The first day of the rest of my life (Aladren, wotw) on Cascade Hall

Headmistress Kijewski

October 29, 2011 12:00 AM

Opening Feast, Welcome All! by Headmistress Kijewski

A year ago, Kiva had accepted a temporary position as the Care of Magical Creatures Professor because David Regal had requested her assistance until the position could be filled. Now the position was filled, but Kiva had a new one. David had very serious personal matters that he had needed to attend to during the second half of last year.

Unfortunately, his personal matters grew much worse over time and Regal had decided that it would be best for him to step down as Headmaster. Amelia would have been the next in line for the job, but she hadn’t wanted it. Not that Kiva could blame her. Sadi was too ill to continue on as acting or otherwise. The board had reached out to Kiva and offered her the position. Kiva had declined it at first, but over time, she finally caved in. She wasn’t sure if she was ready for this, but she had no time to dwell on it. Soon the feast would begin. She had dressed to her semi-formal best for the evening. Deciding to not look biased with her robes to a specific house, Kiva had chosen dark green robes that nearly matched the students. It had taken her longer to decide on her hair. She could leave it in her mass curls, but she worried that would make her seem chaotic. Straight made her feel foreign in her own body. She decided to go with soft curls that way she looked professional but still herself. On top of her dress and hair, Kiva tried to keep her smile despite how much she was not looking forward to addressing the entire school after having only been a temp the year prior.

When the first years were brought in, Kiva stood up and charmed herself to be heard over the crowd. She waited a few minutes for the returning students to settle down before she finally greeted the students. “First and foremost, I want to welcome all of our newest students to Sonora Academy and all of our returning students a welcome back. I do hope your summers were full of fun adventures, but I am happy to find that you have all returned to the school intact.” She was smiling at them and only hoped that her smile did not portray her nerves. Kiva was not nervous about speaking in front of a room full of people, years of teaching had thrown that out the window. What she was anxious about was the fact that she was now the new Headmistress of Sonora Academy. The very position she declined years ago when Manfred had decided it was time to retire. Her life became full circle once again. Thankfully, she had been able to fill her vacant spot as Care of Magical Creatures position as well as fill the Divinations position over the summer. Those were two major issues she was thankful were now handled.

“For those who do not know me, I am Headmistress Kijewski, most students call me Professor K. Our first priority for the moment is to have the first years sorted.” Kiva turned her hazel eyes to the newest group of students. “In order for this to be done, I need for each of you to step up one at a time to Coach Pierce and take a sip from the potion she will offer to you.” Kiva explained, nodded to Amelia to indicate who Coach Pierce was. “The potion is harmless. Once you have sipped it, your skin will turn into the color of the house you will be spending the next seven years in. Please note that this change is only temporary.” She didn’t want them being too scared to taste the potion. She could remember her taste and having been terrified she would have stayed that color. “Yellow is for Teppenpaws, blue is for Aladren, red is for Crotalus, and brown is for Pecari. Please, if you could form a line and begin…” She gestured for the first student to step up.

Once the sorting had ended, Kiva regained the students’ attention. “I first have a few announcements to make. First and foremost, I would like to introduce our new staff members. Professor Light is our Charms Professor, Professor O’Shaunasey is our new Care of Magical Creatures Professor, Professor Increase Mathers is our new Divinations Professor, and Dylan Bailey who is our new school Medic. Please show them how wonderful our school is and give them a warm welcome.” Kiva clapped after introducing each of them. So many new members to their staff table; she seriously hoped they stayed with her for the long term.

“I would like to have Jose Hernandez and Marissa Stephenson please come up here and accept your new Head Boy and Head Girl badges.” Kiva called out and when both students approached, she grinned and handed each their appropriate badges. “Good job, you too.” She whispered to them before having them return to their seats. “I would also like to have Samantha Hamilton, Samuel Bauer, Jane Carey, and Sophia Randolph please come up here for a moment.” Kiva waited for the four to be standing at her side before continuing. “Everyone, I would like you to meet your newest Prefects. Congratulations to you four, please take your new badges.” Kiva gestured for the four to return to their seats. “This years Midsummer Event will be the Fair. As the year continues, you will receive more information on the event and any suggestions you would like to make, please feel free to tell me or any other staff member.

“In honor of our former Headmaster, I would like to continue with the tradition with the School Song.” Sheets of music appeared in front of the students. “Let’s begin.”

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.

Once the song ended, the food appeared before them. A feast of great magnum. “Please enjoy the rest of your evening. When it is time to head back to your Houses, your Head of House will call for your attention and bring you to your destinations. That is all.” Kiva concluded and then took her seat at the staff table.

OOC: Welcome First years! Please do not post on any other board until your Head of House posts his/her welcoming speech. Have fun at the feast and remember the site rules. Happy posting everyone!

Subthreads:

... by Angel Shield with Shiloh Romano, Angel, Angel , Andrew Duell

My first badge of honor by Samantha Hamilton with David Wilkes, Samantha

The first day of the rest of my life (Aladren, wotw) by Thaddeus Pierce II with Katrina (Kitty) McLevy , Henrietta Boxton-Fox-Reynolds, Alicia Bauer, Thad Two, Thad Pierce Two

In the fun house (Pecari) by Jorge Garcia with Waverly Canterbury, Jade Owen, Jorge

Round Two by Linus Macaulay with Gareth Whitebriar, Cepheus Princeton, Linus

Returning for another year by Brianna Japos with Valerie Lennox, Brianna

The second to last feast for me by Dulce Garcia with Jane Carey, Dulce

Here for third year by Topher Calhoun with Fae Sinclair, Topher, Alice Adair

Feast and be merry by Amelia Pierce

Returning and planning by Sara Raines with Josephine Owen, Sara

Being welcomed and sorted. by Arabella Brockert with Jhonice Trevear

Teppenpaw the Third by Derry Four with Regina Parker

I am ignoring you, Mr. CATS by Nic Sawyer

Meeting my replacement [Tag Increase] by DiAnna Diaz with Increase Mathers, DiAnna

Re: Opening Feast, Welcome All! by Kerry O'Shaunasey

On the sidelines... by Ephanie Lucore with Evan Brockert, Ephanie

Properly distracted. Again. by David Kim with Andrina Thornton, David

The troubles of a socialite by Attoria Covington

A Pecari Potluck by Sullivan Quincy with Sophie Jamison

The start of the end. by Delilah Kerrigan

The beginning of the end is here by Edmond Carey with Sally Manger, Edmond

The end is a bit melodramatic. by Veronica Kerrigan with Raines Bradley

Heading up one last year by Jose Hernandez

Not the best beginning... by Alexandra Devereaux with Ryan O'Malley, Alexandra Deveraux

0 Headmistress Kijewski Opening Feast, Welcome All! 0 Headmistress Kijewski 1 5

Angel Shield

October 29, 2011 4:13 AM

... by Angel Shield

“If you’re too stupid to pass your classes, don’t bother returning. Do you understand?” Lady Cynthia whispered harshly as she glared at the white haired child whose gaze remained properly on the floor. He said nothing, nothing needed to be said after all. Her hate washed over him like the tide over an indifferent rock, angry words fading into meaningless sound as he waited for the carriage that would take him away. “Go then, I’m glad to be rid of such an abomination, do not return until summer, your potions chest will restock itself, do not bother writing…not that you’re any good at it.” She added snidely, remembering how the brat had been completely illiterate two years ago when she’d taken him in.

Obviously the inbreeding had affected more than just the boy’s appearance, her lips twisted in a sneer as she stared at the meek white child, from his too big robes, to his bare feet. As much as she hated him, she’d spent two weeks making sure he knew two spells, a heating spell, and a shielding spell for his feet seems the idiot child absolutely refused to wear shoes. “Go.” She said harshly as she turned away from him.

The next few hours passed in a blur as the carriage collected him and his belongings and for the first time in his life Angel was exposed to the outside world. A few other students were picked up, but Angel sat quietly in a shaded corner of the carriage and his odd looks coupled with the fact that he never glanced up kept the others from attempting to speak with him. The soft whisper of pencil over sketch paper made a delicate undertone to the chatter of the other children as Angel sketched the different faces he saw out of the corners of his crimson eyes.

As the carriage touched down Angel tore the sketch covered sheet free and crumpled it, dropping it indifferently onto the carriage floor as he stood and followed the other first years to the Hall. For a single moment Angel glanced up, large red eyes widening slightly in surprise at the room full of chattering students, everything painted in shades of gray and the walls…moved. His eyes narrowed as they lined up Angel drifted back a bit, his bare feet made no sound as he moved, the large robes hiding his unshod state as he reached out towards the moving wall. He jerked his hand back at the cold wetness of the water, before he returned to his place in line just as the sorting began.

Colors? he thought faintly. Lady Cynthia often sneered that his inability to learn something as basic as color was simply further proof of his addled state of mind and Angel could feel the slightest hint of blush touch his cheeks. He’d never wondered why it was so difficult for him to differentiate between the different shades like everyone else could, it was simply proof of his mental deficiency. It never accrued to him that it could be anything else. A ghostly pale hand reached out and the young albino took a sip of the potion, not even blinking at the bitter taste. His skin remained white and Angel handed the potion back as he glanced down the line. Many of the other children had darkened in shade, but a few others where white as well. Yellow then.

Once the sorting was compete Angel followed the other white skinned children to a table and took a seat, careful to keep his eyes downcast, ash white hair half covered his face as he kept his head bowed. He didn’t know why, but people hated his eyes. So he kept them down cast even when speaking or being spoken to. A song flowed over him, sung in many different and often discordant voices before the feast appeared. Glancing over the offered food Angel reached forward with one slender hand and took a small scoop of white rice, and an equally small piece of poached salmon without sauce of any kind. Someone to his left spoke, but Angel kept his eyes on his nearly empty plate.

0 Angel Shield ... 0 Angel Shield 0 5

Samantha Hamilton

October 29, 2011 11:00 AM

My first badge of honor by Samantha Hamilton

It seemed being stuck in one house had been quite enough for the whole family, and after nearly three years of suffering, Rob and his girlfriend, Andi, finally moved out of the house that was technically theirs to live somwhere with more space. The end result of this was that Samantha had her own bedroom again over the summer. Or, at any rate, the closest she'd come to having her own bedroom since she was twelve. It was the smallest room in the house, but then she was hardly in it, so she didn't see a need to argue. She was less content with the fact that her bedroom seemed to be a general storage area that also happened to hold a bed. The dormitory she had all to herself at Sonora was bigger, warmer, tidier, and didn't smell so musty, but her Muggle bedroom had a TV.

As any respectable fifteen year old, Samantha had spent the summer sunbathing, shopping, and kicking her brothers' collective butts at assorted video games. She also took up running, of which the benfits were threefold: it ensured she got up in the morning, kept her fit, and gave her ego a boost whenever she got wolf-whistles or car horns. Before returning to school, she also got a new hairstyle, that was a choppier version of the layers she'd had before, now with highlights and bangs. Before going out to meet the wagon, she'd made sure her hair was straight and sleek and her skin was flawless. She drew on the thinnest lines of brown eyeliner and used a clear mascara to hold her lashes in place. She didn't want to wear too much make-up at school on an everyday basis, because she was still an Aladren and didn't want to send out the wrong message, but that was no excuse to not look her best. She slipped a clear lip gloss into her pocket to apply on arrival, and then she was ready to go.

The Opening Feast always felt weird, with some students and staff missing, and other unfamiliar faces in their place. In her fifth year now, Samantha was just about used to it. She waved to some of the people she knew before finding herself a seat with the other Aladren students. She was the only student remaining in her year group as people had dropped out or moved elsewhere, and so she fully expected to be named prefect this year unless, for some obscure reason, the system had changed. She was far more interested in hearing which other students in her year would join her.

Her eagerness was put on hold a little when it was Professor Kijewski who stood to greet the school, instead of Headmaster Regal. Samantha shrugged internally - the Headmaster had barely been around last year, and she'd learned that Kijewski had been Deputy Head once, and Head of Aladren House, so she was probably going to make a good enough Headmistress. The introduction of a new Divinations professor left her wishing Miss Diaz was still teaching the class, but otherwise she went back to eagerly anticipating the names of those other fifth years. Hers ears perked up at her own name, but she waited to hear Other Sam - excellent! - Jane and Sophia being called before she stood and made her way to the front. She managed a brief 'Congrats' to Other Sam before heading back to her seat with a prefect's badge now pinned to the front of her robes. She didn't know Jane or Sophia especially well, but they seemed nice enough.

Then there was nothing left to do but sing the school song (she had forgotten that it would be coming, yet found she remembered the tune to it fairly well) and tuck in. She started with tomato soup and soft white bread, greeting her neighbor with the customary, "Good summer?"

0 Samantha Hamilton My first badge of honor 159 Samantha Hamilton 0 5

Thaddeus Pierce II

October 29, 2011 11:16 AM

The first day of the rest of my life (Aladren, wotw) by Thaddeus Pierce II

Once upon a time in the far distant past (approximately sixteen year ago, give or take five), The Troubles began. There was no one single source for The Troubles but it is indisputable that Quidditch-Playing Females held a good portion of the blame. Specifically, there was Gabriella Abbott, the muggle-lover who had stolen the heart of the then-heir of the New Hampshire Pierces, Derwent Pierce III; there was Belinda Pierce, who had challenged half of her class to duels by her second year and then switched from wands to fists in a truly horrifying display of unladylike behavior; and, most significantly, there was Amelia Pierce.

Amelia Pierce who refused to marry and had the gall to seek a career. Amelia Pierce who dallied in Muggle Boston for fun and indulged Derwent the Third's improper curiosity about the species. Amelia Pierce who toppled the reigning New Hampshire Pierce Patriarch and left the family in shambles. Amelia Pierce who had been disowned along with Derwent the Third and Belinda to create the Boston Pierces.

Amelia Pierce who was Deputy Headmistress, Head of Crotalus House, and Quidditch Coach at Thaddeus's new school. Amelia Pierce who shared the same parents as Thaddeus.

Furthermore, The Troubles had spread beyond the immediate family, and dethroned Salem Institute as America's premiere magical school (at least according to the New Hampshire Pierces were were largely alumni thereof). Salem Institute closed down. It was strongly believed Quidditch-playing females had a role in that, as well, as Salem was the birthplace of D.I.S.C.U.S.S shortly before the school's demise.

Some seven years ago, the Powers That Be (otherwise known as Grandmother) decided that the New Hampshire Pierces would replace the defunct Salem Institute with Sonora Academy as their school of choice. A year later, Amelia Pierce somehow got hired as the Quidditch Coach there. There had been discussion to change where the New Hampshire Pierces would send their children, but ultimately, it was decided they had chosen Sonora for a good reason (most of the proper American pureblood families used Sonora now) and they would not retreat from their decision merely because one staff member was dead to them.

When the new Pierce heir, Derwent Pierce IV, returned for his second year at Sonora last year, Thaddeus concluded that the choice was final and no further thought would be placed into changing schools. That conclusion was followed within hours by the news that Amelia had been inaugurated as the new Deputy Headmistress, and for a couple of weeks Thaddeus thought that Sonora may have dropped the final straw on the camel's back, but the camel only wobbled a little bit then stood steady. By last midterm, Thad felt secure in his belief that he would also be attending Sonora Academy come today. And here he was. In the Cascade Hall as a first year student.

Thaddeus obviously understood the difference between real-dead and disowned-dead, so as he stood in the line of first years to receive his sip of the sorting potion, he was not disturbed by the idea that the woman handing it out was some kind of zombie. Clearly, she was as alive as anyone else in the hall (and possibly moreso than the strange white haired boy with the red eyes).

Rather, he was disturbed by the idea that the woman handing it out was his disowned sister, whose place he had taken in the lives of their shared parents and whose inheritance was now Thaddeus's. Granted, Thaddeus had no reason to think she blamed him for her disownment or his existence as Thesius Pierce's heir. On the other hand, he had no reason to think she didn't.

As it got to be his turn at the front, he gave the woman a wary look of distrustful caution. When she handed the goblet of suspiciously bubbly liquid to him, the only reason he dared sip from it was that, if she had poisoned it, she was also poisoning the rest of the first year class, and surely there were easier ways to kill him with less collateral damage and less chance of getting caught.

If he hadn't been warned about the effects of the potion by the Headmistress, he may have doubted his conclusion. The taste was wretched (though, by comparison to other potions he'd ingested in his life, not too horrible) and the way his skin started turning blue was enough to rattle anybody who'd read enough books on poor blood circulation.

Then the blue color darkened past what was normally considered unhealthy into what was clearly the Aladren House Color. Relief suffused him, and not just because he wasn't dying after all. He'd made it into Aladren. He was an Aladren.

With a whoop, he jumped up and ran for the table filled with other blue people. His parents would be very proud. After his family had discovered that Amelia was the Head of Crotalus, Thad had been impressed with the importance of getting into Aladren nearly every day since.

Read this, Thaddeus, Aladrens enjoy reading.

I don't know, Thaddeus. The exasperation and obvious desire to end the line of questioning was crystal clear but his father never once said, not ever for as long as Thaddeus could remember, Stop bothering me with questions, Thaddeus. What he said instead was, Let's go look in the library, son.

Thaddeus loved his father dearly, especially in those moments. Thad already missed him, and Mom. And Grandmother. And Aunt Berta. He wanted them here to see this victory of turning blue.

As they were unavailable, he glanced toward the Teppenpaw table where his cousin sat. Derry gave him a grin and two thumbs up, and Thad smiled back, glad to be able to share the moment with somebody. For the first time, he wondered if Derry had been sad that nobody had seen him get sorted. He made a mental note to ask him later.

He still had the smile on his face as he sat down at his new table among his new Housemates. The Headmistress soon began talking, and Thad made a note of each of the people she mentioned, hoping he'd remember all those names. Fortunately, Derry had warned him about the school song last year, so Thaddeus had already made an effort to find it, and, once found, memorize it. He hardly needed to glance at the lyrics as he and the school sang.

After that came the food, and then the part of all of this that had worried him the longest. (Not the most, that was drinking Amelia's potion, but he'd only considered that much more serious fear upon entering the Cascade Hall.) The concern about how well he'd get along with his House and Yearmates had plagued him for most of the summer.

He decided a simple greeting was a good way to start. "Hello, I am Thaddeus Pierce the Second of the New Hampshire Pierces."

1 Thaddeus Pierce II The first day of the rest of my life (Aladren, wotw) 213 Thaddeus Pierce II 0 5

Jorge Garcia

October 29, 2011 11:22 AM

In the fun house (Pecari) by Jorge Garcia

Jorge had heard all about Sonora from his older sisters and from his Tios and Tia who had graduated from there. He knew what to expect, but there was still an excitement about finally being able to go and experience it for himself. He was sort of glad that Adelita had graduated the year prior because he knew if she were around, she would constantly be in his business. At least Dulce would leave him alone. She stayed in her own world most of the time and only ever came out of it when one of them did something wrong that she didn’t agree with. If anything, the only time she would bother him was if he needed help with his homework.

The carriage ride mainly featured Jorge chatting excitedly about all the things that Sonora had to offer while Dulce pointedly ignored him by reading her book. With Lita no longer in school and who had decided to go to Julliard, Dulce no longer had her sister’s books to take and review. So, instead, she had asked their parents for some college references and books so that she could stay ahead of the game. Their parents indulged her because even though Dulce claimed she was not going to go onto a normal college, but would go to a school for music, Dulce had this love of learning. Jorge just scrunched up his nose at her when she asked if he wanted to read some of his soon to be future lessons.

Still, for the entire ride, she never once asked him to be quiet or say that he was disturbing her. She simply let him talk. Jorge liked that. He needed to talk. Jorge had so much energy and he couldn’t simply run around to get rid of it being stuck in the carriage, so talking was the next best thing. If he couldn’t do that, he’d explode.

Finally stepping off the wagon, Dulce said farewell to Jorge and wandered off while Jorge had to go find his place with the other first years. He grinned wickedly to those around him, clear to anyone who looked at him that he was excited. He could barely even stand still. Plus, he as hungry and Dulce said there was to be a feast. Jorge was a growing boy… food, food, and more food were a necessity.

He had seen pictures of Sonora from his sisters. Lita had made sure that she had taken pictures of Sonora during her last year so that she had the memories forever. There had been a crazy amount of photos of Charlie, who had visited them enough for Jorge to annoy, and of Juri (their dad still wasn’t happy that Lita was going to school with Juri and there would be no supervision of them, Jorge found this amusing). But, some of the photos were of the gardens and of Cascade Hall and of some of Lita’s other friends whom Jorge had never met.

The pictures didn’t really do the Hall justice. The waterfalls were amazing in person and the chaos of the mess of students could be overwhelming. He was in love with it already.

He listened quietly as the Headmistress stood and greeted them and then nearly ran to the line to be one of the first to get sorted. When he took the potion, Jorge waited in anticipation of the new color. At first, he didn’t see any sort of change, his naturally tan skin keeping him from realizing the subtle darkening of the pigmentation. Pecari. Nice. Dulce had told him that was the house where the riffraff seemed to come from. Perfect.

Jorge sauntered over to the Pecari table and waited out the rest of the speech (and song, Jorge did not sing) until the food came and they were allowed to eat. Jorge grabbed as much chicken and pasta as his plate could hold and took his first bite. Oh yeah, if the food was like every day, Jorge will definitely be in heaven. Jorge turned to the person nearest to him, “This food is fantastic!”

6 Jorge Garcia In the fun house (Pecari) 220 Jorge Garcia 0 5

Waverly Canterbury

October 29, 2011 12:30 PM

What fun things does this house hold? by Waverly Canterbury

Waverly was so eager to finally be going to Sonora that she leapt into the wagon when it came and chatted nonstop to whoever was in there with her. She'd probably annoyed them somewhat, but no matter. She was finally going to a magical school! That would be so much more fun than the boring schools she had gone to before where all they learned was math and science and English and blah blah blah. Boring subjects. Not like potions and charms and transfiguration...eee!

Waverly hopped out of the wagon and tried to act calm, but it was getting increasingly difficult with the more steps she took towards the castle. She could hardly take it anymore when she reached the Great Hall, but suddenly she was intimidated by all the magical properties in this room. It was so amazing and beautiful. And then it came time for sorting and Waverly rushed to the line, excited again.

When it was her turn, she took a sip of the potion and her skin turned brown. She laughed. She could remember getting really tan one summer with her sister, except she didn't turn this brown. She was a little worried that it wasn't going to give her pale skin back, but no one else seemed to be suffering from strange colored skin except for the first-years.

She skipped over to the table happily and sat down across from another first-year. When the song began, she eagerly sang out. She liked to sing and she knew she'd miss the nights of music in her household. But it was okay, because she was in a magical school! When the song had finished, food appeared and Waverly almost jumped. But then her mouth watered and she realized just how hungry she was. She piled food onto her plate and began eating, when someone talked to her.

"This food is fantastic!" the first-year she had sat across from said. She beamed at him.

"Isn't it? I love this place so much already! I could eat this kind of food all day. I love magic." She ate some more, gazing at everything around her. "It's all so beautiful. I'm so excited to be here!" She was close to hopping up and down in her seat, but she didn't want to give away her weird, excited habits too quickly. "I'm Waverly," she said, waving a hand gingerly, giggling at its dark color. "What's your name?"

19 Waverly Canterbury What fun things does this house hold? 218 Waverly Canterbury 0 5

Jade Owen

October 29, 2011 12:39 PM

We have seven years to find out! by Jade Owen

Jade almost didn't want to go to Sonora. Spending more time with James wasn't something that anyone ever wanted to do, and change wasn't something to which Jade adapted well. For her entire life she'd lived in one house with one family - she was the youngest, so she'd never had to endure a newcomer. She'd been enjoying the termtime since Josephine had started, too, having a bedroom all to herself for most of the year. Now she might have to share a room all the time!

Of course, there were perks to going away to school. No more being told off by her parents. No more being woken up by the chickens as soon as the sun rose. No more being the only person in the house who didn't know more than a couple of very basic spells. It would probably be okay, she had decided. She'd been allowed to bring one of the new kittens with her, too - her name was Bella and she was gray and fluffy. She spent most of the wagon journey asleep in Jade's lap. Jade wished she could sleep but these wagons were too uncomfortable. Besides, Josephine kept talking at her.

Eventually they arrived, and Jade was just one of a whole bunch of new first years. She was already quite tall - the same height as Josephine, who was two years older - but she didn't think it was her height that would make her stand out, but the very obviously second-hand uniform robes she was wearing. Still, they hid the second-hand jeans and t-shirt she was wearing underneath, so they were doing their job well. Jade didn't care if she looked scruffy - looks weren't important to the eleven-year-old (who would be twelve next week, anyway). Her looks had nothing to do with who she was as a person. Her dark brown hair was naturally curly, and hung in a gravity-defying manner above her shoulders. Her blue eyes were wide with curiosity as she visually scanned the Cascade Hall for the first time, set beneath wayward eyebrows and in a pale face speckled with freckles. She'd often been called cute, and would scowl in response. No, looks had nothing to do with personality.

Except, of course, in the case of the sorting. It hadn't been hard to get her siblings to tell her what to expect, so Jade gulped down the potion she was given without a second thought. Her polar white skin instantly began to brown, and with a semi-satisfied smile she sat with the other pecari students, offering a quick sideways grin to Josephine. Her sister and both her parents had also been in Pecari, so at least Jade knew she was in good hands.

While the Headmistress finished speaking, Jade settled Bella in her lap once more, forcing the kitten to curl up and lie still. She obeyed in time for the school song, which Jade refused to sing. It wasn't that she disliked singing - she'd happily produce a tune when she was in the mood - but she did not sing on demand. She noticed the boy next to her didn't sing, either, and she almost had the confidence to grin at him. Instead she kept her eyes on the table, and they lit up when food appeared. Jade wasted no time in tucking in, helping herself to cauliflower cheese and baked potato.

The boy who didn't sing commented on the food, and the girl opposite agreed, then talked a whole bunch more than was necessary. They were both still brown, like jade was, so she assumed they were in their first year, too. The girl introduced herself as Waverly, and after the boy had answered her question, Jade added, "And I'm Jade." She threw in a cheeky smile for good measure before returning to her labor of shovelling hot food into her mouth.

0 Jade Owen We have seven years to find out! 221 Jade Owen 0 5

Linus Macaulay

October 29, 2011 1:12 PM

Round Two by Linus Macaulay

"It's an incredibly useful tool to possess," Linus had explained("You mean all the cool kids have one?" Johan had most unhelpfully translated. Linus ignored him). Eventually he'd been able to convince his mother that purchasing an owl was an excellent decision. He was now the proud owner of a long-eared owl, Asio Otus, selected for her manageable size, neat appearance, social nature, impressive wingspan, and the fact that she was not opposed to desert climates. As most of his correspondence went between Nevada and Arizona, this was an important point to consider. He'd named her Iris, after the messenger of the gods, and he found the name both apt and attractive.

Iris had unfortunately remained in her cage while Linus joined his fellow Crotalus students, but after the feast he would let her free to stretch her wings a while and get used to her new home. The second year was unaccustomed to having pets - he really didn't see the point - but he thought he could come to be fond of Iris. She wasn't really a pet, after all, but a messenger, when it came down to it. Nevertheless, it was his responsibility to take care of her, and Linus undertook all his responsibilities with sincerity.

His summer had been otherwise uneventful. He had talked a lot with his family about Sonora, and the people there. He'd told them about Paul, and Brianna, and Sullivan who also lived in Las Vegas, and Katrina who lived in Reno. He talked a little bit about the magic he'd learned, but that was mostly with his mother, because he didn't want his younger siblings to go blabbing about magic and get him into trouble with the law. He'd spent a lot of time playing pool volleyball (he always had to have Daphne on his team and she usually got bored early on and left him playing two against one with his brothers) and had, naturally, read ahead in his textbooks to make sure he was prepared for the new year.

This year was already an improvement on the last, because Linus had learned a charm to keep his robes neat, and his blonde hair had been recently trimmed. Also he wasn't a clueless first year, and he proudly took his seat with his Housemates, and politely applauded where appropriate throughout the speech. He sang the school song quietly (his voice was undoubtedly melodic, but that was no reason to show off in front of everyone) and then settled to eat. He reached for a dish at the same time as his neighbor, so changed his motion into a gesture of offering, instead, with the words, "After you."

0 Linus Macaulay Round Two 205 Linus Macaulay 0 5

Katrina (Kitty) McLevy

October 29, 2011 1:29 PM

Day 4,485th of my current life by Katrina (Kitty) McLevy

As much as she loved her family Kitty was thrilled to death to be back at Sonora. For one thing Zack had been a complete jerk to her the whole time, way worse than usual and Kitty was completely fed up with it. Why’d he have to be so mean anyway? She hadn’t seen him sense Christmas for goodness sake and he acted like he hated her. Not even chocolate frogs made him smile, so out of spite she’d given him a bag of Every Flavor Beans.

That and she’d missed Laurie more than she’d thought possible. Finally having found someone so much like her made losing him even for summer break hard to bare. No one else put up with her antics the way that Laurie did, and they’d had such fun together. Now she was back, and they’d have another year of adventures, but first the feast! Again Kitty was struck by the unfairness of Laurie being in a different house when she went to her own house table, but she gave him an ecstatic wave as she passed anyway.

Bouncing happily to her table Kitty sat down, feeling rather proud that she was now an important older second year student, and no longer a little firsties (not that she was any bigger than the little firsties but that was beside the point). Bright blue eyes watched as the new firsties were sorted, they lingered for a moment on the white boy, questions already flitting though her head as she hoped he turned blue so she could ask, instead he turned yellow. She sighed disappointedly before grinning as a blue skinned boy sat down next to her.

Kitty’s bell like voice rang out as she sang enthusiastically, bouncing in her seat. The song was done, and the food appeared. Kitty was just reaching for a plate of some curious looking bright yellow stuff when the boy next to her spoke “Hello, I’m Thaddeus Pierce the Second of the New Hampshire Pierces.” Kitty blinked at the longer than even normal magical kid introduction. Second of the New Hampshire Pierces? Who’s the first? Hm…how confusing what if a bunch of Pierces come to school how do they keep them all straight? Kitty thought, imagining eight or nine different Pierce children all counting off which order they arrived at school. What a minute, the Quidditch coach was a Pierce! Of course she was the First.

“The second? Is the Quidditch Coach the first then? Anyway Hi! I’m Kitty McLevy!” She said, happy to have figured it out, but still thinking it was an odd way to refer to one’s self.

0 Katrina (Kitty) McLevy Day 4,485th of my current life 0 Katrina (Kitty) McLevy 0 5

Henrietta Boxton-Fox-Reynolds

October 29, 2011 1:52 PM

Day one of life here... by Henrietta Boxton-Fox-Reynolds

OOC - I'd just finished this when Kitty posted, so have tried to tweak it a bit to make it work. Hope it does and that no-one feels god-modded!

IC

Henrietta stared at the Hall in wonder. Her Dad and her Father, as an alumnus and a former staff member respectively, had told her plenty about it, and she’d seen several illustrations. However, vivid as the descriptions were, beautiful as the pictures were, nothing compared to the actual spectacle. She stood amongst her fellow first years, feeling a few butterflies that were the natural response to a new situation. She knew what was about to happen. Dad had been against it, insisting that it was part of the adventure of starting the school, but father knew that Henny tended to find ‘adventurous’ episodes rather unnerving (certainly, she was unlikely to find herself in Pecari). And the new headmistress seemed to agree that forewarning was the kindest thing to do, as the secret that her father had told her was revealed to the rest of the school.

She took the sip of potion offered to her by Deputy Headmistress Pierce and was unsurprised to find her skin turning blue. Unsurprised, but definitely pleased. Aladren was the house she had thought would suit her best and she knew Father would be delighted. She followed the rest of the blue first years to their table, sitting next to a boy who had whooped with excitement at his placement.

“Hello,” she smiled, a little anxious when he introduced himself. He seemed terribly proper, which made Henny a little anxious. Her name sounded impressive at first and she looked the part with her neat curls and dainty little dress. However, the fancy name and elegant attire weren’t because she came from a long and powerful line, it was because she had gay adoptive parents, one of whom loved picking clothes for her. She didn’t expect that sort of thing to go down well with the Pureblood crowd. Still, no good Aladren would judge a book by its cover. “I’m Henrietta Boxton-Fox-Reynolds but everyone just calls me Henny.” Unfortunately, the girl on the other side of Thaddeus had spoken at the same time as her, so she wasn't sure he even heard her.

13 Henrietta Boxton-Fox-Reynolds Day one of life here... 211 Henrietta Boxton-Fox-Reynolds 0 5

Brianna Japos

October 29, 2011 1:59 PM

Returning for another year by Brianna Japos

Brianna’s summer had been horrible. The kids in her building had been extra mean to her as though they needed to make up for the last ten months where she had been away at school. She had been constantly ridiculed. It was even worse than usual because some of them had even become physical. They hadn’t minded hurting her in the past, but they usually used some form of magic or hex. This time, they used their own hands. They had said it was an accident or that it was her fault that she had walked into it, but Brianna knew better. So had her parents. Her mother had bought extra salve ointment that rid her of any bruises prior to her coming to Sonora, she hadn’t been happy about having to use any at all, but there was little they could do about it.

To make matters worse, Brianna’s parents were arguing more than ever because of the bullying. Brianna’s mother wanted to find a new place to live, new jobs, anything, but her father said that there just weren’t any jobs available and the cost of living was too high. It was Brianna’s fault for all of this. She knew it. They knew it. Everyone knew it. By the end of the summer, Brianna thought of nothing else but Sonora. Her escape. Her sanctuary.

The moment Brianna touched the grounds of the school, she felt relief. She felt like she was home. No one cared about her here. Not to pick on or anything else. She had wanted to be Attoria. She had wanted to please the girl and make her happy, but now all Brianna wanted to do was be invisible. She wanted only to be background noise because if no one cared about her than no one would care to pick on her.

Thankful that she was no longer a first year, Brianna wandered over to the general area of the Crotalus house and found herself an open seat. She wasn’t about to force herself onto her roommates any more than she was going to force herself onto strangers. If people came to sit with her, she would be grateful, but she would be okay if they decided not to as well. It was their choice.

She sat quietly at her table and listened as the newest Headmistress and previous Care of Magical Creatures professor greeted the new students and went through the sorting process. Brianna wondered if she had looked like that when she had been sorted. Terrified or excited. She couldn’t remember now. She thought apprehensive if only because she wasn’t sure how people would treat her here. She clapped politely with the new announcements and sang quietly when it was asked of her to. Once all that was said and done, Brianna grabbed a bit of pasta and salad. She only glanced up from her seat when she felt eyes on her. Smiling, Brianna greeted them, “Hello. Did you have a nice summer?”

6 Brianna Japos Returning for another year 203 Brianna Japos 0 5

Thad Pierce

October 29, 2011 2:34 PM

Second step to socialibility by Thad Pierce

Two girls answered his introduction at the same time. One was blue, so he tried extra hard to catch her name since she was in his year - it was long and she used the nickname Henny. The other was not blue, which indicated an older student, probably a second year since she wasn't any taller than he was. Henny almost looked proper enough to be a pureblood, but however long her name had been, he was sure she had not offered a branch designation.

The older girl was definitely not a pureblood. Purebloods knew better than to greet one another with the word 'hi.' She did, however immediately launch into questions, which indicated, despite her lack of blue skin, that she was appropriately seated at the Aladren table. He just wished her questions had focused anywhere but Amelia Pierce. Though, to be fair, it was completely understandable to ask about a shared surname between a classmate and the school's Deputy Headmistress. He could not hold the curiosity against her. Had their places been reversed, he certainly would have asked as well.

Looking at both girls as he spoke, so as not to exclude either of them, he answered simply, "The Deputy Headmistress is of the Boston Pierce branch. I am of the New Hampshire Pierce branch. The Second," he added, with a glance toward Kitty, "is because I am named for my great-uncle, Thaddeus Pierce the First." He paused, allowing a good solid second to pass, so as to clearly separate the one thought from the next so she knew the numeral referred to his name, not his branch, before adding, "Also of the New Hampshire Pierces."

