Headmaster Brockert
March 03, 2017 4:03 PM
Opening Feast by Headmaster Brockert
It was time for another school year to start. Mortimer sat at the staff table as they all waited for the new first years to come in. Missing from staff this year was Liam Ammon, who had taught Muggle Studies last year. Whether or not Mortimer cared was debatable. Professor Ammon had taught his subject in the exact balanced way that Mortimer approved of but yet his subject was not a particularly necessary one. Hence why it was an elective in the first place. And certainly Mortimer felt no personal attachment to the youngest staff member.Of course, it would figure that someone that young would be flighty enough not to know what they wanted to do with the rest of their lives and throw away potential job security. Mortimer was sure the young man was out chasing some ridiculous unacheivable dream as young people were likely to do.
The first years arrived and Mortimer stood, placing a Sonorous charm on himself and began the Sorting spiel. "Welcome to Sonora for the new first years and welcome back for all older students. In just a minute,first years will be receiving a goblet distributed by Deputy Headmistress Skies, in order to sort you into your houses. You will turn the color representing your house which are blue for Aladren, yellow for Teppenpaw, red for Crotalus, and brown for Pecari. Afterwards, you may join your house table."
Unlike last year, there was nobody in this class he particularly cared about so he waited through it until it was done. Once everyone had found the appropriate table, he moved on.
""Would Aiden O' Neil and Savannah Brockert please come up and get your Head Student badges? In addition I'd like to call up Louis Valois, Abigail De La Garza, Laila Kennedy, and Ingrid Wolseithcrafte to recieve their prefect badges. Congratulations." Amazing, three Head Girls in a row for the Brockert family. After twenty years of not a single Head Student whose last name was Brockert.
Once the new prefects and Head Students had taken their seats again, Mortimer gave one last announcement. "This year's Midsummer Event will be a concert. Now we will sing the school song." Sheets with the words written on them appeared in front of the students.
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.
Subthreads: Waterfalls in the Desert by Jen White with Ryder Knight, Zevalyn Ives
Mirror, mirror on the wall [tag Jozua] by Lily Spencer with Jozua Sparks, Lily
Being social by Jack Spencer
Excited! by Ivy Brockert with Eden Manger, Alex Leifsson (and a bit of Madison)
I'm a tomato by Cleo James with Connor Priory
Stranger in a familiar land by Cecilia Carey with Araceli Arbon
Making this place home. by Brett Newell
Some casual bickering. by Florence and Dustin Newell with Amelia Layne, Dustin and Flo
A pie or a person? by Victor Callahan
Torn. by Emilia-Louise Scott with Louis Valois
Excited for the year ahead! by Tess Whittaker
Another year, another start by Finn Scott
Uncharted territory by Sammy Meeks with Laila Kennedy
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Headmaster Brockert
Opening Feast
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Headmaster Brockert
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Lily Spencer
March 04, 2017 2:01 PM
Mirror, mirror on the wall [tag Jozua] by Lily Spencer
Loads had happened this summer. Loads. First, Adam and Ginny had finally tied the knot and were officially Mr and Mrs Spencer. She’d cried a few tears over the heart-breaking realisation that Adam would be starting a family apart from her, but she was happy for him, really. Then Jack had almost died whilst on holiday in Darlington, but he was safe now for the most part, if not a bit more reserved than before. Then there was Geoff and his lot. When she thought about them now, she couldn’t help but feel a bit dreamy.She and Geoff had been lying on the field after running about kicking the football around. Though she was breathless, she couldn’t quite let go of the anxiety she’d been carrying on her shoulders since she’d returned for the summer.
Geoff propped himself up to look at her. “So Liam—”
“Actually, it’s Lily,” she blurted out. “Lily Spencer.”
Geoff stared at her with his mouth open. “Lily,” he repeated. “As in a girl. You’re a girl. What—you’ve been a girl this whole time?”
“As I haven’t had a sex change in the past few months, yes I am, and I have been.”
