Which way to go? on Cascade Hall

Headmaster Brockert

October 13, 2018 10:52 AM

Returning Feast by Headmaster Brockert

Midterm had gone as it usually had. Busy but with boring things. There were get-togethers with both family and the larger pureblood community.....and Mortimer was not the sort who wanted to "get together" with others. He would prefer to keep apart. Or at least, keep himself apart. Obviously Mortimer didn't give a crap if others did so long as he wasn't involved. That was their problem.

The family events-at least those involving himself, his wife Vivien, and their sons, daughters-in-laws and grandchildren-weren't so bad. For all Mortimer was gruff and grouchy and misanthropic, he did love them in his own aloof way. And it was getting better now that a lot of them were getting older and less squealy. He'd even been able to get Topaz her very own model of a guillotine, the Aladren having expressed an interest in his own torture instrument models. She had seemed quite pleased with it and told him that she was going to place it in her room here at school.

Of course, Mortimer knew full well based on what Topaz had said about her roommate, which that the other Aladren was self-righteous and judgmental and not a fan of his granddaughter's taxidermy, that she wasn't going to care for it but what could he do? Students had a right to decorate their areas of the their dorms anyway they wanted....within reason. If someone wanted to display...pictures with explicit content, that might be pushing it. But taxidermy was an old noble art form and Mortimer could hardly say anything about the model when he'd given it to her in the first place and he had a ton more in his own office. The Headmaster was many things, but he was not a hypocrite.

Still, he supposed that if it really came to it,one could move to the empty second year girls' room. Topaz still seemed to be willing to give it a shot with her roommate despite quite obviously disliking her. He appreciated the young first year's willingness to persevere, it showed great maturity on her part.

In other news, his youngest son Elmer and his daughter-in-law, Madeleine were expecting their first child in February, a little girl. Although this didn't hold the same amount of excitement it had in the past-in what limited capacity that Mortimer felt such a thing-based on her being his thirteenth grandchild rather than say, the first or second, he was still sure he'd love her as much as the others. In his own distant, aloof way.

Eustace had been an utter pain in the backside, complaining about how they had hired a woman for Quidditch Coach instead of him. Never mind that he rather miraculously had a way better job that that. Besides, Mortimer couldn't remember the last time the Quidditch Coach had been male except that one substitute that didn't work out.

Anyway, the first half of the year had gone well. Nothing out of the ordinary had happened and Emerald had even gottten prefect. (Though at one time, that would have been out of the ordinary.)

The students filed in and Mortimer stood up, casting the Sonorus Charm on himself "Welcome back to Sonora for the second half the year. I hope your holidays went well." He still didn't really care that much if they did, but it was the thing to say.

Subthreads:

Which way to go? by Georgia Kirkly with Joe Umland

I'm back... But not the same (tag Evelyn) by Malikhi Hill with Evelyn Stones

I feel pretty by Kir McLeod with Jozua Sparks

Making plans (tag Parker) by Cleo James with Parker Fitzgerald

Ready to chat away by Isaac Song with Kyte Collindale

The last time [Tag Ben] by Tess Whittaker with Ben Pierce

Tagging Dorian by Ruby Brockert with Dorian

11 Headmaster Brockert Returning Feast 6 Headmaster Brockert 1 5

Georgia Kirkly

October 13, 2018 11:37 PM

Which way to go? by Georgia Kirkly

Christmas had been pretty normal, on the surface of it. She had long since settled into the routine of splitting the time between her parents’ separate home, and it didn’t even feel like that much of a weird juggling act any more. They had the Christmas routine down. Georgia had found herself doing a lot of thinking though. It was going to be her last Christmas without magic. Well, there was like… ‘the magic of Christmas’ and whatever, but the last one without literal, actual wand-waving magic. She would turn seventeen in May, before they went home for the summer holidays, and it felt like kind of a crossroads.

