And everything's changing. on Cascade Hall

Headmistress Kijewski-Jareau

October 04, 2013 7:11 PM

Welcoming Feast!! by Headmistress Kijewski-Jareau

Kiva stood at the front table with all the other staff members sans Professor Skies, who would be with the first years. There were a couple of new faces at the staff table that might have some of the students interests peaked and a couple of faces missing. Every year there were staff changes. No matter how hard Kiva had tried, making everyone happy or their lives easier was never enough to keep them all on board. It was just another hassle in the many hassles of being the Head of a school. Unfortunately, she was going to be throwing the students a curve ball tonight and there was little she could really do about it.

Her summer had been absolute chaos. A mother of five should expect chaos, but not like this. Ayita had graduated, so the family had thrown her a party. They had tried to keep the celebrations going, but Angel’s health had suddenly begun to decline and his potions just didn’t seem to be working any longer. It had all been a terrifying experience for them to go through. Harper was too young to understand, but she was pretty attached to Angel and she became upset whenever they had to keep her away from him. Chloe and Emery were downtrodden throughout the summer. Emery had done his best to keep a positive attitude on it, which was normally Chloe’s job, but there was only so much he could do about everything. She appreciated the gesture though. Jeff had received a promotion and was now a head executive at the advertising firm. She was proud of him, but it meant less time at home, which meant, Kiva needed to be home more.

And here lies the issue.

She watched the students milling about while they found their friends and discussed their summers. She took it all in before the new Deputy Headmistress brought in the first years. They had a smaller group this year, but Kiva wasn’t worried about it. It just meant that the Professors could focus more individually on them than they could in the past. When the first years began to file in, the older students settled in because they knew what was coming.

Charming herself to be heard, Kiva greeted them all “Good Evening, Everyone! For the returning students, I say welcome back and to our new students, welcome to Sonora Academy. For those who do not know me, I am Headmistress Kijewski-Jareau, but feel free to call me Professor K.” This was a standard greeting, but it was always necessary. She didn’t want to just jump right into things and be too overwhelming.

“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 your new Deputy Headmistress Skies, who is also the Transfiguration Professor, and take a sip from the potion she will offer to you.” Kiva explained, nodded to Selina to indicate who the Deputy Headmistress was (although the goblet in her hand and the fact that she had lead them into the hall should have made it obvious). “Once you have taken a sip of the potion, your skin will turn into the color of the house you will be spending the next seven years in. Once your house is indicated, please have a seat at your house table. Yellow is for Teppenpaw, 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 was completed, Kiva called for attention once more. “I would like Nora Dobson and Linus Macaulay to please come up to the front and accept your new Head Girl and Head Boy badges.” Kiva stated. She grinned and handed each their appropriate badge. “Congratulations to you both.” She said before having them return to their seats. “Aria Yale, Heaven Baird, Clara Abernathy, and Lucian D’Alesandro, please come and join me up front.” Kiva called out and waited for the four of them to join her. She gave them each a badge, “Everyone, meet your newest Prefects. Be sure to congratulate them when you see them.” She clapped with the students before having them return to their seats.

“As usual, we do have some announcements to make. First, as I stated earlier, Professor Skies has stepped up and taken on the role of Deputy Headmistress. She will also be the Head of House for Crotalus. As we all know, Coach Pierce left at the end of last year. Unfortunately, we have been unable to find a suitable replacement for her at this time. I was going to cancel Quidditch due to this, however, Professor Olivers has stated interest in substituting as Coach for the time being. I still expect all Quidditch Captains to fulfill their duties and treat Professor Olivers with great respect. Most especially since she is taking time out of her schedule to give you all the opportunity to continue playing this year.” That was a lot to say, but it was done. Now on to the next.

“We have a new Librarian this year, Ms. Amelle Nicchi.” Kiva made sure to pronounce her name correctly as Ah-mel, instead of Emily like she had originally thought it sounded like. “In case you have not noticed, but our Groundskeeper, Mr. Brockert, is no longer with the school. He has taken a position working with exotic plants. We as a staff wished him the best of luck when he gave us his goodbyes. I hope you all will do the same. In his place, we have our new Groundskeeper, Nathan Xavier. Please give him and Ms. Nicchi a warm welcome when you see them.” So many announcements and there was still one more to come.

“As some of you may be aware of, my son, Angel, has not been able to return to Sonora. He has become quite ill and the Healers have not been able to find a solution. Due to this, I am unable to fulfill my duties as Headmistress of this school in a way that it deserves to be.” Kiva informed them. “The man to my left is Mortimer Brockert. He has been a part of the education process and administration for many years. He has decided to take on some of the roles that I cannot take on currently while my son is ill.” She had no idea if this would really affect anyone but her and her family. Still, she needed them to know what was to come. “This term will be a transition period for Mr. Brockert as he becomes acquainted with the site and with his new found duties. At the end of this term, I will officially step down as Headmistress of this school and Headmaster Brockert will take over. I wanted you to all be aware of the situation because there will be times when he will be running the school while I am away. So, for the year, you will have two Heads of this school.” Kiva paused for the moment to let this all sink in to everyone. It wouldn’t be as terrible or weird as some people might think, but she and the administration thought this was the easiest way to go about things.

“Last thing before we sing and eat.” Kiva stated, moving this on quickly. “This year’s Midsummer Event will be the school concert. Each Prefect and Head Student will be putting on a show for the student body. Every student must be in at least one of their shows.” She waited for the negative reactions. “I know I know, how dare we force you all to participate, but it is what it is. However the Prefect or Head student wants to handle it is up to them. A sign up sheet will be placed in the Hall and each Prefect and Head’s name will be listed. There is only a limited amount of slots under each name, so sign up early. Okay, now onto the song and the food.”

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 desert blooms.

Once the song ended, the food appeared before them. A feast of great magnitude. “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, which should be up in a week's time. Have fun at the feast and remember the site rules. Happy posting everyone!

Subthreads:

Literally but not metaphorically blue by Theodore Wolseithcrafte with Leonidas Bennett

I'm seeing red! by Sasha Sinclair with Isaac Douglas

Well, I'm back by Henry Carey with Alexandra D'Alesandro, Henry

Friends? by Eleanor Vandenberg

A busy beginning to a busy year, it seems.... by Julian Umland

Well, there's me done for. by Mellie Goodwin

Home sweet home. Let the games begin. by Alicia Bauer

And everything's changing. by Waverly Canterbury with Liliana Bannister, Waverly

I'm feeling welcome. Are you feeling welcome? by Nathan Xavier, Groundskeeper with Lydia Chambers

Feeling welcome indeed. by Jade Owen with Atlas Primred, Jade

The Last; The Greatest. by Linus Macaulay with Brianna Japos, Linus

*is feeling welcomed and confused* by Aria Yale with Wendy Canterbury, Aria

I hope it'll be welcoming. by Serena Brockert with Gemma Bennett, Gemma

Hoping for Welcome by Morgana Bennet

Freaked out just doesn't begin to cover it by Ariel Thornton with Carrie O'Malley

New term...new life by Clara Abernathy with Lucian D'Alesandro, Lucian

Sisterly affection and house pride by Francesca Wolseithcrafte with Anthony Carey VIII, Anthony

Same kid...new year by Carter Browning with Charlie B-F-R, Carter

Good food with a good friend (tag Ava) by Dimitri Porter with Ava Fletcher, Dimitri

I still wish I was home. by Chloe Jareau with Malcolm Carey, Chloe

Well, this should all be fun.... by Alexandra Devereux with Arabella Brockert, Alex Devereux

*Is not a team player* by Keme RunningBear

Joy. by Leo Princeton

Condolences... by Amira Thornton

Looking for a friend (Tag: Charlotte) by Emrys Lucan with Charlotte Spencer

0 Headmistress Kijewski-Jareau Welcoming Feast!! 0 Headmistress Kijewski-Jareau 1 5

Theodore Wolseithcrafte

October 05, 2013 1:15 PM

Literally but not metaphorically blue by Theodore Wolseithcrafte

Theodore was quietly confident as he stood, waiting to be ushered into the hall. He and Francesca had discussed the houses in some detail, and it was clear that he was Aladren through and through. That would suit him well. He admired the characteristics of the house and it meant he got to be with his sister. Not only did that have comfort and familiarity, and easier opportunities to be sociable with one another, but it meant that they would be on the same Quidditch team. He was always with Francesca when they played pick up games at home, so to be opposing her in a real match, attempting to thwart her attempts at scoring, would have felt dreadfully alien.

A small smile still crossed his features as they turned blue. An expected result could still be a satisfying one – in fact, most of the time it was. One expected a potion to turn out a particular way if attended to correctly – that it did, if careful attention had been paid, was not surprising but was extremely satisfying. If your team trained harder and had more talented players, you expected to win. It was expected, but satisfying. It was true of every area he could think of, in terms of studying and achievement. That suited Theodore. He was happiest when the world worked as it should.

His sister being already seated between two other Aladrens, he found his own space. He listened attentively to the headmistress' announcements. He had known about Coach Pierce leaving, which was of definite interest, although it had yet to be seen what, if any, would be the repercussions for him. For them. Although he was hungry, he was happy to sit and listen for as long as the speech went on for. It was the calm before the inevitable storm. He had long since resigned himself to the fact that this evening was going to be long and exhausting, as it was bound to involve a great deal of conversation with unfamiliar people. This was something Theodore was perfectly adept at – he did not lack the skills to be socially graceful. He just found it rather tiring, and looked forward – at the end of any long period of socialisation – to having some time to himself.

He joined in the song, softly but more or less tunefully, following the printed sheet as best he could. Music had never been his forte, but he had some knowledge, and – once the starting note had been established – it was easy enough to see whether it was going up or down, and to pick out refrains where it was repeating itself. He resumed his seat, eyeing up the food. It looked most definitely enticing and, whilst it was not going to taste exactly the same as the food at home, he felt that he could feel at home with the food here. There was pie, for example. How could one feel dispirited in the presence of pie? He carved himself a slice – enough to be enjoyable but perhaps leave room for sampling something else – and accompanied it with some buttery potatoes and peas. Feeling buoyed by the prospect of a good meal, he turned to his neighbour.

“Good evening, I am Theodore Wolseithcrafte, of the Wolseithcrafte family of Chicago,” he introduced himself.

13 Theodore Wolseithcrafte Literally but not metaphorically blue 270 Theodore Wolseithcrafte 0 5

Leonidas Bennett

October 05, 2013 10:22 PM

Better literally than metaphorically in this context by Leonidas Bennett

As he moved in a line with the other first years into the Cascade Hall, Leo Bennett tried his best to stop smiling. It was a difficult task, but one he felt he had to complete before he came within viewing distance of either of his older siblings at the school. At least one of them, he was sure, would have noticed at some point over the courses of their lives that Leo only smiled for no obvious reason when he was uncomfortable and nervous, and he didn’t want to think of Paul and Gemma finding him amusing because of that tonight. This was his social debut, to a large extent, and he wanted it to go just so.

He thought he succeeded, but it turned out to be only a temporary success. There was little doubt in his mind which House he would go into, but the nervous attempt at a confident smile popped right back up when the woman who had charge of them for the moment gave him the potion which would confirm it. Quickly, without hesitating, he raised it and drank it down to hide his mouth, then held his hands out in front of him, watching as they turned…blue?

For a second, he frowned in genuine confusion, processing this. He had been sure he would go to Crotalus, be in the same House as Paul and Eliza, his oldest sister, who had picked up her distinctive habit of wearing eye-catching red here, in the House with red as a color. He, though, was blue – Aladren. No one from his family had been there yet. There was nothing wrong with it, he thought – from what he had read in the school brochures, it was an excellent House, really excellent, and from what he had gathered from listening to Paul and Eliza, it was almost certainly easier to live in, for all the minor glory of having the Deputy Head as a Head of House which Crotalus had – but it just wasn’t what he had expected.

That, however, was possibly not the worst thing, and he smiled around at his new classmates as he joined the Aladren table. He didn’t know much about Eliza or Paul’s time at Sonora, just scraps overheard, but he’d gathered that Eliza, at least, had gotten into some tense situations, and so perhaps it was for the best, being in a different House, somewhere where he could make his own reputation entirely from scratch, rather than having members of his family precede him. He would not be burdened with them, as he might have been in Crotalus, and almost certainly would have been in Teppenpaw – he had never gotten the impression that Gemma was very smart. He was better off making his own impressions.

The Headmistress gave a speech, during which he nodded along as though he knew just what was going on, though he was really surprised at the part about a Brockert becoming head of the school and started to turn to look at Paul before he caught himself and reminded himself to just look it up later. At the end, he sang along with the school song, feeling a little uneasy about the martial tone of its lyrics, and then began deciding, since the rest of it was really beyond his ability to influence or control right now, what, of the several attractive options being presented to him, to eat for supper.

When his neighbor – and, he supposed, roommate – introduced himself before Leo had filled his plate, he realized that shouldn't have been his first priority. “Good evening to you as well. I'm Leonidas Bennett,” he said, carefully using his full first name. It was almost never used at home, but, well, he wasn't at home. He was at school, which meant he was too grown-up for nicknames. "Of the California Bennetts," he added, "though I did live in Chicago for a while a few years ago. I liked it there, too. Have you ever been west before?"

0 Leonidas Bennett Better literally than metaphorically in this context 269 Leonidas Bennett 0 5

Sasha Sinclair

October 06, 2013 12:44 PM

I'm seeing red! by Sasha Sinclair

Sasha Sinclair stepped off the wagon with a frown and casually wiped off any residue from his pristine school robes. Already he was displeased by the school. He was a Sinclair. They should allow him to arrive to the school in comfortable conditions. Already, his travels to the school were made difficult due to the portkey to America. Add to that this ridiculous wagon ride from the East coast to the desert in Arizona and Sasha was over it. He felt that his cousin had given the wrong sort of impression about this school when she had attended. Or, perhaps because she somehow managed to attract the attention of a Carey, the family felt the school had its uses.

Stretching his limps out as he walked along with the rest of the students, Sasha kept his thoughts to himself and kept his face as blank as possible. He was still learning on how to be perceived as stoic. His mother said that emotions were a weakness that should never be shown. Emotions made a person vulnerable. That was why his brother was so useless. He was always throwing fits or crying about something or other. It was quite a bother for Sasha.

Entering into the Hall, Sasha tried to keep himself from feeling impressed. His estate back in Scotland had many amazing rooms that offered so much visually that he really shouldn’t be impressed by waterfalls, but there was that small part of him that find it all so very …cool to look at. It bothered him knowing that about himself and it caused the corners of his mouth downward ever so slightly. He needed to work on not being so swayed by such small things.

The blonde boy impatiently waited for the sorting to begin and practically shoved his way through other first years to be one of the first to be sorted. Taking his turn, Sasha took a sip of the potion with great distaste. Sharing a cup? Father would not agree to that at all. What if there were filthy Mudbloods who sipped before him? Sasha could become contaminated by the disease they carry! The only thing that prevented Sasha from slapping the goblet away from him was the fact that his father warned him not to soil their good name. Sasha needed to behave properly, even when what he was being told to do didn’t sit well with him.

After the sip, Sasha watched with interest as his peach colored skin turned a dark shade of red. Crotalus. He read the booklet on the houses and knew that Crotalus House was one of the more respected houses. His cousin had also been a Crotalus. Sasha took this as a good sign. With a smug smile on his face, Sasha made his way to the correct table and took a seat to wait for the rest of speech before the feast began.

He didn’t really care about the introductions or the farewell stuff. He made a note of who the Head Boy and Girl were as well as the newest Prefects. He was going to do his best to have both of those badges pinned to his robe. The highest position of power for a student and Sasha was going to achieve it. He deserved it.

The only real bit of information that Sasha was not pleased about was the fact that a Brockert would be taking over the school. His great grandfather did not like that family. He said that they made serious flaws in their connections and that one of the daughters’ had divorced, which showed the character of the family. Sasha didn’t really understand any of that, but he had overheard his father having a talk about the ‘right’ people. He also heard that grandfather was not pleased that the Careys, who were now linked to the Sinclairs through Fae, had decided to cross into that area and betroth one of their own to a Brockert. Father said they had so many children in the Carey line that they were probably just getting rid of the less desirable ones.

None of the betrothal stuff mattered to Sasha as his family would choose his for him, but he would write home to Father to tell him of the news of the Brockerts. Perhaps that will have him transferred to Hogwarts? Sasha could only hope.

Not participating in the song as he found that a school spirit he would come to loathe, Sasha took to his food when it appeared. After he had picked out the foods he found most pleasant, he decided to make small talk with those in his house. It was better to have some resource in his own house if he needed to. “Good evening.” He greeted. “I am Sasha Sinclair of Scotland. I am pleased to make your acquaintance.”

6 Sasha Sinclair I'm seeing red! 0 Sasha Sinclair 0 5

Theodore Wolseithcrafte

October 06, 2013 3:35 PM

Neither is positive anywhen else, that I can think of by Theodore Wolseithcrafte

As far as enforced socialisation went, this encounter looked to be pretty positive, as well as foretelling potential positive things about his life in general at Sonora. Judging by the fact that the boy next to him appeared similarly oxygen-starved, he was presumably a fellow first year. As he was a he, that made them room-mates. He was, therefore, someone whom Theodore had to get to know at some stage, and preferably get on with. Better now, whilst he was feeling fresh, than at the end of the evening after having chatted to someone else for some hours. It might also spare him prolonged chatter between the feast and being allowed to retire quietly to bed, as he would have already got to know his room-mate. Unless there were more of them... He tried to scan quickly and discreetly around the table but it was hard to be sure without more detailed scrutiny, which would have been notable and disrespectful to his companion. And, beyond the reasons of civil cohabitation, his room-mate seemed someone worth treating respectfully, hence the idea that the years ahead held promise. He knew of the Bennetts, and that some attended Sonora, though those that did were significantly older than Francesca, thus were not well known to her.

First names were less important, as far as blood went. Really, the most salient factor he noted down from learning his room-mate's name was not to allow people to shorten his own name to Theo. He had not been planning to indulge anyone who asked, as he had never been a Theo. He was Teddy, sometimes, at home and to familiar people, and would be willing to allow its usage amongst closer companions at school. He imagined it might spread rather quickly to the Quidditch team, via Francesca. But he would not be Theo. His room-mate had not indicated that he tolerated abbreviation but, if he did, the consequences could be tragic. Leo and Theo. He had never harboured any desire to be part of a double act and that lack of desire remained firm even in the face of such a glowing opportunity.

“I'm afraid that I have not have the pleasure. Excepting my current position, of course,” he added, realising it was somewhat inaccurate to be claiming one had never ventured west whilst sitting in Arizona, “We have always been of Chicago and, when we summer, we become even more Eastern,” he explained. “At what age did you move?” he enquired. Leonidas had spoken of Chicago as if he recalled it reasonably well, so he must have had several years under his belt before they departed. Theodore was far less prone to paranoia about his family's reputation, or people's attitude towards them than his sister – being male naturally shielded him somewhat in such matters – but he was politically astute, and perfectly capable of experiencing a slight moment of anxiety, hoping that the Bennett's move hadn't been because of his family. That would be awkward. Though at least he had only asked when they had moved and not why. Asking any Pureblood family why they had moved was not the done thing.

13 Theodore Wolseithcrafte Neither is positive anywhen else, that I can think of 270 Theodore Wolseithcrafte 0 5

Henry Carey

October 06, 2013 4:33 PM

Well, I'm back by Henry Carey

Henry hated large social occasions, especially ones without the very strict codes of behavior he was used to, but the Opening Feast wasn’t, recently at least, so bad. Aunt Lorraine gave him a mild calming draught to help with the wagon ride, and when he combined that, about three-quarters of the way through the flight, with the much stronger one he’d figured out last summer how to steal from the drawer Mother didn’t know he knew about, he managed to feel almost relaxed, the way he used to with his family when the adults weren’t around and there was nothing important to do, as he sat down at the Crotalus table, even though there were people around and they were being noisy. He had to think about it not to look over his shoulder at the people behind him every now and then, but he was all right, at least as long as no one threw anything at him or anything.

Of course, the chances of that happening had just gone up significantly….

He looked over the line of first years as Skies fed them the potion and, one by one, they turned colors, his gaze not lingering on any of them, though it slid particularly quickly over one boy, only to slide back a few times, never resting or focusing on him, but spending more time in his vicinity overall than on the whole line. He tried, as he did this, to keep his customary blank look in place, but every now and then a muscle twitched, as though he were mildly annoyed by a fly.

The first year provoking this interest had hair darker than Henry’s, no glasses, and a more animated expression, but most anyone standing the two of them beside each other would have remarked that they looked very much alike, especially if that person remembered Henry as a first year. Henry guessed it was inevitable that at least two of his parents’ children would actually look, even to a casual observer, like full brothers, though if it had to happen, he wished it hadn’t been him and Brandon. Though that, too, had its compensations, though they had been better before they started to think of Henry as a borderline failure – looking like Brandon, or Brandon looking like him, he had been born first, invited comparisons between them, and in terms of behavior, Henry always won, at least at home, which was all that really counted anyway. Here, he was pretty sure Brandon would be popular and the life of the party and all, but Mother wasn’t here and Mother wouldn’t agree, and that was enough.

Brandon, predictably enough, turned brown, and Henry lost interest in the proceedings, though he grimaced as faintly every now and then through the speech as he had at the sight of his brother in the line, looking, if anyone cared to notice, which he doubted they did, more as though he were thinking to himself than like he was really listening. That lasted until the end, when he dropped the fork he had been toying with and his expression momentarily became one of total horror at the thought of having to be involved in the school concert. Under a prefect or one of the Heads. There was Devereux, he supposed, she was some kind of distant cousin and she knew Theresa, but….

Am I just fated to become a dissolute addict? he wondered, feeling in his pocket for the reassuring weight of the remaining potion. He wouldn’t take it tonight, since he could have all the panic attacks he needed to in his dorm since no one else was there ad so couldn’t afford to waste drugs on that time unless he had to in order to get through his homework or something, but he wanted to be sure it was still there. The events hadn’t been so bad, the year before last, he had sort of enjoyed them before the end, but starting all over, whole new group of people, not knowing what was going to happen, no noticeable skills to contribute….

Maybe he could slip into the same group as some of the people from his old group: Wilkes and Jareau were gone, but Pierce and Brockert and Wolseithcrafte, they were still here, they had all worked well together back then and even come in first place, so maybe they would take him? He would guess that Pierce and Brockert would want their friend Reynolds in charge, but that was all right, she seemed nice enough; Bauer would no doubt be there, too, and she was both a little intimidating and distractingly pretty, but he’d be the tagalong fourth year, so he could probably get away with not interacting with her at all….

That, or he could deliberately bungle a spell and blow his own leg off before the show and make everyone happy. Whichever. The important thing, though, was not to panic.

He hummed his way through the school song without interest, then braced himself for the upswing in noise which was bound to follow as everyone began eating and talking and catching up on their summers. He began to put food on his plate and reminded himself to smile while nodding when he looked up and met someone’s eyes by mistake. He could handle this, tonight at least. He had been in the winning group last time.

0 Henry Carey Well, I'm back 239 Henry Carey 0 5

Leonidas Bennett

October 06, 2013 8:17 PM

True, but in other contexts, if I had to pick... by Leonidas Bennett

Leo wished Theodore – another long, vaguely Greek, he thought, name; maybe he, too, was shedding a childhood nickname for the first time today? – had addressed him by name, since he was curious to see how his full name actually sounded when someone else said it, but he was sure it would happen sometime, so he wasn’t too put out by it. He bit the inside of his lip, trying to remember how long he had been where he was now.

“I was…six or seven,” he said. “Though we’ve visited several times since as well.” Mother, he knew, hoped Gemma could marry into a family there, since Mother herself had liked it very much, so she was interested in preserving the family connection to the place as much as she could. Besides, it was where Uncle Victor had lived before he had gotten sick, and there was no point in completely losing any foothold their family had gotten in a place where there were a good number of families and money, especially since their family was still working its way up in society. The best time to be an American wizard had been in the early eighteenth century, he thought on the basis of what he’d heard his father say; now, it took a lot more effort to become prominent.

“Where does your family go in summer?” he asked, remembering that Theodore had mentioned going even further east than Chicago in the summers. Did they have a vacation home, or were they visiting family, or something else? Sometimes, it was so annoying that prying was only allowed with relatives at home, not with new people. He saw the practical side, since he didn't want people digging into his family any more than he guessed they wanted him to dig too far into theirs' scandals and real estate holdings and things, but...

Just how boring propriety meant a lot of the conversations might be was, honestly, one of the things Leo had not looked forward to about coming to school. He was glad that this one was not too bad so far and hoped this would continue.

0 Leonidas Bennett True, but in other contexts, if I had to pick... 269 Leonidas Bennett 0 5

Eleanor Vandenberg

October 07, 2013 12:24 AM

Friends? by Eleanor Vandenberg

It had become apparent to Eleanor on the ride back to Sonora that she hadn’t made any solid friendships during her first year. She had been wrapped up in following Leo around which wasn’t bad in her opinion, but it did limit the amount of people she could hang out with. She had to have friends to gossip with and talk to about pureblood issues just like her mom did and just like Mrs. Princeton did. If she grew up and got married and was the only witch who didn’t have a close group of female friends to have tea with and play cards and gossip in the afternoons—this was bad.

It was a very good thing that Nell had caught this at the beginning of her second year and she patted herself on the back for it. There were several friends her age to choose from that would be the right kind to befriend. There was Charlotte, her roommate, but she didn’t really understand her and Charlotte was too quiet anyway. She seemed very proper, but also a little boring. Nellie didn’t think she would be able to share too much with her especially because Charlotte was Leo’s cousin. Eleanor had talked with Ji-Eun a little and she thought that girl was interesting if not a little, well, air-headed, but that was okay. She could deal with that. She had also talked to Tristan and he would be another person to pursue a friendship with. It would be good to have back-up friends just in case the witches didn’t work out. Eleanor was an only child, but she had grown up interacting with boys most of the time and knew how to talk to them a little better than other girls her age.

Nell thought about the other people her age she could try to befriend and then respectable classmates a year above, but walking back into Cascade Hall took her breath away again. The dining hall had to be her favorite place in the entire school. It just looked like the epitome of everything magical and it was huge. Her family wasn’t exactly the richest, but she had been inside some pretty nice homes before and this encompassed them all. The ceiling was her favorite part hands down.

Thinking about home made Eleanor a little nostalgic, but she tried to put it from her mind. Her mom had reminded her that this was a great opportunity and that her parents were sending her to get a good education and to really suck up all the knowledge and experience she could before going back to England. At least she had Leo to stick by when she got too lonely.

There were a few new Crotali this year and she clapped politely when they were sorted. The other news was surprising, but she wasn’t impacted in any way. Nellie hadn’t been attending Sonora long enough to have a strong connection with anyone who was leaving. It would be sad that her Head of House was leaving, but it wasn’t like she and Coach Pierce were best friends or anything. There was a new librarian, a temporary Quidditch coach, and a new Headmaster? This school was going through some serious changes. Nellie wondered what her parents would think when she wrote them about all this. Change usually didn’t mean good things were coming unless there were promotions and higher salaries involved.

It was not cool that the Midsummer Concert was mandatory. Nellie was well-versed in reciting poetry and she could play the flute a little, but that was the extent of her talents. She highly doubted anyone would want to see her paint anything during a concert since that itself would take forever. Nellie liked to be very particular when it came to painting or drawing or dancing or any other art form. It made learning a little difficult sometimes and everyone else very short-tempered with her, but Nellie was always adamant on having things go her way or no way. Her tutors had had no choice but to sit through it with her as she examined every single detail before moving on to the next point.

Nellie hummed along to the song tunelessly; she had not been gifted, unfortunately, with a very good voice, so she had learned that singing was done only when she was alone. It was extra unfortunate because she liked singing and now she had a roommate, meaning she wasn’t alone as often and couldn’t sing when she wanted to. Life was hard sometimes.

But back to her first revelation. She had to make some friends this year and not shy away from them. Nellie turned to one of her peers and smiled. “Lovely evening, isn’t it? I’ve always loved the weather at the end of summer. How did you spend your summer? Did you get to celebrate Independence Day?” The concept was new for her; obviously in England they didn’t have such a holiday and she had never been in America for their Independence Day. Her mom, who was from California, had told her about it over the summer and Nellie had, of course, wanted to know more. Her mom had told her all about it, but it didn’t hurt to ask her peers how they celebrated it.

19 Eleanor Vandenberg Friends? 266 Eleanor Vandenberg 0 5

Julian Umland

October 07, 2013 9:17 AM

A busy beginning to a busy year, it seems.... by Julian Umland

Julian had cried a little when she left her family at the pick-up point in Helena, but she calmed down on the flight south and was smiling again by the time she walked through the doors of the Cascade Hall and turned her course toward the Teppenpaw table, not going too fast as she took the opportunity to enjoy the view. Even after two years, the beauty of the Hall – of Sonora in general, really, but this room really was especially magnificent – still just snuck up on her sometimes, demanding to be appreciated, and Julian was usually happy to oblige.

She was glad, though, not to be a first year anymore, since that could make a girl try to just stop and stare, which could get her trampled on. Julian wasn’t tall for a third year even, so she didn’t dawdle too much before finding a chair and claiming it after a look around to make sure no one was going to object too awfully much.

Teppenpaws weren’t, she thought, really the type for that anyway, but she guessed she was a bit of a pessimist. Which made it good that her best friend here was almost always an incurable optimist. Julian thought she was on good terms with most of the people in her year, certainly she didn’t believe that anyone actively disliked her for anything she could have helped and if they were going to hold her being of…well, honestly, indeterminate, but they would probably assume ‘Muggle’, ancestry against her, she could do without them anyway, but she didn’t see much point in denying that she seemed to have ended up closest so far to Charlie, odd couple though they made. One of her goals for fifth year – other than making decent CATS, and just maybe getting her hands on a prefect’s badge, though she wasn’t going to invest too much emotionally in that one – was to keep John as far away from Charlie as possible, so that she could continue to be friends with him.

That, though, was still almost two years away, so she clapped for the new first years now and listened to the announcements, her eyes widening in surprise several times and her hand covering her mouth when she heard about the headmistress’ son. She didn’t really know him, but he was a Teppenpaw, and besides, it was awful anyway. What could be so wrong with someone that there was no help for it? She was used to thinking of magic as capable of fixing almost anything, short of actual death, or a few incredibly nasty illegal Dark curses she couldn’t begin to imagine the actual uses and natures of and didn’t plan to learn about.

A little less surprising but more directly relevant was the announcement about the concert, and Julian, as the feast began, stirred a bowl of vegetable soup around in a bowl as she thought about it. She was a little nervous about the prospect of working with a prefect, especially since they got to sign up for their own groups this time and so there might not be any balance at all in the ages in the party, but she could see how it would be a good opportunity for more inter-House, inter-year collaboration. And, a less pleasant little voice pointed out, making the prefects work for their keep, and possibly impressing the richer parents into donating more money...her parents wouldn't be able to do that, but they would be favorably impressed by the effort it would all take, she thought. They approved of cooperative enterprises....

She pulled herself out of her head so she wasn't rude by mistake to anyone. "It sounds like this is going to be an interesting year," she remarked to her neighbor, taking a spoonful of her soup.

16 Julian Umland A busy beginning to a busy year, it seems.... 254 Julian Umland 0 5

Isaac Douglas

October 07, 2013 12:02 PM

I suggest either an ophthalmologist or anger management. by Isaac Douglas

Isaac’s ride, coming from only a state over, was shorter than some, but he still stopped to brush his robes off as he stood up, wrinkling his nose again at the preferred transportation method of Sonora Academy.

Further up the wagon (she had flatly refused to sit with him after Mom was out of eyeshot and they had no longer needed to play the happy loving siblings, and he had just as flatly informed her that he’d sooner walk across the desert than sit with her; that was how their relationship worked when they didn’t both need something, such as to use each other to reinforce impressions they wanted their mother not to question), his sister bounced to her feet with a squeal of excitement and headed for the exit, never so much as glancing back in his direction. Watching her step down, Isaac self-consciously ran a hand over his pale brown hair, sure that it had not, in spite of being much, much shorter and therefore presumably easier to manage, stood up to the ride as well as Alicia’s. She claimed she had only ever done accidental magic once and had gotten her act together after that, but Isaac was convinced sometimes that she subconsciously and continually did something to always look so put together, regardless of whether it was five-thirty in the morning, or she had been on her feet for the better part of ten hours, or…whatever.

It was, after all, amusing to imagine that Miss Perfect, Miss Too-Many-CATS, Miss Everything, had that as her most basic talent. Miss Perfect indeed – Miss Perfect Hair! Isaac didn’t like a single one of the many girls his sister pretended to be, so he liked to think the silliest, most vapid one might be the real thing, however unlikely he knew that was.

Once inside, he tried his best not to look impressed, much less appraising. Alicia had made it clear she considered this her home and him an unwelcome interloper in it and that she would remove his guts through his nostrils if he didn’t keep his head down and his mouth shut, so of course, the first thing he was planning to do was try to establish his own power base here. He wouldn’t actually betray his sister’s dirty secrets unless she gave him a lot better reason than she ever had so far – if only, of course, because he would implicate his own mother, and therefore compromise himself, by association – and they wouldn’t overlap here enough for him to ever really take on the clique she portrayed as entrenched around her, but Alicia would be less able to twist his arm to do Merlin-knew-what if he had a gang to travel with just as she did. She could hardly ask him to break into her loser boyfriend’s room to double-check that said loser boyfriend wasn’t hoarding pictures of other girls or anything in front of people.

…Well, probably, anyway. At the very least, though, it was his best chance to not spend his whole first and second years as a minion, though, another victim of her claimed ability to get along well with beginners, so he was going to try it. Even if it didn’t hold her off, it would be useful for down the road, when she was blessedly gone, hopefully married to the loser but out of Isaac’s hair no matter what, and he was still at Sonora with prizes to be won. He didn’t care a bit about the badges on their own merits, being used enough to enjoying (and lording over Alicia) the status being pureblooded and male gave him by default that he wasn’t really worried about earning anything, but his sister had yet to get a single one, so he wanted them all just to throw it back in her face, in one more little way, that he was better than she was.

He loved doing that, not so much because it made her furious as because he got to watch her becoming even more furious as she realized, over again every time, just how useless the entire social order made her anger. She knew enough magic to do almost anything she wanted to him, but what good could that do her as long as she still cared about staying in society or even, more basically, out of jail? And even if she didn’t care about that anymore someday, who’d ever heard of a lady Dark lord? She was stuck. No matter what she could do to make him jealous, or even to threaten him with, he would always have just that little bit of advantage outside of their house.

He took a sip of the potion, and a wave of relief swept over him when he saw his fair skin beginning to turn red. Red was good, anyway – Mom had turned red, long ago, and Aunt Helena a little more recently, and they had both succeeded in life, so it was a good association – but even more importantly, it wasn’t blue. He thought he might have rather been brown than blue, and Pecaris didn’t even run in his family, so he would have been entering blind. Smiling to himself, he sat down at the Crotalus table and waited impatiently for everyone else to get done so he could eat.

The other first years finally did get Sorted, but then there was a long speech. Isaac frowned in particular at the mention of a Concert, though he then remembered to smirk in his sister’s direction when he remembered that she wasn’t a prefect and had spent a lot of the summer talking about the glory she hoped to win leading a Concert group. So much for that.

He mouthed along with the school song, having no intention of embarrassing himself singing something he had never heard before, and then, finally, got a look at the food. He only just kept himself from showing how eager he was to get some of it onto his plate, in spite of not knowing who had cooked it or whether they had cooked the familiar items right or anything else about it except that it was food and it smelled good.

Isaac was just putting the finishing touches on his plate when his neighbor – and, apparently, new roommate; joy - spoke to him. “Pleased to hear it,” Isaac replied. "Isaac Douglas, of California." His eyes passed quickly around the table. "Glad to be in Crotalus?" he asked.

16 Isaac Douglas I suggest either an ophthalmologist or anger management. 273 Isaac Douglas 0 5

Mellie Goodwin

October 07, 2013 12:39 PM

Well, there's me done for. by Mellie Goodwin

After six years, Mellie wasn’t as impressed as she used to be by the inside of the Cascade Hall, and as she noticed that, she felt a little sad about it. It just seemed wrong, somehow, to be used to something as grand and difficult to have as the room where she had eaten so many meals and attended her first and probably last two balls ever since she was eleven. Like she was taking something for granted which she would never be able to get back once it was gone and she would feel bad about not appreciating it enough at the time for the rest of her life or something.