Geoff shook his head. “You’ve got to be winding me up, mate. You look just like a boy.”
Lily swallowed nervously. “I’m not. I’m a girl, and I know, I’m sorry I lied to you all last year, but I didn’t think your lot would still let me play if you knew I was a girl.”
Geoff shrugged. “Probably not,” he said slowly, “but now we know you’re a brilliant footballer so I don’t want to exclude you just cos you’re a girl.”
Lily didn’t know how to take his message, but she nodded anyway. “Then… are we OK?”
“Yeah, we’re OK. Thanks for coming clean.” Geoff smiled with a corner of his mouth, and Lily’s heart fluttered. He looked perfect just like this, lying on the grass, his sandy hair reflecting the sunlight and his gentle brown eyes trained on her. “You really look like a bloke though,” he continued with a laugh of disbelief. “I never, ever would’ve guessed. I don’t think the boys will believe me when I tell them. Do you like passing off as one?”
“Sometimes, yeah.”
Geoff grinned. “You’re pretty cool for a girl.”
And then the melting.
Lily had never imagined herself the sort to fall head over heels for anyone, really, but Geoff was just so… perfect. He was nice and let her play with them and had broken the news to the other boys so she didn’t have to. After they all got over the awkwardness, they treated her just the same, just the way she wanted. And she liked that, really, but there was still some kind of uncomfortable feelings that welled up in her when she saw how they looked at girls wearing skirts and makeup, even Geoff.
As she munched on her chicken wing, she took a glance at Jozua, whom she’d sat down next to for the Welcoming Feast as usual. Joz was a boy and her best friend. She’d never really noticed it before, but he had nice hair and was well mannered and easy-going: all attractive qualities. Any girl would be lucky to have him. He’d have to tell her the truth even if she didn’t like it. She knew she wasn’t one of those beautiful, delicate pure-blood witches who wore expensive dresses and had perfect hair. She was rough and wore jumpers and trousers without a care in the world. Her short hair tousled after the long wagon ride, hardly attractive compared to the other girls in their year.
“Hi Joz, how was your summer? Do you think it’s possible for a wizard to fancy someone like me?” she asked bluntly. “Tell me the truth.”
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Lily Spencer
Mirror, mirror on the wall [tag Jozua]
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Lily Spencer
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Jozua Sparks
March 04, 2017 11:17 PM
You're the fairest of them all by Jozua Sparks
Jozua's summer had been about as dull as the one before. There'd obviously been the expected lessons his parents insisted he take so he didn't get stupid over the summer and there were the more spontaneous lessons his parents doled out because they were incapable of not turning any experience into a learning experience. Then he'd gotten a decent Quidditch broom, but as his love of flying for the sake of flying was basically non-existent and he only did it because Lily liked that he did, his flying practice with it was not any more entertaining than his other lessons.The shining moment was, of course, his annual birthday present to see a Wizard dueling tournament live. He'd asked to invite Lily to it, too, but Dad looked all sad that Jozua didn't want to keep it a Father-Son tradition, so he hadn't ended up doing that after all. It was the right decision. Afterward, Dad promised that he could invite a couple friends to another one around Christmas as his Christmas gift since he was getting harder and harder to buy stuff for. Jozua had jumped all over that idea with glee. Christmas could not come fast enough.
In the meantime, he was glad to be back at school. He'd missed Lily and Madeleine and Finn. The few kids at home who hadn't thought he was invisible hadn't really ever been what he'd call close and being away at Sonora had further distanced them. Here though, he had no shortage of people willing to spend time with him. He expected they'd help the time fly much faster than the summer's slow creep through each day.
Though they weren't in the same house, Jozua made sure to find a seat for the Feast near Lily. She was his first and best friend, and, if he was being entirely honest, which he wasn't sure there was any need to be, but on those rare moments he decided honesty was in order, she was also his first and best crush. This had become clear to him by the amount of jealousy he had felt every time he watched her try to salsa with the Brazilian booth visitors.
He had sworn to himself not to tell her this, however, because he didn't want to make things weird between them.