Then, to be complete, because Thaddeus liked to be complete, he did offer, "However, I am the second New Hampshire Pierce to attend Sonora Academy." He pointed toward the Teppenpaw table. "My cousin, Derwent Pierce the Fourth, is a third year in Teppenpaw."

"Have either of you any relatives at the school?" he asked as he began to fill his plate. The food looked excellent and it had been a long trip from New England. Fortunately, Derry had been along to answer some of Thaddeus's questions and the hours had passed reasonably swiftly. His stomach, however, was feeling distinctly neglected.

1 Thad Pierce Second step to socialibility 213 Thad Pierce 0 5

Gareth Whitebriar

October 29, 2011 2:52 PM

Round One for me I suppose by Gareth Whitebriar

The portkey to New York (what was new about it, Gareth had wondered when he’d heard his first destination) had been most unpleasant, the carriage ride from there to Sonora even more so. Really, if he had to use a portkey just to get to this foreign country why couldn’t he have used one to arrive directly at the school? The rid did give him a chance to catch up with Maggie, she was one of the Brownbriar cousins one of the many, many Brownbriar cousins and also a fellow first year.

Gareth was the first to attend Sonora of all the lines after Grandfather’s decree that the lines branch out and gain influence in the other schools. Well, there was Maggie, but she was a girl and didn’t really count. It wasn’t even one of the Blackbriars who got to be the first even though they were still the dominant line. Of all five lines though, the Whitebriars were the only ones who didn’t have older children who’d attended Hogwarts. Gareth was the oldest child and so all the Whitebriar children would attend Sonora, along with the remaining Brownbriars. The Blackbriars and the Greenbriars would be attending the other American school and Gareth was satisfied with that. At least this way he wouldn’t be overshadowed by the Blackbriar line.

Standing straight, his height even at this age of 4’11” was impressive, and his build already strong Gareth waited for his turn to taste the brew that would decide his placement for the next seven years. His nose wrinkled slightly at the bitter taste but such was to be expected from potions and a smile lit his face as his skin turned a deep red. Crotalus, just as it should be. he thought with satisfaction. He’d read up on each of the houses and knew that Crotalus was the place for him, after all he was going to grow up to be an Auror just like his father.

As he followed the other red skinned students Gareth reached up to straighten his short wavy blond hair, the few freckles that normally dusted his nose were hidden under the new flaming red which also made his blue eyes stand out strikingly. Sitting down Gareth kept his posture straight as he listened to his new Headmistress’s speech. Singing…was not something Gareth did, so he listened as the others sang and waited for the feast to begin.

The food appeared and most of it was unfamiliar to Gareth, a frown tugged at his lips as he tried to find something he recognized. Finally he spotted a pan of Shepherd’s Pie, normally a peasant’s dish, but at least it looked familiar. He was about to reach for the dish when another student apparently had the same idea “After you.” His neighbor offered, and Gareth cut himself a large piece before transferring it neatly to his plate.

“Thank you. I’m Gareth Whitebriar of House Blackbriar.” He added, the words had a thick Welsh accent to them, and were spoken with an air of importance. Even though the lines had just begun to expand their influence into the American schools he still felt that Blackbriar was a name that anyone with prober breeding would know.

0 Gareth Whitebriar Round One for me I suppose 0 Gareth Whitebriar 0 5

Dulce Garcia

October 29, 2011 2:54 PM

The second to last feast for me by Dulce Garcia

Dulce was returning to Sonora as a Sixth Year. It was so odd to her to be nearing the end of her education at this academy. She could remember how angry she had been at her parents for making her come when all she had wanted to do was go to a school for performing arts and continue with her music. And now? She understood the importance of all of it. Had she never gone to a real magical school, Dulce never would have truly known how to use her wand properly. With Lita off to Julliard and living her dream, Dulce knew that her future was whatever she wanted it to be. Now as a Sixth Year, it was important for Dulce to figure out what exactly she wanted her future to be. She still wanted music to be a part of it, but learning came easy to her and she wanted to continue on with that as well.

She still had plenty of time to think it over, it was still a foreign concept to her that she may want to continue on with her education, but eventually she will adapt to it. It helped her tutoring other students. It made her feel rather useful. If she hadn’t forced herself to be that, she probably never would have liked Sonora at all.

On the trip back to the school, Dulce had endured her brother’s restless chatter. It never really bothered her and actually sort of reminded her of the trips up with Adelita. When she was happy, Lita chatted non-stop and she was usually always happy. When they were finally at Sonora, Dulce wished Jorge good luck and wandered off towards the Teppenpaw table. She was curious to know who the newest Prefect would be, but had no preference towards who it would be.

Surprise registered rather briefly on her facial features when Kijewski stood and addressed everyone. Half the staff table was new and now she was the newest Headmistress. This was going to be a long year for sure. But, the speech went along at a decent pace and Dulce discovered that Jane would be working with her. Dulce didn’t know Jane well, but the girl seemed nice. Of course, they were in Teppenpaw, so that was probably a given. She clapped politely and then sat silently during the rest of the speech. She sang of course, but Dulce loved to sing. She was quiet about it, but if anyone paid her any attention, they would have heard her soft voice beneath the chorus of the school.

Finally, the food arrived. Dulce helped herself to some of the offered food and then sat quietly in her spot eating the feast while watching all the school’s student body. This was a hobby of hers after all and most people never bothered her anyway.

6 Dulce Garcia The second to last feast for me 153 Dulce Garcia 0 5

Alicia Bauer

October 29, 2011 3:03 PM

We're all making progress. by Alicia Bauer

Here it was. The first day at Sonora. Alicia had been up since five from sheer excitement, but had gotten back to into bed so Momma wouldn’t know. There was nothing any of them could do with knowing she was enthusiastic about going to school except tease her, but since she seldom hated her sisters and wished they were dead more than when they were teasing her, she had no intention of letting them know that coming to school was anything other than something that was happening today. She’d known they were going to make her want to scream before she left anyway, so there was no use in encouraging them.

Still, in her good mood, she had hoped. That was foolish. She wouldn’t do it again. They were barely civilized on the best of days, and those were rare.

She had spent half the ride from California to Arizona thinking of all the things she’d like to do to them both, but had finally lost interest and started looking around at the other people on the wagon with her. That was a neutral activity, though some of them amused her enough that, by the time she walked through the doors of the school for the first time, she was smiling slightly, excited all over again. The beaming smile the Deputy Headmistress got as she handed Alicia one of the cups of potion was completely unforced, though she did hesitate slightly before drinking it all down at once. She didn’t really like trying new things except in small sips at first, not drinking it all quickly and confidently.

For a moment, she thought she was going to choke from the taste - Please, Merlin, do not let me throw up in front of everyone, or at least let me die right here and now if I do – but then she got her breath back in time to see herself turning blue, which earned another smile. She had expected Crotalus, since that was a bit more the family House than Aladren, but Aladren was perfectly okay with her. She went with the other blue students to their new table, smiling at everyone who remotely seemed to look in her direction.

A boy introduced himself – she felt a flash of irritation over the name; she was little better than half-blood herself with two Muggleborn grandparents and a Layne for a mother – and then two girls spoke at the same time, startling her. She looked blankly at the older one for a moment, wondering what on earth she was talking about since Momma had distinctly mentioned Quidditch women and the Quidditch coach, then jumped in when Thaddeus answered them.

“I do,” she said. “Two sisters. The older one’s a prefect for Crotalus.” Samuel wasn’t worth a mention; he, like Kate, was someone she saw no reason to be related to any more than she could strictly help or avoid. She smiled at all three of them. “Sorry. I’m Alicia Bauer. Arizona Bauers.”

16 Alicia Bauer We're all making progress. 210 Alicia Bauer 0 5

Cepheus Princeton

October 29, 2011 3:06 PM

The Same for Me. by Cepheus Princeton

Cepheus did not like the fact that he had to come to America for school. He wanted to go to a British magical school, but no. It was going to be better to have friends in other places, so Father said. And Cepheus had no choice but to obey, being the eldest son and a Princeton. He also had the luck to be the spitting image of his father; cool blue eyes, blonde hair, a handsome, pale face. His younger brothers weren't quite as lucky, and Cepheus supposed he was blessed in that sense.

He had taken a Portkey to New York City from London, then had taken a break there with his mother. He'd liked the city, but not the muggles that were teeming in it. He'd much rather be back in his pureblood community than here with his friends. Then they'd taken another portkey across the country to Arizona and there his mother had regretfully left him. She'd cried, and Cepheus had tried very hard not to hold onto her when she took the portkey back.

So now here he was. Standing in Cascade Hall and waiting to be sorted. When it was his turn, he begrudgingly took the potion and waited. He thought it was stupid that they had to wait for their skin to change colour. If his skin took on a stupid colour, he'd be angry. And it turned red. Well, at least it matched his mood right now.

He walked over to the Crotalus table and brushed a hand through his impeccable blonde hair, standing straight. He hoped this was the house with the purebloods. Cepheus wasn't sure if he was really interested in conversing with a bunch of Americans, but his father had sent him there with a purpose. He piled some food onto his plate, taking some Shepherd's pie after the other bloke. He had a Welsh accent and Cepheus was suddenly delighted at meeting another European. He usually wouldn't be so delighted if he wasn't in a foreign country.

"Blackbriar," he commented. "I'm sure I've heard that name before. Cepheus Princeton, pureblood from London." He couldn't say 'House of Princeton' yet because his name wasn't that big yet and no one in America would surely know it. His name was known in Europe only becaus his father had worked so hard at creating a name for them with their immense fortune. The Princeton name was regretablly not up to par compared to other prestigious households only because the Princetons had acquired their fortune only decades ago while other families had been around for centuries. But his father worked hard at making their name and he was succeeding. If there was one thing the Princetons had, it was ambition.

He looked at the other bloke, waiting for him to introduce himself before he ate his food carefully and cleanly. "Pleased to make your acquaintances," he said.

40 Cepheus Princeton The Same for Me. 216 Cepheus Princeton 0 5

Kitty

October 29, 2011 3:32 PM

Hopes she doesn’t trip by Kitty

For a moment a slight flush filled Kitty’s cheeks when she realized her mistake. Of course he was the second! Oh well, he didn’t seem very miffed by her mistake so that was alright. Two other girls joined the conversation, one who sounded kinda like one of the magic kids seems she had so many names but didn’t add a place, and the second who probably was seems she was an Arizona Bauers. So, two maybe three magic kids and her. She wondered how many different Pierce groups there were, and Bauers, and why. That was something that held endless fascination for the young muggleborn girl, why each of the big families split up and became different branches.

“Nope, I’m the only one who got to go. I have three older brothers though.” Kitty said with a small laugh. It still made her feel good to be the special one, not that being the youngest, or the only girl didn’t make her special. But magic, magic made her unique from everyone she’d ever known. And Kitty loved magic, her school, and of course Quidditch and flying. She couldn’t wait for tryouts to begin again this year.

Her bright eyes glittered with excitement as she looked the first years over. They might want to try out and Kitty remembered that as a first year she’d beat out a second year boy for her position as Keeper, so it wasn’t unbelievable that these firsties might want to steal her position on the team. “So…are any of you planning on trying out for the team?” She asked innocently.

0 Kitty *Hopes she doesn’t trip* 0 Kitty 0 5

Henny B-F-R

October 29, 2011 3:47 PM

The Aladren Six Step Programme to Sociability by Henny B-F-R

In spite of the extra people in the conversation, Henny didn’t seem to have been drowned out. She nodded and smiled at the girl, Alicia, who had joined in, in order to acknowledge that she’d heard her introduction. Thaddeus was, as she’d expected, from some very notable line and, of course, coming from a magical family she knew of the Pierces, and knew that their situation was incredibly complicated. However, that was about as far on the details as she could go. He hadn’t questioned any of their bloodlines or origins so far, and seemed happy enough to at least make small talk with them, which was promising.

“No,” she shook her head in response to the question about family, “But my parents were able to tell me a lot about the school,” she added. She decided not to mention that one had attended and one had worked there, as no one here was old enough to remember her father any more, and it meant she might have to get into the whole Dad and Father versus Mummy and Daddy explanation, which was a little too complicated and heavy for this type of conversation.

“The Quidditch team?” she clarified as Kitty asked about joining. “I… It’s not really my sort of thing,” she said, slightly apologetically and glancing down at her lap instead of meeting the other girl’s eyes. Kitty certainly seemed enthusiastic about the game and it was always a little disappointing when people didn’t share one’s interests, but Henny was something of a risk-adverse person. She knew the Quidditch games would frighten her for fear of a Bludger flying off into the stands and injuring her and, even though she knew that was unlikely, the thought of watching other people getting badly hurt made her feel sick.

13 Henny B-F-R The Aladren Six Step Programme to Sociability 211 Henny B-F-R 0 5

Thad Two

October 29, 2011 4:17 PM

So I guess I'm halfway there then by Thad Two

Alicia, Thad decided, may very well be the sort of person he was allowed to socialize with. She had a branch designation. He couldn't recall hearing about the Bauers in general or the Arizona Bauers specifically, but the New Hampshire Pierces gave the California Pierces a large enough berth that they rarely socialized beyond the Mississippi. Now that they had two members actually attending school in Arizona, they may have to change that neglect of the western half of the country. Perhaps Alicia would be a good contact to have to avoid mistakes when dealing with Western families. A Crotalus Prefect in the family was certainly and good indicator of their worth.

Kitty, on the other hand, was definitely not someone he was supposed to associate with. Not only did she use words like 'hi' she was also apparently interested in Quidditch. Henny's immediate reaction to the topic raised Thad's opinion of her. She had the proper aversion ladies were supposed to have to the sport. Plus, her parents - plural - had knowledge of the school, so she was likely the child of magical folk. That was likewise promising.

Still, it would be rude to cut Kitty out of the conversation, improper though she must be. With three brothers not attending Sonora, she was almost certainly a muggleborn, else her family had far worse luck with squibs than he had ever heard about before. He did admit to a certain amount of morbid curiosity about the girl, but thought it horribly improper dinner conversation, so he merely answered her question. "I haven't yet decided." He enjoyed playing with Derry well enough, but that wasn't real Quidditch, and he was rather afraid of making a fool of himself in front of people with more experience.

"Does anyone know what the Headmistress meant by a fair at the end of the year?" he asked curiously, since Quidditch wasn't exactly the sort of thing boys were supposed to talk about with girls. There were plenty of other topics to explore about their new home for the next seven years.

0 Thad Two So I guess I'm halfway there then 0 Thad Two 0 5

Topher Calhoun

October 29, 2011 4:53 PM

Here for third year by Topher Calhoun

As he stepped off the wagon and into the darkness of the Labyrinth Gardens, Topher thought he could almost still feel his hair sticking up from his mother petting him and kissing his forehead and talking about how she couldn't believe he was in third year already. It was weird, yeah, Topher was ready to admit that and he wasn't too sure how it happened that two full years has gone by since he first came to Sonora, but he didn't think Mom had made this much of a fuss when he left home for first year. It was almost enough to make a guy suspicious, if he didn't have more important things to so, like get in the school building without bumping into anyone on the way in.

As he moved through a now-familiar section of the Gardens and made it to the entrance hall, he waved or called cheerful greetings to various people he knew to some extent before finding a seat at the Crotalus table. He grinned at the people around it, too, with a quick "Hey," as the first years came in and the Headmistress - that was new; there was something that didn't quite click yet about Professor K. being up there, though it didn't bother him much and he figured he'd not notice anymore in a week or two - got up to start the evening. He hadn't dawdled much on his way in, but third year wasn't the most impressive thing, and since he hadn't hurried, he had ended up far from the first people to enter the Hall.

The speech seemed to go on for a long time, welcoming new students and staff members and Sorting the first years and handing out badges. Topher clapped particularly enthusiastically for Marissa and Sam, since he knew them from Quidditch, but threw in some for everybody and everything. Mom had taught him manners, after all, Mom and Dad both. When the sheet music appeared, he sang the whole thing aloud, if with a hair more energy than skill and not completely to the right tune for a few bars. He didn't have a bad voice, but neither did he have any music training.

The food, when it appeared, got a brief round of applause from him as enthusiastic as the one he'd given his newly-badged Quidditch comrades before he cut that out to use his hands to start serving himself a plate. His parents also fed him, but he was a rapidly growing thirteen-year-old and it had been a long time and a pretty long wagon ride since his last home meal between now and midterm.

As he started to think the plate was full enough, he looked across the table and grinned again, adding a last spoon of potatoes as he did. There were other foods that looked interesting out of his immediate reach, but he was confident he would finish this plate and be ready for another of those things before the main meal vanished and the desserts showed up. "It's a good welcome back meal, isn't it?" he said. "I guess the prairie elves missed us. D'd you have a good summer?"

0 Topher Calhoun Here for third year 192 Topher Calhoun 0 5

Amelia Pierce

October 29, 2011 5:19 PM

Feast and be merry by Amelia Pierce

This was the day Amelia had awaited since she'd taken the job at Sonora Academy. She loved being a Quidditch Coach, and being the Head of Crotalus had grown on her, but somewhere, in the back of her mind, this day had always been her ulterior motive for working here in this specific school. Even better, she was the Deputy Headmistress for it.

Oh, there had been a pretense of an offer to take over as Headmistress. They didn't want to get sued for by-passing the appointed Deputy before installing someone else as Headmistress. Amelia had been left with little doubt that she was supposed to turn it down. She had briefly indulged the notion of ignoring the implied instructions, just on principle, but she honestly didn't want to be Headmistress any more than anyone on the Board wanted to see her there, so she signed the forms to decline the promotion, and gave Kiva her genuine congratulations when the final decision about the new Headmistress was announced.

Even if she had held an interest in the position, she may have bypassed taking it at this time, just so she would be the one holding the sorting potion today.

Today was the first time she would see her eleven year old brother in person. Handing him a potion as he was sorted hardly seemed like the most personal of interactions, but it would be more than she had been allowed so far in his life.

She recognized him mostly by his coloring. All New Hampshire Pierces had the same dark hair and blue eyes. Amelia was pretty sure it was one of the ways Derwent the Original had made sure all his heirs were legitimate. Very rarely had she seen first cousins look as alike and she and her cousins did; it couldn't be natural. All of them could pass as siblings. Heck, Bel had once been accused of being her biological daughter before the offending speaker was made aware that Amelia was only ten years older than her.

Thad was twenty six years younger than her. Picking out the one that looked enough like her own reflection to be her son, had she birthed one eleven years ago, was not difficult. He looked a lot like her brother Arnold had at that age. There were differences of course. It wasn't like looking at Four two years ago, which had made her wonder if Jessica had somehow discovered magical cloning, but Thaddeus was definitely a Pierce.

Her guess was confirmed by the way he looked at her. Derry sometimes also regarded her with suspicion, and she was moderately curious what exactly it was that Druscella was telling the new generation about her. If she was ever going to create some kind of filial relationship with her brother, it was going to have to happen in the next seven years, and it was going to have to start by getting past whatever lies (or possibly truths) that had been told to him.

But now was not the time. Now, she just gave him his sorting potion and frowned slightly when he was so obviously pleased about being placed in a House that was not hers. That would make it a little more difficult to reach him, but she still thought it was doable. Sonora was a big place.

And he was a New Hampshire Pierce. He would be playing Quidditch.

Once the rest of the first years were sorted (she took count and note of the red ones), she returned to the staff table, taking her accustomed seat to Kiva's right. (Well, last year, it had been to David or Sadi's right, but it was the same chair she'd used all of last year.) She filled her plate and remarked generally, "This will be an interesting year."

1 Amelia Pierce Feast and be merry 20 Amelia Pierce 0 5

Alicia

October 29, 2011 5:48 PM

Hurries to catch up by Alicia

Three brothers. None here. Alicia wasn’t sure if she should be envious or not. The other girl didn’t mention them being at another magical school, so maybe they weren’t magical, like Aunt Lavinia, and were disgraces she should pity the other girl for being stupid enough to mention, but on the other hand…they weren’t here. The girl got to go all year without ever having to see them. The thing Alicia had liked best about her sisters being at school these past three years was that she didn’t have to see them at all, and the only way it could have been better was if Isaac was gone all the time, too.

She blinked, though, when the older girl asked if they were planning to try out for the team. It wouldn’t be strange if Thaddeus did, but she and Henrietta were very clearly girls, as was the inquisitor. Girls did play Quidditch – Alicia’s own second sister did, one of the various reasons why she saw no reason for Kate to exist except as a plague on the family and Alicia more specifically – but it just wasn’t something to talk about. Maybe Kate wasn’t lying about how it had been okay when they were little and Rachel had, too, but Alicia didn’t remember a life before Momma married Jeremy and Alma, Jeremy’s mother, took her new step-granddaughters in hand to teach them some manners.

“No,” she said. “I’m not.” She felt that was quite enough about that, though she smiled at Henny when she said she wasn’t going to play, either. Maybe there were some people she could get along with here, especially since the mention about her parents meant she had magic in her family.

She bit her lip when Thaddeus asked about the fair. “I think Rachel – my eldest sister – mentioned it, once,” she said. “But she wasn’t very clear about it. It sounded like it was a lot of different things, and most of them were happening outside. I think she said something about having to sleep on the Quidditch Pitch in a tent.” Her tone made it clear what she thought of that, though she couldn’t exactly remember if Rachel had said that she had done so, or just that it had been done at one time. It wasn’t too easy to pay much attention to Rachel without being made furious by what an idiot she was sometimes, and how no one seemed to ever see it but Alicia. “Or maybe that was the bonfire. I really can’t remember. Did your parents mention it, Henny?” Maybe it was a bit of a risk to go straight to first names, but she had said that was what everyone called her, and they were going to be roommates. Maybe this would make it seem more as though they were already friends, which might smooth the way to really being friends. "Or do you know, er, Kitty? You've been here longer than us, haven't you?" She guessed she had to include the other girl as long as the others did.

16 Alicia *Hurries to catch up* 210 Alicia 0 5

Sara Raines

October 29, 2011 7:10 PM

Returning and planning by Sara Raines

As soon as she stepped off the wagon, Sara wavered a little on her feet after the long, rough ride on the wagons from Chicago. Once she recovered her balance, her legs still felt a little wobbly, but she ignored it for the moment in favor of first patting her smooth brown shoulder-length curls to make sure they were still neat before taking out her wand with a slight sigh before casting a charm to straighten out her clothes and dust them off. Over the summer, one of the hardest things to handle was always losing the right to use magic freely.

She had only been fourteen for less than a month, but she was fourteen and in fourth year, so it was a little disappointing to look around the rapidly filling Cascade Hall and realize that her height was still about as comparable to most people's as it had been last year, and she thought some people who had been her height or shorter were now taller than her. It was a little comforting, though, to see that most of the first years were enough shorter than her that she shouldn't have to worry about being mistaken for one anymore, and after making some brief detours to greet Fae and Preston and a few others, she went to the Pecari table with a smile. Most of her friends were elsewhere - her closest female friend was probably Fae, who was in Crotalus, as were Eliza and Jordan, and Preston in Aladren - but for the Feast, she knew she should sit with her own House.

She listened politely to the speech, applauding at appropriate moments and ignoring the flutter of nerves in her stomach when the prefects were presented with their badges. Next year, it would be people in her year being called up there, which meant the whole staff would be watching all year, watching for signs they would or wouldn't be good prefects. She always carried herself as though she were being watched, or tried to, but knowing it would definitely happen was a little more nerve-wracking.

She looked at the present. It would, she decided, be a good idea to try to get to know Sophia Randolph this year, so it would be easier if they had to work together next year. And maybe she should see about doing something with the first years. Merlin knew she wasn't likely to be threatening to them.

When the feast came out, she could almost taste some of the more decadent dishes, but she forced herself to think of her waistline and exercise some self-control. A grilled trout with lemon and pepper was always very good, the salads at Sonora were lovely and fresh, and she liked apples very well.

She smiled at the person across from her as she served herself. "Good evening," she said. "Excited to be here tonight?"

0 Sara Raines Returning and planning 179 Sara Raines 0 5

Arabella Brockert

October 29, 2011 7:14 PM

Being welcomed and sorted. by Arabella Brockert

Arabella was pretty excited about going off to Sonora. Even the ride to school had been fun. She'd spent most of the trip talking to her cousin, Ryan. They'd always been close and part of her wanted to be in Crotalus with him, except Arabella really didn't think that she would be. Or that she would fit in there if she was.

Of course, there were a wide range of Crotali. Some were like Ryan, quiet and sweet. Others were the very proper pureblood princess type, like Arabella's cousin, Ryan's sister Carrie. Whom Arabella despised with every fiber of her being. She sincerely hoped the younger O'Malley child would not be in Crotalus with Ryan next year. That would be awful for the fourth year, he'd probably never leave his room aside from class and meals.

As for Arabella, she might have loved Ryan to bits, but she wasn't much like him. She had more energy than he did, though she was not really hyper. She was way more assertive too, though honestly it would have been hard to be less so than her cousin was. Ryan was about as passive as a person could get but that was Aunt Pearl's fault. Even though Arabella hadn't really met her aunt, she loathed the woman every bit as much as she did Carrie.

And she definitely was not the princessy type. Arabella detested anything pink and girly. She disliked wearing skirts and dresses immensely but had to most of the time. She hated painting her nails, and having tea parties and enjoyed fencing, which her mother deemed a reasonable way for her to burn off excess energy. Especially after Aunt Jillian had gotten Amity into fencing lessons. Of course, Aunt Jillian had Amity and Chaslyn in every single type of lesson there was just about. Arabella pitied them almost as much as she did Ryan. Those girls never had any free time.

There was Aladren too, but Arabella doubted she'd be there either. She disliked studying and didn't have the patience to sit still and write essays, especially those that took a lot of research. Arabella would most likely be in Teppenpaw or Pecari, though she didn't think it was really very nice to punch someone in the nose and make them bleed. Still, she was loyal to those she cared about, which was Teppish.

Now was the moment of truth. Arabella took the goblet from Coach Pierce and drank. She turned a muddy brown and made her way over to the Pecari table. The first year listened to the announcements. Prefects didn't really matter to her, though she took note of Sophia Randolph as Pecari's, because she did not recognize any of their names. The Head Boy and Girl didn't hold much interest for her either for the same reason. The fair might be fun though. Neither Ryan nor Uncle Seth said anything about it, having not experienced it before so Arabella really didn't know what it would be like but it sounded interesting.

As soon as the Headmistress finished speaking, Arabella reached for a plate of fried chicken. She took some mashed potatoes and avoided the vegetables completely. Later she thought she'd have a piece of chocolate cake. The newly sorted Pecari turned to her neighbor. "Hello, I am Arabella Brockert, of the Colorado Brockerts."

11 Arabella Brockert Being welcomed and sorted. 217 Arabella Brockert 0 5

Derry Four

October 29, 2011 7:17 PM

Teppenpaw the Third by Derry Four

Derry enjoyed having Thad to talk to on the way to the school. He'd chatted with the other kids riding from New England to Arizona the other times he'd ridden the wagons, but it was somehow better with Thad there. Aside from a couple instances where Thad asked 'why' one too many times on a topic, the ride had been filled with an amiable information exchange as Derry told Thad pretty much everything he knew about Sonora all in one sitting.

Once they arrived at the school, Derry showed his cousin the way in to the Cascade Hall, pointed out Coach Pierce, then headed over to the Teppenpaw table where he greeted his Housemates and perched on the edge of his seat to watch Thad's sorting.

He went to Aladren, of course. There had never really been any doubt about that, and it was where Thad had desperately wanted to go. So when Thad looked his way, Derry gave his a grin and a double thumbs up. It was apparently what Thad was looking for because he grinned in return and headed on to his table without a second look back.

Satisfied that his cousin was settling into things well, Derry turned his full attention to Professor K - er, Headmistress Kijewski. He applauded the Head Boy and Girl, the prefects, and the new teachers, sang the song, and then finally got to talk to his friends again.

He filled up his plate as he looked to see whom he had actually sat down with (his choice had been made based on its view of the first years moreso than his companions, but that was fine, because he liked everyone in his House). Pleased by his discovery, he grinned and said, "Welcome back. Did you have a good summer?"

1 Derry Four Teppenpaw the Third 189 Derry Four 0 5

Nic Sawyer

October 29, 2011 8:06 PM

I am ignoring you, Mr. CATS by Nic Sawyer

Fifth year. There was something vaguely terrifying in those two words. It was mostly the exams, he supposed or, at least, they would be what took most of the blame. The CATS were the looming horror for every student who wasn't more worried about the RATS. Nearly every teacher harped on them, and even his mom, who was a muggle and shouldn't even know what the CATS were had advised him to start studying early.

But fifth year was more than that. It was the year of the prefect announcement. This had kept Nic up at nights. He didn't really think he had a chance. He was tall and intimidating. He was taciturn and unsociable. He was a middling student (because it wasn't cool to be a good one) and unmotivated to succeed. These should safely secure him a pass on the prefect thing, especially since Crotalus had two other perfectly acceptable options in Autumn Collins and Sam Bauer. But the Sonora staff had done crazier things in the past - like hire Professor Roy Snughardt to substitute Divinations - so nothing was certain.

And prefects appointments were just the symptom of what was really going on with fifth years. Fifth year meant you were growing up. Adults were starting to hand out responsibilities and expect more, and . . . and in three years, in less time than a fifth year had been at Sonora already, they would be graduating. Fifth year meant they were more than halfway done.

Fifth year, in summary, was worse than anything they studied in DADA, because nothing could be done to defend against it.

It could only be ignored, and that what Nic had every intention of doing, just as soon as he confirmed that the staff were not completely evil and had chosen someone other than him for prefect. He barely breathed as Professor Kijewski made her announcements, and when Sam Bauer's name was called, Nic slumped in relief and allowed his lungs to resume normal operations. He ignored the song as thoroughly as he ignored fifth year, and began filling his plate.

He was starving. His six-foot frame needed nourishment. And despite what his bone thin underweight appearance might suggest, that could never be ignored.

1 Nic Sawyer I am ignoring you, Mr. CATS 165 Nic Sawyer 0 5

Kitty

October 29, 2011 9:06 PM

Are we all together now? by Kitty

It probably wouldn’t be appropriate to stand up and cheer, so Kitty grinned instead. Yes! They weren’t interested in being on the team. Well Thad said he might try out, but he didn’t sound too excited about it so she wasn’t worried, and the girls clearly had no interest. Not being able to share her joy of the game with them was disappointing, but Kitty was glad that she wouldn’t have too much competition during tryouts. The last game still made her sure Daniel would kick her off the team seems she missed a goal, but hopefully he wouldn’t if no one better tried out.

“The fair? Well I don’t know what it is specifically, but last year we had a Medieval ball where we all got to dress up! It was super fun, so I bet it will be something like that. Most of the fairs I’ve gone to usually have rides, and booths for games where you do things like throw rings and try to get them around pegs or throw darts at balloons. If you win you get to pick a prize, oh and there’s usually a bunch of fried food and stuff like fried twinkies, which are actually pretty good. But, I bet that a magic fair will probably have all sorts of other cool stuff too.” Kitty finished, her words tumbling over each other in her excitement, small hands gesturing with each word. Her mother always said that if someone held Kitty’s hands down she wouldn’t be able to speak (half the time it was said as a thread when the young girl talked too much).

Kitty wasn’t too worried about the proper kids around her, after last year she knew that magic kids were often touchy about a great many things, but that they usually didn’t get too mad at her. Really, most of them were quite nice once they realized that she wasn’t being mean, but just curious. There was still so much to learn, and the magic families were so interesting!

0 Kitty Are we all together now? 0 Kitty 0 5

Regina Parker

October 29, 2011 9:08 PM

What a proper title you have by Regina Parker

Reggie’s summer had been pretty much like all of her last ones. Not that it was a bad thing. She had been able to spend so much time with her family. During Christmas, Jess had come home with her because her family had abandoned her during the holidays. Reggie had loved having her home with her. Being an only child could be lonely sometimes, so having someone there to hang out with was nice. But it also meant that she was sharing her time with her family with someone else. Not that her family complained. Her grandmother even went shopping and got some gifts for Jess so that she had some things to open on Christmas morning. It was just hard for Reggie to share her dad’s time. She was happy to do it for a friend and would do it again in a heartbeat.

Still, summer she had him all to herself. They did their usual camping and goofing off and good old time together. While he worked, Reggie either spent her time with her grandparents or she spent her time with old friends. Some of them were curious as to why she wasn’t continuing her schooling with them. They were muggles; she couldn’t tell them the truth. Instead she simply told them that her father wanted to give her a private education, so he sent her to a boarding school in the south. At first, that knowledge surprised them because of how close they were, but now they were just used to the idea.

But now she was back at Sonora for her third year. It was hard to believe that she was already a third year, but the thirteen year old was excited to start a new year and to see her friends. She had run off the wagon as soon as it touched down and wandered around saying hello to everyone before finally settling down in a seat.

She didn’t really care about the announcements. Blah blah blah, new people, blah blah blah, sorting, blah blah blah, Prefects, blah blah blah, song. Finally the food! Reggie was aware that girls weren’t supposed to eat a lot of food, but Reggie was very active and she was often hungry. As she was grabbing her food, Derry spoke to her. “Why thank you.” She said with as good of a curtsy as she could do from her sitting position. “I sure did. Went camping again with Daddy and I was able to hang out with some of my muggle friends.” Reggie informed him as she spooned some mashed potatoes. “Did you have any fun this summer, Der?”

6 Regina Parker What a proper title you have 187 Regina Parker 0 5

Jhonice Trevear

October 29, 2011 9:23 PM

Isn't it exciting? by Jhonice Trevear

Jhonice had an epiphany over the summer. She had been reviewing all of the notes she had collected in her journal from her first year at Sonora and she had discovered something. There were certain aspects of those she tracked in which they almost acted like anyone else in the school. She found it difficult to believe, but it was right before her in her own handwriting in her own notes. One of the hardest aspects for her to believe was that they made friends just like anyone else did. It was incredible, but she'd tracked them, listened to them, figured out who they connected to and how; and there they were, making friends just like anyone else. If that was actually true... she could, in theory, become friends with some of them.

She was now back at school, and it was just like she remembered it. There was spectacularness everywhere. This time she just entered the hall and found a seat with the rest of the Pecari to watch the opening ceremonies. She made sure to smile and welcome back Captain Jose, she couldn't wait to fly again, she'd been practicing all summer and now she was a better flyer than ever! She sat and watched the little firsties change color, she could identify a few of them; Thaddeus Pierce II of the New Hampshire Pierces, one of the girls was definitely a Brockert... and she was coming towards her. Excellent.

The second year listened to the new Headmistress' speech. Then turned to the Brockert girl who had sat down next to her and was about to say something when the girl beat her to it. Ahh... Arabella from the Colorado branch, she didn't have many notes from that branch. This would be most excellent. She smiled "It's a pleasure to meet you Arabella. I'm Jhonice Treaver, second year. Welcome to Sonora, what do you think so far?"

2 Jhonice Trevear Isn't it exciting? 209 Jhonice Trevear 0 5

Fae Sinclair

October 29, 2011 10:04 PM

Really? Me too! by Fae Sinclair

Fae’s summer had been really strange. She had her usual time spent in the gardens with her mother and some spent with the tutors who had wanted to make sure she was learning properly. But the summer lacked her sister and her brother. It was so quiet without them to plague her days with nonsense. Shelby was spending all of her time with Victor and over the summer, the families had announced their betrothal. Shelby was smitten by it all and Fae was happy for her, but she was also weary. Victor was Preston’s older brother. Would Sonora be weird now that they were officially connected? She was just starting to feel comfortable around people, Fae didn’t want to lose that now.

But, other than losing her comfort, she would also be losing her sister. Not in terms of that she would never be able to see her again, but the fact that Shelby won’t be just Shelby anymore. She’ll be married and starting a family and Fae will never really get a chance to just have her sister anymore. There will be a time when Jaiden will finally settle down too and Fae will end up losing him as well. There was so much for Fae to lose and she wasn’t ready for any of that. She still had two years to come to grips with Shelby engagement and hopefully in those two years Fae will have gotten over her sudden attachment to her sister.