On the brighter side of things, though, she was able to move through the crush of people funneling through the doors into the school and find a chair to sit on a lot more easily than she used to be able to. A prefect’s badge and the height, at least compared to eleven- and twelve-year-olds and respectable enough even beside other older people, associated with going on eighteen helped with that, she was pretty sure, but practice was worth something, too. Sonora really was its own complicated little world, physically and socially, where only trial and error let a person navigate safely…just in time to graduate from it.

Her mom and dad, who knew something about safety, said that the rest of the world was the same way. Mellie could not honestly say that this endeared the thought of the outside world to her that much, especially since she still really did not know at all what she was going to do out there. She demurred by talking about RATS needing to come back when asked, hoping to pass this off as false modesty, but she really just didn’t know, even though she was pretty sure she knew how her RATS would go. She couldn’t even fall back on family tradition, since her dad was an Obliviator and her mom a Muggleborn minor member of magical law enforcement and she didn’t have the skills or inclination to follow in either of their footsteps.

Tonight, though, was supposed to be a good time, so Mellie smiled and waved to some people then sat down, watching the Sorting eagerly to see how many of the new first years would join Pecari and then applauding for the new prefects, giving Clara Abernathy a thumbs up as she returned from getting her badge.

After that, everything went crazy. Mellie just sat sort of stunned through most of the announcements, but didn’t really freeze until what Headmistress Kijewski-Jareau had just said about the upcoming Concert made its way through her brain and she grasped the import of it.

An act? Leading an act? Mellie had planned to participate in the Concert, feeling it was both kind of her duty as a prefect and that it would be something fun to do before she left the school, but she had never planned to lead anything. She didn’t even know what she would do, never mind how she would persuade other people that it was a good idea and that they should go along with her....

“I’m so dead,” she moaned when the song was over, the food appeared and everyone started talking, putting her elbows on the table and allowing her head to fall forward into her hands.

16 Mellie Goodwin Well, there's me done for. 206 Mellie Goodwin 0 5

Alicia Bauer

October 07, 2013 3:24 PM

Home sweet home. Let the games begin. by Alicia Bauer

I made it, Alicia thought as she looked down on the lights of Sonora from the air. I made it back again.

For what felt like the first time in two weeks, she felt some of the muscles in her back loosening up, becoming sore as they did so, and she leaned back into the seat, gripping the edges in preparation for landing. She didn’t really care if she did on its own account, but somehow, she thought that pitching forward and landing face-first on the other side of the wagon would not be the best way to get her sixth year started. It lacked dignity, and that was something she tried to preserve at least a scrap of.

She got a good bounce out of the landing anyway, her bottom jaw clicking into the top harder than she would have liked, but she was on her feet as soon as the wagon stopped moving and then she was hurrying toward the front, eager to get off before her brother could catch up with her and do or say something to ruin the moment of her return to…everything.

As she made it to the foyer, she found she couldn’t stop smiling. This summer had been one of the better ones she had ever had, between all the debating and the studying and the observing, but it didn’t compare. It just didn’t. Sonora wasn’t perfect, there were too many complications for it to be anywhere near perfect, but it was still her favorite place to be. She could have killed Isaac for bringing so much of the other place in with him. He, objectively, wasn’t as much of a liability as her sisters, especially since they didn’t share a surname or look at all alike and so they could easily avoid being linked in the public mind, but the best thing about last year had been that she hadn’t been closely related to a living soul within the building, and besides, just looking at the brother-shaped plague on her existence made her angry.

That was why (after, of course, making the rounds, smiling and waving around a lot and generally doing her best to look highly social and like everyone’s best friend; she couldn’t forget the long game) she avoided watching the Sorting, only checking blues as they arrived at the table to make sure that they were not him. None of them were, so she looked around until she spotted him at the Crotalus table and compressed her lips, wondering if she should warn Cepheus about him or just hope the idiot had sense enough not to draw attention to himself from a sixth year.

He would gloat, she was sure, about being in Momma and Aunt Helena’s old house, but she had already prepared several lines for puncturing his ego anyway, and at least he wasn’t going to be under her feet. She would have liked to have been able to supervise his contact with her friends more closely, but the only real way to have done that would have been to turn him into a girl – or better yet, an inanimate object – and she still had exactly two weeks to go before she could perform Transfigurations at home. In light of that, things had gone as well as she could have reasonably expected and she put the matter on a mental shelf, as it was no longer important.

She clapped for Lucian D’Alessandro and his companions, trying not to feel the sting of not being one of them again, and listened to the announcements impassively until the one about Mortimer Brockert. Then, though she kept most of her look intact, anyone closely observing her would have noticed her eyes narrowing slightly and cutting in the direction of another sixth year before she looked back at the headmistress and half-lidded them, tilting her head slightly.

This was…interesting. Whether it was good or bad or indifferent, really, for her was something she wouldn’t know until she had more information, including a review of the gigantic tangled mess which was the Brockert family tree, but it was certainly interesting. The family had already presumably been playing with strings for a long time, but this was direct control of an asset, which had to have some of the other families squirming in their manors right about now. A member of another big family would have so much influence over their children! She suspected the whole crew’s stock might have just gone up a little.

Personally, she was deeply offended by the thought of her tuition money going to a family who already had everything and would gladly take anything they could from her anyway, but being offended wasn’t a good exercise for someone like her. Like it or not, she was always going to have to dance around the Brockerts; it was part of being from the west, and, really, being in society in general. The family was scandal-ridden and half-mad, some of them – they and the Careys were why she thought they were all doomed as far as the blood problem went, because while she fully accepted that Muggles were inferior and that bringing their blood in was just weakening the magical community’s ability to survive, and even though most of the purebloods had sold out when they gave up on the idea of ruling directly over their inferiors, she couldn’t see that the incessant intermarriage was really doing them that many long-term favors, either – but they had numbers and money, and she had…money, but not so much, and no numbers except those she could cultivate for herself. So she was going to have to work with them and, until she could do better, just pray that Mortimer wasn’t that fond of his who-knew-how-many-times-distant relations and wasn’t going to get in the way of her and Thad finally getting their just reward next year.

She smiled at the thought of the concert, but had to exert some effort to preserve the expression when it turned out the prefects were just being handed power over the whole thing. It could have been much worse, of course, since she had Henny, but…

This all, she thought, confirmed what she had begun to suspect last year: that Kijewski-Jareau was possibly crazy, probably not in possession of nearly enough healthy self-interest, and definitely playing the long game. Even as completely against Alicia’s own interests as it all was, and as futile as Alicia was sure the effort was, she couldn’t help but respect it, just a little. The headmistress was misguided to be sure, but still….If she had fallen into bad company early in life, made all the wrong connections, been unable to make any show of hiding her background, and gained ideals which were ultimately doomed to failure, Alicia doubted she would have thought to handle the problem by becoming a teacher, working her way up the ranks, and then deliberately favoring those she could never be called out on favoring, as they were not society children, so blatantly in, Alicia was assuming, the hopes that everyone else would attempt to imitate the favored ones in the pursuit of the little scraps of power and luxury which seemed so important to them while they were here and then accidentally become what they pretended to be.

It could never work, but still, it was impressive. The only thing she didn't get was why, if that was the plan, K-J was leaving over a sick kid. It must have been involuntary and the kid was just an excuse. So went, she supposed, the lot of all idealists.

She picked up the song sheet, but sang from memory; the more she looked at the school song, the more Alicia loved it, because it was everything she wanted, summed up in convenient lyrical form. She had a decent enough voice, so she didn’t think she permanently damaged anyone’s ears in her rendition of the hymn, but she did take a sip of pumpkin juice before she went for the tomato soup and turned to her neighbor with a smile after it was over.

“So, how’s your evening going?” she asked, tilting her head toward the front to indicate some of what she meant. This had been the most interesting Feast speech they'd had for a while, and she suspected dissection of it would go on all over the Hall for a while.

16 Alicia Bauer Home sweet home. Let the games begin. 210 Alicia Bauer 0 5

Waverly Canterbury

October 07, 2013 5:01 PM

And everything's changing. by Waverly Canterbury

If last summer had been all about her moping about, this summer had been glorious. It’d been almost hard to leave, but she was glad she had once she walked into Cascade Hall for her sixth year. She had only this year and her seventh year left and Waverly couldn’t believe how fast time was going. She had celebrated her Sweet Sixteen in June with her family since they hadn’t been able to celebrate with her two months earlier. Her maternal grandparents from North Carolina had even come by with gifts, and their presents were always the best. During the rest of the summer she had gotten her driver’s license, her first official watch she could call her own, and earned some money working at her mom’s bakery. Now that she was sixteen she could officially earn money. It was awesome.

One bright occasion had oddly enough been when her ex came unexpectedly into the bakery one day. They had talked things out and Waverly hadn’t realized it, but she had moved on. He would still be her first love, but they could be friends now. The only thing was, he had a new girlfriend and she didn’t have anyone. But that was okay. She knew there were hundreds of other things to think about once she got back to school and she was happy things were working out.

The wagon ride to school was never long for her and her sister since they came from the same state, and she felt happy and energized being back. She made sure to greet everyone she knew as she passed them, and those she missed she would greet later. Back home, Waverly didn't have many friends because she was always away and didn't go to the same school as they did. What made it even more difficult was that she couldn't tell them about the school she disappeared to every September and it usually put a strain on any of her friendships with the non-magical. So Sonora felt more like home and Waverly was always glad to come back and see all her friends and get back into all the activities she was a part of.

She took a seat at the Pecari table as she did at every Welcoming Feast feeling happy. This was going to be a good year. Headmistress Kijewski began her annual speech and all the news after the sorting shocked her. Coach Pierce was leaving? There was another librarian? The Groundskeeper was gone? Waverly had never really met the Groundskeeper, but she had seen him around and, with all these other staff members leaving it seemed like a big deal. Waverly frowned as the bad news continued. The Headmistress was leaving? And Angel was ill! She remembered Angel from their first year. He had struck her as sickly, but to be so sick he couldn’t even come to school? That had to be terrible. Maybe this year wasn’t going to be so great.

At least there was the Midsummer Concert to look forward to. The last concert Waverly had been a part of a trio musical act and she had really liked it. Her piano-playing had come into handy and she had her mom to thank for that. She sang enthusiastically with the song as usual although she was feeling a little sad that there were so many changes happening. It seemed like new staff members were coming in or leaving every year. People moved on, she could understand that, but it was hard to get attached to certain staff members without wondering if they were going to leave. She had liked Ms. Diaz and now she was gone, but Waverly didn’t doubt this librarian was going to do a good job. It was just a lot to take in. Once they were dismissed to eat, Waverly turned to her neighbor. “Can you believe Headmistress Kijewski is leaving? What do you think about all these changes?” she asked straight away. This was big news.

19 Waverly Canterbury And everything's changing. 218 Waverly Canterbury 0 5

Liliana Bannister

October 07, 2013 6:25 PM

Change is not for the weak of heart. by Liliana Bannister

Liliana had not been excited for her first year at Sonora. She had expected to go to Hogwarts with the rest of her cousins. Had expected that her parents would have at least taken her feelings into consideration. Had expected that her grandparents would have interfered, instructed her parents that she was to attend Hogwarts as was intended for the first ten years of her life. Had expected… That was the biggest mistake, relying on her parents to make these kinds of important decisions for her. Unfortunately, for Liliana, she had also not taken into account that she was only eleven and eleven year olds generally had to listen to what their parents told them too and were not, in fact, allowed to make these kinds of decisions for themselves. But that was kind of the problem with her. Growing up the youngest in a huge family of boys, all her aunts and uncles had spoiled her and her grandparents too as the only granddaughter. She did not understand the concept of sharing and could not fathom why anyone did anything they didn’t want to. So it was that for the weeks leading up to her departure, in fact, ever since she got her acceptance letter to Sonora, she sat around the house in an angry fit.

After a monitored floo call (to insure she wouldn’t try to floo herself back to Englad) with her grandmother, Liliana was convinced to be brave and put on a good face for the family. However, when she realized that the mode of travel would be a flying covered wagon she found her old state of betrayal forcing its’ way back into her heart. Why should she have to take a flying wagon to school while her cousins were allowed to take a fun, more dignified train ride? She shook her head with distaste but climbed onto the wagon anyway knowing her grandmother would be disappointed in her should she throw a fit. She kept her lip shut and kept to herself the majority of the trip even taking a sleeping potion that her mother had slipped her knowing that the ride might be unpleasant. Though she was thankful for the help she was also frustrated that her mother knew, she knew about the wagon yet kept her mouth shut and did allow for Liliana to accurately prepare!

After taking a sip of the potion, which, Liliana thought to herself, was actually rather an interesting and adventurous idea (though she knew she couldn’t let this positive light ruin her sour mood. She was supposed to be upset for Merlin’s sake!), she saw her skin turn an interesting shade of brown. Awesome, I look like poop. she thought. But then she instantly wiped the non-lady-like idea from her mind knowing that once again her grandmother would not approve. She took a seat and watched the rest of the sorting which didn’t take too long as there seemed only to be a handful of children in her year and she had been somewhere in the middle of the line. She half-listened as the Headmistress made the rest of her speech focusing mainly on her issue of not being with her cousins and friends. She was absent-mindedly spooning mashed potatoes onto her plate and debating on whether she wanted gravy or not when her thought were interrupted. She turned to look at the voice and saw an older looking girl, probably the same age as Levi, her favorite cousin, who looked quite concerned.

Liliana shrugged. She didn’t even know the girl! She didn’t know her name or family or anything! But nonetheless, it was an older girl, so Liliana owed her at least some respect even if she were not from a reputable family or a pureblood. “It doesn’t really matter to me,” she said. “I wasn’t here last year.” Besides, what did she care of these trivial matters? She had family to get back to and another country to be in. But she didn't let that show on her face. That was one good thing that had come from her many etiquette lessons courtesy of her grandmother. Before those lessons she would have been completely readable but now she was able to mask her true feelings and act as though she was indifferent at the very least, a skill that her grandmother praised greatly.

She wondered if she was supposed to introduce herself or not but perhaps things were done differently in America. She had lived here for a year but had spent most her time moping or with her private tutor. She hadn’t wanted to go out and meet others when her parents went to pureblood events and her father, ever indulgent to his only child, had not forced her to though her mother had thought that it would be appropriate for a young witch to be familiar with the society that she was in. Her father had reassured her mother that once she came back from school with a few friends she would be more willing to go out with them. Besides, she was only a ten-year-old witch, what did she need to be going out and getting involved with society? Liliana decided that she wouldn’t introduce herself until the older girl did. The older girl had seniority after all and it would be best to follow her example.

10 Liliana Bannister Change is not for the weak of heart. 274 Liliana Bannister 0 5

Nathan Xavier, Groundskeeper

October 07, 2013 10:04 PM

I'm feeling welcome. Are you feeling welcome? by Nathan Xavier, Groundskeeper

Nathan had arrived a few days before term began. Sonora considered wagon maintenance as part of the groundskeeper duties, so he'd shown up in time to make sure those were flying, if not smoothly (that was beyond his skills to fix in a mere three days) then at least safely, in time to deliver the students here tonight. He'd also had to give the grounds a thorough inspection to make sure the prairie elves - a form of elf Nathan had never before encountered - had kept things up to snuff in the weeks they had been left unsupervised before people started showing up.

Consequently, by the time the Welcoming Feast rolled around, he felt he was no longer a complete newbie. He might not be able to point a first year to the Transfiguration classroom, but he could probably direct a lost Pecari to either their commonroom entrance or the school proper. Of course he'd met the Headmistress in his interview but when he settled down at the staff table, after getting the wagons tucked away in their carriage house, most of the other adults at the school were still utter strangers to him.

He sat through the Headmistress's speech attentively, picking up what names he could from it, and waved his right hand to draw attention to himself when she introduced him. He was a tall man, in his late thirties, with dark hair that hung down in waves to his jawline. His nose was a bit too long, his chin was a bit too short, and his waist was home to about twenty too many pounds to really be considered classically good looking, but he felt sure his single status had nothing to do with his hair.

The attention moved on to Mortimer Brockert (probably related to Nathan's groundskeeping predecessor, he assumed, since Brockert wasn't really a common name outside the one prominent family) and he settled back into his seat for the rest of the speech. He sat up again as the food appeared and he eagerly began filling his plate. His lunch had only been a small sandwich, fetched for him by the very helpful elves, and eaten on the job as he and a large contingent of them hurried to get all Sonora's many many hedges freshly trimmed in time for the first wagon's arrival.

"Hello," he cheerfully greeted his nearest co-worker. "The food looks excellent tonight."

1 Nathan Xavier, Groundskeeper I'm feeling welcome. Are you feeling welcome? 28 Nathan Xavier, Groundskeeper 0 5

Waverly Canterbury

October 08, 2013 12:24 AM

Heart still beating? by Waverly Canterbury

Waverly was initially surprised that a first-year had answered her, but she was glad for the invitation to talk to her. As a Prefect and an older sister, Waverly liked taking care of the new firsties. There was that nurturing sort of nature that came with being a baker's daughter and a girl, she supposed, or something.

It was just a little embarrassing that she had asked a firstie a question about the Headmistress when the girl probably didn't even know who the Headmistress was. Waverly definitely deserved the "Most Talkative Award" for her year. She would just have to save that talk about all the change happening for her roommates later tonight while they unpacked.

In order to amend her blurting out, she smiled. "Disregard that question. Welcome to Pecari! We're definitely the best house ever." She smiled. It was clear that this girl was definitely far from home from her accent. There were quite a few people from the U.K. here like the Princetons and Spencers and Wendy's friend Carter. Hopefully Carter wouldn't pick up and leave Wendy, but being so far away from home could sometimes cause problems. One of Waverly's good friends at Sonora had gone back to England because of some issues with her attending school in America. It had sucked, but part of life was making new friends and trying to keep in contact with the old.

"My name's Waverly Canterbury. I'm the sixth-year Prefect so if you have any questions you can always come to me! What's your name?" Once the girl had stated her name, from which Waverly could usually tell whether they were a pureblood or not, she added, "You're from England, right? You're really brave for coming to school all the way in America!" She really thought so partially because Waverly could not imagine ever living in a different state not to mention a different country altogether.

She was from Phoenix and had never lived outside of her city since she was born. She had visited other states of course since her grandparents lived in different places, but that was the extent of it. "I went to London for Christmas vacation and a wedding. Where in the U.K. are you from?" She hoped getting the girl to talk about home would make her feel a little more talkative and comfortable and not extremely depressed and homesick.

19 Waverly Canterbury Heart still beating? 218 Waverly Canterbury 0 5

Jade Owen

October 08, 2013 3:47 PM

Feeling welcome indeed. by Jade Owen

Jade didn't think she had ever been so relieved to get back to school. Usually she could take it or leave it, with its pros and cons weighing themselves out over her home life to create no real preference for the Pecari, but, on this occasion, Jade thought school won by a landslide.

For a start, she stepped off the wagon for the first time as the sole member of her family present at the school. Josephine had graduated last year, and James the year before that. In her sixth and seventh years, Jade would be free of sibling intervention. While she had initially been pleased to have Josephine's company and guidance, the youngest Owen was now perfectly content to enjoy her new-found freedom. Besides, sixth year was going to be a breeze compared to the horror of her CATS; she had thankfully managed to scrape an O in Care of Magical Creatures, allowing her parents to forgive the failing grades she had received in Transfiguration and Potions. Thankfully she would never have to step foot in those classrooms again. Plus there was the planned trip to the horse ranch for her club members, and Jade had some other ideas to make this year more interesting, too.

At home, things had been awkward. James hadn't managed yet to save up enough to fund college, so had to defer his applications for yet another year, which was putting him in the worst mood possible as he stayed living at home to conserve his fortune. Josephine had realised that she, too, would be stuck at home while the majority of her friends and peers went to college or planned weddings, and she'd re-entered the spiral of misery and self-loathing that Jade had really thought she'd gotten over. It was sad to watch, but a relief to leave behind.

Slumping into a seat amongst other Pecaris, her long legs encased in skater jeans beneath her uniform robes, Jade fussed her gray cat, Bella, while she listened to Professor K-J's many announcements. She couldn't care less about the Head Boy and Girl, whose appointments had already been announced at the fair, but she did applaud heartily for Aria, who she liked increasingly the more she got to know her, and Clara. Jade had endured a mild panic at the mention of there being no Quidditch, especially as Arnold Carey no longer posed a threat to Pecari's success, but could breathe easy, thanks to Professor Olivers; she made a note to be nicer to her charms professor. She was not really surprised by Professor Skies' promotion, but wasn't expecting the arrival of a new Headmaster. She eyed the candidate shrewdly, wondering what sort of replacement he could possibly be for Jade's favorite member of staff. Professor K-J leaving was sad, but it was especially sad that it was due to Dexter being ill. Jade liked her pigment-challenged peer a lot, and was sad that he wouldn't be graduating with the rest of their yeargroup.

With the sheer number of announcements still being processed by her travel-addled brain, Jade mumbled her way through the song lyrics and regarded the long-awaited feast with a pained expression. It seemed that Aria'd had a positive effect on the staff, as they'd bestowed the prefect title upon her, but the fifth year had also had an effect on Jade. A lot of the things she believed in made good sense, and, as a person with no real beliefs other than Not Getting Caught, the Pecari had actually taken the time to establish what she valued in life. The most measurable outcome of this was that Jade had decided to become a vegetarian. She liked the self-sufficiency her family enjoyed at home, collecting the eggs their hens laid and pulling in the vegetables from the patches, but at Sonora all the food was just presented to her, appealing and available. Jade didn't know where it had come from, how the animals had lived before they'd been slaughtered for fodder, and had decided that the well being of innocent creatures mattered more to her than a tasty burger. It had been an easy decision to make at home, where meat was sparse, but with all the scintillating smells before her, it took Jade real will power to reach for a baked potato and cauliflower cheese. She graced a tray of lamb chops with a dirty look as she asked her neighbor to pass the grilled tomatoes.

0 Jade Owen Feeling welcome indeed. 221 Jade Owen 0 5

Linus Macaulay

October 08, 2013 4:31 PM

The Last; The Greatest. by Linus Macaulay

Summer had been a headache, if not an unmitigated disaster. The smaller frustrations had been his mother's tendencies in pushing him towards a Muggle Ivy League college, even though Linus had tried to explain that the best healing courses didn't necessarily coincide with her preferences (he thought he might placate her if he had even half an intention of remaining in the Muggle world where the qualification in question would be highly regarded, but the truth of the matter was that he was determined to be a wizard from here on in), and Philip's insistence on mild rebellion, in the forms of almost flunking math and being caught shoplifting packs of stickers from the local store. Linus had often wondered if there had been some sort of mix-up at the hospital, and his parents had brought home the wrong child, but he couldn't deny that his youngest brother looked convincingly like the rest of them. Linus had also been stretched to the very end of his wits by Daphne's poorly-timed random bouts of questioning about Sonora. Until this year she hadn't been very interested in the place that claimed her brother for most of the year, but as she would likely be attending herself in a couple of terms, the quietest in the family had turned into chatterbox, on a quest for knowledge that Linus alone could provide. Usually he would be keen to offer his sister any guidance, advice or other support that she required, but his nerves had been on edge to begin with.

There had been that cryptic message from Brianna near the start of the summer, causing Linus no end of frantic concerns for his girlfriend's safety. Not being properly connected with the wizarding world when he was at home in Vegas, he'd had no way of finding out what in Merlin's name had been going on. He hadn't known whether to write, or not write, whether to try and visit her or just stay out of the way, and the whole issue had been very vexing. Thankfully, there had been no upset (as far as he had been able to tell) occurring, and he'd spent the rest of the summer writing her vague letters about his family's activities and his own wishes for her health. It was decidedly peculiar, being so far removed from her, not just in distance but in lifestyle. Linus' home was comfortable, with electricity, and a pool, and internet access. The neighborhood respected his family; his grandparents and great-grandparents were accessible by car, and all of them spoke English. He had never once had cause to think that anyone might cause harm to him or his family. It was a world so vastly removed from Brianna's that Linus wondered how the two of them had ever managed to connect at all... he wondered if he had imagined it all.

Plagued with these concerns, as well as all the pressure on his final year holding RATS, Quidditch Captaincy, Head Boyship and college applications, Linus didn't think he'd ever been more on edge. Yet the familiarity of the Hall and the serenity of its cascading waterfalls was sufficient to enable the Crotalus seventh year to create and maintain a collected, calm exterior as briefly made greetings and selected a vacant seat at the Crotalus table to listen to his final Opening Feast speech. He clapped politely for the new, if small, collection of Crotalus first years, and rose with dignity to accept his badge. He didn't know a great deal about any of the new prefects who'd been elected, but the latter announcements served to remind him of Coach Pierce's departure. Linus had heard of her resignation with regret, although the feeling had been subsequently quashed with the head Boy announcement, but now the feeling of disappointment returned. He had high regard for her both as a Coach and as a head of House, and while he respected Professor Olivers and Skies, he wasn't convinced they would be adequate replacements as far as he was concerned. At least it would only be one more year until staff placements were more or less irrelevant to him. Linus identified the new librarian and groundskeeper, and paid some attention to the man who was Headmaster-in-Training, as he might be crucial in providing references in the future.

The final announcement, however, was the most galling; it might have been the proverbial straw that would break Linus' back. His facade dropped momentarily and he frowned openly at the Headmistress' declaration that he would run a show for the concert - didn't she know he had far more important constraints on his time? - but he soon remembered he was with company, and worked to school his expression once more as he sung the school song (again, presumably for the final time). Deciding that college would be no problem whatsoever if he could make it successfully though this year, Linus finally lifted his head to pay attention to those seated around him. "Good evening," he greeted, sounding, to his great regret, a little tired as he poured himself some juice which he'd hoped was orange, but he couldn't be sure until he'd tasted it.

0 Linus Macaulay The Last; The Greatest. 205 Linus Macaulay 0 5

Aria Yale

October 08, 2013 7:10 PM

is feeling welcomed and confused by Aria Yale

Aria’s summer had been the best summer she had in a long time. Last summer had been fun with her mother and changing their appearances, but it wasn’t even close to being as wonderful as this one. Aria had found some place to belong. She had found a group of friends that accepted her as she was. They even threw her a goodbye celebration just before the end of summer. They wanted to show their support for her life outside of the community and let her know that they loved her. It was one of the greatest nights of her life.

Aria felt as though a weight had been lifted from her and it was an amazing feeling of relief.

She was happier than she had been for so long as she stepped off the wagon. Wearing leggings with a long tee shirt beneath her robes, wild curls still loose around her head, and thick eyeliner wrapped around her eyes, Aria felt both comfortable in her body and mind. Aria did not look like the stereotypical fifteen year old that most of the girls in the school looked like. She did not wear top name brand clothes or have perfectly tucked in place hair. From the start, this made her different, but now, it made her who she was.

Of the four previous years at Sonora, Aria could only state that she had one friend. She was not sure if he considered her a friend, but he had never denied the claim either, so Aria remained hopeful. Aria was aware of the family in which James came from. She knew that the likelihood of their friendship continuing after they graduated just wasn’t going to happen. It saddened her to know that he wouldn’t always be in her life as someone she was comfortable with unless he surprised her by not caring of the rules and saw her anyway. But Aria didn’t think that was a likely scenario. She could change the way she looked and acted to remain his friend, but she could not change her blood and that was the ultimate issue. However, she did not let that get her down. She planned to leave little pieces of herself with him that he could keep forever. Assuming he wanted to and kept her gifts like the wand holder she had made for him for last Christmas or the Christmas gift for this year that she had begun to work on over the summer. She hoped he would keep them.

As she took a seat at the Teppenpaw table, Aria’s gaze swept the Hall looking for him. When she spotted him, she gave him a wave and a smile of hello before settling in for the evening. She had to admit, upon reflection, last year had not been terrible in her interactions with other people. She felt she did alright with Clara and had gotten a chance to get to know Jade thanks to the booth they ran for the Horse Lover’s Club. Aria made a promise to herself over the summer that she would try to be less suspicious of people and try to integrate herself more in their surroundings. It would be a process but she could handle the challenge.

When she heard her name called to the front, her blue eyes widened in utter surprise. She had thought that someone like Aubrielle would have been the choice for the staff since the girl seemed to be involved in everything and somehow involved with everyone, unlike Aria who was only in a couple of clubs and friendly with a select few. The only thing that she could think of that got her noticed were her grades. Aria was quite good in class and even worked harder in Transfiguration and Potions to make up for her discomfort with some of the lessons.

She accepted the badge with a polite smile and a thanks before returning to her seat relatively confused. Pinning the badge, Aria refocused on the announcements and found herself trying to keep up with the comings and goings of the staff. Too much was being said in a short amount of time and Aria would need to process everything, at least until the mention of Prefects running the Concert. Aria’s heart leapt into her throat. She had to run a group for the concert? A group? And they weren’t going to be assigned? Aria had to hope people volunteered for it? This was not going to end well for her.

Aria took a deep breath. She would deal with it and make it work. It was her job now. With the school song over, the feast was now available to consume. She picked out some vegetarian dishes to eat and allowed the conversations around her whirl while she ate her dinner in peace.

6 Aria Yale *is feeling welcomed and confused* 228 Aria Yale 0 5

Brianna Japos

October 08, 2013 8:59 PM

The year is or you are The Greatest? by Brianna Japos

Brianna’s summer had been a bit of a roller coaster for her, but not for the usual things. Actually, she had only had a run in with the girls of the building once and they hadn’t become physical with her. Brianna assumed that her mother’s threat was still valid and strong above their heads, which was the only thing that kept them from attacking her. They resented her for things she didn’t even know or understand. They all had whatever they wanted, what could they have possible hate her so much for? Surely not because the guys that attacked her were living in a different building? Brianna was positive she had more of a right to be pissed at life than they did.

More good news was that she had obtained her apparition license! She had been so nervous about the whole thing that she thought for sure she’d splinch herself on her first try. But, as usual, Brianna tested fairly well and she passed without any incidence. It was like she finally had a freedom she had never been able to experience before. Not that she really had a lot of places to go now that she could.

Other than the small train wreck of Josh’s family, Brianna’s life was uneventful. She spent most of the summer, swimming for therapy, regular physical therapy, and studying law. She had managed to fill out her scholarship forms and write out her personal statement on several college applications. She was just waiting for the right time to complete them and send them out. She had also been able to spend a week with Valerie. It was a completely different life style and Brianna had never been over to someone else’s house, so it was a new experience for her. She was pretty sure Valerie’s mother didn’t like her too much, but Brianna had no idea why. Her father was nice though, so that made up for it.

She was back at Sonora now though and it took her a moment to really take it in. This would be her final time stepping off the wagon and onto the grounds of Sonora. It was a bittersweet sort of moment. Everything good in her life had happened here. Some bad happened too, but she had overcome those through the good. It was hard for her to know that she would never be back here. She wouldn’t have this safe haven anymore.

When she entered Cascade Hall, she immediately started to look for Linus. He was the first face that she wanted to see on coming back. She had missed him. Brianna was confused about a lot of things, but one thing wasn’t confused and that was her feelings for him. She just wanted to hug and kiss him and have the warmth that she often felt in his presence. But when she finally found him at the Crotalus table, Linus didn’t even seem to see her. There was no excitement of seeing her for the first time in two months. No desire to at least hold her hand if he was put off by physical affection in front of others. Nothing.

She felt the sting of disappointment that Linus wasn’t happy to see her as she was for him. Had she done something wrong? Was he avoiding her again as he had the year previous? She couldn’t remember doing anything that would have wronged him. Perhaps he was angry that she hadn’t visited him like she had Valerie? She had thought about it, but then thought it might be strange for her to stay over his house for a couple of days and not something his mother would have agreed to anyway.

Trying not to look crestfallen at how this whole evening was beginning, Brianna took a seat and watched in silence as the sorting began.

By the end of the announcements, Brianna’s head was swimming. There was so much that was said in a small amount of time and she hadn’t been paying complete attention. Was had caught didn’t seem all that fun. It was her RATS year and she was trying to take the extra time in her schedule (which wasn’t much) to keep ahead in Potions and work out college courses. Now she had to participate in the Concert? Maybe whatever team she was on, she would be able to be background things like she had been with the last one.

Brianna took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She would just have to rearrange things to fit that in too. Brianna opened her eyes when Linus spoke. He sounded tired. She gave him a small smile and squeezed his hand, “Long summer or just overwhelmed by the long list of announcements?” She asked him.

6 Brianna Japos The year is or you are The Greatest? 203 Brianna Japos 0 5

Wendy Canterbury

October 08, 2013 11:23 PM

is feeling mostly welcomed and a little curious by Wendy Canterbury

Wendy could probably sum up her summer in two words: sun and baking. She hadn't traveled, hadn't done much hiking except for her family's annual camping trip for the weekend, but being at home didn't beat coming back to school, oddly enough. Wendy had never really liked institutions and structure to begin with, but it was nice when it was all magical. Living at home without magic had been pretty tough this time around. When the wagon came to a halt, she waved to her sister and hopped out of the wagon.

This kind of occasion called for her bright orange shorts, a long neon green shirt that hung off her shoulders along with a couple of long beaded necklaces hanging around her neck. She was wearing moccasins on her feet that she had found in a thrift store over the summer and had fallen in love with. Her blonde hair had streaks thanks to the sun and had been cut short again just before coming back. It was refreshing to not have to tie her hair up or worry about it all getting in her face all the time.

This summer she had decided to try being a vegetarian. There wasn't really any reason to it. Wendy had simply woken up and decided to try not eating meat for a week and then had decided to see how long she could go without it. So far she had lasted two months and was still counting. Wendy made her way towards the Teppenpaw table; she felt a little bit like a traitor, but Carter was there and he was, as her best friend, one of the first people she wanted to catch up with.

On her way, she spotted a really interesting-looking girl. Wendy had seen her around and she knew they shared classes together. Her name was Aria, if Wendy was remembering correctly, though she had forgotten her last name. Aria's hair was the best too and Wendy had always thought so. Sometimes being friends with the conventional sort of people was kind of boring. Some of her non-magical friends at home were like that, obsessed with how people looked at them and boys and makeup and whatever. Instead of sitting down next to Carter, she plopped down in front of Aria and smiled at her.

"Hi," she said before the Headmistress began talking, and then all the news just went into one ear and went out the other. None of it directly affected her except she clapped extra hard for the Heads and the Prefects. Wendy didn't think she was going to make the cut next year, but that was alright. As long as someone who really cared about the position got it. The rest of the news didn't directly affect her. If Quidditch was canceled, then maybe she would have had to console Carter, but Wendy didn't doubt the system. The new headmaster would do a good job. As long as she knew his name, she didn't care who was in charge as long as magic didn't stop existing and the school didn't shut down. Wendy sang the song with everyone else and went down to eating. Aria was starting to put food in front of herself and Wendy watched not even thinking that it might look a little creepy. She was fourteen and still sometimes lacked the proper social cues.

From Wendy's little knowledge of vegetarian dishes, she did notice that Aria wasn't touching the meat. "Are you a vegetarian?" Wendy asked curiously. "I just started trying to be a vegetarian this summer and my mom doesn't really know how to deal with it except to bake things for me and serve me steamed veggies." It was true. No one in her mom and dad's families were vegetarians and the relatives on her mom's side especially were big meat-eaters making Wendy's palate even stranger. There had been a lot of strange looks when Wendy had turned down the grilled chicken at her sister's sixteenth birthday dinner with her relatives from North Carolina. "What kind of dishes do you like?"

19 Wendy Canterbury *is feeling mostly welcomed and a little curious* 245 Wendy Canterbury 0 5

Liliana Bannister

October 09, 2013 7:14 PM

More or less- is yours? by Liliana Bannister

Even though there were many things she wanted to say or do, Liliana kept her thoughts to herself. This girl was way too bubbly and way too happy for her to deal with at the moment, but she plastered on the face of a happy first year, excited to be here. She didn't want to make a bad first impression, after all. It mattered what people thought about her because she was here representing her whole family and if she made a bad impression well… That would be, summed up in one, very overused word- bad. “Thanks, what about the house is so great?” She kept her voice interested and happy, trying hard not to sound rude but at the same time, hadn't really known how to respond to that admission.