This resolve was almost immediately tested upon the start of their conversation. Not only had she asked point blank if she was attractive, she'd demanded truthiness.
He stared at her in that wide-eyed way deer regard oncoming headlights (though, of course, as a pureblood wizard, Jozue was entirely unfamiliar with what headlights were or how deer regarded them, though he was equally as doomed so the analogy stands). So preoccupied was he with the options between reassuring her but outing himself versus preserving their friendship but lying when she told him not to, he entirely forgot that she had asked about his summer, which, had he not been panicking, might have allowed him some extra time to think about it.
But he was panicking and as such his brain was not working as well as it would otherwise, so what came out of his mouth was neither intelligent nor wise and he regretted it immediately.
"I'd marry you in a heartbeat."
It was the truth though. And that was what she'd asked for.
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Jozua Sparks
You're the fairest of them all
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Jozua Sparks
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Lily
March 05, 2017 11:30 AM
Pish posh. by Lily
Jozua's outburst and wide-eyed look made Lily suspicious. Was he lying to make her feel better? But Jozua wasn't the sort to lie for that reason. At least, he'd never really done so before, but then again she'd never asked such an unreasonable question as this. She let his comment hang in the air whilst she tried to decide what to do with it. A second passed before her suspicious expression melted into a sigh."That's very nice of you to say, Jozua," said she, convinced of his honesty but also knowing he was only saying this because he was her best friend, "but that doesn't answer my question." Lily dumped the chicken bone on her plate and wiped the grease off on a napkin.
"These boys I play with back in England - I told about them, didn't I? - they seem to fancy pretty girls with skirts and make-up. It shouldn't bother me, but it does for some reason." She knew exactly what that reason was, but she hadn't told a soul about it yet and would deny it until she was sure Geoff felt the same way about her. Not that he would, ever. "We're only thirteen and these girls already wear make-up. It's caked all over their face." Lily shook her head. "I don't know why, maybe they like to play dress-up? She wondered what Geoff would think if he saw her eating like this, piling chicken bones higher and higher. Even though she told herself she didn't care, it did make her somewhat self-conscious. She wiped her fingers again and decided to tackle mash instead.
Since Lily didn't want to reveal her own crush just yet, she quickly changed the topic as she was apt to do. "Summer was fun this year for me. Adam and Ginny were married, and I'm happy for them, but it's hard letting my big brother go." She felt herself getting a little choked up again at the thought and suppressed the thought before she embarrassed herself. "I beat one of the boys, Ed, in football and he cried because he hurt his ankle. I think he was just trying to get sympathy, crying like that, and it didn't work on me. I can be too rough, can't I? Well, I suppose that can't be helped. And another one of the boys back home has a crush on this pretty girl at his school and we all teased him about it. Dating seems pointless at this age, doesn't it? At least I think so." That was the truth - though Lily was quite certain Geoff sparked feelings in her akin to a heart attack, she couldn't imagine dating the way her siblings had dated.
"And Jack got hit in the head with a bludger, but I think he's about sorted now. How was your summer? Sorry I don't write frequently, I always mean to but there were so many things on. How was the wizard dueling tournament?"
OOC: Making the assumption that, since it's his annual birthday present, Lily would know about it to ask.
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Lily
Pish posh.
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Lily
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Jozua "Carl Fredricksen" Sparks
March 08, 2017 3:51 PM
Someday I'll fly my house to South America for you by Jozua "Carl Fredricksen" Sparks
Jozua wasn't sure what he'd been expecting from his declaration of undying love - okay, maybe if he had phrased it that way, Lily may have reacted differently, but his natural penchant to not explicitly share his feelings seemed to have made its underlying meaning less clear - but doubtful suspicion and a casual dismissal of his words had not been among predictions.He was almost offended. Here he was basically proposing, and she was barely even listening.