Even with the strange summer, Fae was happy to be back at Sonora. She even missed Alice and her odd habits. When she came into the hall, Fae looked around until she found someone at the Crotalus table she knew and took a seat near him. She listened quietly as their new Headmistress made the announcements, clapped when appropriate to clap, and sang along with the rest of the school to their school song.

Fae looked longingly at all the food that the feast provided. She wished sometimes that she would just let go of the fear that her mother will find out if she cheated on her diet and just try some new foods, but Fae just couldn’t do it. Because of her guilty conscious, Fae grabbed some baked salmon and a small side salad. Before she could really take a bite of her dinner, Topher spoke up. Although she didn’t think the food differed too much from the fish at home, Fae smiled at him. “It always is.” She said lightly. “Summer was different. My sister is betrothed, so it was sort of a strange summer. How was yours?”

6 Fae Sinclair Really? Me too! 194 Fae Sinclair 0 5

David Wilkes

October 29, 2011 11:30 PM

As long as it's not a Red Badge of Courage. by David Wilkes

He hadn’t gone home the day after the ball planning to do it, but somehow, David had found himself doing his best to work his way through everything on the big display of Summer Reading at the local Barnes and Noble. The end result was that his room was full of overpriced paperbacks, he’d ended up having to get money from Dad for some of them because Mom had gotten impatient with the experiment, and he was, once again, utterly baffled at what on earth some ascended high school teachers were indulging in when they decided what constituted the summer reading. And what high schools some people went to; if Mom found out about the thing he’d read the week before he came to Sonora (technically after the local school systems’ summers ended, but he’d gotten home later, too), he was pretty sure that he’d be banned from Barnes and Noble, or at least being left in Barnes and Noble with money and a cell phone with instructions to pay when he got a call and be out front when Mom came back from Target, which would effectively remove what was the only highlight of Christmas break and one of the major ones of summer.

The whole experiment had been ill-advised, even worse than some of the things Selena had done with her Easy-Bake Oven and chemistry set, but he had persevered anyway, and had led to an even worse effort: trying to read on the wagon ride to Sonora. By the time he got off-board, David was not only thoroughly jolted, he also had a headache from trying to strain his eyes once the light started to get dim and he had to light his wand to see the page, and he was feeling slightly sick from reading while riding in the wagon anyway. He’d conquered being sick while reading in cars years earlier, a necessity of life as far as he was concerned, but wagons weren’t exactly one of the nearly-identical series of Corollas his mother had owned over the years.

Rubbing his head, he found a seat at what he really hoped was the Aladren table and slumped into it, holding himself upright mainly as a matter of pride and regarding the new headmistress with, at best, interest with an ulterior motive besides wanting to know what she had to say, hoping as he did that focusing on her would dim his ability to focus on his head and stomach. When the prefects were announced, though, he made the effort to sit up a little better and clap for Samantha. He guessed he’d call her a friend, and hey, go Aladren. He was the Assistant Captain now, which was kinda weird, but Aladren was still the epic awesome and was going to win everything. Even if he did have something to do with it. That was still weird. What were they going to do with him, have him run plays from the sidelines next….

Oh. Wait. Daniel was gone. David would get his spot. He’d known that. Yeah. Though he had to admit, the idea of the Captain-Alternate was kind of amusing. 'Please ignore the man behind the curtain' and all that. He could make up hand signals to tell them what to do like in football if they let him hover near the sky.

Sam sat down near him, and he mustered a smile and thumbs up before mumbling his way through the school song and then taking some of the bread for starters. He’d work his way up to an actual meal from there, he guessed, though he was extremely noticing the lack in the Wizarding World of Mountain Dew right now. Mountain Dew was supposed to help with headaches, according to Annabeth, that and Starbucks, though he’d happily take a plain ol’ Advil if there was a bowl of those anywhere on the table.

“Huh?” he asked when Samantha spoke to him, then had what she’d said process and nodded. “Summer…yeah, it was pretty good.” He smiled wryly. “I tried to read the whole Summer Reading section at the bookstore, you know, those books they put out and the advanced high school classes make people read over the summer – and just the stuff that goes on those However-Many Books To Read Before College lists. Didn’t make it through, though. You?” He paused. "Have a good summer, I mean. Not read the whole Back to School section."

16 David Wilkes As long as it's not a Red Badge of Courage. 169 David Wilkes 0 5

Topher

October 30, 2011 1:32 AM

What a coincidence! Can you believe it? by Topher

On some level, Topher had always been a little surprised that he got along with Fae Sinclair, that he had even had more than a minute-long conversation with Fae Sinclair to know if he got along with her or not. Sure, their both being put into Crotalus meant there was at least a fifty or so percent chance that they had traits in common - not a hundred, the Crotalus traits were such that some people had just the right combination to go to war to the knife with those who possessed another combination, or even the same combination for those with...specific issues - but she was, well, Fae Sinclair. She went to big formal parties recreationally and showed up at balls with a Carey and had lots and lots of money. That kind of thing.

The female relatives of the individual who'd nominally fathered him likely did the same things, but he didn't advertise that, and even if he had, he was still half-blood, middle class, and technically, he supposed, illegitimate to boot. It hadn't been surprising that Fae might speak to him right after they were Sorted, but it was that, even if she didn't care about that stuff herself, she'd risk her reputation or whatever by ever doing so again.

The conversation they were having at the moment served to illustrate the differences between their lives and call them to mind for Topher, but he smiled as he answered anyway. It wasn't like either of them had been given a choice about the circumstances under which they happened to be born. "Well, my sister didn't get betrothed as far as I know," he said lightly, since she knew him as an only child. Caroline was thirteen now, too, so he guessed it was possible her folks were picking her out a husband from the monied heads of Canada, but if so, either Daniel hadn't mentioned it to his mother or his mother hadn't mentioned it to him, and he didn't really care anyway. "But it was a good summer anyway. I went to work with Dad one day, it turns out Accidental Magical Reversal's really kinda interesting, even if the Aurors do make fun of them all the time."

He'd even told Dad he might join up someday, and though he'd laughed and said something about how he couldn't decide what color socks to wear in the morning at thirteen, Topher had been able to tell that his dad was pleased by the remark. It would beat politics, anyway. Dad fixed things, set them right when they went all wrong for stupid reasons, or because a situation just got completely out of control without anyone meaning for it to. As far as he could tell from listening to family conversations, politicians often existed to make problems and then sweep them under the rug to rot and mess up the whole room in their pursuit of office. Maybe not all did, maybe some were honest usually or at least doing it for a good reason, but he didn't think that was a lot of them.

"And, you know, it was good to see the family again," he added with a crooked grin. "My cousins and stuff, and Mom and Dad. I don't think they've gotten used to me being here yet." The downside, he guessed, of being an only child, though he really didn't think Mom and Dad sat around pining when he was gone. It was more of a joke.

"So," he said after taking a few bites of his food, thinking that they might have exhausted that line of conversation, "now we're in for intermediate classes. Think it'll be as bad as people at home spent all summer telling me it will be?"

0 Topher What a coincidence! Can you believe it? 0 Topher 0 5

Henny B-F-R

October 30, 2011 6:09 AM

I think so... Ready, let's go on 3.... by Henny B-F-R

Kitty didn’t seemed too perturbed by the lack of interest in Quidditch, and none of the others seemed to be crazy about it, so thankfully they hadn’t gone off on a long tangent. She could worry that Alicia’s reasons for not being interested were W.A.I.L. based, which would be a rather large bone of contention between the room-mates, but she and Thaddeus were being civil and chatty, so she was going to presume them innocent of prejudices until they proved themselves guilty.

“I don’t really know,” she replied when asked about the fair, “It’s something that was revived quite recently, so I don’t think it was happening when either of my parents was here, though Father has several historical works on Sonora, so I might ask him to look it up,” possibly she herself had even read about it at some point. She probably had, but it clearly hadn’t been very detailed, as she couldn’t really call anything to memory, and Henny remembered most of what she read. “I expect Kitty’s right, though if it’s supposed to be Medieval it will probably be more games than rides and I doubt they’d have modern Muggle foods like Twinkies,” she added, trying to subtly slip an explanation into the conversation, as she rather suspected the (presumably) Muggleborn girl might have lost the (presumably) Purebloods.

“What class is everyone looking forward to most?” she asked. Although she certainly didn’t want to get into the topic of her least favourite class, this seemed like a safe topic for a group of Aladrens, “Or, I guess which class do you like best,” she added to Kitty. She thought the other girl could possibly have figured out the appropriate change in tense for herself but she didn’t want to risk the older girl feeling like she was being cut out of the conversation, especially as it might be easy for her to interpret that as being based on bloodline. “I’m mostly interested in wand-based subjects, like Charms and Transfiguration, and I’m really looking forward to learning more about the theory.”

13 Henny B-F-R I think so... Ready, let's go on 3.... 211 Henny B-F-R 0 5

Linus

October 30, 2011 7:31 AM

I have an obvious responsibility, it seems by Linus

The first year to whome Linus had offered the dish thanked him, and then made an introduction in an almost unintelligible brogue. The words he spoke were, however, sufficiently comprehensible to momentarily stymie Linus - he'd become accustomed over the past year to the bizarre way proper wizarding families liked to make their introductions, but never before had he heard someone profess to be from a branch different to that indicated by their name - but he regained composure within a blink and took his turn in serving food onto his plate. This period of distraction - however brief - was apparently sufficient to invite a third party to participate.

Silently passing the dish along, Linus felt cornered by two blond-topped red figures, both in this manner resembling his own appearance of the same point one year previous. He contemplated the situation for a moment. Both these first years were either from magical families, or else had mastered mockery of their introductions. Both were in his House, and as an older student, he had an obligation for their welfare, at least for the duration of the feast. Finally, neither or them were from America. While initially he had wondered what untoward action he'd executed that had tempted fate to land him with two foreigner first years, it was now clear that it was his role to take them under his wing. So, in a level voice, he said, "I'm Linus Macaulay." He didn't add a family branch because he didn't have one, and while Paul had told him once that there was a Canadian Macaulay family, Linus didn't think it was likely that these two students would know families outside the states.

"I'm in my second year," he added some cabbage and boiled potatoes to his plate as he spoke. "So if there's anything either of you want to know about Crotalus House, or about Sonora in general," - or the country they were in, for that matter, - "I want you to feel welcome to ask me." He felt suitably well-informed from his extensive studying in his first year to be able to answer any question they could throw at him to a satisfactory level.

0 Linus I have an obvious responsibility, it seems 0 Linus 0 5

Samantha

October 30, 2011 9:13 AM

It's not one of those. by Samantha

It wasn't until he started speaking that Samantha noticed David didn't look quit as healthy as usual. Not that she expected him to drop down dead at the table, or anything anywhere near that - maybe he'd just had a late night and early morning. She nodded while he explained his summer of reading and she dunked her bread in her soup before taking a bite. "You?" David asked. "Have a good summer, I mean. Not read the whole Back to School section."

"Yeah, it was okay," she said, feeling that two fewer people in the house and no camping trip made this summer much better that the couple before it. "Didn't really do much. A bit of reading, played GTA a lot, went running most mornings." As per usual, she didn't think boys would care t know about her shopping successes. "Apparently my Dad did something to make everyone fall out with him, so I didn't even see him over the summer." She wasn't upset by this. If anything, her tone conveyed a hint of pleasure at this news. She barely saw her biological father anyway, since he'd left the family when she was eight, and she only maintained contact out of a sense of obligation (and the birthday and Christmas money he sent without fail).

"So here we are, back again," she said next, perhaps somewhat redundantly. "Both of us with badges, this time," she added - she'd heard at the end of last year that David would the Aladren's Assistant Captain this year. She'd wondered for a minute or two if it would have been her if she'd decided to stay on the team, and was glad she'd made the decision to stay away. She liked playing Quiddith well enough, but no way did she want to be in any way responsible for the team (unless their winning streak contiued regardless).

0 Samantha It's not one of those. 0 Samantha 0 5

Thad Pierce Two

October 30, 2011 10:09 AM

Taking that fourth step by Thad Pierce Two

Thad had done a fair amount of research into the school, including an interrogation of his cousin that had lasted most of the wagon ride from New Hampshire, so he was honestly not expecting Kitty to know much about it since she had no older siblings and it had not occurred during the past two years (and she was surely not any older than Derry).

With two older sisters, he figured Alicia had the best chance of knowing, since one sister had made it to at least fifth year by now (sixth really, since the fifth years had just been promoted to prefect tonight and the only Bauer in there had been a boy; funny, Alicia hadn't mentioned him. He supposed the Fifth Year Bauer was possibly from another branch like Jose was; Head Boy or not, Thaddeus was not going to claim any kind of familial relationship to him).

And Henny's family apparently came here for generations, so she might have something to say about it, too, even if she didn't have any siblings.

He was nearly right on almost all counts. Henny was able to provide the knowledge that it was an old tradition that was only newly revived. Kitty's contribution was a largely indecipherable multitude of guesswork. And Rachel (Alicia's oldest sister who may or may not be the prefect) had, indeed, mentioned it. And there had been tenting. Possibly.

Thad was not entirely certain how he was supposed to take potential tenting. He supposed it depended on how rustic the tents were. Some were actually quite amazing. He supposed he'd hold his opinion on it until he had more information. He'd have to question someone with a little more first-hand experience later.

One of his more immediate questions 'what is a fried twinkie?' was answered by Henny before he even had a chance to ask it. He eyed both Kitty and Henny with mild doubtfulness; Kitty for mentioning a muggle food, Henny for recognizing it as such. Perhaps a - no, she definitely said parents as a plural came here before, she wasn't a half-blood. But one of those parents could have been a half-blood themselves, or even a muggleborn. That could explain her lack of a branch.

He gave Alicia a quick glance to see if she had also recognized this foreign food, or if she was as wary of its existence in this conversation as he was.

Still, Henny was a classmate and both she and Kitty were Housemates, so he would remain polite and civil to each of them. There was no call to become crass or rude just because they had chosen their parents poorly. He just would not be permitted to become close friends with either of them, if they were, in fact, not from respectable families.

He wasn't quite dismissing Henny as improper yet, either. She did have the political savvy to change the subject to something less prone to involve muggle foodstuffs.

Drawing on the knowledge he'd pulled from Derry on the ride here, Thaddeus considered the classes on offer and decided, "I think potions might be the most interesting. Derry said the professor is very knowledgeable, and the Head of Aladren house." Well, technically, Derry had said that Professor Fawcett was kind of strict and assigned a lot of homework, but Thad had known his cousin long enough to be able to understand what he'd really meant.

0 Thad Pierce Two Taking that fourth step 0 Thad Pierce Two 0 5

Josephine Owen

October 30, 2011 11:21 AM

... are you talking to me? by Josephine Owen

Her long brown hair was neatly plaited in two pigtails that ran down her back. Her dark brown shoes were last year's recently-polished-but-still-scuffed lace-ups. Her blue eyes - refusing to focus on the old shoes - were wide with delight at being back at school, and so she barely noticed the tatty edges of her old unifrom robe, nor how she was starting to bulge out of her childhood t-shirts. She happily made her way to the Pecari table, and sat down amongst her peers. She wouldn't neceesarily call them her friends. Ayita and Demetra were nice, but both unusual in their own ways, and Josephine hadn't really clicked properly with either of them. The rest of her House were relative strangers.

That assessment ceased to be true within the next few minutes as Jade, Josephine's younger sister, turned brown and was sorted into Pecari, too. The third year cheered, and tried not to feel too bad when Jade didn't sit with her, instead choosing to sit with some other first years. That was probably better for her, to get to know some people, even if it meant Josephine would end up eating alone.

Or not so alone, as Sara Raines from the year above decided to speak to her. Josephine's initial reaction was to clarify that she was the intended recipient, but she squashed it. She'd learned from her interaction with Fae Sinclair last year that judging people based on their family name wasn't always the right way to go. Just because she'd been brought up knowing that families like the one to which Sara belonged thought her own family was worthless scum, it didn't mean that Sara herself held those beliefs.

So after a startled silence that last just a second, Josephine collected herself, smiled, and replied, "Yes, actually, I am. I'm sure the excitement will have worn off by next week." As soon as homework assignments started to pile up, she knew she'd wonder why she'd been so pleased to be back.

As she surveyed the table to select food for herself, she couldn't help noticing that Sara had selected salad and fish - two of Josephine's nemesis foods. Why would anyone voluntarily want to eat those things? Repressing a grimace, the third year ladelled herself a dish of hot beef casserole before reaching for the boiled potatoes. In the meantime, she continued her small talk with Sara. "Did you have a good summer?"

0 Josephine Owen ... are you talking to me? 196 Josephine Owen 0 5

Gareth Whitebriar

October 30, 2011 12:42 PM

That is how it appears by Gareth Whitebriar

Cepheus Princeton’s British accent caused Gareth to favor the other boy with a smile. He’d been to London a time or two, and even though the name Princeton wasn’t immediately familiar to him it was still good not to be the only European at the table. Odds were fair that Cepheus was just as new to this country as he was. As he thought more on it the name Princeton did ring a bell, the last family gathering he remembered his uncle Deiniol Redbriar talking about some of the new up and coming families and he was sure Princeton had been one of the ones mentioned.

The other bloke introduced himself as Linus Macaulay which seems the name Macaulay wasn’t one he’d heard before meant one of two things. Either Linus was from an unimportant line that hadn’t branched out, or he was a muggleborn. Unlike the Black and Red lines, White and Brown were fairly liberal. His father said that muggleborns were often just as good, if not more so at Auror work that Purebloods. This belief that muggleborns were perhaps not equal, they were not to be considered for marriage for instance, but they weren’t something to scorn either.

That Linus was a second year was ideal. That meant he’d just finished up first year, and still had a good idea of what was in store for the new first years. “A pleasure to meet you both.” He said to his fellow Crotalus. “How is the Defense against the Dark Arts class?” Gareth asked, hoping that the class was well taught and informative.

0 Gareth Whitebriar That is how it appears 0 Gareth Whitebriar 0 5

Alicia

October 30, 2011 12:55 PM

Soon we'll all be fully socialized. by Alicia

There was, Alicia was almost prepared to conclude, a higher power, and it was looking out for her right now. There were a million things – Muggle things – that they could have mentioned and she would have at least recognized the name of from being occasionally forced to visit her father and then forced while visiting to visit his parents, but ‘Twinkies’ were not on the list, so she blinked in surprise when Henny explained it was a Muggle food, instead of maybe looking startled to hear it mentioned at all when Kitty mentioned them.

She was going to have to be careful, though. Gramma Alma had told her that directly, and Momma and Jeremy had heavily implied it, and this had made it very clear to her. She was always going to have to be very careful, because Merlin knew she could not make it very well among…the other kind of people, the kind that someone with someone like her father for a parent was usually lumped in with.

Well, she could. Alicia was pretty sure she could do anything, if she had to, if there really was no way to get out of doing it. She had, after all, survived her visits to her father all her life. But she really didn’t want to.

Alicia nodded at Thaddeus’ assessment of their new Head of House. “Rachel spoke well of him as well,” she said, then smiled at all of this group of her new Housemates. “But really, I’m just looking forward to everything right now. I’ve been looking through all our books since I got my list, and it all looks so interesting.”

This was an advantage to being at the Aladren table, she guessed. She could tell the truth about that. She had taught herself some magic and theory in secret, been taught more by Jeremy, but she had spent years waiting for the day when she could come here and learn openly, as much as she wanted, whenever she wanted, and then show her accomplishments off and have even Momma see that she was better than Rachel. There was a thrill to doing things in secret, but it was hard to never let on anything when Momma petted her like a silly child and then turned around and told everyone about how wonderfully Rachel did in school, how Rachel was a prefect and a wonderful student and was going to be Head Girl….

But she didn’t want to think about that. Not now. This was going to be a good night, and she was going to do better than Rachel by far.

16 Alicia Soon we'll all be fully socialized. 210 Alicia 0 5

DiAnna Diaz

October 30, 2011 1:28 PM

Meeting my replacement [Tag Increase] by DiAnna Diaz

This year, DiAnna would be resuming her position as librarian: nothing more, nothing less. No more running a library and teaching Divinations classes - that had never been her intention. She'd simply been a substitue teacher on an extended placement contract. It had been fortunate for Sonora that DiAnna had recently majored in Divinations, and that she was relatively free to teach the elective until a permanent professor had been found. This permanent professor now sat next to her, for DiAnna had been careful to seat herself with the new Divinations professor. She basically wanted to welcome him to the position, and thank him for taking the job off her hands. She hadn't actually minded the teaching, but it wasn't what she wanted to do. She wanted to be in the library with her books, and she would be content.

Of course, DiAnna had to wait to talk to him until the feast began. She'd missed any earlier opportunity that might have presented itself by unpacking her belongings, organizing her desk in the library, and getting ready for the evening. As usual, her outfit was black, velvet, and ornate. This particular set of robes came with a full-length cape, and had vivacious purple roses embroidered on the bodice, thorny stems flowing down from them in tendrils to the bottom hems of the skirt. Her black hair (brown naturally, she she kept it as dark as she could with dyes and charms) was in loose waves down her back, and her already pale skin was caused to look even more so by the dark make-up she wore around her eyes. When she stood, her diminuitive height was improved slightly by the high-heeled boots she always wore, but when she was seated - as now - they made no difference.

Professor Kijewski was now the Headmistress, and while DiAnna didn't know her especially well, she hadn't known David Regal much, either, nor Sadi Powell who'd ended up stepping in last year. In essence, the Head was her direct employer (the Board of Governors being her indirect employer), and DiAnna didn't really have a great deal to do with him or her. She merely listened to the speech, clapped for the new students and the new prefects, and then set about enjoying another year as Sonora's librarian. "Hi, I'm DiAnna," she said by way of greeting to the man seated to her left. "You're Increase, right? The new Divinations professor?"

0 DiAnna Diaz Meeting my replacement [Tag Increase] 0 DiAnna Diaz 0 5

Sara

October 30, 2011 2:43 PM

I believe so by Sara

The girl across from her wasn't one Sara knew well, but she had a good memory for faces, and recognized her as one of the third years - Josephine. She wasn't someone likely to ever show up at a Raines party, but she was in the year Sara spent most of her time with and was a Housemate, so she seemed like a good person to speak to this evening.

When she was met with startled silence, Sara almost reconsidered that idea, but then Josephine seemed to collect herself and answered. She felt a moment of envy at the other girl getting to eat whatever she wanted, apparently, but first reminded herself that she was already indulging past what she should, having juice with her meal and planning to allow herself a taste of something sweet for dessert, and then that it was incredibly improper and ungracious of her to feel that way here anyway.

"I'm sure," she said, thinking of how they would all settle back into the routine of classes and meals here, walks in the Gardens and Quidditch games because Preston was in them and homework at night in the common room. The transition periods, summer to fall and winter to spring and then spring to summer holidays, were exciting because it felt like something was starting over and was all clean and new, but in between, there was just the routine. Though that could be enjoyable, too, in its way. "But it's fun for tonight, anyway, isn't it?"

She nodded that she had, indeed, had a good summer. "Oh, yes," she said. "I spent a few weeks at home, then went to my aunt in Spain, and my mother met us later in the summer in Switzerland." She smiled as she said that last part. Sara enjoyed moving around with Aunt Margaret in Europe over the holidays, but she did miss getting to see her mother and father, especially now that she didn't get to see them during the year. The only way Switzerland could have been better was if Father could have come as well, but business had held him in the States. "I know it's silly, but I still miss everyone when I come here every year. Even my little brother is easier to put up with when I haven't seen him for ten months." She added the last part lightly, so it didn't sound too serious, though she did wonder if it was that or just that Alan was getting older. She would be in sixth year when he and Isabel came to Sonora, but only this year and next stood between now and then.

"Was your summer nice?" she asked in return. "I've always wondered if older brothers are easier to deal with than younger ones." She was fairly confident that James Owen, in her year, was Josephine's brother, anyway. Aunt Margaret always said it was important to know basic details about people in her immediate peer group, to always have at least the beginnings of a conversation in place, and she knew with near certainty that they had the same last name from class roll calls.

0 Sara I believe so 0 Sara 0 5

Cepheus Princeton

October 30, 2011 3:13 PM

Are we in for an info session, then? by Cepheus Princeton

Cepheus was glad that Linus was a second-year. He'd be a good person to go to when he got confused about American culture. He hadn't exactly had a crash course in it at all. But as helpful as that was, he wasn't quite curious about anything at the moment. He just wanted to survive this year and perhaps beg his father to let him go to school in England with Dorian and his other friends. He already knew it would be futile, though, and banished the thought away bitterly.

Gareth asked about the DADA class and Cepheus perked up slightly. As interested as he was in DADA, he wished there was a class on the Dark Arts too. Of course, that was forbidden and taboo, really, anywhere, but Cepheus still had a healthy interest in it. Not that he'd practise it, but it would be interesting to study. After all, how would they know what to protect themselves from if they didn't dabble in the "enemy's" magic too?

Conversing with himself was getting rather dull, so Cepheus tried to think of something to say. "I know nothing about Arizona or much about the states, for that matter," he commented after Gareth's question was answered. "What's Sonora known for? Better yet, what's Arizona known for? Does this state have winter at all?" He wanted to get know what he was in for. If it didn't snow here, he'd be quite...irate. It would make being here even harder than it already was. Though if he surrounded himself with other pureblooded Europeans, he wouldn't mind it so much.

40 Cepheus Princeton Are we in for an info session, then? 216 Cepheus Princeton 0 5

David

October 30, 2011 3:19 PM

Excellent. Other kinds are much preferable. by David

David nodded his approval of Samantha’s list of summer activities. Sounded like a decent summer to him, at least if one enjoyed running in the mornings. He didn’t, personally – the only time he was prepared to tolerate mornings was if library or science camp was doing something at that time; otherwise, he was in the bed until at least nine – but Annabeth did that, too, or had when she still lived at home. He’d seen his sister several times over the summer, since he and Anna had always gotten along reasonably well for siblings and had the bond of common sympathy of knowing just how screwed up their family was that Selena didn’t quite share yet, but it had never occurred to him to ask her about whether or not she was still getting up at the crack of dawn to jog.

He also nodded at the mention of family screwed-uppedness, without any particular surprise or sense that this was in any way something that he’d expect her to consider bad instead of sounding not entirely displeased about. He’d gotten the impression that Sam had an awful lot of relatives, possibly in as or more interesting a set of configurations as his own. “My uncle pulled that off again, too,” he said matter-of-factly as he poured himself what he was reasonably sure was tea. The elves presented some moral issues at times, but they were pretty good at anticipating pretty much anything anyone could want. "'Course, I spent most of the summer reading or doing science projects with my kid sister, so I didn't really see any of the adult relatives much anyway."

His grandmother had also succeeded in getting Aunt Mary to stop talking to her again, but that had actually meant David saw her more than usual over the summer since it had fallen to his parents to do Jean’s grocery shopping and fool with her medicine and her blood pressure machine and all that stuff. That had not been fun, except in the most morbid, occasional sense that came from over-exposure breaking his brain a little every now and then. He finished his bread – not as good as Jean’s; the one thing his grandmother did that was good in life was cook – and began to consider actual food. That chicken looked pretty appetizing. He thought he could give it a try, anyway.

As he made up his mind to make that attempt, Samantha mentioned their badges. “Yeah,” he said, glancing at his robes. He didn’t have the badge on at the moment, but guessed he ought to wear it occasionally. Just so everyone knew, like. His fellow Aladrens in particular seemed to often put a lot of stock in badges. “I’m guessing you’re gonna do better with yours,” he added. “I’m still not sure if they want me to take Daniel’s spot and be a Chaser or if they’re just gonna leave me as the alternate.” He would, after the past few years, be really amazed if no one came forward again wanting to be on the team, after all. The Aladren team had gone wacko from what he remembered from his first year. Everyone wanted to be on it, and no one could defeat it. It was like the nerds had first gotten their revenge, then decided on total world domination. Though he thought he wouldn’t mention that to the team, it would fit some of them a shade too well for comfort. “Still planning to avoid the craziness?” he asked her.

16 David Excellent. Other kinds are much preferable. 169 David 0 5

Kerry O'Shaunasey

October 30, 2011 4:37 PM

Re: Opening Feast, Welcome All! by Kerry O'Shaunasey

Watching the first years be sorted was utterly adorable. Kerry's youngest sister would be a first year herself next year, and it was hard not to think of her as Kerry watched each of the fresh faced little firsties be sorted into their respective houses. Kerry had never been so far away from his family as he was now, and thoughts of his youngest siblings were never far from what he was thinking at any given moment. Kerry himself hardly looked old enough to be sitting at the staff table, his pale complexion and light smattering of freckles made him look even more youthful than he really was. The sheer vibrancy of his red hair added to that impression as well. Most redheads started to fade towards brown as they grew older, it was a rare adult who maintained truly red hair. Kerry was one of the lucky few though. His hair was a deep red, it might have been considered auburn but there was no brown in it at all. It was just very, very red.

Dressing himself for this evening had been a chore, striking the right level of formality, but not going overboard. Kerry had settled on rarely worn black slacks, a deep purple dress shirt and a black tie, under simple but elegant black robes, which he'd left open. His feet were clad in black boots which he'd polished for the occasion. His violently red hair was pulled back in a high and tight ponytail and had donned his wire rimmed glasses. All the black was a little severe against his pale skin and bright hair, but in Kerry's experience, most dress clothes were pretty severe on everyone. He was nervous, this was his first job at a magical school. It wasn't really a lack of confidence in his abilities as a teacher, but in navigating the nuances of a new community. Despite the fact that both of his parents had been magical, he'd grown up with one foot in both worlds, as both of his parents had only been half magical. He was almost more comfortable in the muggle community.

When the headmistress mentioned his name as a new professor, he lifted his hand and offered a small wave and a big smile to his soon-to-be students. When everyone sung the school song, he sung along in a nice smooth mid-range voice. He could more than carry a tune. It was a cute little ditty in his opinion. When all was said and done and the food appeared, he picked up the bowl of potatoes that had appeared nearest his plate and offered it to the staff member who was seated next to him before serving himself "Potatoes?" he offered with a smile.

0 Kerry O'Shaunasey Re: Opening Feast, Welcome All! 0 Kerry O'Shaunasey 0 5

Increase Mathers

October 30, 2011 5:24 PM

Gathering Intel by Increase Mathers

Picking his clothes for his first day as a publicly recognized figure had been made easy purely by the fact that Increase's entire wardrobe could fit into a gym duffel-- without the use of any kind of enlargement or shrinking charm, mind you. The majority of his belongings consisted of books and the odd objects he'd picked up over the years, an assortment of items that ranged from a bent penny to a plastic toy boat. They were things that he'd felt a flash of memory from, natural glances into their psychometric pasts. Normally, it took a good bout of flashy wandwork for him to dig out an object's history, but with these oddments, the pictures had come naturally.

As it was, he hadn't unpacked any of them as of yet. He'd only removed his toothbrush and soap; Increase was convinced that any moment now, the Headmistress would realize she'd been shammed, and would send a gang of prairie-elves out after him. He'd find himself stuck out in the desert and he'd die there, alone and unloved. Okay, sure, perhaps it was a little melodramatic, but Increase couldn't shake the feeling that he was ridiculously underqualified. He tried to keep his glances around the head table on the subtle side, but he'd been reduced to blatant gaping more than once. The other professors all looks so. . . so. . .professional. Like with degrees and everything.

Yeah, so divinations wasn't exactly like other subjects. You could study it forever and ever and get a practical acquaintance with the 'fuzzy realm' as his grandmother called it. But Grandma had also said, 'Some things you just know.' And so Increase had demonstrated that he knew, but it was still all hugely intimidating. Especially the lady next to him. Increase wasn't even sure if it was okay to refer to a fellow professor as 'lady.' She did have that whole goth thing going for her, all swept up in black and purple and paleness. He had the feeling that he ought to know her name, just as he should know all of the other professors' names.

He yanked at his collar, the wrinkled shirt one of his better ones having only the one hole near his elbow, and he could hide that with his dulled brown teaching robes. It had been a pain and a half to find the robes, having blown most of his savings pre-hiring on an impromtu drinking cruise to Cozumel. He finally found a retired wizard in St. Thomas, the last stop before returning to Miami and a waiting portkey, who ran a second-hand clothing store. The wizard favored pinks and purples, but had had the one brown robe in a rag pile by the door. The promise of a cup of coffee dark and smooth enough to knock his socks off had been enough for Increase to convince the wizard to part with the robes, and 72 hours later, Increase and robes had been in Sonora, sitting in the Cascade Hall and trying desperately to not make eye contact with any of the milling students seated below.

Nervously, he scratched at his beard and wondered whether it would be bad form to skive off early and retreat to his rooms. But then goth lady was talking-- and introducing herself. "Uh, yeah, yeah. That's me, Increase Mathers, the new Divinations p-professor."

His voice cracked slightly at the pronouncment of his title and he used that time to clear his throat, adjust his glasses, and place the name with a position. DiAnna Diaz, the librarian and former acting Divinations teacher. His mood suddenly turned hopeful. "You took care of the Divinations classes last year, right? So, uh, what sort of stuff did you go over?"

0 Increase Mathers Gathering Intel 0 Increase Mathers 0 5

Shiloh Romano

October 30, 2011 5:47 PM

Not a fan of subjects? by Shiloh Romano

"Did you know," Shiloh began with a question, greeting the footman as she always did, "that Muggles have this game where they use bats to hit balls? Doesn't that sound awfully similar to Quidditch?"

The footman smothered a smile and nodded. "Very much so, Miss Romano. Where did you learn this?"

Shiloh raised a finger to her lips and carefully reviewed the outside hallway before admitting, "The Muggle gardener Momma hired, he had a sort of thing that let him watch moving pictures, almost like ours, only not as interesting because his shows the same thing every time, and he was watching that Muggle game."

The footman agreed solemnly. "I see."

"Yes. The gardener is very nice. It is awfully terrible, isn't it, that he doesn't have magic? I do feel bad for Muggles." Shiloh sat herself primly at the expansive dining table and began to straighten her silverware. Her legs were far too short to reach the ground, and mindful of how her mother felt about swinging feet, she crossed her ankles and forced her knees into stillness. "Do you think there will be many Muggleborns at my school, Mr. Georges?"

The footman, known to Shiloh as Mr. Georges and Jim to everyone else in the Romano household, kept his features composed. The youngest Romano was such a serious and silly little thing, but she meant well and her heart was kind. Jim Georges often lamented, late at night with the other servants over a shared bottle of wine, how unfortunate it was that an otherwise sweet girl be so thoroughly ignorant. He blamed her parents and could only hope that as the youngest and only daughter, Shiloh Romano might escape the conditioning that her six older brothers experienced.

"Certainly. It's not as uncommon as you think."

Shiloh's wide lips pouted, and she fiddled with her fork. "But won't it be hard for them, always knowing that they'll never be as powerful or as good at magic as a Pureblood?"

The footman smiled and helped Shiloh unfold her napkin. "Maybe, when you get to school, you can make friends with one and ask directly."

"Oh." Shiloh clasped her hands in silent applause. "Thank you Mr. Georges! That's a perfect idea! I'll ask Momma and Poppa right away."

Jim Georges grimaced and held his tongue. He knew very well how that conversation would turn out. Indeed, his suspicions were proven correct when, during the course of the breakfast, first Mr. Romano and then Mrs. Romano voiced their disapproval of the idea. Shiloh's expression grew more and more aggrieved, and by the meal's end, after her parents had left her with a kiss on the check and a pat on the head, she turned once more to him.

"I don't think my parents like Muggleborns very much, Mr. Georges. Are Muggleborns really that awful?"

Jim Georges hesitated only for a second; he rather liked his job in the Romano household. The pay was excellent, he had no expenses for his room and board, and his chief charge, Shiloh, was as docile and obedient as they came. He regretted his employers’ prejudiced views, but he was pragmatic about his job choices. Still, Shiloh was only eleven years old; he didn't think it fair for her parents to make up her mind about everything. Not just yet.

"Makes friends with one and find out."

Shiloh stared down at her skirt, and, after a moment more, nodded in quiet agreement. She would think about it; she had the whole day and night before she left for Sonora Academy. That was worlds of time to make a decision. She did hate, though, to disobey her parents.

