Between food and sleep I choose... on Cascade Hall

Headmaster Regal

June 06, 2011 1:11 AM

Opening Feast! by Headmaster Regal

The start of a new year, the start of his second term as Headmaster, and David Regal couldn’t be more excited to be back. After a year of getting used to his new job, he could admit to himself that he absolutely loved it and had gotten used to be behind a desk instead of in a classroom, teaching. Both jobs had their good things and bad things, but after 30-odd years of teaching, the now-Headmaster was happy with his new responsibilities.

The day of the start of term, he kissed his wife goodbye and Apparated to Sonora to make sure that everything and everyone was getting ready to receive the returning students and the new first-years. It was going to be an exciting year, with the help of some of the staff, he had planned the festivities for the year, and they were going to be amazing. David walked through the school’s grounds making sure everything was in order, he was happy with his current staff, even if a lot of changes had happened from last term to this new one. He ended his walk of the school in his office, going through some last minute paperwork. He stayed there for the rest of the time before the start of the Opening Feast.

David entered the Cascade Hall about fifteen minutes before the students were scheduled to arrive at the school, and smiled at the congregated staff members, including the new Staff members. People he would get to know during the term. Finally everyone started to arrive. The Headmaster smiled at the returning students, and waited for them to settle down before making the welcome speech. He had a lot of announcements this term. He could hardly contain the excitement for the upcoming activities.

“Welcome to Sonora,” he began with his speech. His eyes briefly scanned the Hall and stopped on the new first years. He smiled at them, trying to ease their nervousness. “For those who don’t know me, I am Headmaster David Regal.” He cleared his throat, “New students, please be kind enough to take a sip from the potion Coach Pierce will hand out to you. The potion will turn your skin into the color of the house you have been sorted into.” He watched as the first years turned into different colors, he found the sorting ceremony quite amusing. Their skin would change into the color of the chosen house. “If you turned red you are now a Crotalus, blue for Aladren, sunshine yellow for Teppenpaw and brown for Pecari,” he told them smiling. David applauded as they looked for their new housemates.

He waited a few minutes for them to settle in, “I have a few announcements before we can enjoy the delicious feast. Charlotte Abbot and Daniel Nash will continue with their duties as Head Students,” he clapped politely. “The new Prefects are: Veronica Kerrigan for Aladren, Dulce Garcia for Teppenpaw, Nina Brocket for Pecari, and Rachel Bauer for Crotalus,” he applauded once again.

“There were some Staff changes, Professor Cohen had to leave, but Professor Kiva Kijewski decided to return to the school and take over Care of Magical Creatures. Miss Diaz has taken over the Divination classes, and last but not least, Coach Amelia Pierce is the new Deputy Head. Please show them some love,” he applauded one last time. “Before I forget, Crotalus won the House Cup. Let’s see who wins this year! Make your house proud.”

“I am almost done, just one last thing. This year we are celebrating the birthday of one of our founders, Leith Clurican. He was a pioneer on magical education, and helped built this amazing education institution. We will be honoring him throughout the year. The Ball at the end of the year will have a 16th century theme.” David smiled mysteriously, since he had decided to not mention the Outstanding Students Awards. He didn’t want students doing things just to get honored. No, the awards had to go to students that actually did it out of good-will.

Using his wand, he sent everyone a piece of parchment with some sheet-music and lyrics. During one of his wanderings through the Sonora Historical Archives, he found the school song. He didn’t remember Sadi mentioning it to him. It probably meant that it had been forgotten, but he wanted to revive it. It was a good song. “What I sent to you is the school’s song. Learn it! Live by it! Now, we will sing it and after that we can eat.” The Headmaster flicked his wand and the music could be heard throughout the Cascade Hall. He began to recite the verses.

Every day we strive
Learning to survive
Life’s hardships and to solve its mystery.
Learning to defend
Our honour and our friends,
Flying high to meet our destiny
We will stand and face those who want to harm us.
We won’t let the world transfigure, jinx or charm us
I won’t fight alone, as long as you are with me.
Sonora be my home, my tutor and my spirit
Vasita quoque floeat; Even the dessert blooms.

He smiled at the sound of the whole Sonora population singing it. It had been a great idea. After it was done, he smiled, “Let’s eat!” the food appeared, and he sat down to enjoy it.

OOC: Welcome First-years! Please refrain from posting on other boards until your Head of House posts his/her welcoming speech! Otherwise, have fun! Remember the site rules.

Also, thanks to the author of DiAnna Diaz, who was graceful enough to write such a pretty school song.

Subthreads:

I don't like the title by 'Professor' DiAnna Diaz with Professor (no quotes) John Fawcett, DiAnna Diaz

New Teppenyellow. (WotW) by Michael Grosvenor with Lawrence ´Laurie´ Stratford

This is going to be awesome! by Mellie Goodwin with Sullivan Quincy, Sully

Red - a World About to Dawn by Linus Macaulay with Jenny Owens, Brianna Japos, Linus, Cherry Bosko

My name is Samantha now by Samantha Hamilton with David Wilkes, Samantha

Something new, something blue. by David Kim with Preston Stratford

I need a vacation from my vacation by Daniel Nash with Katrina (Kitty) McLevy

2nd year is finally here! by Regina Parker with Derry Pierce 4

This is amazing! by Jhonice Trevear with Jose Hernandez

Back Again by Andrew Duell with Jane Carey, Jane

A new year, a new diet. by Veronica Kerrigan with Edmond Carey, Veronica

Speaking Before Feasting by Paul Bennett with Attoria Covington, Paul

Oh, brother.... by Rachel Bauer with Nic Sawyer

Yay, song! by Demelza Eagle (Fifth Year Pecari)

Being invisible by Jethro Smythe with Renée Errant, Jethro

A bundle of nerves by Valerie Lennox

Yay, I survived! by Marissa Stephenson with Charlotte Abbott, Charlotte, Charlie

Making it to the Feast. Sort of. by Dennis Couch with Dana Smythe, Dennis

New School, new people, oh my, I just might faint! by Perdita Rothens with Luka Anastanov, Perdita

Must...find...spin.... by Raines Bradley

Between food and sleep I choose... by Solomon Asa Davies with Daniel Withers, Solomon

Accumulating Authority by DH Amelia Pierce with Headmaster Regal

0 Headmaster Regal Opening Feast! 0 Headmaster Regal 1 5

'Professor' DiAnna Diaz

June 06, 2011 3:51 AM

I don't like the title by 'Professor' DiAnna Diaz

As per usual, DiAnna had spent the majority of the summer hiding indoors and trying desperately not to get a tan. She'd taken Liberty on a couple of outings so she felt properly like a big sister again, and had been sort of relieved that no letter from any magical Academy of any sorts had found its way into Liberty's hands. Her half-sister was a Muggle, and that's the way it was supposed to be. DiAnna had always been fairly sure the magic in her came from her biological mom's side anyway - her Dad was just too normal: the textbook Muggle. Liberty was doing well as a Muggle anyway. She had lots of friends, and got by in school, because although she wasn't smart she did put effort into her work, and nobody could ask more of her than that. She still didn't know anything about DiAnna's being a witch, and her older sister wasn't planning on breaking the news any time soon. She would, some day, when Libby was older, but not now.

In some ways, it was a shame that DiAnna couldn't share her life with her family, but in most ways she was pretty pleased about it. She was a private person by nature, and her interest in healing crystals had begun before she knew she was a real witch. Her mother - despite not having a maternal instinct in her - had apparently still managed to impart some aspects of herself onto DiAnna. The comparitively yuong with had no intentions of running of to Brazil to join some weird hippy commune, but she allowed her whimsy to lead her more frequently that the average person. As such she had adorned her usual black flowing garments with a series of moonstone gems and the occasional rare red quartz to bring luck for the coming year. She'd arranged the gems tastefully, and had cut back a little on her eye make-up in balance; she didn't want to look like one of those crazy fortune teller women. It was bad enough that she'd ended up covering divinations classes for the second part of last term, but now David had introduced her as the Divinations professor. DiAnna frowned at this announcement. She'd never wanted to be a teacher, and while she actually didn't mind taking the classes, her librarian role was by far preferable to her. The Divinations professor position was supposed to remain open - she was only filling in.

Trying not to let the Headmaster's choice of words discourage her, DiAnna watched the new students with interest, and then the older students' reactions to the ongoing theme for the year. For her part, DiAnna liked the concept. She'd been exceptionally interested in history while she'd been at school, and celebrating the founders of Sonora sounded like a good way for the students to be spending their time. Learning should be fun where at all possible. David seemed to embrace this notion by being more upbeat that usual, in DiAnna's opinion, and encouraging the school to sing a song. DiAnna read the lyric sheet but didn't make a sound - she didn't sing. In fact she was relieved when that particular 'fun' activity was over, and she could eat. She instantly found herself famished, and happily reached out to dish herself to some entrees that looked like they were composed of cream cheese and spinach.

"This is good," she commented to her neighbor, having enjoyed a mouthful. "I really should learn to cook. I've spent the summer living on pasta and bread." It was an exaggeration; her Mom (step-mom, not the biological mother) could cook, and DiAnna enjoyed her meals, but she wasn't going to keep going back there forever.

0 'Professor' DiAnna Diaz I don't like the title 0 'Professor' DiAnna Diaz 0 5

Michael Grosvenor

June 06, 2011 4:31 AM

New Teppenyellow. (WotW) by Michael Grosvenor

Suddenly finding out that you were a wizard and were invited to magic school was, on its own, probably something of a shock to the system. Michael didn't know. What he could vouch for was that finding out you were a wizard, were invited to magical school and that you needed to make several specialist appointments via your liaison officer in order to ensure that you weren't stripped of one of your five senses on entering the school grounds was definitely a stressful experience. Whilst other Muggleborns were probably mourning the loss of their favourite television shows or their games consoles, Michael had had a different problem. One that had seen him shunted back and forth between wizarding audiologists and someone whose job title was 'Wizarding-Muggle Conversion Technologist.' Essentially, a guy who made equivalents of Muggle stuff that would in magical environments (which were, apparently, fundamentally different enough to break things like, for example, one's hearing aids). He'd kept his Muggle ones in all the way to the wagon stop so that he could say goodbye to his family properly, although he'd been terrified that he would forget to swap them (unlikely, given the amount of his life they had taken up recently and the amount of stress they had caused him) and then put his new wizarding ones in. They looked very similar to his Muggle aids but he wasn't sure whether that was just to help him adapt; after all, the Technologist was familiar with Muggle devices and might just have modelled them on what Michael was used to. The new aids had worked as soon as he'd stepped inside the wagon. He guessed it counted as a magical environment – it was going to fly, after all. That was comforting. He hadn't fancied being unable to hear for the entire journey. He doubted there were in-flight announcements but the thought that he might miss something would have made him feel anxious. Plus he would have had to worry the whole way about whether they were really going to work or not.

His first though on entering the Cascade Hall was that his hearing aids had conked out after all. But as he picked up on the whispered chatter and the sounds of his and everyone else's movement he realised, with astonishment, that the waterfalls must be silent. Perhaps they would just make everyone need to pee too much otherwise, he reasoned, and either way, he was grateful. The amount of background noise they would have created would have really done in for him. The hard floors and the vast ceiling space, which would echo every sound about, were going to be bad enough.

He and the other first years were ushered to the front of the room. This made him a little bit uncomfortable as he didn't particularly enjoy being the focus of attention but he reasoned that it was ok, as he was part of a group. He didn't really stand out. Not that anyone would have been able to see his hearing aids at this distance anyway but they were covered by his hair, which he wore deliberately long enough to conceal them. He did not, he reminded himself, have a large neon sign saying 'DEAF' over his head. This was a new school and no one knew that about him yet. Perhaps he could get to know people a bit first and then they wouldn't mind about it when they did find out. Although he couldn't see any real reason why people would be nicer to him here about it, he could hope, for now. He was slightly unsure about the cup of liquid – potion, did they say? - that was thrust into his hands but everyone else was drinking theirs, so he would stand out more if he didn't. He gulped it down quickly, trying to not to taste it or take longer than anyone else. He was very glad they'd been forewarned of what would happen as that would have been quite an alarming surprise. It was unnerving as it was, though he supposed it was better than staying plain and it turning out that this was all some massive mistake and that he was rejected. The headmaster then rattled off an explanation for the skin colours, which indicated that they were in one of four oddly named houses. Yellow meant he was in Yellow House, and should follow the other Yellow People to Yellow Table.

He took a seat at the table, and paid as much attention to the headmaster's speech as he could. When the school song came along, he sort of mumbled it quietly to show willing; he was definitely no singer and didn't know the tune, so a rousing performance wasn't really within his capability, nor was it in his nature. The majority of the time though, he was busy weighing up his choices. People always thought hearing aids just made the world sound normal. Unfortunately, not being able to carry out the job of hearing with the same degree of aplomb as the human ear, they simply collect every noise from the surrounding environment and shove it all down the person's ears. It's up to the person concerned to shift their focus and sort out which bit of the vast amount of noise is the bit they want, and then to try to suppress their attention of everything else. Michael had to be close to the person he was trying to talk to in order to ensure their signal was stronger than everything else around them at the best of times. But he also needed to see their face. With approximately eighty-percent of speech being non-verbal, Michael – like most hearing people – relied on the cues in people's faces, their body language, context and all those other factors. Whilst other people used them unconsciously, he had actively learnt how to tune into them, and could even read lips to a certain degree to support what he was hearing. Between the two tactics of using his aids and picking up on visual cues, he was able to follow things very well. And now, in a new place, trying to make a first impression and new friends, he had to choose between them. So, did he chose to try to talk to the person next to him? He could switch off the aid on the opposite side (provided he could do that without being noticed) if necessary and would probably have a far better chance of hearing the words. But without both of them twisting around at an odd angle, he wasn't going to be able to see their face particularly well, and the amount of noise there was going to be in here was likely to make it impossible to sort out what they were saying from the general cacophony. Instead, he smiled at the person on the opposite side of the table. It was easier to watch their face and maintain eye contact without seeming odd. He only had to hope that the people either side of him and the chatter around the rest of the hall wouldn't make conversation impossible, or that getting by on lip-reading a percentage of the words and guessing the rest from context would be enough.

“Hi,” he began, “My name's Michael. What's yours?” If he started, he at least knew what their opening comment was likely to be. Hopefully he could bluff it from there.

13 Michael Grosvenor New Teppenyellow. (WotW) 199 Michael Grosvenor 0 5

Mellie Goodwin

June 06, 2011 9:18 AM

This is going to be awesome! by Mellie Goodwin

Mellie Goodwin knew a lot of things. She knew that she lived in the most awesome neighborhood ever to exist, and that her cousin Alison was a goddess among witches. She knew that Russell Layne was the cutest male specimen to walk the earth, or at least the aforementioned awesome neighborhood. And she knew that coming to Sonora Academy was going to be one of the coolest things ever.

Deep down, she was nervous. She’d been away from her parents before, it was one of those things that just happened when her mom was with the Magical Law Enforcement Squad and her dad was an Obliviator, but not away from everyone she knew except a couple of other kids. There had always been a comforting grid of familiar adults there to look at and assure herself that things were going the way they were supposed to and were going to continue to do so. Now, though, there just…weren’t. Everything was huge and unfamiliar; when she saw Alison sitting at one of the tables and talking to someone, for a moment, Mellie wasn’t sure who she was.

Which was craziness. It was school. People went there, and most of them seemed to make it out alive. Mel herself hadn’t always expected to come, but Alison had been here three years already, so she’d had plenty of time to get used to the idea. She’d been legitimately excited, all the way through, just a few hours ago. She just needed to, as her dad would say, get her head on straight, that was all, maybe find a professor who looked nice to assure herself that the adults would turn out to be all right. One lady she saw, just in a quick glance, looked nice; Mellie knew it was just her imagination, but she even looked a little familiar for some reason.

A lady with pretty black hair and bright blue eyes Mellie would have killed to have instead of her own plain looks handed all the first years a cup of potion, which Mellie decided to approach the way she did medicine, by pinching her nose and swallowing fast without waiting to see if it actually tasted bad. Her skin began to darken almost at once, stopping at what she was going to bet was the ‘brown’ color the headmaster had mentioned as meaning she was in Pecari. Since all the students in the hall weren’t brightly colored, she had to assume it was going to wear off in a while, so she was okay with that. A little unsure, despite exchanging smiles with her, what she thought of being in her cousin’s House, but okay. She went to sit down with the other first years.

Most of the things that the headmaster was saying didn’t mean much to her. She didn’t know who Daniel Nash and Charlotte Abbott were, Nina Brockert was the prefect, but Mellie wasn’t sure which of the four girls going up front she was, and the staff changes weren’t changes for her, since whoever had held all those positions before had been before her time. She clapped for them all, though, sure she’d work out who they were and like them eventually, and feel bad then if she didn’t clap now. The idea of a ball also tickled her, though she though there was something a little strange about how the headmaster smiled after he mentioned dressing up like it was the fifteen hundreds.

All this was driven out of her mind, though, by the arrival of a school song. They had a school song. How cool was that? She couldn’t read music at all, so what she sang was a little out of step with what she was probably supposed to be singing, but, most of her enthusiasm back, she was sure she’d have the tune by next year.

The invitation to eat made her think of something, and she dug into some dishes she didn’t recognize. At home, she was always told not to do that, but here, she could try all she wanted. First, though, she guessed she should greet some other new people. “Hiya,” she said, smiling widely. “I’m Mellie. This is cool, isn’t it?”

16 Mellie Goodwin This is going to be awesome! 206 Mellie Goodwin 0 5

Sullivan Quincy

June 06, 2011 10:06 AM

Does blond hair look okay with brown skin? by Sullivan Quincy

Sullivan Quincy was dressed in green wizard robes, and had been since he woke up this morning. The matching green conical hat (Simon said it wasn't a required part of the uniform, but if Sully was doing this wizard thing, he was going to do this wizard thing right) didn't go on until after lunch but by the time the Sonora Covered wagon stopped in at the Las Vegas magical transportation center (which Simon was nice enough to show them how to find) he'd been wearing it for a couple of hours.

There had been some looks as they left the apartment building, of course, but they probably weren't as long, frequent, or curious as they might have been anywhere but Vegas. He guessed people were probably figuring he was trying out for a show somewhere, especially the ones who already knew Mom was a dancer. Those barely even blinked at him. They'd seen Mom wearing much stranger things than a set of robes and a weird hat.

They got to the transport station, Sully got on the wagon, and the flight was amazing. There were some older kids from California on the wagon - including Simon's cousin, of all people - and he was able to ask Jose a bunch of questions he wasn't quite comfortable asking Simon in front of Mom.

Stuff like 'Am I going to be the only person there with braces on my teeth?' - to which, the answer seemed to be 'yes' much to his dismay. Though, to be fair, there was some hope that the nurse might be able to much reduce the length of time he needed to wear them. That was the single most amazing thing he'd learned about magic so far.

He shifted that down to second place after he walked into Cascade Hall. Jose pointed him over to the other congregating first years. Sully did so, and soon found himself drinking a questionable beverage that shortly had him hallucinating that his skin was brown and the other first years had also turned various colors.

After a moment, the Headmaster clarified that it wasn't in his head and they really had changed colors. He was evidently a Pecari now. He went over to the table indicated for the brown people, and took a seat. He listened with most of an ear to the remainder of the Headmaster's speech, but mostly he was staring around at everything else, trying to take it all in.

When sheet music showed up directly in front of him without seeming to come from anywhere else, he jumped a little, and may have made a small sound of surprise, but he tried his best to cover it up by joining readily (if not very loudly or talentedly) into the school song.

Once that was over, he did manage not to jump again when the food appeared. He was, apparently and thankfully, only good for one good jump caused by impossible materializations directly in front of him. That seemed like it was going to be a major blessing in this place.

Filling his plate full of things that would not get horribly caught in his braces, he looked around at his new table and house mates. He was just about to say *So, magic. Pretty cool, huh?* when one of the other girls at the table more-or-less beat him to it.

"Way cool," he agreed. "I'm Sully." Though they weren't really dirty, he took his glasses off, just to make sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him, and those walls really were made of waterfalls, cleaned them on his shirt, and then peered at the room around them again. The lack of tiny dirt specks only made the place look even more amazing than before. "So, I guessing the waterfalls are done by magic and not fountain pumps, right?"

1 Sullivan Quincy Does blond hair look okay with brown skin? 207 Sullivan Quincy 0 5

Mellie

June 06, 2011 11:12 AM

There are worse combinations. by Mellie

A blond boy in glasses, who had metal things on his teeth that would have slightly alarmed her if she hadn’t seen similar ones during field trips into the Muggle world, agreed with her that this was all cool. His name was Sully.

His parents definitely had originality points over Melanie with that one. It might, like the name she preferred, be short for something, but since she couldn’t think of anything off the top of her head that abbreviated to Sully and could think of at least four – Melanie, Melissa, Melisande, and Melinda – that could shorten to Mellie in about a second, it was still doing okay in the race. She didn’t mind having a kind of plain name most of the time, but hearing more interesting ones was still fun. Even if this one, in particular, made her think of something else she couldn’t quite remember, like whatever it was she was associating with the name Sully was right on the tip of her mental tongue and wouldn’t come off.

“I guess so,” Mellie said, not entirely sure what fountain pumps were, but inferring from context that it was how fountains could work. “I think anything with that much water out here – “ she gestured vaguely around the hall, hoping to encompass the grounds and what lay outside them as well – “is pretty much made of magic.” There were things, Mom in particular said, that just worked better with old-fashioned work, that was like cooking, and some that were best with a combination that favored old-fashioned work, that was like building houses, but they were in the middle of a desert. Mellie knew she wasn’t a genius, but she knew enough to know that part of the definition was that it didn’t rain, and that the water cycle normally didn’t work so good without rain.

That sort of thing was interesting to her. How things went together and worked out. She’d never been so good at accepting ‘it just is’ as an answer unless the subject in question was boring. Then, it wasn’t quite so hard.

“It’s really pretty, though,” she said. “It must have been a lot of work to make.” She knew some spells were much harder than others, though listening to her parents gripe had cemented the idea much more than her earlier education had. “I can’t wait until we start classes and learn spells.”

16 Mellie There are worse combinations. 206 Mellie 0 5

Linus Macaulay

June 06, 2011 11:36 AM

Red - a World About to Dawn by Linus Macaulay

Saying goodbye to his family had been a great deal easier for Linus than it had been for them to say goodbye to him, he was sure of it. It was only logical, really - they were losing the glue that held the family together, whereas he was going off to an exciting school for exceptional and privileged students to learn about magic - so he refused to feel guilty about it. Besides, he would be back at Christmas, and it would give Johan the opportunity to see what it was like being in charge of the family. Perhaps now he might understand all the trouble Linus went to for all of them, and might be a bit more courteous towards him in the future. In all probability, though, the next time Linus saw his siblings they would be so much in awe of his new skills as a wizard that all other possible reponses would be forgotten.

By the time Linus had been traveling on a flying wagon for a good hour, though - and he only lived in Nevada, some of these kids had been on the wagon forever - he wasn't feeling especially jubilant anymore. he thought magic would make things easier, or more spectacular, or something. Either way, a flying covered wagon that lumped and bumped over every air pocket didn't quite meet his expectations. By the time he arrived at Sonora and clambered out of the wagon, his brand new uniform robe was crushed and dusty, his once-crisp blue shirt was wrinkled, and even his slim black tie was rumpled. The new wizard ran a hand cautiously over his head, and was relived to discover that his blonde tresses had at least remained more or less in order. He kept it in a manageable style, with his bangs swept across to the side to keep his vision clear at the front, and the back was short, because having your hair on the collar of your shirt was just scruffy. Of course, Linus felt like that already right now, but a glance round his peers assured him that he had nothing to worry about - he was one of the more respectable looking new students. Bouyed in aplomb by this acknowledgment, Linus swept his hair once more for good measure, and held his head high as he joined the other first years at the front of the Hall.

While the rest of the school gathered, Linus took the ooportunity to scrutinize the room in which he now found himself. this was more like his expectation of magic, with huge crystal chandeliers and cascades of water dancing down the walls. then he was handed a potion to drink, and like the brave knioght in any single one of Daphne's story books, Linus courageously drank the potion without hesitation. It was with only mild and managable trepidation that he witnessed his own skin changing red against his will, and he dealt with the unpleasant sensation by marching directly to where the other red-colored students were finding seats. This was to be his House, which, as he understood it, was practically like family while he was at school. Linus was eager to make a good impression. "Good evening," he said to the fortunate person next to whom he had seated himself. "I'm Linus Macaulay. pleased to meet you."

0 Linus Macaulay Red - a World About to Dawn 205 Linus Macaulay 0 5

Samantha Hamilton

June 06, 2011 12:06 PM

My name is Samantha now by Samantha Hamilton

The summer had been painful to endure. Firstly, since her Mom decided to divorce husband number three, Samantha's family was now crammed into a three bedroomed house, meaning that Samantha and her thirteen-year-old brother had to share a room. It hadn't worked out especially well, so their mom had decided to take her two youngest camping for a week. While that had been good fun when they were little kids, the entire episode had been one long nightmare. Samantha couldn't use magic, which frustrated her every second. She couldn't read her book by wandlight, and the dymo torch made too much noise at night and first thing. It rained for practically the entire week, and she had to suffer with damp clothes rather than use a drying charm. It took forever for them to cook food on the gas camping stove, whereas Samantha was sure the fire she could conjure to use under her cauldron would do the job much more quickly and efficiently. Moreover, she had recently decided she wanted to wear heels and skirts more often, and they really weren't good camping attire.

Once that whole disaster was over with, Samantha's biological father insisted on seeing her (he seemed far less keen to see his son, which Samantha didn't see as fair at all - why sould she be forced to go when Dave got to stay at home and play Xbox?) and was unusually nice. He'd bought her loads of new clothes (which normally would have annoyed her, but the dresses were actually just what she was looking for) and jewelry, and took her out to nice restaurants a couple of times. He tried to make her talk about her school, but nobody had told him that she was a witch - what, as if ejaculating then running off six year later made him entitiled to know anything about her? - so she remained elusive. That seemed to make him pretty fed up with her, and her stay had ended with a lecture about how he looked out for her and provided for her and she gave him nothing in return. Whatever. He tried to call her Sam, and she informed him ever-so-politely that she was called Samantha now.

Finally, Samantha had been able to escape back to school. She was wearing the gold rocking horse earrings her mom had bought her as a welcome home present, and a purple jersey dress that ended above her knees. She'd left the house with it on over jeans, but had taken those off once she'd gotten a place on the wagon. She had disocvered that she'd been hiding a nice set of legs for much too long, and if she wanted to wear a dress to her fourth year opening feast then she was perfectly entitled, actually.

Before going into Cascade, the Aladren ducked into the girls' bathroom to check her hair and confirm her skirt wasn't too short. Content with her appearance, she made it back into the Hall and sat down just in time to smile at her neighbor before the Headmaster started talking.

0 Samantha Hamilton My name is Samantha now 159 Samantha Hamilton 0 5

Sullivan Quincy

June 06, 2011 1:25 PM

Yeah, I guess a red haired Crotalus is in trouble by Sullivan Quincy

Even as he asked the question, Sully realized the waterfalls were making no noise. As tall as they were, though should have been, if not deafening, then at least easily audible, but he couldn't even hear quiet splashing. Definitely magic involved there somehow. Mellie confirmed it, and Sully took her word for it even though she didn't sound entirely certain of her answer. He hadn't even thought about it being the middle of the dessert, though he really should have.

He nodded, also accepting Mellie's word that it was pretty. He wasn't really the world's best authority on pretty, but he'd definitely agree it was awesome. He was even less of an expert on how much work doing something like that by magic would be. Given that most of the things he'd seen Simon do were all just very simple tricks, he was more than willing to believe the silent waterfalls fell into the 'a lot of work' category.

"Me either," he agreed, equally as ready to get into classwork and spells of his own as she seemed to be. Not that he really liked classwork or anything, but in this particular case, he thought he could make an exception. These were classes about magic after all. "Are you a, a," he struggled, trying to remember the word, "what did Simon call it? A muffleborn, too? Someone who never saw magic before?"

He laughed a little, "I mean, I'd seen it, on a stage act, but I thought it was a trick, but it turns out Simon the Magnificent actually does do real magic. How freaky is that?"

1 Sullivan Quincy Yeah, I guess a red haired Crotalus is in trouble 207 Sullivan Quincy 0 5

Jenny Owens

June 06, 2011 3:16 PM

Sitting at a table surrounded by people who look sunburnt by Jenny Owens

Leaving her family had been harder than Jenny expected - not that there were many of them around for her to say goodbye to; her sisters and father had gone on holiday to Paris for the week so there was just Charlie and her mum to hug and wave to.
And now, one packed coach ride away, here she was. She couldn't keep her eyes off the waterfall, of course. It shimmered down the walls in a blanket of frothing loveliness and ran into the floor, vanishing with only a silent echo. In it, a thousand reflected baubles from the chandeliers floating high above them sparkled. Beautiful.
Jenny snapped her mouth shut with a click, blushing beet red and glancing around to see if anyone had seen. Shuddering with embarassment, she glared at her plate and tried to drop her face into her hands, only to yelp startledly at the red skin. How had she got sunburnt? She wasn't five anymore! What a stupid, foolhardy thing to do! Even Charlie wouldn't be so idiotic, and her younger brother was hardly the brightest button in the box!
Then, cursing internally again, she told herself sternly, 'Jenny, pull yourself together! We're all dyed a colour - Crotalus is RED! Now, act your age.' It had been said in a low mutter, but she was still nervous that someone may have heard her above the rowdy chatter of reunited friends surrounding her. She continued in her head, 'Here you are at a new school with a million opportunities before you - every Owens EVER has come through here! - and already you've gaped like a loon at a few water tricks, screamed because you saw the colour pink and are now talking to yourself! Good one! Go and introduce yourself.' The pep talk didn't give her much encouragement, but it was enough to make her raise her big, brown eyes and search for someone to talk to.

0 Jenny Owens Sitting at a table surrounded by people who look sunburnt 0 Jenny Owens 0 5

Brianna Japos

June 06, 2011 4:42 PM

Pulling the two posts in together...maybe by Brianna Japos

Brianna had only ever known the life inside the apartment building where her wizard father was the maintenance man and her mother a maid. They lived there for free because of their positions, but it also caused for drama for Brianna. There were other kids in the building that were around her age and they often made fun of her. Most of the time, the jokes were at the expense of her parents. When they weren’t making fun of her parents, they were making fun of the way Brianna looked.

Because of her Filipino and Sicilian decent, Brianna has dark features. Her skin is olive toned and easy to tan. She has slick long brown hair with cat shaped and the same color brown as her hair. Her nose is thin and pointy with a splash of freckles dancing across the bridge and into her cheeks. Brianna has no feelings towards these parts of her face. Her lips, however, were an entirely different story. Her lips nearly took over her face (or so that was how Brianna felt about them). They are ridiculously large and out of proportion to her face. The kids in the building always made fun of her for her lips. Duck face was the most common. Sometimes they’d ask if a bee stung her. Her only saving grace had been Attoria. Who, by all terms and definitions, was her frenemy.

Brianna wanted to be Attoria. The girl had everything! The girl was everything! And Brianna had nothing. Attoria would let Brianna hang out with her when no one else would. It’s because of this that Brianna has a sense of loyalty to her.

She had read as much as she could about Sonora Academy so that she didn’t seem so dumb, but none of the readings described how it truly looked. She was amazed by the architecture, by the décor, but the waterfalls of the hall had Brianna mesmerized. So much so that she hadn’t even noticed she had taken the potion until others began to make noises. Looking down, Brianna realized she was the color red. Normally, she would panic, but the Headmaster was telling them what the colors meant, so instead of panicking, she simple walked over to the proper table and took a seat.

Trying to suck her lips in, Brianna tried not to made eye contact with the girl next to her as she seemed a bit off and ended up catching the attention of the boy instead. “Hello.” Brianna greeted with the best smile she could produce, “I’m Brianna Japos” (the ‘J’ in her last name sounded like a ‘Y’ when she said it). “It’s nice to meet you as well, Linus. Are you excited about Sonora?”

6 Brianna Japos Pulling the two posts in together...maybe 203 Brianna Japos 0 5

Lawrence ´Laurie´ Stratford

June 06, 2011 5:46 PM

We match! by Lawrence ´Laurie´ Stratford

Lawrence Stratford couldn’t contain the excitement he felt as he got on the wagon that would take him to Sonora Academy. The future first-year had been jumping up and down in excitement the day before, and his parents were surprised to see their son so happy about leaving home for such a long time. Laurie was sure he was going to miss his room and his stuff, but the prospect of school and new people was just much more exciting than staying home. He had been longing to attend a school since his cousin Preston had left for Sonora. During the summer he had drilled with him questions, something his older cousin seemed to enjoy. Laurie had been nice enough to let him talk on for hours, he really didn’t mind. He just got more eager about it all. The night before he was due to leave, the redhead made sure his trunk was ready for the next morning. In spite of the adrenaline going through his veins, he was able to soundly sleep. He had a big day tomorrow.

So, the whole ride to Sonora he spent asking Preston more questions, and just being generally restless. He wanted to arrive and begin with the whole school adventure. However, by the end of the ride, he was exhausted from all of the energy he had been using. He could hardly keep his eyes opened. When the wagon finally stopped at its destination, Laurie’s eye opened immediately, he found a new energy source for his enthusiasm. He jumped off the wagon, a smile plastered on his face. This was going to be awesome!

There were a lot of things Laurie wanted to do and see and people to meet. He was curious about the sorting ceremony. That had been one thing Preston didn’t want to share with him. He didn’t really mind, though. He had come up with a lot of theories about the sorting; he would need to see which one was the real deal. He entered the Cascade Hall and oohed at it. It was really pretty. The school was probing to be awesome.

He listened to the Headmaster talk and refrained from waving to him, he didn’t even know the man. He clapped when the Headmaster did, anxious to get sorted. Laurie chuckled at the description of the process, and his skin was going to change color! It was finally his turn, and he took the goblet and sipped the potion. He didn’t feel any different, except that when he looked down at his arm, it was yellow. He was a Teppenpaw! He scanned the Cascade Hall for the rest of the yellow-skinned individuals and skipped to where they were. Yes, Lawrence Stratford skipped. He was not ashamed of it.

Laurie sat down in front of another yellowy first-year. He waved enthusiastically at his introduction. “Hi! I am Lawrence Stratford, but I go by Laurie.” The smile had not left his face since the second he had jumped out of the wagon. “Isn’t this exciting? I can’t wait for everything to start!” he beamed at the other boy, his new roommate. With all the aplomb he could muster in his enthusiast frenzy, he offered his hand to his fellow Teppenpaw.

0 Lawrence ´Laurie´ Stratford We match! 0 Lawrence ´Laurie´ Stratford 0 5

Linus

June 06, 2011 5:56 PM

Three's company by Linus

Linus had settled homself near two other red-tinted first years: a girl with brown eyes who looked as though she might have been talking to herself, and another girl, who didn't look American. He spoke to the second girl, who might not speak English very well, but at least she wasn't talking to herself - Linus couldn't regard that as a good thing.

He nodded politely at the foreign girl - who could speak English, as it turned out - as she introduced herself as Brianna, and asked Linus if he was excited about Sonora. "Yes, I suppose I am excited," he said, the enthusiasm in his voice matching his statement, albeit muted by his ever-present politeness. "I'm eager to learn defensive magic, protective spells, I've already read in my textbooks a little bit about Healing - anything that can help me to help people," he stated his aims honestly and openly, and hoped he didn't sound like he was bragging. Reading ahead was just good planning, and every good student had probably done the same thing. Besides, all this magic was still new to the eleven-year-old, and he'd been eager to learn all he could as quickly as possible.

Linus had already decided that he was being given this amazing opportunity for a reason, and to him that reason was already clear - he could evidentally offer better help to more people once he'd studied magic. He might even be able to help people who talked to themsleves, like the brown eyed girl sitting next to Brianna. He supposed he ought to made the effort to talk to her now - perhaps he could help her in some way already.

"What's your name?" he asked her, speaking clearly because she was a girl, and they sometimes had trouble focusing. Brianna might have even lost focus in the conversation already. "I've not known anyone called Brianna before," he commented to her to keep her interested - he was helpful like that. "Where's that name from?" Maybe it was a foreign name from whichever country Brianna had been born in.

(OOC: As there are three of us in the thread now, we should keep the posting order as the order we joined the thread i.e. Linus, Jenny, Brianna, etc.)

0 Linus Three's company 0 Linus 0 5

David Kim

June 06, 2011 6:26 PM

Something new, something blue. by David Kim

David Kim was used to being the odd man out. In his private school back home, he was one of three Asian students-- Asian-American, rather. His family was on its third generation of citizenship; the only remotely Asian part of him was his physical appearance, and even then, he didn’t think it fair to use that as a means to separate him from the norm. Still, his classmates had; there was always at least one person who seemed surprised when he introduced himself as ‘David’ and not something more foreign-sounding. There was always an assumption that he would be clever as well, and while part of him longed to rebel against this stereotype, his pride was such that he could never write down an answer that was incorrect.

His classwork was abysmal, but his test scores were exceptional.

And then there was the permanent note on his school file, the one presented by his mother every year and followed-up by recommendations from numerous physicians. The note that prevented David from ever attending a single physical education class, field trip, school event, or any other activity that might prove to be too stimulating. ”His heart is weak,” his mother would explain vigorously every year to his strained teacher. His mother would intimidate with her perfectly poised hair and confusing medical terms, and in the end, the teacher would not question the request.

So David Kim was used to being different, to being separate. He had accepted his status in the social spectrum and took neither solace or grief in it. It simply was what it was.

But then that letter arrived, and then someone from the Cabinet showed up, quite literally, all of sudden in the his house’s front parlour. His father had been distantly interested in this idea of magic being real, but quickly cloaked himself in healthy skepticism. His mother had resisted strenuously, her permission only finally granted after the exasperated Cabinet representative-- who had been on her ninth visit at that point-- had vanished the both of them from the house. His mother had stumbled back in three days later, her clothes wrinkled and hair askew.

It had taken another week of coaxing and reassurances from this same ever-vigilant Cabinet representative to convince his mother that she would not need to relocate to Arizona, that the Sonora Academy of Witchcraft and Wizardry was far more secure and safe than any Muggle-- the word felt entirely alien to David still-- school, and that the health care provided there would prove itself far superior to their Muggle equivalents. Even then, though, the reality of his situation had yet to settle. David’s placid acceptance of his new circumstances had been (mostly) apathetically given, the only sign of actual excitement or emotion being when his stomach clenched on the plane’s descent and he wandered into the crowded tarmac realizing that for the first time in his life, he was freed from his parents.

The rush had been heady, leaving his heart fluttering and his breath unsteady.

But he hadn’t accepted his status as a wizard. It was still too strange and unworldly for him to accept. The ride in the covered wagons, driven not by horses but by some unknown will, hadn’t pushed in reality. The guided shuffle into the sprawling grounds, the double doors towering overhead and the hallway alight with a glow not powered by electricity-- not even the waterfalls that bled from the walls in the room whispered to him as being called the Cascade Hall forced him to grant Sonora and magic as truly real.

No, it was only after his lips had left the smoking goblet, and his skin began to tingle that David really began to believe. He watched, unsmiling and in abstract wonder, as his complexion changed from his typical light bronze to a brilliant blue. He vaguely understood this to mean he was now part of the school house called Aladren. He hardly noticed as he was directed toward a set group of tables and into an open seat. He could only stare at his hand, turning it over and under, the blue constant. So this was magic. . . He closed his brown eyes and willed away the dizziness, that same hand coming, unconsciously, to press against his heart.

He re-opened them when a song-sheet was shoved into his lap, barely able to follow as the school broke into open song. He didn’t bother attempting the lyrics, instead staring blankly at the paper and the coarse thickness of it. He suddenly wished, very much, that he had not left his wand in his trunk. He wanted to hold it now-- now that he understood it.

David Kim was a wizard. Unbeknownst to him, he began to smile, his expression unabashedly pleased. He finally became aware enough to truly consider the room around him, with the tables stocked full of students-- all strangers at this point-- and with some curiosity, he looked to his own table and those seated. He was not the only one still sporting a fading blue complexion. He opened his mouth, meaning to start an introduction, when a pitcher of orange liquid landed quite suddenly on his lap, soaking both his dark brown slacks and the song-sheet.

His smile disappeared. “Nice,” he muttered, sarcastically, and then a little louder, “Can someone pass down the napkins?”

0 David Kim Something new, something blue. 0 David Kim 0 5

Daniel Nash

June 06, 2011 6:50 PM

I need a vacation from my vacation by Daniel Nash

The problem with his summer was that it packed about thirty to forty hours into each day. He had no idea how that could have happened without using a timeturner and without his smart phone going wonky, but it had happened. And somehow, by the end of it, Street Beat had wrapped and Holly was now officially and legally Mrs. Holly Thistle Delachene. She'd tried to convince Raoul to change his last name to Thistle, but he wouldn't go for it, so she made it her official middle name instead.