“I’m Liliana Bannister of the London Bannisters,” she replied holding out her hand to shake as she was taught was appropriate in introductions. She felt odd saying London when in fact she had spent most of her time at her mother’s parent’s sprawling country estate but as her last name came from her father’s family and they were based in London…well it was just how things were done. It was good news that the girl she was speaking to was a prefect; it meant that she had established a good connection even if Waverly wasn't a pureblood. Muggles had their own form of intelligence; Liliana knew that from what her tutors had taught her about rockets and electricity and the like. Even if they could be crude and somewhat intolerant of magic (Liliana could never forget the horrific tales she had been told since she was a young child of the witch trials), they still had accomplished quite a lot without magic and so she could appreciate their ambition without ever really liking them. Liliana shrugged though when Waverly told her she was brave. She didn't really think of it as being brave, just being forced into something she didn't want to do- which had never happened before. “I suppose,” she said. “My family moved here a year ago, to Connecticut so I've been here for a while.” She was careful to leave out the part where she sulked in her room for most of the year waiting to floo call her beloved cousins.

“That’s neat, whose wedding?” Liliana wondered if perhaps she knew them or not, there had been a few weddings that summer as students graduated Hogwarts. Her own cousin had gotten married too to a nice Ravenclaw girl with pretty curled brown hair. “My father’s family is from London,” Liliana stated even though it had been obvious given her introduction. “He used to manage his family’s business, so we had a townhouse in the city,” she didn't really want to go into the details that had led to their family moving to America including the merging of the two family businesses after her paternal grandfather died and the moving of her father to America to manage that branch of the company. It had been an important move for her father’s career, being trusted by his father-in-law over his brothers-in-law to manage such an extensive part of the company but Liliana didn't see it that way. “I spent most of my time at my grandparents’ estate in the country though. Where are you from?”

Waverly’s accent was distinctly American, an accent that Liliana had never been too fond of, but knew she would have to get used to if she was going to spend her schooling here. (Somehow even though Liliana had always had her way before, she sensed that this was one matter in which she would never have her way which would have been to be at Hogwarts by Christmas time.)

10 Liliana Bannister More or less- is yours? 274 Liliana Bannister 0 5

Linus

October 10, 2013 11:58 AM

I meant the year, but feel free to draw your own conclusions by Linus

He hadn't realised it until she took his hand, but Brianna was the person Linus had most wanted to see. "Both," he admitted to her question, and tried not to feel resentful that a large part of his summer vexations had been caused by her. He lifted her hand and kissed it, initially believing that overt public displays of affection were not appropriate nor concordant with his particular role of authority, yet the limited contact wasn't sufficient, and he leaned in to his her lips, lingering for a couple of seconds and enjoying the closeness he had been denied over the break. "I missed you," he told her, his voice low so it didn't carry far; he preferred his private moments to remain so. There had been moments that he had considered inviting Brianna to visit him over the summer, but it had all seemed so complicated, considering the potential interference of Joshua's family (Linus hadn't had much cause to like him before, but now felt there was practically no chance of them ever getting along amicably; it was fortuitous that McLachlan had graduated at the close of the previous term), let alone their own cultural differences. Brianna had stayed with Valerie in the end, of which Linus was pleased, because he'd seen the girls together often, and thought they were a good influence on each other.

He took a sip of his juice (it was orange, to his relief), and began to dish himself a small helping of risotto, which he then accompanied with some finely sliced roast meat. He felt he needed a good meal to give him the energy to get through his return to school. "It seemed it's going to be a busy year," he commented lightly, trying not to allow his defeatism overcome him on a second occasion; once was permissible when he was tired and unprepared for a sudden increase in his workload, but any second sign of weakness would be unforgivable. "I hope you can forgive me if I can't offer you the attention you deserve." After he'd said it he almost wished he hadn't; he didn't want to give Brianna the impression that she meant less to him than his school work or other academic duties, but she was habitually more flexible in her demands than class assignments and Quidditch championships, so Linus had already identified his time with her as the one aspect that might have to be altered in comparison to the previous year. It didn't necessarily mean that he would spend any less time with her overall, but their activities might have to be less frivolous than they might otherwise have preferred.

"Did you manage to enjoy the rest of your summer?" Linus asked as he began to tuck into his warm meal. He acknowledged on some level that the initial concern regarding Joshua's family must have been more intrusive for Brianna and her family than its effects on Linus, and yet he had felt so isolated in his experience of it that hadn't been able to offer sufficient sympathy or support at the time. He could, however, hope that once the threat had passed, that Brianna had successfully found delight and relaxation in the remainder of her summer activities.

0 Linus I meant the year, but feel free to draw your own conclusions 0 Linus 0 5

Lydia Chambers

October 10, 2013 4:44 PM

I'm glad you do...its a great place to be by Lydia Chambers

Lydia had had a very busy summer after the fair during the end of the last term. Her niece and ward had finally come home for the summer from her boarding school and the two of them spent the summer together just being silly. Lydia had taken her niece to their first Muggle theme park which blew both of their minds. The huge rides, games, activities and noise was unlike anything either of them had ever encountered. They had bought pictures from just about every ride they went on and ate soo much junk they were both sick for days afterwards. The last time Lydia had done anything like that she had been in college and had gone to the San Fransisco Zoo with her roommates. The place had been absolutely massive and housed quite a few animals that up until that point Lydia had never seen outside of books.

Lydia gathered up her belongings a few days before the start of the new term. She had been sad to see her niece go back to school the day before she left, but she knew she would see her at the winter break so she wasn't too broken up about it. She arrived at Sonora the afternoon before the students were set to arrive and had finished unpacking just before the first wagon arrived. She had seen the new groundskeeper upon her arrival and had waved hello to him as she entered the building. She sat quietly during the Headmistress' speech and had been slightly surprised to hear that she too was stepping down. She had heard about Amelia and had wished her luck. She remembered Kiva saying that she had an announcement to make, but didn't see that being her announcement. Lydia nodded sadly at her announcement and promised herself that she would speak to the Headmistress later about it. She clapped politely for the new Headmaster and the student awards. From what she could see the new head boy and girl and the new prefects looked promising. She sang quietly to herself when the song sheets appeared and smiled when the food appeared. She found that she had grown very fond of the prairie eleves cooking.

Lydia heard a male voice beside her speak and she turned to see that the voice belonged to the new groundskeeper. "I couldn't agree more," she agreed with his statement on the food. She gave him a friendly smile and held out her hand. "How do you do?" she greeted. "I'm Lydia Chambers...Muggle Studies Professor. It's a pleasure to meet you." She waited for them to finish introductions before she asked him to pass her the basket of rolls near him. "Would you mind passing me the rolls please?" she asked politely.

0 Lydia Chambers I'm glad you do...its a great place to be 0 Lydia Chambers 0 5

Serena Brockert

October 10, 2013 6:00 PM

I hope it'll be welcoming. by Serena Brockert

Serena stood next to her cousin Duncan with the rest of the first years ready to recieve the goblet. She wasn't sure what house she wanted to be in. In Crotalus, she'd be with Tristan, who she was probably closest to of her cousins, oddly enough and it had been Ryan's house too. Unfortunately, it was also Carrie's house and Serena was scared of her. Arabella and Tristan weren't. Tristan seemed to be invincible to anything the fifth year could say to him. Carrie had ways to get to Arabella, because the sixth year got extremely angry when someone she cared about was hurt, so she got a two for one deal and that other person being hurt was either Ryan or herself. More often herself now that Ryan would come nowhere near the Crotalus girl. Serena couldn't blame him. She didn't want to be around Carrie either. Aside from Aunt Pearl, she couldn't think of anyone who did.

However, she didn't think she'd be in Pecari with Arabella or Aladren with Amity. Serena wasn' t really the Pecari type at all, she was much too quiet and not....fierce enough. Arabella was like a lioness protecting her cubs when it came to the rest of them. Though the rest of the time she was very rational and logical and calm. And she wasn't especially brainy either. Actually, she wasn't quite sure why Amity was in Aladren, she supposed it was because despite not wanting to do anything more than the basic things that she had to as a student and as a pureblood, the fourth year was very smart. She was good at all her school subjects,had a talent for languages and managed to maintain a social life. Of course, there were good people in Amity's class to socialize with, she didn't know about her own yet. But Sonora students tended to be pure.

She watched as Duncan took the cup and swallowed it down, turning a brilliant shade of yellow. So he was to be in Teppenpaw. Now, she'd have someone no matter what house she went into. As Duncan turned to walk to the Teppenpaw table, he looked at her a second and whispered "Remember, we're twins." Serena giggled. It was a plan they'd come up with on the wagon. One that they'd made sure Carrie not hear because she would ruin everything just for the fun of it. If someone thought something was enjoyable, there was nothing as enjoyable to Carrie as ruining it for them. In addition to that, they'd agreed that Arabella and their brother Fabian and Duncan's younger sister Juniper were also their siblings, based on the fact that people would be able to see by the way they interacted that Arabella and Serena were sisters. And Duncan saying the rest were his cousins was technically true, they just weren't actually his first cousins. Upon the wagons arriving, they'd informed Amity of the plan too, and her reaction was to ask if they could have him as a close relative instead of Carrie.

Serena took the cup from her ~~cousin~~ twin and drank it down herself and turned the same bright shade of yellow that Duncan had turned only moments before. She felt a sense of relief, she knew in her heart, she'd never belong in Pecari or Aladren, though the first year had feared being sorted into Crotalus. She had never understood how the members of that house could be so different, based on the three cousins of hers that were there-or in Ryan's case, had been there. She wasn't especially close to her oldest cousin based on their age difference, but it was pretty obvious that he was different than Carrie or Tristan. Their whole family knew how he had been treated vs how the other two had been. Tristan had been treated as a prince by his family, the heir. He could sometimes be arrogant,which drove Arabella nuts, but for some reason they'd become pretty close. On the other hand, her eldest cousin had been mistreated by his mother, from what Serena had gathered over the years. The impression she had gotten of him was that he was quiet, nervous and eager to please. He actually had more in common with Chaslyn that way.

Though some of them were closer to each other than others, due to how old someone was in relation to someone else, they were a close knit bunch of cousins. Arabella had said told her, united against a common enemy, from Ryan all the way down to little Vlad. Just like their parents before them had united against Aunt Pearl.

She followed Duncan to the Teppenpaw table, and frowned. Apparently, though she was certain he would have sat by her, people decided to take all the seats around him. She'd only seen one other yellow girl and no other yellow boys amongst the new first years. Serena looked over towards him and he looked back apologetically and shrugged.

The blonde was just going to have to find someone to talk to on her own. Maybe the other yellow girl who was going to be her roommate. She did hope they'd get on, otherwise things would be miserable for the next seven years. What if they hated each other? She couldn't imagine the other girl would be mean if she was sorted into Teppenpaw. They were the nice house, right? Which must have meant Serena was nice and that her roommate would be too. If not, she would have Duncan at least and Tristan as well. And of course, no matter what, her sister would protect her if need be. She hoped, of course, that there would be no need.

The Headmistress began her speech, starting with the Head Student and prefect announcements. The names Aria Yale and Linus Macaulay meant nothing to her, though she took note of Aria as one of the Teppenpaw prefects. As for the others, Nora Dobson was a distant cousin of some sort, and she'd heard of the names Baird and D'Alesandro before. All she knew about Clara Abernathy was that Amity didn't like her at all.

Next, Headmistress announced staff changes. The Transfiguration professor was to be the Deputy Head and the Charms professor was going to run the Quidditch games, not that Serena had any interest in being involved in those. Even if she had been willing to risk serious injury and death, she wasn't terribly athletic. She was more musical, and while her sister fenced, Serena played the violin. Though she felt her playing was inadequate compared to Chaslyn's. Of course, all her cousin did was work on extracurricular activities and she never had any fun. Her childhood had not been normal the way Serena's had and that made her feel bad for her cousin (and Amity too) and that it was a pretty fair trade off. She'd rather not be as good at the violin then never have had a chance to play and enjoy life. Besides, Amity said she'd be better at something if she only had one activity to focus on compared to the all ones she and Chaslyn did. Plus, the fourth year didn't like to do anything her mother wanted if she could avoid it.

The Librarian was mentioned next and then the fact that Uncle Seth was leaving and there was a new Groundskeeper taking his place. Serena frowned again. She would have liked to have her uncle there. Sure, he couldn't (or wouldn't?) do anything to get them special privilages and claimed that nothing that they had to complain about was ever his fault according to her sister and older cousins, but having family around was comforting. Well, most family anyway.

Serena's eyes widened at the last announcement. She felt awful for the Headmistress and her poor son and her whole family but it turned out that the Teppenpaw would have family on staff after all. The thing was, she didn't know Mortimer. The Brockerts were a large family. She didn't even know how she was related to him. Of course, she didn't know how she was related to Duncan exactly either. If they weren't pretending to be twins, it would be easier to just say cousin than figure out the exact relation. It would probably be the same with Mortimer. Unfortunately, he didn't look as friendly as Uncle Seth, so perhaps she shouldn't call him by his first name, as awkward as it would be to call someone Mr. or Headmaster Brockert for her.

Food appeared as announcements ended. Serena took a twice-baked potato, loading it up with butter and sour cream. She looked over at the person next to her. "Excuse me, could you pass me the dish of chives?"

11 Serena Brockert I hope it'll be welcoming. 272 Serena Brockert 0 5

Sasha Sinclair

October 10, 2013 6:28 PM

I'll keep your suggestions in mind. by Sasha Sinclair

Sasha had never had a roommate before. His parents had given him and his brother their own rooms since they day his little brother was born. His parents felt that Sasha deserved to have his own space in order to grow into a proper young man and could fall in line with being the Heir if his cousin was unable to produce the necessary Heir. Sasha was anticipating that day. Or was, anyway. Jaiden’s wife was having their first child. He would have to see the gender of that baby and if the baby survived. It was not a pleasant thought to have, but Sasha needed that position of power. It was his right.

The idea of a roommate was foreign to him and he wasn’t sure how well it would work out, especially if he was not of… the right blood, but he had no choice in the matter, so he would have to adjust to them. At the introduction of Sasha’s would be roommate, his mind ran over the list of names that he knew of based on families that were in the school while Fae was here, but Douglas was not one that he recognized immediately. That didn’t really mean much. America was full of Pureblood families that were still only just making waves across the ocean and into Europe. Just because he hadn’t heard of them, did not mean his father or grandfather hadn’t either. Or, even if the family wasn’t well known, Grandfather could find out what was important and Sasha would be able to move from there.

For the moment, he would consider Isaac nothing more than a mystery and be polite until he could arrange information from his family regarding the Douglas family. “A pleasure.” He said, his Scottish accent downplayed a bit. He wasn’t sure how Isaac wanted to be addressed, but he would go with the informal once they had officially entered their dorm room and settled in. After all, they would have to share the room for the next seven years and Sasha thought it would just become a hassle if he had to continuously call him Mr. Douglas the entire time.

“My cousin was in Crotalus before me, so I am aware of the merits for being in the house. She graduated last year.” Sasha added in case Isaac was going to ask if his cousin was still attending the school. “It’s a respectable house to be involved in. If it was not this house, than I would have preferred to be in Aladren.” Sasha felt these were the only two houses that were worth being placed in. Had he been placed in Pecari or Teppenpaw, he would have demanded a transfer, if not of house than of school. “What are you looking forward to while attending Sonora? Any particular class?” Sasha asked to make conversation and feel out what was important to his new roommate.

6 Sasha Sinclair I'll keep your suggestions in mind. 0 Sasha Sinclair 0 5

Brianna

October 10, 2013 8:25 PM

I'll keep those to myself for now. by Brianna

Brianna felt immensely better as relief washed over her when Linus kissed her hand and then her mouth. The warmth of his lips against hers was so familiar and comforting that she wasn’t sure how she managed the summer without him. They were only small touches, but they were enough for her to know that he wasn’t upset with her over anything that she couldn’t place a finger on. “I missed you too.” She replied. She wished that they were alone somewhere to enjoy one another’s company. She needed at least two months’ worth of quality time, but he was the Head Boy now and it would look poorly on him if they just up and left in the middle of the feast. Brianna wasn’t really sure what his duties entailed, but she was sure that the staff would be watching him to ensure they had chosen the correct person for the job.

“I suppose it will be.” She agreed with the assessment of the amount of work they were expected to do this year. Brianna didn’t drop any of her classes, so she had a full course load. This included Potions, which was her hardest class to understand. She would do all she could to stand on top of it, but she had little hope of scraping more than an A without Josh around. She would do the best she could, of course, but she knew that wasn’t much when it came to potions. Maybe she would seek extra help from the professor if she felt it was too much.

If Linus hadn’t already mentioned the fact that the year was going to be busy, Brianna might have taken his comment incorrectly and thought he was trying to distance himself. But, logic slipped in before those negative thoughts could and she understood he just meant his schedule was going to be demanding on him. More so than hers with all the extra duties he had to keep on top of. “It’s alright.” She advised with a smile. “You’re Head Boy and Quidditch Captain. I’m sure your schedule will be overloaded with things to do. On top of RATS and now the Concert, breathing will probably be a job.” Brianna paused and realized how that sounded, “Sorry, that probably isn’t making it easier on you. But, don’t worry about me, we’ll find time to be together.” She had thought about asking him to help her with her water therapy, but knowing how overwhelmed he already seemed to be, she didn’t want to add one more thing for him to feel obligated to do. Besides, it wasn’t like she really needed the spotter anymore. She hadn’t had an episode in months and that had only been because she overworked her body. As long as she didn’t go overboard, she would be just fine on her own.

Brianna turned to the food and began to munch on a bread roll. She was never really hungry for school feasts. She had taken a pain reliever potion on the way down from New York and it tended to suppress her appetite and just made her a little tired. Thankfully, her back only felt sore, which meant that the potion was still in effect. She would eat a hearty breakfast in the morning. She knew that she needed to make sure she ate food, her Healer wasn’t happy about any weight loss she had. It took a lot for her to keep her weight at normal levels but stress tended to have her lose it and he worried she wouldn’t have the strength necessary for recovery. She had been very good about eating this last year, and as long as she didn’t let the RATS stress get to her, she was confident about this year as well.

She shrugged at his question. “Not really.” She answered honestly. “I was a little lonely in the apartment. I spent most of my time in some form of physical therapy and when I wasn’t doing that, I was reviewing our school books and reviewing college prep courses. I did manage to fill out some college applications and scholarship applications. I wanted to be ready for when the deadline approached.” She looked rather pleased by this fact. “Did you have fun with your family?” The letters he sent already told her some of the things he had done, but she liked hearing him talk about his siblings. Those were relationships that she was never privy too.

6 Brianna I'll keep those to myself for now. 0 Brianna 0 5

Aria

October 10, 2013 10:26 PM

Everyone always seems curious around me. by Aria

Aria was not perturbed by the looks that people sometimes gave to her. Most of the time, she had learned to ignore it, which was what she was currently doing. If the girl wanted to stare at her, that was her prerogative. Aria was hungry and wanted to eat the delicious foods that the elves had produced for them. She was still not entirely comfortable with the idea of the elves being forced into slavery, but her mother had explained if they set them free (if they weren’t already), they would have nothing and might be forced into a home of an abusive owner. The school gave them beds, proper meals, and a warm place to be. Aria tried to remind herself of that each time she ate a meal.

She didn’t turn her attention away from the food when the girl addressed her, “Vegan mostly.” She commented. Aria only ate dairy when she was home because she knew how the cow was treated. Since she had no idea how the school procured their dairy products or how those farms treated their animals, Aria did not trust them. She kept her selections away from any animal by product while she was at Sonora. Any nutrients she lacked by not eating dairy, she gained through other sources or potion supplements. Her mother made her sure supply was kept full while she was away at school. She looked up at the intruder for a moment while she spoke, realizing what seemed off about it, “You are not a Teppenpaw.” There were no accusations in her tone, just statements. The girl was a Canterbury. Wendy, if Aria remembered roll call correctly.

When the girl continued talking and mentioned that she was trying to be a vegetarian. To Aria, that meant she wasn’t in it for the right reasons, which meant that she wasn’t likely to stick to it. Aria would never tell a person to not be a vegetarian, even if they were doing it for all the wrong reasons, but she didn’t always agree with it when they were one. But the girl seemed pleased with the change although it apparently confused her family, which only validated Aria’s thoughts on it. At her question, Aria sat back to give it some thought.

“I enjoy cactus and corn salsa, black bean salad, cucumber salad is really good, curry rice, mmm – fried green tomatoes, just about anything potato, oh there are so many…” Aria’s mouth was watering just thinking about all the delicious foods from home. The school food wasn’t a terrible substitute. They did a lot of vegetarian meals and if there was a small selection, Aria could always have the pasta of the evening. “Quinoa is pretty filling and easy to make if you ever get sick of the steamed vegetables or your mom runs out of ideas. Or, she can roast them over a fire with some spices instead of just steaming them. That way, you get your vegetables with a different kick to them.” Aria offered as suggestions. There were so many great things to eat that did not need meat in them. It was a bit sad that Wendy was limited to so few items.

6 Aria Everyone always seems curious around me. 0 Aria 0 5

Wendy

October 11, 2013 12:42 AM

I get that feeling too sometimes by Wendy

Going vegan was a path Wendy would probably not be able to go down. There was ice cream and her grandparents owned a dairy farm in North Carolina. While eating only vegetables was one thing, cutting dairy out of her diet would probably be a little more offensive to her old-fashioned Southern relatives. Starting out being a vegetarian was good enough for her and she knew when anyone asked why she didn't really have a good answer. But that's usually how Wendy did things; she just wanted to try everything new and old or do whatever she felt like at the time. People who knew her well enough just kind of took her as she was that day or that week or month.

Aria's statement wasn't surprising. "I'm not. I'm a Canterbury." She smiled, amused at her own little joke. If Aria didn't think it was funny she had at least amused herself. "In Pecari, that is," she added with no further explanations. Wendy didn't think she really needed one since Aria didn't sound accusatory. Even so, this whole stick-to-your-own-house business didn't always sit well with her. She liked her housemates alright, but her best friend was in Teppenpaw and she had another in Crotalus and wanted to make more friends with other people too despite their house differences. It wasn't like houses were stated on roll call, but there was some segregation that Wendy hadn't been used to initially after coming from a non-magical elementary school.

There were a few dishes that Aria listed that Wendy knew of. Coming from Arizona, she had eaten cactus before and cucumber salad when she was in North Carolina. Fried green tomatoes were something new and curry rice which she was sure her mom probably didn't know how to make, but it did sound appetizing. Wendy loved trying new foods and new things so this would be a great path to go down.

There was always quinoa which her mom had cooked on occasion, but roasting veggies over a fire was a new concept. This was part of the reason why Wendy loved meeting new people so much. Everyone was so different and she learned a lot from them if she just asked the right questions. "The only time I get to roast things on a fire is when I go camping in the desert with my family, but even then it's usually just canned foods or something not as great." Camping in itself was fun; eating the camp food was not.

"Does Sonora usually produce pretty good vegetarian dishes?" she asked, taking a look at the selection. "It looks a lot better than what I've been eating at home. I think I'm going to have to start cooking for myself when I go back," she said pleasantly. Wendy knew how to bake like all the women in her family, but she didn't know how to cook besides pasta. She would have to get a vegetarian cookbook or something when she went back home for winter break. Winter would be an exciting time to try new things out, but for now she had to be content with learning what kinds of foods she could eat now. "Cooking seems like such an intricate process. Kind of like potions. Do you cook at home?"

0 Wendy I get that feeling too sometimes 0 Wendy 0 5

Morgana Bennet

October 11, 2013 1:11 AM

Hoping for Welcome by Morgana Bennet

Morgana stared around at all the new faces surrounding her as she exited the wagons. Most were already chatting amiably with the people near to them which would suggest older students while the ones with expressions similar to her own must be the first years. She could see several of the assumed first years attempting to strike up conversations with each other, and Morgana suddenly became very self-conscious.

As she walked into the school with the rest of the crowd, she wondered what she should do if someone suddenly began talking to her. What should she say, or should she say anything at all? Thankfully, no one spoke to her as the first years entered Cascade Hall. She watched with great interest as her new classmates stepped up and drank from the goblet that would determine their house.

She swallowed hard when it was her turn and prayed that whatever result would make her parents pleased, although she highly doubted that. With trembling hands, she accepted the goblet and took a deep drink. Within seconds she began glowing a bright red that announced she was in Crotalus. She vaguely remembered someone in the wagons talking about how that was the house of mixed personalities, and Morgana hoped as she sat down that her personality would not stick out too much to keep from making friends.

She watched with interest as a friendly looking brother and sister were sorted into Teppenpaw, and many other first years were sorted as well. Finally, Headmistress stood up and announced staff changes. As her parents had attended Sonora years ago and she had no older siblings or cousins, the names of staff meant little to Morgana, and her attention quickly turned to her house mates.

When the food appeared on the table, she carefully loaded her plate with what her mother would call "lady appropriate choices" and waited, hoping that someone would remove the burden of starting a conversation from her shoulders.

0 Morgana Bennet Hoping for Welcome 0 Morgana Bennet 0 5

Theodore Wolseithcrafte

October 11, 2013 8:09 AM

I can't think of many appealing examples of either by Theodore Wolseithcrafte

“I've always found it an enjoyable city to live in,” Theodore nodded at Leonidas' comment, glad that he found his city worthy of revisiting. Or that his family did. “Although I'm sure the West Coast has many things to recommend it too. Where abouts are you located?” he asked.

“We have a place in the Adirondack Lakes,” he explained, when Leonidas asked. He loved their summer residence. It had decent entertaining space, and so it wasn't like they were completely cut off but it could feel like it. The countryside was stunning and, when they weren't having to cater to guests, they were free. Really free. To just be their family, without scrutiny or comment, away from prying eyes, and enjoying each other's company. For all that he admired his mother's conviction, and enjoyed the intellectual company that it brought with it, he did not enjoy the controversy of their lives, or the seeming invasions into their privacy. In the summer they went swimming, hiking or just sat back, enjoying the view with a good book and each other. He and Francesca often took a picnic out together and just enjoyed each other's quiet companionship. He appreciated that about his sister – she understood that not every moment had to be filled with doing or saying things when you were with another person. Sometimes it was enough to just... be. They understood each other well, and he was closest to her out of all his siblings. People were often surprised by that. He supposed it was because they naturally assumed they would divide into boys and girls but his brother, Barnabus, had remained in the East for school, their mother tactically dividing them to spread their views further. Maybe if Theodore had been destined to go there too, it would have cemented that relationship, but he knew that he would be with Francesca, here, so it had cemented that one instead. His older brother was someone a little remote, someone to admire rather than be close to. Or perhaps people grouped them on the even more spurious reasoning of appearance. He and Francesca shared the long, straight family nose, but she was blonde haired and blue eyed. His own hair – neatly clipped and brushed so that it didn't touch his collar – was brown, like Barnabus and Ingrid's, and his eyes were sort of hazely-green. You could tell they were siblings, easily, from the nose and their mannerisms – something about the look in their eyes. The similarities were definitely there but it took a more careful observer to see them than it did with his older brother and youngest sister.

“Although my siblings and I usually spend a week or two at Quidditch camp too,” he added, “Do you play at all?” he enquired.

13 Theodore Wolseithcrafte I can't think of many appealing examples of either 270 Theodore Wolseithcrafte 0 5

Ariel Thornton

October 11, 2013 10:23 AM

Freaked out just doesn't begin to cover it by Ariel Thornton

Ariel sat in the wagon positively fuming over the events that had landed her in her current predicament. She had believed up until a few days before that she had been normal like her father, but found her hopes dashed to pieces when she discovered that was infact incorrect. Her acceptance letter arrived along with the ones for her sisters and she felt as though her whole world had collapsed. How could she, Ariel Rene Thornton, be a witch like the rest of her freakish family? It just didn't make any sense. Her father was normal for pitys sake...why wasn't she? When she asked her mother about it her mother didn't really have a satisfactory answer for the eleven year old. Ariel stormed off to her room and remained there until it was time to leave. Ariel pouted the whole trip to the wagon pickup spot begging her parents to wake her up from the freakish nightmare in which she found herself. Her pleas fell on apparent deaf ears. She slumped back against the seat and cried angrily. She hated them all for making her do this!

Ariel silently cursed her bad luck as she watched the scenery pass the wagon. She couldn't help wondering just what kind of freakshow prison she was being carted off to and she might be able to escape her fate. She knew her sisters had accepted their freakishness, but that didn't mean that she had to. She had been taught by their father to despise magic and anyone who practiced it. Now thanks to that teaching she had no choice, but to include herself. She hated that she was being forced into doing the very thing she had been taught to despise.

Ariel felt her heart sink as she saw her new prison come into view. She had prayed silently that it had all been a cruel joke and she could go home, but discovered that had been nothing more than wishful thinking as the wagon came to a halt in front of the massively oppressing building. Ariel climbed slowly out if the wagon behind her sisters and stood outside with everyone else. She watched as some of the other kids around them talked amongst themselves and couldn't help feeling as though she were behind enemy lines without an ally to speak of. "This is just great!" she thought to herself as she glanced around. She didn't know what to make of this freakshow she was now a part of and wanted nothi g to do with. She followed the crowd into the building and stopped when the rest of the first years did.

"Fan-flickin-tastic" she grumbled as they waited in the hall. "Not only have they singled us out, but they're apparently parading us in like a bunch of freaks as well...groovy," she grumbled when she heard the first years being called inside. Ariel rolled her eyes as she followed the other first years into the room. She felt like she was being stared at as she past by the other students already seated and made her way to the front of the room. Ariel felt a brow raise when it was mentioned that they had to drink a color changing potion as part of their sorting. This woman had to be kidding. There was no way she was going to be drinking some funky concoction that turned her funny colors. It couldn't possibly be safe! Ariel watched curiously as a few of the first years went up before her and drank the potion with no foreseeabe side effects (other than the changing colors thing).

Ariel slowly made her way up to the Headmistress and her accomplice when her name was called and eyed the concoction suspiciously. She glanced from one woman to the other before taking the goblet from the Deputy Headmistress. She pinched her nise shut with her fingers and took a large swallow of the strange liquid. She made a nasty face at it as she handed the goblet back to the lady and almost screamed aloud when she caught sight of her hand. It had turned a bright red just like her hair! "You've turned me into a lobster!" she complained as she made her way away from them and to her assigned table. She almost cried right then and there. "Its official...I am a FREAK!" she complained as she found a place to sit. She buried her head into her hands and shook her head. This all had to be a bad dream she reasoned as the Headmistress continued her announcements. Ariel wasn't really paying any attention at that point. She just wanted the whole thing to be done and over with. She stared at the table as everyone sang and barely looked up when the food appeared before them. She heard her stomach growl loudly and tried to ignore it. "Sorry about that," she mumbled to the person next to her. Ariel didn't actually care at that moment...she just didn't want to be rude. She sighed heavily over her empty plate.

0 Ariel Thornton Freaked out just doesn't begin to cover it 0 Ariel Thornton 0 5

Leonidas Bennett

October 11, 2013 2:54 PM

That is so by Leonidas Bennett

“Near Santa Barbara, mainly,” Leo said of his family’s location. “Though the family has another house in the mountains, sometimes we go there.” He decided to assume that ‘you’ had meant literally ‘Leonidas Bennett and immediately family’ instead of ‘the entire Bennett family’ and so didn’t mention his uncles or Aunt Katherine or his grandparents or anyone, including Mother’s family, even though Eliza was staying with them most of the time right now, learning about banking.

That, he thought, was probably not quite the thing to tell his roommate about, though. She did plan to get married, after all, once she found someone she thought would make either a reasonable partner or reasonable face for Eliza just running their business interests herself, but it just wasn’t one of the usual things that girls did. A lot of families would have expected Eliza to be married already, and really, even theirs wouldn’t have complained, though he did think Father would be happy if she were just too much like…well, Mother, just a housewife who didn’t concern herself with business at all. Gemma would probably be like that, but Eliza was one of Father’s kids, rather than their mother’s responsibility, so she had gotten more or less the same education as the boys, and Father didn’t really seem to see as much difference as Leo sometimes thought he probably should.

“A little,” Leo said. “I haven’t quite decided if I’m going to try to join the team here or not, though my brother – my older brother, that is, he’s in Crotalus – says the Aladren one is very good. We’ve only lost the Cup once since he came to school, and he’s in seventh year, now.” Leo, of course, had not been involved in it at all, but he still felt proud to be in the House with that kind of record. He liked the idea of being among people who accomplished things, hoping that it would help him to do so as well.

0 Leonidas Bennett That is so 269 Leonidas Bennett 0 5

Clara Abernathy

October 11, 2013 4:25 PM

New term...new life by Clara Abernathy

Clara sat in the wagon on her way back towards school feeling very confused about a few things. Lucy had gone back to Spain over the summer to help care for her ailing mother and while Clara understood she missed her nanny terribly. Up until her father had begun dating again, Lucy had been the only adult female that Clara saw on a daily basis. She still wasn't certain how she felt about Danielle, but she was glad that her dad seemed happier and thats all that mattered to her. Her mother's parents were being very supportive of his seeing Danielle so she figured she must not be all that bad. She found her attention beginning to wander towards the fair and her outing with Lucian last term, both of which had gone really well. He seemed to like the dress she wore for their outing so she wore a different one for the fair.

Clara had met up with Lucian at fair in between the times Charlie's booth was open. They had gone on a few rides (all of which she enjoyed immensely), bought some cotton candy and pigged out on corn dogs. Well..she had pigged out on the cotton candy and corn dogs anyways. Regardless she had a wonderful time with him again and missed him when they left eachother for the summer. The only thing that made her smile while Lucy was away were the letters she had gotten from him over the summer. She had been absolutely giddy when they arrived. Her dad teased her terribly about it. Clara merely rolled her eyes at his teasing. Danielle had laughed at her reaction.

Clara climbed off the wagon when it arrived at the school and was a little surprised to see her cousin Ariel amongst the new group of first years. She hadn't realized her cousin was that old already. Wow...she really had been out of it lately. She waved towards her cousins and followed the crowd inside the building. She thought she spotted Lucian on their way in and smiled waving at him. She had every intention of sitting with him for the feast...that is after the Headmistress made her speech. Clara frowned slightly when the Headmistress announced that she, the old groundskeeper and Coach Pierce were all leaving. "That sucks," she commented to herself as the Headmistress continued. She nodded slightly at the introduction for the new headmaster and shook her head. Apparently this was going to be a brand new term for everyone.

Clara had been scoping out the Aladren table for her boyfriend when she heard names being announced. She clapped for Nora and Linus both of which she had seen around school, but didn't know personally. Her jaw dropped into the table when she heard the names of the new prefects. Me?! she thought to herself as she slowly got up from her seat. A prefect?! No way. She made her way up front and clapped happily as each of them received their badges. She wanted to hug Lucian she was soo excited, but she fought the urge to in front of everyone. Instead she went over to the Aladren table and found a couple of empty seats. She saw him approaching and waved him over. She turned towards him when she was sure he had sat down and smiled. "I figured it was my turn to join you since you joined me last term" she told him cheerfully. "I can't tell you how happy I am to see you. My summer was nuts! How was yours?" she asked, leaning her elbow on the table. She gave him her full attention.

0 Clara Abernathy New term...new life 232 Clara Abernathy 0 5

Waverly

October 11, 2013 4:31 PM

A little more than less, but in a good way by Waverly

The things that made Pecari was so great was something Waverly had never had to explain to someone before. Pecari being such a great house just came with the territory, but right now she had a second to think of several reasons why Liliana would like it here. "Our common room is in the gardens," she said with a smile, "and I love it there. Our colors are really pretty too, brown and gold. They go well together and I've met a lot of awesome people in Pecari that go well together too." There were some not-so-nice people in Crotalus, but Waverly was not about to go bashing houses. Pecari was full of the more free-spirited explorers of Sonora and she could very well put herself in that category. "You'll meet a lot of people who just really love life and if you're ever interested in exploring Sonora I'm sure you'd find someone who would want to go with you."

Liliana was definitely one of those purebloods just by her introduction, but Waverly didn't want to think anything of her just yet. As a girl far away from home, she didn't think Liliana would be super open and happy yet, but that was only understandable. She shook her hand and smiled. "It's very nice to meet you Liliana." Connecticut was still far from home in Waverly's point of view, but she nodded. At least it was on the same continent. "How have you liked living in Connecticut? I've never been there, but I can only imagine it's really different from London."