She was never really sure to what extent her being magical was going to preclude her doing non-magical things. Every Christmas, she and her dad had a movie binge. She knew that magic and Muggle tech weren’t super compatible… Once she was Of Age was it going to start causing issues? Or only if she used magic at her dad’s? And, once she could use magic in everyday life, was she going to be able to avoid it? She already felt funny those weeks where she had to stop, it had become such a habit, such a part of who she was… And yet, she didn’t want to have to give up the other side of herself either. And that had led her to thinking about her own future. If, in the crazy, way off distant future, she had kids of her own was she going to have to raise them like…. Without TV? She had had a witch mother and a TV growing up, but her mom barely used magic. And, now that she thought about it, their TVs did seem to break more than other people’s. She knew that childhood was meant to be about imagination and the great outdoors and all that kind of wholesome stuff but honestly, her happiest memories, the things that had made her feel connected to people around her, were movies and tv shows, being able to share those references. It was something she missed at Sonora. Most people just didn’t speak her dialect of Mickey Mouse Club and Disney and all those things that had defined her childhood. And before she even got to kids, if she ever did, which world should she belong to, as an adult? She already felt out of the loop with non-magical people. She could be a weirdo in the Muggle world, one who didn’t own a tv or get pop culture references, or she could try to integrate more into the wizard world - a world that didn’t fully want her, and that felt like turning her back on a part of who she was. She didn’t know if it was really possible to be involved in both, which was what she wanted. She could kind of see that trying that might lead to a half-baked at attempt at both, belonging in neither. But then, if she really tried to throw herself in fully, would she be able to feel like she belonged? Or would she just end up sacrificing a bunch of stuff she loved in order to still not quite fully participate? At least she had Zevalyn. They could always be weird together. Even if she didn’t fully get Zevalyn’s version of non-magical - it was way more nerdy and sciencey than Georgia’s had ever been - they could still relate.

Georgia was tempted to go catch up with her best friend, but even though seating was allegedly free at the Returning Feast, she felt a bit out of place at the Aladren table. Most people stuck with their houses, and that meant there was just way too much brain power around her. She didn’t need help to feel chubby and stupid. She could feel that all by herself, most of the time. So, she took a seat in the familiar surroundings of Teppenpaw. And stuck with the bland, expected line.

“Hey,” she smiled, turning to her neighbour, “How was your holiday?”

13 Georgia Kirkly Which way to go? 346 Georgia Kirkly 0 5

Malikhi Hill

October 14, 2018 10:38 AM

I'm back... But not the same (tag Evelyn) by Malikhi Hill

Malikhi was late to the returning feast. He'd holed himself up in his dormitory from the moment he had arrived, angry and upset about having to return at all. Why should he experience nice things like being with Evelyn and delicious feasts and the wonder of magic when his Dad... When his Dad was gone? What was the point if he couldn't share it all with him? He'd shared things with his Dad that he hadn't felt able to talk about with his Mum and now what would he do? Who would he go to if he wanted to talk about sports? About football or the appalling England Quidditch team?

It had only been the thought of Evelyn that had forced him to surface. He wanted to see her. He needed to see her. He needed a hug and somebody who wouldn't force him to talk. He'd tell her, he knew he would but she wouldn't offer pitying looks or some platitude that people only offered because they didn't know what else to say. He'd been at the funeral and everybody had said 'I'm sorry for loss' over and over, like a broken record. It had made him angry more than anything. It would've been better if they had said nothing at all.

He ran a hand through his hair and arranged his robes as best as he good to look presentable, using the mirror in the room to help. He didn't recognise himself, didn't know the boy who was staring back at him. He looked pale with dark circles under his eyes, which seemed oddly dull. He suppose he'd also lost some weight, as his robes felt a lot looser than before - in fairness, he hadn't felt much like eating.

With a resigned sigh, he left his room and headed down to the Hall.

It was noisy in Cascade Hall, alive with the sound of chatter and laughter, and he didn't think anybody particularly noticed when he walked in and, trying to keep things that way, he hurried over to the Pecari table and found an open seat next to Evelyn. He sat himself down and quickly muttered a 'hi'.

20 Malikhi Hill I'm back... But not the same (tag Evelyn) 1423 Malikhi Hill 0 5

Kir McLeod

October 15, 2018 10:13 AM

I feel pretty by Kir McLeod

Christmas and New Year had been amazing fun. Ness’ friend had gelled well enough with the rest of them and they had done all the usual family things. After the wagon ride, Kir hadn’t really had any interactions with Evelyn outside of whole family situations, or casual passing in the hallways, but it was basically like having an additional younger sibling, but one who was quieter and less prone to being a pain the backside than his real one, so it wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle. He had been a bit annoyed with Ness, feeling she had somewhat ruined the surprise of him donning drag with James for the New Year’s party, but once he’d got out, it was hard to stay irritated because the whole thing had simply been too much fun.