Daniel honestly didn't know if she was going to continue claiming to be a Hollywood Thistle or if she'd adopted Raoul's 'California Delachenes' as her family branch now. The Delachenes were certainly not as prominent or respected as the Brockerts and Smythes, but Raoul's father was a wizard, so they did have at least one generation head start on the Hollywood Thistles. But Holly was not always (or often) rational and might keep calling herself a Thistle out of sheer bullheadedness.

But the wedding was over and no longer his concern now, thank Merlin. He was safely back at school where nobody was going to ask him any questions that most guys would have trouble answering for their own wedding never mind their sister's. If he had to look at one more pink flower arrangement, he really was going to go stark raving mad.

Fortunately, the Cascade Hall was pink flower free. There were the waterfalls, and the first years turning colors, and prefects being named, and not one pink flower arrangement or white bridal gown to be seen. He sat down at the Aladren table, and stood up briefly when his name and Charlie's were mentioned as part of the speech, then sat back down again, attempted to sing the new school song (mostly because he was trying to set a good example as the Head Boy), pushed his empty plate and the lyrics aside, folded his arms on the table, and dropped his head onto them.

"Thank Merlin it's over," he repeated, not for the first time that day. And as bad as the wedding was, he honestly wasn't sure if he meant that, Street Beat (which had been filmed at an utterly grueling schedule starting the very day he got home), or just the summer in general. All he knew was that the words were utterly and completely heart-felt. "Thank Merlin it's over."

1 Daniel Nash I need a vacation from my vacation 130 Daniel Nash 0 5

Regina Parker

June 06, 2011 7:26 PM

2nd year is finally here! by Regina Parker

Reggie’s vacation had been awesome. Like, completely cake. Everything had gone over smoothly. The first couple of weeks of summer had been spent with her mother and those weeks had been both glorious and strange. It had been a very long time since Reggie had spent any real alone time with her mother. The first couple of days had both females blinking quietly at each other unsure of what to say or do. The next couple of days had her mother apologizing for never really being able to be home with her. They cried a little, hugged, and then moved on. Their time together after that point had been far more fun and carefree.

Her mother had taken the time to learn all that she could about her daughter’s favorite things and everything that Reggie could tell her about Sonora. Reggie humored her and told her everything she could remember of her first year at Sonora. She spoke of her good friends (Maddie, Jess, Derry with the pointy hat, and Ben). She mentioned her other roommates (Hope and Addison), though she didn’t know as much about them. Reggie commented that Hope was friendly and Addison was shy. She spoke of her professors and of her classmates. But it was her lessons that she spoke most excitedly about. She could talk for hours on each of her lessons. Tara could only sit back amused at her daughter’s enthusiasms. On top of her excitement of life, Reggie also took loads of picture. Tara was sure there were over a hundred photographs of her and her daughter together. There was definitely so much of Jerry in her.

By the end of her mother’s vacation, Tara and Reggie had been the best of friends and Reggie had an even harder time saying goodbye than she normally did. It was difficult and sad, but Tara had to go back to work.

The rest of the summer, Reggie spent with her dad and grandparents. They took her to see tons of movies, to the park, out shopping, etc. But the main event had been their camping trip to Yosemite Park. Two of the most amazing weeks ever! They had hiked the trails, fished, roasted s’mores, chatted with other campers, explored the park, took lots of pictures of every adventure they took. At the return of their trip, Reggie’s grandmother once again helped her create a scrapbook of her summer. The scrapbook lay in her trunk waiting to be opened by her friends.

And now the summer was over and Reggie was sitting back in the hall of Sonora with her friends. She couldn’t wait to find out about their summers. But first, they got to sing! Not that Reggie could sing, but she enjoyed the challenge. So, as they began the song, Reggie made sure she was singing loud and clear amongst her peers. She was sad to see it end, but it also meant that the feast was here!

Piling on some pasta with salad on the side, Reggie grinned over at her neighbor, “Did you have an excellent summer? The cat’s pajamas of a summer?” She asked, once again, picking up her father’s odd phrases.

6 Regina Parker 2nd year is finally here! 187 Regina Parker 0 5

Derry Pierce 4

June 06, 2011 8:22 PM

Can we rewind a little bit? Just a week really. by Derry Pierce 4

It was a long flight from New England to Arizona. That gave Derry more than a couple of hours to simultaneously calm down from his talk with his mom, and work himself up over the prospect of being in the same room as Amelia Pierce The One and Only. If Mom was going to lie about something, why hadn't she lied about that? Worse, she made him promise not to tell anybody, so he couldn't even go find Kirstenna first thing and inform her about all these discoveries he'd made because they were Family Secrets.

So, once they reached the school, instead of seeking out the fourth year, Derry sat down with Reggie and the other second year Teppenpaws and tried to pretend everything was normal. He wasn't especially good at it - as evidenced by his look of terror when the Coach's promotion to Deputy Head was announced, and by how high he jumped when the school song lyrics were distributed and the piece of parchment landed on his hand unexpectedly - but he tried and the distraction of a new school song did help a lot.

Reggie's cheerful greeting and weird language helped even more, and he found himself grinning back genuinely. He reposition the angle of his tricorner hat so didn't block his view of his friends quite as much, and tried to answer her question to the best of his ability to understand it, "Mine was pretty good right up until the end, but I don't have any cats so I was unable to get them new sleeping wear, excellent or otherwise. I did get to play with some of Duesius's animals, though, and that was way cool. He had a crup for a little while and that little guy was loads of fun."

1 Derry Pierce 4 Can we rewind a little bit? Just a week really. 189 Derry Pierce 4 0 5

Jhonice Trevear

June 06, 2011 8:48 PM

This is amazing! by Jhonice Trevear

She was actually here! Jhonice took a moment standing in front of the school just taking it all in. This was Sonora Academy, the home of... she nearly squealed in delight at the thought, and she was amongst them! She wasn't even tired, she hadn't slept last night at all or dozed off on the wagon ride like some of the others had done. Nope, not her, she was ready to go! She had hopped out of the wagon and dusted herself off and here she was. There were so many other students around, heading inside. Hmm... maybe Mom had been right about her outfit. She had it all figured out, and explained it to her mother, she was going to Arizona and had to blend in. Thus she wore her denim skirt, and brown vest over her purple shirt. The cowboy boots really helped the look as well, it was to bad about the hat. A very coincidental gust of wind had blown it off her head just as the wagons were leaving, and she didn't have time to recover it. The purple was a little out of the theme, but she figured some color would help with... hehehehe, she grinned at that line of thought again.

The school robe didn't really go with the cowgirl look, but it was her first day, she had to wear it. The other students didn't seem to have the western style that she thought Arizona should be graced with. Oh well, she really probably should be moseying along. She tried to spot Andrew as she walked in, but was quickly distracted as she entered the actual hall. It was amazing, she was stunned by the size of it, and the decorations. Glancing around she noticed she wasn't the only one. Once she recovered from the sight of the hall itself, she began eagerly looking around the room at the people, at this point completely forgetting about finding Andrew.

There were many, many people very few of them she recognized. The headmaster began to talk then and a woman handed her a potion. No, not just a woman. Jhonice got weak in the knees and her face got that 'deer-in-the-headlights' look. This woman had long, black hair and blue eyes Jhonice would have recognized her anywhere, this was Amelia Pierce. THE Amelia Pierce. The matriarch of the Boston Pierces, formerly of the New Hampshire Pierces. Her birthday is on September 27th, she had a 10" Hazelnut wand and her favorite color was purple. Jhonice really wished the robe didn't cover up so much of her shirt. The woman had given each of the new students a potion, and most had taken it by now. Jhon looked at hers, it was a present, a gift from the Pierce Matriarch. She put the liquid to her lips and sipped just a few drops, no more than half of the liquid. After a bit, her skin turned a very weak brown color. That meant she was Pecari! She cheered again at her good fortune, that was the same house that Aunt Gwen had belonged to!

She skipped over to the table with the rest of the Pecari and found a seat. The headmaster talked some more, but not much of it caught her attention, other than talk of a ball with a 16th century theme. That would be a blast! She sat and examined her new treasure, her gift from Matriarch Pierce... professor Pierce around here she rationalized. It was a thing of beauty. The song sheets distracted her from her prize, singing? Okay, it wasn't her top skill, but she could go along with the crowd. Then the food appeared, and she decided she'd better put her potion away, safe. Then she started looking around the table at both the food and the people. Pecari, Pecari, her mind raced, who was in Pecari?

2 Jhonice Trevear This is amazing! 209 Jhonice Trevear 0 5

Andrew Duell

June 06, 2011 9:06 PM

Back Again by Andrew Duell

Andrew was ready for this year. It was going to be a good year, he'd finally be able to resume his experiments again. He wondered if most students thought the summer went by to fast and complained when they had to go back to school. He vaguely remembered feeling like that when he had been attending muggle school before he started at Sonora. Now the summer seemed to have drug on and on. He had kept busy enough, mainly because Mom had insisted that he was now old enough to work around her shop. Sure, he had 'helped out' before, but now she had officially made it a 'job'. On the plus side, that meant he got paid. Not that he was entirely sure what to do with the money, but it was nice to have. He'd been getting materials for his experiments from the muggle side of things, he was going to have to start looking into what he would need from the magical end. The problem he had run into was that he wasn't entirely sure what all there was out there to get, and where to get it. He knew wizards and witches had shops and the like, his mother ran one, but he didn't know of any other shops in her area and Dad certainly didn't know of any in LA.

Over the summer they had traveled up to Aladrin to visit his aunt, uncle and cousin. There were shops there, and he tried to investigate, but he wasn't quite sure what all he should be looking for. He recognized a lot of stuff from school, but there were things there that he'd never even heard of before. He had made a list to ask some of the professors. They should know. Muggle stuff was easy to find out about, the magical world didn't have the equivalent of the Internet, yet. The investigation was made equally difficult thanks to his cousin, Jhonice. She was coming to Sonora as a first year at the start of the term, and demanded to know everything. This would be an interesting year.

The one other thing that he managed to do over the summer, mainly when he was at his dad's place, was research of what to do after graduating. He had officially decided that he was going to CalTech's magical branch, and planned his curriculum around their requirements. Luckily Care of Magical Creatures was nowhere on their list, potions however, was. He grumbled to himself a bit as he packed his potions equipment into his trunk the night before leaving, but it also reminded him of the conversation he had at the bonfire with Jose and Marissa. They were both going to continue with potions, so at least he had some friends in the class. Friends, yes, he was going to be around friends again. That would be good. He had given up his isolated lifestyle at the end of last term, but it was impossible to sustain over the summer. He just didn't have anyone around to be social with, the very few muggle 'friends' that he used to have in LA drifted away from him since he wasn't around during the school term, and he hadn't really been that close to any of them to start with.

Now he was back, one fairly short familiar wagon ride and majestic school appeared before them. He was glad that Jhonice was coming from a different direction so he didn't have to worry about her pestering him the entire ride. Both his mother and aunt had made him swear up and down that he'd look after her and make sure she survived her first year. He didn't remember them making anyone else do that for him. Oh well, he had survived, she would as well. He disembarked from the wagon and strode into the hall with his robes, hopefully, streaming dramatically behind him. He smiled, waved and greeted people as he found a seat at the Teppenpaw table.

Jhonice had entered the hall near the back of the pack of first years. That didn't surprise him to much, nor did her outfit. That poor girl, when would she learn? Then Coach Pierce handed Jhon her potion and he nearly burst out laughing. Oh that girl was in for a shock, or the school was. He wasn't sure which would be more amusing. A wave of relief washed over him as she changed brown, she was Pecari. He could deal with that. If her questions kept up like they had over the summer, he was going to need a place to hide. Even if they didn't he may need a place to hide. He smiled, poor Jose. He'll have to warn his friend next time he saw him.

The ball that the headmaster mentioned sent shivers down Andrew's spine. A ball? Like a dance? He didn't know how to dance, or how to find someone to dance with. Don't panic, he told himself, it's at the end of the year, plenty of time to figure this out. Yeah, plenty of time. The music sheet landed in front of him and he stared at it with something akin to suspicion. The school had a song? Okay, singing really wasn't his thing... but the people around him were joining in, so he tried it. Very quietly.

Finally the food arrived, it was about time. He shoveled some of the stuff onto his plate and asked the person next to him, "I guess the traditional question to ask at this point is, 'How was your summer?' but I'm going to go with 'Who knew we had a school song?'"

2 Andrew Duell Back Again 145 Andrew Duell 0 5

Veronica Kerrigan

June 06, 2011 9:07 PM

A new year, a new diet. by Veronica Kerrigan

Getting prefect had come as a mild surprise to Veronica, but in all honesty, the other choice had been her roommate, Alessa so it hadn’t been that much of a shock. Oh, it wasn’t that she had any issue with the other Aladren. She was certainly a wealth of valuable information, such as family lineage, but Alessa just wasn’t the leader type. In Veronica’s estimation, if anything happened, she wouldn’t have had a clue as to how to handle it. Truthfully, she might not either, but that was all right. She would consider it her practice time for when she had to do something really important like running some social function or another.

Besides, not that she would ever admit it, but she liked having power. Her grandmother always said that there was nothing wrong with a woman having power, however, she should never admit that she actually has it and she should certainly never gloat about it. Certainly the whole thing was a delicate balance to running everything while still maintaining a helpless appearance. Being a girl was definitely hard work! She had no idea how her grandmother made everything seem so flawless and she only hoped that she would be able to live up to the reputation that had been set before her.

Of course, being made prefect also had two minor flaws – Rachel Bauer, her best friend, and Raines Bradley, potential suitor. She had really thought that Raines would have gotten the position. Instead, it had turned out to be Rachel. She had no idea how Rachel was going to handle that. She had been picked over a suitable male for the position. The Aladren had been lucky that there had been no males for her to win out over. It had to be embarrassing for both parties involved. Other males might be intimidated by Rachel, because she had gotten prefect over Raines and Raines, well, maybe he just wasn’t the type to be able to hold a strong position. Oh, that hadn’t occurred to her before. A problem had been created for her. Was Raines as suitable as she had previously thought?

The blonde chewed on her lip, as she thought about this. She made a mental note that she would have to go over her lists later tonight in her room. There were other things that she had to focus on for now. What was this event the Headmaster was talking about? She looked down at the sheet music in front of her with a raised eyebrow. There was absolutely no way she was going to be singing. She really wasn’t. She couldn’t. She couldn’t carry a tune. She would be absolutely humiliated. No, it was better to pretend that she was just too cool to sing some lame school song. So, that’s what she did. She sat there studying her nails, one was longer than the others and needed filed, rather than sing.

Only when it was over did Veronica dare to look up. She was already off to setting a wonderful example. Oh, well. It was better than having people nearby covering their ears from her singing voice. Setting the music aside, she carefully picked some salad to eat with no dressing and a glass of water. She was on a strict diet for the next couple months. Somehow, and she had no idea how it had happened, but she had gained a couple pounds over the summer. Thankfully, the school robes hid any flaws in her body, but she had no idea what she was going to do when she had to wear something like a ball gown come the end of the year if she couldn’t get the weight off. If that happened, then there was absolutely no way she was going. Hmm, maybe she could convince Rachel to go on a diet with her? Or maybe even Alessa? Then, maybe it would be easier to look at warm slices of bread without temptation. She was just staring at a slice when a voice startled her. Without looking up, she asked, “How many calories do you think are in a slice?”

0 Veronica Kerrigan A new year, a new diet. 151 Veronica Kerrigan 0 5

Katrina (Kitty) McLevy

June 06, 2011 9:14 PM

Just like a fairy tale by Katrina (Kitty) McLevy

Large azure eyes took in every new sight Cascade Hall had to offer. Kitty was practically bouncing on her feet as she looked at everything at once, an enormous smile dominating her face. She was sure that any moment she would wake up back at home and that all of this would turn out to just be some amazing dream. “Oh my gosh I can’t believe this is happening,” she whispered softly. First she’d gotten to ride in the amazing flying wagons from her home in Reno Nevada, and now she was a room where all the walls were waterfalls. It was just so pretty!

Excitement made her giggle as she took the potion in hand. Without second thought she drank it. Suddenly her skin turned blue and she couldn’t help but laugh out loud at the delightful sight. Her large blue eyes glittered with joy as she skipped over to the Aladren table. Her black locks bounced, and her white sundress with bright yellow flowers now clashed with her vibrant blue skin but she didn’t care. An equally bright yellow band held her ebony curls out of her heart shaped face.

Quickly her bright eyes flashed over the table for an open seat. There was one by a much older boy and with a grin the tiny girl took it. He reminded her of her oldest brother, and that thought made her feel more comfortable. This was the first time she’d ever been away from her family and while it hadn’t bothered her when she left now Kitty was starting feel anxious about being alone. She listened to everything Headmaster Regal had to say and clapped enthusiastically with everyone else even though she didn’t know any of the people he was talking about.

A little squeak of surprise escaped her as a sheet of music and lyrics appeared before her. Then she gave a huge smile as she began singing with the rest of the students. Her bell like voice rang out with joy as she sang.

Once that was done and the food appeared, again causing a slight squeak of surprise, Kitty turned her attention to the older boy who’s head was now on the table, though she didn’t let this deter her in the least. “Hi my name’s Katrina McLevy, but everyone just calls me Kitty. I can’t believe all this is really real you know? Its…Its like a fairy tale come to life. I can’t wait to learn real magic. So do you know lots of spells and stuff?” the tiny blue girl chattered excitedly as she started dishing out little bits of everything near her onto her plate, wanting to try everything. Her freckle dusted cheeks almost ached from how large her smile was.

0 Katrina (Kitty) McLevy Just like a fairy tale 0 Katrina (Kitty) McLevy 0 5

Cherry Bosko

June 06, 2011 9:52 PM

Four's a crowd by Cherry Bosko

Charity Bosko adjusted her student robes and watched her fellow first years point and exclaim over the waterfalls and chandeliers. She tried not to look too impressed. She was from a wizarding family after all, and had known about magic all her life. It wouldn't do to have her seen oogling over tricks the way her wizarding friends oogled over her family's magic-proof computer or exclaimed at what a quaint townhouse they had--so muggle-like.

It actually wasn't quite fair. When Cherry (and she did prefer to be called Cherry) had gone to muggle kindergarten, she had been the outsider. She hadn't known what she was allowed to talk about or how to turn on the lights--that was back when her parents still thought voice enabled lighting was a realistic approximation of muggle life--and once, Cherry had even been pulled aside by her teacher and told that unicorns and dragons weren't real and that was why the class was laughing at her. There had been phone calls home, tears and maybe a little shouting. Her friends all thought she was a little airheaded, believing in all kinds of weird things most muggles give up on well before 11.

Cherry expected going to a wizarding school would be easier--especially since some of her classmates would be muggles. And maybe it would be, but so far, it seemed that knowing magic was real was one thing, but actually being in a fully magical environment was quite another. This was no longer magic trying to blend into the muggle world by looking like cars and motorcycles and computers and lightswitches--this was magic celebrating its own magicness. And it was beautiful. Cherry hadn't known magic could be like that.

And Cherry was still the outsider. Again. Ugh. She caught herself gawking at the waterfalls and flicked a smile to another first year student whose mouth had dropped open.

At least this time it seemed Cherry was in good company in her outsiderness. Most of the other first years seemed impressed so far, and a good percentage of them did seem to be muggleborn. That was comforting. More than comforting. It was exciting. Cherry would no longer be the only kid caught between the two worlds.

A woman came around to each of the first years and offered them a potion. Cherry took dipped a fingertip in hers and stuck it in her mouth. Ick. Fast, she decided. It would have to go down fast. She took a deep breath, steeled herself, and downed the potion in three heroic gulps. She'd had worse.

A moment later it seemed to Cherry that she had turned into her namesake. She imagined her little sister running around shouting Cherry's a cherry! and felt a pang of homesickness. Christmas was far, far away. Addie would be a lot bigger then. Would she remember her big sister?

Better not to think about it.

Cherry followed a crowd of cherry skinned students to the Crotalus table. Crotalus. It sounded like some kind of flower.

She picked an empty seat where she didn't have to strain her neck to see the headmaster. Across from her, a boy introduced himself pretty formerly as Linus. He reminded her of her mother's family, who always seemed to care what tone she took and how many syllables people used. Still, he seemed nice enough. And anyway, it was really hard to take anyone too seriously when they looked like giant fruit. Cherry listened for a place to jump in and tried to secure names to faces in her mind with silly sayings like: Linus lines up the ladies, and Brianna breaks the ice. She'd think of a better one for Brianna later. She hadn't caught the jumpy one's name yet.

Well it didn't seem like a good opportunity was coming. And Linus was talking about how he was reading ahead in his textbooks and desperate to help people. He was almost definitely a muggle.

"You really read the textbook?" Cherry interrupted. "I'm Cherry, by the way. Cherry Bosko of the South Western Hodges, on my mother's side. Are you all muggleborn?"

0 Cherry Bosko Four's a crowd 0 Cherry Bosko 0 5

Paul Bennett

June 06, 2011 9:53 PM

Speaking Before Feasting by Paul Bennett

It had been a long ride from Illinois to Arizona, but Paul and Eliza Bennett had both known the incantation and wand movement, at least, for the charm their mother used to straighten them out after a trip, and both took their wands out and performed it as soon as they were off the wagons. Eliza offered to do Paul’s for him, but he gave her such an offended look that she relented quickly and without argument. Lize, of all people, should have known he’d practiced before with a wand. He’d practiced half the time, in the past two years, with her wand.

Once they were both decent, Paul spending more time on his suit and green robes and straight, neat brown hair than Eliza did on herself, they went inside, and Eliza found a seat at the Crotalus table while Paul got into line with the other first years, nodding with a smile to Miss Manger, who he’d met last Christmas, when he saw her before getting down to business. While most of his classmates were looking around the Hall in awe, Paul was suppressing his to look instead at the people who weren’t sitting near his sister. One of them was the infamous That Female, and he was curious – and wary. Eliza was his favorite sibling, and he thought it was only smart to be wary of someone who could make her talk wistfully about truly shocking acts of violence she’d love to see done, or even take a hand in doing, to that person. That wasn’t Eliza.

He didn’t have much time to think about how lovely the Hall was or about That Female, though, because it was only a moment before cups were handed out by the woman who matched the description and yearbook picture of Eliza’s Head of House Miss Pierce. Paul guessed this was the Sorting ceremony. Lize was tight-lipped about that, because it was tradition or something (a stupid tradition; he’d tell Gemma, because she would be afraid next year if he didn’t), but what else should they be doing this early in the event? So he drank, and immediately turned red and was almost moving toward his sister’s table before the Headmaster told them which was which.

Paul didn’t sit with Eliza, though, because that would be lame, and he was pretty sure his sister wouldn’t appreciate it. Eliza had friends as well as enemies, and wouldn’t want her kid brother tagging along with her here. He could see that much difference between here and home already. Instead, he found a seat around the other red people. At least they had the common bond of all looking a little strange right now, and so being obviously first years to anyone who cared to look. Numbers were good right now.

There was more talk – Head Boy and Girl, prefects, he noticed that his was named Rachel Bauer, staff members, and –

Oh, for the love of Merlin, they wanted him to sing?

Paul reminded himself, as they plodded through the song, that it was okay. That he was already looking red, so no one would be able to tell how badly he was flushing, so they wouldn’t know that he was making mistakes. It was all lovely.

He was still relieved when it was over, though. Very relieved, once he noticed the unnatural red was beginning to fade from the backs of his hands. He examined the dishes in front of him with curiosity and a little caution. It was always a gamble, eating other people’s food, but he was going to have to take it, because he couldn’t exactly go the rest of the year without eating, and tonight was likely to be the best they had.

He didn’t touch the foods, or even fill his plate, though, before deciding to be diplomatic and introduce himself to the person sitting across from him. He remembered all too well the story of how Eliza’s problems with That Female had begun, and didn’t want to become his year’s version of That Female. “Good evening,” he said, with a polite smile. “I am Paul Bennett, of the Illinois Bennetts. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

0 Paul Bennett Speaking Before Feasting 201 Paul Bennett 0 5

Daniel Nash

June 06, 2011 9:55 PM

Please Merlin, whatever I did, I'm sorry! by Daniel Nash

Daniel lifted his head from the table as a rush of words - flowing just as fast but not nearly as silently as the cascades of water down the walls - washed over him. There was a tiny blue girl sitting across from her, chattering away, and thank Merlin her flower was yellow and not pink or he really would just scream and run out of the room this very second. He already had Head Boy for the year.

Almost as bad, though, were the words 'fairy tale come to life' which stood out from the rest of her chatter because he'd heard the phrase so many times at the wedding. The wedding that he was trying so very hard right now to forget and put behind him. If he'd been a more paranoid individual, he might have even suspected she was doing it on purpose, just to get a rise out of him.

He wasn't, though, so he blamed Murphy instead of her. This was exactly the kind of thing Murphy's Law was all about.

Take an exhausted seventeen year old boy who had been deluged all summer with inane girly things, give him a break, let him relax, and that's when Murphy strikes by putting a happy little energetic eleven year old girl right across from him. Daniel was not going to let Murphy win this one. He would not break. Not yet. Not over this.

So he forced a smile. It might even look real. He had seven years of acting under his belt now and this summer's last season had given him his most challenging scenes ever. He just dearly hoped Murphy wasn't so cruel as to put a kid who'd watched Street Beat before in his way like this. But of course, Murphy was that cruel, so she was probably a cop show aficionado who had seen every one of the seventy or eighty episodes he'd been in, including the series finale that had played two nights ago at nine on the CW, and the only reason she hadn't already squealed 'Nate Bealer' at the top of her lungs was that - until a second ago - he'd had his face buried in his arms.

He smiled anyway, and with perfect aplomb, answered her question as though he weren't minutes away from a nervous breakdown or an exhausted collapse or possibly both.

"I'm a seventh year who's taking his Ridiculously Anal Testing of Skills exam in less than ten months. I better know a lot of spells and stuff." Then he added, because manners dictated he must, "I'm Daniel Nash." He managed, without quite drawing blood when he bit down on his tongue, not to add Head Boy to the end of that. He thought Charlie would be proud of him.

Besides, Headmaster Regal had already said it, and so did the shiny badge he wore on his robes across from the one that said Quidditch Captain.

1 Daniel Nash Please Merlin, whatever I did, I'm sorry! 130 Daniel Nash 0 5

Kitty

June 06, 2011 10:16 PM

Do I know you? by Kitty

“Hay, your head boy right, that’s what Mr. Regal said anyway. That’s really neat, I mean is it like class president or something? They didn’t have head students when I went to school before this.” Kitty continued chattering happily at the older boy, though something about him seemed terribly familiar. The slightest frown of concentration furrowed her brow as she tried to remember where she'd seen him before. You know, he looks just like that guy on that cop show Zack always watches, but that can’t be right. Wizards can’t be TV stars can they? Kitty loved to tease her slightly older brother, and they always fought over who got the TV. She thought his cop shows were silly, and he thought that her animal shows were just annoying.

“So what else is real? I mean if there are witches and wizards then all that other stuff should be real too. Like unicorns, and pixies, and angels. My brother was wondering if there were any dragons, and my other brother asked me to ask about the different classes and how do science and magic both exist, and if anyone had looked at the two to see if magical law and physical laws matched.” She could barely catch her breath she was talking so fast and again started half bouncing on her seat as she conveyed all that her brothers wanted to know. Kitty almost wished she had her notebook with her so she could write down all the answers so that she wouldn’t forget before she had a chance to write home.

0 Kitty Do I know you? 0 Kitty 0 5

Edmond Carey

June 06, 2011 11:34 PM

Not things I usually link together, but to each his own by Edmond Carey

The summer had been long, and Edmond was not sorry to be back at school. Things here were less structured than at home, he had to make decisions far more often, and that was seldom very comfortable, but those were things he needed to get used to, anyway.

On the day after Christmas, he would turn seventeen. While he would still have a full year and a half left in school, and then more years of education ahead of him even once he was done with that, he would, for all legal and formal purposes, be an adult. He could ask his father and sisters for advice, which he was sure they would happily provide him, but the final decisions would be his. For the rest of his life. Which, if he could keep his mouth shut at the right times, seemed likely to be very long. It was good for him to make minor decisions, at least, now, so the major ones weren’t so difficult later on, or so he reasoned. He thought his reasoning skills were more or less what they had always been, but he seldom felt really sure about those things anymore.

Luckily, there were some things he was absolutely confident of, chief among them who his real family was. The abstract Carey notions of the family and the branches no longer meant much to him; he went along with it because it was what was expected, because it prevented trouble, and because Robert and Morgaine would be upset if he didn’t, but almost all of the niggling thoughts he’d had for years about whether family was in name or in blood had been wiped away. He knew who he was, now.

He listened politely to the first bit of the headmaster’s speech, but became distracted by a thought related to decision-making when the prefects were announced. He watched Veronica thoughtfully as she got her badge and took a seat back at the Aladren table, wondering if he really had the nerve to….

Thoughts were moving very fast through his brain, connecting and generating new thoughts even as he applauded for the return of this professor and the elevation of that one and caught the roll of parchment containing the school song without really looking at it, and even a little as he read the music and sang a bit louder and more confidently than some were because of his ability to do so. It was easy enough to start as one thing and then convince himself to engage in another by convincing himself the second was something else, but it would make the third item, the one that bothered him, hard to get around, if he could just not think of that long enough to go through with the second phase….

When they were done, he stood and moved closer to where Veronica was sitting, keeping an eye out for Rachel as he did. It would, he knew, be impossible to approach the two girls together, so if he could just speak to Veronica before her shadow turned up…

“Good evening,” he said. A good start. “Congr – “

“How many calories do you think are in a slice?”

Edmond paused and blinked, now thinking of something else entirely. “I suppose it varies depending on the exact nature of the bread in question,” he said. “The size of a slice, the recipe used for baking, whether or not it was made with butter…Around two hundred, perhaps?” He wasn’t sure there, not sure at all, since it wasn’t a topic he had been drilled on in depth before this, so that was bound to be off by a dozen or two either way, but it was better than no answer at all.

He looked at what she had in front of her. “More than that, most likely,” he added, then decided to go back to step one. “Er, as I was saying. Congratulations on the badge. I’m sure you’ll do us proud.” All right. Here he went. Begin small, and he could fool himself.... "Did you have an enjoyable summer?" he asked.

0 Edmond Carey Not things I usually link together, but to each his own 143 Edmond Carey 0 5

Jose Hernandez

June 07, 2011 11:19 AM

Prefecting by Jose Hernandez

Jose's summer had been pretty cool. He'd performed as Uncle Dean's junior partner again in the tightrope act, and he was definitely getting better at it (though he was going to have to keep practicing this year if he wanted to make full partner by the time he graduated). When they weren't on stage together, Jose had dressed as a traveling entertainer and ventured out among the faire-goers. He'd juggled for kids and pulled coins out of their ears (usually pennies, but a couple of knuts had gotten mixed into his supply, so there were now a few muggle kids running around in the world with magical currency) and told a few stories. It was a good time, but he didn't mind coming back to school.

For one thing, he had gotten that O on his potions CATS in spite of doing the only medium level potion in the practical - or probably because he had redesigned the entire potion on the fly to a vegan alternative without using any references and using only the ingredients provided and it still did what it was supposed to do. He'd talked to Maria about the whole vegan potion business idea, and she'd been totally for it, so he was probably going to be going to college when he graduated.

That would make him only the second California Pierce to attend an institution of higher learning.

Maria told him if he could pick up an MBA while he was getting his Potion Master credentials, she'd have a spot for him in the Administration end of things, too, but he didn't think he was going to go for that. Potioneering and Dean's balance act were more than enough hats for him. Plus, bookkeeping was boring. Maria could keep that for herself. Jose didn't mind at all.

He'd also pulled an O in Divinations, which he'd expected, and in Charms, which he hadn't. He'd hoped, of course, but hadn't expected. He'd gotten an E in Transfiguration (which he imagined he must have earned by the skin of his teeth and no more) and Astronomy. DADA and CoMC were only As, which he was kind of disappointed about, but it did make deciding what to drop pretty easy.

So he was now back at Sonora as a sixth year, a RATS level student in all classes except DADA and CoMC. Since this year he knew he was a prefect from the start, he sat down for the Opening Feast in a seat near a lot of empty chairs that would fill up with new kids, so he could be available if they had any questions about the school, or magic, or anything really.

He clapped for the new first years as they were sorted, and waved the brown ones over to his table. Pecari seemed to have a good turn out this year. Maybe they'd do better this year in the House Cup competition than they had last year. Last place was just sad.

He cheered for Nina as she was named co-Prefect of their House and was glad for her. Being Prefect would be good for her and bring her out of the shadows of her Quidditch playing roommates a bit more.

He also cheered for the return of Professor Kijewski, and for a second debated not dropping Care of Magical creatures after all, but he'd already fallen far enough behind in the class that he didn't think taking it at a RATS level would be a good idea no matter who was teaching it. Maybe he could try to get an independent study with her, about potion ingredients that harm animals in their harvesting and how to come up with alternatives. Or something. Maybe. He'd have to think about it some more.

And he cheered for the Coach's promotion. She wasn't from his branch, but she was from the Boston one, so that was almost as good for an influential position like that. WAIL and other uber-conservative pureblood groups weren't going to get a foothold at this school with Amelia Pierce as DH.

After those announcements, Jose found out for the first time after six years of attending the school, and twelve years of having a CA Pierce present, that Sonora had a school song. He felt this was something he should have known about before now, but was secretly grateful it had not been instituted during his first year when he would have had to hear Saul attempt to sing it. That would have been bad.

Fortunately, Jose had a far better musical talent than his cousin. He certainly wasn't the best his family could field or he'd be in a band instead of a balance act, but he could read sheet music and hold a tune and not embarrass himself. He sang with the rest of the school, and made a mental note to send the sheet music home so all the magical kids could learn it before coming to Sonora. Even if it fell into disuse again, it was important to know the school song.

Then food appeared on the tables and the speech was over, and they were free to enjoy the feast. As Jose began to fill his plate with the vegan dishes, he smiled at one of the still slightly-brown girls (though she seemed to be fading faster than some of her peers), and greeted her. "Hey, welcome to Sonora and Pecari house. I'm Jose Hernandez, and I'm your sixth-year prefect." The shiny badge that said so was pinned to his robe right beside the one declaring he was the House's Quidditch Captain as well. "If you've got any questions, that's what I'm here for."

1 Jose Hernandez Prefecting 149 Jose Hernandez 0 5

Michael Grosvenor

June 07, 2011 11:42 AM

Two yellow peas in a pod! by Michael Grosvenor

“Nice to meet you,” Michael smiled. He'd thought the other boy had said that his name was Laurie but he didn't quite dare to repeat it back, just in case. He didn't really get what else the boy said but he seemed to be smiling enthusiastically about whatever it was, so mirroring this grin and nodding in agreement seemed a safe bet. Hopefully the boy had said something banal like 'Isn't this great? This looks like fun!' and wasn't psychotically bigoted and exclaiming enthusiastically about how much he hated gays, blacks and the disabled, and didn't Michael agree that such people should be stoned to death? Even if people were stupid enough to think like that, it wasn't a typical opening remark over dinner. The extended hand seemed slightly formal but it was a friendly gesture and Michael shook it happily.

“So whereabouts are you from?” he asked, hoping that the rest of (probably called) Laurie's speech hadn't contained any actual information that he was supposed to react to, or questions that he was supposed to answer. He hadn't particularly looked like he wanted a response. Michael mentally took a deep breath, trying to focus his attention on Laurie's answer rather than worrying that he'd said the wrong thing. He had to concentrate so much on the present that he couldn't afford to worry too much about what had gone before, even though there was a fairly high chance that it had gone wrong. In general. So far, this was light getting-to-know-you chit-chat, which had a fairly predictable pattern, so it was reasonably safe to assume that it was going alright.

He was aware – oh so very aware, thanks to the clanking of metal on china, which his aids helpfully boosted so as to be within the range of easy hearing – that people around him were beginning to serve themselves with the food that had somehow appeared before them. He'd seen it out of the corners of his eyes whilst trying to focus on Laurie's face. He hoped neither his lack of choosing something for dinner yet nor the degree to which he was making eye-contact Laurie was too noticeably odd. He could rectify one of these things by dipping blindly into the dish next to him or he could wait until he was doing a bit of the talking and use the time to have a look around and serve himself. He wasn't a fussy eater but he would rather choose for himself (and there was always the risk, if he went in blind, that he'd do something peculiar, like serve himself both rice and pasta but no meat), so he abstained from now and hoped that Laurie would assume he was just letting other people serve themselves first, waiting for a particular dish to become free.

13 Michael Grosvenor Two yellow peas in a pod! 199 Michael Grosvenor 0 5

Daniel Nash

June 07, 2011 12:10 PM

No. No, you don't. by Daniel Nash

Daniel resisted the urge to close his eyes and take deep breaths. That would just encourage the universe to try harder. There had been a look in her eye, like she'd been on the verge of recognizing him, but then it had gone away. If he gave into the temptation to reveal his weakness, the universe would pounce and she'd realize who he was and she'd squeal NATE BEALER I LOVE YOU! and then his brain would snap and he'd spend the rest of his life in a mental institution gibbering nonsense that would drive Quentin equally mad trying to interpret it.

So he kept his friendly smile in place, and if it became a little pinched around the eyes, well, he had quit acting with the end of the show. "Yeah, it's sort of like a class president, except there are two of them - one girl and one boy," he explained the Head Boy and Girl thing. "Upper years get to vote for them. The winners help the staff out with running events and helping out the younger students and doing whatever else they need doing."

Talking about his responsibilities did calm him a little bit, and he was always pleased to say he'd won a popular vote to get the Head Boy position, so in that respect, as well as the one where she wasn't screaming Nate Bealer's name, he thought the situation was improving slightly.

Of course, she was still exceedingly excitable and the mention of unicorns couldn't help but make him think of Holly again, and then her desire to compare science and magic laws reminded him that she was definitely an Aladren and he felt kind of inferior as a House representative because he'd never once wondered that in the six years he'd already been at the school.

He wondered if she'd notice if he avoided answering that question.

"We have unicorns and pixies," he confirmed, "and dragons. You'll learn about most of those and other fantastic beasts in Care of Magical Creatures. Your other classes are Charms and Transfiguration where you'll learn wand work; Defense Against the Dark Arts where you'll learn about vampires and other nasties and how to defend against them as well as some more spellwork; and Potions where you'll brew magical concoctions."

1 Daniel Nash No. No, you don't. 130 Daniel Nash 0 5

Rachel Bauer

June 07, 2011 12:37 PM

Oh, brother.... by Rachel Bauer

Somehow, over the summer, it hadn’t occurred to Rachel that ceasing to be a fourth year meant she was soon going to be a fifth year. She blamed her mother for this, really. No one had, as far as she could remember, so much as mentioned CATS, and how was she supposed to associate leaving one normal year with entering one of the two important ones if no one mentioned the exams that were supposed to dominate the next few months of her life?

She’d known that she was going to be a fifth year, she wasn’t stupid, she could count perfectly well, but the significance of the occasion completely bypassed the part of her brain used for planning. Therefore, when she got off the wagon, she took out her wand to dust off and unwrinkle her clothes, hit the bathrooms right quick and cheerily, after a moment’s surprised double take at her improved appearance, greeted Samantha Hamilton as they passed in the doorway after she reapplied her lip gloss and made sure her mascara was doing what it was supposed to, and then went to sit with Veronica at the Aladren table, just as she always did.

Forgetting about the badges being handed out, though, was something she felt she could in good conscience blame no one but herself for. Not after all the time she had spent thinking – almost obsessing – about it last year, and being afraid of what would happen if Raines got his grubby hands on it. It all came back to her in a rush as soon as Regal, whose boring headmasterly speech she’d been prepared to go through on autopilot because it was an example of normal headmasterly behavior and nothing for her to concern herself with, mentioned Daniel and Charlie, and she sat up straight, going pale.

“Oh, no,” she said in a whispered squeak, looking at her best friend but not really seeing her.

That turned into a happier exclamation when Veronica’s name came out – she liked Alessa, but Veronica was Veronica – and then her mind went blank as the list jumped straight from Aladren to another sorta-acquaintance, Dulce, and then to an unknown factor, Nina Brockert. What had happened? Had they just decided that neither one of them should get it? What was –

“ – and Rachel Bauer for Crotalus.”

This earned another squeak, and she realized only distantly that her legs were moving, getting her out of her chair and moving her toward the front as well. As her badge arrived, she opened her mouth and got as far as saying, “Why’d you – “ before she realized that she was talking to the headmaster and that questions like “why’d you leave me until last?” weren’t a good idea. Instead, she pinned it on and turned to Veronica with a quiet exclamation of "We're prefects!" that Veronica could interpret as she would.