Liliana asked about the wedding which was nice, but Waverly thought that was the only reason why Liliana was asking. "The bride was a Thornton, but I think her husband was from England somewhere. I'm friends with one of her sisters and they invited me and my sister along. It was really nice of them. My dad's family is actually from England too so I was able to visit some of my distant relatives while we were there." One of her great English relatives was actually a squib, though she was pretty sure that relative had died before she was born. It wasn't a well-known fact, but history had been passed down through word of mouth and after a bit of asking around. Squibs were able to be a part of the magical world, having magical parents, and magic had seemed to be a pretty popular topic in her English family's dinner conversations even though they were all technically muggles.

Liliana said she was from London and Waverly smiled. "London is such a pretty city," she said. "I loved it while I was there. The country would have to be beautiful though. Arizona's not so green, but on Sonora grounds it's actually pretty nice." The Labyrinth Gardens was one of Waverly's favorite places to roam because of that very fact. She missed it when she was at home for at least the first month or so during the summer. "I'm from Phoenix, Arizona, so not too far from here. It's slightly south from the dead center of state."

0 Waverly A little more than less, but in a good way 0 Waverly 0 5

Isaac Douglas

October 11, 2013 5:54 PM

I am a wise and trustworthy counselor. by Isaac Douglas

Sinclair was, Isaac thought, awfully pleased to meet him – that was the second time he had expressed such, as far as Isaac could tell, unwarrantedly positive feelings about their interaction so far. Isaac had always assumed it would be obvious to anyone who looked at him that he was a man – boy – of wealth and taste, but he had not expected there to be such a dearth of them that just meeting him would be a special occasion for anyone.

In light of that, he thought it was best to assume his roommate actually had no feelings about meeting him yet and was following social convention in claiming the experience was enjoyable. “The pleasure’s mine,” he said, returning the courtesy.

Sinclair had a cousin. Yes – he’d seen a Sinclair in Alicia’s yearbook. She was marrying the Aladren Seeker. The old Aladren Seeker, that was; he was thoroughly looking forward to watching his sister’s House get trounced without that guy. Isaac watched enough Quidditch to know that a new Seeker shook a team up anyway, and since this wasn’t professional, it would probably be someone no more than half-decent, after they had been used to a star….Oh, that would be quality entertainment, especially considering Alicia’s attachments….

“Aladren is also a respectable House,” he agreed. More respectable, really, than Crotalus in some ways, at least these days, from what he had heard, though the truth was, all four had their flaws. “Crotalus and Aladren are my family’s traditional Houses – especially Crotalus.” Just barely, anyway; he, his grandfather, his mother, his aunt, and his oldest half-sister had all been Crotali, lined up against his sister, his grandmother, one of his grandfather’s brothers, and his uncle in Aladren, with Kate and his grandfather’s other brother as odd Teppenpaw and Pecari exceptions to the trend. On the larger side of his family which tended to talk about its school days, though, there were more Crotali than anything else.

“None in particular,” he said of classes, looking over the staff, now. “Got to do well in all of them, after all.” Even he, in his secure position, felt the edges of the pressure which bore down on his whole family. Accomplishment was the only thing they respected, the only thing they understood, and someone who didn’t bring home the goods was a baffling mystery and an embarrassment. “What about you?” he asked. “Dying to take Charms?”

16 Isaac Douglas I am a wise and trustworthy counselor. 273 Isaac Douglas 0 5

Theodore Wolseithcrafte

October 11, 2013 5:56 PM

Is that check or check mate? by Theodore Wolseithcrafte

“Do you have a preferred position?” he enquired. He was a little disappointed that Leonidas was only a 'maybe' for a team. Although, on the plus side, if it turned out that he couldn't stand the sight of him, it would give him some space from the other boy. There was also considerably more to his own life than the game – he wasn't one of these meatheads who was only capable of bonding over sports – so he and Leonidas still had the potential to find other common ground. Indeed, given their sorting, they were bound to have something other than sports in common, and there were certain positions that would give him more reservations about his room mate rather than reassuring him. Seekers, for example, he was convinced had to be either narcissists or masochists.

“And we won it last year,” Theodore informed Leonidas, in regards to their house's record with the Quidditch Cup. Claiming some sort of ownership felt natural, as he would be part of the team (if only as a reserve) as soon as possible, and owing to his sister's part in Aladren's victory. “My sister helped,” he added proudly. One large difference between him and Francesca was that he had a significant amount more candour than her. She kept her cards close to her chest, played them carefully and was always watchful or wary of how people would react. He would simply rather state the facts and then deal with the consequences, especially in this situation. He and Leonidas had to live together for seven years. If this was going to be an issue, it was better to get it out in the open now, rather than tiptoe around each other for months, second-guessing each other's opinions and motivation. Besides which, small talk bored him senseless. It was a necessary evil, of course, but if the opportunity to move onto more interesting topics presented itself, he was always keen to take it.

13 Theodore Wolseithcrafte Is that check or check mate? 270 Theodore Wolseithcrafte 0 5

Francesca Wolseithcrafte

October 11, 2013 6:44 PM

Sisterly affection and house pride by Francesca Wolseithcrafte

Francesca brought a high degree of poise to everything she did, even playing Quidditch. True, the scrambling for passes, or last minute dodges were difficult to execute with absolute grace, or even anything approaching it, but there was something in the way she sat, and her calmer manoeuvres, that spoke of many hours spent walking the length of the drawing room with An Encyclopedia of Mushrooms balanced on her head. Even by her standards, however, she was sitting very upright as the first years entered the hall, her blonde head turning sharply towards them. She straightened the tiniest fraction remaining as a boy with neat dark hair stepped up, and she visibly relaxed and smiled as he joined their house. It was entirely expected but it still made her happy.

That safely completed, she turned her attention back to the present. The feast would shortly begin, and there would be summers to be discussed, as well as thoughts on the coming year. Her own summer had been more or less its usual self. The time spent with her family in the lakes had been heaven, of course. Quidditch camp had been... instructive, though sadly in more ways than one. She assumed a lot of the little snobs she'd met there went to East coast schools, and it made her more thankful than ever that she had been sent here. Some of them had been perfectly vile to her. She had always steeled herself against that, knowing there was a high probability of such attitudes and attacks against her, and told herself that she could simply close herself off and not care what such clearly ignorant and uninformed people thought of her. For all her preparation, for all the armour she had prepared, it had still hurt her, and she was certain that she could not have faced seven years of it had Sonora been similar. She had been sure to catch the eyes of Ginny and Adam as she came in, even though she was focussed on waiting for the sorting, and to smile and wave to her friends. They had both received numerous letters over the holidays. During the Quidditch Camp portion of her summer, those to Adam had detailed what she was learning and exciting tales from the game side of camp. She had felt Ginny would not be as interested in such matters and so she had sought other aspects to tell her about, without revealing the fact that she was being picked on. To put it down on paper would have been a confession of just how much it bothered her, as well as the fact that it kindled the mostly dormant but never quite dead fear that, if she pointed out to her friends the reasons they ought to dislike her, that they would take this advice and run. She had talked to Ginny about the landscape around the camp and the food, but after these few pleasant topics had dried up, her letters had become vague and a little insubstantial. Mentioning that there were very few girls was the closest she had come to discussing her isolation.

She listened to all the notices, merely taking them in for the time being. The majority of them were things whose effect on her was not going to be immediately obvious. She would have to contribute to a concert act, clearly. Whom she had to work with and what she had to do would, to a large extent, determine whether that was a pleasant activity. She had never been particularly taken with performing arts but she didn't object in principle. She would watch the changes in power with interest but, as she held no store in Divination, she would simply have to use patience to find out how that would turn out. For now, there was the feast – something much more real and in need of attention than any of those other issues. She helped herself to some pea and ham soup with a poppy seed roll to start her meal.

“It looks like our team has at least one new player,” she smiled to the person next to her. Besides focussing on the food, her mind was drawn to the other positive and concrete thing that the evening had brought with it.

13 Francesca Wolseithcrafte Sisterly affection and house pride 250 Francesca Wolseithcrafte 0 5

Carter Browning

October 11, 2013 7:07 PM

Same kid...new year by Carter Browning

Carter grinned to himself as he thought about his little sister's tearful goodbye as he got onto the wagon for school. Payton had begun talking over the summer and her favorite word so far was his name. She didn't say it like everyone else did...Payton had her own flair. She called him Cah-ter. It sounded a lot cuter when she said it. Other than his sister's new vocabulary words and her made dash across the house, his summer was pretty ordinary. Well for the most part anyways. While he had been grinning about his little sister the moment before he was now frowning slightly as he recalled the conversation that had taken place between himself, his father and his grandfather regarding his upcoming betrothal. Carter had been hoping he had another year or so before he had to worry about that. His grandfather had other plans and said as much when they visited during the summer. Carter had stared blankly at his father and grandfather as they discussed certain families they wished to be attached to. They even had photos of the potential candidates for him to look at. Carter found himself rolling his eyes, but looked them over anyway. He hadn't quite decided which one held his interest. Carter shook his head at the memory.

The other thing that had taken place over the summer was his cousin McKinley had been removed from school for whatever reason and had been taken back home. He hadn't even had the chance to say goodbye to her before they left for the summer. He had met Wendy at the fair and spent the day with her. He never even saw Kinley show up for the fair which upset him a bit. He hadn't seen her once over the summer which was highly irregular. He figured the parents had their reasons. He was snapped back into reality when the wagon came to a halt in front of the school. He got down off the wagon and headed over towards the other returning students. He searched the crowd for Wendy, but didn't quite spot her in the crowd. He caught sight of her inside of Cascade Hall at the Teppenpaw table talking to the Yale girl...Aria Yale if memory served him. Good for her he thought to himself as he grabbed a seat closeby. He didn't want to intrude upon their conversation. He leaned into the seat as he listened to the Headmistress' speech. He clapped politely for the new first years and the new head boy and girl (neither of which he really knew). He made an impressed face when she announced the new prefects and nodded slightly.

He was a little surprised to see that Aria had made prefect for their house, but was happy for her. She deserved it. He wasn't surprised to learn that the Abernathy girl made prefect for her house or that D'Alesandro had made it for his. Heaven was a bit of a surprise to him though, but she wasn't from his house so it didn' affect him much. He clapped politely for everyone and was slightly shocked to learn about all the staff changes taking place. He shook his head and waited semi patiently for the food to appear. He took in the aromas and sighed happily. "This is the part I love about coming back to school," he joked with his neighbor. "The prairie elves are awesome cooks! What do you think?" he asked politely, filling his plate with favorites.

0 Carter Browning Same kid...new year 236 Carter Browning 0 5

Liliana Bannister

October 11, 2013 10:35 PM

That's good, heart beats are important. by Liliana Bannister

When Waverly explained Pecari to her, Liliana found herself liking the house despite her wishes to remain a disagreeable little snot. It sounded like a pretty good house, full of people like her cousins and though she would never find someone to replace them whilst her, it would be nice to surround herself with people like them. And even though she didn’t really like brown, gold was a pretty color, so Liliana thought that she could probably deal with that. “That sounds nice,” she said appreciatively, glad she would be with people who wanted to adventure but slightly disturbed by the idea that she would also be surrounded with those who would want to talk… At least for now, she knew she’d probably want to talk later on but at the moment she was really focused on being as difficult as she could be.

“Connecticut’s okay I suppose,” Liliana tried hard to come up with something else nice to say about it but as she really had spent most of her last year sulking or with tutors she was hard pressed and came up with nothing. “I don’t really know much about it, I was inside with tutors a lot of the time but I went out a few times in the winter, it was nice and snowy, and in the spring and summer our garden looked kind of pretty.” That was in part due to her family coming out to Connecticut to surprise her for her birthday. Overnight they had planted lilacs- her favorite flower and namesake, everywhere. She couldn’t help the smile that fought its’ way onto her face as she found herself telling Waverly about it. Her family was one of the few things that always cheered her up when she was down. There were just so many, so rambunctious, so fun boys to play with and in the event she wanted to be proper there was always tea time with her grandmother. “It’s pretty different from London,” she acknowledged. “But the biggest difference I think is not being able to see my family whenever I want.”

Thorntons, Liliana racked her brain trying to figure out if she knew that family or not but her brain was still fuzzy from the sleeping potion she had taken on her wagon journey and so she just pushed that thought out of her mind to listen to Waverly who was, after all, a prefect. “That’s neat, where in England do they live?” Visiting family was something that Liliana could understand; family was an important value in her well…family. She had been taught from a young age that family were the only people you could truly count on in the end and that was why, though her family was well standing in the pureblood community in her area, they had never disinherited or disowned anyone as far back in her family history as Liliana had been taught.

Liliana smiled at Waverly’s praise of her home town. “Yes, London is quite pretty. I miss it all the time. My grandparents lived in the country though, and it’s even lovelier there!” Liliana was not really that much of a city girl, she had realized. She would want to eventually spend sometime in the city but in the end she wanted to marry someone who would allow her to choose where to live like her grandfather had and not like her father had. “Pheonix sounds interesting, what’s it like?” Any place that had Pheonix for a name was bound to have something to do there, Liliana was sure. After all, phoenixes were quite interesting creatures.

10 Liliana Bannister That's good, heart beats are important. 274 Liliana Bannister 0 5

Dimitri Porter

October 11, 2013 11:52 PM

Good food with a good friend (tag Ava) by Dimitri Porter

Dimitri had spent most of his vacation traveling with his parents to different events all over the place. He had entered an amatuer fencing match during one of the events for the youth fencers and had placed fourth out of thirty. Not bad for a thirteen year old. He had spent part of the major event they went to trying to write new music for his lyre. He had only gotten about half way through the song before he had given up. The insperation to write just hadn't been there for him at that time. He figured he'd pick up where he left off at later date. For the rest of the event he spent it camping with his family. They came back home a few days before he and his sister had to pack for school. He wrote Ava the whole time he had been away...even sent her a few of the pictures he found while he had been away at Pennsic. He hoped that she had enjoyed them since he hadn't received any letters while away from home. He found a pile of letters waiting for him just inside the doorway.

Dimitri tore through the letters he found and read through them all before going to bed. He had packed his trunk shortly after getting home making sure to pack everything on the list his mother wrote for him. He even included a few things that his mother hadn't put on her list. Luckily for him his mother had been the one to pack his potions bag for him since he had no idea what he might need and she did. He spent the night before leaving for school looking over the wedding invitation that had been sent to his parents from his cousin Clara's dad, his uncle Bryan. Apparently things between him and...Danielle was it...were going better than expected. He went to bed that night and had a problem sleeping. He wasn't sure why...he just was. He got up early the next day before the rest of his family and managed to eat a bowl of cereal before he got swarmed and they had to leave.

Dimitri found that he could barely sit still as the wagon made the short trip to school. He got out of the wagon ahead of his sister and waited outside with the other kids who were just arriving as well. He glanced around for Ava,but couldn't seem to catch sight of her in the crowd. He figured he would meet up with her inside during the feast. He shuffled inside with the rest of his classmates and found himself a seat at the Teppenpaw table and waited for the festivities to start before he located Ava. He half listened to the head boy and girl announcement clapping with the rest of his classmates. His eyes nearly bugged out of his head when he heard Clara's name called for prefect and clapped extra loud. He had also clapped for his cousin Ariel when she joined Crotalus house during the sorting. He found himself confused with the announcements about the staff changes. He wasn't sure if he should clap for the changes or be upset with them. He found himself clapping politely if for no other reason than it was polite. He mumbled his way through the song before spotting Ava across the table. He moved as soon as it was polite to do so and sat down next to her. "How was your summer?" he asked as the food began to appear. "Did you get the pictures I sent you?" He was curious to see if she had actually received them as he had hoped.

0 Dimitri Porter Good food with a good friend (tag Ava) 0 Dimitri Porter 0 5

Carrie O'Malley

October 11, 2013 11:56 PM

Think how I feel being around you. by Carrie O'Malley

This was it, this was the year that prefects for her class were being announced and Carrie was sure to win it for her house. She deserved it just for being her. She didn't need to do anything special to earn it. Lucrezia and Heaven could work their backsides off to try and achieve it but in the end it would be Carrie. Because being as perfect as she was, she was perfect for prefect too. And it would be something she had that Ryan, Sally, and Arabella didn't that she could rub in their faces for the rest of their lives. Proof of her superiority over them.

She sat impatiently through the Sorting, not even caring where Serena went. She was nothing but a weak, useless, girl who needed her big sister to protect her. Carrie enjoyed tormenting her immensely, though not as much she enjoyed torturing her step-siblings and of course, Ryan. Of course, she hadn't seen him since that wonderful day when she'd killed the last of his spirit. That last vindictive blow that destroyed him and apparently got him out of her life. Now if only she could do the same to the rest of them. She couldn't wait until Peyton was old enough to understand Carrie telling her what she deserved either. Besides, hurting Peyton would hurt Ryan, just as hurting Serena hurt Arabella.

Next was the announcement she'd been waiting for. She didn't care about the Head students-yet, she'd care about them when it was for her year and she got it, of course. The one good thing she could say about it was that Nora Dobson was a purebloood and she thought that there might have been a Macaulay family in Canada. Carrie wasn't so up on pureblood families in other countries, why should she be when she was here ? There wasn't a point of learning new families that came here from another country now. None of the younger students really mattered to her, she'd learn about families from other countries when they became relevant to her, like when she inevitably faced a parade of only the best suitors, and even then Carrie was sure that they'd have been pre-screened to include only the cream of society.

Now it was time, for prefects to be called and the fifth year prepared to get up from the table. However, when the Headmistress called out the names, hers wasn't among them! Heaven had been called instead. That was ridiculous, her roommate had none of her charisma and was far too quiet. The only thing Carrie took solace in was that at least it wasn't Lucrezia. And the rest were a pretty bad lot too, they'd picked a half-blood? for Teppenpaw when there were three purebloods options? Not that those three were great ones either but at least they were pure . And Lucian D'Alesandro had lost her respect when he'd started dating Clara Abernathy-who she was pretty sure only got prefect because there weren't any other Pecaris left in their year. Cheating on his betrothed, Heaven's sister who dressed like a freak, was one thing-something certainly she'd never have to worry about her betrothed doing to her-but with someone like Clara? Carrie hated to agree with Amity on anything, but the other fifth year belonged to about the trashiest family there was. How humiliating that must have been for Honey Baird, who had enough to be embarrassed about with her clothing? She couldn't understand that girl's lack of fashion sense of all. Dull as Honey's sister was, at least she dressed like a normal person.

Needless to say, Carrie was furious. If only the Headmaster-to-be had been in on the picks for prefect last year, she would have definitely had it. And she was certainly going to think of something horrible to do to Heaven later.

However, now she needed someone to take her anger out on and with Ryan graduated, she would turn to her housemates. Fortunately, a nearby first year gave her the perfect opportunity.

"Its official...I am a FREAK!"

Carrie watched, amused as the girl sat down next to her. The girl had red hair which was a bad sign given what most of the redheads at Sonora were. There was Arabella too, with red hair, that was different from them, but still completely ill-mannered and refusing to accept Carrie's superiority to her.

The fifth year wrinkled her nose, ignoring the first year's apology for her stomach growling. She hope the girl didn't accidentally brush against her, it would take several washings to disinfect that."Yes, if I am correct in guessing who you are, you are indeed a sorry freak just like the rest of your sisters and cousin." Odds were the girl was probably yet another Thornton and another of the more melodramatic ones at that. "And if I am wrong and you are from a proper family, you're making a fool of yourself and hardly being a credit to them."

11 Carrie O'Malley Think how I feel being around you. 230 Carrie O'Malley 0 5

Ariel Thornton

October 12, 2013 12:56 AM

Same way I feel around you right now by Ariel Thornton

Ariel felt the little hairs on the back of her neck raise up at the mention of her family. She was allowed to say mean things about them but not some strange person she just got stuck in the same house with. She glanced up slowly from her empty plate and gave the girl the most bored look she could muster at that moment. Whoever this girl was didn't deserve any type of reaction from the first year other than contempt. She let out a very slow breath before she addressed the rude stranger. "I don't know who you think you are, but nobody gets to insult my family except ME!" she commented plainly. She suddenly found herself laughing softly at this strange girl's comments. "That being said I can't you're wrong about us. My whole family is a bunch of freaks and weirdos. I wish I could have been normal like my father, but no such luck. Now I'm stuck in this freakshow of a place with a bunch of other freaks just like me now. Oh Joy! You'll forgive me if I don't get all excited about the matter. If its all the same to you, whoever you are...I would like to serve out my sentence in freaksville in peace if there is such a thing," she told the girl next to her as boredly as possible.

Ariel turned back towards the food near her and went about placing some of it onto her plate to quiet her complaining stomach. She did her best to keep her hands to herself despite the urge she had to the contrary. She picked up her fork and dug it into the mashed potatoes she had put on her plate. Before sticking the bite in her mouth she made one final comment/question. "Just out of curiousity...who are you anyway and why should I give a flying rat's behind what you think about my behavior? Are you some kind of ediquette nazi or something?" Ariel stuck the fork of food into her mouth and and chewed slowly as she waited for the girl's reply. Ariel wasn't sure why, but she had a feeling she was going to like the rude girl regardless of her attitude.

0 Ariel Thornton Same way I feel around you right now 0 Ariel Thornton 0 5

Atlas Primred

October 12, 2013 1:10 AM

Thoughts in my head by Atlas Primred

When Atlas heard the name “Cascade Hall”, he assumed it was just a flashy name for the dining hall; however after he entered the room he couldn’t hide the awe in his face. “Amazing its like the entire room is made of water!” he thought to himself as he looked around the massive hall. However the blissful feeling only lasted for a minute, as the flowing water reminded him of his swim team buddies, the smell of the ocean, his parents and most importantly his little sister Katie. Before he departed, Atlas’ parents asked that he try to make friends and not get into too much trouble, referring back to his past years of school when he used to constantly get into fights. In addition, just before leaving, both he and Katie made a pinky promise to both make friends at their new school, albeit she was entering kindergarten, he would still do his best for her. Despite his pledge, Atlas hadn’t said much of anything to the other students. Atlas had never been a very talkative boy.

Moving forward with the rest of the group to the front, Atlas moved into line for the sorting process, trying to keep to himself, while still trying to get a glimpse of the first person to drink from the goblet. This after all, would be the first time he ever saw someone drink a potion, and he didn’t want to miss it. When it was finally his turn, he took the goblet with both his hands; carefully he took a sip of the potion. Pulling the goblet away from his face, he looked down at his hands; in an instant they turned a dark shade of brown. He felt somewhat relieved that he didn’t turn an unnatural color. He already hated everyone’s eyes on him, and turning a funny color would only have made him feel more embarrassed.

Taking his place at the Pecari table, he finally had the time to truly take in his surroundings. He looked around, although some people looked happy to be there, a lot of people seemed to look rather serious. “I wonder what’s with them?” he thought to himself for only an instant before counteracting the thought. “Its none of my business, they are only classmates anyways,” he reminded himself. For Atlas, as long as his classmates at Sonora didn’t mistake him for a girl like his previous classmates did, then he couldn’t care less what they felt. In truth he did somewhat look like a girl character from one of the Japanese comics he used to read. Atlas’ had neglected getting a haircut over summer, resulting in his auburn hair almost covering his almond eyes and stretching a little past the nape of his neck; his feminine facial structure didn’t help his case either.

Noticing he was spacing out again, he quickly drew himself back to reality as sheets of music suddenly appeared. He sang along quite well to the song, mostly out of habit due to all the karaoke concerts his sister forced on him. He made a small gasp as the food appeared in front of him. He began readily to fill up his plate; he had a fairly fast metabolism due to all his sports and a huge appetite to boot.

He was about to take a big bite of yams when an older girl asked for him to pass the grilled tomatoes. He looked up from his food, staring at her for only a moment wondering if she had been talking to him. Atlas grabbed the plate and reached over to give it to her, when he stopped mid motion after noticing a cat with her. He stared at the gray cat for a while longer, before realizing he hadn’t yet passed her the plate. “Here,” Atlas finally said in a monotone voice.

0 Atlas Primred Thoughts in my head 276 Atlas Primred 0 5

Leonidas Bennett

October 12, 2013 11:57 AM

Well, it would be better to be sad than blue with cold by Leonidas Bennett

Leo shrugged over positions. “Chaser or Keeper, I’d think,” he said. Keeper seemed a little more to his taste, but he was not convinced that a first year was really going to be anyone’s choice for that, if there were even openings on the team this year. He was still kind of…short for it. Playing with other first years, he thought he would acquit himself well enough, but some of the sixth and all of the seventh years were adults, and he was, as little as he liked to admit it, very aware that he wasn’t in the same league as them. That was part of why he wasn’t too worried about picking a spot: he would be very surprised if he and Theodore didn’t both end up as reserves at best.

“And you?” he asked in return, since he was pretty sure someone who liked the game enough to attend camps for it every summer was going to have a stronger preference about that sort of thing than he did.

He blinked, surprised, when Theodore said that his sister had helped with last year’s Aladren victory. However, that wasn’t one of the issues his family really cared that much about – all his family cared about, actually, was money, a stance Leo approved of very much, since it made so much more sense than caring about girls or Muggleborns or whatever because of themselves instead of just admitting that it was all about keeping the money to themselves – and Leo didn’t actually know why it was that girls weren’t supposed to play Quidditch except maybe that it was too violent, and if Theodore’s family didn’t if his sister got her head knocked in, Leo didn’t, either.

“I suppose my brother helped Crotalus lose,” he said. “Technically. His roommate’s the captain there, so Paul hangs around as a reserve.” Leo didn't really know what it was all about - he was not close at all to his two oldest siblings, just someone who watched them from afar, and who they seemed to find vaguely amusing - but Paul seemed to like his roommate better than he did most people, or at least find him entertaining, even though Leo had gathered that Mr. Macaulay was not pureblood. It had just been one more thing which gave him the idea that school was a complicated place and that he was glad, now that he knew, not to be a Crotalus.

0 Leonidas Bennett Well, it would be better to be sad than blue with cold 269 Leonidas Bennett 0 5

Charlie B-F-R

October 12, 2013 12:20 PM

Same kid, more fabulousness by Charlie B-F-R

Charlie was very excited to be returning to school. He was sure he would have some home-sickness to get over as he always did. It had lessened over the years – become something he had learnt to deal with – but home was always going to be home, his parents were always going to be his parents, and however much he loved Sonora, it could never eclipse that. But he was a third year now and that had to bring exciting things with it. There were intermediate classes, of course, where it might be nice to see some of the people who had moved up last year, but mostly he was excited about fashion and boys. He was now a teenager which brought with it so many more opportunities with both. He'd always loved fashion but there was a limited amount that you could pull off as a child. A lot of high fashion just looked ridiculous on him. Although not much had changed yet – he had yet to shoot up in height, and he wasn't ever sure his face would stop being round and boyish and gain fabulous cheekbones – his teenage years held promise and possibility. Under his school uniforms he was wearing charcoal skinny jeans (yes, it was a feast and those were not necessarily the most easy things to eat in but one had to make sacrifices) and a red check shirt (he felt he ought be a little smart for the feast, even if it was more smart-casual and even if no one could really see it). As for boys, that was something else that hadn't yet changed but which he imminently expected to. Charlie didn't have a crush on anyone but he was sure all of that was bound to kick in now that he was teenager. He doubted that he would be very lucky in love, owing to the high proportion of Purebloods and the fact that even the normal boys were... well, normal. And would therefore want girls. So, there would be secret liaisons with some rich boy attempting to repress his sexuality at best, or just lots of window shopping and unrequited loving. Either way, it was going to be gloriously tragic and suitably dramatic, and would afford many of evenings of sobbing onto Julian's shoulder.

He entered the hall, turning his head up to admire the chandeliers – much as he loved home, Sonora did win some serious fabulousity points – and taking a seat at the Teppenpaw table. He found himself sitting next to Carter. Carter was a sweet guy – he had worked amiably with Charlie and helped him collect the wonderful augurey feathers which he had made into accessories. It was a shame he was kind of freckly (and not in the cute way that some people were, just in the oh god they're everywhere way) otherwise, between his niceness and his unattaintability, he could have been seriously doomed-crush worthy. Perhaps Charlie would break his heart over the Princeton boys instead. They were kind of cute but equally impossible. Rupert Princeton even seemed to be a nice person, in that he hung out with everyone, regardless of blood status. Either his parents weren't full on crazy or he was a serious rebel (and everyone loved a rebel). Yes, Rupert definitely had good tragic crush potential, and Charlie decided that he would do his best to cultivate one of those during the year.

“They're amazing,” Charlie acknowledged, when Carter mentioned the food, and its cooks. “A little too good for the good my waistline,” he added with a grin, although really waistlines weren't a joking matter and he had to be careful what he ate at school, as there was always such delicious but calorific food on offer. He helped himself to a gammon steak with a ring of pineapple and a large portion of salad.. “It's fine really, so long as you avoid carbs,” he explained to Carter, “Carbs are the enemy.

“How was your summer? And what do you think about this year?” he added, nodding vaguely at the staff table to indicate everything that had been included in the announcements. They had been pretty interesting – he was sad to see Headmistress K-J leave but ecstatic about the idea of a concert.

13 Charlie B-F-R Same kid, more fabulousness 252 Charlie B-F-R 0 5

Jade

October 12, 2013 3:34 PM

Keep them there. by Jade

Jade sighed and resisted the urge to roll her eyes as the minuscule creature that had unfortunately decided to take the intentionally empty seat next to her during the Sorting stared up at her gormlessly. Jade gazed back pointedly, her blue eyes bright beneath her uncontrollable eyebrows conveying a hint of impatience. Luckily, the sensation was short-lived, and he had the good sense to do as she'd requested before her hunger got the better of her good temper. "Thanks," Jade grunted in reply, taking the dish and forgiving the delay on the off-chance it was because the newbie was admiring Bella; she was a handsome cat and the sixth year was happy for anyone to take time to adore her.

As a rule, Jade didn't tend to talk to first years. She had mild interest in them if they intended to play Quidditch, or shared her love of horses or cats, but otherwise the group as a whole presented her with a headache; whinging witches and wizards in training of diminutive stature were really not her concern. She wouldn't have given this particular brown-tinted baby any further notice if it weren't for the fact that he'd noticed her feline. "Her name is Bella," Jade said, lovingly fussing her cat behind its ears. Then, because she had already made contact and might as well be charitable, she added, "Congrats on making it into Pecari." She wasn't going to offer any welcome, nor volunteer herself as a provider of information or mentor of any sort; Jade already had plenty to consider this year without sacrificing her Me Time to ungrateful children.

Having dished herself the tomatoes, Jade rolled back a particularly scruffy sleeve (these uniform robes had belonged to at least two other people before her), and tucked into her meal. She savoured the taste and texture of her food as it passed her lips, as looked a little further down the table to notice that Waverly, too, seemed to have attracted the attention of a first year. Jade regretted not sitting by her friend and roomie in the first instance, as it probably would have saved them both the trouble of interacting with first years. She resented the interaction almost purely because she was in sixth year, now, and surely it was the duty of the second and third years to look after the newcomers? Then again, Waverly was a prefect, and sociable, too, so she probably didn't mind having to show her kid the ropes. Jade spared the auburn-haired kid a sideways glance, and wondered whether his conversation would be bearable, if he decided to offer any at all. She supposed she could always just sit somewhere else if he proved too annoying.

0 Jade Keep them there. 0 Jade 0 5

Linus

October 12, 2013 4:01 PM

Opinion is the medium between knowledge and ignorance. by Linus

It was a relief to Linus that Brianna had understood he didn't mean to cause any offence by his comment, and her elaboration on his numerous tasks this year was, in a way, satisfying, as it confirmed in Linus' mind that she did at least realise he had other duties to consider this year, those which make take precedence over his duties as her boyfriend. Admittedly, her wild supposition that he might struggle to find time to breathe did nothing to help him relax, but he didn't think she meant any harm by the comment, so he let it pass, focusing instead on chewing his food sufficiently so he didn't have indigestion to add to his list of concerns.

Linus was unsettled to hear that Brianna's summer had not improved. Logically, he supposed that he shouldn't have expected it, as she rarely enjoyed her time away from school (the probably joy at seeing her family aside). However, with the anxiety he had himself endured, the comparative calm that followed was palpable; it apparently had not been so distinctive for Brianna. Nevertheless, she didn't sound wholly disheartened, buoyed by her accomplishments in solitude. Linus had begun to work on some college applications himself, but had nothing in its final stage, yet, and intended to attribute them plenty more time before making any submissions. Leaving that conversation for another time, then, he responded instead to Brianna's following query.

"Yes, I think overall it was enjoyable," he said, with a smile that hinted at the usual undercurrents of familial unrest that he was sure was present in just about every family unit that had ever existed. He hadn't told Brianna - or anyone - about Daphne yet, and he paused for a moment while he considered whether or not to say anything just yet. "My sister," he began, and then paused a little longer, searching for the right words as he decided on a compromise of sorts, "seems to have experienced a little accidental magic." He raised his eyes to witness Brianna's reaction - he did not know how common it was for Muggleborn families to have more than one magical member - before he continued. "I don't know whether she's magical enough to come to Sonora," he added; again, he wasn't sure exactly what the criteria were for selecting students from non-magical families, "but it's been... interesting."

0 Linus Opinion is the medium between knowledge and ignorance. 0 Linus 0 5

Lucian D'Alesandro

October 12, 2013 6:24 PM

Do you have an extra new life I can borrow? by Lucian D'Alesandro

Lucian spent the end of his fourth year with Clara at the fair, and had a great time. Throughout the summer, his mind often wandered back to their last date when they went fishing. Especially when he was trying to forget about the latest drama that had surfaced within in his family. His mother had been acting more peculiar than usual, and spent a lot of time alone in her room. On a rainy day at the beginning of summer, Lucian had been reading quietly in his room when his sister abruptly burst through the door. Alex proceeded to tell him that she walked into their mother’s room to ask her a question about visiting Honey, and found their mother drinking some sort of potion.

After that day, Lucian began spying on his mother, and saw her drinking potions on a few more occasions. He didn’t tell anyone else about it until his mother failed to perform an important task: arranging Alex’s betrothal. When the middle of the summer was approaching, and no betrothal announcement was made, Alex knocked on their mother’s door and asked her directly about the betrothal. After the discussion was over, she made her way into Lucian’s room once more and began throwing things and crying. Apparently, their mother had neglected to even try to find a proper suitor for Alex. After calming her down a bit, Lucian quickly wrote out a letter for his father addressing his concerns about the potions and asked him to travel to Boston immediately.

When his father returned to their home in Boston, he proceeded to walk up the stairs and enter his former bedroom and quietly shut the door behind him. Lucian sat outside of the door and listened to the hushed voices inside that at times rose to yelling. When his father finally came out, he motioned for Lucian to follow him downstairs, and called for Alex to join them. They all sat at the elegant table in their living room as his father talked to them about what would happen the rest of the summer. “Your mother is very depressed. She has been abusing potions so she doesn’t have to face what is going on in her life. I am going to stay here for a while and try to take care of the business matters that have been neglected. Alex, I am sorry, but your betrothal is going to be postponed for now until I am able to find someone suitable. I am going to contact the Bairds, and if it is fine with them, I am going to send you two to stay at their home for the remainder of the summer.”

That was the end of that. Before he knew it, Lucian was all packed up and heading to the Baird’s home with his sister. He assumed Alex was okay with the whole thing, despite not being betrothed to some rich pureblood boy, but he was nervous about spending the rest of his summer with Heaven. He wasn’t exactly sure if they were friends or enemies. She had always acted as though she hated him in the past, but the time they sat together at a Quidditch game confused him. It was as though she was actually trying to be nice to him. He just didn’t understand why.

Lucian wrote letters to Clara every week and told her about his summer. He did not mention that his mother went crazy and was abusing potions, but instead told her that his parents made him stay with the Bairds to become better acquainted with Honey. He wasn’t trying to lie to Clara about anything, but he was told to keep his family’s problems a secret, and he hadn’t exactly wrapped his head around the whole situation himself. Honey spent most of her time with Alex, which left Lucian and Heaven alone together. They got to know each other better and actually got along for the most part. He felt comfortable calling her a friend. Although, their friendship seemed to be a bit strained when Henri had showed up for a dinner party at the end of summer, and of course tried to show off in front of Heaven. Lucian had to clench his teeth every time Henri was around in fear of saying something inappropriate. He really did not like Henri at all. Lucian accidently snapped at Heaven because of his anger, and avoided her out of embarrassment until they were headed back to school in a wagon together.