***

Shiloh trembled as she waited, her skin a map of pinpricks. She longed for her sweater, a soft grey one, that currently lay neatly folded in the contents of her satchel. The satchel had been sent, along with her trunk and toiletry box, ahead of her to the dorms. The ride on the covered wagons had been so hot and dry and dusty that she hadn't needed it, and as was her way, she had had no thought of needing something warm in the future.

She hugged herself, wrapping her darkly tanned arms around her chest and clutching at her elbows. The wagon ride had ruined her neatly braided hair and it now hung in dark brown clumps over her shoulders. She puffed out her cheeks and pursed her lips in worry; surely she would be sorted into Crotalus. She had read about each of the houses, and while Aladren seemed quite nice, her parents had made it plain that the truly talented and proper students ended up in Crotalus. She had understood what they meant by 'proper:' other Purebloods, like herself.

Shiloh had told the footman, the awfully nice Mr. Georges, that she would think about making friends with a Muggleborn. And she had. All night, in fact. But her mother looked so upset at the suggestion, and her father had frowned in that particular way of his that meant he was terribly disappointed. The Romanos were Purebloods and had been forever and ever; Shiloh had memorized enough of the family tree to go back eight generations, to before the family came to the United States.

She had a knack for memorization; she had a trick for it, really. She imagined she was in her dollhouse, and as she went from room to room, there waiting for her were the whole eight generations of family members. Shiloh intended on using her dollhouse to learn every name of her new classmates; it would be impolite for her not to at least know that much.

Romano, Shiloh,, she heard called, and with her hands shaking enough to slosh the potion in the goblet, Shiloh took her required sip. The change in color didn't happen immediately, or perhaps it was due to the darkness of her skin already that she failed to notice the change until the tips of her fingers changed. Red. She was most certainly red, which meant. . .

A wide, tooth-filled smile spread across her lips and happily, she spun twice, sending the skirt of her pale yellow dress bubbling around her. Oh this was grand; this was wonderful! "Crotalus," she announced as she fell into an empty seat, her brown eyes alight with pleasure, and completely missing that she had sat in the midst yellow-hued students. "I'm in Crotalus. Oh my parents will be so pleased. I should write immediately--"

She began to reach for the satchel that was most definitely not with her and then remembered herself. "I'm sorry. I'm just so happy. You see, my parents were quite specific about what house they wanted me in, and I was so worried that I'd end up elsewhere. They said that Crotalus is where the proper students are sorted, and Romanos are the proper sort of people."

Shiloh grinned beatifically, completely unaware that her conversation was most likely unwanted. "I'm Shiloh Romano. What's your name please?"

0 Shiloh Romano Not a fan of subjects? 0 Shiloh Romano 0 5

Ephanie Lucore

October 30, 2011 5:53 PM

On the sidelines... by Ephanie Lucore

Not knowing anyone else, Ephanie had sat next to her brother for the ride to school. Thankfully, Phoenix wasn’t much of a talker and had sat silently for most of the trip, which had suited her just fine since her nose had been buried in a book the entire way. She was lucky she supposed that she wasn’t one of those people that tended to get the travelling illness. Her cousin always got sick whenever any form of travelling was involved. Ephanie really had no idea how Alessandra was ever going to be able to learn to apparate when even the mere idea of travel was enough to make her feel ill. Though, she supposed that there were potions to help with that sort of thing. But really, it seemed like such a nuisance to always have to remember to take a potion just to get from one place to another. And what would happen if the wrong potion were taken? Hmm, the possibilities of a story were already tying themselves together in her mind, but would have to be saved for later since the chaos called school was currently taking presence.

Ushered to a room that was the work of fairy tales, Ephanie wanted nothing more than to allow her imagination to roam free. She had a flair for the dramatic. Her mother sometimes even said she was a little theatrical, but in her blue eyes, this was a compliment since she wanted nothing more than to be an actress. She could see herself over near the waterfalls playing the part of a mischievous sprite. Oh, the havoc that would be caused by all her trickery! Sigh. Her attention was pulled back to the present. They were to be sorted. Yes, Phoenix had told them all about this. She wondered if she would turn red like he had or one of the other colors. No matter what color she turned, it would be weird to change to another color. The options were either being a blueberry, a pineapple, a cherry, or a coconut. Okay, so here she went, it was her turn.

Ephanie pretended the vial was the creation of some wicked witch that was being forced upon her. By drinking the contents, she would forever have a curse laid upon her that would have to be broken by someone of great virtue. She brought the potion to her lips. The taste was nothing special, but as she watched, her skin began to change from fair to a quite lovely shade of blue. So, she was in Aladren. She wasn’t quite sure what to think of that as she made herself comfortable at the table. She clapped at the appropriate places, though; she had no idea who any of the people were. Then, came the singing. This, she actually had covered. She had begged her parents to allow her to take voice and dance lessons. Any actress who wants to have any hope of actually making a name for herself must become a triple threat – acting, singing, and dancing. Ephanie planned on being just that. As such, she had already had voice training so following along to the sheet music was easy enough even if she stumbled over the unfamiliar words. Oh, well, she would have them down for next year.

Suddenly, the food appeared on the table. This was certainly a surprise. She had never before had food arrive without actually being brought from a kitchen. But then, her mother insisted that they help with meals in order to avoid having them completely spoiled. Oh, it wasn’t that they were from a poor family that had to do all the work themselves, but they also weren’t from a family that subjected itself to have house elves to do all their bidding. Her mother didn’t believe that having them was right, whether or not the house elves agreed. She said it was just another way that people attempted to make themselves superior when really they thought themselves inferior. Ephanie didn’t really understand the psychology of it all, but she understood that it was something that wasn’t right. She wondered if things like that would have any bearing on her time at school. Phoenix had told her that some families thought they were better than others. She hoped she didn’t run into any of those!

Brushing away such heavy thoughts, Ephanie helped herself to a baked potato. She added a spoonful of cheese to it, some sour cream, and bacon pieces. Loaded potato. Excellent. Loaded potatoes were one of her absolute favorite foods. She waited a bit to allow the cheese a chance to melt slightly before digging in. While she ate, she picked up tidbits of others’ conversations, but declined to join in. She saw other blue first years chatting with each other and yes, she could have joined in, but she liked to have an air of mystery about. She wanted others to notice her and wonder who she was, what she was like, and she knew eventually they would. They just had to! How else would they ever come to be friends if they paid no heed to her? No, she would just wait and win them over one at a time. Yes, this would be the plan. She would have lots of friends. She was so busy telling herself this that she failed to realize that someone had actually started talking to her. “Oh, I’m so sorry! I didn’t hear what you said,” Ephanie apologized profusely. Her sparkling blue eyes turned their attention to the person. “Please do tell me what I missed.”

0 Ephanie Lucore On the sidelines... 0 Ephanie Lucore 0 5

David Kim

October 30, 2011 6:59 PM

Properly distracted. Again. by David Kim

The summer had been a long and monotonous one, spent in a daily routine of waking, reading, music lessons, and sleep. David saw little of his parents beyond meal times and the week-end spent on Hilton Head. He'd been allowed to go down to the beach, but not into the water; it had been the highlight of the entire two months. The countdown to school had started the second he'd left Sonora, and now that he was finally back, the reason for his countdown raised front and center in his mind.

David's dark eyes found her at once, seated with the other Crotali. Brianna Japos. He wondered how her summer had been, whether she'd been happy to see her friends. He wondered if the people who had frightened her were still around. If she'd been hurt, or scared, or any number of things. He wondered and watched, and he was completely unbothered by his empty plate or untouched cup. He had thought of her often during the summer, even tried his hand at writing her only to remember, too late, that he didn't have her address. Which could have easily been rectified had he attempted to talk to her at all before school ended. But he hadn't. He hadn't stopped by her meal table, or approached her in the library. He had done none of the things one was supposed to when building a friendship. He had spent one class lesson, diving and hiding from curses, and something had changed in him during that short school period.

He still didn't know what to do with it, that change. He watched as she began slowly adding food to her plate and tried to guess what her favorite food was. He wondered what she would say if she knew that he had no favorite. No favorite of anything-- not color, not food, not music or book. He never felt one way or the other about these things. He wasn't even certain what it would feel like, to know that he had a preference, a favorite. Perhaps. . . he turned slowly back around in his chair, the temptation to return once more already pressing.

David had read enough books to know that his feelings, whatever they were, would be described as a crush by others. He didn't like this word; didn't like the simplicity of it. Besides, David Kim wasn't the sort of person to fall prey to crushes or similar piques of strangeness. He was simply interested. So interested, in fact, that he missed the question being repeated at his left, or the large bowl of spaghetti that plainly needed to be passed along the way.

0 David Kim Properly distracted. Again. 0 David Kim 0 5

Jorge

October 30, 2011 7:25 PM

That seems like a long time... by Jorge

Jorge just stared at the girl who had spoken to him. He blinked and stared. He wasn’t sure what to make of her. She was just oozing… girl. Not only that but she couldn’t sit still. He had to wonder if she was a Muggleborn by the way she was acting. He was definitely excited to be here, but magic was magic. It had always been a part of his life, so he didn’t really a see a reason to say that he loved magic because he never knew a life without it. But, he had to agree with her in saying that the school was pretty awesome. He wouldn’t say ‘love’ because it was a school and they were going to be forced to learn here, but the building was pretty awesome.

“I’m Jorge Garcia.” He greeted, trying not to make a comment on her name but feeling ‘waverly’ seemed to fit nicely with a girl who was giggling and in constant motion. He wondered if all girls were like this. Well, that wasn’t true. He knew girls weren’t always like her. Dulce was a prime example of that and he had enough Tias to compare to. They were all crazy different, but most still seemed to be so full of girly giddiness that he was sure it was something in their genetics.

Jorge turned his brown eyes to another girl who had introduced herself to them. The coloring of her skin made Jorge aware that she was also a first year. The way she was eating, Jorge already liked her. That meant she wasn’t going to be all prim and snobby to him. He could deal with that. Dulce had warned him that there was a lot of prissy girls in their school, so he needed to behave himself.

“Good to meet you both.” Jorge commented, eating some of his own food and listening to the conversations around him. “Where you all from? I’m from San Francisco.” He was only asking to make conversation.

0 Jorge That seems like a long time... 0 Jorge 0 5

Attoria Covington

October 30, 2011 8:12 PM

The troubles of a socialite by Attoria Covington

Attoria’s summer had been absolutely splendid, so long as she hadn’t been at home. She had gone to fabulous parties, all hosted by the crème de la crème, namely those she called her friends. There had also been spa days, which she could readily tell anyone that asked, there was nothing like being absolutely one hundred percent pampered. Of course, some might say, she already was, but she really wasn’t, not completely. In fact, her parents hardly noticed her and they only hired someone whenever she complained. Thankfully, they didn’t care about how much of their money she spent on the things she wanted. So, paying for those leisurely days here and there was nothing to bat an eye at. Other favorable (and expensive) activities had included winged horse riding, eating in upscale restaurants and pretending to be a grownup, and going to the theater among others.

The one thorn in her side had been Brianna. Her blue eyes fell on her roommate. Why did she have to have such huge lips? Why did she have to be so different? Why did she have to have poor parents? If she were like them, then Attoria wouldn’t have to pretend to not be her friend when they were home from school and Brianna wouldn’t have to pretend to be from the appropriate type of family when they were at school cause she would already be apart of one. Why did life have to be so difficult? She hated having to act so two-faced to Brianna, but if she didn’t then the other kids would start making fun of her and then she would be an outcast. No, that was just too much to ask. Though, at school, she worried that people would find out the truth and then she would end up being shamed there. Sigh. Why did she have to be different?

She actually wanted to be able to treat Brianna in a better manner. Brianna was actually a good friend, but Attoria could never let her know such. If they were alike, then they would be able to trade stories about their experiences with boys, especially now, that things seemed to be getting so confusing. Boys were starting to become a bigger part of the picture. Oh, it wasn’t that she had never thought about getting married or anything like that, because like most other little girls, she played with dolls and pretended the princess fell in love with the handsome prince, they got married and lived happily ever after. But that was then and this was now. Now, she began to notice things she liked about boys. Things she hadn’t noticed before like the way they smiled or the way their hair fell a certain way. She kinda, sorta wanted a boyfriend.

Though, she had no idea how to actually go about getting one. The only experiences she had involved Ethan Wistar. He had made her extraordinarily nervous with his good looks and charming personality. Unfortunately, she had no idea how to handle being around him. He had nearly kissed her at the end of one of their theater afternoons. He was fourteen after all. Though, he did believe her to be thirteen since she had lied about it. But that was beside the point. He had nearly kissed her and she had backed away like a stupid little girl. Yes, that was exactly what she was. A stupid little girl who knew nothing of the things that made a boyfriend worth having. That was going to change, however, and Brianna was going to help her. She just didn’t know it yet.

So happy was she with her new plan that she opted to be social with the person next to her rather than staying within her own head space. “How was your summer? Mine was simply delightful," she said, as she helped herself to the fruit salad.

0 Attoria Covington The troubles of a socialite 202 Attoria Covington 0 5

Waverly

October 30, 2011 8:32 PM

A long time while learning magic! Sounds fine to me by Waverly

"It's nice to meet you two," she said with a smile. "I'm from Phoenix, Arizona. Nearby, I guess. How 'bout you, Jade?" she asked, blinking at her with kind green eyes. After she answered, she continued to eat. She knew she would miss her mom's homecooked food, but it wouldn't be a really difficult change. There was some orange-looking drink that didn't really look like anything she'd had before. But she was adventurous when it came to, well, most things, so she poured herself a glass and took a whiff of it. Pumpkin? She took a sip and was delighted at how good it tasted. She took another sip and put the cup down.

She smiled at both of them. "Sorry if I act a little weird," she told them. "I'm really excited to be here, and it's all so new! I didn't know I was magical until I got my acceptance letter. I'll probably calm down after a week or so. Have you both grown up with magic?" She was a little jealous of those that had grown up with it. She couldn't even imagine what kind of magic there was. She had studied up on Sonora as much as she could, but it was definitely more interesting in real life.

Waverly was very interested in learning about the places both Jorge and Jade had come from. She suddenly noticed the kitten in Jade's lap and gasped. "Oh, is that your kitten?" she asked. She had left her cat at home since it technically belonged to the whole family. "What's its name?"

0 Waverly A long time while learning magic! Sounds fine to me 0 Waverly 0 5

Evan Brockert

October 30, 2011 10:16 PM

Well, sidelines have their advantages too. by Evan Brockert

Evan was finally old enough to go to Sonora now with his older sisters. His mother had seemed awfully sad about this and had actually cried when he'd left. He felt sort of bad that she'd been upset but he couldn't help but be excited. Soon Evan would be learning all about magic. It had been a part of his life since birth but he'd never done it before himself on purpose.

And there was so much Evan could do with it. He had what was referred to politely as a "creative and innovative mind". He liked to wander around finding and collecting objects and using them in unique and interesting ways. Recently Evan had been making things out of rocks. He would find all sorts of different rocks and stick them together into different shapes. Like Evan made people out of rocks and furniture out of rocks and little animals out of rocks. They weren't quite like what Adam could do with wood but the eleven year old thought they had their own unique charm. Nobody seemed to really complain about his hobbies at all unless he took something that belonged to them.

Which Evan knew better than to do now. He had learned the hard way that people didn't like when you took their property and used it in the name of art. Chelsea had once threatened to hex him for taking something of hers, simply for because he had thought it would make an interesting chair for smaller stuffed animals, sort of a hammock that two of them could sit on.

Of course, Chelsea was the sort who might hex him for even thinking about her things, if she could read minds. That was rather scary thought in general. People reading minds. Or controlling minds. That happened. It was a terrifying thing, though not quite as much as porcupines. Still, mind control and mental magic had to be the second scariest thing on earth. There were rumors that Aunt Rosemary was a victim of it. That Evan's aunt was like a zombie now or something. Which was at once sad, scary and interesting. Her granddaughter, Nora, seemed to mostly find it interesting. Which seemed a bit insensitive to Evan.

The new first year entered the hall with the rest of the people that he assumed to be his year mates. He gazed around at them, wondering what they were all like. Evan wondered a lot about how things at Sonora would be. Sure, he had asked his older siblings but that just wasn't the same. Besides, Evan would have different people in classes and some different professors than his siblings had. No two experiences were ever exactly the same.

Evan took a drink from the goblet and turned a brilliant blue, which meant that he would be in Aladren. That was his father's house and Chelsea's too, but Evan didn't really think he was like his older sister much at all. Or like anyone else either. He'd been told many times that he was rather different but Evan didn't really mind that too much. He was...himself and everyone was unique in their own way.

He took a seat across from a rather attractive girl. "Hi, I'm Evan Brockert. Of the Colorado Brockerts, but I live in Portland, Oregon. We're supposed to say Colorado there because that's where our family branch is located.Could I have the bacon pieces please?" The potato this girl was eating looked delicious. Actually the bacon pieces by themselves looked good but Evan wasn't supposed to just eat things like that when others were watching.

She asked him to repeat himself and Evan obliged. "I just introduced myself, Evan Brockert of the Colorado Brockerts that actually lives in Oregon but is supposed to say Colorado because that's where my family is centered. Then I asked for the bacon pieces. May I have them?"

11 Evan Brockert Well, sidelines have their advantages too. 212 Evan Brockert 0 5

Angel

October 31, 2011 12:01 AM

... by Angel

Angel took a small bite of the salmon and waited to see if his touchy stomach was willing to accept it. Pain twisted though his midsection for an instant before settling into the dull ache that always accompanied eating and Angel ventured to take a second bite. As he did so, the girl who’d sat next to him began speaking rapidly. Angel kept his eyes locked on his plate, but he’d perfected the art of watching people without appearing to do so and focused on her from the corner of his eye.

Her hue was much darker than his and the other first years at the table, and Angel wondered why she was at the Teppenpaw table if she was a Crotalus as her words indicated. He didn’t question this oddity though, it wasn’t his place to question others and he’d learned long ago that females were prone to irrational actions. As she spoke Angel set his fork down and listened carefully, she didn’t appear to be asking him to do something. He wasn’t sure she was talking to him at all seems the things she spoke of had nothing to do with him.

Then she asked for his name so she must have been speaking to him all along. Still staring at his plate Angel said in soft Georgian accented whisper “Angel Shield.” The name Shield would be enough to make any Pureblood acquainted with history turn their head and stare. Most Pureblooded families believed the Shields were long dead, having destroyed themselves with their own madness. In truth there were a few shards of the once powerful family still existed. Before the Americas were founded the Shield family was one of the most important families in Europe and at the height of their power arrogance had sown the seeds of destruction when the head of the family decided that no other family was pure enough to mingle lines with.

Hundreds of years later Angel sat, ghostly white, with ash colored hair and red eyes. His frame painfully slender from internal deformities which made eating a near impossibility, one of the last Shields in existence and clearly marked with the sins of his forefathers.

0 Angel ... 0 Angel 0 5

Kitty

October 31, 2011 12:55 AM

Prides herself on her social skills by Kitty

“Ohh Transfiguration is a lot of fun, and Charms too. My two favorite classes are Care of Magical Creatures we get to have that class outside, and even though the first few years only works with the smaller creatures I’ve heard that they get bigger and more interesting as we get older. DADA is also loads of fun, it’s more physical and you get to move around a lot which is great.” Kitty chattered happily. Really most magical classes were great, especially the ones where she got to do wand work.

Perhaps one of the only classes that Kitty hated with a passion was potions. It just required a degree of focus that the tiny girl hadn’t been born with. Even now she’d begun to shift uncomfortably in her seat, energy already getting the better of her as the feast dragged on. She twisted one foot up underneath her, which gave her a few extra inches height, making her feel a bit better about being the oldest. That thought made her stifle a giggle. She’d never been the oldest before.

“Yeah, I read a lot over the summer break too, that and got all my assignments done. I wish that I had been able to fly over break, my bike is nothing compared to a broom! Are you guys excited about flying lessens? Well, I bet you all know how to fly already anyway but it’s still great.” Kitty said, remembering her own first flying lessons and how she’d gone off with Dusk instead of staying with the newbies who didn’t’ know what they were doing. It had been amazing and Kitty fell in love with flying during that very first lesson.

0 Kitty Prides herself on her social skills 0 Kitty 0 5

Sullivan Quincy

October 31, 2011 6:11 PM

A Pecari Potluck by Sullivan Quincy

Upon arrival at the school, Sullivan Quincy's first order of business was to locate Jhonice Treveor before she located him, hide, wait for her to choose a seat, and then sit as far away from her while still being in Pecari Territory as possible. He succeeded on his first objective and retreated to the sidelines (getting his feet wet in the process but fortunately not drenching himself under any of the waterfalls by mistake). There he waited until she descended upon her prey of the evening, a defenseless brown-skinned first year who undoubtedly had either a pure or scandalously impure lineage, by wizarding standards, as these were her normal targets.

Sullivan, a perfectly ordinary muggleborn with a perfectly ordinary muggle mother and sister and a presumably perfectly ordinary if somewhat deadbeat father, ought not to have ever shown up on the girl's radar at all, but she seemed to be under the mistaken impression that he was the illegitimate offspring of the California Pierces in general and Simon Tellerman in particular. The fact that Simon Tellerman in particular was now officially dating his mom was surely not going to discourage her any, and would have likely drawn her attention even if he had previously been unremarkable.

Which was why the first year's pain was Sullivan's gain. He claimed himself a seat far far away from that pair of girls.

Secure in the knowledge that he had deftly avoided Jhonice (kindly ignore the squelching noises his sneakers made on the floor), Sullivan gave his new neighbors only brief glances and perfunctory greetings before turning his attention to the COMC teacher's speech (though, he guessed she wasn't the COMC teacher anymore since she was introducing some red-haired guy as the new COMC teacher). He successfully avoided jumping (as he had last year) when the lyrics to the school song showed up in front of him, and he sang with limited volume and skill as the rest of the Hall also attempted to create music with, in Sullivan's opinion, limited success.

Then, the food finally arrived and he filled his plate eagerly. Only after he'd swallowed and chewed the first bite (from Nevada, the wagon ride was relatively short to Arizona, but he'd started hungry) did he actually turn real interest to his tablemates. "'Evening," he greeted. "Have a good summer?"

1 Sullivan Quincy A Pecari Potluck 207 Sullivan Quincy 0 5

Alice Adair

October 31, 2011 6:36 PM

I know I can't. by Alice Adair

Summer had been quite educational. Literally. Dani had gone off for most of the summer to a writer’s workshop that she had been invited to. As for Jordan, she had been busy with her new boyfriend, Brad something or other. Alice had never actually caught his entire name nor had she really cared to. She had more important things to do than to worry about such frivolities. No, she had spent her time doing things that actually mattered. She had spent time practicing her French. She hoped one day to travel to Paris. Some claimed it to be the most romantic city in the world, but for her, she could not resist the richness of its history, the taste of its architecture, the entirety that was Paris. Her fingers itched for her camera just thinking of the sites she might one day see.

Other days she had spent outdoors searching for various plants and determining what they were, what they were good for, and if they could be used in a Potion. She thought some of them could be used as a substitution or even to enhance them. However, she was not in a position to actually test this theory since her mother would have found more than a little displeasure at Alice blowing up bits of their house in experimentation. The evenings were spent in a lighter note in the words of Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Frost, though, how many people would actually call them light was debatable. Fridays had been reserved for her dirty little secret. She had started to read some of Jordan’s trashy romance novels. She told herself it was more out of curiosity than anything else, but if she were honest with herself, she knew it was because she was beginning to wonder more about the relationships between people. Did they really act like that? She seriously hoped not.

But summer was over and school was back in session. It was like going from free learning to structured learning. Not that she actually minded. It was just different. That was all. Though, at times, she wished that they could go further ahead in their material than they did. She never really understood why the professors held the students back so. It seemed to her that more could be covered in the year than actually was. She guessed that maybe spending more time in course material would prohibit social functions such as the ball that was held last term. She had not participated much, however, watching the social interactions of others had been interesting. It had been like she was a scientist in the wild observing the local wild life. And in the true nature of observing, she had captured it on film. Yet, she still had yet to develop any of the rolls. Perhaps, one day she would.

With mild interest, her attention went to the new first years. A few joined the Crotalus table and she clapped appropriately. She clapped too over the announcement of new professors and prefects. None of it was of terrible importance. The prefects would be just like prefects before. The professor would be just like professors before. Life would continue on in the same way. And she highly doubted that she would become friends with any of the first years. However, once the food was on the table, she looked for her friend and spotted Fae talking to Topher. She hoped that she was not being intrusive when she joined their conversation a moment later, but she was making an effort to be somewhat more social, if only to please her mother.

“Why would intermediate classes be bad? Are they not built merely upon material that we have been learning up to this point?” Her head tilted slightly of confusion. Some might think her words condescending, but her tone didn’t suggest as much. She did not understand why it would really be that awful or why people would say it was. But then she had a terrible habit of assuming that others thought the way she did and would find the course material easy. She had always thought that if she found the material such, then why didn’t others grasp it as well? Of course, it was hard to grasp such things when one did not understand that they were not of average intelligence.

0 Alice Adair I know I can't. 191 Alice Adair 0 5

Derry Four

October 31, 2011 7:58 PM

My Grandmother will be pleased by Derry Four

Derry grinned as Regina attempted a seated curtsy. Used to seeing them done correctly, it looked especially ridiculous (though he knew she meant it in the best way possible so he saw nothing wrong with it - not smiling at the attempt, however, was entirely impossible). "That sounds great," he said in response to her list of summer activities, and he meant it. He kind of wished sometimes he could do stuff with his Father, but Derwent the Second never did anything but work. Derry wasn't sure he could remember his father ever do so much as smile.

Despite this lack of father interaction, his summer had been good and everything he had come to expect from a few months at home. His mom had been extra attentive, as if to make up for not seeing him over Christmas (Derry had opted to stay at school for the archery and stuff) and for lying to him all of his life prior to last summer. Derry had forgiven her for that when he was lonely on Christmas Day without her, though, so it had all been good. He told her about the Ball, and about Demetra, and about his Teppenpaw friends, and about the Quidditch Team, and about his classes, and everything else he could think of, and she'd wanted to hear all of it.

"Got to spend some time with my Mom," he summarized. "Took a couple hikes on the mountain and just talked about stuff." He shrugged and offered a slightly exasperated sigh and finished off his summer summary, "And Hamlet picked up his teaching again, and made me correct all the spelling and grammatical mistakes I made in my letters home. And then he reviewed all my class homework and tests and made sure I fixed those mistakes, too." And as much as he grumped about it, it wouldn't have been home if Hamlet hadn't been lecturing about dangling porpoises or particles or whatever it was that dangled in sentences. "It was a pretty good summer," he concluded.

Then he pointed out Thad over at the Aladren table, and added, "My cousin just started here, so I got to answer a lot of questions about Sonora, too."

1 Derry Four My Grandmother will be pleased 189 Derry Four 0 5

Jane Carey

October 31, 2011 8:34 PM

I still have two more by Jane Carey

When the new Headmistress called her name during the most suspenseful part of each year’s introductory feast, the only thought Jane had was a sort of stunned realization that she wasn’t wearing anything even a little yellow, not so much as a ribbon in her hair, and then that this was very bad and she should excuse herself from the Hall until she could find something in her trunk to help her look the part of a Teppenpaw prefect.

She did, of course, no such thing, instead walking forward with a smile and the other three – Samantha, Samuel, and Sophia; she didn’t fit, but Kirstenna’s name would have been no better – and curtsying by reflex when Headmistress Kijewski confirmed the appointment, though she caught herself before it could turn into a very deep curtsy, rising to take the badge. Her fingers fumbled the clasp slightly as she fastened it to the front of her robes, but it was on when she got back to her seat.

On the way, she caught her brother’s eye, and he clapped again for a brief moment. She turned red, but was pleased nevertheless even as she waved for him to stop that.

Sitting back down at the Teppenpaw table, she fidgeted with her skirt until she thought that the hubbub had died down and no one was too likely to be looking at her, then focused back on the Headmistress’ seat after glancing at the two new girls to make sure they had gotten settled into their tables. The little one – she couldn’t remember right now which was Theresa and which Alexandra; she’d have to ask one of the twins soon – was with the Pecaris, the brown not yet faded from the face beneath a head of hair as close to black as Jane’s own, and the taller one was with the Crotali.

She felt a moment of sympathy for them both. The Careys hadn’t had very good experiences with either of those Houses in recent years, though Pecari had gone slightly better, and while they had not been exactly pleased to hear she was in Teppenpaw, she hadn’t been nearly as harshly lectured about staying out of trouble and remembering a woman's place as the Pecari was going to be, nor held to the exacting standards of absolute perfection that the Crotalus girl was likely to be in an attempt to redeem the House from Gwenhwyfar’s sins. Her mother had demanded nearly the undoable in terms of conduct and grades alike, but only nearly the undoable. If Alexander and whomever was responsible for that kind of thing in South Carolina were less reasonable, or more afraid of irregularities, than Mother had been, then those poor girls were going to have a terrible time for the next seven years.

She sang along with the school song, doing it quite well since she remembered some of it, including the basic tune, from last year and had the music in front of her, and then smiled as the Feast appeared before her. Instead of tucking in directly, though, she glanced a few seats down, saw Dulce Garcia, and excused herself from those she was sitting with at the moment to move down to sit across from her. From what Edmond said, they might have to work together often, so it seemed best to get off on the right foot.

“Good evening, Dulce,” she said, thinking it should be all right to use her given name. They were both prefects, and had been in the same House for some time now. “Did you have a nice summer?”

0 Jane Carey I still have two more 160 Jane Carey 0 5

Fae

October 31, 2011 8:48 PM

It is strange to be this old now. by Fae

Fae raised an eyebrow at the mention of Topher’s sister. She never remembered him mentioning having a sibling (not that siblings ever came up in previous conversations), but she had always been under the assumption that Topher was an only child. “You have a sister?” Her curiosity getting the better of her. She thought it odd that it had never come up in conversation before.

There was a part of her that agreed that his father’s job sounded interested. Much more so than her father’s financial job over in Europe. “Oh, your dad works with Accidental Magic?” Fae asked, her interest perking. She was aware that Topher wasn’t on the ‘list’ of people she was supposed to befriend, but neither were most of the people she spoke with and to be honest, there was little she could do about it as it was. She supposed she could ignore them, but then she would be seen as rude and that wasn’t very lady-like. Besides, that would make her exactly what Josephine had thought her to be.

“Oh, that sounds fun. I have never been to my father’s workplace. I can’t imagine it would be fun though. He deals in finances and he works directly with the goblins. They scare me.” She added the last part in a bit of a whisper, as though having admitted that made her look silly. Goblins had a reputation that made them scary, so there was no real reason why she ought to be embarrassed by such an admittance.

Before Fae could really think about Topher’s question, Alice was sitting with them and, as usually, putting her usual spin on her answer. Fae thought she knew where Topher was going with his question, but Alice’s response made Fae doubt herself. Should she know what was coming and already be prepared for it? She didn’t think so, but Alice was always so sure of herself. “Well… I think what he might mean was that we’ll be in class with people who are working on CATS, so even though we have been taking lessons to gradually get us to this position, we’re still working with an older group whose skill level is more advanced than ours. The lessons could be much more advanced and difficult that we are really prepared for.” Fae had no idea if that made any sense, but that’s how she felt about being in the Intermediate classes.

0 Fae It is strange to be this old now. 0 Fae 0 5

Delilah Kerrigan

October 31, 2011 9:17 PM

The start of the end. by Delilah Kerrigan

It was hard to believe that at this time next year it would signal the last year she would be at Sonora. Then, she was supposed to go off into the world. Very scary thought. Delilah had absolutely no idea what she wanted to do with her life. When she had gone to visit her grandmother and twin over the summer, they had been all talk of betrothals, though on differing levels. Her grandmother thought it was high time that Delilah stopped with childish games and acted like a proper young lady. In doing so, it was also time to begin seriously considering her prospects. She had harped on such matters before, but the deadline was coming that her granddaughter would either be properly betrothed to someone or that she would forever be branded a lesser pureblood. Perhaps, even considered to be one of those lesbians. Oh, if her grandmother only knew!

The Pecari snuck a glance over to the Teppenpaw table where the only person she had ever been infatuated with sat. The summer had been an embarrassing one when she had made those feelings known to the dark haired beauty. She hadn’t meant to, not at all. But it had been one of those moments. One second they had been laughing and the next all she could see was how the light hit her in a way that made her seem to glow or the way her hair fell at just a certain angle against her face. She was so beautiful, so amazing, so everything. She hadn’t meant to, but she had. Delilah had kissed Dulce Garcia. She had tingled all over, the electricity flowing straight through her and then it was over. Her feelings were known and her heart had been shattered. Deep down she knew that Dulce cared about her, not on the level that Delilah wanted, but she did and she didn’t want to hurt her. Yet, things were awkward and she just wished she could be normal.

Sighing, she looked over to the Aladren table where Veronica sat. She had made the mistake of finally telling her sister about her interests. She thought that maybe her sister would understand with her own insecurities involving betrothal, but instead it had started a war between them. Veronica had made her feelings clear on the matter. How had things gotten so out of hand? One minute everything had been fine and now everything was in ruins. She had no idea how to fix anything. She didn’t know how to fix her relationships. She didn’t know how to fix herself. And she certainly had no clue about the future. Yet, now she was expected to begin the path to that future. A future that might not include her sister, might not include Dulce, might not include anyone. Life was just a sea of depression that she was sinking in.

In an effort to not show how miserable she was to the world, Delilah turned her attention to the one thing that made her unique in a not so odd way. Her shoes. Every year, she had worn shoes that were white and by the end of the year were barely so with all of the drawings and wording that had been marked all over them. However, this year her shoes were black, a pair of black converse. Her choice of coloring was red. Using the instrument, she drew a curve and then another, each ending in a sharp line. To the other side were jagged marks. The shape of a broken heart. Coming from the heart, she drew droplets to mark the tears that poured from it. This was going to be the worst year yet. Maybe she really couldn’t wait for graduation. Then, she would be able to leave everyone else behind along with her heart.

0 Delilah Kerrigan The start of the end. 158 Delilah Kerrigan 0 5

Edmond Carey

October 31, 2011 9:25 PM

The beginning of the end is here by Edmond Carey

Walking through the doors of the Cascade Hall, Edmond felt an odd tightening in his chest, a feeling somewhere between panic and grief. He could remember clearly the first time he had ever done that, how stunned and overwhelmed he’d been by all the noise and bustle and people, and now….

Well, now, this was part of home, almost. There had been times when he was more comfortable in the Cascade Hall than he was at home, though he thought that was more to do with unfortunate circumstances than with the amounts of time he’d spent in each place. He knew this school, which had seemed so large, better than the back of his hand, since he didn’t make it a practice to sit around looking at his hands but did move around Sonora every day. No matter what was going on in the family, at Sonora, it didn’t matter that he was so-and-so’s son, or some else’s, or who was inheriting what, just that he aimed Bludgers well and learned everything in his classes, which was more of a treat and a joy than a real effort for him. And in a few months, all of that was going to be gone, and he didn’t know what he was going to do at all.

No one knew that, though, not even Jane. Everyone assumed he was going to attend a university of some kind for four years, then take over the Georgia branch, just as had been laid out in Alasdair’s will. His sister would slowly bring him into more and more power and authority over the course of those four years before quietly stepping aside and very likely marrying James, which would no doubt be the best thing for her. Edmond thought Morgaine and James really did care for each other, in their own way, and that he wouldn’t mind her still being a Healer and her own person while he got her safely out of the country, where the family could afford to overlook her existence. The question was, though, if it was not only the best thing for her, but also not so much the best thing for Edmond as just something that could remotely work.

No one knew about it, though, because Edmond did not talk about it. He knew Robert would hear him out, if it came to that, but he saw no reason to upset everyone before he even knew for sure that there was going to be a problem – that, for the second time in his life, he was going to have to look at an expectation and then not meet it, much less, as was his norm, surpass it. He was going to be very sure about something, where he was now sure about nothing at all, before he said anything to anyone, or at least anyone in the family.