He had learnt several things:
1). He was darn pretty as a girl
2). Walking in heels was freaking hard
3). Dancing in them was even worse.

It had been worth it though. In addition to doing his makeup, James had brought a selection of wigs and outfits over. Kir had had a tough time choosing hair, but had eventually opted to sport long chocolate brown locks. He had been very sad to pass up a bubblegum pink bob, and was already kind of looking forward to him and James doing this again so he could try it out. His outfit choice had been somewhat more restricted after James had explained the process of ‘tucking’ and got a flat out ‘no’ on that, which meant something more flared was the only option. It was a shame, because James had some really nice slinky numbers, but when pressed to choose between them and doing painful sounding things to delicate parts of his anatomy, Kir had found relinquishing the ballgowns the much easier sacrifice. Between that and all the complaining he’d done about heels, James had (very lovingly) told him he need to man up if he wanted to be a real woman. His friend had, however, approved of Kir’s chosen drag name of ‘Charity Balls’ and they’d had a storm of an evening lipsynching their way through all the anthems you’d expect at a queer disco.

Kir had kept in touch with Zevalyn over the holidays, and penned her a ‘Happy New Year’ letter explaining what he had been up to, so he didn’t have to worry about Ness letting that kneazle out of the bag if his sibling chose to pester his girlfriend over dinner again. He wasn’t quite sure how Zevalyn felt about the whole thing, or whether if she came to future parties, it was weird if he was doing drag, but he wasn’t particularly worried about it. She’d taken everything else in her stride so far. And if she’d rather hang out with Kir than Charity, he could understand that. It wasn’t like he was planning to make a career out of this. It’d just been a laugh with James.

Whilt he waited for the feast to begin, Kir flicked his fingers so as to catch the light. He was wearing enchanted nail varnish which was designed to reflect its surroundings, and it was doing pretty things with the waterfalls, creating a shimmery blue pattern with all kinds of wavy wiggles and different highlights. His eyes were also subtly smudged with a bit of eyeliner, which he’d taken to wearing occasionally since last year’s accidental magic make over in Care of Magical Creatures. He smiled. He liked feeling pretty.

As the food appeared, he looked for something tasty, his eyes landing on a dish of rice. Christmas had, as it always was, been pretty potato heavy, and rice as a basis for a meal sounded pretty good. Plus there was the tempting smell of chilli, which would go really well with it. He loaded up his plate, watching his own nails as he did so, and smiling, perhaps twirling the spoon slightly more than necessary. He sort of wanted to point out how pretty he was to his neighbour but that sounded kind of big headed and also like the kind of thing that a lot of people were going to take issue with. He was fully willing to fight for the rights of boys to feel pretty and to enjoy their own prettiness, but he guessed he had done enough boat rocking in the first half of the year, and he was meant to be in the diplomatic house. He was meant to be a prefect of the diplomatic house. So keeping his opinions on how nice his own nails were to himself, he opted for safer territory instead.

“How were your holidays?” he asked. At least, he hoped it was safer territory. As he knew all too well (from other people’s experiences) families could suck.

13 Kir McLeod I feel pretty 366 Kir McLeod 0 5

Evelyn Stones

October 16, 2018 5:20 PM

I don't know what to think. by Evelyn Stones

Evelyn wasn't any happier now than she had been a few months ago that she and Ness were in different houses. It seemed particularly unfair that Ness and Julius were BOTH in different houses and she was in a house with Malikhi alone. Tatiana and Katerina were nice enough but she hardly knew them and besides, awkwardness aside, she was looking forward to seeing Malikhi again. She just wasn't sure whether he was as eager to see her. Or as anxious.

Her neck felt stretched by the time she resigned herself to not seeing Malikhi, for all the time she'd spent craning it to see where he was. She supposed he must be sitting here somewhere, and gave up on the idea that their friendship had survived the break. Suddenly, the plate of brownies that were promised for dessert that evening didn't seem so exciting. That's when Malikhi walked in.

Whether Evelyn's stomach suddenly grew a rock somewhere inside or whether she simply swallowed the ball of nerves that had previously been lodged in her throat. In either case, she felt heavy, sick, and more than a little scared. It wasn't an unfamiliar feeling, but it was one that she almost managed to forget during her stay at Ness'.