A second later, though, she realized another problem. As the Crotalus prefect, she was might well be expected to sit with the Crotali on occasions like this, or at least for this one night. Over there was Raines Bradley, who was, no doubt, right on the verge of a psycho fit. Also over there was a bunch of people she didn’t know that well. She had some marginal acquaintances over there – she was considering going to the ball with Sam’s roommate Nic simply because he was about as close to knowing a guy as she got, really, after learning his name and regularly, since he was usually sitting in the same place in the common room, greeting him by it – but her friends were in Aladren. She’d never had much to do with her House. What, exactly, was she supposed to do over there during her ceremonial dinner?

“I swear this is the only time I’m ever doing this,” she muttered to Veronica, “but I think I have to sit over there tonight. See you at breakfast tomorrow?”

And then, with her head held high, she walked over to the Crotalus table and sat down.

The rest of the speech passed in a blur, her attention too focused on how she didn’t belong here and trying to hide it. Then came the real horror: dinner.

She bit the inside of her mouth for a second, then plunged ahead. “Hi,” she said brightly to her neighbor. “Happy to be back?”

16 Rachel Bauer Oh, brother.... 154 Rachel Bauer 0 5

Kitty

June 07, 2011 12:51 PM

Are you sure? by Kitty

The more he spoke the more sure Kitty became that she’d seen him before. Just before she was about to blurt out that he looked just exactly like that cop guy her brother watched all the time he finished speaking.

As he talked she reached out to get a drink of orange juice and blinked in surprise when the taste in her mouth was not orange at all. For a moment she couldn’t figure out what kind of juice it was then she realized it reminded her a lot of pumpkin pie. A giggle escaped her lips as she thought of that, of course, what else would witches drink but pumpkin juice!

Suddenly her azure eyes got huge. It had never once occurred to her that if good things like unicorns and fairies were real then obviously bad things like vampires and werewolves would be equally real. “Oh my gosh! There are really vampires and bad stuff like that? Do they really eat people, how do we protect ourselves? Are there any in the school? Will my family be safe?” The words tumbled out of her so fast that they were almost difficult to understand. Fear of the dark unknown warred with her ever present curiosity and she didn’t know what to think.

0 Kitty Are you sure? 0 Kitty 0 5

Mellie Goodwin

June 07, 2011 1:24 PM

Red haired Aladrens have it bad, too, I think. by Mellie Goodwin

It had occurred to Mellie a second too late that she might look kind of like a loser for being excited about classes, of all things, but happily, that didn’t seem to be the case, since Sully was interested, too. She didn’t expect to be much good at them, because she was lousy at some of the theory stuff and wasn’t terribly scholastic in general, but the accumulated evidence of the years suggested she wasn’t bordering on Squib territory magically, so she expected that she would at least be able to learn the spells, and Mom had always said she could be better at schoolwork if she tried more anyway.

She had tried a few spells out with adults’ wands, and in the past few weeks with her wand, in secret, like pretty much everyone did, but it would be so much better to be able to do everything honest and out in the open. Mellie thought she was going to like that a lot better, and learn a lot better than she could sneaking around. Rules were one thing, she could be a little relaxed about the rules when she needed to be to fit in, but laws were another thing, at least when her parents were The Law and at least paid lip service to the underage magic restrictions and she didn’t know if they meant it or not. Plus, she just wasn’t that great with the whole secretive, cloak-and-dagger thing.

Simon the Magnificent wasn’t a name she knew, but she’d heard Dad complain about what sounded like the type. Mom wasn’t as worked up about that, being Muggleborn herself and so, she said, aware of how good Muggles were at ignoring stuff in a way that people who grew up around magic couldn’t understand, but Dad complained about that kind of thing a lot, because, he said, sooner or later, it always meant more forms he had to fill out in triplicate.

“I guess it would be kind of weird,” she agreed, thinking about what she knew about what Muggles called magic – stuff that looked a little like conjuring and Transfiguration, and some stuff that couldn’t work at all or would at least involve a team of trauma Healers to pull off and be really messy and serious instead of a stage thing, but was really just mirror tricks and stuff. Dad did love that kind of stuff, at least as long as it didn’t involve actual magic that eventually led to forms being filled out in triplicate. “But I’m half-blood. Mom’s Muggleborn, though.”

She nodded down the table a little. “That one with the dark hair, that’s my cousin Alison,” she said. “She’s Muggleborn, too – “ they guessed, anyway; Mom speculated that her brother-in-law must have had a pretty recent Squib ancestor or something, for Alison to have magic when the only other evidence of it in the family was Mom, but if her uncle did, he either didn’t know or wasn’t admitting it – “and a prefect.” But him being Muggleborn enough to still get the word wrong meant it would be kind of silly to ask if he had family here as well, so…. “Who’s Simon the Magnificent?” she asked.

16 Mellie Goodwin Red haired Aladrens have it bad, too, I think. 206 Mellie Goodwin 0 5

Attoria Covington

June 07, 2011 1:53 PM

Meeting Before Feasting by Attoria Covington

Attoria knew that going away to school was going to be an odd experience. Her entire life had been spent in an apartment building in the magical side of upper Manhattan. Like most of the people in her building, her parents owned their apartment. While they didn’t own the penthouse, they did own a slice of heaven three floors down in a two-story. The one wall was done completely in windows, which she adored. She loved being able to bask in the sunshine or to sit by the window looking up at the moon. She even loved when it stormed, because of how intense it seemed when the lightening came careening down to the earth. She would miss the view more than she would miss her parents.

That might seem weird to some, but in truth, Attoria wasn’t even sure they knew they had a daughter most of the time. Her days were generally spent roaming the halls of her apartment building with little adult supervision. The most she ever had were the times that she had a tutor and that was only when her parents remembered she existed. So, going to a school where supervision was a constant was going to be a new experience. She wasn’t sure if it would be a positive or a negative one though. There were times that she enjoyed the freedom. She could do anything she wanted. She could stay up all night if she wanted to or eat ice cream for dinner. But there were times when it was beyond horrible like when she had gotten lost when she was eight for having walked too far away from her building. It had been daring until she didn’t know where she was.

Finally, she had managed her way back. Scared and crying, she had run into the apartment, slamming the door behind her. She ran all the way to her room and threw herself down on the bed. Not once had her parents come in and asked her why she was upset or where she had been. It had made her feel like they didn’t care about her at all. But there were other times when they would do something and those were the times that she knew they loved her like when her mother had been trimming flowers and had suddenly decided to braid them into Attoria’s hair. It was moments like that, though few and far between, that she knew that she was loved.

But it was unbalanced and that had caused her to turn to Brianna with her emotional turmoil. Blue eyes flickered to where Brianna was in line, gaping at everything. She brushed her dark hair away from her shoulders. Yes, everything was magnificent, but did she have to stare at everything like she was some unsophisticated country muggleborn? Really. Yet, staring at Brianna, feelings of envy swept through. The emotions Brianna displayed were so honest that she wished that she could be like that. Though, how often did she wish that she could be Brianna? She didn’t have the stigmas that Attoria had to deal with.

All the other kids in the building looked to Attoria. Maybe it was because she was always the first to have the latest of anything. She always told her friends that it was because her parents wanted only the best for her. Truthfully, it was that she simply put whatever was purchased on their tab. It was surprising that they hadn’t seemed to notice. She supposed if she spent enough eventually they would, but she hadn’t reached a point to do that. When there was no material possession to keep the attention on herself, Attoria would shun one of the other kids, most often Brianna, to keep her position. Friendship politics.

Though, Attoria often felt guilty whenever she heard Brianna being called Duck face, despite saying it herself. This might have had to do with the fact that she had accidentally started it. She had said it once to Bridget Walters in a fit of jealousy. She hadn’t expected Bridget to then tell everyone else. Thankfully, Brianna had no idea that she was the one that started it. Or at least, she didn’t think she did. At this point, some might ask why Attoria bothered to be friends with Brianna at all. While she would never admit it, she probably needed Brianna more than Brianna needed her. Brianna was the only one that was ever there for her when she really needed someone. Yet, she treated her like dirt, but then, she did have a reputation to maintain. She didn’t want the other kids to make fun of her.

Yes, theirs was a complicated friendship and one that would continue at Sonora. Gingerly, she took the potion that had been handed to her and glanced over at Brianna again. She was turning red. She just had to be red. The entire point of them coming to Sonora was so that they would be together. In fact, it had been Attoria that had brought up the subject of going to the school rather than going to the one that their friends had applied to. She had read about Sonora Academy and had wanted to go, but she hadn’t wanted to go alone and Brianna, loyal as she was, had come along too. So, here she was and she just had to turn red, because Brianna was. Closing her eyes and drinking her potion, all her thoughts were geared to being red.

When Attoria had finished, she slowly opened her blue eyes to look down at her hands. They were red. They were red! She was with Brianna! For the next seven years, she would be with Brianna. Life was good. She started towards the table to sit with her friend, but saw that there were other kids talking to her. A funny feeling spread in her stomach and doubt crept in at the corners of her brain. The realization that a new school meant new people, new people that might like Brianna and not her, finally occurred to her. Shying away from where they were sitting, she sat a little further down. She wanted to gage the situation before approaching.

Her attention was averted when the Headmaster began speaking. She took a note of the people he named as being important people. Maybe one day she would be one of those people. Maybe. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to be or not since she didn’t know what Head Boys and Girls or the Prefects did. But it was irrelevant at the moment since the next subject of a ball was brought up. A ball? She had never even been to a dance let alone a ball. What would she wear? Who would she dance with? Could she even dance? Did she even want to go? Hmm, it left much to be desired.

At least, the last part of the announcements before the Feast wasn’t so bad. The Headmaster wanted them to sing the school song. It was an area that she had confidence in. If nothing else, she knew that she could do that. People had always told her that she had a lovely singing voice. She might not be the next star, but at least, she knew she wasn’t going to sound like a frog with it’s tongue tied. That would have ruined any possibility of making the right impression on her fellow classmates.

Permission granted to eat, Attoria looked over to the various dishes. She was considering the pasta when the boy across from her spoke. He was somewhat red much like herself so she knew that he was in her year. Further interest was how he spoke. Kids in her building spoke like that, because it’s what their parents had taught them to do. Her parents had never done such, but she had quickly learned to do so. “It is nice to meet you as well. Attoria Covington of the New York Covingtons,” she replied with a polite smile of her own. While her parents were a bit eccentric and reclusive, the name still held meaning. They had not been disowned and the rest of the family still held a position of power. It was going to be her saving grace.

0 Attoria Covington Meeting Before Feasting 202 Attoria Covington 0 5

Jenny Owens

June 07, 2011 3:35 PM

Five's a...what's five? by Jenny Owens

Jenny was just opening her mouth to reply to the boy who'd introduced himself as Linus but who seemed to regard her with a pitying concern - she supposed that he'd noticed her talking to herself so crossed her fingers and hoped that none of the others had - when he asked the other girl a question.

She fell quiet again, sighing and awaiting her turn to come. As she was from a large family she had been used to waiting. She missed Charlie though, and his small presence that sustained her through the toughest moments.

A part of her brain which had not been momentarily taken up by thoughts of home informed her that a new girl had joined in the conversation and was asking Linus whether he was a muggle born or not. Jenny recognised her as the girl who had smiled, even though she had caught her staring open mouthed at the chandeliers.

Cheered by this thought she added, 'Hi as well! I'm Jenny. Jenny Owens. Nice to meet you Linus, Brianna, Cherry - is that short for Charity, by the way?' Back home she'd had a friend called Charity who had abbreviated it to Cherry, but she hadn't been a bit like the girl in front of her now. Or at least, she hadn't been a bit like the girl in front of her now seemed - it was wrong to judge a book by it's cover, she reminded herself.

As soon as she said it, she reached for a glass of pumpkin juice. It was a reflex that she'd obtained from being constantly snubbed by her three older sisters; coming from the snide glances exchanged whenever she said something. Speak, occupy yourself with something else. That was how it had always gone. But now she was in a new place - with none of them around! Her family had been shocked, of course, when she chose to board in Sonora instead of joining the smaller wizards school that was close enough to home for them to floo home every day, but they had gotten over it and decided it just cemented the idea that she wasn't like the rest of them. And here, at Sonora, she could be whoever she wanted to be! Well, maybe seeing as one of her fellow classmates had seen her talk to herself and the other had watched her looking gormless it might be tricky - but at least there was Brianna!

Speaking of whom - she looked up to see what was happening since her mini speech and nearly let a thick blonde curl fall into her juice. She should have worn it up! But, no point complaining about it now. She slid a wrist band from her arm and pulled her long hair into a messy ponytail off her face. There, much better.

0 Jenny Owens Five's a...what's five? 0 Jenny Owens 0 5

Demelza Eagle (Fifth Year Pecari)

June 07, 2011 6:21 PM

Yay, song! by Demelza Eagle (Fifth Year Pecari)

Mel couldn't believe it was her fifth year. Where had the time gone? Okay, so she couldn't remember much that happened before her third year, but still. She felt kind of old, and like she had to be mature. They were picking prefects for her class this year (not that she thought she'd get it--she was probably the last choice for that in her house, year even). Of the very few things she remembered from her first year (thanks, amnesia), she did remember that she wanted to be a prefect one day. Haha, oh how that dream had changed. She couldn't wait until her seventh year when she became Quidditch captain; she had been waiting for three terms, and would have to wait yet another term after this one because Jose was only a year older than her! Although she didn't have the title, she often acted like she was the captain because she tried her best with helping Jose plan out drills and stuff. She was good at that kind of stuff.

Mel had a few goals for this year. She had been thinking over the summer (yes, abnormal), and began considering what she needed to get done her fifth year. First, she needed to talk to Star. Mel... she really liked her, and she was positive that Starbuck liked her back. It was so good to have someone to talk to about these kind of things; She was so lucky to have Starbuck as a friend (potentially more?) and Jude as a friend as well. Really, all of Mel's friends were great. Jude was her creative friend, Starbuck was her friend/more than friend, Delilah was her closest friend who she could tell anything and trust her, Nina was good to talk to because she was very friendly and Mel never fought with her, and Jose was awesome to talk to about Quidditch and complain to in divination's. The Pecari was lucky, that was for sure.

But back to her list of things to do. Pecari was going to win the House championship this year. Last year had been embarrassing! Demelza couldn't believe their bad luck in the past few years! However, Pecari was growing skill wise, so this year was definitely going to be their year. Mel was going to have to talk to Jose, telling him everything she did over the summer at the Quidditch camp she attended, which was hosted by Australia's national Quidditch team. She only got in thanks to her big brother Jamie, who was on the team. She learned how to increase her accuracy and how to built stamina, and... a few other things.

She couldn't believe what happened with Jeff. Every time she thought back to it, she questioned herself--what the hell was she thinking? Jeff was cute, nice, and shared similar interests with her, but he lived in Australia. Also, Mel liked Star. Still, they had a two week thing, and that pretty much had been a wonderful two weeks. She missed him so much, but she knew she shouldn't. She was filled with such mixed emotions! She often tried to convince herself that she didn't still like him, but she couldn't help but get excited when he sent her a letter. She didn't want to answer him back, to lead him on, but she couldn't help herself. Maybe one day she'd tell him she was bi, and maybe that would scare him off. Not that she was sure if she wanted that to happen.

Mel shoved all those thoughts aside as she walked, after getting off the wagon, into Cascade Hall which, thankfully, was crowded. Mel was so used to living in an over-crowded house that it felt just like home in the Pecari common room. This summer her farm house had been really stuffed, as her whole immediate family and uncles and aunts and cousins were living in her house thanks to the hurricane that hit and wiped out a whole lotta stuff. There were like 30 people in her house or something. It was crazy, but fun! The 5'11" tall girl skipped over to the Pecari table and took a seat. She was taller than the majority of students, and maybe the tallest girl in the school. She had a very small waist, stomach, and chest, but her arms were muscular, and her legs long. She had gotten tan over the summer from laying out in the sun and playing Quidditch, and would probably get tanner more once she started practicing on the Quidditch Pitch.

Demelza listened to the Headmaster speak excitedly. She really liked Mr. Headmaster sir. He was doing a good job and was very nice. And this year, they were going to have a 16th century ball! That sounded fun, except Mel definitely wasn't going to wear a big pouffe dress. She'd have to find what the not schnoozy people wore... even though they probably weren't invited to balls. Oh well. Ml was way too informal to wear something elegant and all. The new prefects were also announced, and Mel clapped excitedly for Nina. She didn't do Quidditch and was probably a better student than her, Starbuck, and Delilah, so this was good for her. The other people chosen for prefectdom were obvious choices. Then, suddenly there was sheet music infront of her face and it turned out there was a school song! This was so cool! Mel wished they had to learn it in her first year, tough. Still, this was fun! She sight read and sang out loud and proud. She knew she had an excellent singing voice, and this was no problem at all.

Dinner started to arrive after that, and Mel was taking advantage of it. She never had to watch her weight because she worked out and had a fast metabolism, so she dug into a steak sandwich. It tasted so good, but she couldn't not talk for so long. Turning to the person next to her, she excitedly said, "Pecari is so going to win the House cup this year! And the ball sounds kind of exciting, doesn't it?" She just made small talk with them since she didn't have too much to say.

0 Demelza Eagle (Fifth Year Pecari) Yay, song! 0 Demelza Eagle (Fifth Year Pecari) 0 5

Nic Sawyer

June 07, 2011 6:33 PM

is an only child by Nic Sawyer

Nic's summer had been like a summer should be - relaxing, fun, and nice break from the work expected of him the rest of the year. Mom and Dad continued to be horribly embarrassing, but there was no audience beyond him, so it was tolerable. Kids at school still didn't (to his knowledge) know he was the only son of two divinators, and if he had his way, it would stay that way. Since he didn't bring anyone home, and nobody else in the neighborhood had even an inkling of what magic was besides what muggles rolled their eyes at (especially when they heard the word 'psychic'), nobody could find out unless Nic said something himself. Which he wouldn't do.

So he returned to Sonora refreshed and in a reasonably good mood. This was in no small part due to his mom patting him on the cheek before he got on the wagon and saying, "Perhaps that girl you were crushing on isn't too out of reach after all. Have a fun dance, baby."

Not that there was any girl he was crushing on or anything. Crushes were not cool and Nic was so down with cool. Though what she was talking about with the dance thing, he had no idea; Nic did not dance. Also, he was fourteen now and an easy eight inches taller than Mom, so how she got away with still calling him a baby baffled him utterly.

Fortunately, the Miami stop was the first one on his wagon's route so nobody saw or heard.

Eventually, after about two bags of chips and a couple lunch meat sandwiches to hold him over until the Feast, the wagon landed in Arizona. Nic took a seat at the Crotalus table, one that had a good view of where Rachel normally sat with Veronica at the Aladren one (not that this had any bearing on anything), and watched with mild disinterest as the new kids were sorted.

If he happened to cheer louder for Rachel getting prefect than any of the others, it was only because she was named last and he was actually applauding for all of them. Or maybe it was because she was from his House. Either way there was a good reason for it that had nothing to do with a girl he was crushing on. Nic Sawyer didn't have a crush on anybody.

He watched as she walked back to Aladren . . . no wait, she was parting ways with Veronica . . . she was, oh Merlin, she was sitting down next to him. He was going to have an Opening Feast with Rachel Bauer.

He managed not to stare at her like a deer caught in headlights by switching that stare over to the Headmaster. As it had with staring at Fawcett during potions that one time, this did at least allow him to follow the speech enough that he understood that (a) there was going to be a ball at the end of the year, which made Mom's parting comment make a lot more sense, and (b) some idiot seemed to think it was a good idea to make the whole school start singing.

He glanced over to Rachel to see if she seemed to think it was, too, but she didn't seem too excited about it either, so he just sat there with a mildly disdainful expression and didn't sing.

Then it was mercifully over, and dinner was served. Nic filled his plate - his dad had been telling him to eat up for the past week, even after his normally large appetite was sated, so he could only assume he was probably going to hit another growth spurt soon - and looked up in mild surprise and alarm as Rachel Bauer addressed him directly.

She asked a question. A simple question. A question that a person could expect to hear during the opening feast.

But him mouth did not provide the answer his brain composed in response. His mouth said something entirely different without consulting his brain at all.

"Will you go to the ball with me, Rachel?"

1 Nic Sawyer *is an only child* 165 Nic Sawyer 0 5

Preston Stratford

June 07, 2011 6:38 PM

...and something old? by Preston Stratford

Preston wasn’t sure if he was happy to be back at Sonora or if he was dreading the start of this year. He had enjoyed being the only Stratford at the school, but Lawrence had started this year, and his cousin was too excited about that, if he was being honest. Yes, Preston had been sort of thrilled about starting school, but his cousin was exaggerating, borderline psychotic. That much excitement had to be illegal. The redhead became exhausted by just watching his cousin bounce around the wagon, between questioning him further. At this point, he was more than sure that Lawrence would be not sorted in Aladren, thank Merlin. Preston needed his space.

His summer break had been okay, he had enjoyed lecturing Lawrence on the Sonora life. Preston had decided that being a Professor was a good career choice, since he liked imparting his wisdom to lesser beings. In his mind, he already had his future planned, he was going to attend college and graduate as a Magical Anthropologist and then teach, it was a very nice future. He hadn’t told anyone about it, he still needed to ponder over the details. However, he was quite sure he had loved teaching Lawrence things. Of course, he had left out the sorting ceremony, since that had to be a surprise, he had to attend school without any knowledge whatsoever about it. It was only fair.

When they arrived at the school, everything seemed the same. He entered the Cascade Hall and suppressed a yawn. He really was tired. The Aladren had trouble sleeping the night before, he didn’t want to admit it, but he was sort of happy to be back. Most importantly, Miss Raines had sort of invited him on a date, but not a date-date. They were still very young. That would give him a lot of time to prod her further, it was going to be awesome, and he had even started a journal. The Aladren had written his perceptions on Sara and was going to use it to write down his findings. It was very important to document everything, any good researcher documented everything. He had started with his journal over the summer, it was coming along quite nicely, and it would end being epic.

Preston entered the Cascade Hall and sat down with his fellow Aladrens. He was going to make Daniel and Edmond proud, he had practiced Quidditch a lot during the summer. They were going to win the Quidditch Cup, again! He listened to the Headmaster make his speech and noted that they had new Professors, good. New things were good. He watched his cousin Lawrence skip towards the Teppenpaw table and he sighed in relief. At least, he was in another house. Preston smiled.

A song-sheet came floating and he skimmed trough it, he raised an eyebrow and sort of hummed the school song. He wasn’t that good of a singer. The food finally appeared and he scanned the table for something to eat, he saw a bowl of mashed potatoes, but it was sort of far away. Instead of asking someone to pass it to him, he got up and leaned to grab it, he was unfortunate enough to bump into a pitcher of something. The pitcher’s content fell on top of someone. The someone was a first-year, he knew, because of the redness of his skin.

Preston passed him some napkins. “It was an accident,” he stated. “I didn’t mean to do it.” That was the best apology he could come up with without saying the actual word. “I am Preston Stratford, from the Vermont Stratford’s,” he introduced himself and offered him his hand. Politeness was something that always had to be present in any verbal exchange.

0 Preston Stratford ...and something old? 0 Preston Stratford 0 5

Jhonice

June 07, 2011 7:19 PM

J names unite! by Jhonice

Jose Hernandez?! Of the California Pierces! Jhonice whipped her head around to face the boy addressing her. It was him! Sure, Andrew had talked about him but here he was, talking to her! He was a sixth year prefect and Quidditch captain of Pecari, the incredible badges on his robes confirmed those facts. She giggled at his statement, he was her prefect. He was even volunteering for an interview! What should she ask him? Her mind reeled at the possibilities. Should she ask about the California Pierces? He'd know the most about them. What about the other branches of the Pierce family? Her eyes darted around the room in excitement; He's been here a few years, he'd know who all was here from the Careys, the Brockerts, everyone! Andrew was never one to talk much about the school. Nothing more than his classes, Quidditch, a few of his friends and teachers. She couldn't understand what was wrong with him, but now she was here! She had unfettered access to all of it, and to top it off, she had an actual California Pierce to escort her!

She actually caught herself beginning to hyperventilate. Calm down, calm down, she thought to herself, there would be plenty of time for that. She had something of a plan, the first part was to acclimate herself to the school. She didn't want to stand out, not this early. She had to play it cool, work her way into the system. Yes, that was the key. They all had to accept that she was just another student, then she could do what she liked. To that effect, she pulled herself together again and gave Jose an innocent and friendly smile. "It's nice to meet you Jose. I have actually heard about you a little bit from my cousin, Andrew Duell." Yes, she thought, I've got an 'in' with this one. Her smiled turned a little more fiendish, just for a moment, as that thought flashed through her mind. It quickly returned to friendly innocence. "My name is Jhonice Trevear. Ooo," she made a point of staring at his badges, "You're our Quidditch captain as well? You must be really talented. I was thinking about trying out for Quidditch. Do you think I'd be any good at it?" Honestly she hadn't really given it much thought, she wasn't really a 'sports' type of girl. But, from what Andrew had said it sounded like most of the Quidditch players were special. That may give her more access to them, and to Amelia!

2 Jhonice J names unite! 209 Jhonice 0 5

Daniel Nash

June 07, 2011 7:22 PM

Absolutely sure. by Daniel Nash

Murphy seemed to appreciate his attempt to appear unflustered because Kitty's next slew of questions didn't even give him a twinge of incipient insanity. She was still an eleven year old girl who was way to excitable, but the vampire thing seemed to have thrown her and most of her irritating cheer was replaced by a far less grating wide-eyed alarm.

Daniel almost felt normal again as he started answering her next set of queries. He could almost pretend it was RATS prep, and that made him even more comfortable with the conversation as he began to explain, "There really are vampires, but there was a war a couple centuries ago, so most of them were wiped out then, so they're pretty rare. They suck blood, like most muggles know, and it can kill the victim if they drink too much, but they're not cannibals; they won't eat the rest of you. There's none in the school, and your family is perfectly safe. The aurors - that's the magical police - will track and take down any vampire that gets too close to a populated area."

Hoping to keep the conversation on a safe and less exhaustingly happy academic keel, he continued, "Vampires are considered a more advanced topic, though, so you probably won't be getting to that until for a while. In first year, you may hit Devil's snare, though. That's a man-eating plant."

1 Daniel Nash Absolutely sure. 130 Daniel Nash 0 5

Veronica

June 07, 2011 7:24 PM

Well, calories aren't your enemy. by Veronica

Veronica hadn’t expected an actual response to her question, but regardless, two hundred calories were far too many calories. Uttering a sigh, she looked up to see that the question had been answered by Edmond Carey and couldn’t help raising an eyebrow. She knew of Edmond Carey. She had even considered him until she had learned that Cassie liked him. But she had never actually talked to him before and couldn’t help wondering why he was here talking to her rather than talking to one of his friends or better yet, her sister.

However, she wasn’t about to ask. It would be improper to do so. Instead, she remained polite. “Thank you. I doubt that I will do as good of a job as you have done, but I will do my best.” It was always important to be humble. If she bragged, then it would appear that she thought she could do a better job and that would be unacceptable, but appearing ungrateful would be equally unacceptable. The trick was to be modest with a compliment to the other party. Hopefully, with more practice, she would master it completely.

“Oh, my summer was absolutely splendid,” Veronica answered with the return question of, “How was yours?” She didn’t go on more about her summer since she wasn’t sure if he was simply asking to be polite or if he actually wanted to know. She figured if he did want to know, he would ask further. Otherwise, it would be left as it was. Her summer really had been splendid though. She had spent most of it with others of her age and breeding. Her grandmother had also spent quite a deal of time educating her on all the potential suitors. Though, she had already thought she had that down with Raines.

0 Veronica Well, calories aren't your enemy. 0 Veronica 0 5

Kitty

June 07, 2011 8:00 PM

OK then by Kitty

“Wow a war? Have there been lots of magical wars? How did you guys keep the real people from finding out? I mean I doubt that vampires would care if people noticed them if they were fighting and all. Are there vampire hunters now? I saw a movie once where a girl was a vampire hunter and she just like killed all the vampires she came across.” Again her eyes widened as the conversation took another interesting turn. Now that she knew her family would be safe she could indulge her curiosity without fear.

“Really? Man eating plants. How does all this stuff stay hidden from the real people? I don’t think dragons care overly much about who sees them when they fly around. Oh my gosh! I bet that the Loch Ness monster is totally a water dragon. He is, isn’t he! Maybe when I’m older I could go visit and see him for myself. Seems I’m magical maybe he won’t hide from me like he does everyone else. I think that would be just the best job ever, going around and doing documentaries on magical animals.” Each question that Daniel answered seemed to spark a dozen more in the tiny girl and she felt like she would just burst trying to get them all out at once. Even though Daniel didn’t look much like Jason at all she still was happy because like her oldest brother he was willing to answer her questions even though he probably had better things to do.

0 Kitty OK then 0 Kitty 0 5

Laurie

June 07, 2011 8:09 PM

And proud to be Yellow! by Laurie

Laurie shook Michael’s hand, “Nice to meet you, roommate.” The new Teppenpaw was glad that Michael looked as excited as he was. News things were just awesome. Laurie refrained from asking Michael’s blood-status, he was of the idea that that was just wrong, he didn’t have anything against Muggleborns or Half-Bloods, his father would be livid of he knew of his ideas, but he wasn’t at the school. He just hoped that Preston wouldn’t become a tell-all and send a letter home with bad things about him; he could totally see his cousin doing that. Moreover, he was going to room with Michael, and it was too early to have any kind of fight over pointless things. He would just have to be careful when talking to Preston.

Food had already appeared and his stomach began to make strange noises, it seemed it was time to eat. Laurie scanned the table, looking for something delicious to eat, he didn’t have a particular craving, but the pasta near his left arm caught his eye. He smiled and served himself some. It smelled delicious. He grabbed some bread that was near the pasta, and took a bite of it. It had butter on it! Excellent. He beamed at Michael and remembered he had asked him a question. He blushed, suddenly realizing that he had completely forgotten to include his state on his introduction, since the excitement of it all had made him forget all of what his etiquette tutor had taught him. “I am sorry, I come from Vermont. You?” he said while looking down at his plate. He needed something more to make his meal complete. Maybe some chicken…

Laurie took a forkful of pasta and watched as Michael just watched his face, not serving himself anything to eat. He was chewing his delicious pasta, just curiously staring at his roommate. Laurie swallowed, “Aren’t you hungry?” he asked. His expression was curious, but a small smile was still present on his face. He just couldn’t stop smiling, he had been waiting for this for a very long time, and it had finally happened. He was glad his Grandfather had decided branch out from Vermont. He already knew everyone worth knowing, or so he had been told by his father. Laurie just went with what his elders told him, he was still a kid, and had a lot of things to learn. The Teppenpaw looked at Michael, “Come on, eat! The food is delicious.”

0 Laurie And proud to be Yellow! 0 Laurie 0 5

Reggie

June 07, 2011 8:14 PM

No! I like school by Reggie

Had Reggie not been completed ecstatic about being back at Sonora and of telling everyone of her great adventures she had with both her parents, she might have noticed that Derry was acting a little bit strange. Well, stranger than his usual self. But, she was completely oblivious to his behavior. It was probably for the best though because she might have prodded him into explaining himself.

She missed his bizarre episode entirely because when she focused her attention directly on him, he was smiling as he normally did when she saw him. She really had missed all of her friends when she had been on vacation because they were as weird as she was and though normally that would cause for confusion for anyone else, but somehow they had found a commonality that worked for them.

Sometimes…as Reggie realized when Derry took her ‘cat’s pajama’ phase way too seriously and had her laughing up a storm. “Oh Derry! You’re just the tops!” Reggie exclaimed in her baffled amusement to his innocence. “I didn’t actually mean ‘cat’s pajamas’, it’s an expression. It basically means… awesome sauce.” Reggie explained, thinking that covered everything perfectly. There would come a time when Reggie will realize that her and her father’s speech wasn’t exactly normal. The phrases that they so chose to use were not necessarily the same that others would say let alone have ever heard of. But for now, she’d live in her nice pleasant and worry free bubble.

Reggie was totally excited to hear all about Derry’s summer spent with the animals of someone who Derry knew with an odd name, but Derry didn’t really elaborate on it other than discuss the crup. Reggie loved animals as much as the next person did, but she was pretty weary of them just the same. At least, of some of them. Mainly of the ones that she would be learning about eventually in Care of Magical Creatures and of ones that were in zoos. “We aren’t allowed to have a crup because of Gramma and Grandpa.” Reggie informed him. She loved the muggle side of her dad, but sometimes it was limiting. “And Dad says that we aren’t home enough for a pet, so…that’s that.” Reggie said with a sad face and a shrug.

“Why was the end of your summer not as good as the rest of it, Derry?” Reggie asked, her brows knotting out of concern and curiosity. Staring at him, Reggie couldn’t help but look at his hat. He wore it all the time. She just wanted to pluck it from his head and put it on her own. Who knew someone could make that could of a hat somewhat cool to wear?

6 Reggie No! I like school 187 Reggie 0 5

Sully

June 07, 2011 8:21 PM

Black haired Tepps might look like bumblebees by Sully

"Oh," Sully said as Mellie corrected his assumption. Half-bloods, he guessed from context, were people with one non-magical and one magical parent. Or maybe it had to do with grandparents, since she clarified that her mom was muggleborn (that was the word Simon used!). So her mom was definitely magical, her mom's parents definitely weren't, and Sully wasn't sure if 'half' meant her dad was totally magical or totally not magical, but decided it probably didn't make a huge amount of difference either way: because of her Mom, Mellie knew some magic stuff and some not-magic stuff, and that had been mostly what he'd been trying to get at in the first place.

And she had a cousin here, which had to be pretty cool. There were tons of questions he'd have been asking Karen for years, if she'd started going here two years ago. But Karen wasn't special like him and two years ago she'd started middle school instead of Sonora. Sully hadn't really had any questions about that. He made a mental note of who Alison was, so if he had any questions later, he could maybe ask her. She was a prefect, after all. Now he knew who all three of those were since he'd watched which of the four new prefects named tonight had walked back to the Pecari table and was therefore Nina. And obviously, he'd already met Jose.

He almost jumped a little at how closely her next question followed his line of thought. Jose was only a very short leap away from Simon the Magnificent.

"He's a friend of my Mom's. They both perform at the same casino at home - I'm from Las Vegas. When I got my letter, the first thing Mom did with it was take it to a professional magician to check that it wasn't a scam or something." Sully shrugged, then grinned a little, knowing how the story ended. "He not only told us it wasn't a scam, but that he used to work here!"

"He help me get all my stuff and everything, and answered all the questions I could think of. Then, when the wagon came, he introduced me to his cousin, who was already on it." This time it was Sully who pointed down the table, to Jose. "That's him, with the two badges. Jose Hernandez. He's a prefect, too."

0 Sully Black haired Tepps might look like bumblebees 0 Sully 0 5

Paul

June 07, 2011 8:25 PM

And well met! by Paul

Paul didn’t recognize the name Covington right off the top of his head, it was a little familiar for some reason but not enough for him to say anything about it or even be sure the feeling was real, but since he’d spent most of his early childhood learning all of the ones on the west coast and then been suddenly transplanted from there to the third-largest magical population center and been handed a whole new set of families and their interactions all over the country to learn, he thought he could be forgiven for not being absolutely sure of everything about one New York family. When he was an adult, he would have to know all those things, but he was still – sometimes to his surprise – only eleven.

In theory, his mother loved him, and the other four kids she and his father had produced. In reality, it wasn’t uncommon for Paul and Eliza to argue over the subject. Paul, especially, couldn’t help but think sometimes that Mother really was so shallow that it never occurred to her to take an interest in anything but propriety and fashion, and that she, therefore, saw them as nothing but useful things she could use to forge contacts to other important families and so serve her function as a proper wife. It didn’t help that everyone knew Great-Grandfather – the one Paul had been partially named for, though he didn’t plan on admitting his middle name was Orson if he could help it – really did see them all that way. And while Father did love them, he was always busy, and frequently away in the bargain.

These factors had combined to mean that they all saw nannies and tutors more often than they did their blood parents, and since Paul and Eliza were too big for the former, it meant they had a lot of time in which they could do what they wanted. It was, therefore, strange to look at himself – not tall for his age, which definitely didn’t help; he could hear Mother’s nasal voice in his mind telling him that he’d have to wear shorter jackets all his life to lengthen people’s perception of him – and realize that other people saw him as a little kid.

Still, though, Attoria Covington of the New York Covingtons seemed polite enough, and was in his House, so he could talk to her. “Are you happy to be here, Miss Covington?” he asked. “I’ve been looking forward to coming to school ever since my sister did.” He resisted the temptation to glance toward Eliza and make sure she wasn’t doing anything illegal. It might be interpreted wrong, like he was looking to his sister to boost his morale. Which it would be, a little, but he didn’t need his classmates – or, for that matter, Lize herself – to know that.

0 Paul And well met! 0 Paul 0 5

Edmond

June 07, 2011 9:00 PM

Moderation is everyone's friend in most instances by Edmond

Edmond was pretty sure that compliments on his abilities as a prefect was a pure example of politeness, because he’d spent several months of his first year at it nearly catatonic and in the middle of a lovely little set of self-destructive tendencies and then more time still dealing with the whiplash effect of having the whole thing artificially reversed in his head so he could both start dealing with actual emotions and stop only just catching himself short of reacting to just about everything as though it were trying to kill him, but he flushed slightly at Veronica’s note of praise just the same. “I’m sure you can do better than that,” he said. “But any help I can offer, please, let me know – about.”

He thought that grammatically completed the sentence, though logic was a little harder and he wasn’t too sure on grammar. It was awkwardly phrased at best. Julia would be displeased. One of her favorite things was clarity of speech….

Well, he was sure she’d been sixteen, once, and might have even experienced a dilemma similar to his from the opposite end. Surely she would understand that there were occasionally other things at the forefront of his mind than elegantly phrasing his English sentences. She had not been completely unforgiving with him or Jane – tougher, in many respects, than their teachers here, but not completely unforgiving. And even when she was sharp with them because they did something wrong, she didn’t hold it against them another time. He would speak properly another time, and all would be well.

“Glad to hear it,” he said when she said her summer had been splendid. A lovely piece of alliteration. “Mine was uneventful, thank you.” It didn’t occur to him, paying a bit more attention to the fierce argument going on in his head, that it might be a bit odd to phrase it that way, but he was glad his summer had been uneventful. ‘No one trying to kill me, at least that I know about’ was almost certainly part of the definition of ‘uneventful.’ Or at least he prayed to anything that would listen that it was. “Er…Your sisters. I suppose they had a, a splendid summer as well.”

He realized that a good portion of his mind had abandoned ship, checking out of this event and watching from behind a good, sturdy stone wall. This wasn’t entirely a bad thing, though. It meant the bit that was still running things could speak more freely. “I suppose Cassie had a splendid summer as well?" he asked. "Meeting interesting people?"

Please, Merlin, do not let her make me spell it out. I am sane now, and would like to remain that way. Please.

0 Edmond Moderation is everyone's friend in most instances 0 Edmond 0 5

Brianna

June 07, 2011 9:32 PM

A party? by Brianna

Brianna listened quietly as Linus began to explain what he was excited about with regards to the school. She was rather surprised to hear he had already thought out what it was he was anticipating that would help him in his future get to where he wanted to be. She thought it was amazing that he knew that he wanted to help people in his life. At eleven, Brianna had no idea what it was that she really wanted to do with herself.

What she did know was that she did not want to live in that building when she graduated. She did not want to be a maintenance worker or a maid. She had seen what it did to grown adults. Her parents could barely looked at one another. They never received any gratitude from the residents for all their work that her parents have done for them. On top of all that, they barely had any time for her and when they did have time, they preferred to spend it fighting with one another. Before Brianna could really answer though, another girl piped up to question his reading.

At the question of her blood, Brianna shook her head. “No, I’m a Pureblood.” She would not mention the fact that she was a poor Pureblood because that would make her look bad as well as possibly make Attoria angry with her. At the thought of her ‘friend’, Brianna looked around for her, surprised that she wasn’t sitting with them and found her a couple of seats away talking to a boy. Oh well, it was probably best that they met as many people as possible separate so that their circle of friends was bigger.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Jenny.” Brianna commented, giving her a smile before addressing Linus again. She wasn’t sure how she could respond to Linus’ comment with her name. She didn’t find it that unique. She’s heard of stranger names (like Attoria). “I have no idea where the name comes from.” Brianna admitted to them. “My parents had a baby name book that they read through and they liked Brianna best.” They only had the book because they couldn’t agree on family names, so they had to agree on a regular old name from a book. Changing the topic back to original topic prior to Cherry’s interruption.