After the awkward wagon ride ended, Lucian found himself sitting at the Aladren table once more. He looked around a bit and spotted Clara. He waved at her and then returned his focus to the speech. He wondered why the school was going through so many staffing changes, but shrugged it off and zoned out while the first years were being sorted. Hearing his name being called brought him back to reality, and he realized that he was being called to get his Prefect badge. Lucian tried to hide his look of surprise as he made his way to the front and stood alongside Clara, Heaven, and Aria. Well this is mildly awkward.. he thought to himself as he smiled at Clara and then turned to smile and nod at Heaven as well.

He returned to the Aladren table where Clara was sitting next to an open seat and motioning for him to join her. He smiled as he sat down and reached for a plate. “I am glad to see you too,” he said with a sigh of relief, “Summer was absolutely ridiculous, and I would love to forget it ever happened. I never expected to be a Prefect when I came back though. What was so nuts about your summer?”

OOC: Anything mentioned about Heaven and Honey was approved by their author.

0 Lucian D'Alesandro Do you have an extra new life I can borrow? 223 Lucian D'Alesandro 0 5

Alexandra D'Alesandro

October 12, 2013 7:35 PM

I haven't decided if being back is a good or bad thing. by Alexandra D'Alesandro

Alex returned to Sonora completely frustrated with her summer. She was always glad to spend time with Honey, but her future betrothal was still a complete mystery. She had hoped to return to school with the ability to brag about her future husband and how wealthy she would be. Unfortunately, her mother was too self involved to take the time out of her potion-abusing schedule to find a suitable boy from a Pureblood family and promise her daughter to him. How selfish could her mother possibly be? Didn’t she know how important this was for Alex’s status in society? Didn’t she realize that the future of their family rested in Alex’s hands? Honestly, she should know by now that Lucian was not capable of doing anything right. He was, after all, still dating that annoying Abernathy girl who was completely clueless about everything…even the fact that her boyfriend likes someone else.

Alex would have to admit, that fact caused her great pleasure. Honey had known for a while about what was going on between Heaven and Lucian. Well, at least she knew for sure that Heaven liked Lucian, but she speculated that he returned the feelings by the way he acted when she brought up Heaven during the holidays last year. Alex thought Honey was crazy at first. Why in the world would Heaven like Lucian? Heaven was betrothed to Henri, who was quite a catch. Nonetheless, Alex started to notice the way they acted around each other.

She decided that she would put her frustrations about summer and hatred of the Abernathy girl to good use. Her new mission was to get Heaven and Lucian together, which unfortunately would probably take a lot of work. Even though he had excellent grades, her brother was an idiot, and would never notice what was going on right in front of his face. He definitely didn’t deserve Heaven, but she liked him for whatever reason, and Alex would much rather be related to Heaven than Clara. Though, she doubted her family would let it go that far, and she assumed her brother didn’t have the spine to elope.

Alex entered Cascade Hall and took a seat at the Crotalus table. She paid little attention to the first years, aside from noticing one with bright red hair who had been sorted into her house. Most likely another one of those absurdly annoying Thorntons…don’t they ever stop breeding? Alex thought to herself as she wrinkled her nose up a bit. She rested her head on her right hand as she placed her bent elbow on the table. The boy across from her dropped his fork and caused a slight disturbance. Alex looked him over casually. She knew little of Henry Carey, other than her observations and the fact that he was in the same year as her. Sure she knew that he came from a respectable enough family, and that there were a lot of his family members that attended Sonora, but he seemed so quiet that she never really got to form an opinion of him. He also appeared to be a bit skittish, as he rarely looked up at anyone sitting at the table.

After she pretended to sing the school song, Alex returned her interest to Henry, and watched him from across the table as he began to put food on his plate. She decided to start a conversation after he glanced up and made brief eye contact with her. “How was your summer?” she began, with a smile, “I don’t think we ever really spoke to one another. I am Alex, but you probably know that since we are in the same classes.” She paused for a moment, deciding how to approach the conversation further. “I am going to be honest. I don’t really have that many people here to talk to, so I was hoping maybe we could get to know each other.” Alex wasn’t sure how Henry would respond to her direct approach, but she held up a plate of croissants in the meantime and offered one to him. “Would you like a croissant?”

OOC: Anything mentioned about Heaven or Honey was approved by their author.

0 Alexandra D'Alesandro I haven't decided if being back is a good or bad thing. 240 Alexandra D'Alesandro 0 5

Atlas Primred

October 12, 2013 9:41 PM

I usually do. by Atlas Primred

Despite his awkward interaction with the blue-eyed girl, Atlas continued to look at the cat. It was quite pretty, and was very well taken care of. The girl interjected saying the name of the cat was Bella. “Clematis 'Bella'” he thought to himself as he watched the girl continue to adore the cat. He remember drawing one earlier that summer, it was a very beautiful flower, and a very fitting name for this particular cat. At that, the corner of Atlas’ mouth moved slightly up, almost into a possible smile, which quickly fell once the blue-eyed girl congratulated him for getting into Pecari.

“…. Thank you,” he replied without much emotion. He didn’t want to think about houses, about the school, about any of it, it only made him sad, thinking about the family he had abandoned.

He took several bites of his meal and let the conversation die down. Once again however the cat caught his eyes. Back in Santa Cruz, Atlas spent a lot of his free time at the animal shelter. The cats there weren’t at all the most friendly but for good reason, they hadn’t had the best lives either. However, the cat that rested before him seemed considerably different, it was loved, and cared for, and seemed very content sitting next to her owner. Moving his glance up from the cat for just a moment, he saw Bella’s owner looking up the table toward another older girl (however considerably more noisy) and a girl that looked about his age. Atlas took this as time to mull over his words before he finally stated, “Bella is very lucky to have you for an owner, you take care of her extremely well.”

0 Atlas Primred I usually do. 276 Atlas Primred 0 5

Henry

October 12, 2013 10:28 PM

It could be either, neither, or both by Henry

They had made eye contact, which was often a prompt to begin speaking even for him instead of just an accident, but it still took Henry a second to realize that D’Alesandro was speaking to him. Arbon and Raines spoke to him sometimes, but not (thankfully) Andrews or D’Alesandro. Which was, now that he thought of it, strange – he and Andrews had hit it off badly on their first night at school, but as far as he knew, D’Alesandro had no quarrel with him, and he had no quarrel with her, so they should have had a bit more contact than this, at least judging by the standard of Arbon and Raines, neither of whom, he was pretty sure, actually liked him particularly. She should have at least had reasonable confidence that he would know her name, anyway.

“I know your name,” he said. “Mine’s Henry. Our brothers are roommates. My summer was fine, thank you. How was yours?”

He recited the last part about his summer more than said it. It was, he thought, a lucky chance that the most superficial of by-the-numbers social conversations could fulfill almost all of his needs for human interaction, because once one learned the basic format, it usually just went along from there. Not always – there had been last year with Bellrose; he had actually thought it was going well at the time, to be not by-the-numbers, but had concluded since that he had offended her somehow – but often enough, it worked out that way.

Tonight, though, was going to be another one when it didn’t go that way. Henry considered how to answer what she’d said about wanting to get to know him – and, more to the point, apparently, to talk to him – as he accepted a croissant. There was not much to really know, he thought - he was the thick boring one in the family - and he didn't really get how you could get to know someone on purpose. Everyone he knew, he had been thrown into company with until they learned each other's habits, and he still didn't generally know all that they thought or why they thought it. It hadn't been intentional.

“Thank you,” he said, looking at the warm piece of bread between his fingers. It was slightly oily-feeling, so he put it on his plate. "What do you want to know?"

0 Henry It could be either, neither, or both 0 Henry 0 5

Ava Fletcher

October 12, 2013 11:02 PM

Thank goodness I've someone to sit with! by Ava Fletcher

The night before Ava was to leave for Sonora, she had been quite restless. She had been writing back and forth with Dimitri all summer and had enjoyed the pictures he had sent her of his vacation. They reminded her of when her mother used to send her homemade postcards while on her Healing trips. However, it was not her status with this Dimitri so muh as her grandfather's friend's grandson, Demetre that was worrying her. Over the summer her rivalry with Demetre had slowly turned into a confusing friendship and he hasn't known how to handle it. She misses the boy who she considered to be her best friend and couldn't wait to return to school to be with him and ask his advice about Demetre. She hasn't written about that weird friendship to Dimitri because she hasn't really known how to explain it.

When she finally got off the wagon at Sonora she looked around for Dimiti but hadn't been able to find him. So she wandered into Cascade Hall and found him seated at the Teppenpaw table. She started to go over to him, remembering how he had come to sit with her at the Aladren table at the Returning Feast last year but as she was walking over, the Headmistress began to talk. She took a seat at the Aladren table instead, planning to move to the Tepenpaw table with Dimitri as soon as possible. However just as she was about to move, she heard Dimitri's voice in her ear. "Hi!" She smiled at him. "I missed you so much!" She reached out to give him a hug like she'd seen the girls in school do at the end of summer vacation when they were heading back to school. She had never had anyone to hug before and now she had Dimitri. "My summer was...interesting to say the least..." She trailed off and frowned. "I didn't go anywhere but... I'll tell you about it later, how was your summer? I loved the pictures you sent me!"

10 Ava Fletcher Thank goodness I've someone to sit with! 258 Ava Fletcher 0 5

Chloe Jareau

October 12, 2013 11:16 PM

I still wish I was home. by Chloe Jareau

Chloe’s summer had been the worst. The absolute worst. Angel was sick. Like, really really sick, and Chloe didn’t know how to handle it. Chloe had never really been around those who were dying, it wasn’t an experience she had ever thought she would have to have at this point in her life. They were supposed to be happy and run around and play games together. That was what siblings and families did. That’s how it was in the stories!

As carefree as Chloe often was, her life had never been perfect. It took her eight years before she finally had a mother. With her mother, she gained a brother too. Sure, Kiva and Emery had been in her life for as long as she could remember, but at eight, it was made official. When she had been younger than eight, Chloe had asked after her biological mother. Her father had been really uncomfortable about saying anything to her regarding it. Chloe had always felt left out from other families in her neighborhood. They all seemed to have a mother and a father. She loved her dad, he was the best dad in the whole world, but she felt like she was missing something important by not having a mother.

Eventually, he had told her that her mother had been unwell and couldn’t take care of her properly. She had gone away to get better. At six, that had been an acceptable answer. At twelve, it just left Chloe feeling a little empty. Her mother had left her, her brother was dying, and now Ayita wasn’t in school anymore. Chloe was terrified that when she went back home for midterm, Angel and Ayita will both be gone like her biological mother was. Chloe didn’t think she could handle it.

Her mom and dad had tried to make things a little easier on the rest of them. They were honest about how sick Angel was and Ayita made no mention of leaving them, but Chloe just felt helpless and lost about it all. She didn’t want Angel to be sick anymore and she didn’t want Ayita to have graduated either. On top of that, because of Angel, her mom was leaving the school too. Unsure of how to handle all of this, the usual bubbly girl sat numbly at the Pecari table, staring at the food but not participating in it.

It had been a long summer. Chloe was hoping the school year will keep her mind off of things for a while. There would still be letters home to her dad and to Ayita asking about Angel, lots of letters, but she would do her best to keep her attention on the lessons and with making friends. That’s what everyone wanted and Emery told her to stay positive.

When someone bumped her, Chloe turned and gave a beaming smile. She had to stay positive, even when she wasn’t feeling it. “Sorry, did you need something? How was your summer?” She asked without waiting for a response to her first question.

6 Chloe Jareau I still wish I was home. 267 Chloe Jareau 0 5

Gemma Bennett

October 12, 2013 11:33 PM

The welcoming committee has arrived by Gemma Bennett

As the first years came in, Gemma sat up very straight on her seat at the Teppenpaw table, craning her neck to see the students coming in, her expression uncharacteristically focused and serious. She still didn’t think she would come anywhere close to matching her roommates for seriousness – she knew she wasn’t very smart, but around them, she felt like an absolute airheaded idiot, sometimes – but for her, she was practically downright grave. Her stomach was fluttering and her hands were clenched in her lap and she knew she was being ridiculous, but she couldn’t help it. It was the first time she had ever gotten to see one of her siblings Sorted, and she was sure she was more excited and jittery about it than even Leo, the object of her attention, was.

Her brother, to her dismay, wasn’t at the top of the line, but the line wasn’t very long, and very quickly, he was turning blue and going to another table. Gemma sat back in her seat, a little disappointed. Really, she guessed she had known he wasn’t cut out for Teppenpaw, but – well, Paul and Eliza had been together, and they were the ones Father had taken up the most time with, so Leo should have been with her, Mother’s kids. Except he wasn’t, he was breaking pattern entirely and going to Aladren, of all places, it was nothing but Careys over there.

Maybe Richard would be a Teppenpaw. She would just have to wait and see, she guessed.

Her mind was taken off feeling neglected by her siblings, though, by all the announcements. By the end, Gemma couldn’t even remember everything which had been said, but she knew two things for sure: things were going to be difficult this year, and things were changing at the same time, it was one or two people away from being like the whole school she had known last year wasn’t there anymore, except for the other students anyway, and she hadn’t even actually looked to see if Willow and Julian and Charlie were still here, so she didn’t know for sure that that hadn’t changed, too. She honestly didn’t know how to feel about all that, or what to think about it. She knew that there was no way in which it really mattered what she thought or felt, she was, well, just a third-year girl, but she felt as if she should at least know it.

As the food appeared, she took a few things, then started a little in her seat when the girl beside her – one of the first years, she realized, with another, smaller jolt of surprise – asked for chives. “Of course,” she said, offering the desired bowl. “You’re new here, right? I’m Gemma – Gemma Bennett, third year. Welcome to Teppenpaw!” she introduced herself, with something of her usual enthusiasm. “I’m sure you’ll like it here,” she added reassuringly, since she was sure starting at school had to be at least a little scary, even if the other girl knew this was the nice House - a fact for which Gemma had been grateful in her first year and ever since. Maybe some of her Housemates could have been all right anywhere, but Gemma was sure that, in the politics of Aladren or Crotalus, she wouldn't have lasted a day.

0 Gemma Bennett The welcoming committee has arrived 251 Gemma Bennett 0 5

Clara

October 13, 2013 12:45 AM

I wish...I'm still trying to make sense of this one by Clara

Clara smiled back at Lucian when he joined her at the table, but she couldn't quite get the image out of her head of his smile towards Heaven when they received their badges. Was he suddenly friendly with her since he had to spend his summer with her and Honey? Clara shook her head slightly banishing the thought. She was a little surprised that they had become friendly since he was sure that she hated him. She shrugged to herself. "I'm sorry that your summer was ridiculous," she apologized to him. "I read the letters you sent me about being sent to Honey's over the summer. That must have been...interesting...to say the least," she raised her eyebrow playfully at him. She had a stray thought that had wandered in there as well, but she kept it to herself. Instead she began answering his question about how her summer had been nuts.

"Well lets see...My nanny Lucy went back to spain over the summer to take care of her mother so I spent the time virtually alone. Well mostly anyway," she laughed slightly. "My dad spent most of the summer making googoo eyes at his new girlfriend. It was like I didn't even exist or something," she pouted slightly while se complained. She grabbed an empty plate as well and placed on it a huge piece of chocolate pie. She knew that she hadn't really eaten any dinner, but given the issues she had been having over the summer she figured a piece of pie wouldn't kill her. She took a big bite of it before continuing. "If that wasn't creepy enough...my dad and his girlfriend were discussing wedding dates and details when I was packing for school. I think hes actually going to marry this woman. What do I do if he does? I like her well enough I guess, but I haven't had a mother since I was really little. What am I supposed to do with one now?" she inquired curiously. She really had no idea what to do if her dad and Danielle actually got married. She shuddered to think about it and quickly changed the subject.

"So what did you think of the dress I wore for our fishing trip?" she asked grinning. "Was it girlie enough or should I plan to wear something flashier next time?" she teased lightly. She wasn't sure if she actually had anything flashier, but she would come up withsomething. She took another bite from her pie and enjoyed it immensely. "So tell me all about your summer...how was it ridiculous?" she asked curiously. "You don't have to tell me everything if you don't want to. I just thought maybe you'd like the chance to rant a bit since I seem to have." She grinned sheepishly at him. "Sorry about that by the way...I didn't think I was all that bothered by it, but apparently I was." She frowned slightly at the realization. "Ugh...here I am supposed to be trying to cheer you up and instead I'm probably bumming you out. Worst girlfriend ever," she chastised herself. She offered him an apologetic smile.

0 Clara I wish...I'm still trying to make sense of this one 232 Clara 0 5

Carter Browning

October 13, 2013 1:58 AM

Doesn't fabulousness evolve over time? by Carter Browning

Carter got a better look at his neighbor and was pleasantly surprised to see that it was Charlie. He was actually glad that it was Charlie and not some strange person he wasn't quite familiar with. Carter didn't mind talking to new people, but in this instance he really just wanted familiarity. Charlie was a nice guy and Carter liked to think that they were on friendly terms. It never bothered Carter that Charlie seemed to be a bit flashier than the other boys here at Sonora. All that meant to Carter was that Charlie had more personality than most. There was nothing wrong with that as far as Carter was concerned. He greeted the younger boy pleasantly.

"Hey Charlie..." he greeted cheerfully. "I wasn't expecting to see you sitting there beside me, but I'm glad it is you." He gave the other boy a friendly smile as he filled his plate with his favorites. "Your pool party last year was brilliant! Its too bad we couldn't have another go at it for this term," he commented frowning playfully. "Ahh well...maybe after the midterm then." He shrugged lightly. He was just about to take a bite of some of the potatoes when he heard Charlie say something about carbs being the enemy. Carter raised a brow at the statement and shrugged. "Personally I don't see what could possibly be wrong with your waistline," he commented encouragingly. "Besides a little bit of carbs can be good for you," he tried to argue, giving Charlie a pleasant grin. "In any case I've always believed in living a little dangerously." He stuck the fork of carb filled potatoes in his mouth and chewed slowly and sighed blissfully. For something that was supposed to be his enemy it sure did taste awful good.

Carter thought a bit about Charlie's question regarding his summer and grinned. "It was pretty basic really. My baby sister turned the house in an uproar when she ran across it from room to room covering everything with bathroom tissue. She thought it was hysterical...my parents on the other hand..." he let the sentence fade away from there. He was pretty sure Charlie would get the idea. "The only part of it I found taxing at all was the discussion I was forced to endure regarding my upcoming betrothal. My grandfather is negotiating with a family from Ireland where my mom is from. I don't know how well thats going at the time being since they were still in the process of discussing it when I had to leave for school. I'm hoping that they'll let me know the outcome by midterm," he commented trying to sound hopeful. He took another bite off of his plate of enemy filled goodness. He gave Charlie's other question some thought as he chewed.

"Honestly...I'm not really sure what to think about it," he confessed. "I suppose if it works out it can't be that bad right?" he inquired lightly. " What do you think about it? Are you going to miss Professor K and the others when they leave?" he asked Charlie before taking another bite off of his plate.

0 Carter Browning Doesn't fabulousness evolve over time? 236 Carter Browning 0 5

Alexandra Devereux

October 13, 2013 3:31 AM

Well, this should all be fun.... by Alexandra Devereux

As the food appeared on the table and the school settled in to talk about summer holidays and the announcements of the evening, Alex Devereux sat back in her seat slowly, processing all that had happened, filtering it through the set of expectations she had already had for her sixth year, and coming in the end to a feeling of deep gratitude toward the staff. She didn't know if they had done it on purpose or not, but she thought that, by putting the prefects in charge of all the Concert acts, they might have just saved the possibility pf some semblance of the social order among their newest set of Advanced students surviving the end of the year. There was going to be a lot of resentment, she was sure, but all those who were aiming for Head Boy and especially Head Girl would not be able to set up rival camps and declare war on each other, as the only contenders who would head groups would be Henny and Waverly, neither of whom seemed as likely to turn the whole year into an ego contest as, say, Thad and Alicia, or Cepheus, might have done. This way, maybe, they could keep from descending into complete chaos.

This year was still going to be hellish, though, as there were too damn many overachievers and just plain strong personalities with too many actual and possible romantic and sexually pragmatic ties between them in too small a space. Alex had spent her whole summer planning - in light of Gareth's departure and Lucille's betrothal and Theresa confirming both that she was having an affair with Cepheus and that she was trying to befriend his friends - to just lie as low as possible and watch things fall how they fell, but now that wasn't an option, especially since Headmaster Brockert's introduction meant the situation might have just completely shifted. She had anticipated Waverly-Alicia and Cepheus-Thaddeus showdowns which would end with a Thad-Henny administration next year and the total destruction of Alicia's clique and influence, but now, she was involved, and for all she knew, nepotism could have just yanked Evan and Arabella, who she'd expected to see watching the drama from the sidelines just as she would have, into the arena as well.

She would, she thought as she began gathering together some supper, as a group leader, especially if any fifth years or other sixth years were in her group, basically have to throw her support to someone now, she guessed. If Evan and Arabella were in it, they would be good contenders for the Carey votes - hers, Theresa's, Lucy's, and Jay's - just because of Evan's association with Lucille. The problem was, Waverly and Henny were going to make the ballot, so the Pecari vote - six ballots - would split, and even if the liberal vote did, too, if Alicia wasn't in it, or if she was and chose to step aside, and Aladren backed Henny entirely, then she would win anyway, meaning the family would have backed a losing hippogriff in Arabella and gotten, at best, an unreliable asset in Evan, as even if he somehow won (this being unlikely even if the Aladren vote split between him and Thad, giving Cepheus a glimmer of a chance, though honestly, she would be stunned beyond words if anyone other than Thad Pierce was up there beside whichever girl survived next fall; the only thing a vote was going to do was, along with Quidditch, strain relations between Thad and Cepheus so far that everyone they hung out with would have to pick between them, thus her predictions of social breakdown), Alex expected Thad and Alicia would have more control over him than any of his future in-laws ever would while they were still in school. And if Evan and Arabella were not in it, Alicia would carry the conservative vote and win, and there was always the possibility of a Waverly-Arabella-Alicia ballot, or Henny-Alicia-Arabella, or....

Alex knew the situation was going to require more thought, and perhaps a conversation with Jay, as too many people taking this glorified popularity contest far too seriously was inevitable and might even extend into relations after Sonora if they really got into it. She honestly didn't know, in light of that, if it was good or bad that they never knew for sure who would be on the ballot ahead of time.

She was sure, though, of one thing: maybe she had to rank the possibilities in her role as the Carey prefect, but she was more determined than ever to remain socially aloof. Gareth leaving, and therefore effectively breaking up any sub-group in the year of they three Crotali, had made her briefly consider following Theresa and bringing along Lucille and throwing her lot in with the conservative faction around Thad, Cepheus, and Cepheus's now undisputed best friend Alicia, but she had decided against it because of the possibility of betrothals. If someone stuck her with Thad, she'd face, she was sure, the wrath of Alicia, if she was put off on Cepheus she might have to face Theresa and Alicia both, and neither was desirable. Seeming frigid and eager to become an old maid was her best chance right now.

She smiled, a little wearily, at a classmate. "It's a great night to be at Sonora," she remarked.

Alex just prayed there was nothing weird about, she thought, the Bonfire next year. The winners of all this might well be hard-pressed to enjoy their spoils even without the kind of surprise they had gotten tonight - if she was right about anything, that was. Merlin knew this was the kind of thing which appealed to some of the less appealing parts of her Crotalus nature. It was possible that no one else was thinking this way at all.

She doubted it, though.

0 Alexandra Devereux Well, this should all be fun.... 0 Alexandra Devereux 0 5

Arabella Brockert

October 13, 2013 5:19 AM

I'm sure we can find some amusement in it. by Arabella Brockert

Truth be told, Arabella had always rather preferred being around the Crotali-despite Carrie-than the Pecaris. As much as she'd liked the box Waverly got her and appreciated her roommate's thoughtfulness, and even though she and Theresa shared similar backgrounds and she and Jade both loved horses, her best friend and betrothed were in Crotalus. Granted, this year was the year Carrie's class was up for prefect and there was no way her cousin was going to get it so a fit was imminent, Arabella decided to go over and sit at the Crotalus table. Perhaps Amity would even notice her over there and decide it was okay to go sit at another table and sit with her best friends too.

Initially, the sixth year was planning to sit with Paul, given that it was his year but she spotted Alex first and decided to join her best friend instead, sitting down across from her. Before she could do more than say hello, the Sorting began, and her sister was among the new first years along with cousin named Duncan who they'd met on the wagon. Arabella smiled as they both turned yellow. Teppenpaw. It was the one house that none of their group of cousins was in so the Pecari had been a little concerned, though Marcus Crosby was there, but then again it was Teppenpaw so how scary could it be? They were nice by definition. All in all, Arabella was glad Serena was there.

Next, badges were announced and she braced herself. All hell was going to break loose. As soon as the name Heaven Baird was mentioned, Arabella knew that in addition to whatever happened to poor Heaven, someone else was going to have miserable meal and she was even happier that Serena was in Teppenpaw. Also, that Ryan had graduated. This did not meant that Serena-and through her, Arabella- would not be a target at some later date, but it did mean that the first year was safe for now.

Announcements about staff changes came next. The Pecari already knew about Coach Pierce leaving from the fair last year, just like she'd already known about Head students and that Uncle Seth had left after getting a new job that was more prestigious and paid better. He had decided that he wanted more respectable career for the sake of his children. It was like that a lot in the Brockert family. Regardless of how an individual member felt, they had to do their best for future generations and stay respectable. Besides, Arabella was certain her uncle had either been here for the purpose of spying for the patriarch or wooing Aunt Lilac anyway.

However, she was suprised by the announcement of Professor Kijewski-Jareau leaving. It turned out her son Angel was very sick, and Arabella felt bad about this, she'd seen Angel around and he'd been on Ryan's Challenge team so it was hard thinking of him being so ill. It was just too bad he couldn't use the same potion that worked so well for Valerie. She seemed to get sick far less often now.

What really shocked her though was the introduction of the man next to Headmistress K-J. Mortimer Brockert. The next Headmaster. Arabella had not been expecting this. She really didn't know the man, she thought he might her father's cousin only much older. Never had she imagined a member of her family taking over so officially instead of just partially running things behind the scenes as had to have been obvious to everyone. Biggest,most important Western pureblood family? How could people not expect them to be involved?

"It's a great night to be at Sonora,"

Alex seemed a bit tired and Arabella somehow really didn't think she meant what she had just said. "Oh, come on, it could be worse." She tried to cheer her up. Though she wasn't sure how aside from useless platitudes like the one she'd just used. "My cousin could have gotten prefect." Arabella remarked snickering. She was certain that her best friend knew that would never happen and an angry Carrie was much better with one with power. She just hope Alex didn't have a problem with Arabella's cousin being Headmaster next term. "Is something wrong?" She asked.

11 Arabella Brockert I'm sure we can find some amusement in it. 217 Arabella Brockert 0 5

Keme RunningBear

October 13, 2013 12:45 PM

Is not a team player by Keme RunningBear

Keme’s summer had went pretty okay. He enjoyed spending time with his family and had even been able to spend time with his sister. They hardly ever spent time together. KoKo was four years older than him and one of the more popular girls on their lands. She was so busy with things that she was out late working on crafts and ceremonial garments. His sister was amazing at her crafts, so she had always been pulled in to work with the women who designed and created the outfits during the spiritual ceremonies and celebrations. It was something she planned to continue with once she had graduated from schooling. On top of that, she still had her crossbow competitions to deal with. KoKo was the top contender in the sport out of the entire tribe (of adolescents). She beat out the boys in her age group like they were mere beginners. Some of them were embarrassed by it while others cheered her on. Keme was proud of her as his sister, so spending time with her wasn’t a chore for him. They weren’t necessarily close, but he did look up to her. During their time together, she helped train him in archery to prepare him for his competition. He totally won that too and knew he owed it to her.

But, they also did a lot of talking and one of those conversations had been about a possible betrothal for him. KoKo said that their grandfather had been considering Peta as an option for him. Peta was only ten at the moment and the idea of marrying her grossed Keme out. Not because he didn’t like girls, in fact, he had begun to notice them more over the summer. Probably because KoKo brought the whole thing up to begin with, but every so often, he couldn’t help but look at one with interest.

Of course, the whole reason him and some of this brethren had gone to school off the lands had been to meet other people and expand their tribe. Keme and KoKo had looked over his yearbook to discuss potentials. KoKo didn’t think being absolutely Pure was necessary. Their tribe had been completely magical for several centuries so the idea of someone not being Pureblood was a strange concept to his people, but KoKo said that the fact that they were magical should be all that mattered. This left more options for Keme, but his school was so small, he couldn’t imagine anyone willing to marry someone like him who lived on the lands of his people.

Keme had refused to look at the girls in the year above him. When KoKo had asked him way, he said that they were already too connected to each other. And those who didn’t seem involved in anything, he knew nothing about. This meant that they were so boring that they didn’t even register to him at all. He didn’t feel that boring was a bad thing, but Keme wasn’t much of a talker already and two boring people never mixed well. His year was a smaller class, but it also meant a smaller amount of availability. He thought Willow, Julian, and Francesca were alright, but didn’t see any of those three wanting in on his family. Not to mention that Julian and Charlie were very close (although Keme didn’t know how to understand Charlie that much), which was also true about Francesca and Adam and that could include Virginia Bellrose as well. Gemma, Analea, and Aurora were all quiet, although Keme thought there was something more between Analea and Aurora and thus, wrote them off entirely. He wasn’t even putting Jude on the table.

KoKo hadn’t said much about anything, she just sat looking amused at the assessments of his classmates. At the end of it, she told him to bring is next yearbook home and they would do another assessment. He didn’t know how a year would change anything, but he had agreed to do that.

And now he sat at the Aladren table with a frown on his face, picking at his food. There were a lot of announcements that had been made, but the one about the concert struck a chord with him. Why did the school insist on forcing him into group situations? He was trying already to integrate himself as it was, but forcing him into these things was not going to help him out. Plus, he had to choose what group to go in? Keme didn’t even know any of the Prefects. He would just have to wait and see what was left to decide.

6 Keme RunningBear *Is not a team player* 249 Keme RunningBear 0 5

Dimitri Porter

October 13, 2013 3:42 PM

I'm glad it makes you happy by Dimitri Porter

Dimitri smiled at Ava when she said hello to him. He was about to say something else when she hugged him. His eyes widened momentarily in surprise before he began hugging her back. Outside of his sister, mother and cousins, it was the first time a girl ever hugged him that he wasn't related to. It felt a little strange, but it was a good strange. He released her shortly afterward and pulled back a bit to look at her face.

Dimitri frowned slightly at her comment about her summer being interesting. What does that mean? he wondered to himself just before she said that she would tell him that part later. He nodded his understanding and grinned at her question about his summer. "It was busy," he began, placing some food on his plate. "My family and I traveled around to different medieval events and camped out. I got to dress up in funny clothes...well funny to some anyways...and play my lyre for people. I had some trouble trying to write the new song I've been working on for it though," he told her frowning slightly. "I don't quite know why, but it just hasn't sounded right for some reason." He shrugged his shoulders. "I'm glad you liked the pictures I sent. Something about them made me think of you." He grinned shyly at her and then coughed into his fist. "So...what about your summer was interesting?" He asked lightly. "Was it a good interesting, a bad interesting or a weird interesting?" He took a bite from his plate while he waited for her reply. He hoped it was the good kind of interesting for her sake.

0 Dimitri Porter I'm glad it makes you happy 0 Dimitri Porter 0 5

Leo Princeton

October 13, 2013 3:47 PM

Joy. by Leo Princeton

The trip from England to Arizona was always painfully long and excruciatingly painful to bear through. He had to sit with his brothers and Eleanor in a cramped space for hours, not to mention the Portkey across the ocean. He absolutely loathed travelling by Portkey. Leo was in a bad mood by the time they reached Sonora and had nearly stomped into Cascade Hall as he followed his brothers in and sat at the Crotalus table among his peers.

Though he was sore now, his summer had been lovely. He had been able to polish up his French and learnt a good chunk of Italian. A trip to his family summer home in Cannes had allowed him to practise and he had gotten around quite well speaking both Italian and French in different areas of the French Riviera. It had been a lovely trip while Cepheus and their father were off in India, a place Leo could only imagine was teeming with germs and Muggles and spicy things Leo was not fond of. He'd much rather stay at home and do nothing.

As the third son, Leo had slowly come to the realisation that he would not be able to live in comfort as an adult. Cepheus would live on the estate and run the hospitals and receive the most inheritance. Rupert was ambitious enough to work for himself and already had his future career in sight. Leo, on the other hand, loathed work and had planned to grow old in comfort. He expected some land to be given to him, but if it was that blooming land in India he didn't want to take care of it. He would need to hire someone with a good head on their shoulders to take care of all that work. He never, ever wanted to get married seeing as all witches were unbearable to live with excluding his mother, so putting his trust into a hired person would have to do as long as they didn't bother him with the complications.

The sorting business was regarded only because Leo wanted to know who had the most first years this year. There were only three in Crotalus which wasn't substantial, but enough. There wouldn't be mad parties going on in the common room anyhow, something Leo would expect from the Pecaris or Teppenpaws. During the sorting he noticed only then that Nellie wasn't around. It was a sigh of relief now that she wasn't around smothering him, but he knew it could only be temporary. She and the other witches their age were simply mental and had this idea that every lad they came into contact with they were going to marry particularly if he came from a rich family. Nellie hadn't said anything about that, but he'd rather stay clear out of that business. She had been fun to play with as kids, but as they grew older she became even more clingy.

The Headmistress's speech seemed to drag on this year with all the professors leaving and whatnot. Leo had never really known Professor Skies to have Crotalus tendencies and she wasn't nearly as frightening enough to do justice to Coach Pierce. However, she would have to do and Leo simply turned his nose at the whole affair. What did it matter to him as long as he was fed and taken care of? The mention of Quidditch, however, reminded Leo of his desire to take revenge on Carter Browning for throwing a Quaffle at his face and hitting him right in the mouth. It had been painful and Leo had been forced to sit through the rest of the match like that. Not only had it been humiliating, but it had hurt an awful lot and Leo wanted to repay that pain.

Sadistic, perhaps, but Leo didn't think it was a waste of his thoughts. He wasn't asking for much; perhaps a simple hex would do. He'd learnt quite a bit in DADA and, though he had forgotten about his grudge over the summer, he could look into different, darker spells now that he was back at Sonora and had full access to the library which was bound to hold tomes on hexes and jinxes.

The thought of taking revenge brightened Leo's mood a bit, but he still grumbled at the Midsummer Event for this year. It was a concert which Leo was not looking forward to. He disliked the limelight and the stage, but at least if he was with a group and the Prefects were in charge he would have much less to worry about. He rolled his eyes at the school song which he refused to sing like the year before. He didn't know why anyone would want to sing a song like this for the sake of singing. The song ended shortly enough and Leo had to remind himself not to get caught in detention this year because of his tardiness. He had enough reprimands from his father when his behaviour had been discovered. "How be, mate?" he asked his neighbour. "Have a lovely summer?"

40 Leo Princeton Joy. 263 Leo Princeton 0 5

Alex Devereux

October 13, 2013 4:28 PM

Oh, undoubtedly by Alex Devereux

"That would be worse," Alex conceded after a moment's thought when Arabella pointed out that Carrie O'Malley might have, somehow, gotten prefect. "Don't hate me for saying it, but I doubt she would have survived until midterm, and if she hadn't, I wouldn't have felt one bit bad about helping make it look like an accident."

Crotali were cautious and considered themselves respectable members of society, which meant they were, by and large, very formal, repressed, dull people who pushed their issues down and down and down until even they weren't totally sure of their own motivations. This worked okay, she thought, until a real irritant was introduced to their shells, at which point the pearl of years of rage and restraint introduced, in those who were only superficially respectable, anyway, the other side of the Crotalus coin: the crazy Crotalus. Alex, quite sure that Carrie O'Malley wouldn't know the meaning of social caution if the dictionary did a naked dance while open to that page in front of her and that she was too spoiled to have much in the way of planning skills, could only guess at the size of the ego which had combined with a pureblood view of society to somehow get the brat into Crotalus, but from what she'd seen, she was sure it was enough to, if increased much, drive some of their Housemates closer to the Dark Side.

She was, though, this reminded Alex, a fifth year. Alex was inclined to write her off as a wild card rather than even trying to figure out what she'd do, but she'd ask Jay for a second opinion.