Then he remembered they were thirteen not thirty and Lily - as much as he did care for her - was a bit dense sometimes, so she really had no reason to think Jozua seriously meant the details of their possible future wedding was a thing he did think about from time to time. (England, he had decided, was practically ideal: they spoke English there for the American side of his family, but it was much closer for his Dutch relatives, thus making it a perfect compromise location even before considering the bonus that Lily's family was actually from there.) He'd never mentioned it before because, well, they were thirteen and he didn't want her to think he was a dork.
So on the Not A Dork front, this reaction was really pretty much the best thing he could have hoped for.
Of course, then she needed to bring up the boys from England back home in this context, and he stopped trying to force an everything-is-normal smile. She had mentioned them before. They played sports together and they treated Lily like she was one of the guys. And they apparently watched and flirted other girls who were not Lily. Jozua was liking them more and more, though he didn't like that she didn't like this.
"No accounting for taste," Jozua stated, frowning a little, displeased with the direction of the conversation. Fortunately, though, Lily changed it and told him about her summer instead of dwelling further on the idiocy of her English pals. Who in their right minds wanted a girl in ridiculous makeup and impractical clothing when there was a stalwart adventurer in their midst?
He nodded in sympathy for the relative absence of her brother now that Adam had entered the married life, though as an only child, Jozua truthfully had no frame of reference for understanding that mixed bag of joy and loss. He had a better idea of her no holds barred method of play, though, so he could more easily picture this Ed guy's injury. She kept talking, not giving him a chance to answer her apparently rhetorical question that she was too rough sometimes, but he shook his head in answer loyally anyway, even if it couldn't be denied she was definitely rougher than he was. He considered that a Pecari versus Teppenpaw difference though.
"Totally pointless," he agreed readily when she stated her opinion on dating. This was a reassuring opinion after the conversation's previous topics, and it hopefully meant she had no intention of dumping him as a friend in order to find herself a dumb boyfriend and making kissy faces with him instead of adventuring with Jozua.
If he hadn't been friends with her for years already, he might have been left behind by her next sentences which jumped from discussing her other brother's fairly serious head injury to asking about his birthday dueling tournament in basically the same breath. However, as they were good friends, he was mostly used to her use of portkeys in her conversational maneuvering by now.
He decided no comment was necessary on Jack's condition since it sounded like he was fine now. Lily knew Jozua didn't say much if he had nothing to add (which meant she often shouldered all of the heavy lifting in their conversations though he honestly didn't think she really minded or even noticed most of he time), and she'd followed it with a direct question about one of the few topics Jozua actually did enjoy talking about at length, so he assumed she only expected a response to that.
"It was great!" He enthusiastically summarized, then launched excitedly into the nitty gritty details: who had competed, who had won, who had pulled an upset, and some of the more memorable moments in the duels. As he reached the end of his account, he concluded with the best part. "And Dad said we could go to another one over midterm, and I could invite you and Finn! Do you think you can visit in January, right before we head back to school?"
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Jozua "Carl Fredricksen" Sparks
Someday I'll fly my house to South America for you
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Jozua "Carl Fredricksen" Sparks
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Lily "Ellie" Spencer
March 14, 2017 3:00 PM
As long as it's by durable coloured balloons. by Lily "Ellie" Spencer
As Lily spoke of her English mates, she saw Jozua's facial expression drop. She could imagine the jealousy one would feel hearing their best friend talk about other friends they liked quite a lot. If Jozua started trying to replace Finn with her she knew she would be unhappy - not that she was replacing Jozua at all. She hoped he knew that. Luckily, her tirade distracted her from reassuring him of his spot as her very best friend for life and it was soon forgotten.Their agreement that dating was totally pointless made Lily a little happy. She liked being agreed with, and Jozua always had a knack for encouraging her though she hardly took a breath whilst talking sometimes and never wanted to grow up and do 'adult things'. Most pure-bloods their age kept an eye on the past and the future, but Lily didn't care to bother.