“So, Linus, do you want to be a Healer or be some sort of law enforcement officer?” Brianna asked, curious to know which direction of helping he intended on going for. “I read the first couple of chapters in each textbook just to get an idea of what we’ll be doing, but I haven’t given anything else much though to be honest” Brianna commented. She had forgotten of her self-consciousness of her lips and was no longer sucking them in, so that everyone now had a full view of just how large her lips were in proportion to the rest of her face. Smiling actually genuinely instead of out of polite shyness, Brianna added, “I am a bit excited about Care of Magical Creatures because I’m not allowed pets, but I also like the idea of charms. It’ll be most fun to really give my wand a go.”

0 Brianna A party? 0 Brianna 0 5

Michael

June 08, 2011 5:54 AM

Though not in the sense of being a coward. by Michael

Michael waited a little anxiously whilst Laurie got himself distracted by the food before answering. He worried that the other boy had already said something and he'd managed to miss it and now he was supposed to be talking, but also that it made his own lack of movement towards the food more conspicuous. Eventually though, he saw Laurie's lips move. The other boy had his head angled down which meant he didn't know what he'd said, but he could assume that it was a reply to his question and the same one returned. He only hoped that none of the bits of information he missed during the conversation – this was bound not to be the only one – wouldn't come back to haunt him later when something was brought up that he was supposed to already know.

He was about to reply when Laurie started talking again, asking whether he was hungry.

“Yeah, yeah, I was just...” he trailed off, realising that he couldn't think of a decent reason why he hadn't started eating yet, “Me, I'm from Oregon,” he pressed on, switching topic quickly but speaking at a very steady pace to give himself the maximum time to look around. “So, the journey was pretty long,” he added, scooping some mashed potato onto his plate and grabbing a couple of chicken drumsticks. “You'd think magic would make everything... easier,” he shrugged. Ok, the walls of the Cascade Hall were impressive and he had been taken aback but Michael's knowledge of magic so far was somewhat jaded by his first two experiences of it, which had illustrated to him things that magic couldn't do, rather than exciting things that it could. “But I swear a plane would have been quicker and comfier,” he continued, adding peas to his plate before remembering that not everyone here knew what a plane was. That was an odd thought. And in his desire to pad out his turn he'd possibly seemed like he was complaining or didn't like magic. “Not that it isn't really cool,” he added, hoping to mend any damage he might have done, “I've just got a numb bum now,” he grinned, “Is all this magic stuff new to you too?” he asked, unaware that he might be moving the conversation into a controversial topic – something he would have preferred to avoid at all costs.

13 Michael Though not in the sense of being a coward. 199 Michael 0 5

Derry Four

June 08, 2011 9:52 AM

Me too! But I didn't like the last week of break. by Derry Four

Derry figured 'the tops' sounded like a compliment even though to all outward appearances, Reggie was laughing at something he'd said. She did that sometimes, though, especially when she'd used a phrase that must be more common among muggle like people that Derry didn't know and he'd misunderstood it. So he just grinned in mild sheepishness and curiously waited out her laughter to see what he'd gotten wrong.

Sure enough, he'd gotten cat's pajamas wrong and she hadn't been talking about a cat or its clothing at all. Which is good, because he was pretty sure cats didn't like wearing clothes. A year ago 'awesome sauce' would not have really helped clarify anything, but he'd had a years' exposure to less formal speech. He thought he'd heard some of the other girls use that one, too. So he nodded his understanding of her translation.

Derry nodded sympathetically to Reggie's family situation that prevented pets, and crups especially. "I think I could have had one if I'd wanted it before coming to school, but they'd probably say no now, since I'm only home a couple months a year and crups aren't on the approved pet list." He thought that was kind of unfair to dog people since cats were, but it didn't really affect him, so he wasn't going to make a fuss about it. He shrugged. "Crups are fun, but Mom would have made me clean up after it and feed it and stuff, and that's too much work."

Plus, Three had never had one. He wouldn't be a very good copy if he did something Three hadn't. Derry had always been a little bit worried that Mom wouldn't love him if he wasn't enough like Three.

And if Three got disowned, then did that mean he would, too?

He must have had a worried look on his face because right then Reggie asked about the end of his summer and why it hadn't been as good as the rest of it, and she sounded worried, too.

Derry looked up at her with an alarmed look on his face, not having a good cover story for what happened, but having been told not to tell anybody who wasn't a Pierce. Mom had been very insistent about that. Scared even. Derry dared not disobey.

"I, um, it was, um," he bit his lip and fidgeted with a fold of his school robe and shifted nervously in his seat. Lying had never been something he liked doing, and today with Reggie was no exception, so he just shrugged, and said, "I'm not supposed to talk about it."

1 Derry Four Me too! But I didn't like the last week of break. 189 Derry Four 0 5

Linus

June 08, 2011 10:28 AM

It's not a party without cake by Linus

He was beginning to wonder exactly how he'd managed to end up talking to three girls. Where were the other boys in his year? Linus was sure he'd seen some other boys turn red in the sorting, and yet here he was, talking with Brianna, whose parents picked her name out of a book, Jenny, who was surely called Jennifer - Linus didn't approve of name-shortening - and Cherry, which was hopefully an example of why he didn't approve of name-shortening. Surely her parents couldn't have been cruel enough to actually name their daughter after a fruit, in which case his yearmate was using the name intentionally over her given, full and proper name. It almost made Linus squirm in his seat just to talk to her.

When his reading was questioned, Linus replied, "Of course I've started reading already. Haven't you?" Brianna, who was easily the more sane of the group of girls, claimed that she had read at least the first couple of chapters, too. It wasn't as if Linus had read the entire collection of his new textbooks from cover to cover, but it only made sense to have some idea of what he would be learning. Girls really needed to learn to think ahead.

Linus wasn't sure what the conversation about Muggleborns and purebloods meant, so he left that one well alone. He thought he was familiar with the word Muggle, and that it meant someone who didn't have magic, like the rest of his family. The term Muggleborn, then, probably refered to someone like him, but Linus disagreed with its implications; he hadn't been born a Muggle, he had been born a wizard. He just hadn't found that out until recently. As for having pure blood... that was an interesting concept. Brianna owned to it in a very definite manner, which caused Linus to suspect it was more than just a personal assessment. He would have to look into this pureblood concept in greater detail. He wasn't going to ask the girls about it; ignorance was a weakness.

"I have considered law enforcement," Linus replied to Brianna's query, "but I haven't made any definite decisions yet. Learning magic might open up a whole new set of possibilities I hadn't considered before. I just know that it's my duty to help those less fortunate thatn me." In Linus' eyes, there were so many people less fortunate. he really had his work cut out. "How about you two," he asked Jenny and Cherry after Brianna had owned her excitement to study animals and charms. "Any idea of which classes you'll enjoy?"

0 Linus It's not a party without cake 0 Linus 0 5

Rachel

June 08, 2011 10:53 AM

I thought Eliza was your sister. by Rachel

There were a lot of responses Rachel thought it wouldn’t have been unreasonable to expect after asking the most generic of all the possible generic Opening Feast questions.

Being asked out was not one of them.

‘Fine, how was yours?’ seemed to be the standard, at least between people who weren’t close, and the only people she thought would open on a more emotional note were over at the Aladren table. ‘Not so great’ wouldn’t have been too strange, either; she was a prefect now, so now maybe people would feel they could come to her with issues, or maybe someone just felt honest. She had heard there were people like that. A rude hand gesture from someone having a really bad day and not feeling up to small talk would not have been completely out of the question, either, though Rachel thought she might have had a slight problem with restraining herself from trying to damage the fingers involved in such a gesture anyway. There was no call for that kind of thing.

But no. She was not one of those people who went around thinking she must have heard wrong, even in a crowded room, and Nic Sawyer had definitely just said ‘will you go to the ball with me, Rachel?’

After a second of surprise in which she came as close to doubting her ears as she got, then, and a moment more of contemplation, she shrugged and said, “Sure.”

Sonora’s free male population was small, after all. With Tobar gone, fifth year had a grand total of one male in it, and he was both someone she loathed and pretty much off the market anyway. The sixth years weren’t much better, and so the competition for dates in the upper years was going to be fierce, and if she remembered the last ball right, prefects had to lead the dancing. She couldn’t very well do that by herself, and as she’d previously noted, she didn’t know anyone else. She’d spent too much of her school years hanging out with Veronica, maintaining friendly ties with Alessa, and doing Raines’ homework to have gotten to know many people. Besides, he’d seemed nice enough, if quiet, last year, and it wasn’t like she was marrying the guy. If he did prove intolerable, she’d just break it off, and that would be that. She’d been planning, before she noticed she was sitting next to the guy in question, to float the rumor she was considering him tonight anyway, so that what had happened would have a greater chance of happening and so, even if he was gossip-deaf, at least other girls would think twice about approaching until she decided if it was going to come to doing the asking herself.

She felt a little bad about Jethro, her last date, but he hadn’t even asked her himself the first time, so it didn’t seem too likely that he would this time, and she was pretty sure she’d seen him hanging with the Carey Rachel privately called “Laura Ingalls” a few times last year, too. Laura was in fourth year now, so it wouldn’t be creepy if they were a cute little weirdo couple together. So it was all good.

She thought back through something else the headmaster had said, and added, “Just don’t wear tights, okay? I know it’s time period appropriate or whatever, but I think we can call that overrated when it comes to pants. I’ll get back to you about what color I’m wearing, like…soon? I don’t know how long it’s going to take to owl it all out with home. They really need to tell us about these stupid themes ahead of time.” She bit her lip. “I’m not sure if I want to really go with it or just get something made that’s basically modern but ‘inspired by.’”

She was, however, fairly certain that her current audience wasn’t interested in the debate. “Sorry,” she said with a smile. “I’ll save the girl talk for my girlfriends. Did you have a good summer? Do anything interesting?”

16 Rachel I thought Eliza was your sister. 154 Rachel 0 5

Jethro Smythe

June 08, 2011 5:02 PM

Being invisible by Jethro Smythe

The journey back to Sonora was the same. The summer had been the same. This year was, no doubt, going to be the same. Oh, wait, actually. The summer hadn't quite been the same. There had been CATS results. Jethro hadn't opened them himself; Cynthia had seen the owl, taken its delivery, told Jethro that she was going to open his results, paused for a response that didn't occur, then she opened the envelope. Jethro thought it was better that way, because he would have gotten confused if she'd had to look himself. "Congratulations," she had said. "You passed charms and transfiguration. I'll tell your parents." She never called them 'our' parents, Jethro had noticed, even though he knew without a doubt that they were her parents, too. Anyway, she'd eventually given him the paper to look at so he could see how badly he'd failed the other subjects, but he didn't mind. He got to stay at Sonora, which meant that he wouldn't have to stay home and be tutored on his own, and he would get to spend time with Jane Carey again.

In short, everything was the same, and that was exactly how Jethro liked it. He contentedly made his way into the Cascade Hall, sat down with the other Crotalus students, and didn't bother to look for any of his friends because he wasn't sure he had any. He listened to the Headmaster's speech, thought very vaguely about going to the Midsummer Ball with Jane Carey (he'd gone with Rachel Bauer last time and although she had been nice they hadn't really spoken to each other since - Jethro thought he'd have more to talk about with Jane), and stared blankly at the lyrics sheet while everyone else sang a school song. That was new.

Soon enough all the start of year things were over with - prefects had been named, songs had been sung, and food had arrived - so Jethro settled in to enjoy the feast. This was one of the best things about Sonora; the food. He got good food at home, but never this much selection, and his family tended to eat fussy food. A lot of it was pink, and there was often curly green stuff on the side that Jethro still didn't know what to do with. Then there were different sets of cutlery and it was all very confusing. Here there was just food, and he could eat whatever he wanted. He served himself meat and vegetables, and then looked around for some potatoes. they were just out of reach, so he asked the person next to him, "Excuse me, could you please pass the potatoes."

0 Jethro Smythe Being invisible 146 Jethro Smythe 0 5

Valerie Lennox

June 08, 2011 7:35 PM

A bundle of nerves by Valerie Lennox

The wagon trip to Sonora had been horrible. Valerie was feeling tired and dizzy and just a bit nauseous. She had spent the trip from St. Louis feeling in danger of losing both her breakfast and her lunch which she had forced down before leaving today. Valerie hadn't had any appetite at all but was afraid that if she didn't eat anything her parents might make her stay home after all.

Charles and Tamara Lennox were very protective of their elder daughter because Valerie had always been rather delicate, health-wise. She had been so worried that they weren't going to let her come at all.

However, now that she was standing in the Cascade Hall with so many unfamiliar people, she was feeling more anxious than ever and it really wasn't good for Valerie to get herself excited. What if they disliked her and thought she was weak or overdramatic for getting sick all the time? For not being able to handle the stuff that most eleven year olds could?

At least the Sorting process would not be a surprise to Valerie. Her father had made sure to explain it to her so she wouldn't get too nervous worrying about it, though he had told her not to tell her sister Melanie. Melanie could handle surprises and Valerie could not. Her father had even found out the ingredients in the potion and told her that there was nothing in there that she was allergic to.

Valerie was however, still nervous about which house she was going to be in. Teppenpaw sounded the best because the people in it were supposed to be nice and caring but her parents wanted her to be in Crotalus because it was the most respectable. Aladren would be okay, she supposed, Valerie had spent a good part of her childhood reading as she wasn't allowed to do much else, but her mother would not be pleased if she went into Pecari. Though based on the house description, it didn't sound like Valerie would go there anyway.

The eleven year old accepted the cup from Coach Pierce, someone she knew her mother especially did not approve of and took a drink. Valerie's extremely pale skin flushed a brilliant red which under other circumstances would have worried Valerie immensely but in this case meant that she was in Crotalus.

She followed the rest of the red firsties to the Crotalus table. There was a huge group forming and a boy and girl talking not far from Valerie but she wasn't comfortable joining either group. She was unaccustomed to so many people. Valerie's parents never let her attend parties both due to her age and health reasons and even though she had had etiquette lessons and done well in them, she had never really put them into practice much and didn't know what to say. To join the group of four would be overwhelming and to join the other two seemed like interrupting. Therefore Valerie sat by herself and hoped someone else would join her.

11 Valerie Lennox A bundle of nerves 204 Valerie Lennox 0 5

David Kim

June 08, 2011 7:58 PM

Now for something borrowed! by David Kim

David took the napkins wordlessly, no small part of him wondering why, if they were at a magical school, someone wasn’t magically resolving the problem. After all, if he was going to fly across the country, travel over a desert in an enchanted wagon, and then drink a beverage that changed his skin color, you’d think the place would have come up with a spell or charm to instantly dry his pants. He kept his disappointment unvoiced and instead wiped at his lap and tried not to look too silly with it.

”I am Preston Stratford, from the Vermont Stratford’s.”

David couldn’t quite check his look of puzzlement at the introduction. Was this some sort of wizarding tradition, to state your name and delineation? Or did the name Stratford, specifically from Vermont, carry some nuance of significance that he wasn’t familiar with? He briefly ran his mind over the six or seven texts he’d managed to consume in the past week. But none of his textbooks had contained a primer for wizarding culture, and Preston Stratford’s introduction was apparently strife with it.

“David Kim from the 1st Street Kims,” he ad-libbed, having no desire to show his ignorance. He made to take the offered hand and then deferred, gesturing to the napkins and-- he sniffed slightly; was that pumpkin juice?-- the very orange mess. “It might be better to forgo manners, yeah? Bit sticky at the moment.”

With that thought on mind, David delicately lifted the small satchel that he’d not let go of since leaving his bedroom 15 hours earlier-- minus the two ventures through airport security, of course-- and poked carefully through to one of the small bottles of sanitizer he always had on hand. Stickiness resolved, he reconsidered the table cautiously. “Preston, how careful would you say Sonora is with its allergy warnings? That is, I cannot have anything with gluten, dairy, peanuts, tomatoes, or strawberries. Or,” and David paused, suddenly far more lively, “any chance you lot have a potion that takes care of allergies? Negates them or the like?”

0 David Kim Now for something borrowed! 0 David Kim 0 5

Renée Errant

June 08, 2011 9:21 PM

We have so much in common! by Renée Errant

She was thirteen and she had earrings. Renée couldn't stop playing with the sizable gold hoops, the feel of the metal, slightly heated by the Arizona sun, bouncing against the darkly tanned cheek. She'd had a coming out party in Madrid along with the other sons and daughters of the most important families of Spain, and a quiet ceremony at her father’s synagogue to formalize her becoming a bat mitzvah (Soledad and Oro were never to find out that she kept up her muggle familial relationships other than the unavoidable one with her father). A pureblood woman. A Jewish woman. Somehow it was only the earrings that made her actually feel adult. ‘Maybe it’s because I’m not actually a pureblood.’ She had taken to whispering that particular truth within her own mind, afraid that if she thought it too loudly it might be found out. ‘And I’ve never felt particularly Jewish.’ She could relate to the suffering part of that culture (she’d waited a whole thirteen years for these damn earrings) and the melodies she sang along with and listened to moved her but the actual meaning was lost.

She had arrived at Sonora finally, summer vacation officially over but continued playing in her mind. The parties, the earrings, the music, the earrings, the dancing, the earrings, the waterfront, the mixture of family members (she hadn’t known she had so many cousins), the small freedoms of getting to go off on her own into town (cobble streets of Seville blended into alleyways and the smell of chicken, tomatoes, and washing hung out to dry under the hot sun), the earrings, Gabriel kissing her on her forehead before leaving, the confusing mixture of teenage girls demanding who the hot boy was (‘Dónde lo conociste? Siempre te beso?’), learning that her brother was hot, the earrings, muscles straining from the kayak, being taught more ways how to enjoy the water, glancing at a pretty maid and blushing, the earrings, her abuelo touching her hair and declaring her decent for a halfblood, her abuela braiding her hair and calling her a disgrace for a pureblood, the earrings, writing a letter to Sophia, waiting for a reply, rolling her wand between her fingers and forcing herself to not try any magic, sneaking out at night to play on her broom, skin darkening day by day under the hot Spanish sun, skin illuminated each night by the half moons she flew over, practicing Quidditch as best she could, flinging fruit through the air and catching them... and then there were the earrings.

She felt flushed and exhausted just thinking about it, her mind unable to pinpoint one clear vision of her summer. It all melded together in reds and golds. Renée settled down into a seat, her forest green robes altered once more by Marianna so that the sleeves hung with a flourish just above her wrists, and the belt drooping slightly diagonally, helping to accentuate the new curves she was developing. She had been teased by a few cousins about all the weight she was sure to gain from all the food she ate (a compliment to them) but ever since she was little she could scarf down whatever she wanted and remain thin. Her metabolism apparently betrayed her this time but Renée rather liked the places the new fat chose to settle. 'I'm a real woman now. Thirteen. Earrings. I'm real.' Every time she passed the mirror she had the impossible urge to hug herself. She'd been wondering what it would be like to have a sister she could always hug whenever she wanted it. Someone just like her; soft skin but the slight strength in her arms and legs from all the kayaking, running, and chasing she had done.

There was a school song, new firsties, something about a ball, and then sitting, and then a question."Excuse me, could you please pass the potatoes." Renée reached for the bowl and passed it to the older Crotalus next to her. "Trade you for the turkey." She smiled and nodded over at her favorite dish she always had the fortune of spotting within seconds. White meat with mashed sweet potatoes draping over it. She wasn't sure which house-elf at the kitchens was supposed to be her thanksgiving soul mate, but she knew she had that invisible connection with them. "Probably the second most wondrous thing in all of Sonora is this right here." She beamed all around her. Almost nothing beat the first day coming back to Sonora. The fresh feeling, the tired feeling, the engulfment of noise, hugs and squeals. She was tempted to hum the new school song but was able to restrict it to her head. It had taken her a whole summer to learn that much self-control. 'I deserve a party.' She started to wonder a little bit about what had been mentioned about the ball. 'One day I'll learn to listen.'

0 Renée Errant We have so much in common! 0 Renée Errant 0 5

Cherry Bosko

June 08, 2011 9:57 PM

It is if there are cupcakes. by Cherry Bosko

Cherry considered lying to Jenny and telling her that no, her name actually was Cherry, not Charity. Then she wouldn't have people comparing her name to her actions or wondering if she was a puritan transplanted from a different century. But Jenny would find out when the teachers called down the rosters anyway, so instead she said, "Yes, it is," and left it at that.

Linus Lines Up the Ladies and Pureblooded Brianna had both read ahead in the textbook. So the madness was not just reserved to one muggleborn kid--seriously, a pureblood reading ahead? Cherry could understand for a muggleborn wanting to learn more about the magical world before stepping in, but Brianna should have already known all about it. She was a Pureblood. Cherry wasn't even a pureblood. She was just a halfblood because her father's parents had been muggleborn. Seriously, though? Hadn't they had anything better to do in their last few days at home? Cherry had been busy playing with her little sister, shopping for all the things on the list, explaining to all her friends that she was going away to boarding school, and flooing hither and yon as her parents tried to get her to see every relative imaginable before she left to celebrate that, yes, the Hodges were still capable of producing wizards even though one of the central families discovered one of their sons was a squib just last year.

Who had time for reading?

"I'll read it when its homework," Cherry declared, "And not a moment before."

Linus kept oddly quiet about being a muggle, so Cherry assumed that he was one. Even a halfblood would answer the question so no one thought he was a mud&!##d. Not that Cherry would ever say that word, but she knew people who would. Cherry had heard her mother's brother say that once about her father's parents when he thought Cherry had gone to bed. Mother had yelled at him and Cherry was glad. But it still just wasn't good to be muggleborn around some people.

Cherry found Linus' desire to help people sort of annoying and a lot condescending. Maybe he should have been named Charity and not her.

But she liked Brianna, even if she was a little too impressed with Linus. Brianna wanted to try new things, meet some magical creatures and learn some wandwork. She also seemed open, like she was just being herself. Cherry liked that.

"My parents wouldn't let me have have any pets either," Cherry commiserated. Her parents wouldn't let her get a dog, which she really wanted. It turned out to be just as well, since a dog was not on the list of allowed pets to bring to Sonora. "So Care of Magical Creatures will be good. But I also haven't been on a broom before, and that looks awesome."

0 Cherry Bosko It is if there are cupcakes. 0 Cherry Bosko 0 5

Jenny Owens

June 08, 2011 10:05 PM

or balloons by Jenny Owens

The conversation had quickly escalated into talk of future hopes and Jenny swallowed nervously. She knew without a doubt what she wanted to do, but was wary about saying anything in front of Linus, who seemed to want to help others whenever he could and therefore was probably not a big fan of wasting opportunities.

And what an opportunity she had! Here she was, surrounded by splendour and magic, dazzled by the incredible effects that this gift they had for spellcraft could create, and all she wanted to be when she was older was an artist. There was no such thing as being a wizarding artist - if you have the ability to do nearly anything, then your works are determined by your skill at spells rather than your talent with your hands and a brush.

'I like Charms,' she said, tactfully yet truthfully. Charms, out of everything, was her favourite. 'I like how there's room for adaptations and variation, whereas there isn't really in subjects like Transfiguration. After that, I guess I like Potions best.' She smiled at them all, flashing her dainty white teeth at them all. 'But I'm not sure what I'm going to do when I'm older.' This, again, was the truth. She knew what she wanted to do, but had no idea how to achieve it with her parents being such strict, traditionalist Purebloods.

'I'm dreading the quidditch though!' She added, gulping dramatically and laughing. 'Hand-eye co-ordination and I don't go well together!' She blushed, self deprecation coming easily to her.

'You could be a teacher,' she remarked to Linus, remembering a thought she had earlier when he had been saying of his wish to help others, 'and teach people who don't have the opportunity to come to places like this. In some parts of the world, there are lots of families that are overlooked because no one knows they exist and they lose out on the chances we have.'

0 Jenny Owens or balloons 0 Jenny Owens 0 5

Marissa Stephenson

June 08, 2011 10:35 PM

Yay, I survived! by Marissa Stephenson

Marissa’s hair was shorter and squarer than it had been in June, the ends only just brushing her shoulders and bangs cut over her forehead, and as she sat down at the Crotalus table, she grabbed her napkin from the surface and, instead of spreading it over her lap, twisted it together between her hands beneath the edge, wishing she’d foregone the eyeliner. It wasn’t an absurd amount, she was sure, but she was equally sure that she still managed to look ridiculous.

She had just…needed something to change. Something about her not to be so cut-and-dried “perfect girl” material. The new haircut didn’t scream “hoyden,” or “rebel” or anything like that – or so she hoped and prayed – but neither did it quite project the image she had grown up with – the girl who was almost too good to be true, who made all As and loved her parents and never put a toe out of line. Since that wasn’t her anymore, by virtue of being literally not capable of making all As in most of her classes, she had thought it sounded like a good idea to fool around and figure out a different image. As soon as she’d done it, though, she had become convinced the hair was hideous, and while she had gotten used enough to it that she thought she at least looked okay and that people weren’t lying when they complimented her on it, she still wanted her old hair back. Why, then, she had thought it was a good idea to wear the eyeliner today, she didn’t know.

She hated this feeling of bouncing back and forth even more than she hated feeling inadequate. At least she was used to inadequacy. It was kind of her default, really. Uncertainty wasn’t unknown to her, but feeling uncertain about her look was. How to make people perceive her the way she wanted to be perceived was something she’d mastered, based on her parents’ anecdotes, as soon as she learned to walk and talk at the same time; she’d never had the problem of not knowing what she wanted to be perceived as before, and it was frustrating.

When the new prefects were announced, Marissa applauded politely, mildly intrigued that they were all girls. Aladren and Teppenpaw had been givens, since Aladren had just had the two girls and the proving-true of the story from last year that Tobar Brishen was leaving Sonora before his fifth year meant Dulce Garcia would have been a shoo-in even if she hadn’t been running that tutoring program to deserve it, but Crotalus and Pecari could have gone either way. Pecari had been statistically more likely to go to a girl just because of how many more of them there were there, but Crotalus had been a fifty-fifty chance.

Not that Marissa was sorry about this. She didn’t know Raines or Rachel particularly well, but had heard…unflattering rumors about the former that made her glad she wasn’t going to have to work with him. Maybe it was all talk and he wasn’t really a prime example of the more unpleasant sort of pureblood, but a Muggleborn female Quidditch player wasn’t someone naturally disposed to wanting to find out the tough way, at least in Marissa’s case.

It never failed to amaze her, though, how different things were from her old life, even after five full years. Racism had been an issue there, but it had been much quieter, at least in the circles she belonged to, not something that got passed around about someone in the rumor mill. Being in at least one sport was expected of girls who wanted to go into good colleges, not seen, so long as they were the right sports, as evidence of being unfeminine, and certainly not evidence of being a homosexual. That part of magical culture, Marissa tried very hard not to think about at all, because she was supposed to be captain next year and it was a little late for Charlie to train a new replacement because Marissa quit because she couldn’t stop paranoidly thinking that everyone who looked at her was thinking she was gay. She just hoped that it was only a few people who were really that dumb. She’d been in sports since she was little, especially if her ballet and tap classes counted, and she was very sure that she was attracted to guys, not other girls.

She sang along with the school song as best she could with the lyrics and melody being completely unfamiliar and her having no time to rehearse, thanking all goodness for those years of church choir for once, and then settled into the Opening Feast. Her second-to-last Opening Feast. It was already weird to think that after next year, she wouldn’t be here anymore, seeing the same faces every day, knowing more than half the school by eye if not by details. If she’d been able to perform worth a bad penny in her classes, she was sure Sonora would have, in some ways, felt more comfortable than home by now. Maybe there was a hidden good side to being a borderline Muggle in a magic school after all.

“Hey,” she said to a person who caught her eye, putting on a fairly standard Marissa smile. “Want to tell me about your summer and pass the bread basket?”

16 Marissa Stephenson Yay, I survived! 147 Marissa Stephenson 0 5

Daniel Nash

June 08, 2011 10:44 PM

Glad that's sorted. by Daniel Nash

Daniel looked down at his plate, still pushed aside to make room for his head on the table, and decided he could tolerate food tonight after all. He shifted it back into place and began filling it with lettuce and other healthy and low-fat foods entirely by habit. Only after it was full of mostly salad did he remember he wasn't going to be on TV wearing only his skivvies anymore, and if he gained an ounce of fat the whole world wasn't going to start talking about it.

He eyed the salad dressing for a weak moment of curiosity but years of conditioning and believing that the stuff was pure evil kept him from reaching for it. Just because his abs were no longer going to be a matter of public record did not mean he should completely let himself go physically.

Besides, there was still Quidditch. He had to stay in top shape for that if he wanted to lead Aladren to its third victory in the Quidditch cup, and cap off his senior year with another Hawk victory.

As he collected his food and considered these things, he kept one ear open and listened to the seemingly never ending questions that the girl - Kitty, he thought he remembered her saying her name was (he wondered offhandedly if she got the name because it was a short form of her actual name or if someone who thought themselves overly clever had tagged her with it because of her curiosity) - spouted off with enthusiasm. He was mildly disappointed the mention of man-eating plants hadn't scared her more and kept her more subdued, but it was probably just as well. He didn't really want to start getting a reputation for scaring little girls.

"There were some wars," he granted, but couldn't get too much more specific than that; magical history wasn't really his best subject since it hadn't been taught at Sonora since his second year and he'd grown up only knowing the muggle version of the Earth's past. The vampire war, though, he would never forget because that had been one of Holly's traumas.

"Mostly any muggles who figured out what was going on got obliviated. That is, they had their memory of it erased. But aside from a minor civil war in the East and a skirmish when some muggles found out where one of the magic schools out East was, back oh . . . " he frowned at Kitty for a moment, realizing that seventeen was really a lot older than eleven, especially when talking about something that happened a decade ago, "about when you were learning to walk, nothing major happened too recently, so modern media hasn't really been too much of an issue and the one time it was, it got retracted as a hoax."

He thought that was how it went. It had been a while since he'd read anything about that time period, and some of the details were a little fuzzy in his head. Being from California, and having only been around seven or eight at the time anyway, he didn't personally remember anything about the newscast that had apparently been broadcast to some Eastern States about Salem Institute and the existence of magic in the world, so he couldn't even offer the muggle side of the story. Though even that did sort of prove just how good wizarding society was at covering their tracks.

"And while Buffy herself," Daniel had no trouble at all figuring out which vampire hunter Kitty had been referencing (though he was kind of surprised that she credited the movie and not the television series), "is entirely fictional, there are vampire hunters out there. They're just not super-powered young girls. They're fully trained adult witches and wizards."

He decided not to dignify her Loch Ness comment with a response (it would be downright embarrassing if he said something and she turned out to be right), but he did nod at her idea of the 'best job ever' though he gave the idea that she'd actually end up doing that no more credence than he did Molly's claims that she wanted to be a wedding planner when she grew up (last summer it had been a fireman, and next summer it would probably be an astronaut or something). "I think that is one of things you can do with degree in Care of Magical Creatures." It was best to humor the young when they explained their career plans or they started pouting.

1 Daniel Nash Glad that's sorted. 130 Daniel Nash 0 5

Kitty

June 08, 2011 11:26 PM

Smiles happily by Kitty

Kitty’s nose wrinkled a bit as she watched Daniel pile salad on his plate. Her mom always harped about eating healthy but it was just so boring. Health food always tasted bad, and Kitty liked her food to actually have flavor. A small hand reached out to snag a little fried mystery ball and with a Cheshire cat grin she popped it in her mouth. Her pale freckled face turned bright red as she half jumped out of her seat and grabbed her glass of pumpkin juice and drank it down. Who in the world would deep-fry a pepper? She thought as she put the fire out in her mouth. It did taste very good, but terribly spicy.

As Daniel spoke Kitty listened eagerly. “Ohhh, that’s just like Men in Black right? Do wizards reprogram the memories too or are people just left with a big blank spot? Because, I think that would probably be noticed if all sorts of people suddenly started losing time.” She said mater of factly.

“So do you have any brothers or sisters? Are they magical too? I have three brothers. Jason, he’s 17 and really super smart, Shawn is 15 and likes to play sports all the time, and then there’s Zach,” She pouted a bit at the name of the last brother. “He’s 14 and mean to me all the time. Why weren’t they magical? I mean I’m the youngest and the only girl, isn’t it strange that I was the only one who got to be magical and they didn’t? Or is it like one of those things where only one person in a regular family can be magical?” Her voice was full of curiosity as this was something that had been bothering her ever sense she found out that she was a witch. Why just her? Her mom wasn’t a witch, and her dad wasn’t a wizard. All of her brothers were normal. So, why her? Bright blue eyes dimmed a bit as she wondered why she was the odd one out.

0 Kitty *Smiles happily* 0 Kitty 0 5

Laurie

June 08, 2011 11:39 PM

Definitely! by Laurie

Laurie blinked, what was an airplane? The redhead stopped eating and stared at Michael. His roommate was a Muggleborn. Wow. The new shiny Teppenpaw tilted his head to the right and continued to stare. A horrible lack of manners, but he was sort of shocked about this new information. Yes, he knew Muggleborns existed, but he had never ever seen one up-front, not because he was prejudiced – he was supposed to be, but he really wasn’t --, but because he lived in a secluded Pureblood community in Vermont. There were no Muggles or Muggleborns, or Half-bloods for that matter, in a big radius around it. He blinked again and closed his mouth, he had just realized it was open (thankfully, without any chewed food).

“Oregon, yeah….”he swallowed. “Sounds awesome,” he commented, a slight blush creeping on his cheeks. He had been super rude to his roommate. “Erm…sorry.” He apologized, a bashful grin on his face. This was probing to be a very interesting adventure! School was awesome.

Laurie decided that Michael changing the subject was not a big deal, he was probably not hungry, and nerves could do that to anyone. Starting at a new school was a very big reason to be swarmed by nerves. “I have been living around magic all of my life, which is my whole eleven-years,” he didn’t know why he had to make that fact known, since it was clear he was eleven, but he had become nervous after his small lapse of polite mannerisms. “I have seen my parents do great things with it, I swear, it is awesome,” he grinned at Michael. “You will see as we begin to learn stuff like Defense Against the Dark Arts, or Transfiguration,” he nodded wisely. Laurie had seen his father transfigure a chair into a dog!

He just hoped that the little incident didn’t create any awkwardness between them, to prevent that, he decided to just start asking questions about airplanes and such. It sounded quite like an interesting way to travel. He hadn’t been a fan of the wagon ride, but it had been sort of fun. “What is an airplane? How does it work? Why is it different than the wagon or how?” he asked curiously. Laurie decided that Michael would make an awesome friend to have around. He was excited to meet the rest of his roommates, by now, he was more than sure that the next seven years of his life were going to be awesome.

0 Laurie Definitely! 0 Laurie 0 5

David Wilkes

June 09, 2011 12:20 AM

Your declaration is duly noted. by David Wilkes

Summer had been cool and all, and he’d – well, he hadn’t hated seeing his parents and sisters, but David wasn’t sorry to be back at Sonora. He didn’t know what was up with that. It looked like the place had just grown on him over the years or something, though he hated that phrase because it made him think, at best, of nonmalignant skin diseases.

The highlight of the holiday had definitely been the camp he had gotten to go to in July. He shouldn’t have been able to get in, lacking teacher recommendations and all, but his mom had talked to his dad – a rare occurrence, and so one of the occasional proofs that she did care – and his dad, likewise, had proven his unspoken affection for his probably-only son by calling a few old friends and talking them up and making things like ‘requirements’ just kind of go away, the same way he did minor legal offenses associated with The Product Of An Ill-Advised First Marriage That We Don’t Talk About. Instead of sitting around the house watching Discovery Channel and pretending that Selena had learned something totally awesome today when it was really something he’d learned years ago, when he was her age and equally clueless, he’d gotten to spend his summer taking some kind of environmental issues/electric vehicle class (proof Dad didn’t really know what he’d signed David up for, but it was the thought that counted) and finished it up with an EV Rally.

His favorite parts had been the problem-solving exercises involving the many ways to bend cardboard and poster paper, which he’d proven surprisingly good at and had won a competition in because he remembered a random fact about the Parthenon and implemented it into his so-tall posterboard construct for holding up encyclopedias, and actually building the electric car. Driving the car, christened ‘Fred’ early on only to have it become an acronym for ‘Fast Running Electric Device’ once they wrote the name on the thing and realized that they needed an explanation why, hadn’t gone so well, though. He’d knocked over every cone on the track during practice, and nearly one of his classmates, and had been banned from ever touching Fred’s wheel again. He thought brooms might have spoiled his car skills.

Samantha from the Quidditch team sat down across from him right before the speech started and David smiled back, though it was a little weird to see her in a dress. He reminded himself, when the school song was dispensed, that they couldn’t laugh at him if he was laughing at him, too, and launched into the lyrics with a little more bravado than skill, hamming it up so it would at least be a parody of itself. It wasn’t so bad after the first two lines, but he still was a little relieved when it was over.

“That was something, huh?” he said to Samantha. “Wonder if he’s planning to do that all the time or anything?” Singing the school song before every meal sounded like the kind of weird boarding school tradition he had read about in some books but had never really experienced at Sonora. It was a nice boarding school, where they were pretty much left alone to do what they wanted so long as that didn’t involve assaulting each other. Though that, itself, was a little bit unnerving to him, sometimes, and he was convinced that there were secretly cameras – or the magical equivalent thereof; he was sure there was something, but remembered consistently now that electricity didn’t work right here – all over the school, so the staff really did know what they were doing and were just seeing how they’d handle themselves and what survival skills they’d develop. It didn’t sound much different than his elementary school or Annabeth’s middle school stories, and they didn’t even have five years of mandatory self-defense classes.

16 David Wilkes Your declaration is duly noted. 169 David Wilkes 0 5

Michael

June 09, 2011 5:43 AM

Bravely Bold Sir Laurie... by Michael

For some reason, Laurie had begun to stare at Michael like he had sprouted an extra head. His first instinct was to reach up to smooth the hair over his ears, just to check it was still in place. It was. So Laurie wasn't gaping because he had seen. Michael doubted he'd been able to put it together from his behaviour yet. Which meant it was probably what he'd said. He fidgeted a little uncomfortably in his seat, worrying that he had actually managed to offend his roommate. Brilliant start. But then Laurie repeated his answer about living in Oregon and seemed to snap out of it.

Laurie explained that he'd been around magic his whole life and seemed to enthuse a little more on the subject. Michael grinned back, glad to see the bounce back in the other boy.

“I'm sure it'll be really interesting once I start learning it. The Hall's really amazing too,” he added, just to reinforce the point that he definitely didn't hate magic. Although at Laurie's next question, the thought occurred to him that it hadn't been offence written over the other boy's features but confusion, or fascination.

“An airplane is a... a Muggle flying machine,” he began. That was already a strange enough sounding phrase, that made it sound like a contraption from a Victorian children's story... 'Professor Claptrap and His Muggle Flying Machine.' “Erm, it's big... and made of metal. They're used to transport like... a hundred Muggles at once,” that was pretty much a guess, but it was a lot and a hundred was a lot so that seemed fair, “and they're really fast and have big comfy seats,” that was possibly the strangest part of the description so far. He never thought he'd catch himself saying aeroplane seats were comfortable. “Well, more comfortable,” he reasoned, “They're more like actual chairs than just wooden benches. As for how it works...” he paused, chewing a little of his chicken. “That's complicated.... There's fuel, which is.... stuff that you can burn and that makes some stuff move somehow, which is called an engine, and then the engine makes the whole plane move... And then it can fly cos of physics. Which is science... It's.... do to with forces and stuff.” He figured that wasn't a particularly helpful explanation but then he figured that Laurie might not be any better able to tell him what made the wagons fly – advanced technology in both their worlds was probably a little bit beyond both of them at this point. “Do you know much about how the wagons work?” he asked, partly because he was interested, partly to illustrate to Laurie why he couldn't really give him a good explanation of why planes worked and partly because this was likely to be a lot of information that, whilst interesting, he didn't need to pay as much attention to. If it came up later, he could always pretend that he hadn't understood it well, being new at the time, and it was unlikely to contain much information that he needed to respond to. He would do his best to follow, but it would be nice to have a little break where he could put more concentration into having some dinner.

13 Michael Bravely Bold Sir Laurie... 199 Michael 0 5

Dennis Couch

June 09, 2011 6:20 AM

Making it to the Feast. Sort of. by Dennis Couch

OOC: This is continued from the Labyrinth Gardens, and also doesn't address the full post of the Sorting Feast yet. That will have to follow when/if Dennis is collared... BIC:

Dennis was less than gracious as he pushed the noise reduction earbud back into his ear, cutting out the rest of the explanation as he followed the girl with just the clothes he was wearing and his case - the trunk abandoned by the side of the path. What had his parents been thinking, sending him to a place they didn't have electricity. Just that magic stuff which apparently he had a gift for (and, in hindsight, perhaps explain a few of the stranger things he'd had happen during his life a little more thoroughly than the old explanation - Vegas - had). He wondered, with a sudden dropping of his stomach, whether there would even be a music department at this school. He'd always intended to get into Las Vagas Academy when he was old enough. The boarding school thing hadn't really been something he was fussed about, but his parents had seemed to think it was some kind of big deal and, despite not really being the type to let others opinions sway him, that they were his parents had left him with little say in the situation.