"Hm?" she asked when Arabella asked if she was all right, then realized her distraction had been noted. "Oh, no, I'm fine, sorry. Just a little tired, and thinking about politics at the table." She took a swallow of sweet iced tea. Not as sugary as she might have liked, and it lacked mint, but it was pretty good; she was just spoiled to Father's again after the summer. He made the best. "Filthy habit, I know," she added, a little apologetically. "I'll stop it. So, did you know about any of this ahead of time?" she asked, tilting her head back toward the staff table and all of its surprises.

0 Alex Devereux Oh, undoubtedly 0 Alex Devereux 0 5

Anthony Carey VIII

October 13, 2013 6:57 PM

That sounds better than fraternal woes and House pride by Anthony Carey VIII

It was, Anthony thought as he sat down at the Aladren table and looked around to check up on the locations of his relatives, going to be a while before it stopped being a surprise to search for and not find his brothers here. Officially, Anthony was the important one, the heir, and all that, but for as long as he could remember, his life had been dominated by Arnold and Arthur. They had always been the focus of everyone’s attention, including his. And now he felt almost off-balance thinking about that not being there.

He watched the Sorting, clapping politely for new Aladrens and also for Brandon, even though his cousin ended up in Pecari. That, he thought, wasn’t really a surprise, at least not as much of a surprise as Henry and Theresa’s Sortings had been. Brandon in Aladren, though, that was just a strange one; he was strong-willed enough, sure, but made problems more often than he solved them, and had never displayed any love of learning. Lessons had never really been Brandon’s thing, and even if that wasn’t the only path into the House, it was important enough that Anthony would really pity the Aladren who didn’t have that. He knew Arnold had had a hard time sometimes because he wasn’t as intellectual as his roommates, and he had at least put in the work anyway. As Brandon was used to taking his lessons at the same pace as his younger sister…Pecari was probably for the best.

He made sure to note the new librarian, since she was, of the staff, one of the people he was more likely than not to cross paths with pretty often, and tried to emulate Arthur’s look of polite not-quite-interest for the rest of the announcements, including the one about how they were all going to have to participate in one of the Concert acts, under one of the prefects. His family had a prefect they could all fall under if they had to, he guessed, but he didn’t see that going over very well with the staff or the other students – it was the kind of thing that made people look at them funny, or at least assume they were really standoffish and cliquish. The whole point of the exercise was to get to know more people, so if they all stuck together, then they would appear not to want to, and if they didn’t want to make new connections, why hadn’t they all just stayed at home and had older members of the family teach them? So he was guessing they would have to do things properly, and he was glad he wasn’t a prefect this year, because he had no idea what kind of act he would lead if it were up to him.

“It looks like our team has at least one new player,” Francesca Wolseithcrafte said, distracting him from that problem to a more immediate one.

“I’m guessing you know one of the first years?” he said, since he thought that was the most reasonable way to interpret her comment. She could have been talking about how either Jay or Anthony himself was likely to officially join the main team rather than the reserves now that the twins were gone and Arnold didn’t have to worry about being seen as favoring his own too much, but even though Jay had played in Kitty’s place all last year, he thought that was kind of a bit much for her to assume, which left the option of her knowing more about someone else.

He poured himself some juice and hoped that was it, anyway, as he didn’t really want to talk about his own future with the team just yet. Ever since Arnold had become – as far as he was concerned, anyway – famous, Anthony had wanted to be a Seeker like his brother someday, but he knew perfectly well now that he was not Arnold, and that everyone would expect whoever became the Seeker to be that, so he didn’t know what he was going to do. They were going to need a new Chaser as well, after all, so he might make it easier on himself and take that spot, if needed, instead.

0 Anthony Carey VIII That sounds better than fraternal woes and House pride 234 Anthony Carey VIII 0 5

Aria

October 13, 2013 8:06 PM

People are curious about you? by Aria

Aria said nothing in response to her. She had no idea what she was referring too as clearly Aria had not been indicating her name was Teppenpaw, but rather her house. Why then did the girl have to say her last name to her was beyond Aria’s understanding and she didn’t feel like looking a fool in front of a table of people by asking her to explain herself, so she just let it drop instead and stared blankly at the girl. Either way, the girl was not in Aria’s house and she didn’t quite understand why she was sitting here instead of at her own table. Most of the time during the school year, no one cared where one sat, but the Welcoming Feast, everyone sat at their own table to show house pride. This girl was not playing by social norm. If Aria had thought that was okay, she would have gone and sat with Jay.

This girl was quite confusing. Why would she only roast things over a fire when she was outside camping? What was camping? What was canned food? Was it liked jarred extras that were picked out in the gardens? “What do you cook for food on if not over a fire? And why only do you do this when camping? What is camping?” Aria asked the girl. She didn’t think camping was a normal thing people did as she’d never heard the term before, but she didn’t think the Canterburys were from a magical background so there was a good chance that it was only a Muggle way of living. Aria’s community lived a simple life and some chose to use very little magic in their day to day lives, but it was not the same way as those of the Muggle world. Well, according to things she had heard. Muggles were quite different and it always had Aria a little curious as to how it worked.

“Sonora does pretty well. I have spoken to Tuppy, she’s the head cook in the Kitchens, she seemed to enjoy the idea of making them for me.” Aria advised, seemingly pleased by this. Before, it was mainly just side dishes that had no meat in them, but Aria wanted meals. Aria didn’t see the correlation between cooking and potions, but then she loved potions and had no plans to be a chef. “No, I don’t, but I have before. We all go through basic training for it and it’s a way for the Elders to test skills. But, I mostly gather ingredients for my mother’s potions and work with her on healing her patients. I have worked in the gardens before and helped jar the extras, which I think is what you said you eat when camping? And I’ve milked the cow once when Mr. Haggert wanted us to understand how to care for her. It was a strange experience, but not unpleasant.”

6 Aria People are curious about you? 0 Aria 0 5

Malcolm Carey

October 13, 2013 8:15 PM

It has its merits and disadvantages by Malcolm Carey

Vertigo, Mal thought, ought to be used as a form of torture, and ranked right up there with the Cruciatus Curse. Put the two together, from what he had seen about the latter in his sister’s Intermediate Defense notes, and he thought anyone, anywhere, would spill anything they knew and feel glad for the chance after a few minutes. He had no idea how the school had ever gotten something approved for large-scale transportation which flew and didn’t even do so smoothly, but he’d like to find out what the trick was just before tying them up, dumping them in the back of a wagon, and then taking the thing for a joyride.

He found a seat, nearly tripped over his own feet getting into it, and glared at all three of the offending parties, too, as he got settled. Stupid wagons. Stupid seat. Stupid feet. Stupid whole body, come to that, a little taller now but still fragile and not hardy and pretty much useless for anything. Was nothing, he grumbled at the universe, going to go his way tonight?

The universe pretended to consider the question for a few minutes, until the end of the headmistress’s speech, at which point it answered him, through gales of laughter, no.

As he looked at the man up front with the headmistress, then from him to one of his relatives, and then back again, Mal’s right hand drifted to his mouth and he bit down on the nail of his smallest finger without noticing it. This development was not good for his chances of getting rid of his future brother-in-law before Brockert actually got his grubby hands on Mal’s sister, and to add insult to injury, he was going to have to play lackey to an older student, again. Not Brockert – Mal thought he might have mutinied if that had been the case – but still, none of the options he even recognized on sight were very appealing. It was rotten luck, rotten all around, and he wanted badly to take it out on someone, and couldn’t do that, either. He hated his life.

He also noticed he was biting his fingernail again and lowered his arm abruptly, hitting Chloe Jareau on his way down by mistake. “Fine, and no,” he said, answering the questions in reverse order and lifting the offending elbow a little to demonstrate what he had hit her with. “I just moved the wrong way. Sorry.”

He considered asking about her summer, but it had just been mentioned that her brother was ill, so he assumed she, like he, wouldn’t really care for that question – his summer had been miserable, with Lu so happy about being purloined and Mother sending invitations to him and his stupid family, and while he didn't think he'd really get upset if anything happened to Andrew, he knew he would lie about it and pretend he cared if his brother had something more incurable than just being a Carey, so there was no point in going through that song-and-dance routine. Instead, then, he said, "Sorry to hear your brother's ill, too," then, holding out a bowl he had just finished with, added, "Carrots?"

You were supposed to give people things when something bad happened in the family, after all. That was the one thing he really remembered about when his father died, that all the people had worn black, that they had stopped whispering whenever he or his mother or sister or stepmother came near, and that most of them had brought food. There had been food everywhere, more than they could all possibly eat, even with all the guests who brought it helping out, and more sweets than Mal had ever seen before to that point. He had, he recalled, gotten most of them, too; Lucille hadn't been able to stop crying, so she hadn't eaten much, leaving him to have usually-forbidden cookies and slices of heavenly cakes until he made himself sick.

0 Malcolm Carey It has its merits and disadvantages 256 Malcolm Carey 0 5

Brianna

October 13, 2013 8:30 PM

Then it's a good thing I'm keeping it to myself. by Brianna

Brianna was glad to hear that his time with his family had been a pleasant one. She never really knew how other family structures worked. In her building, families didn’t communicate. They didn’t speak, they didn’t interact, they didn’t really seem to see one another. Nannies took care of the children and the parents were busy socializing with other parents of status or off potentially at work. There was just a coldness there. It wasn’t something she had seen as a child. Instead, she saw wealth and with it, peace and happiness. But now, older and having gone through so much, she realized that she had the better life. Her parents suffered through so much to give her what they could. For a long time, they had been too afraid to help her but that fear was gone. Christmas meant a day together. A roaring fire, a nice (small) feast of her favorite foods, and gifts. Well, one gift, but it was something. It was joyous and warm. That warmth was always there. And now she could identify it as love. She couldn’t say if the coldness in the other families meant that they did not love one another, it was just missing something important. She couldn’t say for sure she knew what it was.

It was obvious though that Linus’s family cared for one another based on the smile on his face and that made her happy. She went back to munching on her bread when Linus began to discuss his sister with her. Brianna was aware of his siblings, but she didn’t know much about them other than really their names and small bits of his relationship with them whenever he happened to talk about his family to her. “Oh really?” She asked, looking interested. Brianna didn’t know the logistics to how Muggleborns end up having magic or how it could run in the family, but it’s been known to happen.

“I think as long as there signs at all that a person has magic, they are likely to get a letter from a magical school.” Brianna said thoughtfully. She wasn’t exactly sure if one person had more magic than another. She knew people could harness their magic better than another, but she wasn’t sure that the amount of magic in each person varied. It was an interesting topic, Brianna made a mental note to do some reading on it when she had the time. “At least your mother had you to pick up on it a bit faster than she might have otherwise.” Brianna commented. “I hope she didn’t do any damage though. I know when I was little and I started doing accidental magic, I broke a few things.”

6 Brianna Then it's a good thing I'm keeping it to myself. 0 Brianna 0 5

Alex

October 13, 2013 10:33 PM

I suppose we will have to choose one eventually. by Alex

Alex smiled at Henry’s statement about knowing her name. She assumed he would since they were in the same classes, but it at least meant that she was noticed. His mention about their brothers being roommates made Alex frown a bit. “Tell your brother that I am sorry about his unfortunate roommate situation.” She actually did feel sorry for Henry’s brother, whom she assumed was the “Jay” that Lucian mentioned before, for she knew how annoying her brother could be. Realizing, however, that her statement might make her appear unkind, Alex decided to pretend that she was joking and laughed a bit.

“My summer was…well, to be honest it was pretty miserable,” she sighed, and scooped a spoonful of mashed potatoes onto her plate. “I won’t bore you with the details...but basically I am the only normal one in my family, my brother is clueless, and I end up coming back here to be surrounded by certain individuals I would rather not have to associate with. The only good thing about it was being able to spend most of the summer at my best friend’s house.” She glanced up at Henry, actually regretting her honesty for a second. She was just being herself, but she also did not want him to think she was just another one of those self-involved snobbish girls. Although, she knew that she wasn’t far from that sometimes.

She watched as he took a piece of bread from the plate she offered him and set it down. Alex still wasn’t sure how to take Henry. He seemed to be responding to her as though he was sitting down for an interview, or being questioned by one of their professors. “I’m sorry if it was strange of me to suggest getting to know you in the way that I did. I just don’t feel like I really fit in with many people here.”

Alex looked around the Crotalus table a bit, and started picking at the food on her plate. She moved the peas around on her plate with her fork and scowled at them. She wasn’t even sure why she put them on her plate in the first place.

“Tell me anything,” she said finally, and then shrugged, “What is your favorite class? Favorite color? Are you dreading the mandatory participation in the concert as much as I am?” She laughed a bit and then looked at Henry, waiting for him to respond.

0 Alex I suppose we will have to choose one eventually. 0 Alex 0 5

Chloe

October 13, 2013 11:14 PM

What are the disadvantages? by Chloe

It turned out that it had been Malcolm and apparently he had done it on accident. She wasn’t sure if she should be a little annoyed to be jarred from her thoughts or grateful that he had done it before she thought too much about her siblings and started to cry. Chloe had done a lot of crying over the summer. More than she had ever done in her whole life. Her parents tried, they really did, they tried to keep everyone moving and motivated, but it was too hard. Ayita was still living at home and going to college nearby. She had decided to stay and help out around the house, so Chloe was happy that Angel wasn’t completely alone or that Harper was his company. Harper was far too young to understand what was going on.

“Oh that’s okay.” She responded easily. Her face hurt. Smiling felt foreign at the moment. She felt wrong for doing it. Being positive was going to be harder than she thought, she was already exhausted from just this little bit of conversation. She didn’t blame Malcolm for it, it was just the circumstance. Looking up at her mom at the staff table, who seemed so collected, Chloe didn’t know how she was able to do it all. Her mom had to take care of all of them while her dad was working over the summer and hadn’t ever lost her cool. Maybe it was an adult thing.

Chloe refocused onto Malcolm, staring at the bowl of carrots and trying to figure out why he was offering them to her. “Oh, uh, thank you, but no thank you.” She said politely to the offered vegetables. She wasn’t sure how to respond about his comment regarding her brother. Did she say thank you to that? She felt wrong to just ignore it though. “And thank you about my brother.” She added awkwardly. She probably looked awkward about it too. No one told her the etiquette for these sorts of things and now that she thought about it, anyone who had been paying attention to the announcements and knew the Headmistress was her mother, would be saying the same thing to her. So, she would have to go through this all over again and on several occasions. This was not going to turn out well for her.

Trying to get back into the habit of being around people, Chloe decided to focus her attention on Malcolm. He was a year older than her, but he had worked with her in potions, so she didn’t find him all that bad. He seemed to have a super huge family too, so she was sure he had gone through some things as she had. Maybe worse things. “Who do you think you’ll sign up with for the concert?” She asked him. Chloe didn’t know any of the Prefects except for Clara, who she found really strange, but Chloe would likely sign up with her just because they had spoken.

6 Chloe What are the disadvantages? 0 Chloe 0 5

Lucian

October 13, 2013 11:27 PM

Let me know if you have any luck. by Lucian

Lucian began piling enormous amounts of food onto his plate as Clara talked about her summer. He figured there would be a few minutes to make his selections before he had to speak, for he knew how much she liked to talk all at once. Lucian didn’t find it to be a negative thing, but rather just the way it was. She would talk and get everything out, he would digest what she said, and then he would reply with the answer he formulated. It worked well for them. However, he couldn’t help but notice a difference during the summer when he talked to Heaven. Their conversations just seemed to flow, and he spent little time thinking about what he was going to say. He had shrugged it off as unimportant for now. Thinking about summer made him glance at the Crotalus table. He couldn’t see Heaven from where she was sitting, so he quickly adverted his eyes back to his plate.

Once Clara had finished speaking, Lucian pushed his plate back a bit further and turned to reply to her. “Summer was definitely interesting, to say the least. I didn’t really see Honey all that much. She mostly hung around with your best friend Alex.” He laughed a bit, and then continued. “I saw Heaven more than her…and of course, Heaven’s betrothal Henri. He is so annoying.” Lucian gave up trying to ignore his grumbling stomach, and stabbed a large piece of ham with his fork, and placed it in his mouth. After he chewed it a bit, he continued on.

“I would have traded you summers,” he said, raising an eyebrow, “You could have dealt with Alex, Honey, and Heaven and I could have sat alone in peace watching your dad make goo-goo eyes." He smiled, teasing her a bit. “I don’t know, I mean it is probably going to be weird for him to be married to someone other than your mother, but I don’t think she is going to try to replace her, you know? She sounds alright from what you have told me, and if she makes him happy, then why not?” He thought about his own parents, and how disastrous their marriage turned out to be. While it made him sad, it also made him determined to not make the same mistakes.

“Can you pass me the chocolate pudding?” Lucian asked Clara, and then began talking again, “I liked your dress, but you don’t have to go out of your way for me. I always think you look nice.” He smiled at her, and then put another chunk of ham in his mouth and chewed. “My summer…my summer was absurd.” Lucian sighed, not sure what he should include in his description about summer. “Basically, my family is a mess. I mean, you know about my dad, but things have gotten worse, and I am kind of sworn to secrecy.” He glanced once more towards the Crotalus table, feeling a bit uneasy about Heaven knowing the truth about his mother. “I want to tell you, you know that, but for now I can’t.” He looked at her with a hopeful look on his face. He didn’t want her to feel badly about him not telling her every detail about what happened.

“Anyways, other than that major drama, I had to deal with a bunch of obnoxious girls for the remainder of summer. Well, Heaven wasn’t that bad I guess. We kind of became friends. Well, sort of. At least I think so.” Lucian looked at Clara, and laughed at the scolding she was giving herself. “It’s alright. I am used to you going on long rants by now.” He winked at her, and turned his attention back to the giant mound of food on his plate.

0 Lucian Let me know if you have any luck. 0 Lucian 0 5

Mal

October 14, 2013 1:10 AM

Family dramas are high on the list by Mal

Chloe refused the carrots. If, for whatever reason, he had been visiting her home after her brother’s death and had brought carrots, it would have been rude, he was pretty sure, for her to refuse them, but since they were just from a random bowl on the table and he was not making an official condolence visit, he thought he was supposed to let her refusal of the carrots pass.

He was glad of that, since he did try to avoid antagonizing people when he could help himself and they were outside the family, especially if they were related to people who were important, if only for the moment, and besides, he didn’t actually care that much about carrots. Carrots could be tasty, but were not interesting enough to be offended over, whatever was done to them short of someone spitting in his. It made no sense to him why the bereaved or otherwise inconvenienced were required to take food they neither needed nor liked or wanted, anyway; shouldn’t they, being in theory in need of comfort, get to have their own way?

“You’re welcome,” he said to her various thanks. “I think.”

It occurred to him, as he looked at the problem of how exactly these death and disaster courtesies worked, that he had never actually tried to play the tragic orphan card anywhere except his brief stint in Analysis, where the lady trying to make him play with dolls and draw pictures of how he saw himself had seemed all too eager to accept that he wanted to do things Mother disapproved of because he’d found Father’s death horribly traumatic. It had not been pleasant, that was putting it mildly, Mother had fallen out of her tree and then he’d suddenly had a baby brother on his turf after that, too, and the two events were linked inextricably in his mind, but he didn’t think it had ruined his life the way the lady doctor thought it had. It was what it was. Fussing about it wouldn’t change anything, and he couldn’t imagine that life would be that much better with Father around. Mother would still be crazy, there would still be a stepmother and a little brother – probably even more than one brother by now – and they would still try to take Lu away, so really, except for gaining sympathy if he ever needed to, or else making someone awkward like this was, he didn’t see that it really mattered…..

He glared at his carrots, and was glad when she changed the subject. “I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t really know any of them. I might ask some of my cousins who the interesting ones are. Or pick from what they’re doing, if anyone posts what kind of act they’re thinking about ahead of time.” He took a bite of the carrots, then one of butternut squash. “What do you think you’ll do?” he asked.

0 Mal Family dramas are high on the list 0 Mal 0 5

Wendy

October 14, 2013 1:47 AM

Occasionally by Wendy

Aria's response to Wendy's talk of camping had taken her aback, but then she remembered that not everyone knew what camping was and as far as she had seen nobody used a stove or an oven here. Even in the baking club Waverly told her they had to fashion a brick oven or something like that to bake their goodies. "Camping usually consists of going to the outdoors away from society and exploring nature. My family always sleeps in a tent when we go out. We really like hiking and stuff so we sometimes camp near hilly areas or on top of hills either before or after a long day of hiking. Camping is a great bonding time and how my family bonds outside of work and school and society. We make sure to do it at least once every summer, but I like the outdoors a lot." She missed those nights over the campfire where they would sing songs and roast marshmallows and heat up hot chocolate over the fire. Those were the best summer nights.

As for electric appliances, that would be a little harder to explain. "We use electricity," she told her, "and don't cook things over an open fire usually unless we're out camping. We barbecue food sometimes, but that's usually over hot coals and a small, what's the word, controlled flame. But that's done outside. My apartment doesn't even have a fireplace. But there's something called an oven which heats up to however hot you want it and cooks the food that way. An oven's like...it's like heat trapped inside of a metal box that cooks the food. And then for soup or stir fry or pancakes we use a stove which can either be over a small, but really hot open flame or it could be the same idea of electric coils that get hot. We have an electric stove at my house, so no open fires.

"As for canned food, it's food usually like beans or rice that can last a long time that are put into metal cans with lots of preservatives so all you have to do is heat it up. It's really gross, but it's convenient when you don't have a lot to prepare meals with." Canned food was gross even if it was chicken noodle soup or ravioli. Maybe Wendy would ask her mom to buy organic groceries next if they didn't already.

It was strange having to explain the appliances she had grown up with to people who had no idea. No one had ever asked her about that before, not even Carter from what she could remember. Rupert had been really interested in muggle life, but they had mostly talked about TV shows and cartoons. It felt different being on the other side where she knew things that some people here didn't know about. Going to a school based in magic and having no immediate magical background had made Wendy very curious and sometimes feel very ignorant and naive. Things were better now that she was older and her sister had helped her adjust a lot, but it still felt good to know that some people were interested in her background too.

It was nice that the prairie elves were so considerate. They seemed so nice that Wendy just wanted to hug them or write them a thank you card or something. Anything to show her appreciation for them. "I wonder if Sonora thanks them in any way. You know, like cooks all the prairie elves a big feast or sends them bonus checks. I mean, extra money or something." Were prairie elves even paid? Wendy didn't know much about them except that they took care of all the hard work in taking care of the students and making them comfortable. "I'd like to thank Tuppy and the other prairie elves personally one day especially for making vegetarian food."

It was cool hearing that Aria had cooked for herself before. Aria was older than her by at least a year or two years and Wendy wondered how old she had been when she first learned. "Elders?" she asked curiously. "Like church elders? What do the Elders do?" Come to think of it, Wendy didn't really know how Aria lived. Her lifestyle was different, that much was obvious, but so was Wendy's from this seemingly "normal" magical life. "I've never milked a cow before, but my grandparents own a dairy farm in the south so I've seen them do it." She smiled. "I wonder how the cows feel about being milked every day. But anyway, what kind of skills do the Elders test?"

0 Wendy Occasionally 0 Wendy 0 5

Clara

October 14, 2013 12:33 PM

You'll be the first one I tell if I do by Clara

Clara grinned as she watched Lucian pile his plate full of food. Boys sure do eat a lot she laughed to herself as she watched him pile it on. She shook her by head slightly as he took a bite off the plate of food shortly after she finished talking and he began. She gave him an amused look when he made mention of her very favorite person ever. His sister Alex carried a serious hate for her and instead of being upset about it, Clara found it more amusing than anything else. She was mildly curious why he would be so annoyed with Heaven's betrothed, but she kept that curiosity to herself. Maybe the guy was just annoying, she didn't know. Besides Lucian had spent time with him where she had not so how was she to know. She gave him a sympathetic smile. She noticed his brief glance towards the Crotalus table, but figured he had been checking to see if his sister was spying on them or not. He went back to talking so she reasoned that he hadn't spotted her watching them. She giggled softly when he asked her to pass the pudding and reached for the bowl. "My pleasure," she replied setting the bowl of pudding between them. It looked too good to pass up.

She thought briefly about his comments about her dad and mutely nodded. She wasn't ready to deal with that subject yet really so she avoided it. She almost choked on her dinner when he commented about swapping summers with her. "Oh sure...just throw me to the wolves why dontcha," she teased him, laughing. "Personally I would have preferred spending the summer with you doing absolutely nothing than spend it with people who hate me or ones ignoring me," she told him seriously. She shrugged. She continued to listen as he continued. She nodded when he mentioned her knowing about his dad and was saddened to hear that things had gotten worse. She wished she could do something to help, but wasn't sure what she could do. She offered him a sympathetic smile for the time being. She frowned slightly when he told her that he had been sworn to secrecy for the rest of it. She raised a brow slightly at that part, but didn't comment. She merely nodded not really sure how to feel about the issue. She knew that he would tell her if he could, but she couldn't help wondering what made it so bad that he couldn't tell her. She left that question in her head for the time being. She instead turned her attention to the comments he had made regarding her dress.

"I'm glad you liked the dress," she told him. She absently shrugged over his comment that she didn't have to try so hard for him. In all honesty it had felt kind of nice dressing up again for him. She liked hearing him say that he thought she always looked nice. "It's nice to be told I don't have to try so hard for you," she commented lightly. "It's nice to know you dig a ripped jeans, tennis shoes, punk band t-shirt wearing kind of girl," she teased him. "I'm sorry that things went bad for you with your family," she told him thoughtfully. "I wish there was something I could do to make things better for you," she said seriously.

0 Clara You'll be the first one I tell if I do 232 Clara 0 5

Theodore Wolseithcrafte

October 15, 2013 5:19 PM

True, ditto deoxygenated by Theodore Wolseithcrafte

“Keeper,” Theodore replied, glad to find out that his room-mate wasn't the kind of psychotic egotist that he believed it took to make a Seeker, even if it might meant they were competing for the same spot. “Though from what I've gathered, that's quite likely to put me on the bench for a year or so but that's fine with me,” he explained. Being on the bench would give him a longer time to build up his skills and he would rather wait for the position he really wanted than play something he didn't, just to get on the first string. The only issue would be if they didn't have enough players unless he did that. Apparently Aladren had only just filled its rota last year, and some of the core members of the team had graduated. It seemed the incoming year might be crucial.

“You should go for it,” he encouraged Leonidas. If he himself was on the fence, he thought he would not be persuaded without a compelling reason and sought to find one in order to make his remarks seem more than a token gesture. Honesty really seemed the best policy. “A lot of the old guard graduated last year. I mean, we're not going to be up where they were but they won't expect us to be - I think they'll still be keen to get new blood onto the team.

“It doesn't sound like he struck the fatal blow – or failed to,” he commented, as Leonidas mentioned his brother's position on the Crotalus team. “I think they're the only one Francesca didn't have to play but she said everyone was tough competition.” Leonidas didn't seem put off by the subject - he definitely wasn't speaking out against Theodore's sister, and didn't even seem quietly affronted in that he wasn't blustering and staring at his plate or attempting to change the subject. It definitely seemed like the next seven years might be workable.

13 Theodore Wolseithcrafte True, ditto deoxygenated 270 Theodore Wolseithcrafte 0 5

Aria

October 15, 2013 7:29 PM

That's nice! by Aria

Aria listened to Wendy’s explanation to what camping was. It actually sounded a lot like how Aria lived her life on a daily basis back home, minus the tents. They actually lived in small homes, but they lived their lives through nature and tried to remain as close to it as possible. Their community was in a valley located near the Jemez Mountains. Their hideaway was blocked from Muggles, but accessible to the magical, so long as they knew where to look. It was a large vast amount of land that included forest, grasslands, and a small lake. Really, the valley was of no significance to the other valleys that ran through the various mountain ranges in New Mexico, but for their small populace of a couple thousand, it seemed endless.

The oven, however, was not something Aria was quite understanding. She had read books on Muggle things, like electricity, but she only had a small base of knowledge on the subject. She was learning a little bit more regarding Muggle technology because she was learning Mechanical Transfiguration, but that did not mean she had any comprehension for what they actually did or how they worked in the Muggle world. She tried to follow along with what Wendy was telling her, but she felt that cooking by fire sounded much easier. Besides, they could control the flame with magic that was good enough for her.

She didn’t think the canned food sounded that terrible as they often jarred their extra foods and they lasted with charms, of course, she did not know what preservatives were so maybe those made them disgusting? They lived off the land and produced their own vegetation. Everything was organic and all their potions were Vegan based. That was a main reason why she had such respect for Professor Fawcett was because he allowed for her to continue on with her beliefs by providing her with Vegan options during their lessons. “Your camping sounds like my home life. Perhaps, if you gardened your own vegetables, you wouldn’t have to eat canned?” Aria suggested after Wendy had explained everything to her.

“I wouldn’t go out of your way to thank them.” Aria advised. She respected elves, but they had their own way of things. “Most elves, or, at least the ones that I have come across, do not liked to be thanked for their work. To them, this is what they are here for. To care for us behind the scenes. Being thanked or noticed means they aren’t doing something right.” Aria explained. “Just as being criticized creates negative responses from them, they get dismayed with compliments. I’m not really sure why that is, something within their nature, I suppose. Tuppy is good with compliments though, so telling her that you enjoy her food would be kind.” Aria had once thanked an elf for her laundry and it started to cry. She felt so guilty for causing her such distress when she only meant to be nice.

“We do not have a church. Our faith is with Mother Nature.” Aria said, not understanding the reference to Church Elders. She tried not to make a face with the knowledge of her grandparents. Dairy farms meant there was a possibility of mistreatment for the cows. Also, because of the strict need for production, cows are often sold for beef after only a handful of years of producing milk. “The Elders are people that the community chooses who they feel will best represent and honor our way of life. They are picked based on their experiences. Most of the Elders have been Elders for a very long time, but every so often one will step down and someone new is voted in.” Aria explained. “My father is one of the newer ones. He was chosen because his life before the community was in Public Relations, so he is great with communicating to all parties. Another Elder was a lawyer and another worked in the financial world. I’m not sure about the others, but their purpose is to keep the community running smoothly and helping find homes and careers for new members. They also have to approve things like me going off to Sonora instead of taking lessons there.” Some people might not understand how their life worked, but it had been this way for almost a century, so they must have been doing something right.

“Cows need to be milked. If they are not milked daily, their udders often become swollen and cause discomfort and pain to the animal. If they aren’t taken care of properly, mastitis or infertility can happen.” This was all said in a lesson to her when they were learning about cows. “Elders determine a person’s strengths and talents based on their tests. This is usually for new community members and it’s a way to better place them in the community. So, if they really enjoy cooking and they have a skill for it, they can work with the other chefs and help feed the community during meal times. Or, if they have a green thumb, work in the gardens. Those sorts of things.” Aria stated. Those talents and skills are assessed on the children during their lessons. Elders really only focus on the new members. “Of course, if the person decides they do not enjoy that career, the Elders will do their best to find another position for them.”

6 Aria That's nice! 0 Aria 0 5

Chloe

October 15, 2013 10:08 PM

Oh, I don't have many of those. by Chloe

Maybe she wasn’t supposed to have said thank you in regards to her brother? Malcolm didn’t seem to appreciate her uncertainty or, perhaps he was equally uncertain to how to respond? She couldn’t be sure. Malcolm was a very stoic person towards her. Chloe had her emotions on her face as open as that of a book. She just didn’t know how to not be expressive. Her mom said it was her large eyes and big mouth – this said with love of course – that told people everything. She laughed easily, cried loudly, sulked openly, etc. Her dad said that it was a good thing she was so happy all the time, the most they would get were big smiles and doe eyes.

“Sorry, I don’t really know how to respond to things like this. No one really told me what to do.” She told him, looking apologetic for being at a loss. Perhaps if she had dealt with something similar in the past or her family had sat down and discussed all of this, she would have a better grip of it. Instead, they just kept telling her everything would be okay. That she didn’t have to worry. That was very unhelpful advice for her now.

Chloe thought that the concert would be a good distraction for her this year. She would have joined in no matter what because things like that were super fun, but making it mandatory just meant she couldn’t back out of it in her currently tormented mood. Of course, it would have been a little easier if she could just do something by herself, or with Emery, or with a friend (did she have friends? Was Ji-Eun her friend?... she really ought to work on that) instead of having to figure out who was the best to work with out of the leadership club.

She felt that Malcolm might have the right idea with waiting to see if any post the acts that they may be doing. She could always owl Ayita to see if she knows anything about the current prefects that were around when she was still in school, but Ayita wasn’t the most social, so Chloe didn’t think she’d be able to offer much. “I met Clara last year at the Welcoming Feast. She’s the newest Prefect. She kept winking a lot when we were talking and saying how we’ll be the best of friends or something and it was a little strange to me and I really didn’t understand the winking. Who winks?” As she talked on, her pace of words began to speed up because she had a lot to say and very little breath to get it all out in. By the end, she took a deep breath in. “Sorry, please don’t repeat that. She was really nice. I think I have an eye problem thing. Anyway, I’ll probably sign up with her since she’s the only one I know. Or see if maybe Ji-Eun has any ideas.”

6 Chloe Oh, I don't have many of those. 0 Chloe 0 5

Francesca Wolseithcrafte

October 16, 2013 5:05 PM

Well... go house pride, at least? by Francesca Wolseithcrafte

“The lefthand one of those two,” Francesca answered, nodding across the table at the two still blue first years. “He's my younger brother, Te- Theodore” she explained. Context perhaps rendered the fact that he was younger than her irrelevant but it felt a little unkind to Barnabus to imply him out of existence by referring to Teddy as her brother, as if he was the one and only. He hadn't expressed a particular preference about not being called Teddy at school but she felt that was up to him to decide rather than for her to inflict on him by referring to him thus. She was sure she would slip up from time to time but she was watching herself at present.

“Though I suspect he might end up on the bench to start with, as he prefers Keeper.” Last year there had been at least two people going for that position and both were still present. They really were more in need of a Seeker and Beaters (even though Thad was still present, his preference was to move away from that, and they had had plenty of reserves to fill in on Chaser the previous year who would hopefully be able to permanently replace Arthur) but she couldn't picture her brother in either of those roles. It was definitely going to be peculiar not having Arnold and Arthur on the team any more. Even though she had only had one year under their captaincy there was just... something about their presence on the team. Maybe it was the way other people spoke of them, or the fact that they had been on the team for so long and had such a strong record. Two players shouldn't have seemed like such a lot to replace but it really was, especially when one was the Seeker and no one had been waiting in the wings and preparing for that position.

“How are your brothers?” she enquired, her thoughts having drifted in their direction. She then suddenly realised she had asked this without making the correct polite approaches to Anthony. “And how was your summer?” she asked belatedly, a blush spreading over her cheeks,“I do apologise,” she added, softly but sincerely.

13 Francesca Wolseithcrafte Well... go house pride, at least? 250 Francesca Wolseithcrafte 0 5

Ava Fletcher

October 16, 2013 8:57 PM

Happiness makes the world go round! by Ava Fletcher

As Ava was reaching out to hug him, she saw that his mouth had opened slightly like he was going to say something, but she didn't ask as she figured he would tell her after the hug. When Dimitri pulled away and didn't seem as though he would ask, Ava commented on it, "Where you going to say something else?" she asked. "I didn't mean to interrupt." She wondered what it was, perhaps another tid-bit about his summer or something more sentimental like he missed her too. It was times like this when Ava wished she had had more child company when she was younger, people her age to interact with as she wasn't entirely sure if things she did were, in fact, appropriate for someone who had just turned twelve that August.

"Medieval events?" Ava questioned, Dimitri's frown not going unnoticed. She just prefered to not discuss her summer when older children were listening lest they make some sort of rude, inappropriate comment along the lines of her and Demetre forming a...romance. The idea was just sickening. "That sounds neat, like a Renaissance Fair?" She had always seen neat pictures in text books or online of Renaissance Fairs had had entertained the idea of going to one, but she had never been presented with an opportunity. Besides, she wasn't entirely sure if she would feel comfortable there. Even though everyone was supposed to dress up, Ava felt as though if she were to go she would still feel out of place even when dressed the same way as everyone else as it wouldn't be her normal way of dress. She smiled back uncertainly, flattered that Dimitri had thought of her that summer. Ava took a bite of mashed potato drenched in gravy and thought about how to reply. She wondered what was blocking his mind from writing the new song but didn't press as she figured it was something like when she had artist's block. "Were you going to say something?" She asked him. "I didn't mean to interrupt you."