He took his place at the Aladren table, watching the Sortings of the new girls Robert had mentioned last week – the twins had a cousin, the one who could pass for Jane’s first cousin as easily as Arthur’s, and the lighter-haired of those two Louisiana girls had come with her –applauding politely for the new staff and both firmly and enthusiastically for the new Head Boy and Girl. He knew it had been a disappointment to the family when he did not get Jose’s badge himself, but he honestly hadn’t wanted the thing. He was better than he had been, but had several times, particularly in Defense classes, just wanted to hide somewhere with a year’s supply of calming draughts, and that was no attitude for the Head Boy to have. What if he froze at the wrong moment, or reacted all wrong because something reminded him of something else? Besides, it wasn’t as though, with every class on the schedule except Divination still on his list somehow and the Quidditch team his to lead now, that he really needed something else to do.

His applause for the prefects went on a bit longer than perhaps it strictly needed to for another reason, though, with his little sister becoming the new prefect for Teppenpaw. He also had to quickly choke down a laugh at her curtsying to the new headmistress – he had been half-hoping that Headmistress Powell would return this year so he would begin and end with the same person, but he was fond of Professor Kijewski as well, though not sure what he was going to do in the classes that had been hers now that Miss Sinclair and Miss Smythe had graduated – before she took her badge. Robert and Julia had raised them both right, he didn’t think he’d stand for anyone arguing against that.

The food appeared on the tables after the school song ended, and Edmond began to serve himself, trying to banish gloomy thoughts about what might be going on this time next year as he did. He was here now, and the food looked and smelled as good as ever, and he had a whole year before he really needed to worry about it. The future would happen as it happened, and he would have to handle it in due course.

The plate filled surprisingly quickly, and he turned his attention to other matters. It was also his last chance to talk at the Opening Feast. “Good evening,” he said. “How are you tonight?”

0 Edmond Carey The beginning of the end is here 143 Edmond Carey 0 5

Dulce

October 31, 2011 9:44 PM

It'll go quickly by Dulce

Dulce looked up from her meal to see Jane speaking to her. The arrival of the newest Prefect was a bit of a surprise for Dulce, but only really because nobody ever really bothered to speak with her in the past. Perhaps she shouldn’t have been too surprised by it though because Dulce was her now co-Prefect and most people liked to get to know the people they would be working with. If Dulce was like others, she might have been the one to have reached out to Jane and started a conversation. But Dulce was not like others. She never felt a need to connect to human beings. She was just empty space there. She knew it was odd, but what could she do about it?

That wasn’t to say that she didn’t have feelings on some level. She knew she loved her parents, her siblings, and her extended family. She knew that there was a part of her that yearned for a form of friendship that went beyond a couple of conversations. But, those feelings were smaller than they probably should have been. She really only ever wanted to play her music. She spoke though notes and not through words. Her family understood and they accepted this strange part of her. Her peers were not quite so forgiving.

“Hello Jane.” Dulce said in greeting, smiling politely as she did. “Congratulations on becoming our Prefect. It’s not as terrible as some people might think it is.” She commented. She heard people saying that they didn’t want the responsibility, but Dulce didn’t mind it so much. Walking the halls or helping others, it was just something to do.

At the mention of summer, Dulce’s hazel eyes immediately went over to Delilah. Dulce had tutored her over the summer just as she had the summer previous and during the last couple of school years. But this summer had been different. Delilah had been different. Dulce finally felt like she could call someone in this school a friend, but after what had happened, she wasn’t so sure any longer. And it was Dulce’s fault.

Delilah had kissed her.

Dulce, at the time, hadn’t known it was coming or what to do after it was done. Maybe she should have seen it coming and stopped it, but Dulce had been oblivious to Deiliah’s feelings. She didn’t even understand why the other sixth year felt that way towards her. She wasn’t questioning the homosexuality of it. Dulce had no issues with those who had feelings toward the same sex. She just couldn’t grasp someone seeing her as a person to have feelings towards.

After the kiss had happened and Delilah had told her about her feelings, Dulce had just sat there. Dulce had felt guilt, real guilt, over not having feelings towards her. She thought that she should have feelings for Delilah. She even wished that she had those feelings. She didn’t understand what was wrong with her. She didn’t like anyone. Not a single guy. Not a single girl. She had no feelings at all in regards to liking or being interested in a romantic way towards anything.

Dulce had tried to explain to Delilah that she cared about her, but she didn’t have the emotional connections that were needed to sustain such a relationship. It had nothing to do with Delila and everything to do with Dulce. But no matter how much she tried, she was pretty sure she had broken something between herself and Delilah that she could never get back.

She thought of all of this in the mere seconds that she had looked at the Pecari girl before returning her gaze back onto Jane. “It was interesting in some ways, boring in others.” She commented lightly. “My sister’s off to New York with her boyfriend and my brother just started here, so it was a crazy transitional summer.” Dulce explained. “How was yours?”

0 Dulce It'll go quickly 0 Dulce 0 5

Veronica Kerrigan

October 31, 2011 10:50 PM

The end is a bit melodramatic. by Veronica Kerrigan

Summer had brought about a very unexpected revelation. Delilah, her sister, had romantic feelings towards a girl. It was absolutely disgusting! When Delilah had first told her, she couldn’t believe it. She had stood there in absolute shock, attempting to process what had just been said. Sure, she had been concerned over grandmother’s words regarding betrothal. It was going to be their sixth year at school and being sixteen, it was time to make a choice. To be seventeen and still not be betrothed would be an absolute disgrace. She knew their grandmother wanted what was best for them. She wanted to see that they were raised into proper pureblood society. She was already worried about Cassie, who while she associated with a well off young man had yet to become serious. She didn’t want to see the twins fall into the same trap, especially Delilah who had yet to have any prospects.

But seeing as how Delilah had just confessed her attraction to Dulce Garcia, she didn’t think that having prospects was going to be the problem. What was with these Garcias anyhow? First, her stepbrother, Juri, goes off to Juilliard with Adelita Garcia, and now, Delilah and Dulce? Really? When she had gotten over her initial shock, she had even tried to convince Delilah that she was probably just mistaking the feelings of close friendship with something more. She couldn’t possibly think that she really had an interest in girls. It was wrong and she would see that once she spent some time with a couple of suitable young men. She had even set Delilah up on a date with Robert Drakenson of the Georgia Drakensons, the grandson of their grandmother’s best friend. He was heartbreakingly gorgeous with raven hair, deep blue eyes, and a very kissable mouth. Not that she would know from experience or anything. Added on to the fact that he was well educated and from one of the top pureblood families. Yes, he was quite the match.

In fact, Veronica had originally been supposed to go out with him. She had generously given her spot to her sister in an effort to save them both from humiliation. Yet, did Delilah appreciate her generosity? No, she insisted on clinging to this silly notion of love. In doing so, she spoiled everything for them both. Veronica just didn’t understand it. The date had gone well. So well, that when their grandmothers had met for lunch, his had confessed that he had not stopped talking about Delilah and it was looking very well indeed for a formal betrothal. However, when he had asked her out for another evening, Delilah had refused to go. So, now any thought of Delilah marrying Robert and living a normal life were gone along with Veronica’s possibilities with Robert since she had given her sister her place. Though, if she were honest with herself, her interest wasn’t with Robert, but she knew that whom she did like might never be an option.

Her attention was adverted to the announcing of the prefects. She had cared little for the sorting, as the first years were of no major interest. However, this would be someone she would have to work with. Samantha Hamilton. That was really no surprise. The girl was a bit aspiring. On a lesser note, she heard the names of Jane Carey - a good choice, Sophia Randolph – she knew little of the girl and so her opinion on this was yet to be made, and Samuel Bauer – her best friend’s younger sibling – very interesting. All in all, she doubted she would have any trouble from them this year, which was really for the best (as in their best interest) since she had other things to worry about. Then, came the annoying song. She mouthed the words. The blonde was a looker, but a singer she was not. Honestly, if she tried, she would have just been making enemies with how awful her singing voice was. Finally, came the food. It was another chance to be alone with her thoughts. Her green eyes looked over to where Dulce Garcia was sitting. She had never had a problem with the girl before, but now, things were more personal. She was the root of all the evil in Veronica’s life. She hated her! Absolutely hated her!

Her hate was unfortunately interrupted by the presence of another person. Giving a honey-layered smile, one that belied all the fury lying underneath, she asked, “How was your summer?” It was one of the oldest and most annoyingly polite questions ever to ask when returning to school, but it was also one sure to allow her to concentrate on her actual plan to save her sister while the person presumably would go on and on about just how grand it was.

0 Veronica Kerrigan The end is a bit melodramatic. 151 Veronica Kerrigan 0 5

Shiloh

November 01, 2011 9:27 AM

I'll take that as a 'no.' by Shiloh

Shiloh's dark brown eyes widened and her mouth opened in a perfect 'O' of pleasure. A Shield! Her tutor would be so excited if he only knew that at that very moment she was sitting next to a living Shield. She couldn't recall much about the family, although she had a vague inkling that there was something she ought to know about them. She did know, however, that they were on the rare side and very old. Unlike the Romanos, who often had children by the dozen, the Shields had dwindled through the years. Something about marriage choices or the other. . . she couldn't recall.

"That's amazing," she declared, turning in her seat to face him directly. "My geneology book had your family listed as finished."

Now that the color shading from the goblets was beginning to fade, Angel's peculiar features were coming into focus. She knew she oughtn't stare; it was rude, but she couldn't help herself. He was completely white-- and not like the white skin she was used to seeing on her mother's friends, who hid from the sun under brightly colored umbrellas. (Shiloh wasn't supposed to spend time in the sun according to her mother; her olive skin was already predisposed for darkness, her mother would say, she shouldn't exacerbate it.) No, Angel Shield was a different shade of pale, an unworldly sort of non-color that made Shiloh think of unicorns and sugar plum fairies and--

"Oh! No wonder they called you Angel!" she exclaimed. "You're so white, you look like you fell from the sky." Shiloh had been named after a very distant great-aunt who had made a name for herself cultivating thorn-lilies, a sort of lily-rose hybrid that acted rather nastily toward young boys and cats. "Your mother must be awfully romantic."

She spoke without thinking, as was her typical way. Shiloh wasn't silly, necessarily, but she was naive, and as her own life was one of relative happiness and uncomplication, it never occurred to her that others might not live as such. That others might have great hurts or sorrows hidden under their skins. Already, her attention had moved on from Angel's paleness and odd eyes and onto the food he had gathered on his plate. She was reminded of her now very distant breakfast and quite empty stomach. "Is the salmon good? I do like salmon, but my mother says that prairie-elves make the worst cooks and that nothing beats a good wizard in the kitchen."

0 Shiloh I'll take that as a 'no.' 0 Shiloh 0 5

Topher

November 01, 2011 10:25 AM

Just a little, yeah by Topher

Topher realized he had been taken literally, and hesitated for a moment before answering Fae's question. He didn't even know why. Caroline was something he'd always sort of known about, Mom being under the mistaken impression that he shared her interest in her ex-boyfriend's kid, but had also known that he was not to talk about. Russell and Mellie and the Rush girls didn't know, his own cousins, as far as he knew, didn't know. He remembered his parents getting married and the debate over what to call him and - very vaguely - someone he thought was Daniel visiting them and feeling confused that the person didn't come anymore, but everyone else had been presented with his parents as his parents and the rest just hadn't ever come up, especially with his parents and grandparents pointedly shutting down any conversation that might lead to the issue.

"No," he said. "Haven't got one. That's why she couldn't get betrothed, see?"

He nodded about Dad's job. "Yeah. He used to have really weird hours, you know, being called at three in the morning and stuff, but he's been with that office long enough that now, his shifts and call times are better and he has like every other day in the office." There was clear pride in his voice as he said that. It wasn't like Dad had really taken the easy route to it, either, but it was how he said it was: if you worked long and hard enough, things usually got better and more like what you wanted.

What her dad did, though, did, as she said, sound like less fun to hang out in than the fairly cheerful office Dad worked in. He didn't know his history very well despite Mrs. Ballard's best efforts, having twisted events in renactment and then forgotten the real version, but he did know that there had been enough rebellions and riots and wars and stuff for it to probably be an uncomfortable, very formal job at best. "I don't like how they look at you at the bank," he admitted when she admitted goblins scared her. "Almost like they think you stole something. Or maybe Mom's just special and they don't look at everyone like that, I don't know."

Before Fae could answer about intermediates, Alice joined the conversation. "What she said, basically," he said when Fae explained what he'd meant by his inquiry. "Especially when you're me and kind of mediocre anyway." Mom insisted he could do better, but he just didn't have that kind of focus on his studies. "Good seeing you again, Alice. Did you get any good pictures this summer?"

0 Topher Just a little, yeah 0 Topher 0 5

Angel

November 01, 2011 11:21 AM

... by Angel

Her reaction to his surname was so unexpected that Angel almost glanced up to look at her full on to see if she was serious. Lady Cynthia had taken vicious delight in telling him how the other Pure students would shun him for his birth and all that it signified. Even the muggleborn trash would shun him because he was clearly wrong, from his skin, to his blood red eyes, to his mental and physical defects. All of these things would act as a wall between him and everyone else according to Lady Cynthia. That the girl recognized his name indicated she was Pure, and Angel wondered at her strange reaction.

Romantic? It is as good a word as any Angel thought quietly as Shiloh exclaimed over his given name. It wasn’t a word he knew the definition of, but it was spoken kindly and had a pleasant ring to it unlike the words others often associated with his mother. “Dead” The word slipped out almost unnoticed. Angel wasn’t the type to speak unless answering a direct question but sill the single word fell from his pale lips. She’d died two years ago, of some sort of wasting sickness. It had taken her quickly, over the course of only a month, and by the time Lady Cynthia had returned for his normal check up she had passed on. Why Lady Cynthia had decided to take him with her when she left Angel would never know.

Still Shiloh talked on, and Angel listened. “Good.” He agreed in his soft voice. It was particularly bland, which agreed with his stomach, and seems he’d never eaten something not cooked by elves, he had nothing to compare it to. It didn’t occur to Angel to think that something acceptable to his touchy pallet would probably be horribly tasteless to someone who could eat normally.

0 Angel ... 0 Angel 0 5

Sophie Jamison

November 01, 2011 7:29 PM

Ooh, food! by Sophie Jamison

It was true what they said, to be careful what one wished for. Sophie had, when she was young, hoped for a mother. Her feelings seemed like they would always conflict, whether it was hatred or longing for her own mom, or desire or distain for a new maternal figure. When the then-child had finally realized that maybe her mother wasn’t waking back up any time soon, she had wanted her back. Then she wanted a new mother to come take care of her.

She was worried now that it was happening, and the blonde was dreading it. Her father had been so distracted over the summer, and although there had been no real indication of a new woman in his life, only a man in love zoned out like that. This realization donned on her during the carriage ride to Sonora. A woman… This had to be it. Someone had to be moving in on her father.

She didn’t like it.

The blonde pushed it all out of her mind when she entered the Cascade Hall; it was as beautiful as ever. Grinning at the familiar school, she gave her best friend Ryan a quick hug and hello before running over to the Pecari table. Her blue eyes glanced over to the staff table to check out the seemingly never-ending changes.

Per usual, there were at least a couple faces she knew, and there were some that were missing. Like McKindy! Sophie pouted internally at that one; she had really liked her Head of House. Another missing was Regal, who’d dropped off the face of the planet sometime during the previously term, and also the temporary/former Headmistress, Sadi Powell. Year four; third Head, thought the fourteen year old. Bring it on.

She didn’t like singing the stupid song, but she did. It apparently meant things to people, and she didn’t particularly want to annoy anyone. Not on the first day back, that was. Food came eventually, which made her happy. Despite her small size, Sophie was always up for a meal.

Munching happily, she heard a voice beside her. “Evening. Have a good summer?” He was younger than her she knew, but she didn’t know his name off memory. A “Q” was involved somewhere, she thought. “It was all right, I s’pose,” answered the blonde, her English, as usual, accented with her melting post of English, Californian, and German. “How was yours?”

“I’m Sophie Jamison, by the way,” she noted before he could answer about his own summer. “Oh, sorry,” she added, realizing how rude that probably was. “Go ahead and answer now. How was your summer?” While it was his turn to speak, Sophie took another bite to keep herself from interrupting.

12 Sophie Jamison Ooh, food! 34 Sophie Jamison 0 5

Jose Hernandez

November 01, 2011 8:01 PM

Heading up one last year by Jose Hernandez

Jose returned back to Sonora with a brown cast encasing his wrist. Names and get well wishes were scrawled across it. Beneath the cast, his arm was perfectly intact, but too many muggles had seen him fall off the tightrope and land on his left hand to have forgone the cast entirely. The snapping sound his wrist made as it bent in a direction it was never supposed to bend was not one that Jose would forget soon and there had been no question it was broken.

The ambulance ride would have been really awesome if his arm hadn't hurt so much. The ER took him pretty quickly, casted him up, and he was home before dark. He was very grateful for that because it meant he could see the mediwitch to actually fix his wrist and after that the cast was merely a formality. Fortunately, he'd turned seventeen at the end of March, so he was able to relieve the itching with magic whenever he needed to.

He could have removed it before coming to Sonora. He'd had a few days without the muggles around, but he'd decided to he'd wait and get some more signatures first. It wouldn't be a proper momento without his Sonoran friends' names on it. He was graduating at the end of the year after all. This couldn't have happened at a better time (unless, of course, it had happened in practice instead of in front of an audience).

At the new Headmistress's invitation, he went up to get his new Head Boy badge. He fumbled a little with the clasp, but got it on, congratulated Marissa and the new prefects, then headed back to the Pecari table. He hoped, too, that maybe the cast would make him a little less scary to approach for the new first years.

At the table, he took a seat next to Tawny, and since she'd been his date to two balls and his longest standing friend, he figure it was only right that she got to sign the cast first. He waited for the song to finish (he sang competently) and then, once the food had appeared, he held the cast out toward her and offered a black marker with his other hand. "Wanna sign it?" he asked. It didn't even occur to him that she might not know what a cast was.

1 Jose Hernandez Heading up one last year 149 Jose Hernandez 0 5

Andrew Duell

November 01, 2011 9:57 PM

Prefecting by Andrew Duell

Andrew had the best summer of his life. Granted, most of his summers weren't that terribly exciting, but this one was awesome. Even better though, was coming back to school. He had been communicating all summer with his new girl, Marissa, and now he was going to see her again. This was going to be a great year. It had better be, it was going to be his last one here. RATS looming at the end of the year didn't even deter him. This would be great.

He arrived at the school and immediately began scanning the arriving students for Marissa. He spotted his cousin, Jhon, first. She was already looking for her first victim. He sighed and kept looking for his girl. Next he saw Jose and waved to his friend and continued his quest. He finally spotted her across the room, she looked more beautiful than he remembered. Unfortunately before he could make his way over to her, duty called. Everyone was being seated and the sorting was beginning. He found a seat at the Teppenpaw table near empty seats so that he could help the freshly sorted firsties if the need arose.

As the opening ceremonies went as they normally went. He watched the first years get sorted and made careful note of the yellow ones as they found their way to the table. Profess... Headmistress Kijewski began her speech and that distracted him from the students actually sitting down at the table. He cheered loudly for Jose and Marissa claiming their badges, and applauded the new prefects. Jane would make an excellent Teppenpaw prefect.

Great, they were going to sing again. It wasn't exactly Andrew's favorite tradition, but he was a prefect and had to set a good example. He sang along with the others, and felt sorry for those around him who had to listen to it. The food appeared and he finally could get to look at the first years sitting near him. Something was not quite right. One of the first years at the table was quite clearly red. She was chatting with a rather downcast looking very pale, yellow boy. Looks like his girl had lost one of her new wards.

He took some food and smiled at the two of them before interjecting, "I apologize for interrupting, I'm Andrew Duell, your seventh year Teppenpaw prefect." He directed his attention toward the girl, "I believe you've gotten a little turned around. The opening feast is designed so that you can meet all your new housemates that you will be spending much of your time with while you are here at school. If you like I can escort you over to the Crotalus table." The boy didn't look terribly social, and he knew what that was like, he really hated to break them up... but it was his responsibility to make sure people got to where they were supposed to be.

Turning back to the boy, "I am sorry, but you will have plenty of time later on to talk, you will have plenty of classes and such together."

2 Andrew Duell Prefecting 145 Andrew Duell 0 5

Arabella

November 02, 2011 1:43 AM

I suppose so. by Arabella

Arabella smiled back. Jhonice seemed pleasant enough and she was apparently a second year and not, apparently, a proper member of society. This could be a good thing, seeing as overly proper people were too boring. Which worried Arabella a bit. What if the other girl thought she was boring or stuck up? At the same time, Arabella wouldn't want someone looking down on her if she didn't introduce herself correctly. Not that they should have, she had the Brockert last name which was well known.

Of course, nobody had ever acted like the Pecari was beneath them before, aside from Carrie, who did not count. If that dreadful girl disliked Arabella-and logically speaking, the first year could see why her cousin didn't like her as who really liked being punched in the nose or liked someone who did such a thing to them?-then the first year had to be doing something right.

However, Arabella had been sorted into Pecari. She doubted anyone would be pleased about that. So maybe other people from backgrounds similar to her own wouldn't like her? Granted, if they were the super proper prissy princess sort, Arabella was probably not going to get on with them anyway and if people disliked her, she probably didn't need them anyway. She wasn't Ryan, who was desperate to be liked and accepted. Oh, the Pecari knew where her cousin was coming from, and she liked him, but they were different. So long as Arabella had some friends and wasn't a total outcast, she'd be happy.

The one thing she didn't like about her sorting was that this had been the house that Aunt Pearl had been in. Arabella did not want anyone thinking she was like that horrid woman at all. That was worse than being scorned by any prissy stuck-up princess. She seriously doubted though, considering the amount of time in between the two of them that she would be associated with Aunt Pearl. There had been a ton of Brockerts who had attended Sonora since then, including some who'd been sorted into Pecari.

"It's nice to meet you too, Jhonice." She considered the older girl's question. "It seems great so far. I mean, I haven't been here long enough to really form much of an impression, but the food seems good enough and the hall is certainly...nice." Arabella looked around at the Hall. Decor wasn't something she paid much attention to, food interested her slightly more but she had to say something. "Oh, and the ride on the wagons was fun."

11 Arabella I suppose so. 217 Arabella 0 5

Shiloh

November 02, 2011 7:33 AM

Being prefected. by Shiloh

It only took two bites of the salmon for Shiloh to reach for first the salt and then the pepper. A hopeful scan of the table secured a lemon wedge as well, and once she was done with the additions, she found the fish far more palatable. She decided, though, that it would be rude to question Angel's tastes; she had only just met him after all, and her mother always said that it's the first impression that decides a relationship for life. If she wanted to make friends, she would need to more careful of what she said.

She paused mid-bite; perhaps she had already made a mistake? She had commented on his skin, which, if she recalled, was one of those topics of address she was supposed to avoid. Concered, she replaced her fork and folded her hands primly on her lap. "I hope I didn't offend you just now," she said with great earnestness, probably far more than necessary. "We did just meet after all, and I didn't give you a chance to ask me anything. So please, ask me whatever you--"

Shiloh lifted large brown eyes to the seemingly looming prefect and listened, growing ever more chagrined and crestfallen as he continued. She nodded meekly when he had finished and stood to leave. She hesitated only a second, looking back at Angel and considering what she should say. Thank you? Talk to you later? I really do like your name? Instead, she gave him a small smile and then trotted over toward the correct table.

It was, she thought to herself, awfully too bad. She thought she had been well on her way to making her first friend at Sonora.

0 Shiloh Being prefected. 0 Shiloh 0 5

Sullivan Quincy

November 02, 2011 12:00 PM

Food is good by Sullivan Quincy

He kind of, sort of recognized the girl he'd spoken to. He thought she was one of the people on the Quidditch team. He was pretty sure, though, that she was enough older than him that they hadn't shared any classes last year. She didn't seem to mind talking with a second year non-Quidditch player, however, so Sullivan counted his seating choice as a success.

"I'm Sullivan Quincy, by the way," he put in first, since that was how she had offered her introduction. "Most people call me Sully."

"My summer was pretty good," he continued, answering the question she'd asked him twice. Her answer hadn't been very long, so he wasn't sure how much detail she wanted to hear. He figured a little more wouldn't hurt, though. "Mom's got a new boyfriend and this one seems pretty serious. Even Karen likes him. My sister, I mean. She usually doesn't like the boyfriends."

Sullivan filled up a fork full of appetizing pasta, and decided talking could take a temporary backseat to eating. If Sophie didn't take the opportunity to move the conversation onward, he'd talk more about his summer after he finished chewing.

1 Sullivan Quincy Food is good 207 Sullivan Quincy 0 5

Henny B-F-R

November 02, 2011 2:59 PM

Don't shatter her illusions people - just smile and nod... by Henny B-F-R

Kitty, it seemed, was almost Henny's exact opposite. She'd listed as favourites the two classes that Henny was most dreading. Kitty did mention that first years were started out on 'smaller creatures.' Smaller was often, though not always an indicator of 'less dangerous' – doxies were little but they gave nasty bites – but she assumed Kitty meant the latter. Of course, a girl who allowed metal balls to be hit at her for fun possibly had a slightly different parameter for what she considered dangerous than Henny, who would not even put herself in the same arena as such objects. However, she was pleased to note that Kitty was enthusiastic about all their classes. Whilst most people would think it natural for an Aladren to effuse about such things, Henny thought it indicated that the classes were challenging and well-taught.

The older girl then returned the subject to flying. Flying and Quidditch were, of course, different and it was perfectly acceptable for ladies of proper breeding to fly, especially as it was part of wizarding heritage. However, Henny did not think it a particularly safe move. Though, as noted, 'safe' did not seem to be very high up on Kitty's agenda.

“I was taught the basics,” she nodded, in wizarding families it was like learning to ride a bike (which she had also done), “But I don't have much of a head for heights, so really it doesn't suit me terribly well.” Heights was just the start of a rather long list of things that Henny did not have a head, or in some cases stomach, for. She hoped none of the other things would come up, as she didn't want to look like a complete wuss in front of her new classmates, even if she was one.

13 Henny B-F-R Don't shatter her illusions people - just smile and nod... 211 Henny B-F-R 0 5

Thad Pierce

November 02, 2011 5:49 PM

Smiles and nods by Thad Pierce

Pierces were not permitted to be afraid of anything. Pierces were certainly not permitted to admit they were afraid of anything. If they did ever express an uneasiness against something that proper wizards were not supposed to be uneasy about, they were placed in harm's way until the uneasiness passed. It was for that reason and that reason only that Thad had more of a 'head for heights' than Henny professed.

Falling off a broom at three years old from twenty feet up with no adult supervision would do that to anyone. Had Derry not manifested one of the more impressive displays of accidental magic to save him, Thad very well may not have survived that fall. Though Father and Mother had shown an express lack of interest in his broom riding prior to that point, they had both made sure he spent at least three hours in the air a day for the next year, to make sure Thad's development as a broom-riding wizard was not stunted by a childhood accident.

Now, all that remained was a respect for heights and the consequences of falling that made the idea of actual Quidditch playing with actual bludgers moderately less appealing than most boys his age experienced. But flying itself, with proper safety measures observed, didn't bother him anymore. And just to prove that he wasn't scared of Quidditch, he might have to sign up as an alternate or something on the Aladren team.

The fact that Derry wasn't afraid didn't mean anything - Derry wasn't smart enough to know when to be afraid - but the other Aladrens surely knew the risks and may judge him based on his not taking them. Derry had said there were Careys on the team, and a Pierce could not do anything less than a Carey did.

"I've always enjoyed flying with my cousin," Thad said, and if the word 'always' made the statement not strictly true in a literal sense, he had enjoyed it for long enough that the early years had ceased to matter. He barely remembered those anyway. "I expect flying lessons to be a breeze." He wasn't sure if he should smile to indicate that he had made a joke, or keep a serious face in case the others had no more sense of humor than most of his family.

He opted to avoid the smile. If they did turn out to like jokes, he could cultivate being the deadpan guy. Plus, if he wasn't as funny as he thought he was, nobody would realize he'd just failed at another socialization activity. He was doing so well tonight. It would be terrible to mess it up now.

1 Thad Pierce Smiles and nods 213 Thad Pierce 0 5

Angel

November 02, 2011 6:58 PM

... by Angel

Had she said something offensive? Angel didn’t believe so. He watched her out of the corner of his eye as she stopped eating and put her hands in her lap. The tone Shiloh used had changed greatly and Angel waited to see if she would begin crying. Lady Cyntha never cried, but his mother cried often even if she’d been laughing a moment before. Radical mood swings were something Angel had come to expect from females, though Lady Cyntha seemed to be stuck on angry more often than not. So, Shiloh’s shift in mood, though less great than he’d become accustomed to didn’t bother him.

Her next words however, bothered the young Pureblood greatly. “We did just meet after all, and I didn’t give you a chance to ask me anything. So please, ask me whatever you –“ The request was by far the most open ended thing anyone had ever said to Angel and he was ill equipped to handle it. Ask her anything? Words, painfully slippery things flitted though his mind as he tried to gather enough of them to form some sort of patch work question.

He let the hastily gathered words slip away when a new voice, older and male interrupted their stilted conversation (well her talking and he listening). Tilting his head slightly to the side Angel studied the new arrival as he pointed out that Shiloh was sitting and the wrong table. After setting the girl to rights the older boy directed his attention to Angel and apologized for making her go while assuring him that they could speak again at some point in the near future. Angel gave a small nod of understanding as he watched Shiloh stand while keeping his eyes down cast. Her lips turned up to form a small smile, and after a delayed moment his lips mimicked hers. After she left he picked up his fork and took a small bite of the rice.

0 Angel ... 0 Angel 0 5

Jhonice

November 02, 2011 7:43 PM

What would make it more exciting? by Jhonice

Jhonice remembered the first time she had walked through those doors and been to the opening feast, it seemed like such a short time ago, but it had already been an entire year. Her Aunt Gwen had told her all about Sonora by that point, she wondered what had Arabella been told. It occurred to her that this might be an excellent question for the girl, so she helped herself to some of the food and began to work around to the question.

"Yeah, the wagon rides are great! Except they get a little long the whole way from Oregon." She caught herself from asking how long Arabella had been on them. She was from the Colorado Brockerts, so obviously from Colorado. Duh. "I guess Colorado was a similar trip." Now she could lead into her real question, she was getting good at this. "Did your family tell you much of what to expect when you got here? My aunt had gone here years and years ago, she was in Pecari just like us. She filled me in on all sorts of stuff before I got here. It was great."

She started eating, very politely and lady-like. She was in the presence of a Brockert, she had to make a good impression. That unfortunately did not allow her to jot down notes in her notebook as she interviewed Arabella. She would have to remember everything again. She really needed to come up with a better way to do these impromptu interviews.

2 Jhonice What would make it more exciting? 209 Jhonice 0 5

Reggie

November 02, 2011 9:15 PM

And rightly so! by Reggie

Reggie also felt that her summer sounded great. Maybe redundant in some ways, but definitely great. Some people might have felt that her life wasn’t lived to the fullest because of her mother’s ever present absence, but Reggie felt like her life was pretty darn good. She knew kids who had both parents, but didn’t really know and vice versa. They were just like mini robots, doing their parents bidding because that’s what they assumed society wanted. Reggie was happy and she had a fantastic relationship with her dad, extended family, and even with her absentee mother. “It was pretty great.” She agreed.

Her hazel eyes widened when Derry said that he had gone hiking. Reggie had gone hiking when they had gone to Yosemite. She wished they had gone again this year, but it was too much travel and money for them to do every year, so they had just gone last summer and possibly again before the end of her schooling at Sonora. Instead of going to a big national park, they had gone to a campground near Mount Rushmore. Only five hours from home, nothing her father and her couldn’t handle.

And then she remembered that Derry lived on a mountain. His whole family did. Just remembering it blew her mind all over again. She had completely dismissed this knowledge after Derry had originally divulged it back on their very first day at Sonora. She almost giggled when he mentioned Hamlet. She still found it rather amusing that Derry was tutored by the ghost of Hamlet. “Your family tutor is very strict.” Reggie commented lightly. “Popsicle was just happy I had an A and higher in all my classes. I mean, he says that he knows that I can get Es and Os if I really tried, but the fact that I’m not failing is pretty sizzle too.”

She focused over in the area that Derry was indicating and figured the boy in the group of new Aladren first years clumped together must have been the one that was Derry’s cousin. “I don’t know my cousins, if I even have any.” Reggie’s father was an only child, but she knew her mother had family she had and never will meet and that included some siblings. “Is he as much of a Huzzah as we are?” She said ‘huzzah’ with oomph to explain that it was a word to mean awesome.

6 Reggie And rightly so! 187 Reggie 0 5

Alexandra Devereaux

November 02, 2011 11:11 PM

Not the best beginning... by Alexandra Devereaux

As she walked into the Cascade Hall, her hands folded demurely in front of her just in case they decided to be the way girls’ hands were in novels and shake so she could hide it from everyone else, Alex Devereaux didn’t know what House she was about to become a member of, but she did know what family she already didn’t belong to. Whatever else she was, she wasn’t a Carey.

She was named for one – her grandfather was Alexander Carey, the patriarch of the Louisiana Careys. She had been raised around them, almost by them, and had just spent two weeks of her summer at another Carey branch’s estate. Her mother was one, despite her long marriage to Daddy. But Alex – Alexandra Susan Devereaux – was not a Carey, and she couldn’t help but feel bitter anger in the bottom of her stomach as she lined up beside the other first years for her Sorting potion because the only reason she was at school was because of that fact.

Lissy had asked Grandfather to go to school, and had been told no, but a year later, Alex had heard yes. All year, Grandfather had been telling her about how she was to be the first person they had sent outside since her uncle, the first girl since her own mother, how it was her responsibility to be an ambassador for the Louisiana Careys and represent them well in the world outside the family. She had been proud, too, until the letter came and she heard her parents shouting at each other, and her father had said that her grandfather was being cautious, taking a risk, but not with someone who he would mind seeing fall. Just with…the Devereaux girl.

She hadn’t wanted to believe it, but it made sense. Lissy was a perfect lady, much more perfect than Alexandra could ever be, so if he was really worried about showing the world that the Careys could still have proper daughters, he would have sent Lissy, not her. He would have sent a real Carey and not her. So here she was, all dressed up, taller than many in the line in her dark green robes, her smooth brown hair not quite reaching past her lace collar to her shoulders and something like resentment in her large brown eyes as she took a cup of potion from the Deputy Headmistress and swallowed it.

A moment later, she turned red. Crotalus, then. Just like Mother.

That was the only thing she had in common with Mother, she thought sourly as she made her way over to that table. Physically, she was more like Daddy, and her hair and eyes were her best features. They didn’t match her long, angular face, with its high cheekbones and sharp chin and slightly beaky nose. They were Devereaux looks, not Carey ones. No match for Theresa, pretty as a doll as she joined the Pecaris, or Mother, or even blunt-featured, pale-haired Lucille, much less Lissy, and she found herself feeling self-conscious about that. She had always known she wasn’t pretty, but it was new for so many other people to know it, too.

So, though she clapped for a Carey prefect and sang along through the school song, when the boys in her House began talking to an older boy, Alex just listened rather than putting herself forward, and started when she realized someone was speaking to her, or at least in her direction. “I’m sorry?” she said, just the way Mother did, words and inflections and all, even the smile like her mother’s, though her mouth was far too wide and thin to really compare to Mother's. “I was woolgathering for a moment.”

0 Alexandra Devereaux Not the best beginning... 0 Alexandra Devereaux 0 5

Andrina Thornton

November 03, 2011 1:29 AM

The Diagnosis by Andrina Thornton

Andrina and her sisters spent the summer holidays playing with their younger siblings and helping out with the triplets. Audi and Ashling had finally been diagnosed as deaf and blind. The family as a whole rallied to their sides. Andri took it upon herself to learn Sign Language and Braille that year so that when she came home she would be able to teach it to the girls as well as the others. Thus far she’d made good on her word and had spent a good potion of the last week or two of the holidays learning and teaching the other kids some important Sign Language words. In her opinion, the best part of it all was that Audi at almost two was actually picking up on some of it. Andri could see the light of understanding turn on in her little sister’s mind and the eleven year old couldn’t help but smile.