He wondered, briefly, whether he should have done more than given a cursary glance at his acceptance letter (possibly even wondered why he'd get an acceptance letter to a school he had no recollection at ever applying for even) and maybe listened when the representative had come to talk to his parents and Dennis himself.

They went into the Hall, and Dennis paused for a moment. There were actual waterfalls cascading down the walls. Inside. It wasn't quite like he'd never seen the like before - both his parents worked in Casinos, and he'd seen some pretty cool stuff inside them. But those were what you pulled off with ridiculous amounts of money when you wanted to impress other people with ridiculous amounts of money. And maybe distract them to get them to part with some of that money.

There was something going on closer to the front of the room where the rest of the new students were, but he wasn't paying attention to that, let alone even able to hear it with his ear buds in. He wandered closer to the walls, to see the cascading water closer. It was a pretty cool trick, but how, he wondered, did they manage it without the room being deluged? There wasn't a barrier or visible pool for it to gather in. He cut a fairly obvious figure against the pouring water. Not only was his bright red hair (only partly hidden by his baseball cap) a vast contrast to the flowing white and blue, but there was his red shirt, new jeans above his black chucks and the banjo case slung on his back.

His new school robes were buried in his trunk, unheeded.

39 Dennis Couch Making it to the Feast. Sort of. 0 Dennis Couch 0 5

Dana Smythe

June 09, 2011 7:21 AM

Escorting you further by Dana Smythe

It was going reasonably well, Dana supposed. She'd gotten the first year into the Hall, and encouraged him to abandon his trunk to be seen to by the pairie elves. It didn't occur to her until she saw him in the same room as the other firts years that he wasn't wearign his uniform robes. She chewed the inside of her lip as she hesitated. She could just go and sit down, find Alison, and catch up on their summers. She could ignore the first year - it wasn't as though anyone expected her to take care of the younger students; she wasn't prefect or anything like that - and enjoy the opening feast. Of course, that wasn't what she was going to do. A thought that had occured to her a lot lost term had been that she always did what she was supposed to, what people expected of her. She was a good girl, and she'd already put so much effort into being the perfect daughter that it was foolish to go and ruin everything so close to her graduation. Her parents were probably going to be looking into potential betrothals this term so they didn't end up with a Cecily scenario, and Dana wasn't going to do anything to jeopardize that. Besides, she'd only feel guilty if little Muggleborn firstie got himself into troubel, and then what if he was in Pecari?

Sighing, Dana followed to where he was apparently inspecting the waterfalls. She said 'hey' a couple of times, and then tapped him on his shoulder for good measure. She would tell him to go stand with the other first years and be sorted, ask him where his school robes were and ask him to put them on, and when he was sorted and seated at the right table then she could leave him be. If he was sorted into Pecari, Dana's own House, then she would leave him with some other first or second years and then find a seat somewhere they weren't required to communicate. It was nothing to do with him - he was probably lovely - but she didn't like being out of her depth in conversation with an eleven-year-old.

"Do you have your school robes?" she asked the kid once she'd gotten his attention. Then, because it might be easier to get his attention in the future, she said, "What's your name?"

0 Dana Smythe Escorting you further 142 Dana Smythe 0 5

Jethro

June 09, 2011 7:47 AM

... I don't see that. by Jethro

A younger student passed the required dish, which Jethro accepted with verbalised thanks. Then she asked for the turkey. At least, that's what Jethro presumed she said, though he didn't connect the words that came from her mouth with any sort of request. She was looking at the turkey dish, so Jethro ran with his gut instinct and passed her the turkey before dishing himself some vegetables. He'd just picked up his cutlery to begin eating when the younger student spoke again. She had a peculiar way of speaking, like she just picked words almost at random and pushed them unceremoniously into a sentence together to make only a vague sort of sense. Jethro much preferred it when people just spoke plainly and aplomb, rather than confusing him with unnecessary embellishment and frivolous creativity.

"The second most wonderous thing?" Jethro repeated, lowering his cutlery. It wasn't evident that he was questioning her turn of phrase as opposed to whatever it was she was referencing. She seemed quite pleased, whatever it was she was on about, for which Jethro was glad. he found it was often easier to talk to a person when they were in a clement mood than otherwise. People were also less likely to find jethro annoying and tell him to go away if they were cheerful before he began talking to them.

As his stomach emitted an audible growl, which was definitely not good etiquette, though Jethro had never been able to control it, the sixth year decided it was definitely time to begin eating. He picked up his knife and fork again and took a mouthful of food before he was expected again to talk. he had often reflected that conversation and mealtimes didn't go together especially well, and it vexed him that this was still the practise in all respectable society when it clearly hindered both endeavours.

0 Jethro ... I don't see that. 0 Jethro 0 5

Perdita Rothens

June 09, 2011 7:52 AM

New School, new people, oh my, I just might faint! by Perdita Rothens

Perdita entered Cascade Hall with the other first years. She was terribly nervous. It wasn't a feeling she was used to, but this, this was a life changing moment! She was in a magical school, whereas months before she hadn't even known magic existed. She took a deep breath and glanced around at the teachers who stood in front. The Headmaster, David Regal, cleared his throat and began to speak. She listened intently. When Coach Peirce handed her the potion, she sipped it. For a moment, it didn't do anything. Perdita panicked. Did that mean she didn't belong here?! Oh no! She wanted to be here!

Slowly but surely, her skin began to turn a beautiful blue. Perdita sighed in relief. Thank Merlin! She glanced around to find her fellow Aladrens and settled down. The Headmaster continued to speak, and it finally hit her. This was real. She was in a magical school, learning how to be a witch. It was... amazing! A sheet of parchment appeared before her eyes. Tentatively, she took it and sang along. Oh, how she loved to sing! She wasn't great, but she was good. When it was over, the food came, and everything looked delicious. She turned to the student on her left.

"Hello, my name is Perdita. What's yours?"

0 Perdita Rothens New School, new people, oh my, I just might faint! 0 Perdita Rothens 0 5

Charlotte Abbott

June 09, 2011 8:27 AM

See, told you so. by Charlotte Abbott

Striding into her last ever opening feast at Sonora, Charlotte was both confident and nostalgic. She remembered her first feast, the moment she'd first set foot in Sonora. She'd been so delighted by the beauty of the Cascade Hall, and had been so excited throughout Headmaster Bulla's speech that she'd had to sit on her hands. She'd happened to sit down next to Lita, and that had been the start of the closest friendship she'd ever had with anyone. She glanced over towards the new first years gathering near the front of the hall, and smiled to herself. She hoped Sonora would be as amazing for them as it had been for her. Then, white stiletto heels of her shoes clacking prettily on the marble floors, Charlie strode over to sit with the other Crotalus students.

Spying Marissa, Charlie made her way over. The Assistant Captain had been so sure that she'd failed her exams that Charlie'd actually been concerned it might be true, depsite how unlikely it seemed. Seeing Marissa sitting there with a shiny new hair style was a sure sign that the exams hadn't gone that badly after all. "Loving the hair," Charlie said as she sat down. Her own hair was unchanged in its dark, wavy appearance, but she had swept it up and pinned a semi-chic coiffure so only the occasional stray tendil escaped to rest on her uniform robes, which were covering a white crotched sundress and shell necklace, both chosen for their contrast to her magnificent tan.

Charlotte settled down to listen to Headmaster Regals speech and found plenty about which to get excited. Professor Kijewski was back (although Charlie wasn't taking Care of Magical Creatures anymore, she had always liked Prof K), Coach Pierce was Deputy Head (she was probably Charlie's favorite staff member, if she had to choose one), there was going to be a ball at the end of the year (excellent; she always loved a good party, and this one gave plenty of scope for dressing it up 16th century style), and there was a school song to sing, which Charlie did in full enjoyment, missing a good deal of the notes as she'd never heard it before. She was in exceedingly good spirits when marissa asked about her summer.

"It was phenomenal," Charlie replied, passing the bread over. "I spent two weeks in Mexico with Adelita and her family." She thought that pretty much summed up how awesome her holidays had been without her having to add further details. moving Oliver and Lutece into their new place had been fun, too, but unless a person knew that Charlie'd spent most of this time with James Anthony they probably wouldn't think it had been worth mentioning. "Before that I hung out with James a lot," she added instead, "although to be honoest it was all a bit over-shadowed by the second half," she laughed.

"Anyway," Charlie said, helping herself to an assortment of salad vegetables - now she was back at school it was no carbohydrates until midterm - "I want to hear about your summer. I gather I owe you an 'I told you so'?"

0 Charlotte Abbott See, told you so. 135 Charlotte Abbott 0 5

Dennis

June 09, 2011 9:42 AM

Going to open your own BSC? by Dennis

Dennis started at the tap on his shoulder, the movement almost causing him to dislodge the banjo case. He automatically corrected it as he turned around, using the same hand to slip an earbud out again.

"Huh?" he said, even as he recognised it as the much older girl from before. "Wha- robes?" For the first time he noticed what she was wearing. And, a moment later, what the rest of the people in the room were wearing. Well, most. Those who were clearly students. "We have to wear those?" he asked, distaste clear in the wrinkling of his overly long nose - an awkward manouver to witness at the best of times.

It had been bad enough having to wear the new shirt and jeans, rather than his own preferred clothes. Now they expected him to wear a uniform? He wondered, briefly, if it was too late to ask for a ride back home.

"I thought those were some kind of joke," he confessed. "I think they're stuffed in my trunk with that stick I had to get." He paused for a moment, as a vague recollection filtered through. "Wand, I mean," he ammended. "Oh, Dennis. That's me. My name." He glanced up. "Pity there isn't time to do anything but go to that sorting thing, eh?" he commented, not in the least bit sorry. He didn't really care if he stuck out because he wasn't wearing the same thing as everyone else. Truth be told, he preferred it. Uniforms were a bizarre concept.

39 Dennis Going to open your own BSC? 0 Dennis 0 5

Dana

June 09, 2011 9:57 AM

It's not on my to-do list by Dana

This conversation might actually be getting worse, Dana considered. He couldn't hear when he had those things in his ears, he didn't know they had to wear robes, and so they were in his trunk... didn't they tell Muggleborns about things like this? All of that, and Dennis didn't seem to care that he was the only first year not wearing robes. He was the reason a headache was starting to develop at her temples.

"My name's Dana, I'm in seventh year," she told him. "I would find you some robes, but I'm not sure there's actually time," she frowned as she saw Coach Pierce preparing to bring over the potion and Headmaster Regal standing to call attention. "You don't have to wear them all the time," she commented on the uniform robes, "but to classes and important events like the opening feast you really need to wear them." She probably would have made more of an effort to get him some robes if he'd actually seemed to care.

"Come on over here," she ushered him to where the other first years were standing. She was aware that she probably stood out herself, now, being taller than the first years even though she was a little below average for her own age group. "You just have to drink this p- this liquid," for some reason she felt it wouldn't help the matter to call the drink a potion, "and then you'll know which House you're in and you can go and meet your Housemates." Please, she begged internally, just let him take the potion and not be in Pecari.

0 Dana It's not on my to-do list 0 Dana 0 5

Samantha

June 09, 2011 11:13 AM

Thank you. Have you a declaration to make? by Samantha

The Headmaster sure had a lot to say this year. Something about celebrating some dead guy, some old teachers coming back, and a lot of other stuff. Samantha was actually quite pleased to discover they had a school song. She actually liked all the fancy traiditions and the concept of etiquette, depsite how little it tended to apply to her own life. She sang the school song loudly, as best as she could without really knowing how it went, and smirked a little at David's interpretation. She presumed that within the week there would be alternative lyrics running through the school, and then everyone might be singing the adaptation with David's enthusiasm. "Wonder if he’s planning to do that all the time or anything?" he asked.

"I hope so," Samantha replied with a smile. "I think it's fun. School songs, sixteenth century ball - when else are you going to get to do this stuff?" She laughed a little, because under the wrong circumstances both those things could be painfully traumatic, but right now she was happy to embrace them; they weren't activities she would be taking part in if she was at her brother's Muggle school. then again, he didn't get to do potions or transfiguration either, but Samantha did those things every day, so their novelty had worn off in the past few years. Three of them, actually. Fourth year, wow. That was a concept.

"So are you happy to be back at school?" Samantha asked David (whose name she'd always remembered because he shared it with her brother). She didn't notice that the usual question was focused more on the summer part than the being back at school part. It was the latter that was more enjoyable to Samantha, anyway. She had begun serving herself sausages and mashed potato. She was considering whether or not to add broccoli, because although she didn't especially like the vegetable she'd been in the habit of eating greens at home, and thought maybe she should try to improve her eating habits while at school. now that she was actually paying attention to her figure it would be a shame to lose it. She had no intention of playing Quidditch this year, so unless they introduced another sport, or brought soccer back, she wouldn't get any exercise. Decision made, she reached for the broccoli and added a handful of trees to her plate.

0 Samantha Thank you. Have you a declaration to make? 0 Samantha 0 5

Jose Hernandez

June 09, 2011 12:45 PM

Mine really sounds more like an H by Jose Hernandez

He was a little taken about by the girl's surprise when he said his name. A little later though, he figured she'd just recognized it from her cousin's tales of Sonora, and he disregarded it. Clearly, she just hadn't expected, sitting a table full of strangers, to run into one of the handful of people Andrew talked about.

Apparently, he had two little firsties to look out for in Pecari this year. Simon had already instructed him to make sure Sully had everything he needed, and now, out of friendship for Andrew, it only seemed fair to so the same for one of his best friend's cousins. She seemed nice enough, so it shouldn't be any trouble.

Especially since the first topic she brought up was Quidditch. Jose grinned. He probably wasn't as obsessive about the sport as some of the other people in the school (most notably his own Assistant Captain), but it was a fun and easy topic for conversation. "Yeah, I'm the captain of Pecari's team," he agreed, "though I'm not sure I'd go so far as to say I'm a great player. Mostly, I'm just the oldest."

"Mel, there," he pointed down the table to the tallest girl sitting at it, "she's my assistant, and one of the two best beaters in the school, though." While he couldn't say with any certainty that she was better than Edmond after Aladren's last game, she was certainly the second oldest, largest, and most experienced Beater Sonora had. Of course, since all of the other ones besides Mel and Edmond were now only second years, he wasn't sure if that was saying much. But she was really good and getting better every year.

"I'd have to see you fly to know if you'd be any good, but that's what try-outs are for. You're welcome to come to them. Worst that'll happen is that you get put on the reserve team for the first year or two. That's where I started. I only joined in the first place because Saul made me." It occurred to him that Andrew's stories may not have included Saul, so he added, "That's my older cousin. He's long since graduated, though."

Strange, when he thought about it. Looking back, he could remember being afraid of flying too high, but when he was in the air these days, it didn't even occur to him to worry about falling. Confidence and experience were tremendous things, and he wondered if he'd even be able to do his balance act now if he hadn't gotten over the heights thing in Quidditch.

1 Jose Hernandez Mine really sounds more like an H 149 Jose Hernandez 0 5

Raines Bradley

June 09, 2011 1:02 PM

Must...find...spin.... by Raines Bradley

Raines Bradley was very aware of what fifth year meant, and, not least because it distracted him from other things at home, had been thinking about it all summer. Hours had gone into having his hair cut and - though he would die before he would admit to it in public, or even in private generally, and would do his best to destroy anyone else who ever found out about it - having his nails done and selecting which of the new outfits and slightly-out-of-his-parents'-actual-payscale new sets of robes he'd had made over the summer to wear today. Still more time had gone into selecting what to have made and being fitted for it. He'd made the house elf re-shine his shoes twice this morning, just to be safe, so that when he left, he had been able to look at his feet and see his face reflected pretty reliably back at him. He had even had his reading glasses freshly polished in case something came up that he had to look at, so that no one would see a fleck of dust on this day.

This day, after all, was important. CATS were at the end of the year, and would involve fairly exhausting preparatory rituals of their own, but they were not what he was focusing on, at least until tomorrow. Then, the professors could have his undivid - well, most of his attention, anyway. Tonight, though, there was only one thing he was interested in.

The prefects were going to be announced.

He had it, of course. There was no doubt in his mind about that. What were they going to do, seriously hand the Crotalus badge to some half-blood girl when there was a perfectly appropriate alternative candidate? No. That was impossible. But knowing that he'd really had the badge as soon as soon as his roommates left Sonora was no good reason not to look his best when he received the preliminary to the Head Boy's badge he planned to pin on in two years, so he considered all his primping to have been well worth it, all for that moment when Headmaster Regal said -

" - and Rachel Bauer for Crotalus."

Raines started to stand a split second before his brain processed what it had heard, and he carefully resumed his previous position a half inch closer to his chair, his mind a blank. What had just happened?

He looked up to the front and saw exactly what had just happened. That wretched girl had just gotten the badge. He'd spent all this time keeping her secrets, he'd done, against his conscience, really well by her and not demanded anything in return but that she stay out of his way when it came to Veronica and occasionally help him with his schoolwork, and this was how she repaid him? By not even having the common decency to act stupid in front of the staff so she'd be disqualified on the same grounds as Jethro Smythe?

It wasn't right. It just wasn't right.

His gaze remained fixed on her as the rest of the school went through the school song, his copy lying unopened by his hand. It was the kind of tradition he normally loved, but right now, there was room in his world for nothing but the tall, slender frame of Rachel Bauer, the long blonde hair and slightly sharp featured face that still managed, somehow, to be pretty, and how much he wanted to hurt her right now.

He had, he realized dimly, to act normal, though. That was the key. If he could do that, then maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Maybe no one would notice. It would be just his luck that they all noticed what he didn't do, but maybe it wouldn't be. Maybe he could even bluff this one out. Pierce was a disowned scandal who ran an organization for the likes of Rachel, so she might have denied him a chance just for spite, and then there was Fawcett, he was sure he'd seen the old man looking at him funny sometimes....

Yes, that was it. That was how he would spin it to Miss Veronica. If it went really well, villifying the staff, he might even be able to finally turn her against Rachel, or at least plant the idea, in a very basic sense, of Rachel being less than desirable company. That would work out very well for everyone involved who actually mattered.

0 Raines Bradley Must...find...spin.... 155 Raines Bradley 0 5

Attoria

June 09, 2011 1:33 PM

With a well of information. by Attoria

Was she happy to be here? Attoria tilted her head momentarily, as though she were seriously pondering the question. In reality, she was excited beyond belief. The place was more amazing than she could have imagined. The waterfalls especially excited her. She was a nature spirit. Though, no one actually knew this. She wasn’t even sure if Brianna did or not. She was worried that if she admitted such things it would classify her to be some sort of hippie. She had seen pictures of wizards like that, ones that thought it was all right to cheer on house elf rights. They were the kinds that others looked down on and Attoria was not one to be looked down upon. Ever.

Instead, she acted like none of it impressed her, but even so, she was polite about it all the same. “I read through quite a few brochures before settling on Sonora. It offers quite a bit more than I had originally expected.” She had spent hours upon hours looking through each of the brochures. She had considered small schools and large schools, schools in the states and ones in other countries. If she had chosen to, she could have been home-schooled with a tutor, though, that had a tendency of not working out.

In fact, they had forgotten that she had been leaving today. Her mother had come into her room asking if she wanted to make cookies. It was on a whimsy and Attoria wasn’t even sure that they had the ingredients to make them. If not, her mother probably would just throw whatever was laying around in the kitchen into a bowl. It was a really good thing that, like most of the people that lived in the building, they had a house elf that did the cooking, which was for the best, because Attoria highly doubted she would have had three meals a day otherwise. Honestly, she wasn’t even sure she would have one if it were left up to her parents. Half the time, they forgot to eat themselves let alone make sure she had.

Being served in the Hall was going to take some getting used to. Long ago, the brunette had abandoned meals alone at the long table in the dining room. The only time that she ever sat there was when she invited one of her friends to her home. Though, she often tried to avoid it simply because she didn’t want her friends to see how odd her parents were. Thankfully, they stayed in their respective areas most of the time. No, meals were often spent in the kitchen with Mitzy, their house elf. Strangely enough, she enjoyed spending time with Mitzy more than she did anyone else. Again, not admittedly, since that would qualify her to hanging out with nobodies since there were no wizards in the building treated their house elves like real beings.

Of course, Sonora didn’t have house elves. It had prairie elves, which Attoria weren’t sure how they really differed from house elves, but she knew it was possible that there could be a completely different set of rules to follow in the treatment. So, far, quite a few things seemed to be different here, but had she been looking forward to it? “And it is quite a bit different from home, but I think that is a good thing. I’m not sure how classes will go; I’ve only really ever had a tutor. Though, I guess a lot of people can say the same thing.” She gave a slight shrug of her thin shoulders. “Were you surprised to end up in Crotalus? I wasn’t really. Reading the House descriptions, I really do think it’s the one that describes me best. Pecari seems a little rambunctious and Teppenpaw a little too agreeable. Though, don’t get me wrong, I’m sure each House has its positives.” She said this in case his sister was in either since she didn’t want to offend. “I just think Crotalus is best for me. What House is your sister in?”

0 Attoria With a well of information. 0 Attoria 0 5

Solomon Asa Davies

June 09, 2011 1:50 PM

Between food and sleep I choose... by Solomon Asa Davies

He slept the whole ride. There had been waves, his father's boat rising from beneath the bayou to sink into the shore. Solomon had been taken from his bed, told to kiss his brother goodbye, and felt his little brother's hand squeeze in his sleep before departing. His parents and cousins surrounded him with alternating worry and wonder. Was he nervous? Was he excited? Would he miss them? Would he write? His lashes had fluttered, feeling himself pulled into a confusion of embraces and kisses on his cheeks. The jumbled Creole, French, Spanish, and English but the only language he was fluid in was silence. Eventually he was in the covered wagon, dark faces under Louisiana trees blinked away until he'd awoken beneath another hot sun.

It was still the South but everything was different. Solomon stretched his mouth in a wide yawn, climbing out and allowing himself to be ushered with the other first year students, allowing the nervous shuffling and elbowing to wash over him and leave him dry. 'How long until bedtime?' He looked around him at the hall, eyes struggling to stay open. He dimly noted the hall's beauty, and the smell of food aroused him to a greater wakeful state. A man was talking and a goblet was being passed around. Solomon looked up and stared at the woman who was handing him a cup. "Do yuh suppose yuh could clean that up firs', cheri?" He blinked up at her, fully expecting her to comply with his sanitary request. Eventually, he had to drink the cup regardless.

Tilting his head back, Solomon parted his lips careful to not let the goblet actually touch his lips. His hands shook a little though and the goblet brushed upon the bottom lip a few times while the liquid poured down, trickling down his throat like a sweet medicine and warmed his belly. A rush of heat and a laugh was startled from his throat as he began to change. Dark skin like molasses were beginning to lighten considerably and Solomon was intrigued by the change, and very glad for its non permanence. He was unsure of the idea of being stuck as a yellow skinned boy with long thick black dreads and the bright blue eyes he had inherited from his mother hidden just a bit by thick square rimmed glasses. He supposed himself an interesting sight, and with his fatigue shaken he actually experienced a bout of discomfort. But then he sat himself down, surrounded by yellow and then older Teppenpaws. Whatever that meant... 'Teppenpaw.' He didn't know what that name meant. What any of the words meant.

What he did know was chicken and pumpkin juice. String beans, broccoli, and spices. All that he saw and reached out for. "Woah." Bright yellow arms stretched out instead of dark brown ones. Solomon shook his head, and reached again, resolved to no longer feel any shock. There were words to describe what he was feeling (uncomfortable, unsure, confused) and they lingered in the back of his mind, hopefully hanging there long enough to be written down just as he was able. He reached for his goblet, paused and turned for the chicken on his plate, and then stopped. 'Who says I still have to wait?' He took out parchment from beneath his robes and a self inking quill that was quickly running out. Smoothing the crumpled paper on the table, Solomon hunched over and began scribbling a few words; Am yellow. Nice here. Different. Voices around me different. He looked up, sensing eyes upon him, and set his quill down reaching for pumpkin juice and drank it before glancing at the person whom he thought had watched him. "Yuh alrigh' heah?" He spoke in the lazy southern drawl and smiled a little, white teeth no longer quite as noticeable now that it contrasted with a brighter yellow.

0 Solomon Asa Davies Between food and sleep I choose... 0 Solomon Asa Davies 0 5

Marissa

June 09, 2011 4:20 PM

You did indeed. by Marissa

Charlie, as she usually did, looked fantastic, prompting Marissa to wonder if she was good enough at Transfiguration on the first day of school after a magic-free two months to make some quick alterations to her outfit and turn the neighbor’s napkin into a hat when the older girl sat down with her. She resisted the impulse to try and so cement herself as pathetic and smiled instead when Charlie complimented her on the butchery of her hair.

“Thanks,” she said quickly as the headmaster got started, trusting that she didn’t look as mortified as she felt. Her face was usually pretty accommodating that way.

After the speech, she accepted the bread and listened to Charlie summing up which of the other seventh years she’d spent her summer with. The two years were so mixed in classes that, though she knew neither James Anthony nor Adelita Garcia well, she still considered them her classmates as well and didn’t have to really stop to think to know who Charlie was talking about. It was going to be weird, next year, to look around and the seventh years just not be there.

“I guess so,” she agreed with a smile when Charlie said that going to another country with her best girlfriend had beaten out spending time with James. It had been a little different this summer, because she’d been completely thrown and upset by finding out that they no longer hung out with Bella, but she usually enjoyed being with her friends more than with boys, and that was just at the club or one of their houses. “Did you do much sightseeing, or swim a lot, or…”

Charlie didn’t let the focus on her linger forever, though. Marissa blushed under her own tan and looked down at her plate for a second, noticing that she still had her napkin twisted up, before answering. “Well, I am up the creek without a paddle,” she said, “but yes, you get an ‘I told you so.’” She added a few things to her plate, consciously going for healthier things because Charlie had. “Summer was eh. I hung out with my Muggle friends, some of them had a big fight, and I saw my sister for a while. My parents figured out my grades weren’t up to standards, so I’m pretty much under orders to do nothing but study and play Quidditch, but since I convinced Mom they wouldn’t let me back into Charms, all I have to really worry about is Transfig, and I’m hoping I can get Andrew to tutor me there. My new stuff is all stuff I can do, and they won’t know the difference about anything else.”

She had actually bought the Advanced Charms book, too, thinking she could work through what she could of it on her own time, perhaps asking Professor McKindy or someone in the class for help every now and then. She’d also brought her old Intermediate and Beginning Charms and Transfiguration books and notes, too, so she could keep practicing and reviewing old stuff. She didn’t want to lose the ability to do what she could with her wand, after all.

She noticed a little how that sounded. “Not that I’m, like, going to lie to them or anything,” she clarified quickly. “I’m just not getting as freaked out as they want me to be.”

16 Marissa You did indeed. 147 Marissa 0 5

David

June 09, 2011 5:46 PM

I love Sonora Academy, maybe? by David

“Not in my town?” David suggested when Samantha asked, rhetorically he was pretty sure, where else they were gonna get to do school songs and sixteenth century balls. “M’sister Annabeth says her college sings a school song every year at graduation, but definitely no sixteenth century balls there. It is fun, though.”

Though Beth had won the school beauty competition. She was proud of it, and David didn’t fault her for that. She said, and Mom had partially confirmed, that she’d worn high heels pretty much any time she was on her feet, including chores, for ages leading up to that, and he knew for a fact that she’d done some weird stuff to keep from gaining weight whenever she was forced to come home. He sometimes thought she took their mother’s old maxim about doing whatever had to be done to do so a little too far, especially since he had figured out last year that Mom didn’t really mean it, but she was getting what she wanted. Maybe Grandma was right and she was going to burn out and end up a complete waste of space before she was twenty-five, but doing the opposite didn’t seem to have made anyone else in the family very happy, so David was right behind her.

“Sure thing,” David said when Samantha asked him if he was glad to be back at school, not noticing that it was normal for summer to be more emphasized in the question, either. “We’ve got some decent summer programs at home, but this definitely beats the local middle school.” Otherwise known as Hell. As in, right before he had gotten his Sonora letter, Annabeth had repeatedly made statements where the word “Hell” was literally used in place of the place’s name, as in “Oh, I forgot that David’s going to Hell in August. Have fun, Dave!” when they went to Wal-Mart and found the sixth grade school supply list he’d thought he would be using.

But he hadn’t. He’d gotten out. He got to spend most of his time in a boarding school far, far away. Adjusting had been hard at first, but now he was living a low-stress fantasy. And it was awesome. He sometimes felt bad for Selena and Annabeth, but Mom complained about how Dad was a sentimental idiot and that was why he had so many problems, so David tried not to deal with that too much and just focus on being gloriously out.

“I didn’t get to practice Quidditch over the summer, you know, Muggleborn – “ something they had in common, actually, he thought he’d put together – “so you don’t have to worry about your spot, but I did help build an electric – “ well, car was what they had called it, but it seemed a bit of an exaggeration now – “go-cart thing,” he volunteered. “That was cool. Did you do anything interesting?”

16 David I love Sonora Academy, maybe? 169 David 0 5

Mellie

June 09, 2011 6:09 PM

Black haired Aladrens might look like walking bruises. by Mellie

Mellie looked over to see the boy Sully was indicating and nodded when she picked up the two badges. That probably meant he outranked Alison, which made her feel a little better about having mentioned her cousin in the first place. She wasn’t totally sure, because she was used to only people she’d known practically if not literally since birth, but she was pretty sure that it was in bad taste to brag, and, as usual, it had only occurred to her how something could sound after she’d said it.

Still, it had worked out all right, and now she at least knew the name and appearance of someone else here who might be helpful if she got lost or something. She didn’t think she was likely to get lost, she thought she had an okay sense of direction, but it couldn’t hurt to be at least a little prepared. Not carrying-nutrition-bars-in-her-bag-against-the-maze prepared, that was a little crazy, but knowing-of-two-adult-approved-older-students prepared was fine, dandy, and a good idea.

“That was really nice of him,” she said. She didn’t know that a lot of her dad’s coworkers especially would take the time to give her directions to the toilet, never mind go through the hassle of school shopping and making introductions and stuff. Mom’s might, some of them, but they’d probably still stop short of the introductions. Maybe Sully knew his mom’s coworkers a lot better than she knew her parents’. She looked at him curiously, though, for another reason.

“What was it like?” she asked. “Finding out about magic, I mean.” Another thought occurred to her. She wasn’t too up on politics, it seemed like boring adult stuff to her, but she knew that blood stuff was kind of touchy for lots of people. Purebloods, mostly, but… “Is that rude to ask? I really didn’t mean to be. I grew up with it, both of my parents are magic, so I’ve just always wondered, you know, about that.”

16 Mellie Black haired Aladrens might look like walking bruises. 206 Mellie 0 5

Brianna

June 09, 2011 8:33 PM

But not with a feast and waterfalls? by Brianna

Brianna nodded while Linus admitted to considering law enforcement. His word choice in regards to learning magic suggested to Brianna that he was a Muggleborn. She wasn’t sure how to feel about that. Her parents were working class Purebloods, but they still tried to hold up to the traditional standards, which usually meant that Muggles and Muggleborns were beneath them and worthless. Brianna had never met either as far as she knew, so she didn’t know how to handle the current situation. Normally, Brianna would copy whatever Attoria did in those moments, but Attoria was a few seats away talking to a boy.

She didn’t know how to take Cherry’s comment about reading. It sounded like she didn’t agree with them reading ahead or reading at all. It wasn’t like Brianna spent all of her waking moment with her nose in books. But when she was being made fun off, or forced out of the of group functions with the other kids in her building or Attoria was ignoring her again just as her parents often did, Brianna didn’t really have anything else to do. Reading ahead in her books gave her something to look forward too. Her days weren’t so bleak when she thought of Sonora.

Brianna’s smile remained when Cherry shared a similar grief in not being able to have animals. Although, her not being able to have one really wasn’t her parents doing. Her parents boss did not allow for pets. The residence were allowed, but not the workers. Besides, her parents had said they couldn’t afford an animal. The food, medicine, medical needs of an animal was just too much. It wasn’t fair, but Brianna had no other choice but to accept it. Much like everything else in her life.

“I’ve ridden a broom before. Some kids in my building like to ride them through the halls.” Brianna commented. She wouldn’t mention the fact that when she had been asked to join them that they had done something to the broom and it had sent her flying straight into the wall. She had been bruised down her entire right say and the collision had broken her collar bone. It had all been a joke to them at Brianna’s expense, which left her parents having to repair the damage both to the wall and to Brianna. Of course, as upset as her parents were about it, they said nothing to the parents of the kids because Brianna’s parents were nothing more than the ‘help’.

“I don’t think we have to play Quidditch though, unless you decide to join the team.” Brianna said to Jenny. “I do not plan on joining.” She added as an afterthought.

0 Brianna But not with a feast and waterfalls? 0 Brianna 0 5

Preston

June 09, 2011 10:07 PM

Where to look? ponders by Preston

The Aladren nodded at David Kim from the 1st Street Kims, and watched him wipe off the liquid that had splattered on him because of him. He was sort of sorry about that, but he didn’t voice it. His father had told him that he never had to say ´I am sorry´, it was beneath them. However, he did remember that since they were already at school, he could use magic. “It would be better to forgo formalities,” he said seriously, a small smile threatening to form on his lips. For some odd reason, he found David’s comment on the stickyness of the situation quite funny. Even if he didn’t know if he was trying to be funny, sarcastic or just rub it on his face that it was his fault.

Without asking David, Preston took out his wand and was about to swish it to cast the cleaning spell on David, when he took a bottle of something that seemingly took care of the situation. Preston raised an inquisitive eyebrow, that bottle of potion looked weird.

Magic made everything easier, but he was used to not being able to do magic outside of school, something he found completely unfair. The redhead was pretty good with that spell, he had practiced it all trough his first-year, Quidditch could be messy, and he hated being dirty. It was a good spell to know, it came in handy.

David Kim then asked him an allergy question, he blinked, and stayed quiet for a few seconds, and for the first time, he didn’t know the answer to a question. Preston had never had the need to know if the prairie-elves took into account allergies. To be honest, he didn’t know anyone that suffered from allergies, he was sure that was a Muggle thing. Now, he was sure David Kim from the 1st Street Kims was a Muggleborn. The second-year cleared his throat, “you should ask the Medic about that, I really don’t know, and I don’t want to give you false information.” It was hard to say that, it really was. He wasn’t really sure, but he was sure the medic would be able to help him. It was a shame David was a Muggleborn, which wasn’t really his fault, but it just made it pretty hard for the second-year to relate to him. Preston needed high-power friendships, something David wouldn’t be able to provide. He was going to stick to his yearmates. The Carey and Russell were good company.

0 Preston Where to look? *ponders* 0 Preston 0 5

Paul

June 09, 2011 11:03 PM

I thought most of those would be in Aladren by Paul

Paul was more than a little impressed to hear that Attoria's parents had, the way she'd said that implied, given her some say in where she went to school, or maybe even the final say. His father was not harsh, it didn't seem like him to force any of them to go somewhere they truly didn't wish to be and he especially encouraged Paul and Eliza to think for themselves, but there were limits to that, and education was generally considered one of those areas where even he and Lize weren't thought of as grown up enough to make real decisions about.

It transpired, though, that her previous education had been much more like what Paul was accustomed to. "Yes," he agreed. "I've only had tutors before, too. It'll be a little strange to have classes with anyone but L - my sisters," he caught himself instantly, thinking that it might not only be inappropriate to use Eliza's nickname in public when he wasn't even addressing her directly but also that she might not like it any more than he would if she went around calling him Paulie, that maybe there were things that were only okay at home, just between them, "but I think it might be fun."

Ignoring it when he made a misstep was something he got, though he wasn't fully aware of it, from his mother. Nicole Bennett was something of a self-proclaimed expert in the field of appearances, holding that they were as good as the real thing so long as they held up.

Paul's logic, though he had yet to work out how to articulate it, was a little different. He thought appearances could actually be better than the real thing so long as they held up. After all, anyone could just be something. Acting like it, managing everything down to the smallest details, was something that took actual skill.

He had to consider for a moment whether he was surprised to be in Crotalus. He'd thought he had a decent chance of Aladren, perhaps even Pecari since he thought he could easily bend in the wind if he needed to in order to survive, but he wasn't exactly surprised with the way things had turned out. It might not have been what he was predicting, but it had felt right as soon as it happened. Maybe he'd known where he was supposed to be all along without knowing it.

"Eliza's in Crotalus with us," he said. "She's starting her third year today. She makes it sound like being here...is up and down." That was a mild way of putting it. "She's very good friends with one of her roommates, but she hates another one." And was weird about a third. Paul risked a glance at the fair-haired boy in the middle of a group of other Crotalus girls, wondering which way the two of them would go. "But I'm not surprised to be Crotalus. I wasn't expecting it exactly - " he and Eliza, after all, not really being exactly alike - "but I'm not surprised."

A bit of a smile appeared on his face as he thought of Gem. "I'll be amazed if Gemma - my other sister - isn't a Crotalus, though, so it's becoming a family tradition. We'll have to see what happens with my brothers." He realized he hadn't said how many brothers and so told how strange his family was. "There's five of us, three boys and two girls. I'm the second eldest, after Eliza. Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

0 Paul I thought most of those would be in Aladren 0 Paul 0 5

Laurie

June 09, 2011 11:17 PM

I like that title! by Laurie

The redhead nodded enthusiastically at Michael’s assurance that magic was awesome. He had been living with it forever, and he was always amazed by new things. His father had the habit of showing his tricks from time to time. He had even let him use his wand to practice. Laurie was able to cast some minor spells, but they weren’t really as impressive as what his father could do. It would require time for him to master his magic, but he would do it, and be like his father. Laurie took another bite of his food and listened intently to Michael explain what an airplane was.

After a few seconds, he decided to move his plate to a side and lean his elbows on the table, to rest his head on the palms of his hands. Hearing Michael explain what was an airplane was like one of the stories his governess used to tell him right before he went to bed, when he was younger, of course. Okay, the last time had been last night, before he left for school. His governess just had a very good imagination, and he enjoyed listening to her. Thankfully, she would be at home when he returned after his first-year. No one needed to know about that, not even his cousin Preston knew. He could imagine what his expression would be.

“Wow,” he exclaimed. “That sounds complicated…and not that trustworthy,” he wrinkled his nose. “I mean, metal flying just sounds dangerous.” Laurie looked at Michael and smiled. He grabbed his glass and took a sip of his drink, while thinking about the question that Michael had asked. How did the wagons worked? It was a good question, one he didn’t have an answer to, but definitely one worth looking into.

“Charms?” he said laughing. “I really don’t know, since I don’t tend to question those things. I am used to things being like that.” Michael seemed to be more informed about his world than he was. Laurie didn’t have the innate curiosity to question things, and he just went with what he was told and with what he saw. He really didn’t want to know how things worked; he had the notion that magic was mysterious like that. Maybe he needed to look into that and begin questioning things, he couldn’t go through life trusting everyone around him, but that didn’t have to happen just now. He was quite happy with his life right now. Plus, he could end like Preston. He shuddered, Preston didn’t have any fun, he was all about the work.

0 Laurie I like that title! 0 Laurie 0 5

Jane Carey

June 10, 2011 12:08 AM

That seems to be a theme for the evening by Jane Carey

Beneath her long forest green robes, Jane was wearing yellow.

It was close to the Teppenpaw shade, but not the best shade for her. Her father might have only ever been considered barely a Carey by virtue of not being descended directly from Anthony II, but he had the ‘look’ shared by many of the Virginia Careys, which he had passed along to her: black hair, black eyes, and an oddly light complexion for it. If she’d had light hair or eyes, she supposed she would have looked dark-complexioned, but she didn’t and so looked pale. The yellow didn’t quite not go with that coloring, but it didn’t quite go, either, and she felt almost as self-conscious about that as she did about the neck of the dress being square and low enough to show about two inches of skin beneath her collarbones, and the sleeves not being buttoned securely at her wrists not least because they didn’t actually reach her wrists. In fact, they didn’t quite reach her elbows, though the longer sleeves of her robes kept this from being immediately obvious. She thought her skirt only reaching mid-calf was more obvious.

It was enough that her father had seemed to notice, though he hadn’t said anything. Technically, Edmond hadn’t said anything, either, but he had given her a look that was somewhere between shock, disapproval, and, worst of all, pity. She didn’t care, though. Considering that most of the girls at this school went around in trousers, some of them even short trousers, she thought she was well within her rights to show her ankles if she wanted to, and wear yellow to the Opening Feast, too.