Ava watched Dimitri eat for a moment as she thought about her summer. She wasn't entirely sure how to describe it other than weird which was a word that Dimitri had already used. The experience she had shared with Demetre was other worldly- she had never thought even for the slightest moment that the two would ever get along much less breaching on the point of friendship. "Well," she began. "To say the least, it was, as you said, weird." She wasn't sure what else to say other than that. "Do you remember the other Demetre that I told you about last year? Maybe I didn't, I don't remember..." She trailed off, wishing that instead she had left it there and asked after his summer which had sounded a lot less complicated and very entertaining.

OOC: I honestly don't remember if she told Dimitri about Demetre or not, I remember her thinking about it to help her remember Dimitri's name... So you can decide if she did or not, here's a link to Ava's journal which has a summary of the kind of relationship they have:
http://mesrevesdecafe.insanejournal.com/2013/07/30/

10 Ava Fletcher Happiness makes the world go round! 258 Ava Fletcher 0 5

Henry

October 16, 2013 9:38 PM

The term's still young by Henry

Henry blinked, surprised, when D’Alesandro said she thought Jay had an unfortunate roommate situation. As far as he knew, his brother and his brother’s roommate were on perfectly amiable terms – not those of close friends, perhaps, but they lived together without significant conflict, and Jay didn’t seem to dislike him. Perhaps he was different at home? But then, why would she tell Henry about her family’s business?

Then, though, she began to laugh, and Henry smiled, too, concluding that she had meant to say something funny. He decided, for the sake of simplicity, to assume that she had not just actually insulted his brother in some way during the comment and that he was not required to be concerned about it if she was insulting her own brother. He would like to insult one of his, but the Careys didn’t allow that kind of thing in public; in private, they could do as they wanted to each other, within the limits of what they could get away with without getting caught, but in public, the family tried to put on a united front. Otherwise, everyone knew the other families would try to take advantage of the family being spread out over several states, two of which they were only holding very tenuous, scandalous perches in indeed, and then they would most likely lose everything, as they mostly relied on being large to cover for a multitude of sins.

“I see,” he said when she explained why her summer was not good. “Well, at least you got to spend time with your friend.” Friends were supposed to be desirable; he’d never had one, but he had liked being in the group with the others by the end of his second year. He guessed it was pretty similar. “Is your friend here, too?”

He shrugged when she apologized for how she had proposed getting to know each other. “Neither do I,” he said matter-of-factly about fitting in. He assumed this was a fact she had already been aware of, and possibly, in light of what she’d just said, why she had decided to speak to him in the first place. Perhaps she thought that if he was peculiar and she was peculiar, that they might be the same kind of peculiar and thus, get along. Or something like that.

Well, stranger things had happened.

“Potions, green, and maybe yes,” he answered her three questions. “How much are you dreading the Concert?”

0 Henry The term's still young 0 Henry 0 5

Mal

October 16, 2013 10:12 PM

Want some of mine? Half-price! by Mal

Mal realized his error. “You did it right,” he said matter-of-factly. “According to the woman who did tell me about what to do, anyway. I just always thought it sounded weird to tell someone they were welcome to thank me for being sorry about something – like I’m asking them to just keep doing it or something.” As if there were something exceptional about the ability to repeat social niceties. Given the caliber of some of the people he had seen recite them, he was pretty sure this was not in fact the case. Plus, that specific one seemed to him to imply something a little off about the egos of both parties.

“I think about that kind of thing too much,” he added by way of elaboration. “That was a bad time to point it out, though, sorry. Really.”

He listened to the tale of Clara Abernathy very quickly, but thought he got the gist of it. “I won’t repeat it, but I will say that nobody winks,” he said. “Unless they’re really doing something crooked. I’d run.” He took another bite of his squash. “If acts aren’t posted before we have to decide, I guess I’ll go with Devereux, from Crotalus – she’s some kind of distant cousin of mine and friends with my sister, so she ought to be all right. I don’t think we’d win any awards, but the job would get done, anyway.”

Idly, he wondered if Alex would take over Arthur’s old function as head of the family at Sonora. That tradition, he understood, had been formed by Jane Smythe, the foster-sister of the absentee technical temporary owner of most of Mal’s stuff, when she had made everyone cooperate at the last Concert, and Arthur was a great admirer of hers – Mal had seen him hanging on her every word in the library at the Reunion, standing behind her chair, looking more like a lover than a cousin, it had really been sickening. Arthur had also mentioned that he was appointing Jay to make sure they all passed their exams now that Arthur himself was no longer around to force-march them through the material until he was satisfied that they knew it, but that didn’t preclude Alex leading and deputizing that to Jay. Mal had always thought it was a menial-seeming position, one below the dignity of someone telling the rest of them what to do. He guessed, though, that he would just have to wait and see.

0 Mal Want some of mine? Half-price! 0 Mal 0 5

Anthony

October 17, 2013 1:33 AM

It's a magical thing by Anthony

Anthony spotted the Aladren first years without difficulty and picked out which one was to the left. “Congratulations,” he said sincerely. Francesca seemed happy enough that her brother was in their House, if only for the new player, and that made him think the comment was appropriate. He knew his family, at least, liked to be close together, in spite of the advantages of having members in all the Houses; it had been a blow to him personally when Henry was Sorted into Crotalus, since Hen had always been his best friend. Even after…what had happened had happened, with the Squib-culling incident that wasn’t, he thought Henry still got on with him better than anyone in the family, except maybe baby Peter, to whom Henry seemed to have taken a wholly strange shine last Christmas. From most people, patting a baby gingerly on the head and then reading to it, in a monotone worse than Arthur’s, about goblin rebellions might not have been much, but…well, Henry had had some quirks even before everything. For him now, that was a lot.

“I guess we’ll see how the positions fall out.” He realized he was being intentionally non-committal and that he didn’t have to worry about that anymore, as there was no point in anyone trying to pump him for information. He and Thad Pierce were in some of the same general social circles, and he guessed there was something to be said for the idea of a quiet unspoken bond between heirs, but they were by no means close enough for him to know what was going on with Quidditch if Thad even knew himself, given that he was only the Assistant Captain. “Still, though, there’s nothing wrong with reserves. If you're lucky – “ he grinned, feeling for a moment like a real Aladren, in the least abstract-intellectual way – “when you’re on the bench, you can figure out the moves for everyone you'll play against when you get off the bench.” That wouldn't be very good or much use if most of the people you watched graduated first, but, well, nothing was perfect.

“They’re well,” he said easily when she asked about his brothers, though he was a little surprised that she would. Yes, she had played with them, but he wouldn’t have imagined that the relationship was very close, given the age differences, for all Arthur’s finding the stuff her family was apparently involved with very interesting. He decided to file it as a specific variation on the generic asking about someone's family conversation line, or else just a product of the fact they had been talking about her brother. “Arnold’s still trying to see just how high he can dive straight down from without breaking his neck, and Arthur’s brushing up on his Gobbledegook, since he’s going on a Grand Tour next year and figures he could do worse than understanding the goblins.”

Even weirder than the thought of the twins not being here was the thought of the twins being apart. Intellectually, he knew it had to happen; Arnold was going to be married, and so he was going to have to balance his relationship with Fae with his relationship with Arthur. It was causing him a lot of stress, Anthony knew, too. Emotionally, though, he thought of his brothers as two halves of a unit. They balanced each other out. How would they function, either of them, without the other?

He was distracted from these thoughts by Francesca’s apology, which made him frown, confused. “My summer was fine, but what are you apologizing for?” he asked. “If you don’t mind me asking, of course,” he tacked on.

0 Anthony It's a magical thing 0 Anthony 0 5

Dimitri

October 17, 2013 2:31 PM

I've been told that by Dimitri

Dimitri had lost his train of thought with Ava's hug and found it a little difficult to get back. He honestly couldn't remember what it was he was originally going to say. He heard her queation, he just wasn't sure what to tell her. "It's okay. You didn't really interrupt anything," he assured her. "I was going to say that I was glad to see you...I think," he laughed slightly. "Sorry...its not that I didn't miss you because I totally did. Its just that I've never been hugged by anyone female outside of my own family. It was an unexpected surprise. A pleasant one to be sure...just unexpected. I'm certain I was going to say I missed you," he told her. "You actually made me forget what I was going to say," he laughed. "The only other time thats ever happened was when my sister stuck ice down my shirt from behind." Dimitri actually smiled at the memory.

Dimitri caught what he thought might be unease coming from Ava. He wasn't sure what she may or may not be uneasy about...he figured she would say if she was or not eventually. He left it alone and focused on her question about his extracurricular activities. "Yeah, something like that," he replied. "There's actually a few differences between our stuff and what's commonly known as "Renn Faires"," he began to explain. "As I've been made to understand, Renn Faires are for entainment mostly where people come dressed up or not and enjoy the performances put on by the actors running the faire. The actors get paid to be there. What my family does is like that only WE'RE the actors (so to speak) and we don't get paid to be there. Unlike when you go to a Renn Faire we encourage the people who come to our events to dress up as we do or to us you're naked. Also all the cool stuff the actors do at the faires we actually teach you how to do," he explained simply. He knew he could go farther into the explanation, but it was a lot for anyone to absorb...even him and he'd been doing it since he was very small.

Dimitri smiled slightly at her after his explanation. He didn't want her to feel weird about the explanation. He just hoped he gave her a better idea of what it was he and his family did. He took another bite of his food as he waited for her reply on how her summer went. This seemed to be where the unease he felt was there seemed to be coming from. He frowned slightly at her mention of the other Demetri and nodded. He remembered her mentioning him very briefly. From the tone she took when she first spoke of him led Mitri to believe the other Demetri was not one of her favorite people. "I remember you mentioning him briefly," he replied. "I got the impression he isn't one of your favorite people," he teased her lightly. His expression turned slightly serious. "Why? Did he say something to you over the summer that he shouldn't have?" he asked, concerned for his friend.

0 Dimitri I've been told that 0 Dimitri 0 5

Amira Thornton

October 17, 2013 11:48 PM

Condolences... by Amira Thornton

Amira felt very ready to go back to school. She had plans for Pecari’s Team and being a seventh year, she wanted more than anything to lead a Pecari victory. She’d decided once more, to be more than civil to Jade. The slightly younger girl would be taking over the team once she graduated and she wanted to be sure that Jade was ready for it, in fact, more ready than she was. The trip back to school was different, without Addison and Analea there it wasn’t as if it was quieter, the two sisters weren’t very talkative, however, this year Ariel was there too. She was even more unhappy about being on her way to Sonora than even Amira was when she had started.

Mir wondered to herself where Ariel would be sorted to, but also knew that soon she’d know. The first years were sent off and Mir found a seat at Pecari’s table. There was chatter all around her, but Amira’s mind was closed off almost to everything, waiting for the sorting so that she could get back to the Common Room and put up her Quidditch Signup Sheet.

The Headmistress started speaking and Amira glanced up there, knowing what she was about to say, though she really didn’t’ pay any attention to the words. A few first years walked up before she spotted the undeniable red hair of her sister. Amira watched her walk up and literally look as if she was going to spit into Professor Skies’ face and Mir was even nervous that she would do something that stupid… Sure, she was stupid when she was younger too, but she wasn’t nearly as angry as Ariel seemed…

Ariel drank the potion and immediately turned red. Just as I thought… Amira thought to herself as Ariel shouted something about making her into a lobster, and shook her head, feeling very badly for Abi right then. Abi was about to be tortured, she was sure of it… BOTH Carrie O’Malley AND Ariel in the same house… Mir would have to send Abi her condolences later…

Amira knew full well that she wouldn’t get head girl, so she didn’t really listen to who actually did, but when she heard Clara’s name get called, Mir actually grinned from ear to ear. She had just realized that her cousin had made Prefect! Headmistress KJ went on to tell them that Professor Skies was the new Deputy Head and Head of House for Crotalus. I feel bad for her… She’s gonna have some fun… Mir thought again, sighing at the realization that Coach Pierce was no longer there. She’d known it, of course, but she’d hoped it was all just a dream. The words ‘cancel Quidditch’ rang in her ears and Amira’s mouth fell to the floor. Thankfully the Headmistress kept talking and said that Professor Olivers has taken interest in substituting as Coach for the time being. Her heart came back up from the Dungeons and she felt like she was going to explode both with happiness and excitement all over again to hear that her last year wouldn’t be cancelled!

The Headmistress kept speaking, but Mira’s thoughts were now elsewhere until she heard Angel’s name and the fact that the Headmistress was leaving. Shocked, Amira looked up at her, hoping that Angel’s health hadn’t taken a turn for the very worst… She glanced towards Aladren’s table and Andri, knowing that Andri had been fascinated by him from the start. The sad look on her face told all, and Mira looked around for Kitty, one of Andri’s best friends, and didn’t see her there either. Andri was in for a rough year, she was sure of it…

The Midsummer Event was announced and hearing that each Prefect and Head Student would be putting on a show, she didn’t envy Clara… Though, she, Bri and Waverly had done a fantastic job the last concert around, and Mir was sure she’d be okay this time too. Mira’s small worry though was that with Clara as Prefect, she may lose her Keeper…

The sheet music appeared in front of them and Mira listened as song erupted all around the room. Once it finished, the food appeared before them and Amira reached for the mashed potatoes.

0 Amira Thornton Condolences... 208 Amira Thornton 0 5

Serena

October 18, 2013 12:14 AM

Getting the inevitable question out of the way. by Serena

Serena was trying to cover up the fact that she was a little nervous. Being in Teppenpaw helped some, being surrounded by nice people and even in another house, she knew she would have had someone looking out for her. Even Amity wasn't too lazy to do that. Still, she didn't want others to see her as weak, as easy prey. Even though she was in Teppenpaw, people in other houses could be sizing her up. Even the Teppenpaws could be. They could be at this moment trying to figure out if she was from the right sort of family and that could be good or bad depending on exactly who it was that was thinking about it.

But she couldn't help who she was either and she was sure there were other nervous first years among them. Though her impression of most of the ones she'd seen seemed pretty confident. At least Serena didn't have to worry about homesickness. She had her cousins here looking out for her. Of course, she also had one cousin who would be dead set on making her miserable. Unless Carrie found someone else to torture. While the first year wouldn't wish that on anyone, it was, well, better them than her and her sister through her..

Sometimes, Serena wished she could be more like her sister, tougher and stronger than she herself was. The thing was though, that the blonde didn't need to be like Arabella...because she had Arabella. Even in separate houses, the sixth year was still going to be there, protecting her. And she'd have Duncan the entire time and Tristan for most of it. Eventually though, she might have to step up and protect the younger ones like Kelsey, Kira and her brother. Serena didn't really Fabian or Kelsey needing protection from anyone though and she didn't know if Fabian, being a boy, would appreciate it. And Kelsey was sure to fall seemlessly into whatever group of high society proper pureblood girls happened to be in her year. Kira, on the other hand, seemed more insecure, and Serena owed it to Tristan to look out for her. On the plus side, Carrie would be graduated and gone by then.

Besides, the first year was more the type who could take care of someone by listening to them or comforting them when they were upset then the sort who could hex the living daylights out of them. Or would have that sort of nerve. In fact, the idea of doing so made her a little squeamish, she didn't expect to be very good at Defense. Or enjoy it. Arabella had done quite well on it on her CATS and Serena also knew it to be one of Tristan's better subjects. She herself at least expected to be good at Transfiguration like the rest of her family. She'd be ashamed not to whereas Defense wasn't as big of a deal to them. Well, to the family in general, Arabella felt that members of their particular group needed it. Serena hoped not to be one of them.

"Thank you." The first year said to the older girl who passed her the dish of chives. She took a spoon and sprinkled them over her potato, this was just the way she liked them. She probably should have a main dish too. Fortunately, some homemade macaroni and cheese was nearby. Serena wondered if it was as good as what the elves at home made. She supposed this was going to be actually school made macaroni and cheese. Still it was one of her favorite dishes.

She nodded. "Yes, I'm a first year. I am Serena Brockert of the Colorado Brockerts." Then the other girl's name caught her attention. "Gemma Bennett? Are you Paul's sister?" She knew her future brother in law had had a sister in Ryan's year and house group and that he had some other siblings but she didn't remember their names other than the older one, Eliza and there was supposed to be one around her age.

11 Serena Getting the inevitable question out of the way. 272 Serena 0 5

Gemma

October 18, 2013 5:18 AM

Answering it by Gemma

Gemma looked up from putting together a salad for herself as soon as the new girl's last name hit her, which turned out, she thought, to be the same moment hers hit Serena. She smiled as she nodded, trailing lettuce from the salad tongs as she far less than half-attentively moved what she had been picking up from the bowl to her plate.

"Yes!" she exclaimed. "One of them, anyway - there's two of us, but Eliza's not here now. One of my other brothers is in your year, too - Leo, he was just Sorted into Aladren, I'm sure you'll meet him soon. Don't take him too seriously, he does that enough himself," she joked. She loved Leo, of course, he was her brother, but he really did take everything a little too seriously, and himself, she thought, more than most things. She knew he had a sense of humor somewhere in there, every now and again it slipped past him, but he usually refused to use it, acting as though he were a particularly stuffy family's heir.

Though, of course, he could end up their family's heir, anyway, if for some reason it was decided, or he decided himself, that Paul wasn't suited for it, or they could end up splitting duties, or who knew what. It was all just about what was best for everyone, what would get them ahead. Even she, though, knew she ought not mention that.

"I'm sure you're related to Arabella?" she asked, feeling a great fool for not yet knowing her future sister-in-law's family tree. It was just so huge, but surely Serena must have been a fairly close relative, for Paul to come to mind so soon...."Oh! I think Paul said she has a sister, too - is that you? I'm sorry I don't know, I'm not very good with all the family trees." She couldn't begin to sort how much of the student body was connected, which was another reason for being glad to be in the House where that seemed to matter least.

0 Gemma Answering it 0 Gemma 0 5

Charlie B-F-R

October 18, 2013 5:37 PM

That's my current theory by Charlie B-F-R

“It's good to see you too,” Charlie smiled, pleased that Carter was pleased to see him. He had thought he would be but it was always nice to know such things for sure. Charlie tended to give people the benefit of the doubt and assume that they were nice until proven otherwise – and Carter had actively proven niceness on his side, so was doing super well – but this belief had been a little shaken the previous Christmas by his realisation that his Grandfather just... wasn't cool with certain things. Having definite positives from other people definitely meant a lot more now.

“Why couldn't we?” he asked, when Carted mentioned the pool party. He'd been thinking of making an annual tradition out of it but if his friend's default assumption was that it wasn't going to take place, then there had to be a reason for that. “Do you think it works better if it was just... one off and special?” he asked.

“Thank you,” he smiled, actually blushing slightly as Carter complimented his waistline. “Maybe it's different if you're a sportsperson,” he suggested, as Carter spoke out in favour of dietary sinfulness. Sportspeople were allowed to totally calorie load, so he supposed it was fine for Carter, though he did giggle at his comments about living dangerously.

Charlie grinned as Carter recounted the tale of his sister, who sounded adorable, in a wreaking havoc kind of a way. His expression turned more serious, however, when Carter mentioned betrothals. Charlie knew of them, of course. But he wasn't really sure what to say about them. It felt like congratulations and commiserations might be relevant in equal measures. Carter had grown up knowing that was what life held so he guessed that made it his normal – like Charlie and boys. But he still found it really hard to understand how it would make someone happy or be something they could be ok with.

“How do you feel about it?” he asked. Given that he didn't know the appropriate response, it meant that Carter hadn't really expressed this, and – even if the cause was rather alien to Charlie – he knew that having a chance to get one's feelings out in the open was often the best course of action in any situation.

“Yeah, it'll be strange to see them go. Sad too,” he commented about the staff changes. He only looked sad for a beat before he moved on. “The concert sounds fun though - I can't wait to see what sorts of performances there are.”

13 Charlie B-F-R That's my current theory 252 Charlie B-F-R 0 5

Ava Fletcher

October 19, 2013 7:38 PM

Well, it's true! by Ava Fletcher

"Oh, that's okay," Ava smiled at Dimitri. "I've never had any friends to hug either. I just thought it was appropriate." She shrugged and laughed at the idea of Dimitri's sister putting ice down his back. She'd never met Darina officially but she'd seen her around the school with her friends and in classes and she seemed like she was a nice girl. "How is your sister?" Ava asked. "And the rest of your family too?" She stirred her potatoes mixing in the gravy properly while waiting for the answer.

She listened while Dimitri explained the things similar to Renn Faires that he went to. They sounded cool though she was certain that she would be one of the "naked" people there. She didn't know if she could ever bring herself to dress like that though she thought the costumes to be pretty. She would have felt too overdressed and out of place. Even wearing her school robes sometimes made her feel conspicuous which was not a feeling that Ava liked much. Perhaps if she went to one with a friend she might feel less so. She mentally shrugged, she'd deal with that if she ever happened upon a situation that she'd have to go to a faire. "So what kinds of stuff do you teach?" She asked. "I know there are a lot of activities but do you teach all of them or just a few?" She wondered just how many things Dimitri was able to do. He was on the Teppenpaw Quidditch team, was an artist, a musician, and seemed to do fairly well in class- at least that was the impression she got from the few times that she'd partnered up with him. And to top it all off he was nice and funny too, the perfect friend. However, those thoughts soon vanished from her mind when Dimitri asked her about her summer and she'd had to ask him if he remembered her ever mentioning Demetre or not.

"I remember you mentioning him briefly," he replied. "I got the impression he isn't one of your favorite people," he teased her lightly. His expression turned slightly serious. "Why? Did he say something to you over the summer that he shouldn't have?"

Ava shrugged. "It was odd, I was up in my room most of the summer so I didn't really see much of him at the beginning. I missed you and Sonora too much so I was reading a bunch of books on Healing and Potions and anything else that might help me out with that." She gave a little laugh at the ridiculousness to which her obsession had gotten. "I think I filled something like eight notebooks with the amount of notes I took from the books I read this summer! I'm such a nerd!" Then her expression became quizzical. "But that's the thing. My Papa actually encouraged Demetre to come up to my room and play a prank on me in order to get me out. It's kind of understandable, I was up there for quite awhile and Papa probably missed me but... I don't know what it was, something was different this summer and we actually started getting along! I didn't even want to fight with him much which is weird for me, I was actually considered asking him if he wanted to write with me over the school year but luckily my senses came back in time and I decided not to. Can you imagine?" She shuddered. "After so many years, since birth really, of us not getting along all of a sudden this summer we do? I'm certain it's all a plot on his part to take revenge on me when I come home for Christmas!" This idea of revenge was not actually something Ava had thought through very thoroughly. In fact, it was a spur of the moment thing she had just decided upon while telling Dimitri about the events. However, the more and more she thought about it, the more and more she was sure that was the case.

10 Ava Fletcher Well, it's true! 258 Ava Fletcher 0 5

Emrys Lucan

October 20, 2013 5:55 PM

Looking for a friend (Tag: Charlotte) by Emrys Lucan

After a summer of visiting Wesley and owling Charlotte, Emrys had been torn about what he wanted the most when it came time to return to school. He had missed his little sister a lot and had been excited because she would be attending Sonora with him once he was a 4th year (which he really couldn't wait for even though it was in two years), and was sad that he hadn't really seen her much that summer. He was also upset that he had to leave Wesley again to come to Sonora while Wesley got to go back to all his friends at Hogwarts. As Emrys suspected, Wesley had made all kinds of friends at Hogwarts and he couldn't help but feel that he was being left behind. At the same times though, Charlotte was at Sonora and Emrys had become rather fond of the quiet girl. He liked spending time with her and she was great fun to write too- he got to practice his handwriting and writing style in a fun way versus the boring lessons he was sure to get from his grandfather if by the time he graduated school he had abominable handwriting and a horrible style.

When he got to school he hung around before taking a seat at the Aladren table looking for Charlotte. He didn't see her but figured she'd probably be at the Crotalus table. He listened to the Headmistress' speech and was saddened at the reason why she was leaving but not so much that she was. He didn't know her well nor had formed a bond with her and so didn't have much of an opinion on the matter but knew from his family that sick children (or sick anyone, really) was never a fun thing. He hoped Angel would be better but it didn't sound promising if the Healers couldn't find anything. He frowned, wondering what would happen to him. He didn't know Angel, couldn't even place him really, as he had spent most of the year cooped up studying, but did wish him well.

After the school song, Emrys ate his fill quickly- he couldn't wait for the feast to be over so that he could pull Charlotte aside and talk to her, maybe set up another studying/homework session in the library or see if she wanted to play music again or go for a walk. He'd missed her company a lot that summer, more than he'd realized, and writing just hadn't been able to fill the void. He spotted what he thought to be Charlotte's blonde hair through the crowd and pushed his way through the students to her. "Hey, Charlotte!" he called.

10 Emrys Lucan Looking for a friend (Tag: Charlotte) 260 Emrys Lucan 0 5

Arabella

October 21, 2013 2:55 AM

There's some in just about anything. by Arabella

Arabella couldn't resist the urge to laugh. "Offended? Who do you think probably gave you guys the idea to do whatever it was in the first place that needed to be made to look like an accident?" She took a bite of her steak. Last year had been, despite CATS, an easy year with the other cousins here being Amity and Tristan, and the annual activity had been a fair with non-mandatory booths, so she hadn't had to listen to the Aladren complain. This year there was Serena to look out for and she quickly glanced at the Teppenpaw table only to see her sister talking to Paul's. Well, that was nice and Arabella was happy to see it. She returned her attention to Alex.

"We've been friends since first year. You should know very well that I'm never going to be offended by any nasty thing you say about her ." She would have shared the story with her friend about punching Carrie in the nose once and only getting in trouble for it being unladylike without her mother seeming to care about her actually hurting the little brat but even though they were friends, she didn't want to share something about her improper behavior. Not to mention not wanting anyone else to overhear. Crotalus was the house of purebloods and propriety and somehow three very different personality types. Those with extremely low self-esteem, those with extremely high self-esteem and those completely normal and sane. The three groups had far less in common then those in other houses that were different. Like in Aladren, there were scary people and weird people-like Evan-and people who were....something else. Like Amity. But they all had the common thread of being smart, just in different ways. For example, her cousin was linguistically talented whereas Evan seemed artistically brilliant. Art was weird, and his art was weird, and the same was true of both him and other artists, so to her that meant he must be good at it. Thad, Alicia and Henny seemed to be the more typical definition of smart.

"Politics huh?" It wasn't something Arabella thought of much, which might be why she was not in Crotalus or Aladren and she giggled a little at Alex saying it was a filthy habit. She knew her friend had a sort of cynical interest in them. The Pecari never quite knew why her friend was cynical, they were on the side that tended to win, weren't they? Yes, there were some probably that didn't think Muggleborns should be allowed to go to Sonora or that Muggles should be hunted for sport or something, but really, for the most part, it was families like hers and Alexandra's that made the rules. But maybe Arabella felt like this because she didn't pay attention to politics much and just assumed that things were going their way.

The sixth year shook her head. "I knew my uncle was leaving, that's all." She paused. "Oh and that Coach Pierce was from the fair last year. I didn't know about... him . I mean, I don't even know the guy, I think he's my father' s cousin but they aren't close or anything, he's a lot older than my father is."

Arabella paused. "Wait, is that why you're thinking about politics?" She asked, suddenly paranoid. What if it was? Or if people thought it was. That her cousin didn't deserve to be the Headmaster because it put her family more in power, or that they had so much that that was why he was going to be in charge. Couldn't people believe in purebloods to be worth anything on their own merits rather than because of their last names?

11 Arabella There's some in just about anything. 217 Arabella 0 5

Chloe

October 21, 2013 10:02 PM

No no, that's okay. I like being drama-free. by Chloe

Chloe’s smile became more genuine as Malcolm spoke. He made her feel less weird about all of this somehow. Like, if she had to keep this going on until everyone in the school figured out that she was, indeed, of the same family as the Headmistress’s sick child and they had their moment with her, she would be able to get through it. She had flubbed up her first one and he had flubbed it up back to her and made her feel better that there was no ‘right’ way of doing this. Although, what he said made her think that he had gone through this before. Or something similar. Or knew enough people who had to be taught how to reaction properly to it. Unless that was just standard protocol for proper families, which really shouldn’t surprise her any. Propers had a funny way of doing things.

“Oh, that’s alright.” Chloe said, not really bothered by any sort of miscommunication they might have had. “I’m actually pretty pleased by this. I feel better knowing I’m not the only one who finds all of …this a little off putting. Plus, I’ll be better prepared for it the next time someone apologizes for my brother’s…sickness or hearing about it.” As she said the sentence she realized how odd it really was. “Or whatever it is exactly that they are apologizing for even though it’s of no fault to anyone and just an unfortunate thing to happen.” Chloe said, repeating what her Daddy had told her.

Chloe gave a giggle. A real giggle that lit her face up and she brought a hand up to cover her mouth. Hearing Malcolm say that no one winked made her feel immensely better about being bothered by it all. She wasn’t even sure she knew how to wink and so, being in a conversation with two people she had only just met to have one of them winking throughout the entire thing made her feel, well, disturbed. But she hadn’t told anyone but Emery and that was because she thought it would have been rude to say negative things about other people. She had liked Clara. She just hadn’t liked the winking.

“Devereux…” Chloe said to herself, looking thoughtful as she tried to recall if she knew that name or not. She didn’t. “You are related?” She asked, surprised, when his words regarding his relationship had finally sunk in. “You have a very large family. I never would have thought you had relatives that weren’t Careys too.” Chloe didn’t have other family as far as she knew. Her dad didn’t really talk with his family after what happened with her mother. And her adoptive mom was an only child. Chloe felt this was a large reason why they had taken in Ayita and Angel. They wanted to have a big family.

“There’s Waverly too. I did the baking club with her. She’s very organized. Maybe I’ll see what she’s doing too.” Chloe said as an afterthought. “Do you have any talents that might help your group?”

6 Chloe No no, that's okay. I like being drama-free. 0 Chloe 0 5

Charlotte Spencer

October 22, 2013 11:09 AM

You've got a friend in me. by Charlotte Spencer

Charlotte had been pleasantly surprised by Emrys’s request for her address at the end of last term. The next pleasant surprise came with an owl from him over the holiday. She was willing to write, but she had only hoped for at least one or two letters at the most. Summers were chaotic and it was a well-known fact that wizards were not dedicated in owling as witches were. She had a brother who can attest to that. When she and Emrys kept up their correspondence throughout the summer, she found the summer passing a bit quicker than usual and began expecting his letters every week if not every day.

Now that summer was over and the term was beginning once again, Charlotte was actually looking forward to coming back. Adam had teased her about Emrys and her parents had been surprised to hear that one of her classmates was writing her, a boy, no less. Jack was still too young to understand the importance of a boy writing Charlotte and she wasn’t going to be the one to tell him. Her summer had been decent as she had spent most of her time watching over her younger sister who was getting to be quite the talker with alarmingly boyish interests. But now that was for her mother to fret over now that Charlotte was back at school. She looked for Emrys initially, but was soon overtaken by the enormity of the crowd and finding her seat where she could sit and watch the feast take place at the Crotalus table.

The Headmistress made her speech and she watched the sorting, imagining Jack going through as he would when he was a bit older. There were loads of changes going on this year, what with the Headmistress stepping down and new staff members coming in and old ones leaving. There was quite a lot to take in. Adam would be happy to hear that Quidditch was still on, though she wasn’t sure he was as enthusiastic about it as their cousins. The feast began and Charlotte turned to eat without making eye-contact with anyone as per usual. She didn’t necessarily enjoy her solitude, but after long trips across the Atlantic and the United States, she needed to take some time for herself.

After the feast, Charlotte rose and began to follow the crowd back to her dorm. She wasn’t necessarily looking forward to seeing Eleanor again, but sharing a room had not been completely maddening. Still, it was something that Charlotte would have to reintroduce herself to slowly. She heard her name being called and was tempted to ignore it as she usually did at home when she was walking out in public. ‘Charlotte’ was a popular name and she knew there were others who were more likely to be called by their friends. However, there was a feeling telling her to turn and she remembered Emrys then. She turned a bit quicker at the thought and saw him making his way over to her. The smile came naturally to her face and she waved before moving towards him. Having never gone against the crowd before, she struggled a bit and found herself being pushed back, but at last she made her way out of the crowd and waited for Emrys to join her.

When he did, she smiled again. “Hello Emrys,” she said, trying not to look excited about seeing him again. “I was glad to receive your letters over the summer,” she stated, pleased she had enough courage to tell him that. “How are you?”

40 Charlotte Spencer You've got a friend in me. 265 Charlotte Spencer 0 5

Emrys Lucan

October 23, 2013 4:56 AM

When the road looks rough ahead? by Emrys Lucan

To his delight, the girl he had called out was indeed Charlotte and not some random witch that he would have felt awkward explaining his mistake to. She looked well, he thought, then internally frowned at himself- where had that come from? He smiled at her instead, pleased to see her so happy. "It was nice writing you too," he replied. He'd enjoyed the contact with her as it made for something to look forward to when returning to Sonora. "I'm doing pretty well, I was in the U.K. this summer, as you know," his letters to her had indicated that though he hadn't gotten up the nerve to ask her to meet him somewhere. "I thought about asking you to tea or coffee somewhere but didn't want to overstep any boundaries." He didn't know if she wanted to keep home and school separate and if she might not have welcomed an invitation out. Besides, he had been too worried to be turned down to even ask. He shrugged. “But I suppose it doesn't really matter in the long run anyway, we’re both here now.”

He smiled and hoped he wasn't being too forward. "Anyway," he cleared his throat. “I do hope your travels here went smoothly, I do know the wagon rides can sometimes be a bit bumpy though mine was rather smooth.” He frowned, thoughtfully. “How are you?” He hoped she was as happy as the smile on her face made her seem.
It was a rather nice smile after all, he thought to himself. He fiddled with his fingers while he waiting for her to answer. He could have kicked himself, he was being incredibly awkward. He hadn't talked to another child his age other than Wesley all summer- Caelia didn't count as she was only 8 and besides, she was his sister, she was always around, he had to play with her (both musically and with dolls), it was mandatory as a big brother. Which reminded him.

"Say, would you like to have another duet perhaps?” He had really enjoyed hearing her play last term and was excited to hear it again.

"Shall we start walking?" he asked, conversationally after she had answered while gesturing to the door. "I can walk you to your common room. I won’t come in of course," he knew that students were not allowed in other house’s common rooms but walking someone there to ensure that they got there safely (even though Sonora really had no dangers) couldn't hurt, right? "But only if you’re okay with it," he added hastily in case she didn't want him to walk her as far ‘home’ as he could.

10 Emrys Lucan When the road looks rough ahead? 260 Emrys Lucan 0 5

Charlotte Spencer

October 23, 2013 11:52 AM

I'm no fair-weather friend. by Charlotte Spencer

There was the potential of being invited to tea by a boy in England during the summer? Charlotte was ready to blush so she looked down and let her hair come in between them. How would Mother have reacted to tea? She would have wanted to meet him, certainly. Boundaries; yes, as a boy and girl there were many boundaries that could be easily overstepped and couldn't be. "Yes, we're both here now," she repeated, wondering if her blush had faded enough for her to look up again.

She looked up when she directly addressed. "Well; a bit tired. The ride was long from London not to mention the Portkey." Charlotte hated Portkeys, but it was the only manageable way to travel across the pond without Apparition or a long boat ride. There wasn't much else to say after that so she waited for Emrys to continue. It was a bit awkward standing around here like this now that the crowds were dissipating, but she'd rather be out here with a friend than in her dormitory with strangers.

Emrys came through with another topic to continue their conversation. The mention of a duet made her smile. "Yes, of course," she told him. The idea of the concert came to mind and almost sent her knees knocking just at the thought of it. If she were on a stage in front of hundreds of people she was sure to faint or something just as ridiculous and embarrassing. She couldn't think about it now that she was with Emrys. She didn't want to be afraid in front of him.

Thankfully he led her to walk and she followed his lead. "Thank you," she replied. "I don't think you're supposed to know where my common room is, but you can drop me off at the corner." She wanted to follow the rules, but she did not want to walk through the corridors on her own either. It was rather late after all and she had no friends in her house-mates. She was pleased to have made such a good friend in someone so proper. Adam ought to learn his manners from Emrys.