As the day the girls were to go to school loomed ever closer Andri packed her things in her trunk as well as into the sky blue backpack that she always carried. She gently placed her Sign Language and Braille dictionaries as well as her green notebook inside the backpack before zipping it closed once more.

The eleven year old was excited to finally get to go with her older sisters, but at the same time she realized that it would be months before she could teach anything more to Audi or Ashling. The redheaded girl hugged her other siblings one at a time leaving Ashling and Audi for last. She clung to the pair of them and in Sign Language she told Audi that she loved her. The grin on Audi’s face made leaving them that much harder. Andri knew she had to do it though. She waved ‘goodbye’ to Audi and Audi started to cry. Her tears quickly moved to screams with tears falling fast down her cherub like cheeks and Andri looked helplessly at Addison. Addison had been standing there trying to hurry Andri along and Addi held out her hand to Andri.

“She’ll be fine Andri. She will.” Addi said, leading Andri away from the triplets, pulling her trunk behind them. The first year sniffled as her older sister led her away, but she nodded, knowing that Addison was right.

“Ready to go sis?” Arista asked Andri when Addi and Andri arrived at the door.

“Ready as I’ll ever be…” Andri answered her oldest sister.

Moments later the oldest four Thornton girls were loaded in the van and their father was driving down the road to go meet the wagon. Audi and Analea stood together in the driveway looking forlorn as their older sisters left. The pair waved until they could not see them anymore. The whole ride to the wagon, Andri stared out the window while the other three chatted happily about their return to Sonora. When they arrived the wagon was waiting for them so their father and the wagon master lugged all four trunks to their spots and the girls got in, Andri pulling up the rear.

The girls got in amongst the other students on board and sat down across from each other. Arista and Addi sat on one side and Amira and Andri sat on the opposite side as those were the closest four seats to each other left. Andri looked around the Wagon at all the other children headed with her to school. She wondered which of them were first years like herself and which ones were older like her sisters. She figured she’d know that eventually, so she shrugged it off. Instead she turned her attention to the boy sitting in the corner of the wagon all by himself. His skin was so white and his eyes red. Andri could tell that the boy didn’t want to be interrupted but she couldn’t help it. She was absolutely fascinated by him! She was a good girl however and did not bother him on the train. The way she saw it, she had all year to befriend the boy, so why do it now?

The rest of the ride was uneventful, though Andri spent it just listening to all the chatting around her and looking at the boy in the corner. All the other kids got out of the wagon before she and her sisters did. She couldn’t help but notice that the boy she’d been staring at had been drawing through the ride. She didn’t want to go over to him and interrupt, she knew better than to do that. Though as he walked out of the wagon he dropped a bit of paper on the floor and she reached over and picked it up. What she saw on the page shocked her.

There she was in the middle of his page…

He’d even drawn her to a tee…

Shocked, she put the paper in her backpack and let her older sisters lead her out of the Wagon and into the school where they left her with the other first years. Amira, Addison and Arista went in without her and suddenly the usually excitable eleven year old was nervous. She could even consider herself scared. It seemed like this was the first and only time in her life she’d felt like that and she was surely not liking the butterflies in her stomach. She stood among the other first years and when they were led in she looked up at the formidable woman in front of them. The Headmistress was in dark green robes and her curls were soft as she smiled at them.

Andri, still nervous, looked at her as she started to speak. The redheaded eleven year old listened with great intent to her words and nodded at the right moments. She loved to learn and this would not change. Rules were rules and she needed to know them to show her sisters that she could truly be there like them. Sure, Arista and Amira played Quidditch, she wanted to as well. Addi was like the momma there at school and she wanted to show her that she loved her too.

However, Headmistress Kijewski only welcomed them, introduced herself and looked towards Andri and the other first years. “Okay, so we’re supposed to go drink this potion and turn colors?” she said to the first year standing next to her. “Hm…” She said, thinking about the logic to this and wondered if she’d stay whichever color until she heard Kiva say that the color change is only temporary. Andri nodded and smiled. “Of course it’s only temporary! Amira, Addi and Arista didn’t come home different colors when they were first years!” she said happily bubbling with excitement once again.

Andri went up for her potion as almost the first one, though some other students beat her up there. She drank hers right away and turned to look at Arista, Addison and Amira around the room and she smiled down at them, then at her arm which had turned a shade of blue. She glanced back up towards Amira and the other Pecari's. “Blue!? Look! Mir, I’m a Smurf!” she said, giggling as she ran off with the other blue students. Her smile grew from ear to ear as the realization hit. She had a place. She belonged to Aladren House! The diagnosis here was clear.

She was super excited to talk to the other blue students, but as soon as they all got to their right groups the Headmistress spoke once more. Andri looked up and with a smile, waved to the new staff members, head boy and girl, new prefects too. Once the older students returned to their seats, Kiva went on talking about the Midsummer Event and then started the school song as sheet music appeared in front of each of them. Without knowing all the words to the song, she sang just as loud as the others.

Food appeared once the song ended and Kiva concluded her speech and sat down. “Nice! Look at all this food!” she said excitedly to the boy next to her. The redhead smiled as she saw the bowl of spaghetti on the other side of the boy. “Oooh! Can you pass the pasketti please?” she said, speaking so fast that the word came out wrong.

0 Andrina Thornton The Diagnosis 214 Andrina Thornton 0 5

Andrew

November 03, 2011 12:58 PM

Feeling bad about the Prefecting by Andrew

Andrew felt sorry for the girl, she seemed to practically wither as he addressed them. He'd think the boy looked unhappy at his as well, but he had been staring at his plate since he arrived at the table. He hoped they wouldn't be to mad at him for doing his job, it was his last year hear and he didn't really want to go out being known as the horrible and cruel prefect. The girl had dashed off so fast he wasn't sure, he had actually not expected her to leave right away. Oh well, he watched her go and made sure she made her way to the right table. He considered going along with her just to make sure, and to visit Marissa, but escorting her seemed a bit unnecessary. So he turned his attention back to the boy. He caught the brief smile the two had exchanged before they parted, that was good.

"So," He began, he thought he should converse with the boy now since he chased away the girl, but wasn't entirely sure what to say. He really hadn’t seemed all that talkative to the girl, he could imagine being that much more for him. He should at least try, introductions would be good to start, yeah. “In case you’re interested, out head of house is Professor Crosby,” he pointed her out at the staff table, “The other prefects are Dulce Garcia and Jane Carey,” He indicated the two girls sitting at the table chatting with each other. “And, if you’re into Quidditch, Kirstenna Melcher is our team captain, and Kate Bauer is the assistant coach. They’ll be holding try-outs soon.” He paused for a moment then added, “Let me know if I can be of any help.”

2 Andrew Feeling bad about the Prefecting 145 Andrew 0 5

Angel

November 04, 2011 8:41 AM

... by Angel

The small pile of white rice had shrunk to nearly half its size, and most of the equally small portion of salmon was gone when the older boy chose to speak again. Angel was forced to glance up to see who the boy was pointing out as those he should be aware of. One of the adults who was his new head of house, and two older females who shared the title Perfect with the boy, and lastly another female who was the leader of the Quidditch team. After getting a good look Angel let his eyes drop again.

“Let me know if I can be of any help.” The boy stated, and Angel set his fork down and pushed his plate away a few inches as he tried to find the proper words for his question. Words were slippery difficult things, that didn’t wish to be captured and used. His primary caregiver when he’d lived with his mother had been an old house elf that didn’t have any experience in dealing with children. As a result the creature treated him more like an unwanted pet that a beloved child had brought home instead of a baby. Unfortunately most of his speech patterns were based off of this creature, whose own speech patterns were even more abrupt than most elves due to dealing with his mother.

“Angel, for Merlin’s sake it’s better to be thought a fool than to open your mouth and prove it.” Lady Cynthia’s harsh words rang loudly in his mind, it was one of her favorite things to say when Angel was forced to give more than a one word answer to a question. When she’d taken him in and heard him speak for the first time, Lady Cynthia began talking at him, never having a true conversation with the child. She would give orders, or make demands, but rarely asked anything that required more than a yes or no answer.

Taking a slow breath Angel said “No good flying….Must?” He kept his gaze down, but one ghostly hand came up and he nibbled on his thumb nail as he waited for the angry response to his poor verbal skills. The rest of his nails had been chewed ragged, evidence of his nervous habit. Flying would be a dangerous task for the young albino who had spells of dizziness from time to time that led to more than one instance of passing out. That and his eyes were very light sensitive, he took a potion for it, but outside he required dark glasses to see in the brightest sunlight. If the glasses were knocked off during a game he would be blind. Angel would play if it was required of him, but he hoped it wasn’t.

0 Angel ... 0 Angel 0 5

Andrew

November 04, 2011 12:59 PM

Responding by Andrew

Andrew really wasn't quite sure to make of the boy in front of him. After finally getting a look at the boy's eyes he knew he was an albino. Unfortunately Andrew didn't know much about the condition past that it existed. Up until now the only other 'albino' he'd seen was when he had watched The Princess Bride at his dad's place. Good movie, but it was a movie. He wasn't sure if there were other medical conditions that went along with the condition or not, did that explain the boy's lack of... energy? Maybe not directly, but he supposed it could indirectly. It made him different, and thus made it harder to socialize and such.

It wasn't something to dwell on though, he'd find out one way or another if necessary. Right now, he'd been asked a question. Hopefully he'd figured out what the question meant with the sparse phrasing. "Well, you don't have to join the Quidditch team," he responded with a smile, "but all the first years do take flying lessons from Coach Pierce." He pointed out the Deputy Headmistress who had also distributed the sorting potion. "The requirements for that are fairly simple. Usually she just wants to see if you can ride a broom from one side of the pitch to the other a few feet off the ground."

2 Andrew Responding 145 Andrew 0 5

David

November 04, 2011 8:12 PM

winces Yes? by David

The strange word was enough to draw David away from his staring and back to the present. "Pasketti?" he repeated, brow furrowed in brief confusion. The request had come from a girl he didn't recognize, which probably meant she was a first year. He searched past her grin and to the table, dark eyes finally alighting on the bowl of spaghetti that sat to his left. Spaghetti. That made much more sense. David questioned, briefly, whether or not the girl had been mis-sorted. Baby-talk wasn't exactly a common thing in Aladren. It seemed, with the exception of Kitty McLevy, that most Aladrens fell into two circles on the Venn Diagram of organization: Sullenly Silent and Virulently Verbose. Of course, there was some cross-over between the two camps and Kitty rounded it out as the outlier. David wondered if perhaps, with the addition of this particular first year, he might have to create a new circle of organization.

The thought made him frown disapprovingly, his delicately feminine features becoming unexpectedly mature and masculine with the gesture.

"Here," he said shortly, but not unkindly, handing the large bowl over to the younger girl. He waited until she had served herself-- he resisted returning to his earlier staring at the Crotalus table-- before saying, rather stiltedly, "I'm David Kim, your senior by one year. If you have any questions about Aladren, you can ask."

It wasn't friendliness that provoked the offer. Despite being a third generation Korean-American and living every ounce of the typical American life and knowing only four words in Korean, the very Asian focus on senior-junior relationships had been engrained into his childhood lessons. He had read enough to know that it stemmed from centuries of Chinese agency, namely Confucianism, but even being aware of this cultural conditioning didn't remove its influence on David's life. This part of his nature was often at odds with the strangely fierce individualism that always struck him when confronted with those he believed to think themselves better than him.

0 David *winces* Yes? 0 David 0 5

Angel

November 04, 2011 9:58 PM

... by Angel

The pale boy waited silently for the answer to his question and hoped it had been been understood. Another quick glance up revealed that the Quidditch coach was the same woman who’d given him the sorting potion. Angel felt a small moment of satisfaction that he’d managed to successfully ask his question. It was good he wouldn’t have to play, Angel knew he would be a detriment to the team and would most likely end up hurt.

It sounded like the flying lessons wouldn’t be impossible to accomplish as long as he didn’t have to go too high up. Angel gave a small nod to show he understood. He knew nothing of muggles or muggle borns even though Lady Cynthia spoke harshly about them nearly as much as she did of Angel. He had no feelings on the unknown people one way or the other. But, in the moment he felt a small spark of gratitude for them.

Angel had never been on a broom before. What little he knew of muggle borns was that they did not know of magic prior to coming to school. At least when these lessons took place he wouldn’t be the only person unfamiliar with the art of flying. It was a small thing, but it made the young albino feel a bit better about the prospect.

0 Angel ... 0 Angel 0 5

Alicia

November 05, 2011 3:37 PM

Nods and Smiles. by Alicia

“I wouldn’t be surprised if a breeze was all it took to knock me off the broom,” Alicia said lightly, then flushed slightly. It hadn’t been a very good pun, it had just sort of come out. She decided to ignore the whole effect, just as though she had not turned a bit red at all. “My father taught us a little, but I haven’t been on a broom in years.”

She had liked it, when she was little, but not enough to risk Momma’s disapproval when she wasn’t with Dad, or later even when she was. She knew Rachel did sometimes just fly for fun when they visited their father, but with Kate playing Quidditch, Alicia didn’t want to risk being associated with that. Her mother didn’t want to side absolutely with anyone, but just to stay on the sidelines and not offer a reason for doing so, and Alicia was fine with that. At best, she would be able to lie enough to stay on the right side of everyone who mattered, and at worst, she wouldn’t make any enemies, or at least only a few among people who were way too emotional for their own good.

People got upset about ideas, and Alicia didn’t understand it. Saying or doing some things was easier than others, but really, she had always just gone along with whomever she was with, doing what she had to do in order to be approved of. It almost made her angry, sometimes, seeing how other people seemed to care about so many things, instead of just her one desire to be approved of by authority figures. There was nothing else she could think of that meant that much to her. Certainly not anything to do with who dated girls, except that her mother wouldn’t like it if she did.

Glancing down the table, she saw at least three others – two more girls and another boy. Her face stayed smooth – maybe there was a slight advantage to having worthless losers like Rachel and Kate for sisters; she had long since gotten used to not showing it when she wanted to shriek, much less was mildly annoyed – but she felt a flash of irritation. Thaddeus would only have to share his living space with one person, while she would be in a room with three other girls. Henny seemed all right, much better than having to share a room with Kate like she did at Dad’s, but what if those other girls were just completely unacceptable? She already had a problem with the really pretty one, and she was going to have to be civil all the time.

Sometimes, she really didn’t like the things she had to do to be considered a lady.

She couldn’t see anything else to say about this. “It’s going to be interesting, living with so many people,” she said, groping for something. “I’ve never shared a room before.” She could pretend, anyway. “Do you have any roommates, Kitty? I’m not familiar with the etiquette, I wouldn’t like to do something wrong.” She finished that with a smile to Henny, one which she hoped was more friendly than attempted-reassuring. She didn’t want people to come in assuming she was going to be a bad roommate.

For a moment, it occurred to her that she might not really know what she was doing – that her life at home, annoying sisters and half-brother or none, might not have adequately prepared her for living with and interacting with people at school. Again, that she could make a mistake and that mistake could really matter, instead of just being something they all pretended had never happened the way they did at home.

Then she resolved for it to be silly. Rachel had come to school and done well, and Kate…well, Kate hadn’t yet been thrown out of school or the house, and didn’t seem to hate school the way she should if she were a totally friendless loser that everyone hated. If her stupid sisters could manage this, then she could, too. There was nothing either of them could do that she couldn’t do better, if she decided that she wanted to. That was just the way that it was. If she said something wrong, then she’d just fix it. She took a sip of her drink, feeling determined.

16 Alicia Nods and Smiles. 210 Alicia 0 5

Alice

November 05, 2011 9:42 PM

And it'll only get more complicated. by Alice

When Fae and Topher attempted to explain their position, Alice could do nothing more than stare at them. She didn’t understand why they thought it would be more difficult than they were prepared for. “I suppose that it is true that we will be working with older students, however, we have worked with the classes above us in previous years. Also, if it were that difficult, then the students that have already taken the classes would have not been able to pass. Not to mention the professors would never teach something that we were not yet ready for. It would be silly of them to do so since then we would not be learning anything.” All of this was said in Alice logic and it did make sense. She just didn’t consider the fact that maybe her peers were just nervous at what was to come and should have given them slack for such.

She nodded at Topher. “I think I did.” She wasn’t quite sure since she hadn’t actually developed any of them. “I took some of the various plants that I found around my area. I was hoping to talk to Professor Fawcett soon about some of them. I would like to conduct a research project on some of the substitutions that could be used in potions. Though, someone might ask why that is necessary since the ingredients used obviously work, however, what if there was a shortage of an item? A substitution of an item would be ideal if such an event ever occurred.” Alice bit her lower lip in near disappointment. “I’m not sure if he would allow me to do such a project though. Someone in Aladren would probably be preferable.” She knew that she just wasn’t as intelligent as someone like Arthur Carey, who if they chose to do such a project would most likely excel in the research, but she supposed it wouldn’t hurt to ask.

And now she faltered. What else was she supposed to talk about? It was always so difficult to talk to people when she was unsure of what to say. In the moment of awkwardness, she opted to reach for a fried drumstick. If the conversation was veered towards the educational, she always struggled at what to say. She guessed she could ask about their summers though it seemed to be such a mundane subject. How many people would eventually ask about how someone’s summer was? It seemed to be the number one question asked when arriving back to school. But what if someone had a terrible summer? Then, they would just be constantly reminded of the awfulness of their summer. So, instead, she opted to talk about the future. They were third years now. “Is anyone taking electives? I am taking both Astronomy and Divination in addition to our other classes.”

0 Alice And it'll only get more complicated. 0 Alice 0 5

Valerie Lennox

November 06, 2011 5:27 AM

It's a real accomplishment by Valerie Lennox

The ride to Sonora had not gotten any more pleasant since the last time that Valerie had ridden the flying wagons. She felt nauseous,achy, and tired due to the fact that the trip was so long-for her, anyway-and rough. Not only that but while she was sure that whomever was in charge of keeping the wagons well maintained and clean did their best, it didn't keep the dust from getting in on the way to Sonora. Not only was dirt a breeding ground for germs that would-not could, but would -make Valerie very sick but the dust made her cough a lot as well.

The Crotalus had not really had a very good summer either. Shortly after arriving home, she had had a total relapse of the virus that had an infected her at the end of last term and ended up hospitalized for a few weeks. Then, no sooner had Valerie gotten out then she'd come down with a sore throat and, though she may not have been otherwise hospitalized for that , because she'd had a fever, she'd had to return immediately as she'd been more fragile than usual after the previous infection. Valerie had ended up the last few weeks with an intense stomachache that kept recurring. She could still barely eat and if she'd had anything today, the second year doubted it would have stayed down.

And now she was back at school for her second year. Valerie trudged into the Cascade Hall. Admittedly, she was a bit happy to have made it to this milestone in her life despite feeling so exhausted. There were times in the past twelve years that nobody had thought that Valerie was going to make it that far. That she would not live that long.

But she had and now she was back at Sonora to try and make it through another year of school. Valerie needed to get through it. Needed to handle it okay so her parents would not end up insisting on her quitting and being home schooled. Melanie would be coming next year and Valerie would much prefer to be at Sonora with her sister then.

She made her way over to the Crotalus table and sat down near her roommate, Brianna. Valerie didn't know many people well, she hadn't had an easy time making friends last year with being so ill a good portion of the time and when she wasn't sick and in the Hospital Wing, she was trying to keep up with her school work in order to prove that she could handle it. As the only other person that Valerie might consider a friend was Michael over in Teppenpaw, she figured it was best to stick with her roommates and preferably one that felt more comfortable with.

The second year watched as the students were sorted, though Valerie didn't know any of them at all. She remembered Ryan mentioning at one point towards the end of last year that his cousin-well,both their cousin really, but she was more closely related to the elder Crotalus-Arabella was coming this term but she didn't even know what Arabella looked like. Valerie really didn't go to family events because of the amount of people and risk of disease that accompanied that. Ryan had also mentioned that his sister was going to be in the same class as Melanie but he'd sounded less than thrilled about it. Like he sympathized with Valerie's younger sister or something.

Once the Headmistress had finished talking, the second year looked over at her roommate wondering if she should say something. Valerie avoided looking at the food, as the sight of it made her feel slightly ill, after the weeks of an upset stomach and the rough wagon ride. Brianna turned to her then and asked,

“Hello. Did you have a nice summer?”

Now, how was she going to answer that? Valerie wasn't close enough to tell Brianna to tell her the truth. Certainly the other girl must of noticed how frequently Valerie had gotten ill last year-she had not struck the Crotalus as blind or stupid or oblivious-but it just wasn't something people did, reply to things like that honestly if the answer was negative. Though at home Valerie was often asked specifically how she felt, things were just not like that out in the real world. She certainly didn't want Brianna to think she was complaining or whining. She wanted the other girl to like her.

And it wasn't like Valerie could say that she'd had better summers, because she really hadn't. So, she responded, truthfully, "It could have been better, but it could have been worse. Yours?"

11 Valerie Lennox It's a real accomplishment 204 Valerie Lennox 0 5

Ephanie

November 06, 2011 12:20 PM

Such as? by Ephanie

“Hello, Evan Brockert of the Colorado Brockerts that actually live in Oregon,” Ephanie replied, amused that one would introduce themselves so formally. Were these one of those pureblood types that Phoenix had told her about? He seemed polite enough, however, it was merely an introduction. Though, he didn’t actually ask for her name, she decided to give it anyhow, in the manner that he had given. If she were going to be an actress one day, she should learn how to play every part. “I am Ephanie Lucore of the Georgia Lucores.” She paused pleased with herself for how well she had said it before giggling. “Sorry. I don’t mean to be rude. I just wanted to try introducing myself the way you did. I’m going to be an actress someday so I have to get used to all the different ways to talk.”

The red head picked up the bowl containing the bacon bits and handed them to the boy. “Here you go. They are especially delicious.” They had a bit of a maple flavoring to them and she wondered if they were homemade. At home, her mother insisted that everything they ate be homemade. She didn’t believe in any of those quick and easy, just a point a wand at it meals that were becoming popular on the market. She said that they lacked nutritional quality and besides meals were about family not convenience. Ephanie looked around the table. Since these were the people that she would be eating presumably for the next seven years, did that make them her family? Would they argue like her brother and her did, but still have each other’s backs like when they got in trouble with their parents? Or would it be different?

“What do you think of Sonora so far?” She asked. She had not meant to ask such a commonplace question, as it seemed to take a bit of the mystery away, however, it seemed that she was already talking far more than he was anyhow. “I know it’s not that interesting of a topic, but I was just thinking about how we’ll be spending so much time together and in this place. I think it’s absolutely beautiful and I’m so glad it’s in Arizona. Well, I guess it doesn’t really matter since it’s temperature controlled from what I read, but I went to Connecticut once, because we have relatives there and there was all this snow. The snow was great to look at, but I sure didn’t like the weather. It was much too cold!” She wrapped her arms around herself and shivered just a bit to emphasize the point. “Brrr!”

0 Ephanie Such as? 0 Ephanie 0 5

Fae

November 06, 2011 8:18 PM

Sigh Such is life, I suppose by Fae

“Oh… right. Of course!” Fae said with an ever growing blush of humiliation when Topher informed her that he didn’t have a sister. “You said it so convincingly; I thought for sure I’d missed a conversation where you said you had one.” Fae felt very much like an idiot for having thought that he had a sister. She really hoped that Topher could just laugh this all off and not go around telling people how gullible and stupid she really was. Fae already felt rather inadequate in their year full of Aladrens and a roommate like Alice. She didn’t want it to go around broadcasted just how much of an idiot she really was. Thankfully, she didn’t think Topher was that sort of guy.

“Father is usually always home for supper.” Fae said. He had a day job, the business of banking usually had pretty straight hours. “But with the financial issues currently happening, he’s been working longer hours and sometimes on the weekends. Plus, with the negotiations between Shelby and the Stratford’s, Father’s been in overdrive. I don’t remember the last time he had a full night’s rest.” Thinking of her father, Fae’s heart felt heavy. Lately, her father seemed older than she could ever remember him looking. Maybe it was his job, the goblins too, but somehow she felt it had more to do with Shelby than with anything else. She was the first of them to become betrothed. Soon Jaiden wouldn’t have a choice and then, someday, Fae.

Thoughts of her sister only made Fae feel worse. Looking over to the Aladren table, Fae found Preston. Fae would have to share her sister with his family. She was already sharing Sara with him. Now she had to share her sister too? If her parents had never thrown that party, the Shelby would have never met Victor and the betrothal would have never happened.

With Alice involved in any conversation, it usually ended up with Fae looking at her like she was from another planet. The girl just didn’t like normal. Fae liked Alice, she did. She missed her during the summers and was happy to share a room with her. But there were times when Fae couldn’t understand her and probably never would. Fae tried hard not to roll her eyes when Alice responded. She really did. Alice was just being Alice. But the thirteen year old felt her blue eyes roll upward anyway. “Fine Alice, you’re right. We’re silly for being concerned about our classes.” She knew that her voice had conveyed a bit of an attitude. She hadn’t really meant to be mean. Perhaps the stress of everything had bubbled up in her, she couldn’t say for sure. Either way, she looked apologetically at Alice in hopes she knew it wasn’t meant for her.

Fae was impressed with Alice’s idea of a project. She knew she would never have had that sort of thought or ambition for such a thing. “Alice, I have never understood why you aren’t in Aladren.” Fae said somewhat exasperatedly. “I think it’s a great idea for a project and I’m sure Professor Fawcett would love to have you work on it. Aladren or not, you can definitely do this.” She hoped that compliment was enough to let Alice know that Fae was on her side, even if from time to time she might get a bit short with her.

Fae was finishing up her fish and salad when Alice asked about the electives. “I was thinking about Divinations, but Mother said it’s not really a proper subject to be learning, so I haven’t decided yet. I think it could be fun though.”

0 Fae *Sigh* Such is life, I suppose 0 Fae 0 5

Brianna

November 06, 2011 9:51 PM

A right miracle if you think about it. by Brianna

Brianna thought Valerie’s answer was pretty vague, but then when she turned the question around on Brianna, that she found herself wanting to answer in the exact same way. Valerie was still a mystery to Brianna. She didn’t really know why since they were roommates, but it was the truth. Brianna had ended up working with quite a few male partners, so she didn’t know much about the female population. On top of that, Valerie seemed to always be sick, so Brianna didn’t spend much time around her out of fear of getting sick herself or making Valerie even worse. But, Brianna was almost certain that the reason why she didn’t get to really know Valerie (or really, any roommate) was because of Attoria.

Attoria didn’t seem all that interested in becoming good friends with the girls, so Brianna took that mean that the girls weren’t worth knowing. Of course, Attoria hadn’t really seemed interested in getting to know of anyone, so Brianna wasn’t sure why it mattered if she allowed herself to get to know, but Brianna worried that if she became friends with someone, Attoria would retaliate.

Instead of being vague though, Brianna found herself telling the truth. “It was absolutely horrible.” Brianna told her quietly, looking down at her food. “I’m not allowed to leave the building without one of my parents being with me, but they’re always busy, so I never get to go out.” She might have sounded like she was pouting, but she wasn’t. She didn’t want to stay in the building not because she was getting cabin fever, but rather, the longer she stayed there, the easier it was for all of them to find her and attack her. At least if she was able to get out of the building every so often, she’d be free of the torment.

“I’m glad to be back here, though. Freedom to roam around. No one to bother me. No one to worry about.” Brianna commented, looking back up at Valerie. “Can I ask you something personal, Valerie? You can say no if you want or just not tell me at all, but I was curious about something-er-about your illness. How come you are sick so often? I rarely get colds, but you seem to get ill just by looking at something dirty.”

0 Brianna A right miracle if you think about it. 0 Brianna 0 5

Jade

November 07, 2011 12:09 PM

Sorry for the delay! by Jade

The boy was Jorge Garcia, and he was apparently from San Fransico. Jade instantly forgot this pointless trivia. She found it a little more difficult to forget that Waverly was from Arizona, since that's where they were right now, but she did a good impression of forgetting and she contentedly chewed her food. She paused only momentarily to answer the question unfortunately directed specifically at her with a vague, "Around."

Waverly was sort of girly and chattery. A lot like Josephine. The fact that they were both Pecari first years meant they would be sharing a room together, and while Jade would prefer not to have a carbon copy of her older sister in her room, she guessed there could be a lot worse people out in the world. Waverly didn't seem dangerous or violent. So far. Oh, she also seemed to be a Muggleborn. "I didn't know I was magical until I got my acceptance letter." Already Jade was thinking of the various ways she could tease a person who didn't know any better. Pausing her meal for a moment, she shared the brieftest mischeivous grin with Jorge. "Have you both grown up with magic?"

"All my life," Jade replied with a happy smile and only a hint of superiority. "Don't worry, you'll get used to magic soon enough," she added, looking at her plate so she wouldn't laugh. "Your nose might bleed when you cast your first spells, but it'll wear off. And it might take you a while to get the hang of entering the commonroom, but don't worry; your fingers will grow back." Worried now that her smirk might be seen, Jade picked up her juice goblet and smirked into that, instead, before taking a gulp.

Easily distracted from her misdeeds, once her kitten was mention, Jade scooped the little creature up, forgetting food only in the presence of baby animals. "This is Bella," she said proudly, waving the kitten's paw towards first waverly then Jorge, despite its wriggling protests. "She's one of my kittens." Currently her favorite, because she was fluffy and gray all over, aside from a small white patch on her chest that almost looked as if she'd spilled milk all down her front. "Did you guys bring any animals?" Jade was far more interested in this news than in learnign where they came from.

0 Jade Sorry for the delay! 0 Jade 0 5

DiAnna

November 07, 2011 12:38 PM

Assisting Your Venture by DiAnna

She was inititally pleased to have successfully identified the correct person, but then Increase caught her off guard by asking about last year's topics. "Oh," she said, not successfully hiding her lack of preparation for such a question. "Well we looked briefly at various methods of Divining," she searched her brain, trying to remember off-hand her classes. "Rune readings, alphitomancy, haruspicy, astronomy," she gave a few examples and then stopped. "I tried to include a bit of history about each topic, you know, some relevant background. Um, and then we spent some time working on interpretation, and, um, discussions about responsibility." She stopped again before she began to ramble on, a tendency she had when she was nervous.

It wasn't exactly Increase's fault that he was making her a little uncomfortable. Admittedly his question hadn't helped, but maybe her brief answer would be sufficient for now. "You can always come by my office another day and I can give you my lesson plans," she suggested. It was the man himself that made her uneasy, either - he seemed pleasant enough to make a reasonable first impression. What unsettled her was that he might be a real Seer, and simply scoff at her own efforts. Of course he might be a real Seer and still be completely open to DiAnna's own slower, arguably less accurate way of making predictions - this second option was perhaps the more likely, considering he'd opted to teach the subject. However the possibility of the first option bothered her.

Serving herself an enchilada and side salad, it occurred to DiAnna that she could just ask. Before she could change her mind, she said cautiously, "I was wondering... I hope you don't mind me asking. You don't have to answer if you don't want to." She was rambling. "I was wondering whether you have, um, the Sight?" Let him interpret that as he chose.

0 DiAnna Assisting Your Venture 0 DiAnna 0 5

Josephine

November 07, 2011 12:58 PM

I guess I should talk back by Josephine

Josephine tried very hard not to die with jealousy at the sound of Sara's summer. She had been to Spain and to Switzerland. Josephine only knew where those countries were because of the geography games her brother made the family play. She'd never left America, and it didn't seem likely she would in the future, either. She took comfort in a mouthful of her casserole. The bit about missing her family didn't make up for it - most of Josephine's family was now at Sonora with her, and her parents sent very frequent letters.

"I wish I could go ten months without seeing my brother," she lamented, having forgotten by now that she'd missed James the first year he went off to Sonora without her. "I think normal older brothers might be easier," she agreed with Sara. She'd heard how some older brothers looked out for their younger siblings - especially sisters - and maybe gave them advice. Her own brother was arguably the most likely student to bully Josephine, and he belittled her achievements by surpassing them himself. "Mine is a pain," she told Sara, but there was a fondness in her voice, possibly even a hint of pride that her brother was special in this way. He didn't mean to be annoying a lot of the time. It just happened.

"My sister is here as well this year," Josephine pointed down to where he sister was with a couple of other first year Pecaris. "My parents have probably never had the house so quiet," she commented, and then realized she hadn't actually answered Sara's question. "But yeah, my summer was okay, I guess. Nothing special. I wish I got to travel to Europe."

0 Josephine I guess I should talk back 0 Josephine 0 5

Linus

November 07, 2011 1:18 PM

You're in for a real treat by Linus

The first question was asked by Gareth, who wanted to know about Defense classes. "You cover a lot of ground quite quickly in class, so it pays to keep up." That was true of all classes, he supposed, but there seemed to be a much broader scope in Defense. There was theory, history, application and then, of course, the practical spells. "There's a good balance between practical and theory work, and you try out a lot of the spells on each other, so it can be quite competetive." He recalled in particular the class where they'd split into teams to stupify each other. On the whole, it wasn't really one of Linus' favorite classes, but he could perceive its inherent usefulness, and so he studied it with interest anyway. "Professor Levy seems fairly competent," as far as he could tell, being so new to magic himself, "and she'd fair." She didn't usually give them homework assignments due the next morning, at any rate.

The next question was from Cephus, who asked about Sonora and Arizona in a far more general manner. Linus felt the need to filter his answers to include only the information a first year might find immediately useful. He was also restricted by his own limited knowledge on the subjects, but of course it wouldn't do to tell the first years that, and allow them to be disillusioned in their mentor. "The weather charms around the school grounds are different from the surrounding desert," he advised. "It gets quite hot here in the summer, but not like desert temperatures." Having lived his whole life so far in Las Vegas, Linus knew enough about desert summers to never wish for one. "It rains more too, and it snows over midterm." That much he could say with certainty. As for the rest of it... that would have to be answered with less clarity.

Skipping over whatever it was Arizona was known for, as Cephus put it, Linus focused on the Sonora part of his question. "Sonora's an exceptional school," he began. "I understand it's one of the best in the country." Why else would fancy wizarding families with more money than Monte Carlo send their kids there? "The Defense professor used to be an Auror, and the potions professor used to teach at a university." He thought these rumors both had a great potential to be true, and helped to back up his otherwise unproven point that Sonora was an excellent academy of learning.

Just when he'd run out of things to say, a thought occured to Linus like a lightening bolt struck an unfortunate tree. He'd heard that Sonora's only team sport wsa actually less popular in the US than in European countries. As his first years were foreginers, they might appreciate the news. "Plus they teach Quidditch here instead of Quadpot."

0 Linus You're in for a real treat 0 Linus 0 5

Samantha

November 07, 2011 1:37 PM

I hasten to agree by Samantha

Samantha found it amusing that David referred to the Aladren Quidditch team as 'they.' Sure, as half of the governing body, he was now the second voice of whatever 'they' might have existed. She was about to say so, when an image of the Aladren team - three Careys strong with a couple of younger Named kids thrown in (she'd started to think of the Named families like Named or branded clothes) - swam through her thoughts and she reconsidered. Maybe David did have a point about not being one of 'them'. He didn't seem to notice her aborted attempt to make a point, as he asked whether she'd be rejoining the craziness, which she instinctively - even out of context - was a reference to the Aladren Quidditch team.

"I haven't decided yet," Samantha said honestly. "I mean, I like playing, but I don't get madly competetive." Not in that situation, anyway, and definitely not in the way other Quidditch players did, particularly those in their House. "I feel like that's a pre-requisite of playing for the Hawks, and I just don't have it in me." There was also the point that she'd really only be happy to play Keeper, and some first year had done a decent enough job of that last year to make real competition for Sam in the try-outs. She wasn't sure she was eager enough to whip the position out from under Kitty's feet (her ego took a moment to consider that Kitty might be a better Keeper anyway, but Samantha was sure she could hold her own - she hadn't been a bad player when she was in her first year, and now she had a fifth year's reach). Other than the pleasure of making Nic look like an idiot - a feat whcih he managed considerably well on his own - Samantha didn't feel a strong pull to sign up.

