

She tried to shrink away from him as she downed another vial of her potion, and then looked desperately toward her friends. "Help me make him go away," she pleaded.

1 Holly Greer Okay, this is the other way it could be worse. 123 Holly Greer 0 5

Alessa

November 16, 2009 3:47 AM

Apparently by Alessa

Alessa breathed a large sigh of relief as the noise level in the room went down due to the spell. If that had continued much longer, she was going to have to run. Well, not run , Alessa had been told once that she looked strange when she ran and she certainly didn't want to look strange in front of all these people, but she would have to get out of the Hall in a pretty big hurry.

"Thank you, James." She said, mainly for the charm. He really hadn't given them much informations regarding their professors or classmates other than that the librarian was helpful and that nobody was as interested in academic pursuits as James was. What he said about there being two seperate Professor Flatts explained an awful lot though.

"Alessa, look," she said. "I think we can go now."

Alessa did as Anna instructed and looked. Professor Fawcett was calling for the Aladrens. "I think we can!" She said with more enthusiasm than she had felt in a while. Alessa got from the table, only to see Anna trip and fall.

"Are you all right?" Alessa asked. That was what you did when someone fell like that. Besides, she wasn't exactly the most graceful person herself. The dance lessons that were standard for pureblood girls were pure torture for her because of that, Alessa didn't look any better dancing than she did running.

11 Alessa Apparently 150 Alessa 0 5

Gray

November 16, 2009 3:44 PM

Well, then. by Gray

Lucie's giggles over the idea of him versus the chess piece and random in-law weren't completely contagious, but he did half-smile and shrug. He might be capable of holding his own in a magical fight, but physically...Well, Gray was just glad Anne had been around and threatening to knock the stuffing out of anyone who bothered him for his first three years.

He hadn't actually planned to do anything with the Olympian deities in the play - that had been a case of Anne becoming confused, refusing to admit it, and piecing things together in her head so it sort of made sense but was off-base - but he wasn't surprised, somehow, that Lucie liked the idea. He made a note of it just the same. "Maybe next time," he said philosophically. "If we keep up the - rotation-thingy, then there'll be another one when we're...seventh years? Yeah, I think that's right."

Seventh years. The very thought that they could someday be such bizarre things was downright unsettling. It would end life as they'd known it; the Duprees being Duprees, they'd probably never see each other again. Lucie would marry the chess piece, and he'd...do something. Probably journalism; it would be years, if it was ever, before he could come up with enough decent stuff for the author thing to work, and writing was the only thing he'd ever really enjoyed doing. A job that didn't feature it would probably bore him out of his mind.

A look of horror, bordering on disgust, crossed Gray’s face at the notion of Layne dating Anne. He was sort of accustomed to the idea that people could read the long-time primary relationship of his cousin's life that way, but it was another thing altogether to hear someone talk about it. “No,” he said firmly. “Never. She introduces him to people as her brother.” His tone indicated just how much he thought of that. She’d developed a habit of doing the same to him, which implied Layne was his brother, too, which was not a situation Gray was prepared to tolerate. He’d liked being an only child, and it had been enough to have to get used to having a ‘sister’. He did not need a brother, especially one who was a jerk. Which brought him back to Lucie's actual question.

“But I don’t like him because he’s a self-centered jerk who used to look at my cousin like she was a cat and started looking at her like – “ he remembered that he was speaking to a girl, a proper lady no less, and changed what he was going to say – “– uh – a mannequin or something since she started wearing skirts and painting her nails and stuff. It’s creepy." He did not mention that he had a problem with guys like Geoff - ambitious, assertive, athletic types - just on principle and in general, as said problem was completely pointless.

16 Gray Well, then. 113 Gray 0 5

Daniel Nash II

November 17, 2009 12:21 PM

Great then. Let's do it. by Daniel Nash II

Daniel looked at Charlie a little oddly at her definition of 'crisis' but she was successful at calming him down, if only by making him focus on her instead of the looming disaster long enough to remember there were far too many witnesses here in the Cascade Hall and this was not the place to freak out. There was no need to demonstrate exactly how alike he and his sister really were in front of the whole school. Daniel liked to at least pretend that he was sane.