She loved hearing about the annual wizarding duel tournaments Jozua went to with his father. It must be nice, having a dad who would take his son to these sorts of events. Her own dad was away on long business trips, and he would take Adam and Jack out to play sports or watch Quidditch matches, but she'd never been old enough to attend with them. Now that she was old enough, her dad was too busy with his work at the hospital, but she knew she was still his favourite. Maybe after Adam. She imagined Jozua receiving loads more attention than she could even imagine, since he was the only child, and she wondered what that might feel like. Did he ever get overwhelmed or irritated by the attention?
Lily was a very engaged listener as Jozua relayed the details of the tournament. She nodded and gasped at all the right bits and stared at him with her brown eyes, the images dancing across her brain. She imagined it to be grand and brilliant with spells flying here and there and near-fatalities (that she conjured up) making the audience gasp, enraptured.
Her eyes grew wide. "Really? I'll ask my parents, but they'll have to let me go! I wouldn't miss it for anything!" Even if she had to whine and pout and throw tantrums to get her way, she would do so for the sake of these tournaments. It was right after the holidays as well, so they couldn't make a fuss about it.
"That sounds like a fantastic time," she said, eyes glittering with excitement. From Jozua's account, she felt like she'd been to a tournament already. "I'm glad you enjoyed your birthday. I can't wait for the duelling tournament next year!" She had finished her mash and was back to consuming chicken wings because they were just so tasty. "We get to sign up for elective courses this year," she commented. "Are you going to sign up for any?"
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Lily "Ellie" Spencer
As long as it's by durable coloured balloons.
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Lily "Ellie" Spencer
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Jozua
March 14, 2017 8:35 PM
Of course. Nothing less for you. by Jozua
"Good," Jozua said, glad and relieved that Lily though she could visit for the New Years Dueling Tournament. Since dad had made the offer, he had alternated between being certain that she wouldn't let anything get between herself and a dueling tournament and fretting that unsanctioned international travel might very well be that one thing that could keep her away. But if she thought her parents would probably allow her to come, it was all good. Just four months to go and counting down.He was a bit surprised at her next question, academics not really being of Lily's strongest values, but he supposed it was a question all of the third years must have considered a least a little over the summer, and it would be good to know which of the new courses on offer to Intermediates he'd be sharing with his best friends, so in retrospect it really wasn't all that surprising after all.
"Just Astronomy, I think," he answered. "I don't have much need for Muggle Studies," this was arguably false, as he was a pureblood wizard with basically no idea at all about what muggles did without magic, and therefore was pretty much exactly the target audience for the subject, but that information was unlikely to ever be needed in his purely magical existence, so he didn't much see the point. "And Mom has no respect for divination so I don't want to have her frowning at me if I try to take it. What about you? Are you taking any of them?"
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Jozua
Of course. Nothing less for you.
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Jozua
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Lily
March 15, 2017 7:44 AM
Glad we're on the same page. by Lily
The thought of adding additional courses to her timetable made her cringe, but being friends with Muggles with no previous experience was difficult. She was a quick learner in context - she didn't speak much when they chatted about television shows or video games or mobile apps, but she'd learnt what a car was, a TV and a mobile. The computer was a bit trickier, but she'd decided educating herself so she could avoid sounding like a Muggle hermit was necessary.Lily expected Jozua to sign up for an elective and part of her had hoped they would sign up for one together. Alas, she had no interest in Astronomy and she doubted he had much reason to take Muggle Studies.
"I didn't want to at first, but I ended up going for Muggle Studies. Don't want to look like a fool with the mates I've got back home, and it might be good fun learning something new. They've got all sorts of gadgets I've never heard of and I can't quite understand how they work without magic." It wasn't fascinating or particularly awe-inspiring, but Muggles weren't completely dense and helpless as she'd grown up thinking.
"I'm not looking forward to Intermediate courses this year though," she sighed. "You've got to keep me accountable, Jozua. If I get one A this year my parents are going to lock me away or home school me. That'd be the worst!" She'd luckily managed to keep her marks high so far, but with more difficult classes she didn't know if she'd be able to focus well enough to keep it up.
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Lily
Glad we're on the same page.
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Lily
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