"How about you let me know if you're short any players?" she suggested to David. Unless a Carey had changed his mind, she doubted that would happen, but the offer was there. She probably wouldn't sign up otherwise, due to the afore-mentioned lack of ~~crazy~~ drive, lack of sane teammates (David was fine, but Samantha didn't need to join the team to talk to him), and the fact that this was her fifth year, equalling prefect duties and big scary exams.

0 Samantha I hasten to agree 0 Samantha 0 5

Raines Bradley

November 07, 2011 4:14 PM

It's nowhere near the end yet by Raines Bradley

Normally, choosing a seat for the Opening Feast was a simple enough matter, based on where other people were sitting and his place in the House, but today, Raines was finding it difficult. He should go to Crotalus, he was a Crotalus and might still have to go through the motions to become Head Boy if the next year's candidates were prematurely raised again, but....

In all of Sonora, there was one person Raines liked, really, and for most of their time at Sonora, he had been denied her company at meals by the presence of Bauer at her side. Last year, though, Bauer had been made prefect, and had sat with Crotalus. Which meant she might do so again now. Which meant, if he were quick....

All very logical. There was just that voice in the back of his head, shrieking like a banshee at him about the possibility of rejection, the chance she found him as tiresome as he found almost everyone else, how he should remain cautious and let her show more of her hand before he showed his. The voice's cousin - or maybe its twin - though, pointed out the dangers of that. She could have any number of cards in play, could even, if she did like him, think he wasn't interested and decide to go for status and take Edmond Carey from one of her forgettable sisters or something of that sort. If he....

He saw Bauer. Something else informed him he was being a carnival-level fool, that there was a difference between dinner and signing a marriage contract, and sent him over to the Aladren table before he could think about things anymore. He almost panicked and left as soon as he was seated, but the first years were coming, and the next Head Boy could not draw that kind of attention to himself. So he stayed, barely noticing the existence of the first years, not really hearing the new headmistress' speech, all of his attention resolutely fixed on not staring at the girl he had come over here to sit with. Imagining he was gathering strange looks from the other Aladrens whose table was being intruded upon was preferable to that.

Afterward, he might have looked just a moment too long at the side of her head, because she looked at him and spoke. The words couldn't have thrown him much more off balance if she had unexpectedly bellowed them at him, and he said "I - " before realizing he wasn't sure what he meant to say but was confident that he should not say it.

All right, he thought firmly. Be calm. Think. Revise. "It was adequate, thank you." He managed a smile, if not such a good one, he was sure, as hers. "Dimmer, ah, for not seeing you every day during it, of course, Miss Veronica. Was yours - good?" The compliment had been enough of a leap that he thought it had temporarily used up all his stores of eloquence, forcing him to rely on the under-trained reserves while the main well was refilled - a thought which itself, he thoght, proved the theory, since he hardly liked metaphors which weren't horribly mixed.

0 Raines Bradley It's nowhere near the end yet 155 Raines Bradley 0 5

Sally Manger

November 07, 2011 9:43 PM

I'm more towards the end of the beginning. by Sally Manger

Sally returned to Sonora as blank as she had arrived the previous term. Grey-brown eyes held nothing, no flicker of emotion, no hints of humanity. Just as the last several years, there had been much commotion in her household. Per usual, her father’s voice rang out, angrily rebounding off of the walls which, if it was possible, magnified him.

If there was one thing in the universe the brown-haired Aladren did not understand, it was Ross Manger. He always fought with her mother, always yelled and screamed, but once he was calmed down again, he claimed he loved her. She could tell it wore down at her mother, as if her soul was leaking through the tears she cried behind closed doors.

The doors were not sound-proof, however, and Sally could hear the muffled sobs. She wanted to fix it, but while her mind was filled with knowledge, it was all fact, useless for the situation. All the second year wanted was her mother to be happy. Her brothers never heard the crying, but they must have heard the shouts, and as soon as Jamie Manger could compose herself, she was off to wrap a maternal arm around each of her sons and tell them it would be all right.

Selfishly, Sally was relieved to return to Sonora, where the only relative she saw was bubbling with joy. Aunt Lilac was engaged to Mr. Seth Brockert, and it made something inside the twelve year old feel nice to see the smile on her aunt’s face, the same thing inside her that felt poorly when her mother was sad. She wasn’t sure what that meant, but it was odd.

At least at Sonora she had peers with whom she could speak. Her roommate Nora was perhaps her favored companion; as little as she understood of her own emotions and those of others, she felt like Nora understood her somehow. She also knew that if she needed someone--she wasn’t sure what that expression meant or for what she would need someone, but it was what she was told--Ryan O’Malley would be there. He was Mr. Seth’s nephew and a gentleman, and Aunt Lilac said she could go to him.

Now, however, it appeared to be time to talk to someone else as Ryan was not in her House and she struggled to locate Nora. By the time she spied her, it was too late; they had both already been seated. Sally listened diligently to the speech given by Headmistress Kijewski as she always listened. It was polite and the right thing to do, and, she had found, the best way to learn was to listen.

Soon thereafter, it was finished, and an older boy beside her spoke. “Good evening. How are you tonight?” Although she was a good few year his junior, she sat with good posture which stretched her up taller, and with the articulate crispness of her speech, she could have passed for a small adult. “I am well, thank you. And yourself?” If her actively pureblood father had taught her anything, it was that manners were indeed significant. She fought the urge to play with her hair as a stray brown curl in front of her ear irritated her, and instead she kept her focus politely on the older boy. “I am Sally Manger, of the Rhode Island Mangers. May I ask your name?”

12 Sally Manger I'm more towards the end of the beginning. 198 Sally Manger 0 5

Kitty

November 07, 2011 11:41 PM

Wonders why everyone is smiling and nodding by Kitty

A soft hum of acceptance was heard as Kitty nodded. She knew that not everyone was as adventurous as she, and Henny seemed like one of the less adventurous ones. “Flying is such fun, I wish I’d learned how to do it when I was little.” She said wistfully. The saying that life wasn’t fair was the bane of Kitty’s existence because no matter how much she whined it never would be fair. But, at least now she got to go to a magic school, so all was right in her world.

Kitty giggled when Thad said flying would be a breeze. Flying lessons had been one of her best memories ever. She’d taken to the broom like a fish to water and remembered leaving the group of other firsties who didn’t know what they were doing to play a game of tag with one of the more experienced flyers. After that first taste she’d been hooked, reveling in the flying lessons, and later in Quidditch. When Alicia said that she hadn’t been on a broom in years Kitty couldn’t help but gape at her. “Oh my gosh! If I could fly whenever I wanted they’d never get me out of the sky!” She declared, amazed at how the magic kids took the wonderfulness of their childhoods for granted.

“Yup I’ve got five roommates. Nora and Sally are loads of fun, but they get annoyed easily so sometimes they tell me to go away. Really, if someone bugs you, or you’re bugging someone else just tell them and it usually turns out fine.” She didn’t add that it was almost always her doing the bugging and that Nora often threatened to turn her into something if she didn’t sit still and be quiet. Kitty brushed that off as Nora just being a bit prickly.

0 Kitty *Wonders why everyone is smiling and nodding* 0 Kitty 0 5

Arabella

November 08, 2011 1:11 AM

Hmm...if the staff was dressed silly and did acrobatics? by Arabella

"Oregon, huh?" Arabella replied. "I have some cousins who live there. Our family patriarch's great-grandchildren do." In fact, there were Brockerts all over the western states. Still, they were all technically the same branch. Enough of her great-grandfather's descendents lived in Colorado and enough of Uncle Clifford's didn't and therefore, they all claimed the same branch affiliation. Or at least that was her own theory behind it.

Arabella nodded. "My cousin Ryan is a fourth year and my uncle Seth is the groundskeeper. In fact, everyone in my family has gone here. Well, I did have a few distant cousins who went out east because of their father or something but for the most part all Brockerts go to Sonora. So, I pretty much know all there is to know about it."

She hoped she didn't sound like a know-it-all. Arabella was far from it.There were a whole bunch of things that the new Pecari neither knew about nor cared to know about. She just happened to know quite a bit about the school. "I mean, some stuff is going to be different than when my parents and aunts and uncles went here. And the Headmistress is new. Ryan said she was nice though."

Headmistress Kijewski had been the COMC professor the year before, which was a class that Arabella's cousin didn't really like much because of his allergies but he'd liked the teacher all right. It didn't sound like Ryan had a problem with many of the people at Sonora. Which Arabella was glad of. He cousin had enough problems at home with his sister, and previously, with his mother. He seemed rather afraid of his Head of House though. Ryan thought Coach Pierce didn't like him because he couldn't fly.

On the other hand, Arabella wasn't supposed to fly beyond the basic lessons. Or play Quidditch. The idea that it turned girls into lesbians was ridiculous and both her parents said so, but they certainly didn't want anyone to have reasons to think less of the Brockert family. They had all decided that fencing was a far more acceptable sport for the eleven year old, especially given Arabella's more than healthy aggression towards her cousin Carrie.

The first year took a bite of her fried chicken before continuing. "My uncle was in Pecari too." Arabella nodded towards the staff table where Uncle Seth was seated with his fiance. "As is my second cousin, Tawny and third cousin, Nina." Arabella failed to mention Aunt Pearl. She was not quick to claim that woman as family. Being in Pecari, a place where good purebloods, especially girls, were not supposed to go, was the least offensive thing she'd done.

"So," Arabella went on. "Do you have any other family here?" She asked the elder Pecari, figuring it was as good a conversation topic as any.

11 Arabella Hmm...if the staff was dressed silly and did acrobatics? 217 Arabella 0 5

Ryan O'Malley

November 08, 2011 4:20 AM

I'm sure there have been worse ones by Ryan O'Malley

Ryan had not really had the best summer. Going to Sophie's house been fun of course, even though something seemed rather off with her father, but the rest of his summer, Carrie had made him absolutely miserable, calling him names and doing her best to get Ryan in trouble.

The only other respite the Crotalus had had from this was that his father still had to go on business trips and that meant they couldn't stay at home without supervision. Well, perhaps Ryan could have but leaving him and his sister home alone together was not the best idea in the world.

Of course, Carrie did not want to go to their grandparents' and their father had received a nasty letter from their mother about her being sent there while he was out of town while Ryan had been at Sonora last year. This had resulted in Mr. O'Malley hiring someone to watch Carrie while he was out of town while Ryan continued going to his grandparents'. This seemed the best course of action for all involved. Carrie would have much preferred to go to their mother's but their mother wasn't allowed anything but supervised visits with Carrie.

This naturally made the younger girl very furious with her brother. According to the ten year old, Ryan was to blame for everything that was wrong in the world. Carrie seemed to think that if it weren't for him, she'd still be with their mother-with both their parents-full time. And he could see a certain logic to that. If Ryan's mother hadn't been so mean to him-if he'd not been such a defective child who disgusted her and made her angry, if he'd not done everything wrong that he possibly could have-there would be no restraining order and Carrie could have lived with their mother. In fact, there probably would have been no divorce in the first place.

Now, however, Ryan was back at Sonora to his tremendous relief. There was nobody here who was that outwardly cruel to him, even if there were a few people that he didn't think liked him much, such as Coach Pierce and Daisy Thorpe. They didn't really bother Ryan much at least, though he hated to be disliked by anyone and he chose not to interact with anyone who potentially did.

He sat at the Crotalus table, watching the Sorting. His cousin Arabella was here with the first years this term and Ryan was glad. He'd always been close to the eleven year old, as she was the cousin closest in age. (Well, rather either Hope, Autumn or Kirstenna was, but they weren't that closely related to Ryan and he'd grown up with Arabella, not any of them.) The fourth year felt slightly disappointed to see Arabella turn brown. Ryan had sort of wanted her to be in his house but he should have expected her not to be.

Once the new Headmistress was done speaking and they had sung the school song-something that always made Ryan feel a bit self-conscious-the fourth year sat back down. Seeing as his cousin was in Pecari and so was Sophie, James was in Aladren, Valerie was speaking with one of her roommates and he didn't see Jordan anywhere, he was at a loss until he spotted one of the first years.

Last year, his mother's cousin Charles had asked Uncle Seth to look out for Charles' daughter, Valerie and upon the girl being sorted in Crotalus, Uncle Seth had delegated the task to his nephew. Over Ryan's third year, he'd come to realize that he liked helping others, instead of being always the one who needed help. Ryan only wished he'd realized this earlier, as maybe it would have gotten him into Teppenpaw. Right now, the fourth year wished with all his heart that he was in Teppenpaw. It was the one house he could say with absolute certainty that Carrie would not be in next term.

Right now though, Ryan turned to the first year girl and said "Hi, welcome to Sonora."

“I’m sorry?”

Oh, she hadn't heard Ryan. That was his fault, he was sure. The elder Crotalus must not have spoken up loud enough. "Oh, I just said welcome to Sonora." He didn't let his friendly smile waver though he was a bit embarrassed about having to repeat himself. "I'm Ryan O'Malley, of the Colorado O'Malleys." It was best to give the proper introduction. He was in Crotalus and most of the Crotali were purebloods. They wouldn't like him if he didn't introduce himself correctly and he'd make a fool of himself.

11 Ryan O'Malley I'm sure there have been worse ones 176 Ryan O'Malley 0 5

Alexandra Deveraux

November 08, 2011 9:40 PM

I'm sure some of them have been in my family... by Alexandra Deveraux

Alex could feel herself flushing when she realized that not only had she looked scatterbrained in front of a (fairly cute) older boy, but also one who was exactly the sort of person she was not supposed to look foolish in front of. “Thank you,” she said, hoping that she didn’t look as embarrassed as she felt – that maybe even she was still red enough from the Sorting potion that he didn’t notice her blushing. “I am Alexandra Deveraux, of the Louisiana Deverauxs.”

If he had been from the south, there was a slight chance he might have heard of the name – her father had yet to become so drawn into the family as to abandon his own name, and he was respected in some circles – but she doubted that someone from Colorado would know it. As far as she knew, there were no purebloods with the name left except for her and her father; scattered cousins were always possible, but she didn’t think so. Grandfather, she thought, would not have allowed it. So unless Ryan O’Malley, of the Colorado O’Malleys, was very good at genealogy, she could have been anyone, from anywhere, for all that her introduction told him.

Most improperly, that thought made her feel a little thrill. Anyone, from anywhere, instead of being Charles Deveraux’s daughter and Alexander Carey’s granddaughter and caught between them every time Mother complained about Father, or Father went into his terse, monotonous, entirely self-contained diatribes about Grandfather in her presence. She liked that idea.

Just as quickly, though, she retreated from it. Family was all a person, and a girl person even more than everyone else, had. Mother and Grandfather had taught her that from…she couldn’t even remember. It wasn’t something she was even taught, it was just something she knew. Knew-knew, more like the way she knew how to breathe than the way she knew her multiplication tables. She was Alex Deveraux, yes, but that only meant something in the context of being Charles Deveraux’s daughter, named for his father-in-law, who he hated but was not strong enough to oppose.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” she added, sticking out her hand. As a lady, she should have curtsied, but that was not easily done while she was seated, and she was far enough off balance that it didn’t occur to her that it wasn’t proper until it was done and it was too late to backtrack very well.

“Is there anything I should know about Crotalus right away?” she asked, trying to get back on her feet and back into what she should be, as well as get some useful information. “Or Sonora?” No one in the branch had come to a formal school since her mother, and hearing about it from someone who had been here more recently than Mother was sure to be a helpful thing for her. Mother was not, she supposed, terribly old, she was still sometimes called pretty, but it had been a long time.

0 Alexandra Deveraux I'm sure some of them have been in my family... 215 Alexandra Deveraux 0 5

Edmond

November 08, 2011 9:45 PM

Indeed. Is it better than the beginning of the beginning? by Edmond

Edmond was mildly surprised to find himself speaking to a second year – certainly he would have not had the nerve to sit near a seventh year when he was a second year, much less speak – and mildly amused by Miss Manger of the Rhode Island Mangers’ manner. He had been as formal when he was new to Sonora, but not as crisp and precise, he thought. Even now, he didn’t think he could quite manage it.

“You may,” he replied. “It’s Edmond Carey.”

He should, to be fully proper, have referred to some kind of branch, but it had always been a matter of confusion for him as far as he could remember, and in the past two years, he’d dropped it as far as possible. He no longer had any doubts on the subject of which family he would prefer to associate himself with, not the slightest one, but other people, he knew, might well do a double take if they knew the first part but were taken off guard by him claiming Virginia, as well as it possibly causing political troubles, especially for his sister. It wouldn’t ever be like it was with Jane, but Morgaine was his sister, and she tried to make a good job of it after her fashion, and he no more wanted to cause her trouble than he wanted to be in the Big Game at all. So just his name would do, at least here it would, and it could be taken as his companion chose for it to be.

“May I ask if you’re pleased to be back at Sonora, Miss Manger?” he asked pleasantly. If she didn’t connect him with the Careys, then that would be one thing, but if she did anyway, he supposed it was best to seem as non-threatening as possible, all things considered. There were a variety of opinions of his family, many of which were based in fact, and if she was alarmed at him, he’d rather it was because of his face than his name. He couldn’t help either, but at least the one he did have something to do with, and was more accustomed to. He’d noticed that whoever put other people’s faces together seemed to usually have a better idea of it than whoever had done his had long before he ever knew anything about what sort of reputation the Careys had.

0 Edmond Indeed. Is it better than the beginning of the beginning? 0 Edmond 0 5

Gareth

November 08, 2011 9:45 PM

That sounds promising by Gareth

Gareth was satisfied with Linus’s overview of Defense. It was good that the class had a strong balance between theory and practical application. He’d heard from his older cousins that some Professors were very heavy on theory with little or no casting work. Deciding on the competency of the Professor would have to wait until he’d actually had a class, but Linus appeared to have a favorable opinion of her.

At least there will be seasons Gareth thought as Linus described the weather of all things. But, it had been something that bothered Gareth when he’d found out he’d be living in the middle of a desert. Would it just be dry and hot all year round? At least around the school, though the use of magic, there would still be seasons. It was better than he’d thought the climate would be.

His nose wrinkled with distaste at the mention of the Quidditch knock off that had become all the rage in the Americas. “Well, of course a distinguished school like Sonora wouldn’t bother with such a common sport.” Gareth stated. His parents would never send him to a school where Quidditch wasn’t the game of choice. Quadpot was a pitiful sport played by those who didn’t have enough skill to master Quidditch.

0 Gareth That sounds promising 0 Gareth 0 5

Jane

November 08, 2011 9:59 PM

Not too quickly, I hope by Jane

Jane chuckled politely at the reassurance that being prefect wasn’t so bad. “Edmond never seemed to mind it too much,” she said. It wasn’t a sure thing that her brother would tell even her if the job was wretched and he’d have given a pretty to give it to someone who was neither him nor Cassandra, but if he was going to break down and complain to anyone, it would be her. She’d never really gotten the impression that he found the duties of his station onerous, though, from what he said or didn’t say. “But thank you.”

She was not fully confident about what to say. She did not know Dulce well – which did not, as far as she could tell, make her very strange. No one seemed to know the other Teppenpaw girl very well. Jane had gathered she was a musician and a tutor, but otherwise seemed to keep to herself. However, the pleasantries seemed to work well enough, though she was startled by Dulce implying that her sister had gone off with someone she was not married to. Jane knew that what she was accustomed to was nowhere near all there was, and didn’t mind what other people did usually so long as it didn’t hurt anyone, but she could never be so accustomed to ideas like that that she could take them as a matter of course.

“That’s nice,” she said with a smile, focusing, then, on the part where Dulce’s brother had started school. Jane had wondered before what it might be like to have a younger sibling instead of just an older, though really, sometimes she didn’t think it would make much of a difference. She’d all but had to point it out to Edmond that he liked a girl, for Merlin’s sake. “Mine was normal. Edmond and I did our lessons.”

And there had been talk. Nothing she was supposed to know about, of course, but she had been raised to pay attention, and she had noticed different members of the family, some she knew and some she didn’t, showing up, some at odd hours, to talk to her father.

Sometimes, if she just happened to be in the wrong place at the right time, she heard something about Edmond. Sometimes things were too vague for her to be sure what they were talking about. And once, she had heard Father angrily tell George and Uncle Jasper to leave it alone, because he was not even going to consider ‘it’ until after Jane was married.

Which meant she was involved, now, whether she knew how or not. But she didn’t want to think about it tonight.

“What House is your brother in?” she asked. “I’ve got two distant cousins, but it looks like they’re in Crotalus and Pecari.”

0 Jane Not too quickly, I hope 0 Jane 0 5

Cepheus Princeton

November 08, 2011 10:08 PM

Indeed. by Cepheus Princeton

Cepheus thought it strange that there would be seasons, but was glad for it at the same time. It would at least be slightly familiar of home, though being in the desert during the snow would be something to experience. He sighed and pushed the food around on his plate. Improper, sure, so he scooped up some food to eat it, chewing as he was told that Sonora at least practised Quidditch here instead of Quadpot. Schools actually taught Quadpot here? He'd never heard of it actually being practised.

Gareth immediately called it a common sport, and Cepheus had to agree. He didn't even know what it really was, Quadpot. He'd never played anything but Quidditch before in his life, besides games that he and his brothers would create. He took a sip of pumpkin juice. "I'm glad classes start soon," he said. "Once Quidditch starts, I'll be happy." He just wanted to immerse himself into work so he wouldn't think about home or his friends back home. It was much too far to send a letter, and besides, it would take weeks on end. "Who's the Quidditch captain?" he asked.

Cepheus was feeling especially tired today for some reason, but he wanted to get to know his housemates a bit better. The trip had been much more tiring than he allowed himself to show. Suppressing a yawn with another sip of pumpkin juice, he blinked at his fellow Crotali. "Where are you from, Linus?" he asked.

40 Cepheus Princeton Indeed. 216 Cepheus Princeton 0 5

Linus

November 09, 2011 7:26 AM

You enjoying it so far? by Linus

Their reactions to Quidditch were more or less favorable, Linus concluded. Gareth didn't seem to indicate any interest in the sport as such, but Cephus claimed to even be 'happy' at the start of the Quidditch season. he didn't actually specify that he would play, but Linus assumed that asking about the captain was an indication the first year might be considering signing up. "Marissa Stephenson," Linus told him, knowing the information because he, too, had considered signing up for Quidditch this year. He glanced briefly among the Crotalus students until he saw the seventh year prefect, and pointed her out. "That's her, there." It was impossible to tell whether or not she would be a good captain, because it was her first year in the position as far as Linus was aware. It seemed the captaincy only became vacant upon the graduation of the current position-holder, and so next year Crotalus would need a new captain again.

"The Crotalus team managed to get into the championship game the past two seasons," he said, and his knowledge didn't go back any further than that - he hadn't even been at school for the first occasion, but everyone had made such a big deal about the same two teams in the final game last year that he'd have been stupid to miss the fact - "but the Aladren team beat them both times. The Aladrens players are crazy." He said that as a statement of fact; everyone said the Aladren Quidditch players were crazy, so it had to be true.

"Are either of you thinking about trying out?" he thought he may as well ask. A this point he'd have put money on Cephus trying out, but Gareth was still an unknown quality. Besides, if they told him, maybe Linus would be further informed to make his own decision about whether or not to try out for the team.

Once they'd exhausted the Quidditch talk for the time being, Cephus asked Linus where he was from. The query caused the second year some mild annoyance; if he'd have wanted to divulge that information then surely he would have done so at his own introduction, in the same manner as these first years had done. However, he didn't want to be rude and ignore the question entirely, so he answered plainly, "Nevada." Then he went back to consuming his shepherd's pie.

0 Linus You enjoying it so far? 0 Linus 0 5

David

November 09, 2011 3:18 PM

Too much haste makes waste, though. by David

“Will do,” David said when Samantha suggested he just mention it if Daniel’s absence somehow led to a drop in interest. “Though you’ve got a point about it being way competitive. If I don’t get used to it, I wouldn’t be surprised if Arthur Carey – the one who’s not the Seeker – “ he added, since Samantha hadn’t been on the team last year and so had no reason to keep up with which Carey twin, a second year to her fourth, was which – “and Preston Stratford staged a coup next year.”

And then turned on each other as soon as it was done, of course. Only room for one dictator on the team, however benevolent he – or she; Aladren didn’t have a lot of girls, but they were as likely as anyone else, he thought, to get stuff; there had been a few girl captains, and far more girl prefects – might wish to be. If they didn’t arrange things somehow themselves, he wouldn’t be completely surprised if Coach Pierce didn’t just skip that whole year for the captainacy and give it to Kitty. David wouldn’t have minded that, if not for the fact that the Assistant Captain for next year would be decided at the end of this year and then he’d be stuck right in the middle of all the fur flying while the Four Amigos went to war amongst themselves and with Kitty and probably him as well while he was in his fifth year and worrying about CATS more than anything.

Because they were going to be important to him. Going back to the Muggle world had never really occurred to him through most of his time at Sonora, but since his mom had made him think of it by mistake over the summer, he had decided that he didn’t want to do it. Keep up with Anna and Selena, sure, he’d be their equivalent of Aunt Mary (an adult, non-parental relative seen on holidays, who provided their offspring with either nondescript gifts, money or, if he suspected their offspring of being on drugs, gift cards), but he had no interest in living back in the Muggle world on a permanent basis after school. Not until he at least gave continuing on here a really good try, anyway.

“I’m not even competitive enough to give James much of a run for his money next year when we have CATS,” he added to support his point. “I don’t think, anyway. As long as I pass ‘em, I’m good with that.” One day, he was sure every dolorous promise of failure ever given to the non-competitive of the world would come true for him with interest, but for now, he just wanted to do well himself. And since James making decent scores on his CATS had nothing to do with whether or not David did unless they studied a lot together, and was just as unlikely to have an effect on how well someone someday thought of David’s résumé….It just wasn’t something that bothered him that much. Maybe if James tried to make a big deal of it and hold it over his head, it would bother him, but for now, it just didn’t. He couldn’t find it in him to prefer something that was by its nature going to mean trouble to keeping things in the nice and peaceful state where he was neither trying to crush nor being crushed by anyone else, particularly a someone else he still had to live with for most of the next three years. He didn’t like conflict in his house; one of the perks of staying magic-side was going to be that he didn’t have to worry as much about getting into some kind of cutthroat feud with his sisters when they were all a little older and actually had stuff worth stealing from each other.

16 David Too much haste makes waste, though. 169 David 0 5

Jhonice

November 09, 2011 6:56 PM

Ooo... that would be fun by Jhonice

Jhonice's mind was working at keeping track of Arabella's family as she rattled them off. Her research had revealed some of the Brokerts in Oregon, and she knew about Ryan from last year. Seth hadn't been someone she had associated with the Brokerts, she wasn't sure why. She'd have to make a note to investigate further. From the sounds of it Arabella could be a wealth of information.

"Yeah," Jhonice had to agree, "things were a little different from what Aunt Gwen was telling me as well. Professor Kijewski was a good professor, she'll be a good headmistress." COMC hadn't been her least favorite class, but it hadn't been at the other extreme either and she hadn't had much reason to inquire more into the professor.

"My cousin, Andrew is in Teppenpaw," She waved in his general direction at the Teppenpaw table. He was talking to some really pale kid, she rolled her eyes. "That's it. Not much excitement there." How could he be so oblivious to all the awesome people around the room? "So what all are you looking forward to here? I think my favorite class is Charms, Quidditch is great as well. Pecari is going to win this year!"

2 Jhonice Ooo... that would be fun 209 Jhonice 0 5

Topher

November 10, 2011 12:28 AM

And we've just got to live with it. by Topher

Topher grinned as Fae explained her question, secretly grateful to her. He had just learned an important lesson. No sister jokes, ever. They were apparently just a little too close to home for him to bring up, though Merlin hardly knew more than Morgana why that should be. Caroline was nothing to him; he might, for all he'd seen a few pictures, be able to walk past her in the street and never recognize her as more than someone who looked familiar just because she was so not a part of his world that it wouldn't occur to him to see her anywhere he might be.

"'S okay," he forgave her, making a vague gesture as though to dismiss the matter. "Even Mom admits only kids are weird. I'm it for her and Dad, though."

The fun part, he thought, was that he technically hadn't said a single word which not true. Even if one insisted on acknowledging her as connected to him somehow, Caroline was only his half-sister. He didn't have a sister however it was looked at unless Mom and Dad had or adopted another kid. He'd take adopted as easily as he did hair-splitting, since it would be hypocritical to complain about it.

"That sucks," he said, not sure of where any other safe place was to go in what Fae said about her dad. Oh, wait, there really wasn't a safe place to go. That was really the kind of detail he shouldn't overlook. "Maybe it'll be better now that, you know, it's settled with your sister." He didn't know much about that kind of thing, but if it was one of the things that was keeping Mr. Sinclair up, then having the negotiations over might mean that things would go more back to their normal.

Or maybe now he'd get somehow sucked into the wedding planning. Who knew how it was with people doing that. He knew no more than that white dresses and cakes were usually featured, but that it still took months or something to plan out.

He caught some tension in Fae's response to Alice and winced a little, though he could understand being frustrated by someone being so logical. Logical and reasonable didn't always make right, and even if they did, then being prepared enough to do the work didn't necessarily make the work easy. "I mean, I don't think I'll fail or anything," he clarified his own position a trifle uneasily, "but we're not all you and Arthur Carey, Al." Those two didn't seem to have ever seen a difficult problem in their scarily smart lives. "So it might not be as easy as last year, that's all."

He nodded his agreement that her project would go over well with Fawcett. "He'll probably even give you some kind of credit for it," he said, operating under the assumption Fawcett didn't surprise the intermediates with a year-long research project anyway. Surely he'd save that for the Advanced class. Surely. "I'd ask him. What's the worst he can do?" Fawcett might get some leeway for having outlasted practically the whole staff, but Topher was pretty sure it didn't extend far enough to let him bite anyone. Try endlessly to persuade them to join his independent study classes, sure, but not bite them.

And then Fae's mother was the total opposite of his, at least about classes. "I'll be in 'em both," he said. "At least until midterm. Mom and Dad want me to try some of everything, you know, make sure I'm not the next Galileo in disguise." He didn't think he was, but he'd give it a shot anyway. "Crazy first half of the year we're in for, I guess."

0 Topher And we've just got to live with it. 0 Topher 0 5

Valerie

November 10, 2011 4:16 AM

Very much so. by Valerie

Valerie felt bad when she heard that Brianna's summer had been horrible and nodded. She could certainly relate to not being able to leave the house. Valerie was barely allowed to leave her own bed most of the time, although often she wasn't really up to it anyway. Her various ailments saw to that and the actually being sick was worse than having to stay in bed all the time.

Still,she was sympathetic. It might not have been the worst thing that could have happened to someone, to have to stay cooped up, but Valerie could tell by the way her roommate acted that Brianna didn't like it and thus felt bad for her anyway. The second year didn't really want anyone to be unhappy and felt sorry that Brianna had been.

"Are there other people our age in your building that you can hang around with?" Valerie asked, having no idea that those other kids were the source of Brianna's misery. "I mean, I'm not allowed to go anywhere much either." That didn't have to be due to her illness given that her roommate's parents clearly had a similar rule. "I really only have my sister for company." Valerie wasn't even allowed to go see her cousins or any of the other children of prominent St. Louis families. Until Sonora, she'd only ever met her immediate family and those in the medical profession.

"Isn't Attoria your friend at home?" She asked.Valerie had always been a bit intimidated by Brianna and Attoria's friendship. It made them a bit harder to get to know, as Valerie wasn't the most assertive person to begin with and didn't want to intrude. She'd heard the phrase "three's a crowd" before, though she didn't see why they couldn't all be friends. The second year would really like to be so with them.

Her face colored when Brianna asked why she was sick so much. This time it was Valerie's turn to look down at her empty plate. "I have an immune deficiency. That's the reason my parents don't really let me leave the house or interact with people, because they're afraid I'll be exposed to something." She should have known she would not be able to keep that to herself when it was clear that she was always ill. However, now that Brianna knew this, and had told Valerie about her own horrible summer, she could tell the truth. "And honestly, my break was pretty horrible too. I was sick all summer pretty much."

11 Valerie Very much so. 204 Valerie 0 5

Evan

November 10, 2011 7:04 AM

Seeing the bigger picture. by Evan

Evan looked at the pretty girl, Ephanie, a bit confused. Why would he think that her introducing herself that way was rude? That was how polite society introduced themselves in America. Certainly, he hadn't actually heard of the Georgia Lucores, but Evan wasn't really all that up on the Southern families, other than the Lennoxes of Missouri, whom had ties to his family-his grandpa's cousin Caroline was married to one- and of course, the Careys whom every pureblood had heard of.

She wanted to be an actress apparently. Evan nodded. "That's interesting. I'm not really sure what I want to do yet." The first year admitted. He was only eleven after all, far too young to be serious about a career but he knew that some kids changed their ambitions all the time, had dreams and stuff. "Everyone says I'm really artistic though." Evan added.

It was true. The Aladren could see things in ordinary objects that others couldn't. Like an ordinary dining fork could be broken apart to make a comb out of. Evan had tried to do this before, in fact. His etiquette tutor had been rather unimpressed when he'd taken the extra forks at their dining lesson and tried to break one down for this purpose. He really hadn't understood why, they certainly didn't need more than one to eat with. Perhaps two, one for the main course and one for desert, if the main course was something messy.

Most of the time, the first year had had to stick to things that didn't belong to others or were otherwise useless. Boxes got used a lot. Currently, Evan was working on a sculpture made out of dry pasta. He didn't have any specific pattern in mind for it. He felt that was too restrained.

As a pureblood, his life was full of restraint. Evan often found himself having to do things in particular ways. Like the thing with the silverware where the proper fork had to be used for the proper dish and never ever to broken down for a comb. Or how to introduce himself. That was made more complicated by the fact that their family patriarch lived in Colorado and he lived in Oregon. That was why he'd been so exact with Ephanie. Plus, Evan had to behave a certain way in public as well and the way it was sounding, would have to marry someone his family chose.

Not to mention his mother's safety rules. Being careful when they were out in the city, and not going out by themselves. Not playing Quidditch, which Evan didn't care about anyway, but it was still a form of being restrained. Making his...creations with no structure to them was his way of expressing himself.

"It's pretty nice so far." Evan replied. It was more or less like he'd always expected but he didn't want to dampen his housemate's enthusiasm. "I mean, there's not really enough yet to go by. I am pleased with my Sorting though. Did you want to go into Aladren?" He asked.

Evan probably could have seen the positive side of any house but he didn't think he'd have had too much in common with the Pecaris. They had the reputation of being sports minded and that wasn't Evan. Of course, that was somewhat outdated, from his brother's day, but Nina had issues with being left out with her Quidditch playing roommates her first few years at Sonora.

"Oh, I'm from Oregon. I'm used to the cold." The first year boy went on. "I like snow though. You can do so many interesting things with it. I don't think we'll have to worry about it getting too cold or too hot here, since there are weather charms in place. Unless they go haywire or something. That happened when my sister Kaylie went here. It was a long time ago though. I can't remember if it was when she was a first year or the year after. She's a lot older than me. She's twenty-five and married. Do you have family here?" Evan asked. He had a tendency to talk a lot and jump from topic to topic.

11 Evan Seeing the bigger picture. 212 Evan 0 5

Brianna

November 10, 2011 9:15 PM

Maybe next year will be brighter by Brianna

Brianna had to repress a snort when Valerie asked about other teenagers in the building. Although she didn’t snort, there was a small chuckle that Brianna knew sounded discouragingly. This would not be a good start to the year if Brianna admitted to not being happy at home because of the other kids in her building. She had been hoping that the months away would make them lose interest in her and leave her alone in the summer. But the opposite had happened. Instead they were worse than ever. Whenever Attoria was around, she’d try to distract them so that Brianna could get away, but Attoria wasn’t around too often, so it did little to help her.