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Right," he agreed, even though Charlotte was wrong. The medic almost certainly wasn't trained to handle Holly. She'd never turn to the Pecari Head of House or the other Prefects, as he knew for a fact that she disdained almost all of the older Pecaris. Her 'friends' were all purebloods and he wasn't convinced they'd stick around for a real crisis. A nervous breakdown probably wasn't 'proper'. That left him.

At least she was naive enough to think Mom's engagement was a good thing, for the first few months at least. That might bolster her, once she got the news. After that, he'd try to find something else to support her. He'd gotten Holly through four divorces already. He could get her through this year, too.

As far as Holly having responsibility went, he had no idea how she'd take it. Nobody had ever given her any. She couldn't even take care of herself, how was she supposed to take care of anything else? Well, aside from the pygmy puff. But the puff was nearly impossible to kill. And there was Wendy. The only time Holly really and truly seemed genuinely happy and sane was around the horse.

Maybe, maybe, there was something to that one piece of Charlie's advice. Only time would tell, and Daniel would be ready to catch the pieces if it was wrong.

It was just as well Charlie seemed unwilling to discuss Holly any further. Daniel sure wasn't sure he wanted to either. "The summer was okay. Anton - that's my mom's new fiance - was all about 'getting to know me'." He rolled his eyes. "I think mom must have told him not to treat me like a kid, so I was at least spared a bunch of painful trips to the zoo, like Michael tried to inflict on me. And, obviously, there was Street Beat. Didn't have time for much else, really, since even when I wasn't filming, I was still on the set, avoiding Anton. How was yours?"

1 Daniel Nash II Great then. Let's do it. 130 Daniel Nash II 0 5

Ian

November 20, 2009 10:28 AM

Generally, yes. It works out better that way. by Ian

Ian's psychologist, long on the take due to some incriminating photographs Ian had found on her unattended computer five years earlier, had been accusing him of being emotionally stunted for just as many years. She had also accused him of being cruel, unfeeling, and once, while drunk, had confessed to finding his father attractive. She followed that up by then remarking how much Ian resembled his father, and Ian had been forced to lock her in a closet until she sobered up.

Personally, Ian found nothing wrong with being in tune only with the more practical of his emotions. He had no time or concern for those fuzzy emotions that forced actions from him that made no sense. Yes, he found humor a welcomed indulgence, not that he was terribly fond of jokes or puns. And yes, when he was a child, he did appreciate those occasions when his mother would smooth his hair from his brow while he was supposedly asleep. It was this history, however, that left him currently so irritated.

The whole past year had been an ongoing list of new emotions throwing themselves at him and causing all sorts of undue loss of sleep, stomach anxiety, and inexplicable smiling. There was the whole mess of feelings (even the way the word sounded felt ridiculous to him) springing from the addition of Laurel Cider in his family. He'd actually been concerned for her and disobeyed his grandparents for her. Ian Grimm didn't do things like that.

Then there was Cecily; she was positively kryptonite. But in a drug addiction sort of way. And Ian was making his peace with that fact, slowly and without too much protest. He expected himself to be affected by her and so he was prepared for those reactions. What he was not expecting was the jolt of pique that struck him when Amelia talked about playing nice with some random boy. He almost missed entirely her final comment.

Almost.

With unnatural calm, Ian pushed back his cereal bowl and spoon, wiped his mouth carefully with a napkin, and then flexed his fingers. "I am not-- let me repeat: I am not in love with your sister. I do not do love." Just the idea of himself reduced to such a level was anathema to Ian.

"Besides," and the words choked themselves out from his throat, unplanned and inexplicable, "I can still take you. Nothing says I have to take your sister. She probably prefers the cool approach anyway."