Maybe it was appropriate, maybe it wasn’t, opinions seemed to vary on how long these things were supposed to last, but it felt to her, and she was sure it looked to Edmond, like she was coming out of mourning. She wasn’t sure, though, that her brother had caught the added connotation of the alterations to the long-sleeved, long-skirted dresses with round-edged collars that buttoned beneath the chin dress pattern she’d been wearing all her life, though: that she was also symbolically refusing to continue to let Mother, either as an entity or as in grief over her absence, define her life. She’d be back in one of her normal dresses tomorrow, both because she had more of them and felt more comfortable in them, but she felt the need to make that statement, if only to herself and to prove she could.

She applauded politely for the prefects, wondering if that would be her next year and whether she wanted it to be if it was or wasn’t, and the staff, and listened to the news about the ball. She knew the theory of them, and knew how to dance at one, but had never actually attended one before, so that would be interesting. The question was just finding a partner. Perhaps Jethro would ask her.

The school song came as a surprise. Jane knew how to read music and found herself scanning the parchment as quickly as she could before they all started to sing, hoping to sort out the melody well enough to not cause any discordances, and thought she did an adequate job, though she kept her voice down more than she would if they did the same thing next year, once she knew the song properly.

She laughed when Andrew Duell decided to forego the usual feast question in favor of commenting on the musical exercise. “I didn’t,” she said, trying not to sound as though she considered this a personal failure. She couldn’t know everything. She had accepted that. It just…felt like something Edmond would have known, and so something she should have known, too. She was sure she knew lots of things her brother didn’t, but they never seemed to come up. “I think it’s nice, though, to have something like that. We had something like it at my family reunion.” Which had otherwise been a series of things she wasn’t supposed to talk about, and maybe she wasn’t supposed to talk about that, either, but it didn’t seem to matter very much. “I wonder how Headmaster Regal found out about it, though,” she added. “Unless all the heads knew, and he’s just the first one who likes to sing.”

0 Jane Carey That seems to be a theme for the evening 160 Jane Carey 0 5

Dennis

June 10, 2011 5:34 AM

Possibly for the best by Dennis

"Mmmhmm," Dennis said, non-committally. He'd never attended a school where there was a mandatory uniform and wasn't convinced.

The girl - Dana - was looking a little frazzled, he noted, as she herded him towards the other newbie students. He glanced at them as she went on about having to drink something.

"How can a drink tell you were I go?" he asked, even as he was handed his own and had the chance to peer dubiously at it. "Looks like sprite," he commented. "No chance this comes in coke or creaming soda flavour?" He flicked his eyes up to gauge the look on her face and decided he might as well get this over with at least. His own personal escort might have some kind of fit otherwise. He downed it in one, like he would a particularly distasteful but necessary medicine.

"So," he asked, looking at Dana again. "I don't feel any difference. Where do I go?" This school was seeming weirder and stranger by the moment.

39 Dennis Possibly for the best 0 Dennis 0 5

Luka Anastanov

June 10, 2011 8:02 AM

Re: New School, new people, oh my, I just might faint! by Luka Anastanov

Luka was decidedly happier to be in Sonora this year. Last year, when he had joined the school, he had mostly been wrapped in himself, trying to worry about home and schoolwork at once. But this year, a lot of loose ends had been tied.

After losing both of his parents last year, Luka had given the Mayor a written document stating that he would join his service once he passed out of school. The document also gave the Mayor to employ Luka in any service he chose. It was not altogether a pleasant thought but Luka knew it was a better deal than constantly getting reminders. It was especially disturbing because the Mayor had agreed to relieve his family the financial burden of sending him to a school in America. Luka could only take wild guesses at what kind of work the Mayor reserved for such wealthy an investment.

But Luka was determined to put those thoughts away for six years. He wanted to enjoy his time in Sonora; something he had never done in his life! He would make friends, he would eat and sleep without worrying from where food would come tomorrow. He would study and learn things without constantly judging whether it would be of any use or not. It was going to be a very different Luka this year. His appearance had somehow changed accordingly. His longish, dark hair, his sun-kissed complexion and sharp green eyes did not look so formidable. The scar on his cheek looked less intimidating; it was more of a permanent, wide dimple now.

In the spirit of his newfound enthusiasm for school, Luka did not seat himself away from human company. He took a seat beside a girl, whom he had not seen before; she was a first year probably.

"Hello, my name is Perdita. What's yours?" the girl said.

“Luka,” he said, “A pleasure to meet you. You are a first year, I presume?” He smiled broadly, something he had been doing often lately (and it did not irk him as it used to!). “Welcome to Sonora, then.”

0 Luka Anastanov Re: New School, new people, oh my, I just might faint! 0 Luka Anastanov 0 5

Perdita

June 10, 2011 8:21 AM

Re: New School, new people, oh my, I just might faint! by Perdita

Perdita grinned at the beaming bow. "Why thank you! And yes, I am. I'm terribly excited, I must admit."

Her nerves were gone, now, all she could feel was a brimming anticipation to start classes and meet new people. In grade school, everyone had thought she was less than normal. She was an oddball who read to much and did homework and never liked to play and have fun. The accusations were completely false, of course. She did not, decidedly, read too much, and homework had to be done for good grades. Just because they didn't want a good future did not mean she did not want it.

Besides, Perdita did like to have fun. Her form of fun was different from theirs, however, and that was why she was always so estranged from her classmates. She loved reading and acting out Shakespearean plays, dressing up and acting out every part for her father. Perdita knew Shakespeare by heart. And when she wasn't doing that, she was singing to people like P!nk and Nightwish, or even drawing. Perdita knew how to have fun. Sometimes.

"What's Sonora like?" She asked the, presumably, second year Luka and surfacing from her thoughts. Maybe the two could be friends once they got to know each other better. Now that was something she was looking forward too. It was an entirely new life for her, and the prospect of friends was wonderful. She had never really had friends before, none that were living and breathing, anyway.

0 Perdita Re: New School, new people, oh my, I just might faint! 0 Perdita 0 5

DH Amelia Pierce

June 10, 2011 10:16 AM

Accumulating Authority by DH Amelia Pierce

Amelia Pierce had not planned on getting Deputy Head. Sure, they'd made her a Head of House the first year she started teaching because of the vast amount of staff turnover that year and she both already had some experience in a school environment from her time Coaching at Durmstrang (that had been pre-WAIL; she wondered if Durmstrang still hired female coaches), and as a Matriarch to a Pierce branch, she knew something about leadership. Plus, she'd raised two teenagers all on her own. So she could see why they had made her an HoH when there were only a handful of returning staff.

Deputy Head was different. Even now, she still wasn't the most senior staff member (she thought that was probably John Fawcett). She had a very polarizing effect on opinion - students either really liked her or really didn't. Mostly though, she wasn't even a proper professor. She was just the Coach. Even if she'd had seniority, she wouldn't have expected to be made Deputy Head.

But David Regal had asked her (she imagined he must have asked John first, but the Potions Professor had obviously turned it down), and so she said yes. She had been here for a while, after all, and if being the coach instead of a proper professor didn't disqualify her entirely, she thought she'd do as well as anybody else. She'd started at the same time as the current fifth years, four of whom would be receiving promotions of their own tonight. That put her at a higher seniority than everyone else except John Fawcett and Aaron McKindy. The Headmaster himself had only been here for one year.

Of course, she'd be lying if she said part of the reason she'd agreed to it wasn't because she knew it would make the pureblood families squirm.

She doubted she'd ever be made Headmistress. In truth, she didn't want to be Headmistress. She had far too many other things going on to become the leader of a school. She was the Matriarch of the Boston Pierces, and that would always come first, especially now that they had three generations. Or two, depending on whether or not Amelia herself counted as a generation above her adopted children who were actually her biological first cousins. Legally, though, she thought they counted as a three generation branch now. Benjamin Pierce (aka Ben Price to the muggle government because the whole Boston Branch was sort of stuck with the alias they'd used back when they had all thought the Pierce name was too good for cheap muggle apartment buildings) had been born the day after the Midsummer Bonfire.

She's spent most of the summer telling people she was not to be called Gramma or the offending party would be spending time in a toad's body. Derry actually had spent three hours as a toad the one time he tested whether or not she was bluffing. She wasn't.

But that was off-topic. She didn't want headmistress, and while the purebloods might tolerate her - with extreme misgivings - as the Deputy, they'd appoint someone brand new (as David Regal had been, though that was more Sadi Powell's doing than the board's, she thought) before they let her take over.

Besides which, she liked Coaching. It was the job every kid who enjoyed Quidditch but wasn't good enough to play professionally dreamed about. Wanting to Coach was at least part of the reason why she'd been disowned in the first place. Killing Derwent the First and refusing to get engaged at 21 also played fairly large roles, but the wanting a career thing was part of it. And she wanted to Coach as a career, not administrate. She had enough Administration to do in Boston.

But she didn't mind helping Regal out with his. He was a good guy, and Sonora was a great school. If he thought she was best suited to keeping it running smoothly, she would certainly do her best to live up to the expectation.

And if she could make Druscella and those like her cringe a little in the processes, all the better.

So here she was, Deputy Headmistress of Sonora, and handing out sorting potions to the first years.

She'd gotten an owl just this morning from Druscella claiming that there might be a previously unknown bastard Californian in the lot but that this was unconfirmed as yet - though given Amelia's understanding of the California Pierce lifestyle, it certainly wasn't impossible. None of them looked Pierce-like though. She decided it wasn't really her problem. If he was a California Pierce, he was genetically predisposed to Pecari, making him Aaron McKindy's problem.

Her problem was the large number of red children. After last year's tiny class, the Crotalus crop looked huge this year. Dear Merlin, let them all get along, she prayed as she made her way back up to the staff table, where she sat down to the Headmaster's right. Normally, she sat further to the sides, like over where DiAnna was, but the DH sat next to the Headmaster. That was proper.

Whatever else was said about her, she was Head of Crotalus. She believed in propriety and sitting where your rank said you were supposed to sit.

The middle of the table had a good view out over the Hall.

She watched the first years and Dana Smythe disperse to their respective tables and wondered if it was too early to nominate a student for one of the awards.

As the Headmaster resumed his speech, she applauded the new prefects, nodding approvingly at Rachel as she got her badge. Amelia then nodded in acknowledgement as her promotion was announced and smiled in smug pleasure as David remarked that Crotalus had won the House Cup the previous year. As it should be.

The ball and theme were, of course, old news to her, since they'd discussed them at the end of year staff meeting last term, but the school song was new. Or perhaps really old. She really ought to be given warning about things like that, she thought, but gave a valiant effort to look neither surprised nor incompetent as she joined in.

As the food appeared, she raised her eyebrow at the Headmaster and wondered curiously, "So did you need excavation equipment to dig up the song, or was it available in the library?"

1 DH Amelia Pierce Accumulating Authority 20 DH Amelia Pierce 0 5

Jenny Owens

June 10, 2011 12:09 PM

Nah, you see those every day of the week! by Jenny Owens

Jenny felt as though she were on a tight-rope line - dangling above the floor precariously between Cherry, who apparently didn't approve of reading, and Linus and Brianna, who both read ahead in their text books. She herself was somewhere in the middle - she hadn't read anything other than the blurb in her textbooks but did enjoy relaxing near a fire with a nice novel.

Brianna's comment, however, was much easier to reply to, 'Oh phew!' She put a small, chubby hand to her chest dramatically, smiling warmly at her new classmate in relief. 'All my family plays, and my Dad supports some team or other fanatically, but I've never had any enthusiasm for it. I didn't really know what to expect here because I've never been to a school before - my mother had a governess teach me.' She didn't want to sound snobby when she said that, but she also didn't want her friends to think that she was stupid or paranoid.

In truth, Jenny had grown up extremely strictly. Her parent, whilst not against Muggles, Muggleborns or wizards who chose to associate with them, considered them to be slightly lower class than was acceptable to mingle with their children. For this reason, though she had been through a small Muggle town close to where she lived, she had no friends among the children her age there. She had grown up surrounded by the splendour and glamour of enchantment, shielded from the outside world by the thick, dark fir trees looping around their estate.

But she had heard that up to three of ten children who went to large magical institutions these days were Muggleborn. She felt a little uncomfortable at the idea. It wasn't that she thought they had dirty blood, and would never dream of calling one a mudblood, but she felt as though they were removed from her - almost a different type of human.

0 Jenny Owens Nah, you see those every day of the week! 0 Jenny Owens 0 5

Professor (no quotes) John Fawcett

June 10, 2011 12:50 PM

I'm sure it'll grow on you. by Professor (no quotes) John Fawcett

Every year, the staff changed. This seemed to be merely a fact of life in the youth academies. John didn't feel he had been at Sonora very long at all, but he thought he'd seen the entire staff change at least once since the first time he'd taught at Sonora, as Kiva Kijewski's substitute when she was in the family way.

She had left permanently, or so it had seemed at the time, a few years later, and now she was back. John was not completely sure what to make of this. On one hand, he quite liked Kiva. She was a nice sort, quite dedicated to what she did, all very well. On the other hand, though, she had been Head of Aladren when they met, and while there had been two between him and her...Well, however unjustified his rational mind told him it was, whatever force it was that had first driven man to distinguish between Mine and Yours and get a bit touchy about the issue when it came to Mine was making him fear that she might want the office they had both used back. And Aladren, like those students who took either his Advanced Potions class or the independent studies he supervised, was something he considered His. He did not wish to give it up.

Hopefully, the issue would never arise. Likely, even. But he had been a different sort of professor, once, and it was second nature to expect everyone around him to be murderously jockeying for position and funding, and the harmony of the Sonora staff had yet to prove long-lasting and pervasive enough to make him completely cease to be paranoid.

He applauded politely at appropriate points in the Headmaster's address, hiding some slight reservations about Miss Kerrigan behind an approving smile, and eyed the blue first years with interest, wondering how this lot would turn out. He had been quite pleased with last year's set - Mr. Layne was perhaps the only one who didn't occasionally concern him, but Arnold Carey seemed almost normal when kept away from the Quidditch Pitch and, for non-practical projects, preferably Mr. Pierce as well, and Arthur Carey and Mr. Stratford weren't bad children, and they all seemed to get along - so he hoped that didn't mean a troublesome group this year. There was nothing for it, though, but to wait and see. The cards would fall where they fell.

Not that he truly expected trouble of the sort poor Amelia, it seemed, regularly had to keep an eye on in any case. John was rather fond of Quentin Melcher, and would be somewhat sorry to see him graduate (his wife had suggested this was evidence against his sanity), but he didn't have to live with the boy. Daniel Nash, James Anthony, and Juri Dahlgren did, and yet they all seemed to function, except perhaps for some tension between Daniel and James. Aladrens simply weren't the troublesome sort. He liked that about them.

When the school song was distributed, he hummed along rather than sang, thinking that students and staff alike would benefit more from the absence of his singing voice than they would from the presence of it, and put the paper aside in favor of the food with a faint smile when it was over. Directly, Miss Diaz addressed him concerning the culinary arts.

"There are worse things to live off of," said John, who was partial to both and regarded health food as dangerous. "But learning to cook can be profitable. Enjoyable, too, even." He was not a creative chef, usually following directions to the letter, but he was told he produced things which were edible, which produced feelings of accomplishment. He felt he'd mastered the art of studenthood to the extent that, though he still took a class or two in something each summer, he'd started having to look for thrills wherever else he could find them. "Have a nice holiday?" he asked.

There was something of a generation gap between them - as in, if he'd reproduced at the ages some of his classmates had, she could have been his granddaughter, and she might well be the youngest member of the staff where he was almost certainly the eldest despite Regal's wife and genes and life not combining in a way that left him particularly well-preserved where John's had - but he felt they had some common ground simply because he was Head of Aladren and she was the librarian. Certainly he saw more of her than he did of much of the staff, though much of it was in passing as one or the other or both of them moved through the library. That was about as much familiarity as John felt he needed to feel comfortable attemting conversation with someone.

0 Professor (no quotes) John Fawcett I'm sure it'll grow on you. 19 Professor (no quotes) John Fawcett 0 5

Luka

June 10, 2011 3:22 PM

Time to start a new subject by Luka

"Why thank you! And yes, I am. I'm terribly excited, I must admit," said Perdita.

Luka smiled indulgently. “You look so too.”

Luka was surprised when a plate full of steaming pierogi appeared in front of him. It was not magic beyond explanation, but he had not expected anyone to know how to make a decent East European dish so far away from its land of origin. Well, he couldn’t know for sure if it tasted good enough until he actually sampled it. But then he wouldn’t know even after tasting it because Luka had never really eaten the dish, just botched up cheap versions of it.

Taking an apprehensive bite, he felt the succulent meat fill his mouth. Savouring the bite, he thought about home a little, about his parents; they must have never had so delicious food in their entire life. They, two entire generations of Anastanovs, robbed of fortune, were hunters and they would not know the taste of good meat from bread; both the 'delicacies' were unknown to them. Luka knew a day would come when he would take it all back. He had to take it back, for his mother, his father and everyone who had ever been kind and thoughtful to him.

"What's Sonora like?" asked Peredita again, extracting Luka from his thoughts.

“It’s nice,” he replied. Then he realized that the description was far short of what the place really was. “It’s like your home and you’ll have a great time. You’ll make plenty of friends,” he said. Yes, you probably will, he thought ruefully, wondering if the particular task would be difficult for him.

0 Luka Time to start a new subject 0 Luka 0 5

Michael Grosvenor

June 10, 2011 3:33 PM

Of the post or the one it confers upon you? by Michael Grosvenor

Michael found it hard to follow what Laurie said regarding his explanation of aeroplanes. There was a 'wow' at the beginning but then Laurie seemed to look perturbed. He guessed he was just finding it confusing. And then he was back to smiling, so Michael smiled too.

“Yeah, it's kinda awesome,” he grinned, thinking that he was just making a throw-away statement to wind up the conversation, oblivious to how much of a sociopath and/or adrenaline junkie he was making himself look.

Laurie's explanation of the wagon's didn't give Michael the expected respite from the conversation that he needed. He was starting to get... if not an actual headache, a serious brain overload from the distorted waves of background noise being boosted and channelled down his ears. And concentrating so hard on Laurie and trying not to make an idiot of himself not only required a lot of effort but induced a lot of worry which was, in itself, tiring. He was starting to lose focus. Laurie didn't seem to know about the wagons, and had probably said something to that effect, based on the fact that he wasn't really talking any more.

“Yeah... I don't get a lot of the details of how Muggle stuff works either,” he nodded, “You have to be really into it to really understand all of the science. Most stuff I just take for granted that it just... works,” even when someone threatens to take it away, he pondered to himself. He knew what his hearing aids did and a bit of the theory about the how – that there were receivers and microphones – but he'd never really bothered to understand them in detail. “You just learn how to use stuff but not how it's doing the things you do with it,” he added. Even when someone had told him they wouldn't work when he got to Sonora, he hadn't given it much thought – he'd just passed it over to someone who knew more about it and trusted them to sort it out.

He knew he really should ask another question so that he knew what they were talking about...

“So, you have brothers and sisters?” he asked. It wasn't very inspiring and he knew it but it would do.

13 Michael Grosvenor Of the post or the one it confers upon you? 199 Michael Grosvenor 0 5

Headmaster Regal

June 10, 2011 4:18 PM

That is something good by Headmaster Regal

David was enjoying his second Opening Feast. After the son ended he served himself some food and decided to forgo his Headmasterly duties for 20 minutes while he ate. It was only fair. Chicken with steamed vegetables became his dinner, his wife would be proud of his food choice. Adrianna was always babbling about healthy food and such, David liked fried things, they just tasted better, but he had made a promise, to take care of himself.

The Headmaster scanned the Cascade Hall, his eyes filled with amusement thanks to the color-skinned new first-years. At 65, he still could find humor in some things, his first-years were one of them. One thing he was looking forward was seeing them grow-up into outstanding grown-ups. The new second-years were the first year-group that had seem him as Headmaster, they had a special part of his heart. They seemed to be a nice group, but he couldn’t wait to see what this new group would bring to the school.

The Headmaster ate in silence, until his new appointed DH asked him a question. He chuckled, “It was the result of a team of skilled historians, anthropologists and crew people,” he answered with a smile. David was happy about his decision to appoint her DH, she definitely had the administrative experience thanks to DISCUSS, and since she was the Coach, she had more time to help him out when needed. Amelia Pierce had everything he would ever want in a Deputy Head, he had thought about asking Fawcett, but Amelia had been the right choice.

He left his cutlery on his plate, “Actually it was a happy accident. I found the song while going through some historical archives for this year’s festivities. I happened about 3 days ago,” he smiled pleasantly. “How are you finding your new position?” He hoped she was enjoying it, it gave her more responsibilities, but he was sure she was more than capable of handling them. David had the utmost confidence in the decision he had taken, Amelia was the perfect one to fill that position.

0 Headmaster Regal That is something good 0 Headmaster Regal 0 5

Nic Sawyer

June 10, 2011 6:22 PM

looks shifty Who told you that? by Nic Sawyer

*You are a moron,* one of the tiny coherent fragments of Nic's brain told the rest of it. Most of that didn't hear, because it was either too busy trying to figure out what he'd just said or too busy panicking because it knew what had been said, but the other remaining tiny coherent fragments that did hear it just nodded and agreed. He was a moron.

They might have continued, getting into a Statler and Waldorf like critical discussion that went downhill from there, but Rachel answered and even the remaining tiny coherent fragments stopped talking in stunned astonishment.

She's said yes.

Rachel Bauer said she'd go to the ball with him.

...

...

...

And she was asking him not to wear tights.

Everything else she said sort of got lost in the static as the hearing center of his brain switched off with the rest of it.

After a few moments though, it came back just in time to hear her repeat the question about his summer.

"Um, summer was good. Quiet," he answered that part first, more out of reflex than thought, using the answer he'd come up with before, when his mouth had other ideas. Then he went back to the other part. "I promise you, you will never ever ever," normally he did not repeat himself or use more words than absolutely necessary to get his ideas across; this sentence was no exception, "ever see me in tights."

1 Nic Sawyer *looks shifty* Who told you that? 165 Nic Sawyer 0 5

Andrew

June 10, 2011 6:35 PM

I suppose it's appropriate by Andrew

There was something a little different about Jane. Andrew couldn't really put his finger on it though, what was it? After a moment he mentally shrugged and let it pass. He didn't know the girl that well, she was in his house and a few classes depending on how they got split up, but that was about it. The longest conversation they'd probably ever had was last term while they were studying. That was the same time that he had learned that Jhon was coming here. With that thought, he glanced around quick and spotted his cousin already talking to Jose. Poor Jose, he may find out what he's up against without a warning. Oh well, he turned back to Jane. Jane Carey. He chuckled to himself, who all should he warn? This may be an interesting year.

Andrew smiled at Jane, "I guess that's possible, but I'll bet it's more likely that the song was just lost over the years. Headmaster Regal is new, I wouldn't put it past him to go digging through all sorts of archives to learn more about the school itself. He is in charge now, he's got to know what he is in charge of." The Carey's had a family song as well? That was kinda neat, and a bit odd, he thought to himself. But that was probably one of the things that made those big families just a little 'different'. They had talked a bit last term about their families, and from that he figured that she probably didn't want to get into a huge discussion on that topic, so he let her family reunion comment slide.

Unfortunately that meant he had to think of something else to talk about. Well, he supposed there was the ball. "So, what do you think about this idea of a 16th century themed ball at the end of the year? I'll probably go, but I don't know how much dancing I'll do."

2 Andrew I suppose it's appropriate 145 Andrew 0 5

Jhonice

June 10, 2011 7:20 PM

Maybe I should try that as well by Jhonice

Yes, Jhonice grinned and thought to herself, Quidditch had been an excellent opening question. This was great! He'd even brought up his cousin, Saul. She knew of Saul Pierce, he had been a Pecari and graduated five years ago. He had been in his seventh year when Andrew had been in his first. His birthday was June 21st and he had a 9" cedar wand. There were still a few blank spaces of information that she had to fill in, hopefully Jose would help. She needed a lot of information on him as well.

She looked over at this 'Mel' person that Jose indicated, but didn't recognize her at all so she quickly turned her gaze back to Jose. "That must have been great to have your cousin at the school and in the same house as you! I was wondering if I would end up in Teppenpaw with Andrew, but this is great as well!" She looked around the room for her cousin and finally spotted him at the Teppenpaw table talking to a girl. "Oooo... Andrew never talked much about his social life around here, does he have all the girls flocking over him?" She asked in a coy voice. She wasn't solely focused on her 'obsession' as Andrew called it after all, it was her job to make sure he had an 'active social life'. Aunt Gwen had given her that task. Jhonice wasn't entirely sure what the quotes around active social life meant, but she was sure that they had been there. She assumed it had something to do with him finding a girlfriend.

"So..." she was about to ask Jose something about his family when she caught a better glimpse of the girl her cousin was talking with, "Wait, is he talking to a Carey!?" Her mind processed what she was seeing. Black hair, black eyes, light complexion, female, younger than Andrew. That had to be Jane Carey. "Is he just casually talking to Jane Carey?!"

2 Jhonice Maybe I should try that as well 209 Jhonice 0 5

Perdita

June 10, 2011 8:05 PM

About? by Perdita

“It’s nice,” he replied. “It’s like your home and you’ll have a great time. You’ll make plenty of friends,” he said.

"I hope so," Perdita said thoughtfully. "I usually have difficulty in that aspect of social life. Say," she watched him carefully before turning to her food. She was really hungry. She took a delicate bite. Delicious. Not quite her mother's cooking, but then again nothing could really come up to par when compared to such perfection. Suddenly she grew morose at the thought of her mother. She missed her terribly. But, she was dead and gone and would never come back again. It was like her daddy said, her mom wouldn't want her grieving.

She turned back to Luka. He was a nice enough guy, so far, at least. She pursed her lips and dared to ask,

"Would you like to be my friend? I mean," she continued, her heart beating rapidly from her nerves. "I know we don't know each other that well, and I'm only a first year and- I'll just shut up now." Perdita said, falling silent. Another reason she didn't have friends. She talked too much and was usually too forward with things. She took a deep breath and took another bite of food, flavor exploding in her mouth. Okay, it was really good.

0 Perdita About? 0 Perdita 0 5

Daniel Nash

June 10, 2011 9:54 PM

Can you at least pretend not to be so cheerful? by Daniel Nash

Daniel raised an eyebrow as Kitty reacted to one of the fried foods he'd never tried. By her expression and quick grab for her drink, that had probably been a wise decision for more than its fat content. She didn't explain the issue, but he didn't really need her to. The only thing she'd been missing were flames coming out of her ears. He wordlessly passed her the potatoes. Starch was good for putting out fires, and clearly she wasn't worried about the carbs.

"Yeah, kind of like Men in Black," he agreed, but it had been a while since he saw that one, so he only vaguely remembered the light flashing device that stole memories. "I think they alter the memories," he guessed, because she was right about the blank spots being noticed and the whole point of obliviation was to avoid notice.

"Yeah, I've got an older half-brother who's a muggle like our parents. My older half-sister is a witch, too, though, so the going theory is that Mom has a magical ancestor, and probably one who was pretty recent since two of her three kids inherited magic and we had different dads. My dad doesn't have any other kids, but Holly's dad does. So does Luke's but I don't see them very often, so they don't count. None of them have magic either. But I see Molly a lot, so even though we're not blood related, I call her my quarter-sister." He paused a moment and decided he should probably explain that. "Half-sister of my half-sister. It's a fallacy, but it explains our relationship pretty well. Also, she's ten, so I actually get to be the big brother to someone."

He shrugged. "And I guess you could count Raoul, now, too. Holly got married last week." The less said about that the better, so he brought up the people that he'd mostly repressed until they were little more than names to him. "And there were the step siblings a few marriages back, but they are - thank Merlin - out of the picture forevermore, so they don't count either. Again, all muggles."

"One theory for why muggleborns exist is that somewhere in your ancestry - and possibly multiple places - there was somebody who was magical. Since you're only one of four to have it, your family tree's brush with magic people was probably further back than mine. If they were still alive, I'd have some serious questions to ask my mom's grandparents. The other theory is that muggleborns just happen by lucky chance, but the first one is more widely accepted."

1 Daniel Nash Can you at least pretend not to be so cheerful? 130 Daniel Nash 0 5

Jane

June 10, 2011 9:57 PM

And accurate to all of us by Jane

Jane nodded in agreement that Andrew’s theory of how they’d never had a school song before was plausible. Sonora wasn’t one of the extremely old schools, like the ones in Europe, by virtue of there not having been an Arizona, as such, for it to be in for comparatively long, but it was older than anyone who worked for it, and the staff turned over regularly, headmasters and headmistresses included. All it would have taken was one who didn’t like to sing, so he’d buried it in the archives, and then he stayed for perhaps ten years and by the time the next one came in….

“It’s good to think of the headmaster taking an interest in the school,” she said. “I like that.” Tradition was one of the things her family thrived on – they took it to the point where she could now, objectively, see that it was ridiculous, where it was no wonder that Father had always joked it was a good thing the family had broken on its own because otherwise they would have all been forcibly disbanded by the government as a cult – and she expected they would approve of this move by the headmaster. She wasn’t sure if it would get him more money or not, but it would be approved of.

Jane didn’t fault them for feeling that way, exactly. She faulted her family for a lot of things directly, enough that she wanted out, but that was…that was complicated. She liked this sort of thing, singing a little song together which had been handed down for years. She didn’t like it becoming something where the Family, as a concept, almost was the god of its members, and where they thought that made them almost gods in comparison to other people. They weren’t. They were just people – messy, nasty, broken people just like almost everyone else in the world. She didn’t know where the line was, though, when things began to blur from something lovely into something ugly and twisted….

She was distracted back into the present by Andrew’s question about the ball. “It sounds interesting,” she said. Though she was almost certainly going to end up looking silly without a mother to help her figure out her robes and those dratted cosmetics. Maybe she could talk to Father, see if he would let Aunt Helen help, or at least Gwenhwyfar. There were a lot of things Mother had never taught her, either because she didn’t see them as necessary or because she’d just been planning to do it later, things about being a girl, and she wasn’t sure how much of it she could figure out by herself. “I think you’ll have to go, though. Edmond spent all summer fussing because last time, the prefects had to lead the dancing, and that means he’s actually going to have to finally say something to Cas – someone,” she corrected herself, aware that if Andrew was paying attention, she had most likely just set the rumor mill on fire at her brother’s expense and praying to Merlin that he wouldn’t somehow trace it back to her.

She looked, a little guiltily, over at the Aladren table and was surprised to see him talking to Cassie’s sister, of all people. That had to mean something. Maybe he wouldn’t mind after all, though she still shouldn't have done it.

“I know how to ballroom dance, but I’ve never actually been to a ball before. My parents didn’t think I was old enough until I was at least fourteen, and then when I was, we were in mourning.” She said that matter-of-factly, without more than a slight tremor of emotion in her voice. She had taken, at one point, to forcing herself to stand in front of the mirror in her bedroom and repeat that Mother was dead aloud until she could say it without tearing up at all. “So we didn’t go out socially at all, really. But that’s definitely over after Christmas, Father’s going to have to start going to events again, the family says so, so I’ll go to this ball. I hope it’s fun." She made a face. "Though I expect sixteenth century robes to be very uncomfortable," she added frankly.

0 Jane And accurate to all of us 0 Jane 0 5

Kitty

June 10, 2011 10:50 PM

Attempting to look serious…and failing by Kitty

While Kitty was still trying to cool her mouth with the pumpkin juice Daniel offered her a bowl of potatoes. She was confused by the offering for a moment but with a small shrug she added a scoop to her plate and then took a bite. To her delight the fire in her mouth died out and she gave him a brilliant smile.

Daniel’s explanation of his siblings sounded rather complicated to the young girl and but she did her best to follow along anyway. Kitty ended up giving up when he began talking about halves of half sisters. The bit at the end made her feel better though. It made a lot of sense, and was probably completely genetic. A half forgotten memory of science class a year ago had her thinking of pea plants, and recessive genes, it was as good an explanation as any.

“Wow, that’s a lot of relatives. All my brothers are whole brothers.” That didn’t sound quite right but Kitty wasn’t sure how else to put it. With a contented sigh she pushed her plate away and sat back in her chair. The food here was very good, much better than what her Dad tried to cook. “So what class do *yawn* you like best?” she asked around the yawn that interrupted the sentence. She’d barely gotten any sleep the night before because she’d been too excited, and now it was finally catching up with the tiny girl who only a short time before seemed to vibrate with energy.

0 Kitty Attempting to look serious…and failing 0 Kitty 0 5

Sully

June 10, 2011 11:27 PM

Blond Teppenpaws are monochromatic by Sully

"Yeah," Sully agreed that Simon had been very nice to both him and his mom for all his help. Possibly even a little too nice. Possibly suspiciously nice. He'd had at least one store employee ask him directly if Simon was his dad. After that, he'd been watching for it, but the guy hadn't tried to kiss Mom when he walked them home, so it was probably just a false alarm and he really was just nice.

Asked about what learning magic was real was like, he just shrugged. "I don't know. We didn't really know what to think when we got the letter. I mean, stuff sometimes exploded for no reason around me, especially when I got mad, but that was just something that happened. Bad wiring in the House or something, we thought. Or like street lights that seem to only go out because you're walking under them. It seems like its related, but logic tells you it can't be, so it's gotta just be a freak chance."

"So anyway, the letter comes, and we have no idea what to make of it. Mom says she'll ask Simon, and he says it's real, and he does magic professionally, so we took his word for it - plus he gave us a demonstration - and then this other wizard shows up the next day and tries to explain it too, but by then we'd gotten most of the story out of Simon so when he offered to take us shopping we just said we already had someone to go with. He asked who, and mom said, like she was quoting something, 'Simon Tellerman of the California Pierces' - which is apparently some kind of big deal in the wizarding world I guess cuz the guy just kind of said 'Oh!' and said we were in good hands."

He frowned curiously. "What's a California Pierce? Are they like a wizard rock band or something?" He'd seen a guitar in Simon's dressing room the time they'd swung by there, and he was pretty sure Simon didn't play it for the Casino. And he hadn't really wanted to ask Simon himself or his cousin. He didn't want to look like some kind of celebrity hound or something.

0 Sully Blond Teppenpaws are monochromatic 0 Sully 0 5

Andrew

June 10, 2011 11:28 PM

Indeed, I guess no one stayed here all summer by Andrew

What? The prefects do what? Lead the... Andrew had that sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. Dance? He looked down at his robes, just in case. Nope, his prefect pin was still there. He was still one of them. Why had no one told him about this!? He couldn't dance, heck that means he'd have to find someone to dance with. With this realization his stomach sank even lower. Sure, he had toyed with the idea of asking around a bit maybe, see if anyone was interested in going with him. That method meant no pressure, if all the girls avoided him like the plague, it was still okay. He could just hang out at the ball by himself mingling about casually with friends. But now.... now he had to find someone, he was required to. Crap.

He realized that he had stalled out, sitting there with a (hopefully) blank look on his face. He forced out an uncertain chuckle and plastered on a really fake smile. "Really? The prefects lead off the dancing. I did not know that. Huh. Ummm... That's... that's great. Yeah." His eyes darted around the hall, what was he going to do? Who would want to go with him? Marissa was the first one to pop into his head, that would be cool. A faint, genuine smile crossed his face then vanished, it would also be very unlikely. She had much better options than him. Okay, he could do this, right? This was what he had to do, he just needed a plan, and research, and a whole lot of luck. He sighed, then resolved himself. He could do this, he would do this. Yes! By the end of this term he would get himself a date for the ball!

The last bit of what she had been saying filtered through as he came to this decision. 16th century robes. Right, he was going to need interesting clothing as well, wasn't he? And he was also going to need to learn how to dance. Yes, that would also help. Where to start? Jane claimed she knew how to dance... he gave her one of his best friendly grins, "So... you know how to dance? I don't suppose you'd be interested in giving lessons, would you?"

2 Andrew Indeed, I guess no one stayed here all summer 145 Andrew 0 5

Dana

June 11, 2011 9:17 AM

I agree by Dana

"It's a carefully concocted potion that reflects certain qualities in the drinker - specifically those looked for in the students of each House - in a viewable format," she said, being sure that dennis had swallowed the potion before she offered her explanation. Dennis said he didn't feel any different after drinking the potion, which was normal until a kid saw the effects. "In other words, your skin turns the representetive color of your House," she added, and tried not to be too horrified as his skin too on the muddy brown hue of her own House.

"You're in Pecari," she said levelly, avoiding the exasperation this result instigated, but not quite managing the congratulatory tone she perhaps should have used. "That's the House I'm in, too. We sit over here for the Opening Feast," she said, walking towards where the other Pecaris were already sitting, and the first years were settling into the empty seats, "but you can sit where you like for the rest of the year."

She purposefully guided Dennis to an empty seat she'd spotted with some younger students. She wasn't keen to hang around him much longer; she was at this point quite pleased she'd not been made prefect, because then she definitely would have felt obligated to stay with him a little longer. "Listen to the rest of the speech, then there'll be food," she advised. "At some point your Head of House, Professor mcKindy - he's the one wearing the pink hat - will show you to the commons room, okay?" she hoped that was clear because she was preparing to make a swift exit. "I'm going to go and find my friends now." At this stage, with their parting in sight, she finally managed the friendly smile that should have been there from the start. "Welcome to Sonora."

0 Dana I agree 0 Dana 0 5

Charlotte

June 11, 2011 9:45 AM

I am usually right by Charlotte

"Lots of swimming, sunbathing, ate far too much," Charlie remembered fondly. "Shopping," she added as an after-thought, having suddenyl remembered the outings that varied from expensive air-conditioned boutiques to colorful open air markets crammed into hot, dry alleyways. "Got this necklace," she tugged lightly on the string of small, polished shells round her neck in indication, "amongst a bunch of other things." She and Lita being who they were they'd also done a lot of talking and their daily dancing exercises, but Marissa didn't need to know about that.

"Ha," Charlie replied, delighted at the admission from the sixth year. "Hey Marissa? I told you so," she grinned. "And hey, there's no point getting freaked out," she offered yet more words of wisdom. "Life's too short." Admittedly life could be made very difficult if you messed up important occasions like exams - things that really had an effect on your future - but Charlie still liked being able to use the saying as an excuse to enjoy herself, and not worry too much about things she really ought to be worrying about (like what she was going to do with herself next year, for example). She was also incredibly pleased that Marissa's parents had let her stay on with Quidditch. Not that they would have really been in a position to stop her playing (and were unlikely to hear about it from the other parents, from the sounds of it), but Charlie really didn't think the Crotalus team could stand to loose Marissa. She was already praying for a better turn out at try-outs this year as it was.

"So what subjects are you taking then?" she asked, tucking into her salad. "Aside from transfig," which had already been mentioned, and, unlike Charms, had apparently received a good enough grade that Marissa was convinced she would be able to get into the class. The second day of her exams might have gone overall better than the first, Charlie guessed. This year it would be Charlie taking the exams, and potentially freaking out about them to Marissa... though at this rate her grades would mean nothing. She really needed to pick a career already. It would really help her out if she had some idea of what she wanted to do.

0 Charlotte I am usually right 0 Charlotte 0 5

Samantha

June 11, 2011 10:03 AM

Teacher's Pet. by Samantha

"You get to go to summer schools?" Samantha asked, feeling at once a little jealous and curious about what activities David got to do over the summer. "There's nothing like that in my town," she grumbled lightly. "Everything just sort of shuts down for the summer."

She shared the experience of no Quidditch in the summer, a she, too, was Muggleborn and lived in an area heavily populated by Muggles (plus her brother's town house didn't have much of a yard to sppeak of, and certainly not sufficient space for impromptu games), and nodded in understanding at the comment. She couldn't, however, claimed she'd made an electric go-cart. "Sounds cool," she commented as David asked about her own summer.

"I didn't do anything interesting, no," she said, more as if she were stating a fact than lodging a complaint. "No Quidditch, but then I don't want my spot this year, so help yourself." She'd played in her first year and taken second yer off, then played again in her third year. After some deliberation she'd decided to take fourth year off, too. The last game had been more exciting than she liked her Quidditch overall, and she was becoming incrreasingly certain that if she wasn' killed by playing then she was very likely to see this fate come to someone else on the pitch. It wasn't something she wanted to engage with this year, and as Aladren did have another potential player in david, she didn't even feel guilty from the possibility of letting the team down.

"My mom decided to take us camping," she expanded a little on her summer. "It rained pretty much non-stop. That was about the highlight," she smiled as she tucked into her sausages. Actually the highlight was getting all the new clothes and accessories on her Dad's compensating for being a lame father mission, but she would feel a little awkward talking about buying dresses with someone like David, who was, to put it bluntly, a boy.