“Yes, Attoria is a neighbor of mine. She’s actually the reason my family had me come to Sonora.” Brianna said, giving a smile even though she wasn’t sure she really felt it. That had nothing to do with Valerie and everything to do with the current topic they were on. “There are other people our age in the building. I’m not the best of friends with them though. They like to keep to their cliques, which is fine with me.” She was not lying as she said this. She wasn’t friends with them. And they would never be friends with her. She wasn’t a part of their crowd. She would never be a part of their crowd; they made sure of that.

Brianna listened quietly when Valerie explained her situation. She wasn’t sure she really understood what it was that she had, but if it was as serious as it sounded, why would her parents send her off to school? That seemed to be the worst sort of place for Valerie to be. Living in the same dorm room, Brianna knew how crowded and germ-fested the room and the common room could get. That was probably why Valerie became as sick as often as she did. It wasn’t all that sanitary for someone who became ill so easily. “What exactly does that mean? Having an immune deficiency, I mean. I’ve never heard of it.” Maybe it wasn’t Brianna’s place to ask, but she was rather curious about it.

“If you get sick so much, isn’t it worse for you to be away from home and here in a school full of …grossness?” Probably not the best word to use, but looking around at some of the students, she felt the word fit rather well.

0 Brianna Maybe next year will be brighter 0 Brianna 0 5

Valerie

November 11, 2011 1:41 AM

What about this one? by Valerie

She didn't miss Brianna's not very happy chuckle. Valerie wondered if she'd said something wrong. She hadn't had much practice with socializing and really only knew the theory of it. Even last year Valerie hadn't socialized much. Whenever she'd been well-or rather comparatively well, as she never truly was okay-she'd been so busy trying to keep up with schoolwork. The Crotalus wondered if she had somehow offended her roommate or something and felt bad, she wanted so much for them to be friends.

Valerie nodded as Brianna explained. Though she couldn't really see why the kids in Brianna's building would leave the other girl out. She seemed really nice and Valerie couldn't imagine why they wouldn't like her. Maybe Brianna didn't have anything in common with them or they were intimidated by her friendship with Attoria like Valerie was, not wanting to intrude. But she understood, like her, Brianna was lonely.

"It means that I get sick easier than other people." The second year explained. "The immune system is what protects people from getting sick. Mine isn't very good." Valerie looked down at her plate. She should have known others were going to find out. Everyone would probably know soon enough. Not because Brianna would necessarily go blabbing to people, but because it was just so obvious.

Brianna's next question was a good one and Valerie wasn't the least bit offended by any of this, though she was a bit worried about scaring her roommate off. Her face colored a bit at this one though. "Because I begged. I really wanted to come to school, to just be normal for once." She continued. "I was getting really upset and my parents don't like for me to be stressed because it makes things worse."

Hearing the words out loud made Valerie worry that Brianna was going to think she was a spoiled brat and then the other girl certainly wouldn't want to be friends with her. The second year decided to explain further. "I don't really ask for much but this was really important to me. Plus, my sister should be coming next year and we're close. I'd be really lonely without her if I were left at home. I'd prefer to be here for two years without her then the next five there without."

Valerie decided right there was a good place to switch topics. They probably needed to talk about something lighter, besides her illness and Brianna's loneliness at home. "So do you have any brothers or sisters?" She asked. Certainly if Brianna had more questions she would answer them, but right now it might be better for them both to talk about something easier.

11 Valerie What about this one? 204 Valerie 0 5

Gareth

November 11, 2011 1:32 PM

Not particularly by Gareth

Gareth looked to where Linus pointed out the captain. Yet another female Quidditch player. Gareth was beginning to think the school was full of them. It was entirely improper for young ladies to play the sport, but Gareth had reluctantly come to the conclusion that female didn’t necessarily equate to young lady. After all, there were muggle borns and half bloods attending, it was only reasonable to think that they wouldn’t be as interested, or really even excepted if they were, for marriage contracts. Still, they were setting a poor example for girls who did have good prospects and ran the risk of sullying their family name by engaging in such activities.

“I thought that Aladren was the Sonora equivalent of Hogwarts Ravenclaws? How did the studious house end up with an insane Quidditch team?” Gareth asked, wondering if perhaps he’d gotten his house disruptions confused. The idea of Ravenclaw having the winning Quidditch team two years running was laughable, and Gareth wondered how the Aladren’s had pulled it off. “Yes, I’ll be trying out for either Beater, or Chaser. Do you know if those positions will be open this year?” He asked, hoping that one or two of the older students had graduated last year.

The sharp single word response to the question of where Linus was from made it clear to Gareth that the older boy didn’t care to speak about his personal life. So, as he’d been trained to do from a young age, Gareth skillfully turned the discussion to a safer topic. “Are any of the Professors terribly strict?” It was good to know if there’d be any temperamental teachers before classes started.

0 Gareth Not particularly 0 Gareth 0 5

Ryan

November 12, 2011 3:20 AM

Probably mine too. by Ryan

He took the first year's offered hand and shook it."Pleasure to meet you as well, Miss Devereaux." Ryan didn't recognize the name, but then he really didn't keep up with those things too well. They didn't matter that much to him, when he thought he was beneath everyone anyway. He'd always felt closer on par with the house elves than any human being. The only difference was that Ryan had never had their chores. Largely because his mother had never wanted him near her stuff for fear that he'd break or contaminate it.

However, he felt it was necessary to be polite. If Ryan wasn't polite, his family would be ashamed of him...more so than they already were that was. Well, it was really just his mother who had been and his sister who was but Ryan didn't want to make everyone else disappointed in him too.

Plus, even though they probably wouldn't become close friends, due to the age difference, Ryan still didn't want Alexandra to hate him. Propriety was very important to some students at Sonora, particularly those in Crotalus and the fourth year would not want to offend the younger student.

Ryan considered Alexandra's question. "Well, our Head of House is Deputy Headmistress Pierce. She's also the Quidditch Coach. Our team captain is Marissa Stephenson." Not that it would probably matter to the first year. If she was the proper sort, she probably wouldn't want to play anyway, but Ryan decided to tell her as it had just sort of transitioned that way after mentioning Coach Pierce. He left out the part where she probably hated him because he was so horrid at flying.It wouldn't necessarily be the same for Alexandra. It wasn't so much that the Crotalus HoH was mean, Ryan simply didn't think she liked him specifically.

Plus, the fourth year didn't want the first year to know how bad he was at flying either.

Ryan continued. "Marissa is also one of our prefects and Head Girl. The other prefects are Sam and Rachel Bauer." He thought about Sonora more in general. "Most of the teachers here are pretty decent though Professor Fawcett's Potions class can be pretty challenging."

There wasn't anyone Ryan felt was necessary to specifically warn Alexandra about. Nobody at Sonora had really been nasty towards the fourth year, surprisingly. He was a bit paranoid about those whose classes he wasn't as good at but Alexandra might do well in them for all Ryan knew. There was Tawny, but as she hadn't bothered him in the last four years, he doubted a first year in a different house that wasn't a relative would be on the seventh year's radar at all.

He gave Alexandra a smile and asked. "Is there anything specific you're curious about?" Ryan would hate to give her too much information and bore her-his mother had always said he was a boring child-but he didn't want to be too uninformative either. Like many things, it was so difficult to know what the right balance was.

11 Ryan Probably mine too. 176 Ryan 0 5

Arabella

November 12, 2011 11:43 AM

Yup, And silly hats are a must. by Arabella

Arabella nodded. "I wonder if it will change. My cousin says COMC classes are usually held outside." She knew that Ryan was sincerely hoping that would change otherwise he was going to have to drop the subject next term, after CATS. She, of course, had not thought that far ahead. Arabella usually didn't in general and it wasn't as if she'd had any classes yet. She figured she'd probably end up taking Transfiguration, because she expected to be good at it, as were all Brockerts to varying degrees and the Professor was going to be her aunt. Her feelings might be hurt if her nieces and nephews didn't continue with her class.

Though, Lilac-er, Professor Crosby- would probably do cartwheels if Carrie decided to drop it. Arabella couldn't imagine anyone wanting to spend any more time than necessary with that little brat. The Pecari hadn't been even able to make it through Christmas dinner before she'd had enough of her cousin. It hadn't been as though Arabella hadn't realized her actions would have consequences but they were worth it.Punching Carrie was the right thing to do and there was nothing her parents would do to her that she wouldn't suffer through to put that little twit in her place.

At one point, Arabella was certain that Ryan would be the one to suffer if she did anything to his sister. Of course, then Arabella hadn't actually spent any time with Carrie and all she'd had was Ryan's word. For the Pecari, that was good enough. Her father had backed up enough about what a terrible person Aunt Pearl was. Now that Ryan was free of that awful woman, now that she would go to jail if she harassed him, Carrie was free game to be taught a lesson if she was the one who tormented Ryan.

Besides, Arabella knew that the Crotalus would never ever hit a girl. Or hex one other than perhaps in classroom setting, like if he was required to and he wouldn't like doing it then. Ryan was not going retaliate no matter what so it was up to her-and possibly Sophie-to do the retaliating for him.

Arabella looked towards where Jhonice gestured. "Don't you like your cousin?" Something the first year could definitely relate to. "I mean, what's wrong with him?" Arabella asked. "I have a cousin I don't like either but she won't be here until next year. Ryan's my only first cousin here but I have some more distant ones besides Nina and Tawny. There's Nina's brother Evan who is supposed to be in my class and their sister Hope in third, I think. Then there's Valerie in second year. Her dad and mine are first cousins."

She thought before going on "Nora is also in second year. She's...let me think...my great-grandpa and her great-great-grandpa are brothers. And Alessa Hinckley's mom is my dad's other first cousin." Arabella paused. "She's a sixth year. Alessa, I mean, not her mother. Oh, and Autumn Collins, in fifth year. I think her grandmother is my grandfather's cousin." Genealogy was not Arabella's best subject but she did know her own. If there had been any Tolliver cousins at Sonora, Arabella would have pointed them out too.

"I think I'm looking forward to Defense and Transfig the most, but Charms should be cool too. I heard we have a different teacher instead of the guy who wore silly hats." Arabella was slightly disappointed about this. She wanted to see a guy wearing a goofy hat voluntarily. The Pecari and her cousin Amity had sort of a thing about making Uncle Seth wear them.

Arabella nodded at what Jhonice said about Quidditch. She didn't want to burst the older girl's bubble but from what Ryan said, the Aladren team was tough . Violently scary tough.Not that the Crotalus talked about Quidditch much but he had mentioned that. "Are you on the team?" Arabella asked. She had no intention of playing of course. She didn't have enough interest in it to make it worth defying and shaming her family as a whole. Flying was all right but the Pecari was more interested in fencing. And possibly learning to duel.

11 Arabella Yup, And silly hats are a must. 217 Arabella 0 5

Cepheus

November 12, 2011 7:31 PM

Quidditch is all I'm looking forward to. by Cepheus

Cepheus looked at the Quidditch team captain and nodded. She didn't seem nearly as intimidating as he had supposed. Thank goodness. He wondered if she was from a prestigious house herself. He began to think of ways to get onto her good side. Maybe he could sneak his way onto the team with some of that charm his Father had. If she didn't let him on, that is. His spine tightened at the thought of not making the team. Father would be so disappointed, and he'd be disappointed in himself.

If Crotalus made it to the championships, they had to be fairly decent. Apparently not as good as Aladren, apparently. Cepheus sniffed. They would change that this year. If he was made Seeker, of course.

"I'll be trying out for Quidditch, yes. For Seeker." He loathed the position of Chaser, or even thinking about chasing. Others could do it just fine, but Cepheus didn't want to ever take on such a position. He was too small to be a beater, that was for sure. Seeking was really his best bet. Beater would be a grand position to have once he was older and, well, bigger. Cepheus had blushed furiously when his father had told him that in front of his younger brothers.

Cepheus was a little miffed at Linus's dismissal of his question. Deciding to ignore it and calculating another way to converse, he ate instead, letting the expert pureblood take hold of the conversation. He was still new at this whole thing. Friends usually came because they were forced to hang out. He'd never really had to go out of his ways to converse with people before. Mother had shielded him mostly from that. Dear, overprotective Mother. She was going to be the death of him.

0 Cepheus Quidditch is all I'm looking forward to. 0 Cepheus 0 5

Increase

November 12, 2011 8:59 PM

That's rather helpful of you. by Increase

Alphitomancy? Increase gave a mental scratch of his head. Did people even do that anymore? He couldn't remember the last time he even heard the phrase mentioned. He also didn't know if he rightly agreed it worked. He supposed, if the person had the talent and a touch of the 'tingles,' then the whole divining-by-way-of-barley might work. Still, he had his doubts, professional and otherwise. Just a bit too hokey. And, gods of the dark men, but haruspicy? He shuddered for real. Gross.

He nodded hesitantly at the offer to come by her offices. Increase rather hoped the librarian hadn't kept any of the, uh, remnants from the lesson on haruspicy. His stomach wasn't particularly robust, despite its ability to imbibe all manners of sketchy-looking drinks. "Thanks," he said briefly and made a note to try and skip out on that offer.

Increase couldn't help but feel even more worried now. It wasn't that he was unfamiliar with the technical terms DiAnna had dropped, and he had unfortunately come across some of the less savory forms of divination over the years by sheer proximity. Those Santeria folks-- yeah, Muggles thought it was animal sacrifice. Between Increase and the wall, animal sacrifices were the last things to be worried about with that bunch. He'd come across this one wizard who was convinced that his patron saint could communicate with him-- but only through the eating of a still beating goat heart. Increase had never left a bar so quick.

He hadn't figured on having to get into that sort of stuff. Maybe with the older students; he nodded. It made sense, since the talent wasn't exactly wide-spread, perhaps some of the kids just liked the subject for its information. He would have to brush up on the histories and hope they wouldn't ask for a practical demonstration.

"--whether you have, um, the Sight?"

Increase's fork ricocheted off the plate, hit the edge of the table, and then finished its landing on the floor near his feet. He heard none of the clatter, his jaw hanging open in the international shape for "Oh sh--." He coughed twice and tried to recover. "The Sight? Like, as in making prophecies and such? Uh, no, no, nothing like that." His voice stretched to an unfortunately high sort of squeak. He coughed for a third time. "That is, uh, no, I don't. The best I get are feelings, I guess? Like, you know how you sometimes just get a feeling, a sort of twinge in your gut?"

He calmed a bit and scratched at his collar nervously. It wasn't like it was a big secret or anything. Increase just hadn't been prepared to answer it right off the bat; he was also concered that this might be some sort of under-the-radar follow-up interview, just to make sure he was who he said he was. He tried to explain it in the proper words. "My intuition's better than most, you could say. I don't get exact messages, but I do get images and I just sorta know that something's going to happen. Most times it's for bad stuff. But generally I have to be touching the object or the person to get the feeling. I can't control it."

He had rambled. Rather incoherently. Increase figured, if it was a follow-up interview, that he'd pretty much fouled it up. He should have just said, Yeah, plus the bonus of psychometric skills. Increase hung his head and wondered where his fork had gone.

0 Increase That's rather helpful of you. 0 Increase 0 5

Dulce

November 12, 2011 10:26 PM

You'll be surprised by Dulce

Dulce had almost forgotten that Edmond was a Prefect. But then, she didn’t really converse much with the older Aladren anymore than she ever conversed with anyone else. Plus, she felt as though Edmond lived in a different world. There was something about him… detached. Of course, who was Dulce to judge? She was just an observer of those around her. She observed plenty and understood very little about the emotions that drew people either together or apart. But she had seen how Edmond was with Cassie and seen how Cassie was with, well, him. They both were rather oblivious. Much like her sister and Juri had been and how she had been about Delilah.

Her dark brows rose slightly at the mention of lessons. Dulce was a Pureblood as far as the rules went by, but her parents were far more lenient when it came to certain things they did as opposed to other parents. Dulce’s mother had told her that when she was growing up, her parents had been strict with them and didn’t change until her brother left the family. After that, her parents had adapted, but Dulce’s mother was already an adult with a family of her own. Everything still changed though because her family was more accepting of others. If they weren’t, Lita would not be attending Julliard with Juri.

Still, Dulce wondered what it would be like to have strict parents in the sense of the Careys. Dulce’s parents were strict in their own ways, she always had her music lessons, no excuses, etc. But she knew that their strict was not the way of ‘Pureblood’ parents. She doubted her life would be very different though. She studied by herself in the summers, which was basically the same thing. “Well, the usual is better than drama, I suppose.” Dulce commented.

Dulce looked around for her brother and spotted him at a table talking to two girls. Her hazel eyes narrowed briefly. She was going to have to keep an eye out for him after all. “He’s a Pecari, which figures. He’s that one chatting up those two girls.” Dulce paused for a moment before adding, “I hope one of them isn’t your cousin.”

0 Dulce You'll be surprised 0 Dulce 0 5

Derry Four

November 14, 2011 9:34 PM

Absolutely. by Derry Four

Derry was somewhat aware that there were aspects of his life that some of his Teppenpaw friends found baffling. There were certainly aspects of their lives that he found baffling. In many respects, they came from almost literally different worlds. Reggie, in particular, sometimes even seemed to speak an entirely different language.

But this was the first time anyone at Sonora had said something that he could really truly not even begin to comprehend.

Reggie didn't have cousins.

Derry had cousins like he had a mom and father. When he started naming his family, Thad was often the second one to come up. Thad and the Anns and even Wesley and Duesius had such a direct impact on his everyday life that he couldn't begin to imagine a world without them.

"Yeah," he confirmed, "Thad's huzzah. But more . . . Aladren. Really Aladren."

1 Derry Four Absolutely. 189 Derry Four 0 5

Jane

November 14, 2011 10:53 PM

Will that be very unpleasant? by Jane

Jane nodded her agreement that normal was better than dramatic. She agreed to that more than she thought the restrained, casual gesture could ever communicate. Drama in novels was all well, though she found herself not enjoying it as much as she once had, but the kind in real life, if her experience with it was standard, was just dark and dirty and bloody and you had to cover it up and then just try not to let anyone know about the nightmares you still had at night. Or, even more than that, the ones you had while you were still awake.

“And we do enjoy our lessons,” she said. “We’re far enough along with our languages now, we play a game – Edmond will start a conversation in one, then we’ll keep switching at random, to see if we can throw the other one off. I miss my mathematics tutors, too, though Edmond doesn’t like them as much, like I don’t really like most of the philosophy but he does.” She lifted one shoulder to all the variety of tastes that could be seen even between two people who were, as far as it went, very similar. “We practice most of this while we’re at school, too, but we get to have our tutors there, and we only have the magical theory lessons besides those, so we get more work done on those things during the summers.”

She followed Dulce’s gaze to a first year boy talking to two girls. “I don’t think so,” she said. She was pretty confident she had the two girls sorted out enough to know them from the rest of the students, after all, however little she might know about them individually. “Why do you say that, though?”

She said that lightly, expecting that it was a joke, like if Jane warned someone about the possibility that Edmond would bore them to death. Her brother was actually a reasonably good speaker, when he put his mind to it, particularly if he knew enough about a subject, and even at his worst, she didn’t think anyone’s health was actually in danger from listening to him go on. If the warning was real, she’d pass it along – she thought she stood high enough, at least here, for either of them to listen and do as she said automatically, but if she didn’t, Edmond certainly did – but it just seemed more likely to her to be the kind of casual comment people made about their siblings, an idea that made her a bit more comfortable with Dulce. Brothers might well be brothers everywhere and for everyone.

0 Jane Will that be very unpleasant? 0 Jane 0 5

Jorge

November 15, 2011 8:52 PM

And sorry for mine! by Jorge

Well, it was sort of girl that she was from Phoenix, but Jorge knew nothing about the desert city. He didn’t think Phoenix had anything on San Francisco though because it was a city full of diversity that people from all over the world settled in. A city of change. A city full of history. But still, Jorge thought Phoenix was pretty cool. His initial thought of Jade diminished slightly when Jade couldn’t even muster up enough respect to provide a city for their current conversation. If she wasn’t going to even bother trying with them on their first day, she wasn’t going to be anyone of interest later on either.

Jorge didn’t have long to think about this because Waverly was talking about and that girl demanded full attention. He wasn’t surprised to find that she was a Muggleborn. With as much energy and excitement she has, someone who was new to this would feel those things. Jorge was excited, but about being away from home and finally being able to use a wand, not because magic was suddenly real. “Yeah, I have.” Jorge mumbled as he went back to his meal.

He saw the smirk Jade shot him and he sat back to watch what was about to unfold. He was rather surprised by what Jade was doing. Maybe the women in his family were far less evil or maybe Jade was just weird, he wasn’t entirely sure which was the real case here. Still, it was a bit amusing to watch. His dark eyes flickered over to the Teppenpaw table to where Dulce was. He knew better than to get himself into trouble with her here, especially since she was wearing the Prefect badge. He might have been able to do it if it was only Lita, but not Dulce.

Running a hand through his dark curls, Jorge shook his head when the conversation suddenly went to Jade’s cat. He thought it was weird that her cat had the same name as his Tia, but then, he always felt it was strange when animals had real human names instead of things like Fluffy. “No, we aren’t allowed animals.” At one point, Jorge had wanted to get a dog, but his parents said they didn’t have enough time to spend with an animal, so after awhile, Jorge stopped asking. He was pretty okay with that now. “Are you trying out for Quidditch?” He hadn’t decided yet if he wanted to do that or not.

0 Jorge And sorry for mine! 0 Jorge 0 5

Brianna

November 15, 2011 9:35 PM

I'll get back to you on that one. by Brianna

Brianna listened intently as Valerie explained to her what it was that she had. It seemed pretty serious to her because it dealt with her immune system. If Brianna had something like that, she wasn’t sure what her parents would have done. All the hospital visits, Healer visits, potions that she would have needed to take. That was a lot of money that her parents didn’t have to spend on that sort of thing. But Brianna knew Valerie was from money, so she supposed that sort of thing didn’t really hurt her family any. Brianna vaguely wondered whether or not it would have mattered if she was ill or not when it came to the bullying. She knew some people felt guilty about being mean to someone who was ill. Somehow, though, Brianna didn’t think it would have mattered much at all. They needed someone to pick on and the weak poor one was usually their best victim.

She nodded when Valerie admitted to begging her parents to go to Sonora. Brianna could understand the need to be normal. A need to fit in. A need to have a life other than the one at home. That was the whole reason she had been willing to go all the way to Arizona with Attoria to get it. “I begged my parents to let me come here as well.” Brianna admitted, smiling gently at the idea that there was someone else who needed to get away as much as she had… even if they were for two very different reasons. “They had wanted me to go to a school up in the Northeast to be closer to home, but there were quite a few of the other kids in the building going to that school and I just felt like it would be too much like home to go there. So, after begging, my parents decided Sonora would be the better option for me.”

She took a couple of bites of her meal before answering Valerie. No one ever seemed to understand why her parents never tried for another child. If they had known how awful Brianna would have turned out, would they have tried? Brianna would never really know. “No, I don’t have any siblings.” She advised. “I have distant cousins in the Philippines, but I have only met them a couple of times. How many siblings do you have? Just your sister?”

0 Brianna I'll get back to you on that one. 0 Brianna 0 5

Waverly

November 16, 2011 10:24 PM

You guys... by Waverly

Waverly was intruiged by their two very different responses. Jorge seemed to want to brush the topic away while Jade was all about talking about it. And boy did she had some to say. Hesitation came into Waverly's vibrant green eyes at the thought of her nose bleeding when she did her first spell. That would be so embarrassing! And her fingers?! Waverly could've sworn she'd read something saying that her body parts wouldn't be harmed during her first year at school. Maybe she hadn't? Waverly looked over at Jorge, slightly worried and hoping that he would assure her that it wasn't true. He didn't, of course, and Jade went on talking about her cat.

"I'm going to," Waverly said. "My parents are going to buy me an owl so I can send them letters the magical way." She smiled slightly, but she was still worried that she would be hurt during her first term here. She'd be furious if Jade was making fun of her because she didn't know anything about magic, but right now she had no choice but to believe her. She'd have to double-check on this info tomorrow at the library. Ah, she couldn't wait to see the library!

"Quidditch?" The name was familiar from her brief and sporadic readings about magic, but she didn't know what the game was really about. "I know it's a sport, but how do you play it?" she asked, wishing she had read everything she could have on magic. Waverly felt like a fool here, and she had wanted to get away from being made fun of. It had been horrible at her elementary school until she could do magic, when they stopped torturing her. But here, everyone could do magic, and probably better than her. It strengthened her resolve to learn more about magic and to prepare herself against bullies. For now, she wanted to make friends with Jade and Jorge so her housemates could also guide her.

0 Waverly You guys... 0 Waverly 0 5

Valerie

November 20, 2011 9:20 AM

All right by Valerie

Valerie smiled back at Brianna's admittance to begging as well. She felt a lot better knowing that she wasn't the only one and especially that her roommate didn't think she was a spoiled brat. The Crotalus just wanted people to like her, to have friends and nobody wanted to be friends with a spoiled brat.

Okay, so Valerie did have a tendency to get whatever she needed to make her comfortable and keep her well. Her parents somewhat tiptoed around her trying to prevent her from getting upset. However, there weren't a lot of things that did make her angry or upset. She was stuck in bed a lot but Valerie was used to that and knew it was necessary. Most of the time she felt like staying there anyway.

And there were things she just couldn't do. Like flying. Valerie knew lots of pureblood girls weren't allowed on brooms but usually that was because it was improper. In her case it was for medical reasons. There were lots of other things that Valerie wasn't supposed to do either, like be outside the way she was in COMC or running around in Defense. She should probably talk to the medic about that. The Crotalus didn't want to make a fuss in case others would resent her, but she didn't want to get sick either.

"I understand." Valerie replied. For her, the alternative wasn't being in a place like home, it was actually being home. Not that the second year didn't like her home, she just wanted to desperately to be as normal as possible. And normal meant going to Sonora.

"No, just my sister." She answered. Her parents hadn't tried to have any more kids after they'd found out what was wrong with her. Valerie's immune system disorder was a genetic thing, and when she'd been formally diagnosed, Melanie had been just a baby. Fortunately, a healthy one, but their parents hadn't wanted to take any more chances.

Valerie smiled at Brianna's mention of cousins. "I have a lot of distant cousins here apparently." She told her roommate. "The Phillipines though? Did you actually get to go there?" If that was the case, Valerie wanted to hear all about it. She'd never been anywhere of course. They didn't travel like most people of their status did because of her. She often felt guilty about that, that her family missed out on a lot of normal things because she was sick.

11 Valerie All right 204 Valerie 0 5

DiAnna

November 22, 2011 5:47 PM

I'm a helpful sort by DiAnna

She liked to think her new colleague dropping his fork had nothing at all to do with their current strain of conversation, but she had her doubts. Not that she'd voice or otherwise express them in any way, of course, lest she further discomfort him. Increase denied profecy-making, but admitted to 'tingles' and gut reactions. DiAnna nodded; for some reason that made her feel much more at ease, though she knew it was a fairly illogical reaction. She could go back to consuming her meal without concern now that he would openly laugh at her (what he did in public was really none of her concern).

As he explained a little more, DiAnna found herself genuinely interested in what Increase had to say about his intuition. She'd opted for a major in Divination purely out of interest for the subject, so it was only natural that she'd been intuigued with someone with skill, even if he talked it down to mere 'tingles.' "Fascinating," DiAnna said, her tone conveying sincerity. "I've never experienced anything past a strong instinct," she admitted. "Like a draw to something that I can't explain or even consciously feel." More sort of like the gut feelings he'd alluded to earlier. "Certainly no images or premonitions," she said, not lamenting her own lack of talent; sometimes she thought it would be a horrible burden to be a true Seer. On the other hand, of course, it wasn't every day she met someone who professed anything like that. "That's pretty cool."

"So what brought you to teaching?" she continued to chatter, hoping he interpreted her questions as such and not an attempt to grill him on his suitability. That was hardly her job - she was just there to look after the library. Her own teaching experience had been an unexpected and temporary phenomenon.

0 DiAnna I'm a helpful sort 0 DiAnna 0 5

Jade

November 24, 2011 12:22 PM

Are lame? by Jade

"Not allowed animals?" Jade repeated with an incredulous gasp. Poor Jorge! "That's terrible." As a girl who'd grown up in an environment where animals always outnumbered humans, jade couldn't understand why anyone would want to live without pets, let alone forbid their existence. "You can play with Bella whenever you like," she offered, dropping the kitten in Jorge's lap. Bella was her pride and joy, but she didn't need to keep her to herself all the time, especially not when Jorge was in obvious need of cuddling a kitten.

"Owls are useful," she said to Waverly, whose parents could afford to buy her an owl. Since the family owl had passed away a couple of years ago, the Owens had survived without one of their own. They made use of school owls and relatives' birds, only sending back replies rather than making first contact where at all possible.

The next topic of conversation was Quidditch, and before Jade had answered Jorge's question, Waverly was being all ignorant about the sport. Not that she could help it. The temptation to tell her a bunch of lies was strong, but Jade had already been delighted by the way her roommates' eyes had widened at her earlier comments. So instead she said, "You play it on broomsticks. Basically you pass balls around to score while other players try to knock you off by whacking lumps of metal at you." Okay, so she had a hint of teasing about her, but maybe if Waverly found out she'd been telling the truth (more or less) about Quidditch, she miht believe her about the nosebleeds and stuff, too.

"I might try out," she said with a shrug. Neither of her siblings played, which was all the more reason for Jade to give it a go, but she hadn't flown a decent broom in years. She didn't know if she'd be any good; hopefully she'd get a chance to find out before she had to try-out for the team. that's if first years were allowed to play - she'd heard that sometimes they weren't. "What about you?" Jade asked Jorge, as he'd instigated the conversation.

0 Jade Are lame? 0 Jade 0 5

Andri

November 29, 2011 8:47 PM

blushes Sorry... by Andri

She’d done it now… She’d gotten too excited and messed up her words again! Her cheeks blushed to the same shade of red that her hair was and she turned away from the older boy. Her ear to ear grin faded into the shadows and she searched around the room for her older sisters once more. What if she was too excited all the time and just messed up everything? Would they send her home? What would happen?

For years she waited to see if she was magical like her oldest sister Arista. A year after Arista, Addi was sent a letter and then Amira after her. Andri thought it was a sure thing that she would be too. But maybe now it wasn’t so much a sure bet as it had been. Maybe I just shouldn’t be here. Maybe I’m not magical after all. Sure I turned blue, but anyone could turn colors with the right ingredients! she thought as he repeated her messed up word.

She sighed. “Sorry… I guess I’m just really excited and-” she stopped and looked away from him to try to catch Arista, Addi or Amira’s attention. The boy looked passed her and saw the bowl on his other side of the Spaghetti. She nodded, to show him that was what she’d wanted. He handed it to her with one short word. It felt to her like he was either trying to get her to go away or that he didn’t like her from the start. That was odd enough to the first year. Everyone loved her at home, so this was weird. She didn’t like the feeling it gave her.

She served herself slowly, leaving a small mound of pasta on her plate before she passed the bowl back to him. He introduced himself and she nodded. “Thanks David, though I’m sure you’re just saying that… I’ll leave you be.” She said trying to speak slower to get her words to come out right. “I’ve probably just annoyed you. And I’m sorry for it.” She turned back to her plate, cheeks turning even redder, which was an odd contrast to the blue color of her skin.

She’d hoped that she wouldn’t be hated there at school, but now it looked like she would be. Part of her wanted to just go get back on the wagon and go home to Audi and Analea. But the rest of her wanted to stay there and be a big girl with Arista, Addison and Amira.

Why does growing up stink so much?! she thought to herself as she felt a tap on her shoulder.

0 Andri *blushes* Sorry... 0 Andri 0 5

Increase

November 30, 2011 9:59 PM

That's good; I'm often told I need help. by Increase

Increase nodded, feeling slightly reassured. DiAnna's interest seemed genuine, and he couldn't detect any tone of interrogation in her comments. Maybe he was in the clear after all. Feeling some of his earlier hunger return to him, he began breaking the snap peas on his plate into halves, which he then popped into his mouth, in between his words. "That's it exactly," he agreed with enthusiasm. "People just don't trust that feeling, they get all caught up in their head and so that pull gets ignored. If you do it long enough, sooner or later, it'll stop altogether."

And there were few things harder than unlearning a behavior; this, Increase knew for a fact. That's why kids were so much better at the intuition thing than adults. They hadn't been programmed yet to mistrust their feelings. Rationality was the arch-enemy of divinations; there was no room for intangible truths in a world that was bound by exclusively empirical limits. It was because of this that Increase generally didn't mind it when he was dismissed as being stupid or silly. Some people had their books; he had his tingles.

He popped in another snap pea half and promptly began to choke. "W-what brought me to teaching, you ask?" he parroted back. God, there was a story. Oh, nothing much. Just went on a bender, bought an enchanted tarot deck, got chased by some Aurors, and was then most likely bemused by an aging, hippie hedgewitch into having a vision. You know, just the usual. Increase could imagine how that might go over. Better to play down the story.

"I was in need of a career change and hadn't ever seen the desert before." His words, intended to be humorous, landed flatly and sounded oddly desperate. He scratched at his unshaven throat nervously. He decided it would be better to just try and deflect. "But that's all boring stuff. How about you, DiAnna. What got you into library-ing?"

He quickly crammed in a few more snap peas in hopes of preventing himself from using any more non-existent words.

0 Increase That's good; I'm often told I need help. 0 Increase 0 5

Headmistress Kijewski

Opening Feast, Welcome All! by Headmistress Kijewski

Angel Shield

... by Angel Shield

Samantha Hamilton

My first badge of honor by Samantha Hamilton

Thaddeus Pierce II

The first day of the rest of my life (Aladren, wotw) by Thaddeus Pierce II

Jorge Garcia

In the fun house (Pecari) by Jorge Garcia

Waverly Canterbury

What fun things does this house hold? by Waverly Canterbury

Jade Owen

We have seven years to find out! by Jade Owen

Linus Macaulay

Round Two by Linus Macaulay

Katrina (Kitty) McLevy

Day 4,485th of my current life by Katrina (Kitty) McLevy

Henrietta Boxton-Fox-Reynolds

Day one of life here... by Henrietta Boxton-Fox-Reynolds

Brianna Japos

Returning for another year by Brianna Japos

Thad Pierce

Second step to socialibility by Thad Pierce

Gareth Whitebriar

Round One for me I suppose by Gareth Whitebriar

Dulce Garcia

The second to last feast for me by Dulce Garcia

Alicia Bauer

We're all making progress. by Alicia Bauer

Cepheus Princeton

The Same for Me. by Cepheus Princeton

Kitty

*Hopes she doesn’t trip* by Kitty

Henny B-F-R

The Aladren Six Step Programme to Sociability by Henny B-F-R

Thad Two

So I guess I'm halfway there then by Thad Two

Topher Calhoun

Here for third year by Topher Calhoun

Amelia Pierce

Feast and be merry by Amelia Pierce

Alicia

*Hurries to catch up* by Alicia

Sara Raines

Returning and planning by Sara Raines

Arabella Brockert

Being welcomed and sorted. by Arabella Brockert

Derry Four

Teppenpaw the Third by Derry Four

Nic Sawyer

I am ignoring you, Mr. CATS by Nic Sawyer

Kitty

Are we all together now? by Kitty

Regina Parker

What a proper title you have by Regina Parker

Jhonice Trevear

Isn't it exciting? by Jhonice Trevear

Fae Sinclair

Really? Me too! by Fae Sinclair

David Wilkes

As long as it's not a Red Badge of Courage. by David Wilkes

Topher

What a coincidence! Can you believe it? by Topher

Henny B-F-R

I think so... Ready, let's go on 3.... by Henny B-F-R

Linus

I have an obvious responsibility, it seems by Linus

Samantha

It's not one of those. by Samantha

Thad Pierce Two

Taking that fourth step by Thad Pierce Two

Josephine Owen

... are you talking to me? by Josephine Owen

Gareth Whitebriar

That is how it appears by Gareth Whitebriar

Alicia

Soon we'll all be fully socialized. by Alicia

DiAnna Diaz

Meeting my replacement [Tag Increase] by DiAnna Diaz

Hopes she doesn’t trip by Kitty

Hurries to catch up by Alicia