They were alone and it was strange for Charlotte to be alone in the corridors with someone who was not her brother. She didn't know what to say, really, having never been good at any sort of personal conversations, though Emrys was an exception in most cases. They had been fine in the MARS room, but again that was during the day. Fears of magical creatures coming out and attacking came to mind, but she knew Emrys was there and he could do something to protect her. "How is your family?" she asked, jumping onto the topic that had just come to mind in thinking of her own family.

40 Charlotte Spencer I'm no fair-weather friend. 265 Charlotte Spencer 0 5

Mal

October 23, 2013 10:38 PM

More fun for me, then, it seems by Mal

“They’ll stop eventually,” Mal said, assuming this would be welcome news. “Here…well, everyone you see, you see all the time, so I wouldn’t think you’ll have to put up with it for more than a week or two.”

For him, that would have been enough time to get thoroughly sick of hearing about it, but it beat the month or two it could take outside, from what he’d seen since he’d been old enough to pay attention. He didn’t know how long people had said they were sorry about Father; he had been too little to know how long anything was, then. It occurred to him that Chloe ought to have an easier time than she might have even in a school, too, though, since her brother wasn’t actually dead yet, but he didn’t mention that. Death was something you weren’t supposed to talk about, he’d been told, except to explain to your kids that this is what happens to people who are bad.

Mal was confused for a moment by the confusion over Alex. “Her mother’s a Carey,” he explained. “Though from another branch. I don’t know if there are any connections to my mother’s family here, though.” He looked around the room, as though expecting one to jump out at him, but the strongest resemblance he saw to himself in anyone else at Sonora was in the face of Charles Boxton-Fox-Reynolds, who he was pretty sure was not related to him in any manner or degree. Surely, no power above or below could be so cruel as to give him a relative who wore such atrocious clothing in public “I don’t know much about that side of the family, really.”

Thomas and Morgaine had never approved of Mother having much company, and they had approved even less of any of them going out of the house. The restrictions had loosened since Thomas died and Lu got older, but Mother still didn’t have much to do with her own relations, she was too busy focusing on how she was a Real Carey, and the mother of Real Careys, and someone worthy of respect. That she had been born almost as much of a nobody as Alex’s father, with nothing to recommend her but a fanatical loyalty to the pureblood cause, a trait his father had always apparently….lacked, was not something Mal thought his mother wished to think about or have them know. He only did because he’d looked it up on his own time, just because he’d sensed that she didn’t want him to.

“I doubt it,” he said, contemplating his talents. “I could be an extra in a play, I suppose.” He shrugged. “We’re Pecaris, right? Adaptability. I’ll work something out. What about you? Besides baking?” He didn’t really see baking being a thing which would work in what his sister had made the Concert seem to be. Not even a demo – what could be less interesting than sitting in place for an hour and just watching someone else cook?

0 Mal More fun for me, then, it seems 0 Mal 0 5

Alex

October 24, 2013 7:17 PM

Just about by Alex

“Family’s a complicated thing,” Alex said with a shrug, though she couldn’t keep a thin smile off her lips now. “I have cousins who’d use each other’s bones in Dark magic and yet go out and curse the whole family of anyone who cheated the other in a card game. It never hurts to hedge your bets, you know. Plus, I was imagining more a crime of passion than anything.”

This was largely as facetious as her claim that she would willingly and cheerfully become an accessory to murder. Possibly the part about bones was true of some Careys, but the rest was an overstatement. Amusing to think of, though, in a twisted sort of way, even if thinking of her father made her feel a little guilty for it. Father didn’t approve of that kind of thinking; he insisted that law and order meant something, and that people like her mother’s family were, no matter what they told themselves, little more than thugs who would get theirs someday, as everyone did in the end. Even joking about being too much of a Carey felt a bit like rejecting him, which she had no interest in doing. Father, unlike most of her relatives, was actually sane.

“Sad but true,” she confirmed of her thoughts, still not specifying what kind of politics she meant by that. Arabella was a factor in the game, but also her friend, and it was usually not good, she thought, to admit to your friends that you could, at least for a minute, switch over into thinking of them as, more or less, chess pieces. It wasn’t a good thing to do, either; she knew that. It was not the mark of a good person, and was the kind of behavior which could lead to all kind of nastiness, if it got out of proportion. She did it anyway, though, because she couldn’t help it; sometimes, that was just the way she thought, even about her close family. It was one of the few things she thought both sides of her family would condone.

Keeping the subjects of her musings totally to herself, though, proved impossible. “It was a part of it,” she said bluntly, though not harshly. It was what it was, in her view, and she couldn’t imagine Arabella hadn’t expected it. Whether the man was a qualified or skilled administrator or not, he was a Brockert, and so people were going to speculate about his arrival here. “I don’t object or anything, but I couldn’t help but think about it.” She applied hot sauce to her oyster soup. “The Careys will most likely be supportive, if I read it right, for whatever that’s worth, though I’d ask that you not quote me on that. Mostly I was thinking about Head Boy and Head Girl, though. I think it’s going to be nasty this year, and I was thinking I’m glad that I’m not in the running for it.”

She was. Really. So there was a part of her that enjoyed this kind of thing. It was small. The rest of her had an iota of sense.

0 Alex Just about 0 Alex 0 5

Leonidas Bennett

October 24, 2013 7:19 PM

That's definitely bad by Leonidas Bennett

“From what I’ve heard, they might need it, whether they want it or not,” Leo said of new blood on the Aladren Quidditch team. “Paul thinks they’re going to go to pieces without those Carey twins, and I’d hate to let him be right….”

Though really, he thought it might be better if his brother would just openly gloat over that kind of thing. He doubted, though, that it would ever happen. That just wasn’t Paul’s style, not exactly. A smirk here or there was as much as he would ever let on, at least directly, and it would be more for the form of the thing, Leo thought, than from any real satisfaction over being right, because honestly, he wasn’t sure there was much in the world Paul did care that much about. He was fond of them, his brothers and sisters, Leo was pretty sure, especially the two girls, Eliza was his confidante and he seemed to find Gemma funny, but he didn’t get enraged by things as Eliza did, or excited as Leo himself could; he just regarded all the world with a sort of mild-humored polite interest, just inside the realm of interest instead of disinterest.

“Crotalus lost to Teppenpaw last year,” Leo said. “My sister – third year – is in Teppenpaw, though not on the Quidditch team, and apparently it was reckoned quite a coup. It seems the final is always Aladren-Crotalus, until last year it wasn’t.” It must have been pretty exciting for Gemma to notice and then think to write about it, though she was attached to her House – she liked fitting in, Gemma, feeling part of the group, and it seemed that Teppenpaw was the House where everyone Sorted there had the chance to feel that way. They were kind and cooperative, they believed in personal development. Their whole doctrine ran against excluding people.

Really, the more he thought about it, the more the whole House system seemed a little strange to him. It was all right for him, of course – Aladren was the House with the attributes which allowed them to compensate for things they didn’t have. The others, though? All the planners in one House, all the adapters in one House, all the problem-solvers in one House, all the kind people in one House…it had the potential to turn them all into messes, he thought, though he was sure he was missing something, since the system did seem to work well enough.

0 Leonidas Bennett That's definitely bad 269 Leonidas Bennett 0 5

Waverly

October 25, 2013 1:23 AM

Especially here! by Waverly

Liliana's reaction to Waverly's description of how wonderful Pecari was allowed her to mentally relax. It would have been really embarrassing if the sixth year Prefect couldn't convince a first-year how great their house was. That would have been worthy of stepping down from her prefectship and allowing someone more articulate to spread the joy of Pecari. But Waverly had passed and she was sure she'd be able to continue on strong. Head Girl was on the horizon and she could only try her best to look good on the ballot.

It was unfortunate that young girls like Liliana had to stay inside learning with tutors for her childhood. Waverly's parents had been busy with work, but they had always made sure to educate their daughters on the outside world especially when they were young. Elementary school was more like play and learning the basics than intensive studies. "That sounds great," she said earnestly, wanting to encourage her to talk. There was so much of the world to see that Waverly couldn't imagine being kept inside all the time especially in a nice and green place. Liliana seemed to be smiling and it made Waverly happy to see that. She was getting somewhere!

It must've been hard to move to Connecticut from London especially if she still had close family in England. "I'm sorry about that," she replied. "Do you still contact them often though?" Waverly lived several hundred miles away from her grandparents in North Carolina, but she had never grown up with them. She did call them often when she was at home and they flew over at least once or twice a year. Those grandparents were pretty well-off so they had both the time and funds to make those trips.

The Thorntons didn't live in England and Waverly was only an acquaintance with the bride, so she didn't know much. "I'm not really sure," she told her honestly. "I only know the Thorntons and they're definitely from America. Their family’s from Oregon, out in the Northwest. I’ve never been there, but I hear it’s beautiful.”

The country wasn't a place Waverly was familiar with the way other people were. It seemed to be a place for farmers and older people when they retired, maybe even for kids. But she didn't think she could ever live in a place like that. She was definitely a city-suburb girl and loved Phoenix and probably wasn't going to leave Arizona any time soon. "Phoenix is a pretty big city. I live in Central Phoenix kind of near all the tall buildings. It's pretty flat where I am, but it's not far to the huge mountains that surround most of the city. It's either really hot or warm, so snow was pretty new to me when I first came here. I was not used to wearing so many jackets and layers!" Waverly smiled. "At least you're prepared for that. Winters at Sonora are so different what they are outside of the school grounds. Do you like the cold weather better or hot?”

0 Waverly Especially here! 0 Waverly 0 5

Francesca Wolseithcrafte

October 25, 2013 11:59 AM

Most things here are by Francesca Wolseithcrafte

“I think that's very much how he feels about it,” Francesca commented, when Anthony extolled the virtues of a season on the bench, “There also isn't a lot of appeal in playing a position that you've never been interested in or worked on the skills for before and thus, most likely, making a rather poor showing.

“Gosh how exciting,” she commented, as he discussed his brothers' continuing adventures, more in relation to Arthur's plans, though his description of Arnold's brought a wry little smile to her face. “Learning languages is such a valuable skill and Gobbledegook is so little spoken in the wizarding community, so it's bound to make him rather in demand even after his tour is finished.” She thought this neglect of the language stemmed from the general wizarding tendency to assume that goblins were beneath them. Indeed, many people openly claimed the pointlessness of it was why they had never learnt or had abandoned their efforts, though she suspected that some of those cases had more to do with the language's incredibly complex morphological system and people not wanting to admit that it had defeated them. She thought that both his foresight in trying to learn and, if he succeeded, his determination spoke well of Arthur.

“Oh,” she said, when he asked why she was apologising, vexed that her very act of contrition was going to draw attention to something that might otherwise have passed unnoticed. Still, she supposed it was better to do so, and to have apologised, than to have offended Anthony and then not done so. “Some people might find it impolite that I enquired after your brothers before you when, after all, you are the person to whom I am speaking,” she explained. “I'm glad that you had a pleasant summer,” she offered, bland as it was, she thought she ought to offer some way back out of the little conversational dead end of her apology, as being forced to linger there might be rather awkward.

13 Francesca Wolseithcrafte Most things here are 250 Francesca Wolseithcrafte 0 5

Emrys Lucan

October 25, 2013 6:08 PM

A good thing too because I’m not either. by Emrys Lucan

“That’s too bad,” Emrys replied when Charlotte talked about the long ride from London and mentioned a Portkey He hadn’t particularly liked taking a Portkey to his cousin’s but had simply thought of it as another adventure and had been able to get over his dislike quite quickly. Bouncing up and adapting was a skill that his mother’s family greatly valued and so it had been installed in Emrys’ head from a young age. “When would you like to next meet to duet?” He asked.
“Perhaps we can even sign up for a concert together if you would like that?” He thought perhaps if they did a concert with others no matter what the others wanted to do, he and Charlotte could provide a nice musical duet to go along with it. Background music for a play or skit or dance, and if it were an actual concert with musical instruments well then there they were, they’d fit in perfectly!

“The corner sounds perfect,” Emrys offered his arm and waited for her to take it until he started to walk. “My family is well,” he replied to her question. “I saw my cousin this summer, as you know from my letters, and got to see our dog Lio again which was quite wonderful.” He wanted to describe how cheerful and happy Lio had been to see him and how wonderful it had been to play with his dog again but he remembered that Charlotte had a cat and he didn’t know if she liked dogs too so instead he chose to tell her about his sister.

“My little sister, Caelia is growing up a bit, she’ll be turning 6 this year, so she’ll probably be coming to Sonora when we’re in fourth year. It’s a long way off but I’m already feeling protective,” he laughed. “She’s really sweet and trusting, I worry about her making the wrong sort of friends, witches and wizards that might mislead her.” He shrugged. “But there won’t be much I can do, we’ll never have classes together and I don’t think we’ll be in the same house either, she’s not really an Aladren…” He trailed off, frowning, wondering where Caelia would end up. She was a lot like Charlotte so perhaps Crotalus, but when she opened up she could be a lot like some of the Teppenpaws he’d seen in classes so he really wasn’t sure. “How is your family? I know Adam’s here so he’s obviously well, but the rest of your family?”

He wanted to slow down as he didn’t know where the Crotalus common room was and didn’t want to walk past it lest he embarrass himself in front of Charlotte but at the same time didn't want to reach the Crotalus common room for awhile as he was enjoying himself. In the end, he realized that slowing down would behoove him the most as even if they didn't miss the common room while walking, it would take much longer to get there erego giving him more time to talk to the friend he'd missed to much over the summer.

10 Emrys Lucan A good thing too because I’m not either. 260 Emrys Lucan 0 5

Charlotte Spencer

October 26, 2013 1:12 PM

Lovely to hear. by Charlotte Spencer

The thought of playing at a concert gave Charlotte the chills. She couldn't allow an anxiety attack to get the best of her in public. Underneath the table she fiddling with her hands where Emrys couldn't see. She didn't want to disappoint Emrys, but she didn't think she could play the piano in front of so many people without fainting from her anxiety and fainting in front of a large crowd would embarrass her for the rest of her life. She couldn't do it, but perhaps she could fall into the background or do something behind the curtain.

"I would love to sign up together," she said a bit too enthusiastically. Since Adam was occupied with his own house and his own mates, Charlotte had felt a little abandoned. But now that she had Emrys, things seemed to be all right. Unless, of course, he decided to make good friends with his own house-mates. That thought was always lingering in the back of her mind, but she tried not to dwell on it. Practising a duet couldn't be harmful as long as it was clear Charlotte would not be able to play at the concert. "As for our duet, would this Saturday work? You can choose the music this time if you'd like."

He continued to tell her about his family. It sounded like he had a fantastic summer which Charlotte was glad of. It amused Charlotte that the name of Emrys's dog was the name of her younger cousin, but she tried not to think anything of it. There were several pets in her household which had made her mother want to move to an estate out in the country. Her father had three dogs, one of which simply adored her younger sister and wouldn't be parted from her. The same spirit of excitement that she was sure had taken Lio on seeing Emrys again would certainly be evident in Tod every holiday once Lily started school.

Emrys's sister was about the same age as Charlotte's younger sister. Caelia sounded like a lovely girl. The worry of what sort of friends her younger siblings would attract was an understandable one that she shared with Emrys. Adam had never had to worry about that with Charlotte; the worry for her was always if she would make any friends at all. Charlotte hoped Caelia made good friends when she came to Sonora. With a lovely name like that, Charlotte had no doubt she would.

"My family is well," she told him. "My father has officially been transferred to the position of mediwizard. He worked with gathering potion ingredients before which kept him away from home often. My mother's happy to have him at home now." Charlotte was also happy to have her dad home more often. When Henry was gone, Cassie was fretful and anxious and tended to be stricter with her eldest daughter. "As for my other siblings, Lily is turning six this November and Jack is learning how to ride a broom." She smiled. "All lads have their time of mischief, I suppose." Jackie was slightly more introverted than Adam had been, but he was still just as interested in adventure. "Jackie will be here in three years now." Time really did go by quickly. She was already in her second year and Adam in his third. Poor Lily would be so lonely at home alone.

Charlotte didn't know what else to say so she allowed Emrys to lead into the next conversation topic. She had asked about his family after all. They were out of the way of the crowd now and walking to the common room. She was used to allowing the wizards lead, but she realised Emrys would not know where her common room was. She led the way with her feet without being obvious about it. Wizards had pride that Mum had told her a witch should respect and, though Charlotte was sure if Emrys was that sort of wizard, it was always nice to play it safe and practise for the future when all the lads grew up.

40 Charlotte Spencer Lovely to hear. 265 Charlotte Spencer 0 5

Carter

October 27, 2013 12:05 AM

Its a good theory by Carter

Carter was glad that he could make Charlie laugh even if it was only a little one. "You're very welcome," he told Charlie after he had complimented Charlie on his waistline. He had meant what he said, it wasn't like he was going to take it back. He heard Charlie's question on the betrothal issue and found that he didn't have an immediate response. Carter actually stopped mid-bite at Charlie's question. How did he feel about it? Carter couldn't help wondering that himself. He had really never stopped to think about it. For him that sort of thing was completely normal. His family had been doing them for as long as he could remember. It had never crossed his mind to wonder about it. Carter shrugged. "Don't know," he replied casually, finishing his bite. "To be honest I've never really given it much thought." He wrinkled his lightly freckled nose as he frowned slightly. "Its always been normal for my family as far as I know so I've never really thought about it. There's never been an issue with them as far as I know so I suppose its not all bad. The lass who's picture my grandda sent me looks alright I suppose." He pulled the girl's picture out of his pocket and handed it to Charlie. "Take a look for yourself mate," he told him as he took another sinful bite.

Carter took the picture back from Charlie when he handed it back and stick it back in his pocket. "I have no idea if the arrangements have been made yet, but if I remember correctly she was really nice...although that might have just been her being polite to a stranger. I don't really know." He shrugged. Carter was a tad curious as to how Charlie felt about them himself. "How do feel about them? Or are like me and haven't given them much thought?" He asked curiously taking another bite off of his plate. He nodded thoughtfully at Charlie's comments towards the staff change. He had to admit he was going to miss Coach Pierce being the quidditch coach, but he was glad that Professor Skies was willing to take over so they didn't miss out on playing again. With Laurie as the captain and the Carey twins (well twin) gone from Aladren, Teppenpaw might have a chance to win the cup this time around. Derry was a great captain and Carter was still a little bummed that they couldn't get him the cup before he left them. He figured they would just have to settle for the house cup which they ended up winning last term. "Do you think the new Headmaster is related to any of the Brockerts that go to school here or could that just be a weird coincidence, do you think?" Carter asked Charlie curiously.

0 Carter Its a good theory 0 Carter 0 5

Dimitri

October 27, 2013 12:09 AM

I'm glad something is by Dimitri

Dimitri gave Ava a curious look as she told him about her experience over the summer with the other Demetri. Of all the things he had half way expected her to say about him the fact that they had actually been getting along was really not one of them. He had almost expected her to say something like he had tried to kiss her or was leaving her mushy notes or something. "Really?" He asked curiously. He didn't really know what to say to that one. He would have thought that the fact that they had gotten along might have pleased her, but given her later comment he completely understood why she seemed more concerned than pleased. "I can see why that would disturb you," he replied sympathetically. "Given your history together that does seem slightly suspicious," he agreed. Dimitri frowned slightly as he thought about something she said. "What I don't understand is why he would want revenge on you for something," he commented. "What could you possibly have done to make him wasn't to do that to you?" Dimitri asked curiously. From the little but he knew about Ava thus far she didn't strike him as the malicious type who would deserve some type of retribution for anything. Maybe Demetri is just jealous of her for some reason he thought to himself. Dimitri really couldn't see the reason why anyone would want to hurt Ava. It just didn't add up. Maybe she was right and he was being nice to her just to be mean...who knew?

Dimitri shrugged the thought away and tried to change subjects to one that would frighten or worry Ava less. "What charity did you end up giving our tip money to?" Dimitri inquired curiously. They had made a whopping fifteen dollars in tips at the fair due mostly to a couple of generous donations made by his teammate Carter and his cousin Clara. She had apparently been glad to help out when she discovered that the money was going for a good cause. She didn't really care what the cause was she just wanted to help. Dimitri made her a silly picture anyway which she gave him a kiss on the cheek for. Dimitri waited until his cousin and her "friend" had left before wiping his face off with the back of his hand. It was bad enough when his mom kissed him, it was downright embarrassing when his cousins did it. He knew that Clara and Lucian were best friends, but according to the yearbook they had been voted best couple not best friends. He told himself he would ask her about that later. "I know we didn't make much, but it was better than nothing right?" He asked encouragingly. He shifted gears again slightly asking about the next thought he had bouncing around in his head. "When the lists go up do you have an idea of whose performance you'd like to join for the concert?" He inquired lightly. He started laughing a bit as he thought about it. "I kinda feel sorry for my cousin," he commented shaking his curly head. "She was never any good with the theatrical stuff. That was definitely Brielle through and through." He shook his head again silently praying for his poor cousin. "I'm tempted to sign up for hers, but honestly I'm afraid she'll make me wear a dress or something." Dimitri tried to make it sound like a joke, but he was actually mildly concerned about it. For all he knew she actually might.

0 Dimitri I'm glad something is 0 Dimitri 0 5

Chloe

October 27, 2013 10:43 PM

That's what it looks like. by Chloe

Chloe took what Malcolm said with great thought. It was true, she saw everyone hear daily and eventually they would learn to stop asking because Chloe could only tell them that she was okay and that they were doing what they could for Angel. Her parents had never lied to them about what was going on. Some people might have thought they were too young to know, like their Nana, Melissa, but Kiva and Daddy wanted them to understand there was a chance, a great chance, that Angel would not make it. He was very sick and had been for a long long time.

The moment Angel was in their lives, her parents explained his past life to them. Chloe and her siblings, her family as a whole, had always wanted Angel to know what a loving family was. Now seemed like the most important time for him to have it and she wasn’t there to make sure he knew all the time. It was incredibly hard for Chloe to be away from him. “I hope so. Or, at least, if they keep asking me that I’ll be not so awkward about answering them.” She assumed that if any question happened after the initial first week would be more on how Angel was feeling, so hopefully she would be able to provide anyone with updates. Although who those people were, she hadn’t a clue. Angel would be a sixth year now and Chloe didn’t know who he was friends with from that year.

Malcolm’s family was entirely too large. If a family had different branches to it, then they were just far far too big. She knew through marriage that names changed and family connections grew or whatever, but he had so many Carey relatives that it seemed never ending that to add to that family with different last names and a person’s head could swim. “My adoptive mom is an only child, so I don’t have to worry about random family members from her, but Daddy’s family is somewhere around. He doesn’t really have a relationship with them because of my biological mother. I don’t even know her name, so I could totally have family here and not even know it.” Her father had a brother and some cousins, that much she knew. Sometimes her uncle paid visits, but those stopped almost entirely once Daddy had married Kiva. A Pureblood from a not so known family marrying a Half-blood after conceiving a child out of wedlock with an unstable woman did not sit well with the family. Her father never really spoke of it.

Chloe thought about what she had to offer and then shrugged. “Daddy says my talents are breaking things and chatting someone’s ear off about nothing of importance.” She smiled when she said that so Malcolm knew that her father said it in jest. “I don’t think either of those things will be very helpful. I'm good with animals...but that might be a family thing.” Chloe added, more to herself. All of them seemed to have taken up a liking to animals because of their mother. Ayita was even going to school for Magizoology. "I doubt we'd have a show on animals for that to be of much use though."

6 Chloe That's what it looks like. 0 Chloe 0 5

Mal

October 30, 2013 7:47 PM

If you're really sure, I guess I can manage it all... by Mal

“Good luck,” Mal said, since he didn’t see what else, besides experience she evidently didn’t want, could help Chloe learn to be less awkward about responding to queries over her brother’s health. He had always practiced his lines in front of his enchanted mirror until he realized it might spy on him for Mother, but those things were untrustworthy and expensive and thought mostly – at least if they had the same charms on them that his did; magic mirrors were not really something he had ever made a study of, so he didn’t know what others might do – about what clothes went well with the viewer’s complexion, or would bring out the viewer’s eyes. Even if Chloe could afford one, the first and third problems would still make having it at best more trouble than it was worth and at worse useless.

Her comments about his family were enough to actually surprise him. The content was only surprising insofar as he usually assumed that other people had families closer to standard issue than his was, but having that disproven was enough to catch his interest, and she was just talking about it, without a hint of shame. As though she didn’t see why anyone would hold any of it against her, or regard her as damaged goods because of it. It seemed as though she thought it was the most normal thing in the world.

He couldn’t imagine what that was like, really – he didn’t feel shame about Father and Father’s divorces and Father’s other children and Father’s death or any of the other unflattering things that could be associated with Father, it didn’t really see what it had to do with him or why he should care what had happened before, in a lot of cases, he was born, but he couldn’t remember the time when he hadn’t known he should, and that he had to act as though he did. It wasn’t hard; to him, Father was just a forbidden subject for practical reasons. Mother reacted poorly to it. Mal had seen Lucille draw such reactions down on herself, decided he did not want any part of them, and had learned a lot faster than his sister had just to never mention Father unless Mother specifically ordered him to recite whatever moral lesson she had finished off a rant about him with.

“My family hasn’t a monopoly on complicated situations, it seems,” he said, glancing at Chloe as though he had never seen her before for a moment, still feeling…off-center, somehow. “Is nothing written down anywhere, or do you not want to know?”

Mal, personally, had always wanted to know, and had eavesdropped and broken into things he wasn’t supposed to see until he found out, mostly because the forbidden added a tiny bit of interest to otherwise very dull days. Not everyone, though, was like that; his sister hated that he did those things, saying that Mother’s version was bad enough without having to think their entire family was composed of crazy people. It was possible that Chloe was more like Lucille than him in that regard, or just not a curious person – which he found even harder to understand, really. Even Lu would listen to what he found out with the half-sickened, half-entranced expression of someone watching a dissection.

“I suppose one could train some to do interesting enough tricks,” Mal said slowly, thinking of the applications of animals to a live show. “Though some would be hard to get, and most of the more interesting ones wouldn’t be appropriate for an indoor concert.” He shrugged. “Though if worse came to worse, I suppose you could play to the adults in the audience and do a presentation of What We Learned This Year in Care of Magical Creatures,” he added. Dull, but it would solve the problem of what to do quickly and might have some positive effects on their overseers’ perceptions of her, and it wouldn’t be too hard, so Mal could see the advantages of the strategy.

0 Mal If you're really sure, I guess I can manage it all... 0 Mal 0 5

Anthony Carey VIII

October 30, 2013 7:52 PM

Only most? by Anthony Carey VIII

“True,” Anthony said of the downsides of picking up a new position. “Though you never know, really. As far as anyone can remember now, Arnold never really played Seeker at all before he came here. He signed up as a Chaser in his first year, but they had too many, so his first captain – “ Nash, Anthony thought his name had been, though he wouldn’t swear to that and so didn’t mention it – “assigned him to Seeker instead of Arthur ‘cause Arnold was shorter.”

And still was, though that hadn’t, apparently, always been the case. Anthony didn’t remember it himself, since they had started moving toward their relative proporitions about the time he was born, but there was photographic evidence that when they were born and through their early life, Arnold had been the stronger twin, and the one who did all the stuff babies were supposed to do first until the time came for them to learn to count to ten. Mother said she thought Arthur had simply found the world incredibly boring and not worth expending the energy on exploring until he learned what books were, and Anthony had to admit, the theory did fit in well enough with Arthur’s personality. Father, among other sources, though, didn’t seem to think Arthur had really become Arthur as they knew him now until after he’d crashed a toy broomstick into the south wall when Anthony was five months old and then spent a very long time in bed with nothing much to do but work on his reading skills.

“Something I’m sure he’s thought of,” Anthony said, with a fond smile, of the observation that Arthur’s experiment in learning a difficult language just to prove he could be financially useful later in life. “Especially since I think the family’s plan for him if he doesn’t find anything really good to occupy himself with is teaching classes for the seven- to eleven-year-olds.”

The family, Father had mentioned to him, was thinking of both cutting the costs of educating the under-elevens across the family and further encouraging inter-branch cooperation by training a few relatives as teachers and having them instruct small groups in many of the subjects which were now being taught most often by outsider tutors serving only one immediate family or at most one branch. They could control what the next generation knew going to school and keep the families of married daughters closer by offering them the chance to participate as well, at less cost than private tutors since the participating immediate family units would divide the agreed-upon pay of the teachers between them. There were still some arguments being worked out – which branches these teachers should come from, whether or not they should teach their own closer relatives, how the other families would take it, whether this was too much of a move toward centralization and took too much power away from individual branches, what the government would think of them essentially setting up their own schools, which perspective on family history should be taken with mixed groups, whether old maids and even wives or married daughters should be allowed to teach, and so forth – but it really did seem just like an extension of some things they had been doing anyway, and Father, at least, seemed enthusiastic about the project’s potential to work out.

On the surface, Anthony guessed, Arthur was a good enough candidate for that kind of role – he had, for his age, impressive breadth and depth of knowledge across several subjects and didn’t seem inclined to stop expanding them, became more reluctant to give up a task as it grew more difficult, and had acted as a tutor before, here at Sonora – but Anthony, personally, didn’t think it was a good idea. There was a reason why Jay had taken over working with Lucille after about two months of last year in Arthur’s place, and why Arthur had never even tried with Brandon at home. Arnold and Henry were about the limits of his brother’s patience, and that was really more because Arthur had grown up with them closely enough that he liked them in spite of the ways they differed from his own level of functioning, rather than because of those differences. Anthony thought Arthur would do better as a family Healer, or a teacher at an over-eleven school, or even as a banker than he would with seven-year-olds he had no attachment to.

“Plus, I think he wants to investigate how what he can figure out from their language relates to magical theory as we know it,” Anthony added, since that was probably the most interesting part.

“Oh,” he said when she explained her apology. “Well, thank you. We were talking about Quidditch and brothers, so it made sense. How was your summer?”

0 Anthony Carey VIII Only most? 234 Anthony Carey VIII 0 5

Emrys Lucan

November 04, 2013 3:19 PM

Lovely to have your company. by Emrys Lucan

Emrys thought about the proposed date that Charlotte gave him. "This Saturday would be perfect," he smiled back at her. "There's a nice piece, my mother's favorite this time," he remembered when she had shared her mother's favorite with him. "It's by Tibors de Sarenom, an old French musician from the," he paused as he tried to remember the lessons his mother had given him. "Twelfth century, I believe. Not many of his pieces are still surviving but while on a trip to France, my grandparents uncovered some music and gave it to my mother for her 12th birthday, fitting, no?"

In actuality, the piece had been given to both his mother and her sister, but their family didn't really talk about her anymore since they'd hide away all her things in her old room and locked the door shut. The music piece was the only bit of his aunt that Emrys could have and so he treasured it deeply. The fact that it was his mother's favorite as well only made it that much better. There was one time that he'd snuck into the room when he was little- it had been his first bit of accidental magic though he'd covered his tracks well enough. Luckily his father had been the one to discover him and therefore hadn't been angry- his wife's sister's death hadn't impacted him as much as the two hadn't gotten along well.

"Oh, wouldn't it be funny if Lily and Caelia were in the house while here?" He figured that since he and Charlotte got along so well then their siblings might too especially if the same age and most definitely if they were in the same house. His younger sister while a slight bit dim, was extremely outgoing and he was sure would be ten times better at making friends than he. "So you have three siblings then?" He asked conversationally. He had often wondered what it would have been like if he'd had a brother and Caelia'd had a sister but after Caelia had been born the medi-wizard had told his mother that she couldn't have any more children so that had been that. Wesley was sort of like a brother to him, but he also had wanted for his little sister to have the same sort of relationship with someone that his mother and aunt had had when they were younger. A sister (or, in his case, brother) for a best friend, sounded amazing. "What's that like?"

10 Emrys Lucan Lovely to have your company. 260 Emrys Lucan 0 5

Charlotte Spencer

November 05, 2013 10:53 AM

Always a pleasure to be in yours. by Charlotte Spencer

Charlotte could only imagine how her mother would go on about her meetings with Emrys. Thinking of these as “scandalous” was old-fashioned even in Charlotte’s eyes, but her mother would not feel the same way. She had been thoughtful to remember not to mention she and Emrys had been completely alone when writing to her mother about it last year. She had heard of de Sarenom, but had never heard any of his pieces as his pieces weren’t surviving, as Emrys had mentioned. It would be exciting to play a piece not many people had heard before. “That’s lovely,” she said with a smile. “Lucky for your mother.” A gift like that would be priceless. Fortunately for Charlotte her favourite composer had plenty of pieces to choose from and she had most of them back home. Music from French composers was almost always lovely and she was looking forward to their duet though she looked at her feet instead of saying so.

The thought of Lily and Caelia in the same house made Charlotte want to blush. Lily still had several years to grow, but with the influence her brothers had on her Charlotte was certain her sister would grow up to be a tomboy. She already preferred trousers over dresses and she was only five going on six. “That would be, wouldn’t it?” she replied with a smile. If Caelia was just as loud as Lily, Charlotte had no doubt they would be fast friends. Or worst enemies. The latter was not ideal seeing how good of friends she and Emrys were, but if Caelia was anything like her brother, she couldn’t imagine her being anything but a real lady.

There were four Spencer children in all and Charlotte had always thought it was plenty. Her mother ruled the house with an iron fist which subdued the chaos, but it was always fun when she and her siblings were in the same room together alone. It was easier for her to open up and be more of herself with them than with her parents. “Yes, I do,” she answered, realising that she hadn’t said anything for a moment too long. “It’s mental, really,” she said with a little laugh. There were several ways to answer Emrys’s question of how having so many siblings was like. She was the eldest daughter and therefore responsible for her sister in a way Adam was not. Charlotte was supposed to be the role model and keep her sister in line the way Adam was supposed to with Jackie. But Lily was a wild thing, much unlike Jack, and Charlotte found it difficult to control her sometimes. She was sure Lily did not like her as much as she liked Adam and Jackie preferred Adam over his sisters any day; it was disheartening to know her younger siblings didn’t like her nearly as well as Adam did, but she simply had to work with that knowledge and not let herself be hurt by it.

But she couldn’t tell Emrys all that. It wasn’t proper to expose all of her hurts and weaknesses to him. He was a boy, first of all, and secondly she did not want to expose the bad bits of her family to him. Pure-bloods were supposed to be the perfect role models in society and she was willing to bury things the way her parents did in order to keep that façade alive. “Having so many makes it fun, though,” she continued. “I enjoy their company very much, though younger siblings will always be a nuisance at times.” She smiled, wondering if Emrys was the sort who adored his sister or loathed her. The way he talked of her made her think the former.

40 Charlotte Spencer Always a pleasure to be in yours. 265 Charlotte Spencer 0 5

Headmistress Kijewski-Jareau

Welcoming Feast!! by Headmistress Kijewski-Jareau

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Literally but not metaphorically blue by Theodore Wolseithcrafte

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Better literally than metaphorically in this context by Leonidas Bennett

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I'm seeing red! by Sasha Sinclair

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Neither is positive anywhen else, that I can think of by Theodore Wolseithcrafte

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Leonidas Bennett

True, but in other contexts, if I had to pick... by Leonidas Bennett

Eleanor Vandenberg

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Mellie Goodwin

Well, there's me done for. by Mellie Goodwin

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Jade Owen

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Aria Yale

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*is feeling mostly welcomed and a little curious* by Wendy Canterbury

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Linus

I meant the year, but feel free to draw your own conclusions by Linus

Lydia Chambers

I'm glad you do...its a great place to be by Lydia Chambers

Serena Brockert

I hope it'll be welcoming. by Serena Brockert

Sasha Sinclair

I'll keep your suggestions in mind. by Sasha Sinclair

Brianna

I'll keep those to myself for now. by Brianna

Aria

Everyone always seems curious around me. by Aria

Wendy

I get that feeling too sometimes by Wendy

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Hoping for Welcome by Morgana Bennet

Theodore Wolseithcrafte

I can't think of many appealing examples of either by Theodore Wolseithcrafte

Ariel Thornton

Freaked out just doesn't begin to cover it by Ariel Thornton

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That is so by Leonidas Bennett

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New term...new life by Clara Abernathy

Waverly

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Isaac Douglas

I am a wise and trustworthy counselor. by Isaac Douglas

Theodore Wolseithcrafte

Is that check or check mate? by Theodore Wolseithcrafte

Francesca Wolseithcrafte

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Same kid...new year by Carter Browning

Liliana Bannister

That's good, heart beats are important. by Liliana Bannister

is feeling welcomed and confused by Aria Yale

is feeling mostly welcomed and a little curious by Wendy Canterbury