0 Samantha Teacher's Pet. 0 Samantha 0 5

Linus

June 11, 2011 10:29 AM

The novel becomes mundane by Linus

Linus was rapidly developing the impression that not only was he the only person in their group to whom magic was entirely new, but also that this might hold him back somewhat. He had always been a bright child, and not afraid of putting in an extra hour's work to maintain his position at the top of the lcass (or near enough to it that his teachers were pleased to have him in the classes), so to be the ignorant one in a conversation - with a group of girls, no less - was a new and unwelcome experince. Linus hated it; he felt a little humiliated, almost like they were trying on purpose to make him feel excluded. He would simply have to rise above it, that was all. He latched onto the parts of the conversation that did make sense to him, and made his comments firmly, in order to better give the impression that he, too knew what he was talking about.

"It must be daunting to come away to a boarding school when you've only been home tutored before," he said to Jenny. "I expect it'll take a while for you to get used to not being at home for your classes, and having to share them with other students, too. I can't imagine a professor's attention stretches especially far over a whole class, compared to just one student," he thought aloud. He had always attended a normal school just like any other normal person would, but he had also dabbled in the occasional bout of after-school and weekend tutoring just to take advantage of the fact that he was capable. "Don't you agree?" he extended to the group more generally. Linus much preferred the on-on-one style of learning as a general rule, but it lacked competition. Besides, while Linus didn't tend to forge close relationships with other people, he did appreciate the variety they offered - other people had the potential to make a boring topic less so.

"If I were to become a teacher," Linus returned back to a comment Jenny had recently made (he thought she was tolerable aside from the shortening of her name. Perhaps when he knew her a little better he would encourage her to get out of the undesireable habit. Cherry was increasingly off-putting and while Brianna seemed largely acceptable, Linus hadn't yet taken a great deal of interest in anything she'd had to say, and so found it difficult to respond to her), "I think I would prefer to teach a small class than a collection of separate individuals." Not least because he could accomplish the same end in less time. "I haven't yet disocvered a subject I prefer over the others -" due in no small part to not having attended any classes yet "- so I couldn't be sure what I would teach." He wasn't dismissing the idea by any means; teaching was a form of help. Maybe he could be especially helpful and go to a run down area to teach kids in ethnic minorities how to speak English, or something rewarding like that.

0 Linus The novel becomes mundane 0 Linus 0 5

Reggie

June 11, 2011 10:31 AM

Well repeating it probably won't help. by Reggie

Reggie laughed. She knew that if she had an animal, she would have also been stuck with the responsibilities of the day to day cleaning, feeding, and possible walking (depending on the creature). She knew if she had been doing that she would eventually have grown tired and might have ended up sulking and pouting to her dad about it all. It wouldn’t have been fair to the animal because they were just doing what they needed to survive and Reggie was just being lazy. In the end, it was better that she and her father had opted to not own any pets at this time.

She wasn’t sure if she had ever seen Derry look upset or terrified in the year that she had known him. Not even when she saw him during Quidditch games and those games were scary. So whatever it was that had happened during the end of his summer break must have been truly terrible. So much so that Reggie was a little nervous to even hear about it, but she wanted to support her friend and so, she must hear what was making him so uneasy!

Except, he wasn’t going to tell her. Apparently, it was so bad that he wasn’t even allowed to discuss it! “Popsicle always tells me that if something is upsetting me so much, but I don’t talk about it, I’ll end up getting a stomach ache and then I’ll be extra miserable and unhappy and I’ll miss out on all the good things that are going on.” Reggie advised him with a very serious look on her face. “And you know what?” She paused for the effect of it. “Popsicle was right. I do get stomach aches if I don’t talk about what’s making me so troubled.”

She didn’t want to seem like she was forcing him to tell her anything either because that wasn’t what friendships were all about. But she did want him to know that she was his friend and she would be there to listen if he ever did decide to divulge in whatever it was that had him so jumpy. “You don’t have to me now or even later, if you don’t want to. I mean, Ben might be the one you’re more comfortable with, but I will do my best to make you feel better. Especially if you’re tummy starts to hurt.” With this, Reggie gave him a smile. It was better for him to know that he wasn’t alone than make him think that he had no one to rely on at all.

6 Reggie Well repeating it probably won't help. 187 Reggie 0 5

Luka

June 11, 2011 11:21 AM

I don't know. Something else...? by Luka

"Would you like to be my friend? I mean," Perdita blurted out. "I know we don't know each other that well, and I'm only a first year and- I'll just shut up now."

Luka gave a half-amused chuckle. "That would be lovely," he said, feeling an odd mixture of relief and happiness. He had made acquaintance even without trying.

"We don't know much about each other, true, but who says we can't change that? I am from Romania," said Luka. He did not want to go into details, just now, but maybe after sometime, he could tell her.

He was not sure which house Perdita had been sorted into, so he said, “Are you in Pecari by any chance? We shall have classes together, anyway.”

It was time for the Housemasters to take them to their Commons. Luka held out a hand, “It was nice to meet you, Perdita,” he smiled. “I am sure we would meet again, but I think we would have to head to our Common Rooms now. Have a good night. Although first night in different beds are a little uncomfortable,” he added. Especially when you have slept on hay all your life! Luka had ever slept on a mattress till he had come to Sonora. It was a good change, but it had taken sometime to get used to.

0 Luka I don't know. Something else...? 0 Luka 0 5

Perdita

June 11, 2011 2:32 PM

well, it's goodbye for now anyway. So good bye :) by Perdita

"Romania?" She said. "That's so cool! I was born in England, but I moved here not too long ago."

“Are you in Pecari by any chance? We shall have classes together, anyway.”

Perdita shook her head. "I'm an Aladren, though I look forward to seeing you in class!"

Perdita said goodbye to Luka and finished her meal before making her way to her Head of House. Today was turning out wonderfully. She made a friend, or acquaintance, or whatever, but she had made one. It was beginning to be the start of an amazing year. Perdita could hardly wait! Though, honestly, she hoped she calmed down a bit by the time tomorrow came around.

0 Perdita well, it's goodbye for now anyway. So good bye :) 0 Perdita 0 5

DiAnna Diaz

June 11, 2011 2:35 PM

Upon what do you base this? by DiAnna Diaz

"Maybe I should sign up for a cookery class or something," DiAnna commented, adding another couple of the spinach things to her dish and then some cheeses and fruit. While most other subjects were easy to study while at work, considering she practically resided in a library, she presumed cooking wasn't something you could strictly learn from a book - she's tried a recipe a couple of times but had run into confusion when it gaveher instructions such as 'baste', 'fold' or 'sautée.' She supposed she could just live off cold foods, tinned soups, and other easy to prepare meals, but it seemed fairly cowardly of her. Besides, John Fawcett seemed to think it could be enjoyable.

Of all her colleagues, DiAnna saw John Fawcett the most, simply as a matter of location. She had found it difficult for the first part of last term to not actually call him Professor Fawcett, and still couldn't refer to him as just 'John' in her head. He reminded her a lot of her History of Magic Professor, who she'd liked very much. Of course, since the end of last year, she was actually wary of his progression from substitue teacher to Head of House, concerned she might somehow be similarly sucked into the system (though actually John Fawcett seemed to enjoy teaching, not be terrfied by the prospect of it).

"It was good, thanks," she replied to his query about her summer, pushing a strand of dark hair back behind her ear and out of the way for eating. "I'm still staying with my family in the holidays, so I saw a lot of my sister, which is always fun. She's eleven." There was definitely some pride in DiAnna's voice as she talked about Liberty; she hadn't been there much while her sister was growing up, being first at school then college for her whole life, but they were very close in the times they could spend together. "How about you?" she returned the question in a predictable but socially expected manner.

0 DiAnna Diaz Upon what do you base this? 0 DiAnna Diaz 0 5

Jenny Owens

June 11, 2011 2:54 PM

Um...what? by Jenny Owens

Jenny considered the idea that she should be nervous or uneasy about sharing a Professor with student peers with a kind of detatchment. She had never really thought about it like that before. She was nervous, certainly, of making a fool of herself, such as by blowing something up in Potions or by accidentally transfiguring the wrong object. She was afraid of losing her House points and making people dislike her. But was she scared of not being the centre of attention? She didn't think so. She would relish the idea that teachers were neutral here, and wouldn't use her to try to influence her parents. She would love being able to daydream for even a second without a harsh hand or stinging words falling on her.

'I think I'll like sharing classes. And someone who understands the work we're doing can always help me out.' she told Linus. She liked Linus. He was strong, assertive, which she admired. She had seen all too well how people with weak minds could be manipulated. And he knew what he wanted to do in life - and it was something selfless! How extraordinary that in this increasingly cold, power hungry world, a little boy knew that all he wanted was to help others.

'That's a good idea,' she agreed with him about teaching a small class. It was in many ways more useful, for the individuals learning and the teacher, to have smaller classes. She could picture Linus as a teacher. He would make a good one. 'I think that having a good teacher can be really inspirational in people's lives. My father was going to do some Ministry office job when he was younger, he did all the courses and everything, but then he met a young healer and decided to do that instead. He's been doing that job for nearly 20 years now, and he loves it.'

'What do your parents do?' She asked the group, smiling round at them all as her heart pounded and she hoped with all her soul that none of them were orphans.

0 Jenny Owens Um...what? 0 Jenny Owens 0 5

Daniel Withers

June 11, 2011 4:41 PM

Food, always choose food... by Daniel Withers

Daniel was beside himself – obviously not in the literal sense – with the idea of learning magic. As soon as he’d received his letter he’d been mulling over all the things he could learn and discover and life, the universe and everything. Time had gone very quickly since, and suddenly it was his first day at his new school. Magic. Spells. Potions. It all seemed rather surreal to him, being ‘muggleborn’, as they called it, and all. Daniel had done his best to learn about the magical world, but there was only so much a very small collection of books could teach him, especially when he had a habit of becoming distracted while reading them. Daniel was often guilty of that (being distracted, that is) and generally ended up scribbling drawings on whatever happened to be in front of him instead of doing whatever it was he was meant to be doing.

Daniel's mind was all over the place as he, along with a herd of many other eleven-year-olds, arrived at the school after a joyous ride in a flying wagon. Now, that was something he never thought he'd get to do. He made a mental note to draw a picture of that as soon as he was somewhere solid and less... airbourne. As he followed the crowd toward the school he did his best to take in the surroundings and the others around him - he was sure to make the most of this exciting new experience.

After being taken into the main hall and listening (or Daniel assumed he was supposed to have listened, at least) to the headmaster's speech and some form of singing, a goblet was thrust in his general direction. Daniel raised his brow at it a little in a quizzical fashion, vaguely wondering how many peoples' lips had touched it before his. Disregarding the thought, Daniel took a quick sip and an involuntary "bleh" escaped his lips at the complete lack of taste. It was peculiar. Just as he began to notice other students' reactions to the potion and how they were changing colour according to the house they had been sorted into, he too noted his own skin beginning to change. His usually fair skin and mid-brown hair gained a yellowish tinge and, in the strangeness of the moment, Daniel found himself wondering if he'd look good as a blonde.

'Ah,' he considered to himself, 'Teppenpaw. The magic goblet thinks I'm nice.' Daniel had read all about the various houses and, while all of the houses he was sure had their good points, he found himself glad to be shining yellow. Yellow was a colour to be proud of.

Still quite yellow and possibly dithering a little, Daniel's stomach reminded him that there was still food to come, so he followed a couple of other yellow students to the Teppenpaw house table. He tripped slightly on his shoelace and stumbled into a vacant seat, which he then bent down to retie, hitting his head on the table on his way back up. 'Nimrod,' he insulted himself inwardly, pondering his clumsiness. It was unnatural - Daniel was usually so good on his feet, being into running and all.

Next to him, Daniel noticed a boy scribbling something on a scrap of parchment and subtly tried to see if he was drawing something. It would be nice if there were more arty types for him to commune with. It looked like words to Daniel, and as he noted this he also realised that the boy had noticed Daniel's watching eye.

"Yuh alrigh' heah?" the other spoke to Daniel in a southern accent he wasn't used to needing to understand, but he assumed the boy was saying hello. Daniel smiled in return, trying not to look too guilty for 'spying'.

"Hi, I'm-" Daniel realised he needed to make a decision. Did he want to be known as Daniel, or did he want his classmates to run with the nickname his siblings had given him, 'Dani'? Daniel went with his gut feeling. "Daniel, uhh... Dani. I'm Dani." He smiled awkwardly, "How's things?"

0 Daniel Withers Food, always choose food... 0 Daniel Withers 0 5

Laurie

June 11, 2011 7:03 PM

Both! by Laurie

Michael’s response to his airplane comment shocked him, but he grinned. Michael was some sort of daredevil! Living on the adrenaline rush being part of something dangerous gave some people. Laurie wasn’t one of them, but he liked the adrenaline that came from playing Quidditch. He wasn’t into doing extreme sports or anything like that, he liked being alive. Plus, his father would never allow it, he was the Heir, and that was a very important position to hold. One he sort of took seriously. Laurie was of the idea that he needed to enjoy his childhood, seeing Preston so serious just made him hold tighter into his resolution. This new information about his roommate didn’t bother him, to each his own.

He nodded at Michael’s comment, he was right. He was so used to things being like they were that he never questioned anything. It just made life easier, too much information could cause headaches, and having one meant less time to have fun, or otherwise do things that were more entertaining. No, Laurie preferred to live life, instead of vicariously living it through books and information. No sir, he was a doer! Preston could read all he wanted, and he would do everything he wanted. He could ask his cousin for help, if it was needed.

At Michael’s family question, Laurie’s grin grew wider. He liked his family, “Yes, I do!” he exclaimed rather excitedly. “I have a younger brother named Darren and a younger sister named Inez. They will attend Sonora when their time comes,” he took a deep breath. “I also have an older cousin that attends the school, his name is Preston and he is an Aladren,” Laurie lowered his voice as if plotting something, his eyes glinting with mischievousness, “but he is sort of boring, he spends all of his time reading.” Laurie smiled, changing his voice back to normal, “don’t tell anyone I said it.”

The redhead chuckled, “How about you? Do you have siblings?” it was only fair to return the question. Laurie was glad he had a big family, because it just made everything more fun. However, he couldn’t really do a lot of things with them, they were a couple of years younger than him, especially Inez, she was like 4 right now. He prided on the fact that he was a very good older brother, taking care of them and playing when he could.

0 Laurie Both! 0 Laurie 0 5

Michael

June 11, 2011 7:39 PM

BFF.... or at least until you Find Out. by Michael

Laurie was still smiling. It was going well. He guessed he must be getting by alright in the conversation. He was successfully passing for normal and it meant that he was making a friend!

Laurie seemed like he had a big family. He didn't quite get the names, but there seemed to be a brother and a sister, and from 'they will attend Sonora' he could summise that they were younger. Laurie also had another relative at the school, who he thought was boring. Michael couldn't remember the strange house names well enough to work out that Laurie had explained he was in Aladren. A normal person receiving that information might have instinctively twisted to look at the Aladren table, in spite of the futility of it, not knowing what this relative looked like, but Michael didn't. He didn't know where he'd been directed to look and didn't tend to take his eyes off the other person's face during conversation. To that end, he scooped for a forkful of peas without looking down at his plate but when the fork got to his mouth, he found it was empty. They'd either rolled off or evaded capture in the first place. His peripheral vision was pretty good but he supposed he was concentrating on other things more than usual. Peas had been a stupid choice, given their ability to get away, but he found himself feeling something he didn't very often. He'd had his hearing impairment all his life. He was used to it. He got embarrassed by it but he very rarely felt hard done by. Having had to compensate all his life he didn't really know how much extra effort he had to put in, compared with normal people. However, he was well aware that normal people didn't have their food choices affected by the amount of attention that they could afford to pay their plate. That felt unfair. Eating was supposed to be such a simple thing that not being able to hear properly shouldn't have any bearing on at all, yet it was managing to get in the way. The feeling was perhaps closer to the surface than usual, Michael being well aware that other people had probably spent their summers outdoors or doing whatever they wanted to do, rather than sitting in stuffy offices trying not to lose something that was just taken for granted as safe.

“I have an older sister,” he replied, as Laurie predictably returned the question. He looked down at his plate as he spoke, mixing the peas with the mashed potato so that they would be more easily collected. “Her name's Natalie. She's ok,” he shrugged. Natalie was three years older than him and a girl, so they weren't really super close but they didn't try to kill each other either. He sometimes wondered what having a brother would have been like. Besides the fact that Natalie couldn't and wouldn't have beat anyone up, having a girl stand up for him wouldn't have helped anything. But if he'd had a brother... “But she's nor-not a witch,” he corrected himself. It wasn't fair to call Natalie 'normal' because it implied that they weren't, which was a nasty thing to say, even just by implication. It wasn't even accurate because as far as Laurie was concerned, this was normal. But he couldn't quite bring himself to call her a Muggle either. He knew it was just the wizarding word for them and it wasn't insulting but it still felt funny coming out of his mouth. It was like... like he was saying he was part of this world and she was an outsider to him. Whilst technically true, it felt funny talking about his own sister that way.

13 Michael BFF.... or at least until you Find Out. 199 Michael 0 5

Jane

June 11, 2011 9:49 PM

Except maybe the prairie elves by Jane

“I might be wrong,” Jane offered instantly when she noticed the quick glance toward the prefect’s badge and subsequent blank look that her comment inspired in Andrew. “They might have changed the rule. It’s been nearly five years.”

She supposed she could have pointed out that he and Edmond had only been second years at the time, so it was possible that her brother had misremembered, but she knew that was an exercise in futility and most likely untruth. Edmond was sometimes wrong even when he felt sure about something, but it was rare, and she didn’t think he would have put so much time into worrying about possibly maybe sort of having to reveal his feelings on the topic of the Incomparable Cassandra if he hadn’t been absolutely sure of how things had happened the year before Jane began school. They might never do so again, but at the last ball, the prefects had led the dancing.

She was surprised when Andrew asked her if she would offer dancing lessons, but also a little pleased. It was rare to be thought of as the expert on anything, and she found that she liked the feeling. “Well…I don’t know if I can show you exactly how boys do it,” she admitted. She had, by virtue of having an actual boy around to learn with, never learned how to lead a dance, only to follow, not the way it would have been if she, like a lot of people if her novels were to be believed, had learned with another girl. “But I’m sure I could get Edmond to help me demonstrate sometime in the dancing room. Do you have a partner in mind?”

The last remark wasn’t really relevant to the idea of teaching him to dance, since she could be his partner while Edmond kept an eye on technique if another girl couldn’t be found, but more out of curiosity. She thought, sometimes, that her complete inability to be an object of male interest in that way made her all the more interested in the love lives of others, though she of course tried to keep her interest quiet. That sort of thing wasn’t proper, her parents, and the family in general, would have severely disapproved if they had known that she entertained such an impractical interest.

0 Jane Except maybe the prairie elves 0 Jane 0 5

Renée

June 11, 2011 11:48 PM

You're <i>in</i> visibility, and I'm visible :} by Renée

"Gracias." She started piling the turkey on, setting the bowl down and then looked around for salad, found string beans instead and piled that on as well. "Second most wondrous thing, si." She grabbed a goblet of pumpkin juice and raised it to her lips, glancing briefly up at the older boy. "I always miss the gardens the most about Sonora. I travel a lot and there's a lot of beautiful places but, I don't know." She laughed a little, excitement getting caught in the slight fatigue from the sun, the travel, and the excitement itself. "The gardens are special." She turned her head to bite down on her giggle as the older boy's stomach gave an audible grumble, reaching for another sip of pumpkin juice. The spice flavored her mouth and loosened her tongue. "Are you a seventh year?" She speared the turkey and mashed sweet potatoes, lifting it to her lips.

"I love Sonora but the summer after seventh my whole life starts." She continued to smile because she had no idea yet how true that really was. Gabriel's idle promise to take her with him on his journeys (something mumbled to get her to go to bed, or had it been when he'd been by himself on the beach, urging her to leave him in peace?) had been lodged in her mind as fact. She couldn't realize the full extent of the promise she had made to Soledad and Oro (despite the conversations passing easily over her head, and the whispers she walked through in the halls, and the letters shoved and torn in her hands - her mind was always elsewhere and she never paid attention). She would be spared a betrothal because the society her abuelos headed believed it a sign of maturity when young men and women were able to make proper choices of their own. But, because they knew her well, the family would dictate where she traveled and whom with. They'd mold her, guide her onto the path Marianna had been meant for and recklessly discarded. Renée had about four more years of illusion... and then she would learn.

"Did you have a nice summer?" She asked, replaying her own once more and not really able to imagine that anybody else' could compare to the color and sound, the constant music and dance that had followed her around on waves and land. But she was able to ask politely enough, and there was a casual interest in her voice because on the off chance there was something interesting to be had she knew she'd be thinking about it later and would want to do it. 'I ought to be able to do everything. Have everything.' The first thing she wanted was food. Smiling at the continuous spice, she chewed the turkey and mashed sweet potatoes happily.

0 Renée You're <i>in</i> visibility, and I'm visible :} 0 Renée 0 5

David Kim

June 11, 2011 11:56 PM

I'm sure there's a guidebook somewhere. by David Kim

David’s childhood, due to the limitations imposed by his over-protective mother and apathetic father, had been one spent on the periphery. When he had been very young, he hadn’t known to be sorry that there were no trips to the park, or playdates with other children in the neighborhood. He had no friends, so he did not know enough to be lonely. There had been a short time, when he first started school, that he felt something along the lines of longing and envy for the other children who were allowed to play during recess or run with the parachute during gym. For a short time, from his banishment in the library, he would creep toward the windows that looked out into the open quarter, his eyes starved for the activity below, watching as the children ran and called out after each other.

For a short time, he would sit and watch, his breath warming the glass, and feel the ugly knot of jealousy in his stomach. But it was only for a short time. Like any other child, he adapted soon enough. He adjusted to his circumstances and came to prefer being on his own, watching from the inside always and never caught there in the crowds. As David grew older, his separation from his peers grew more pronounced; his quiet watchfulness endeared the others’ distrust and suspicion. And as children were prone to do to anyone different from themselves, some became mean.

David learned quickly; he was smart after all. He knew that he could never best them physically, and so he used his years of watching to his benefit. He watched, noted, and let his mouth protect him. Those hours of watching others had made him into a silent observer, an apt appraiser of human behavior and nature. It was his only strength, his only weapon against those he knew would inevitably turn on him given the chance.

And so, those short words from Preston Stratford of the Vermont Stratfords had been enough for David to take notice. An ever so slight change in the polite tone that David somehow intuitively understood to be a dismissal. David was too ignorant of the nuances of Pureblooded society to understand the nature of the dismissal. He took it, as he had all other previous slights in his life, very personally.

David might have been small, weak, and unfortunately granted his mother’s delicate, feminine features, but he had all the pride and ambition of a boy twice his size and stature. He legs crossed under the table, his hands folding tightly in his lap. “Didn’t really think you’d know. Not every one is familiar with this sort of thing.” His tone stayed congenial, but his words belied his defensiveness. “Most adults don’t, so why should you, yeah?”

0 David Kim I'm sure there's a guidebook somewhere. 0 David Kim 0 5

Cherry Bosko

June 12, 2011 12:21 AM

Other type of novel. Threw me for a loop at first, too. by Cherry Bosko

Cherry Bosko turned her attention for a moment to the dishes that seemed to be sprouting from the very table. It was like a holiday dinner at Grandmother Hodges' house, the plates brimming with food and filling all senses with longing for the juicy meats, moist and crumbly breads, crisp brightly colored vegetables. Pumpkin juice with a just a hint of cinnamon and nutmeg. Eating at Sonora was going to be a pleasure.

Cherry wasn't so sure about her two roommates though. Brianna, it seemed, was an overachiever and Jenny'd had tutors. Both girls were obviously from wizarding families, since they knew about Quidditch. Cherry was a little disappointed. She'd hoped there'd be more muggles. Her own wizarding world experiences were rather limited. She knew about as much about Quidditch as she did about football--she could name a team or two and identify some of the sporting equipment needed to play the game, but she didn't actually know the rules or players. Luckily, this level of conversation about Quidditch was well within her limits and it didn't seem likely to get any deeper.

"You can ride a broom without playing Quidditch," Cherry added to Brianna's comment. "And we have to take the lessons either way--it's on the schedule. Just flying, though, not Quidditch." If she wasn't eating, she might have been tempted to pull said schedule out of her pocket and show them to settle Jenny's anxiety. And maybe to show them that just because she hadn't opened her texts didn't mean she hadn't taken the time to draw up an easy-to-read color-coordinated schedule in her neatest handwriting. She had even made a copy in each of her composition notebooks, which were carefully decorated with her scrapbooking paper and stamps according to the subject. Everything was lacquered and waterproofed so as to not be destroyed in her backpack--her mom had helped with that part.

Cherry settled back and listened while Linus covered all his bases, talking about the potential teaching held as a career choice. Boring. At least Jenny was looking forward to having classes with other students. That hopefully meant she at least liked people. And then there was that do-gooder talk again with teachers being inspirational. Dull. The romance of the young healer and the future Ministry worker floated over Cherry's head and circled back to remind Cherry that something interesting and almost cute had been revealed about Jenny's parents and that the appropriate response was to make "awww" sounds like when you see a kitten.

But wait.

Did wizarding girls awww? Cherry couldn't imagine any of her cousins awwwwing. Brianna did not strike Cherry as an aww-er either, and Linus would probably be weirded out.

Cherry's mouth was already open and ready, and she turned it into a really little, almost silent aww, "That's a cute story."

And now I look like a bubblehead, Cherry sighed inwardly and thanked her muggle friends for drilling that behavior into her. Again.

When Jenny asked what their parents did, Cherry took a nice big bite of meat. Let Linus or Brianna answer this one. She didn't need her housemates knowing that her so-called respectable wizarding parents were basically muggle auto mechanics--sure a lot of their clients were wizards with enhanced vehicles, but there were also muggles with regular old street cars. And for all Cherry's pureblood mother thought she had the "coolest job in the universe", Cherry had learned in muggle school that fixing cars was not exactly the most respected profession out there.

0 Cherry Bosko Other type of novel. Threw me for a loop at first, too. 0 Cherry Bosko 0 5

Andrew

June 12, 2011 12:22 PM

I wonder if they get a vacation by Andrew

"Heh," He let out a quick nervous laugh. "Changed the rule? Not around here, they like tradition." He looked at the song sheet they had received, "Heck, the headmaster is digging up old traditions." What was he going to do? He was going to have to get a date, that's what. the question was how? He was going to need a plan, some sort of strategy.

He was relieved when Jane offered her and Edmond's help, and it probably showed on his face. "That would be great if you and Edmond would do that for me." Edmond wasn't usually the first person that Andrew would run to if he had some problem, but in this case it might be the best option. If Jane had learned to dance, so had Edmond and he would probably agree to help. They were both prefects, and if they did have to lead off the dancing at the ball, Andrew got the feeling that Edmond would really rather not have someone in the position of prefect make a mess of it. "With a little luck and your help, I may not make a complete disaster out of it."

That just brought him back to Jane's last inquiry. "I... I'm really not sure. But you're right it would be helpful to have my partner for the lessons. Then we could learn together if she needs a little help as well. Plus, then she'd know when to watch out for me stepping on her toes." His mind went directly for Marissa again, she was a prefect as well, she was required to have a date. Why not him? Because she could do better? Probably. He sighed, at some point he was going to have to learn to quiet that little doubting voice that echoed through his head. He needed a plan.

2 Andrew I wonder if they get a vacation 145 Andrew 0 5

Solomon

June 12, 2011 2:56 PM

If only I could sleep-eat. by Solomon

"Dani." Solomon smiled, and set his goblet down to extend a hand. "Solomon Asa Davies." Around him he could just make out the murmurs of formal introductions being issued around him. But no one was formal around food in his family. "Mos' jus' call me Asa." If you ate with somebody, then for those moments there was a seal of friendship and kin. He began chewing on the chicken, swallowing the heavy flavors and deducing that he was going to like Sonora as long as the food remained always this delicious. "Everythin' good. Woke up tuhday, didn' even know where ah wus goin'. Forgot 'bout school. But now ah'm heah," He laughed and stretched a little bit. "Mmm, shouldn' be so bad. An' we in Teppenpaw. Shouldn' be so bad."

He was basing that on the bright yellow which conjured up relatively good feelings within him. The food was good, he already judged the company well. The name "Dani" brought feelings of comfort. The name "Solomon" never really belonged to him. It was how he thought of himself, but it was also his father's name. Family called him "Asa" and as for his unfortunate brother Asa Troy Davies, they called "Baby" instead of "Troy." Names were important to Solomon; hours spent over his parchment, scribbling down the many different possibilities for his characters. He hadn't quite decided who he was. He and his brother had been given names to share due to the tradition in his family; sharing names created a stronger bond between family members. For Solomon and Asa, sensitive boys in different ways, it only confused them. 'I'll figure out who I am here.' What he had figured out, was that the food was good, the company alright so far, and if the beds were good he was set for the next seven years.

"Where yuh from?" He looked over at Dani in interest. "We had a Withers family back home. Nasty business wit a few goblins an' they be run outta town. You don' sound from Louisiana though." He smiled and drained a bit more from his goblet.

0 Solomon If only I could sleep-eat. 0 Solomon 0 5

Daniel Withers

June 12, 2011 3:54 PM

Sleep-eating sounds dangerously messy.. or messily dangerous by Daniel Withers

Dani was quick to realise he had possibly gotten chatting to one of the most laid back people he'd ever met in his life - or at least, that's how it seemed. This boy, 'Solomon Asa Davies' as he'd introduced himself, appeared to be very casual with the fact he had just started a new school and was talking to somebody he'd never met before as though they'd been acquaintances for a while. Dani was intruiged.

"Umm, yes..." Dani spoke first in response to his companion's comment about forgetting school and that Teppenpaw would be good - or that's what Dani took it to mean, anyway. "It should be nice here. I'm from Michigan..." Dani smiled awkwardly, unsure as to whether or not he'd finished his sentence. While he could be perfectly friendly and polite, Dani had never been particularly great with people and social interaction. He was good at a few things - drawing, running, reading - but social situations did tend to leave him a little stumped.

He turned his attention toward the food on the table and selected a bread roll for himself, which he began to pick at, noting that his skin colour had returned to normal. He glanced sideways to maintain eye-contact so that he didn't appear rude.

"So.. Asa, right?" He knew he had to try with this whole casual conversation thing otherwise he'd never make any friends and, since leaving behind his friends from his previous school, that didn't seem like a sensible option. Dani chose what he thought to be a safe and normal topic, "do you have any, uhh, what are your hobbies?"

He was hoping they'd have something in common, or at least something Dani could latch onto and chat about. He was never one to judge a book by it's cover, but he was going to assume that Asa wasn't really into running or physical training, but there was a chance he may be into art or literature. 'Fingers crossed,' Dani thought.

0 Daniel Withers Sleep-eating sounds dangerously messy.. or messily dangerous 0 Daniel Withers 0 5

Jethro

June 12, 2011 4:55 PM

You're confusing me by Jethro

The younger students was saying lots of things, and she still didn't make much sense. She said 'gracias' which, if Jethro remembered his Spanish lessons correctly (and he did have a good memory, if nothing else) meant thank you. He didn't know why she was speaking Spanish, though. She said she missed the gardens at Sonora, that they were special. Jethro didn't really know why she was talking about the gardens, or whether they were especially beautiful, so he utterred a non-committal 'mm' sound in reply. then she asked whether he was a seventh year, and Jethro finally found something he could easily reply to.

"I'm in sixth year," he said. "My name is Jethro Smythe. What's yours?" Excellent; he had worked an introduction into their conversation, and when she answered he would know with whom he was speaking. That was always an advantage, because Jethro had a tendency to say stupid things, but when he was talkign to one of the people who'd been named on Cynthia's list of people he should avid, Jethro knew to only stick to topics like the weather, so he wouldn't embarrass himself and ruin the family. He didn't think any of the younger students who weren't a Carey or a Stratford would present much of a problem, so he was currently fairly relaxed, but it couldn't hurt to know this girl's identity. Besides, it was just good manners.

The concept about life starting after seventh year was unusual. Jethro was tempted to ask what it was she was living now if her life was yet to start, but he had a feeling that might be one of those ridiculous things that she never make it from his brain to his mouth, so he refrained. however her question about summer was safe to answer. "I had a pleasant summer, thank you," Jethro replied. He went to more social events than he'd really wanted to, but nothing bad had happened, and he'd even passed two of his CATS. "Did you enjoy the holiday?"

0 Jethro You're confusing me 0 Jethro 0 5

Jane

June 12, 2011 7:35 PM

The workload must be lighter in summer either way by Jane

Jane’s attempt at being comforting did not work. “Yes,” she agreed, looking at her own song sheet and giving up on that tact. “I suppose you’re right about that.”

She supposed it was one of those things that went back to an older time, when everyone could have been expected to know how to dance, or at least anyone with a chance of becoming a prefect could have. The schools, like everywhere else, had most likely gone through a long era where they were ruled by families like hers and surname mattered just a little bit more than anything else. The world was different now, or at least the schools were and it followed that things were different outside of school and the protective bubble of the family, but when it was quite possible for a wizard to live, in some cases, well over two hundred years, long enough to be self-aware in three centuries if he was born close enough to the end of the first one, it took a very long time for remnants of the past to disappear completely.

Jane wondered what it would be like to be that old. She supposed she’d find out someday if she didn’t die, but until then…And when did you realize you were old, anyway? Grandmother and Grandfather Carey were both barely a hundred, but Grandfather seemed old and Grandmother didn’t.

She nodded when Andrew acknowledged the benefits of having his partner lined up before he learned to dance. “I’m sure you can do better than that,” she said with a smile, “but think about that for a while, and then if you want, well, you know where to find me.” She spent more time in the evenings in the common room than in her dorm room because her roommate was a bit…something, sometimes. Jane supposed she was just being paranoid, she and Edmond both jumped at the shadows more easily than they had last year even though she wasn’t as bad, but sometimes, she thought Kirstenna looked at her strangely.

0 Jane The workload must be lighter in summer either way 0 Jane 0 5

Veronica

June 12, 2011 7:35 PM

So are innuendos. by Veronica

Veronica thought Edmond’s addition of ‘about’ was a little odd. Most people would have just left the sentence at the ‘let me know,’ but not Edmond. Of course, he was among those that prided themselves on intelligence. Though, she was in Aladren, she was not one of those types of people. When she had been a first year, she had thought that being in Aladren was a fate worse than death. She feared that she would be pegged as being among the smart and that boys would avoid her as such, but looking at Edmond, she wondered if she had it wrong. She thought that he and Cassie seemed to hit it off and she knew that her sister didn’t hide her intelligence.

Maybe intelligence really could attract suitable males. Maybe her grandmother’s thinking was a little past generation. Maybe. She really wasn’t sure. Cassie didn’t really beautify herself the way that Veronica did. She certainly wasn’t about to stop doing that. Oh, it wasn’t that she was some horrible beast or anything like that, but regiments were designed to enhance and to ensure one’s youthful appearance. She wasn’t as worried about the latter as the former, but she knew it was never too early to have a routine. Perhaps, the key was a mixture of beauty and intelligence? She would have to think on that a little further before considering any drastic changes.

Polite chitchat on summer events and there it was. The truth about why Edmond had bothered to talk to her. He was seeking information on his sister. She toyed with the idea of teasing him just a bit. She could torment him with the thought that Cassie had been seeing some boy over the summer. In truth, she really didn’t know if her sister had been or not. She had only seen her a couple of times. Once was at their grandmother’s when Delilah and Cassie had both come to visit. Of course, grandmother had attempted to introduce them to proper young men from her various connections. Cassie had been polite enough, but Delilah had been a bit…oddly. Unfortunately, she hadn’t really had a chance to talk to her about it and decided she would have to corner her at some point soon.

“Oh, Cassie had a very splendid summer indeed,” Veronica stated with a teasing smile. She paused for a moment as if she were going to leave it at that, but no, she was going to be a little nicer than that. Well, maybe. Hey, he had asked if she had met any interesting people. “She did meet a few people, all quite wonderful really.” She gave another grin. “Anyhow, I suppose you’ll have your work cut out for you this year. You know with prefect duties and dances to lead at balls and all.” On the note of the ball, she wondered about the revisions she would have to make to her lists. She had assumed she would be going with Raines, however, would doing so be a lead on if someone else ranked higher in her lists? Oh, her work was cut out for her.

0 Veronica So are innuendos. 0 Veronica 0 5

Andrew

June 12, 2011 9:35 PM

True, I wonder what the do when no one else is here by Andrew

Andrew smiled at Jane's response. She was nice, and he briefly considered asking her if she'd want to go to the ball with him. Something held him back though, thoughts of other possibilities maybe. He chalked it up to her being two years below him, that was it, he should really find someone closer in age to himself. If all else fails, maybe he'd have to expand his search criteria, but for now he'd aim for a fifth, sixth or seventh year girl. That did narrow it down a bit, who all was in that list? He'd have to compile that as one of the first steps of his plan, from there he could cross off the ones that already had dates and see who was left.

He had noticed Jane had been spending more time than usual in the common room, so he assumed that's what she meant. Although, he was prefect of her house so maybe that was all she meant. "No worries there, I'll let you know as soon as I figure something out." He paused, should he? Eh, why not? He glanced around at the table and moved in a little closer to her, "...and if you hear anything through the rumor mill that someone wouldn't mind me asking them... let me know, would you?" He returned to his original position quickly and stared back down at his plate. Did he really just ask her that? Oh well, she was a girl, girls talked, right? It was worth a shot, hopefully.

2 Andrew True, I wonder what the do when no one else is here 145 Andrew 0 5

Edmond

June 12, 2011 10:21 PM

I think I have to disagree with that one by Edmond

Their relationship was, he thought, unconventional by most definitions, but Edmond had a younger sister. By a stroke of bad luck, she had noticed he liked Cassie before he did, and had gleefully teased him about it right up until he not only began to treat his feelings as just a fact of life, but had also established that he was going to do so. Even now, Jane sometimes made remarks about it, though she was usually encouraging him to say something to Cassie instead of making fun of him these days.

Because of this, he knew that he was doomed the moment Veronica smiled. She knew. He didn’t know if she knew he knew she knew, but she knew. He guessed he could have been less subtle if he’d just come out and asked her if Cassie had a boyfriend or an interest in someone else, but he’d held out hope that she might have a scrap of kindness somewhere in her primped and polished little soul. One day, he was going to learn not to be optimistic.

“Oh, yes,” he said drily when she mentioned how very busy his year was going to be. “Though I still expect I’ll have an easier time than you or James. CATS are stressful, and I can’t imagine that RATS are any better.” He was actually slightly nervous when he thought about RATS – or at least, he usually was. Right now, he was too busy thinking about something that made him more nervous by an enormous margin. He honestly thought he’d like to explain his feelings on adoption, women’s rights, and his eldest sister’s marriage to Thomas, Anthony, the other Anthony, George, Alexander, Jack, and Morgaine in great detail and while they were all armed and he was not much more than he liked…this.

He knew it was hopeless. Logic told him that. Cassie was…Cassie was articulate, and beautiful, and…and it couldn’t happen. She could do better, far better, than…than him. But they had always gotten along so well, they had been friends all along, so he kept deluding himself that it could somehow not only happen, but work. One of his arguments to himself for why he should make the issue known was that Cassie could go ahead and reject him and he could finally move on. Surely that was better than what he’d been doing for the past two years, following her around, pretending that study sessions and lunches were dates and that he wasn’t deluding himself, and that was a mental trick and a half, all right….

Edmond briefly considered trying to return Veronica’s treatment, but he knew he wasn’t clever and would just make a fool of himself. “The ball is...all right,” he said. “Unless Cassie is…otherwise occupied, or wants to be...otherwise...Dear God, this was a terrible idea. Please forget you ever spoke to me."

0 Edmond I think I have to disagree with that one 0 Edmond 0 5

Solomon

June 13, 2011 8:40 AM

But it combines the best of both worlds. by Solomon

"Michigan." Solomon nodded absently, teeth sinking into the chicken. He wasn't very familiar with states outside of the deep south. He wasn't much familiar with the world outside of Louisiana. He had spent most of the time in the underwater bayou, or visiting cousins in France or Haiti. He wasn't much aware of those moments, only clear thinking when bent over his parchment, his younger brother willingly acting as his puppet for the shows that they put on together. Solomon was the playwright, Asa the actor. 'They'll call you Baby, when you get here.' He'd have to prepare his brother in his next letter. He was never really sure what he thought about the names.

"Yeah, Asa is fine." Solomon waived his hand casually, yellow skin receding into molasses and his white teeth and blue eyes seemed to return in brightness, no longer competing with the yellow. "Ah, ah don' really have hobbies. Got muh parchmen' an' ink. A quill an' it's what ah am. Ink runnin' through muh veins." He smiled. That was his grandfather's quote for him. "Gotta play Quidditch of course. Keeper mos'ly. What 'bout you? You got a position?"