0 Ian Generally, yes. It works out better that way. 0 Ian 0 5

Amelia

November 22, 2009 3:28 PM

Cutting you off by Amelia

It wasn't uncommon for pureblood males to deny feelings of love. It was often seen as a weakness, and marriages were about practicality, not comfort, in most instances. Still, there was something quite comical about Ian Grimm declaring in petulant tones that he did not love. Amelia didn't doubt him; it wasn't as if she herself were especially romantic. Certainly she'd entertained daydreams about a metaphorical rescuer on a white unicorn, but more often that not he'd been incapable of rescuing her sufficiently. Amelia had foudn the need to ask for directions, or merely desrt him at a crossroad because she'd had enough of his incessant monologuing. So whereas she understood Ian's point of view, she still found his expression of it amusing. Nevertheless, it was a relief that he was denying feelings for Cecily, rather than professing them. Amelia would have had to abandon her food if that had been the case, and very little had ever driven her to that.

Washing down her chicken with some high-sugar carbonated drink, Amelia was about to express her relief, when Ian started talking again. For someone usually so restrained, he was quite the chatterbox this evening. "Oh, well then I'll be in touch," Amelia replied, not expecting to be quite so pleased by his remark. It wasn't much of a victory, after all, but it did improve her mood. She was even cheerful enough now to brave the school showers (soemthing she usually liked to put off for as long as was hygenic). So with that she stood, and collected the basket of favors. "Nice to talk to you again," she added to Ian with a coy smile. Then she strode from the Hall and was gone.

0 Amelia Cutting you off 0 Amelia 0 5

Sadi Powell

Welcome to the Opening Feast! by Sadi Powell

Tobar Brishen

Teppenpaw First Year! by Tobar Brishen

Demelza Eagle

What a creative way to sort! by Demelza Eagle

Professor Aaron McKindy

Deja vu (nm) by Professor Aaron McKindy

Professor Aaron McKindy

Deja vu by Professor Aaron McKindy

Jude Normandy

I feel like a lizard! by Jude Normandy

Veronica Kerrigan

I'm feeling red, but I'm seeing blue... by Veronica Kerrigan

Demelza Eagle

What a character... by Demelza Eagle

Jude

I could say the same by Jude

Starbuck Gregory

I'm Brown! by Starbuck Gregory

Professor Rowan Dakin

Nervous addition by Professor Rowan Dakin

Delilah Kerrigan

Just inserting myself in *grins* by Delilah Kerrigan

Demelza Eagle

Ah, yes, good point! by Demelza Eagle

Anna Berg

Uncertain First Year by Anna Berg

Kameyrynn Prinzo

And it begins... by Kameyrynn Prinzo

Tobar

too many walls! by Tobar

Adelita Garcia and Dulce Garcia

Then tear them down! by Adelita Garcia and Dulce Garcia

Jude

Haha I knew I would be popular! by Jude

Jude

OOC by Jude

Tobar

I don't think our Headmistress would like that! by Tobar

Kameyrynn Prinzo

Re: too many walls! by Kameyrynn Prinzo

Tobar

Nonsense! by Tobar

Lutece Anthony

Sticking with Tradition [Tag: Oliver] by Lutece Anthony

Aaron

Is the hat scaring you? by Aaron

Rowan

Oh no its quite nice by Rowan

Demelza

You always know what to say. by Demelza

Aaron

Are you sure? by Aaron

Rowan

Postive! by Rowan

Aaron

This is quite a tricky little hat, I've got to say by Aaron

Rowan

Cookies! by Rowan

Holly Greer

Wait a minute, did she just say <i>I</i>'m a Prefect? by Holly Greer

Rachel Bauer

I'm just the opposite. by Rachel Bauer

Grayson Wright, I think...

Say what, now? (Lucie) by Grayson Wright, I think...

Coach Amelia Pierce

New school, new state, new life by Coach Amelia Pierce

Helena Layne

Back, but not better than ever. by Helena Layne

Kameyrynn Prinzo

Dinner looks interesting (Teppenpaw table tie in) by Kameyrynn Prinzo

Professor John Fawcett

Sounds like you've got a full plate there by Professor John Fawcett

James Anthony

Quite Certain Third Year by James Anthony

Oliver Abbott

Six years certainly qualifies for tradition by Oliver Abbott

Alexis Ashwood

I think so! by Alexis Ashwood

Just inserting myself in grins by Delilah Kerrigan