Solomon flexed the newly restored dark fingers experimentally, taking off his glasses and blinking blue eyes at it before setting them back on his face, just wanting to make sure the large square-rimmed lens (they made him seem smarter than he really was, though five minutes after talking to him usually made people realize he slept more than he thought, and the glasses were more out of show than necessity) hadn't accidentally gotten yellow markings on it. "Whatcha know 'bout dis school, den?" His accent flowed and ebbed from plain South to creole influences. By the end of the year he was sure to be talking with a lesser accent. Often he adopted the voice that subconsciously mimicked the ones of those around him.

0 Solomon But it combines the best of both worlds. 0 Solomon 0 5

Jane

June 13, 2011 12:07 PM

Less laundry and cooking, more dusting? by Jane

Jane was surprised to have some ask her to gossip for him, but she nodded, trying to suppress a smile. This sounded like it could be fun, and very like something from one of her novels – of course the eventual girl would be perfect for Andrew, and there would be the beginnings of one of the school’s model couples; it would have been ideal if all this had just happened a year earlier – but, again, it wasn’t exactly proper, and getting a date for herself most likely depended on her being proper.

She just hoped that didn’t work against her somehow. She was a little suspicious of anything here that sounded like something she was familiar with, but which she hadn’t actually seen yet. It wasn’t terribly uncommon for things at Sonora to be almost right, but slightly modified, she assumed because of student body diversity, into something that threw her just far enough off. She thought she was getting used to it, but it could still be a little unpleasant.

“I’m sure there’s plenty who wouldn’t,” she remarked, since Andrew seemed nice and was definitely better-looking than Edmond – though admittedly, that wasn’t hard; she loved her brother, but whatever powers governed the universe had not deemed it necessary for him to be anything to look at – and he’d gotten a date to the last ball. How much of a date it counted as when Edmond had been thirteen and a half and, because of the way they’d been raised, mentally a few years younger in some crucial ways Jane had figured out since coming to school and the girl might have still been twelve if her birthday fell in the summer, Jane didn’t know, but it still spoke well for Andrew’s chances. “But I’ll listen.” She didn’t really have many people to gossip with, but she had noticed that other girls had a tendency to talk in the bathroom. She was likely to hear quite a few discussions about dresses, hairstyles, and potential dates over the next few months.

0 Jane Less laundry and cooking, more dusting? 0 Jane 0 5

Andrew

June 13, 2011 7:11 PM

Probably, I wonder what they do for fun though by Andrew

Andrew felt a huge wave of relief wash over him as she said that she'd help him. It wasn't really the help that caused the relief, she could have simply said 'No' and he would have felt the same. He was relieved that she didn't simply burst out laughing at the request. That would have been the end of it... he would have had to run for the hills. Thankfully he knew Jane wasn't one of 'those' types of girls. He did smile at her remark, and hoped she was right. He really didn't want to be the only prefect there without a date. He wondered then briefly what Jose was going to do, he'd have to check up on his friend... and warn him about Jhon while he was at it.

It seemed rude though to ask for help without offering anything in return. "Thanks Jane. Enough about me though, how about you? Can I be of any help likewise for you?" He grinned at her just a bit playfully, "Who do you have your sights set upon?" He had no idea how he could help her in this regard other than going up the the person and telling him to ask her. Subtly wasn't exactly one of his strong suits.

2 Andrew Probably, I wonder what they do for fun though 145 Andrew 0 5

Brianna

June 13, 2011 8:37 PM

I don't find this mundane... by Brianna

Brianna was glad she was able to provide some relief to Jenny’s anxiety for Quidditch. Honestly, if she had to play Quidditch, Brianna would never leave the hospital wing. She did horrible in competitions and was often hurt. She wasn’t fragile (although her near skeletal frame might say otherwise) but she wasn’t very graceful either. She had been pushed down, tripped, and anything else you could think of that often led to large bruising or broken bones. She couldn’t trust herself on a broom let alone to be quick enough to avoid a bludger.

She said nothing in regards to who tutored the girl. Brianna was also tutored, but not by anyone special. She schooled herself and her mother reviewed the work. She had plenty of workbooks and guides to help her, but it was always a slow process. The other kids in the building were tutored by professionals, but they also all came from money. How else could they afford those expensive condos? It was just another thing that she was made fun of for.

Although Brianna nodded at Linus’ assessment regarding Jenny’s new place within a classroom, she didn’t especially think it would be difficult to get comfortable in such a setting. Having done anything by herself, she quite liked the idea of an adult actually taking the time to teach her things and help her to grow as a witch. She only hoped that they actually did care and weren’t just here because they had nothing better going for them. Her brown eyes glanced to the staff table to assess them quietly. It was hard to figure them out just by looks alone and Brianna tried her hardest not to judge someone based on their looks considering that was how she was often judged.

As Linus began to talk about becoming a teacher (possibly), Brianna had a look of the food. The kids had teased one of the overweight residents and Brianna feared that Attoria wouldn’t be her friend any longer if Brianna went crazy with food. So, Brianna took a small piece of grilled chicken with a side salad. It wasn’t very much, but it would have to do. Maybe she could sneak in dessert later…

And somehow the topic had changed to involve their parents. Or, more importantly, what their parents did. Brianna was hoping to never have to admit to what her parents did. She couldn’t outright lie about what they did because Attoria was here and could blow Brianna’s lies right up. But she also didn’t want to admit that her dad was nothing more than a maintenance man for a bunch of upper Purebloods in a condominium apartment complex in New York City while her mother cleaned most of the condominiums within that building.

“My father is very important. He keeps people’s lives running and solves all sorts of problems.” Brianna said, being as vague as possible while boasting her father. She hoped Attoria would just go along with it. “I’m not exactly sure of the details of what he does, I just know he’s important. As for my Mother, she’s keeps the top Purebloods in New York City’s homes looking beautiful.” There. She had only exaggerated her parents job, not lied.

0 Brianna I don't find this mundane... 0 Brianna 0 5

Jane

June 13, 2011 8:43 PM

Some may or may not star in wireless dramas by Jane

Jane was surprised to have the offer returned to her, though she had to smile with him at the idea of her having her sights set on someone. The mental image was…broader-shouldered, somehow, and much older, and wearing a black lace dress with her hair all swept up in onyx pins. Jane Carey, temptress, laying her plots to ensnare the hearts of men until the sweet, white-clad heroine showed up and the object of Jane’s unhealthy affections fell desperately in love with her instead. The idea was funny, and more than enough proof that her novels weren’t real. Even if Jane had owned a low-cut black lace dress, she could never have brought herself to wear it more than a few minutes when she was alone, never mind in public, even with a shawl. Besides, she didn’t like black clothing very much.

“Mother started keeping a list of people she thought would make 'proper' husbands for me when I started school,” she said, “and Father found it after she died, so I suppose I’ll be with whoever on the list isn’t with someone else.” She began raising her fingers as she counted off the candidates. “Quentin Melcher is engaged to a girl who doesn’t come here, Raines Bradley is insufferable and probably going with Veronica Kerrigan, I don’t know Ryan O’Malley and he’s really too young anyway, and everyone else is definitely too young, so I’ll be going alone if Jethro Smythe doesn’t ask me. It's just luck that I like him the best of them.”

And it would be more luck if she didn't end up going alone, since while she thought Jethro liked her, since they had gotten along well last year, he did have more options. It might not be so bad, though. If Cassie rejected Edmond, Jane would have to step in for the opening dance, and she’d get a courtesy dance anyway at some point in the evening, and she might manage to sneak in a few dances with nice but less appropriate boys as well without it getting back to the family, especially now that Mother was no longer there to monitor the gossip very closely. Father would know if she did anything shocking, but in general, she thought she might have a little more leeway now.

“It won’t be the end of the world, though, if he doesn't,” she acknowledged. “I have my whole life to go to balls. I hope I get to dance a little either way, though. I do enjoy it.”

0 Jane Some may or may not star in wireless dramas 0 Jane 0 5

Dennis

June 14, 2011 10:55 AM

Make good your escape ;) by Dennis

Dennis examined his arm.

"Is my hair brown too?" he asked, peering up and seeing the bright red strands had indeed turned as muddy brown as the rest of him. "Huh."

It was kind of like turning momentarily African American without the features. He pondered briefly about how long it would last, but didn't worry too much.

"Pecari, eh?" The name meant absolutely zilch to him, but he decided it was probably the name of some famous magician. He followed Dana over towards the table where other brown younger students were conglomerating and was pulling the seat out when she told him to keep listening to the speech. He shrugged in response, turning the movement effortlessly into a practised bounce of his shoulder which aided in shifting the banjo case so he could pull it off and balance it against the table.

She was still talking at him. Pink hat? Right. Something about food. And she had friends.

"Bye," Dennis said, taking his seat. Belatedly he added, "Thanks." His parents had said something about remembering his manners while he was away. And then his Dad had muttered something that Dennis wasn't supposed to hear, which he did anyhow thanks to his fairly good hearing.

So... speech. He glanced around at the other new Pecaris, shifted his case a little closer to get it away from one exuberant new housemate. His attention shifted towards the staff table - Pink hat. Right. That was worked out now - and the Headmaster who was nattering on about Prefects. Dennis listened for half a minute before he got bored and pulled his case closer, flicking open the fastenings so he could make certain his instrument had survived the trip - and the entrance into the bizarre new place where electricity suddenly didn't work, not that it ran on electicity - unscathed.

It looked fine, and he gently ran his fingers over the strings - not strongly enough to elicit any sound from them at first, and then softly, softly. He flicked a fingernail at one string, and an absent smile had just started to form as a sheet of parchment flew into him. He sat up straight in his seat, blinking and wondering what had happened before he noticed the parchment now perched on top of his banjo.

Music.

Okay, maybe this school wouldn't be a complete washout he decided, completely on the evidence now presented to him. He took a moment to glance over the sheetmusic. It seemed straightforward enough. He made a couple of minor edits in his head, and cocked his ear as music started to play. After a couple of nods of his head, to get himself in line with the rhythm he joined in, picking the notes simply at first as he got the hang of the melody before speeding things up to a more normal note rate and adding a couple of simple flourishes of his own.

Yep, maybe this place had some potential after all.

Maybe.

39 Dennis Make good your escape ;) 0 Dennis 0 5

Marissa

June 14, 2011 7:14 PM

Only usually? by Marissa

“Pretty,” Marissa said, looking at Charlie’s necklace. It was the kind of thing she liked, but didn’t think her mother did, and so didn’t wear very often.

Maybe she ought to do something about that. She was at boarding school, for goodness’ sake, and they didn’t even have video chats or photo tech she was probably legally allowed to display in her house, so as long as she didn’t put on something that Mama hadn’t picked out for the yearbook pictures, her parents didn’t have to know anything about her except her grades and how many games she won for Crotalus. If she wanted to wear a shirt with a few sequins on, or those purple beads Bella had put on her this morning as a necklace, well…why shouldn’t she? Not all the time, but maybe every now and again….

Marissa ducked her head a little when Charlie did actually say ‘I told you so.’ “I know, I know,” she said, to that and life being too short. Her mother said that, too, but she meant it in the context of working harder to achieve things faster. She thought Charlie might mean it another way. She wasn’t really sure which side she was more in agreement with; it felt, considering it casually, in a few seconds, like she fell neatly in the middle, though she guessed she would have to come down closer to one side or the other if she really thought about it.

“Potions, Transfig, Divination, for the taught ones,” she said. “Independent Studying History of Magic, and reading for some other things in that area.” She shrugged. “I guess it’s about time to learn about the wizarding world, isn’t it? What’s outside of here, I mean. Two years…” And then she’d have to figure out what she was doing with herself, professionally and universally. It was possible to stay, and possible to go back, and there were a lot of advantages and disadvantages to each side. “On that note, ready for RATS?” she asked brightly, as though anyone – except maybe a few of the brightest, most driven Aladrens – was ever really ready for that. Prepared, maybe, but not ready.

16 Marissa Only usually? 147 Marissa 0 5

Andrew

June 14, 2011 7:41 PM

Those would be interesting by Andrew

Huh, her mother had a list for her? He wondered if that was the sort of information that Jhon would devour and revel in. He really probably should warn Jane about his cousin, she was a Carey. First things first though. He chuckled quietly at her comment about Raines; he really hadn't gotten to know Raines very well, but apparently he had gotten to know him well enough. He did catch the end of her list, she liked Jethro. He knew Jethro a little better than Raines and wondered very briefly what it was that she liked about him. In the end, it didn't really matter. "Well, if I see the opportunity to put in a good word for you with him, I will." He smiled. "And if you actually manage to teach me how to dance, I'll save one for you if you want it." Depending on how things went, that might be the only dance he got.

Back to business then. "There is something else that I wanted to warn..." he caught himself, that didn't sound terribly positive, "talk to you about. Do you remember last term when I learned my cousin was coming here? Well, she's in Pecari and she's a bit.. umm... obsessive about the big families. The Pierces, Careys, Brockerts... ect." he waved his hand around indicating most of the student body sitting in the hall. "For your own sanity's sake, you may want to give her a wide berth."

2 Andrew Those would be interesting 145 Andrew 0 5

Rachel Bauer

June 14, 2011 8:02 PM

looks mysterious I have my sources. by Rachel Bauer

Rachel hadn’t been thinking so much about the idea of Nic Sawyer specifically in tights as the fact that she was not going to be caught dead in public with a guy wearing tights, but when he was very vehement in assuring her that he wasn’t going to engage in that deal-breaker, she had to consider it for a minute.

Well, a split second, anyway. Then her mind rebelled.

“Then we won’t have problems,” she assured him. She had never seen a man, tall or short, in tights for real, but somehow, she had a feeling that combining them with as much leg as was on Nic Sawyer would not be a good sight, especially given the rest of the way he was built. She wasn’t a short girl, but would still have looked like a tiny little doll beside him if not for him bearing more of a resemblance to one of the Quidditch goal posts.

Though at least he was taller than her. Her mother was just a little taller than her stepfather, and it looked weird to Rachel. It was just supposed to be the other way around. Besides, Alma Douglas, her step-grandmother, insisted that Rachel was too tall anyway, so with the Super-Tall One in tow, she wouldn’t look as indelicate she might otherwise have, at least as long as the dress sat properly on her shoulders instead of making them look wide and the hair didn’t get too big, though she thought Marie Antoinette and all those extravagant ‘dos had come a century or two later than the one they were being instructed to dress for. That was good. She wasn’t sure she was up for going around all evening with hair standing three feet above her head and covered in flour or whatever it was they’d used back then and with full-sized toy birds or models of opera houses pinned in it at strategic locations.

“Do you have any wardrobe requests?” she asked, remembering to be considerate of others instead of just seizing control of the project herself. She was sure she was a lot better about that these days. “I have a few weeks before I have to know any of this, though, if you want to think about it some.”

16 Rachel Bauer *looks mysterious* I have my sources. 154 Rachel Bauer 0 5

Linus

June 15, 2011 5:52 AM

It's not quite the right word by Linus

Linus didn't know what the Ministry was, nor what a Healer was, specifically, but both gave him enough of an idea by their context (not to mention the word Healer was hopefully as self-explanatory as it appeared to be). He also didn't know what was so special about Jenny's story about her father that caused Cherry to act as if she were Daphne's age. Linus looked at her and blinked. He didn't get along with girls all that well, because he found them to be silly, and talk more than was necessary, and Cherry seemed to be a lot like all these girls Linus had usually done his best to avoid. It was a relief when she was apparently too busy easy to talk.

Brianna was the first to answer Jenny's question about their parents. Well, insofar as she didn't really answer the question at all. Jenny had asked what their parents did, and Brianna didn't seem to know what her father did. In the description of what her mother did, there was that word again: Pureblood. Regardless of what it meant, however, it seemed like Brianna's mother was their cleaner. Or maybe an interior decorator.

"My mother's a market researcher," Linus contributed. "She fits it in around looking after my brothers and sister." It was a good job, Linus thoguht, because his mother could actually choose which products out of a selection she wanted to research, then she sent out samples, or sometimes went to the Mall café and gave samples out to random shoppers, and then collected responses to the new product. best of all she brought home samples for the family to enjoy. Sometimes it was food or drinks, sometimes it was dolls for Daphne, and the children liked to have their input. "Do the rest of you have siblings?" he asked the girls.

0 Linus It's not quite the right word 0 Linus 0 5

Renée

June 15, 2011 12:00 PM

That's all right. I really don't mind. by Renée

"Renée Errant." She had grown rather used to the repressive tendencies of Sonora students. It never seemed to her as the happiest society, and always a bit overly cautious, but she really didn't mind it. It made the few people who were interesting even more entertaining and exciting to be around. Jethro was starting to strike her as part of the greater Sonora mass of students who would not have particularly interested her (and she was of the mind that every moment, whether waking or in slumber, she should be entertained) if not for the fact that he was older (by three years) and had asked for her name. A ripple of pleasure ran down her spine at being asked. Somewhere in her mind she was able to acknowledge the utter unimportance of this instant, but she still couldn't help but feel pleased at the general idea of introducing herself to an older man. In Madrid, she had been in conversations with lots of older people, carried away by the fact that she almost felt herself mature just by standing in their company.

'I want to grow. Do what I want. Say what I want - all the time. World, you have to wait for me. Just a little longer. Just a while longer.'

Pleasure gave way to disappointment by his answer. She came from a family of story-tellers, great debaters, philosophers, politicians, diplomats, and then people who just liked to talk. Her parents were constantly surrounded by poets, rambling musicians and actors. Jethro's answer wasn't quite up to par with what she was used to. "Yes, I did. Thank you." Her own speech was cut down and she turned back to her food, frowning a little before biting into it. She wasn't being currently entertained and that was a waste of her precious minutes as a woman. She perked up almost instantly though, unable to not mention at least one thing to the older boy. "My ears were pierced finally." She turned her head and fingered the gold hoops. "That was exciting for me. And then my coming out party in Madrid."

Just because Jethro didn't really talk much didn't mean she was going to stop. She reached for her goblet and as she sipped the juice she paused within her mind and reluctantly acknowledged that he was older than her, and probably had better things to do than to talk to a third year. She felt herself flush beneath the dark tan with both amusement at herself and embarrassment at the anger she'd felt. She tried to keep in mind Soledad's various instructions for how she was to behave. She gave an internal shrug and delved again into her food which was just as entertaining as conversation could be. Sometimes more so at Sonora. 'Eat for the rest of the meal, talk when spoken or asked to.' Boring instructions, and she'd probably only follow them today because the sun had been hot and the food was good and sleep was not too far off in Crotalus commons. But following instructions for one day was better than never having followed instructions at all.

0 Renée That's all right. I really don't mind. 0 Renée 0 5

Jane

June 15, 2011 12:31 PM

The dramas, or the elves that star in them? by Jane

“That would be nice,” Jane said when Andrew offered to save her a dance, then added, a bit more playfully, “I’ll hold you to that,” though in truth, she very much doubted she would actually walk up to someone to do so if it came to that. She wasn’t always good at being half-seen and not heard, but she did try, and her mother had succeeded in instilling enough of a block against what Julia would have called ‘being forward’ – something Julia herself had been, in certain ways, but didn’t consider appropriate for other people – in her mind to make that very hard for her.

Her eyes widened a little when she heard that there was something Andrew felt the need to warn her about, but blinked, a little confused, when it turned out to be his cousin he’d mentioned last year. Then, though, things began to make sense. “Oh, dear,” she said aloud, not able to immediately think of anything more descriptive. “That’s…thank you very much, Andrew.”

She hoped her thanking him didn’t make him offended on his cousin’s behalf even after he’d been the one to bring how unfortunate her interest was up, but she was grateful. Jane wasn’t as reserved as her brother, but she still liked her privacy, at least well enough to not want some girl she didn’t know asking questions about her family, and knowing she might have to lie now made her think it would be even worse. “Does she think we’re all dark wizards?” she asked, a little curious. She had always had the sense that people said bad things about her family, Father had made a point of telling her and Edmond not to bother with what people said before they started school and of course there had been the tone of the newspaper articles about all the drama with Edmond’s other sisters in the past few years, but never had anyone said something to her face, and she was the family Teppenpaw.

Edmond was, in some ways, nicer than she was, but he was not the family Teppenpaw. If Andrew answered ‘yes,’ or looked like he wanted to, she was going to have to figure out who Jhonice was and make sure he knew that being a good prefect didn’t extend to ever telling that girl who he was. She really didn’t know how he would react to being asked even if Morgaine was a dark witch, never mind anything that implied he had gone bad. She didn’t think, though, that it would be very pretty to see at all.

0 Jane The dramas, or the elves that star in them? 0 Jane 0 5

Jenny Owens

June 15, 2011 1:00 PM

Still don't get it but oh well...continue! by Jenny Owens

When Jenny had decided to go to Sonora, she had also decided to go on a diet. She was several pounds above curvy and, if she held her head at the wrong angle and didn't breathe in in a certain manner which she'd perfected a few years ago, she could be held to have a double chin.
However, as Brianna and Cherry began to eat she looked around and realised that that would be harder than she had thought. To all sides of her she was surrounded by sumptuous food. She had read somewhere that the school was cleaned and fed by a troop of pixie elves and, if that were the case, she wished they had one at home. They had, instead, several helps which cleaned and cooked for them - for pay, of course.

She stretched out a hand and helped herself to some salad. That would do - for now.

She looked up at Cherry, waiting for her too answer her previous question of what her parents did - but apparently she wasn't going to so Jenny turned back to Linus.

'I have two older sisters,' she told him seriously, 'but none of them come here, and a younger brother called Charlie. I hope that he'll be on this table in a couple of years.' She paused, debating with herself whether to indulge in telling them all about her atrocious relationship with her two older siblings and her parents, but decided that, seeing as they'd only met each other a short period ago, she'd let it slide for now. 'I also have an older half-sister, on my father's side, but we don't see her much.' The girl had visited once in the past two years.

'What about you?' She returned, taking a bite out of salad and smiling through the longing for something greasy.

0 Jenny Owens Still don't get it but oh well...continue! 0 Jenny Owens 0 5

Andrew

June 15, 2011 8:01 PM

The drama's initially, but now that you mention it... by Andrew

"Not a problem, I was actually debating posting a school-wide bulletin." Whew...she didn't freak out or anything, that was good. He had been a little worried that she'd... well, he wasn't entirely sure what he'd been afraid she might do, but he was definitely relieved that she didn't do it. He really hoped that Jhon didn't bother them to much, he would have to see what he could do about that. Maybe Jose could help as well. He really had to talk to Jose.

Dark Wizards? He smiled at Jane, "No, I don't think so, although it is a bit difficult to keep up. I think she sees herself as some kind of journalist or chronicler. She'll record if someone thinks that, but I don't think she thinks it herself. As far as I can tell, she also has no problems with passing along her 'information' either. I guess if she corners you sometime you could ask her." He grinned, "Turn about is fair play, right?"

2 Andrew The drama's initially, but now that you mention it... 145 Andrew 0 5

David

June 16, 2011 12:21 AM

Nah, just unfond of the homestead. by David

“We don’t have too much, either,” David admitted before Samantha had to feel too much envy. “There’s this Canadian lady who’s something big in the school system who runs it all, it’s kind of an experiment – you know, keep kids from losing everything they learned the year before over the summer, keep kids off drugs, that routine.” Which, even though they lived in the middle of nowhere, was a legitimate concern, at least if all his similarly-aged relatives were to be believed about things. “Small, and you pretty much have to know a guy who knows a guy – “ or actually, know the guy yourself, but that made it sound like he was talking about a specific guy rather than using the generalization, so he went vaguer – “to get in, but it’s something to do.”

He blinked, surprised, at her announcement that she intended to not try out for Quidditch again. “Huh,” he said, articulateness abandoning him for a moment. “Pretty sure I won’t do as good of a job at it as you did, but I’ll try my best. We’ll miss you and all.”

He realized it was perhaps a bit presumptuous for him to speak for the team when he was at the very bottom of the command structure, but it was the kind of thing that was said at times like this. Plus, he was pretty sure it was true, especially for him. Having a girl around lent a kind of…balance to the team. Without that, he had a feeling that the team was gonna get even weirder this year, only this time, he’d be right in the middle of it with the rest of them.

Might be interesting, though. He’d sucked at getting dragged into the groupthink back in the Muggle world, and had never had a problem with it here, either, but if any group could turn even such a detached one as him into a slightly nutso true believer, it was probably the Aladren Quidditch team. He’d always wondered what it would be like to do that.

He winced, brought back to more immediate matters, at the mention of a rainy camping trip. “That’s something I’ve never done,” he said. “I quit Boy Scouts after one meeting.” He was still waiting for Mom to slip up and admit that Dad had made serious inquiries about his legitimacy after he’d finally gotten frustrated with pretending he liked fished, derived any benefit sitting around fires while idiots epically failed to play guitars, and saw a point to getting up at some absurd hour of the morning to sit on a tiny piece of wood a gazillion feet up a tree and not move or make a sound. “Sounds like epic fun, though,” he added, aware that this comment would not be taken at face value and not even trying to make it sound like it should have been.

16 David Nah, just unfond of the homestead. 169 David 0 5

Mellie Goodwin

June 16, 2011 12:23 AM

As are brown-haired Pecaris. by Mellie Goodwin

“Not exactly,” Mellie said when Sully asked her if the California Pierces were a rock band. “Er – as far as I know, anyway. I’m pretty sure it’s talking about something else.”

Where to begin with that, she wasn’t too sure. This was the kind of information she picked up on wireless soaps, not the kind of thing she used in her real life. It wasn’t terribly relevant to being Melanie Goodwin, a half-blood at best, on any day.

“You know how, like, everyone in the country’s from a state, right?” she tried, aware that this sounded like a really dumb way to begin. “Unless you’re from Puerto Rico or something, but let’s not go there. Okay…Purebloods, people whose families have been magic for a long time, sometimes some of their relatives move away, or get disowned – that’s being thrown out of your family, like, completely, I think you’re considered someone else and your old self is legally dead or something.” Mellie did not have a fine grasp of the legal technicalities associated with these things, nor did she want one. Her parents might get mad at her for something, but she couldn’t see them ever pretending she was dead.

“So they go to different states, so where you had – my last name’s Goodwin, we’d be the Illinois Goodwins if we were pureblood, but if I had a brother and he moved to Missouri and I’m not completely sure how this works, but eventually, they might be the Missouri Goodwins. But that would be if we were important enough for anyone to care. Ordinary people saying that…I’m pretty sure they’d just get laughed at.”

She twisted a piece of her hair around her finger. “All I know about these people, though, is what’s on the cover of tabloids, so I mostly only see the people who are doing weird things in my state. The Raines’, Gardiners, Smythes…I think there’s some Pierces in New England, and they all look alike or something, but…” She shrugged, a gesture she felt neatly summed up the situation they had at hand here. “Mom’s Muggleborn and Dad’s half-blood. We try not to see people who introduce themselves by state if we can help it.”

16 Mellie Goodwin As are brown-haired Pecaris. 206 Mellie Goodwin 0 5

Cherry Bosko

June 16, 2011 9:39 PM

Continuing! by Cherry Bosko

Cherry was glad she managed not to say anything about her parents' jobs before the conversation moved on. It wasn't that she was ashamed or anything--her parents loved their wizarding mechanic shop, so Cherry couldn't help but glad her parents were happy--it's just that everyone else's parents were so important. There was nothing particularly important about fixing wizarding-muggle hybrid vehicles. They were just novelties, joy rides. The wizards who used them could always disapparate if they really needed to get somewhere.

Cherry liked watching Brianna talk. Her lips were so full, when she smiled they seemed to take up her whole face. They gave her an exotic look. If Brianna wore eye makeup, maybe she could balance out the lips and be really pretty--not that any parents were letting eleven-year-olds wear make up. At least, Cherry's parents weren't. She did have about ten different shades of nail polish, though. Right now she was wearing a sparkly purple on her toes and a shiny pink on her fingers.

Cherry swallowed the last bite of her chicken and helped herself to a brownie for desert. She wondered, the way Jenny was picking at her salad, if she was going overboard on the food. She had tried to sample a bit of everything and she was starting to feel rather full. Most of it was really good. The prairie elves really knew what they were doing down in the kitchens. After this brownie, she was done. She didn't want to give herself a stomach ache.

"I have a little sister, Addie--er, Adel," Cherry rejoined the conversation after Jenny finished talking about her siblings. "She's almost four."

Addie was little enough that she still had short, reddish colored hair. It would probably turn to a light brown like Cherry's had, but where Cherry's was all curls and spirals tumbling down to her elbows, Addie's was mostly straight and barely reached past her ears. She was also still little enough that she threw temper tantrums when she didn't get things her way. Addie also lied, stole, and cheated to make sure she did get her way because she didn't fully understand yet how wrong that was--though, she was beginning to. And she was going to start at a wizarding pre-school this year and then next year she'd be going to muggle kindergarten like Cherry had. Cherry's parents were determined to get some benefit from their property tax dollars, if only for a few years.

Cherry was sure she did not need to tell her classmates about the hardships of being an older sibling.

"How about you?" Cherry passed the question on.

0 Cherry Bosko Continuing! 0 Cherry Bosko 0 5

Charlie

June 17, 2011 12:33 PM

Nobody's perfect. by Charlie

Charlie nodded along to Marissa's options. She'd continued on with all the core subjects except CoMC, which left her just four classes to attend and no independent studies, which equated to more or less what Marissa was doing. "We still have two classes together, then," she commented as much to herself as to Marissa as the sixth year commented about the wizarding world. "Yeah, I had my uncle give me a crash-course one year," Charlie admitted. It had been the year that she'd dated Dmitri talsky, who was ever so properly pureblooded it had made Charlie curiosu about what perhaps she could have been if her parents ~~weren't complete morons~~ had decided to stick with their families' traditions. "Plus I've got Oliver to help out, and my folks... well, they don't like being asked questions but they haven't refused to answer one yet." That's because they liked to pretend they were Muggles, as if that made any sort of sense. They'd been making a good job of it for over two decades now, so it was a wonder they still remebered anything about magic at all.

"RATS, hmm." She chewed a mouthful of salad while she considered the prospect. "I'm ready as I think I should be. I'm not Aladren ready, but I'm sure I'll pass." At this stage that would content her. "Really need to decide what I'm doing with my life to make sure there's nothing I need to excel in, or, God forbid, any more classes I need to cram in." Four subjects really was enough; she'd never been an over-achiever, plus she had Quidditch and dancing and being prefect and Head Girl to consider. On that note, "So, we've got Rachel Bauer joining our ranks this year," she commented on the new junior prefect. "I don't really know much about her, other than it's painfully obvious Nic is her own personal stalker." She figured Marissa might know her a little better, as their being closer in ages meant they must have shared some classes together at some stage. "What's she like?"

0 Charlie Nobody's perfect. 0 Charlie 0 5

Nic Sawyer

June 17, 2011 11:04 PM

looks worried by Nic Sawyer

He was glad they were of an accord on the whole tights issue. He wasn't sure even Rachel Bauer could convince him to try that. Tights were not cool and nobody was going to be able to make him believe otherwise. His mother had a hard enough time trying to get him to wear a tie and robes had been a tough sell when he started at Sonora.

Now he didn't mind robes too much. Familarity and repeated exposure had reclassified them from 'weird' to 'normal'. Formal robes weren't really too much worse than school uniform ones, either, so he figured he'd just go with a set of those.

Maybe he ought to check that with Rachel though. She seemed to have a very clear idea on what she wanted as far as dressing code already. "I figure I'll just wear formal robes and maybe an old style hat." He wasn't sure what kind exactly, but some looked kind of cool, just not for everyday wear. Such things could only be acceptable at an event like this.

"I'm sure you'll look good in anything," he added before realizing what he'd said and he started to blush. "Uh, I mean, no requests."

1 Nic Sawyer *looks worried* 165 Nic Sawyer 0 5

Brianna

June 19, 2011 7:16 PM

And Still Continuing! by Brianna

No one questioned her further on what her parents did. Good. She did not want to figure out a way to exaggerate any further than she had. Let them think what they wanted. She wouldn’t have to make any excuse or explanation about it. She could simply say that they misunderstood what she had said and it was all just a mistake. Nothing more and nothing less. As long as she didn’t give details, there would be nothing for them to question and she was in the clear. At least for a little while.

The conversation turned to that of siblings. This was one that Brianna couldn’t participate in. After her parents gave birth to her, their marriage deteriorated and other children never came. Or, at least, that was what she had overheard on Christmas between her mom and her aunt. It had been a couple of years ago and that had been when Brianna had truly begun to understand the twisted relationship that her parents shared. Their society did not really approve of divorce, so Brianna was stuck with parents that hated each other and their lives and probably her as well. This was knowledge though, that Brianna kept to herself. She told no one of her parents displeasure or of her own loneliness in the whole ordeal.

While listening to them discuss their siblings, Brianna finished off her meal and then helped herself to a small bowl of pudding. Pudding was cheap, so this was often the choice of dessert in her household. They could not afford the more delectable desserts, but Brianna was quite content with simple old pudding. Butterscotch pudding was her favorite.

Jenny spoke of older siblings, but didn’t mention their house, so she assumed that meant that they did not go to Sonora. Which made Brianna wonder why Jenny was coming to this school instead of the one where her older siblings were attending. Linus and Cherry both had younger siblings, so Brianna wasn’t as curious about their siblings as she was of Jenny’s.

“I don’t have any siblings.” Brianna advised the three of them. “It’s just me and my parents. It works out though because it means they spend as much time with me as they can.” Okay, so that last part was a lie, but none of them needed to know that. Brianna chewed on her lower lip for a moment before looking directly at Jenny. “So, if you have older siblings, do they go here as well or are you the first to come here?”

0 Brianna And Still Continuing! 0 Brianna 0 5

Marissa

June 20, 2011 4:06 PM

Very true fact (WotW). by Marissa

“That’s good,” Marissa said when Charlie said they’d still have two classes together. “Maybe I can spread the bugging for help widely enough that no one kills me after all.”

She said it lightly, but asking for help at all really was hard, and from the same person repeatedly extremely difficult. She felt like she was being a bother, and one of the things she’d been most vigorously taught from infancy was never to be a bother. Everyone had to act like everything was all right for everyone else’s sake.

Marissa followed Charlie’s look toward their new fellow prefect, who, to Marissa’s surprise, was sitting with her own House for once. “I don’t really know,” she said. “She spends most of her time with those girls from Aladren – Veronica Kerrigan, mostly, but Alessa Hinckley, too. This might be the first time I’ve ever seen her sitting over here.”

With Nic Sawyer, who was her stalker. They appeared to be having a discussion. Marissa was deeply happy to be in a nice, sane year which lacked complicated interpersonal dramas. She was not sure she could have dealt with some of the things she’d seen or heard that others went through with the other students.

“And she doesn’t look it or act it – “ the blonde hair, overly matchy clothes, and pureblood demeanor were about as far as it got from the kid who’d worn a Spider-Man shirt to the Crotalus Quidditch tryouts last year – “but I think she actually is related to Sam, and to Kate Bauer – you know, the Teppenpaw Seeker.” Also known as someone Marissa had actually beaten, though Kate had been a firstie at the time and then they had both gotten flattened by Arnold Carey the next year.

Thinking of that, though, brought her gloomy prediction of an even more vicious Quidditch season than last to the front of her mind, so Marissa endeavored to dismiss it fast. If things got any worse, someone would bite off someone’s ear, or it would turn out that the entire Carey family was actually a new production of SkyNet's, one with a new kind of wiring not affected by Sonora's magic field which allowed them to obfuscate their true nature by posing as crazy students at the school until it was time to try to take over the world.

“She does well in classes, too,” Marissa added, since that was definitely something she noticed about other people. It wasn’t that she was jealous, exactly. Just…more aware than she would have been if she’d been like everyone else and able to do magic well. “But that’s really about all I know.”

16 Marissa Very true fact (WotW). 147 Marissa 0 5

Rachel

June 20, 2011 4:07 PM

smiles by Rachel

Rachel nodded, resisting the temptation to get out a little notebook and make an actual note of Nic’s proposed manner of dress. She wasn’t sure if it helped or hurt that she was also resisting the temptation to ask for the chance to approve the hat before it came out in public with her on its owner’s arm, but either way, she succeeded in squashing both impulses. “That sounds fine,” she said. It wasn’t, after all, like they could exactly throw her and her date out if they happened to not technically meet the theme with their clothes; she was a prefect.

Next year’s prefect announcement was, she thought, actually going to be interesting. She’d believed she had a little bit of an edge on Raines simply by virtue of having friends and amicable acquaintances, both of which her rival was too snobby and just visibly enough psychopathic to never have a shot at, but between Nic, Sam, and Autumn…yeah. Sam was smart enough and easily the most talkative of that group, but he was also a weirdo, which might reduce his chances.

She was distracted from that line of thought, though, by Nic’s thoughts on how she should dress, and laughed in surprise. “I liked your first answer better,” she informed him when he corrected himself. “Thanks for the vote of confidence, though.”

16 Rachel *smiles* 154 Rachel 0 5

Jane

June 22, 2011 2:11 AM

I"m good at that by Jane

If Jhonice really was the way Andrew was describing her, Jane wasn’t convinced that a school-wide bulletin would be such a bad thing for him to arrange for. She didn’t know the twins, who were going to be in Jhonice’s classes, very well, but they were South Carolina Careys, and that entire branch was supposed to be, when it came to the family, a little…touchy.

Since she couldn’t exactly say that, though, she made a mental note to tell Edmond to do that, too. He did know Arthur and Arnold, at least a little, and it would be better for anything to come from him than from her anyway. He had some authority; she was just a girl. The family had some flexibility where girls were concerned, they weren’t going to not use someone simply because of gender if that person had an outstanding talent which was of use to them, but women were usually considered slightly inferior beings at best, and best usually wasn’t how things went.

“Some say so,” she agreed to turnabout being fair play. “But I think she’ll be disappointed if she gets to talk to any of us, really. I don’t know the twins very well, but Edmond and I spent our entire childhoods learning languages and mathematics. We didn’t have time to be as dramatic and interesting as the papers make the family sound.”

0 Jane I"m good at that 0 Jane 0 5

Headmaster Regal

Opening Feast! by Headmaster Regal

'Professor' DiAnna Diaz

I don't like the title by 'Professor' DiAnna Diaz

Michael Grosvenor

New Teppenyellow. (WotW) by Michael Grosvenor

Mellie Goodwin

This is going to be awesome! by Mellie Goodwin

Sullivan Quincy

Does blond hair look okay with brown skin? by Sullivan Quincy

Mellie

There are worse combinations. by Mellie

Linus Macaulay

Red - a World About to Dawn by Linus Macaulay

Samantha Hamilton

My name is Samantha now by Samantha Hamilton

Sullivan Quincy

Yeah, I guess a red haired Crotalus is in trouble by Sullivan Quincy

Jenny Owens

Sitting at a table surrounded by people who look sunburnt by Jenny Owens

Brianna Japos

Pulling the two posts in together...maybe by Brianna Japos

Lawrence ´Laurie´ Stratford

We match! by Lawrence ´Laurie´ Stratford

Linus

Three's company by Linus

David Kim

Something new, something blue. by David Kim

Daniel Nash

I need a vacation from my vacation by Daniel Nash

Regina Parker

2nd year is finally here! by Regina Parker

Derry Pierce 4

Can we rewind a little bit? Just a week really. by Derry Pierce 4

Jhonice Trevear

This is amazing! by Jhonice Trevear

Andrew Duell

Back Again by Andrew Duell

Veronica Kerrigan

A new year, a new diet. by Veronica Kerrigan

Katrina (Kitty) McLevy

Just like a fairy tale by Katrina (Kitty) McLevy

Cherry Bosko

Four's a crowd by Cherry Bosko

Paul Bennett

Speaking Before Feasting by Paul Bennett

Daniel Nash

Please Merlin, whatever I did, I'm sorry! by Daniel Nash

Kitty

Do I know you? by Kitty

Edmond Carey

Not things I usually link together, but to each his own by Edmond Carey

Jose Hernandez

Prefecting by Jose Hernandez

Michael Grosvenor

Two yellow peas in a pod! by Michael Grosvenor

Daniel Nash

No. No, you don't. by Daniel Nash

Rachel Bauer

Oh, brother.... by Rachel Bauer

Kitty

Are you sure? by Kitty

Mellie Goodwin

Red haired Aladrens have it bad, too, I think. by Mellie Goodwin

Attoria Covington

Meeting Before Feasting by Attoria Covington

Jenny Owens

Five's a...what's five? by Jenny Owens

Demelza Eagle (Fifth Year Pecari)

Yay, song! by Demelza Eagle (Fifth Year Pecari)

Nic Sawyer

*is an only child* by Nic Sawyer

Preston Stratford

...and something old? by Preston Stratford

Jhonice

J names unite! by Jhonice

Daniel Nash

Absolutely sure. by Daniel Nash

Veronica

Well, calories aren't your enemy. by Veronica

is an only child by Nic Sawyer