Malikhi was gaunt and grey. His eyes were black, like the puffy circles beneath them, and his shoulders were bony and jutted out. He looked to have lost weight and would've been popular as a figure of the Grim in any play. Except this wasn't a play and Malikhi wasn't the Grim. He was her friend, and her heart ached, whatever her crawling skin thought.

Evelyn wanted to throw up. She did everything in her power not to compare that dark expression to her father's after his last failed promotion, or Malikhi's short 'hi' to the way her father greeted her at the dining table when they couldn't avoid conversation. Any magical abilities that did reside in Evelyn felt like they might shrivel up and fall out. She forced a grimaced smile.

"Hi," she replied. "Merry Christmas."

She'd been clutching the parcel in her hand for so long that it almost stuck to her clammy fingers. She was glad she'd wrapped the glass orb instead of just carrying it bare. Wrapped in a simple cream-colored cloth sack was a glass orb, a plain glass Christmas ornament before any sort of DIY had found it. A soft glowing light, the results of hours of struggling, concentration, and sweat that had culminated in a gentle Lumos spell that she'd managed to seal within the ornament. It was blue, with a soft orange glow. It was Evelyn's favorite colors, no matter how hard she tried to encourage Malikhi's favorite to come out. At least it would be a part of her.

"I hope you like it," she whispered, her voice escaping her.

22 Evelyn Stones I don't know what to think. 1422 Evelyn Stones 0 5

Malikhi Hill

October 16, 2018 6:05 PM

That makes two of us. by Malikhi Hill

Malikhi hadn't expected a present and, for a moment, he stared blankly at the bag in front of him, almost as if he'd forgotten how to open a present. Then, slowly, delicately, he opened it and reached inside. His fingers brushed against glass and he was surprised to find that it was warm and, when he pulled it out, he realised that it was a side-effect of the glowing light inside. He managed a small smile, recognising Evelyn's favourite colours inside and his mind immediately dubbed the object as 'Linney's Light'. It seemed oddly appropriate as, at the moment, she was the only light in his life and to have a physical representation of it warmed his cold soul.

"Thank you..." he murmured, feeling tears stinging at the back of his eyes. He blinked rapidly, trying not to cry. He didn't want to do that in front of everyone. He reached for Evelyn, pulling her into a hug and burying his face into her shoulder. "I missed you," he mumbled, his voice slightly muffled. "So much."

When they parted, he scrutinised the orb a little more before returning it safely to its bag and stowing it in his pocket. He sniffed sharply before managing another weak smile. "I have something for you, too. It's in my dormitory though... A bit big to bring down here."

There was a slight apologetic tinge to his smile as he shrugged a little before looking out at the delicious spread of food in front of them. Everything looked wonderful, as it was did but Malikhi wasn't particularly hungry and reached only for some mashed potato and some gravy. He poked it a little before having a small mouthful. It was delicious but he found he couldn't truly appreciate it.

"Did you..." he cleared his throat, helping himself to some fizzy orange juice. "Did you have a good Christmas?"

20 Malikhi Hill That makes two of us. 1423 Malikhi Hill 0 5

Cleo James

October 17, 2018 9:51 AM

Making plans (tag Parker) by Cleo James

Christmas break had been lovely. Cleo had missed it so badly last year, when they had had to stay in school, and it felt wonderful to get to participate again in all her and her daddy’s holiday traditions. They’d even listened to their old records of ‘The Secret Life of Chessmen’ and it had been funny to hear Professor Wright’s name being read out in the credits, and to imagine him writing those stories. Cleo still had a lot of questions and a lot of doubts about the veela issues, but she could be normal around Daddy, and be who she had always been, and that helped a lot. Plus Daddy was always full of good advice, and there were one or two things he had suggested that she thought she might put into practise now that she was back. There were definitely more ways she could be part of life at school than she had been last year, and with that in mind, she made her way across the hall to find a very particular seat.
Cleo did not feel a particularly strong attachment to Crotalus table. She had been pleased to be sorted there because she knew the house would please her daddy, who definitely valued being steady and down to earth and not a "flighty Miss with a bad temper," which had been her most glaring faults as a younger child. She felt marginally more attached to it now that she could officially count one of its number as her friend. Daddy had been pleased to hear about Jasmine and said she sounded like a nice girl (Andrew James’ assessment had been made on the scant evidence his daughter had presented, which was more or less that she was a girl and was being kind to her. Christmas gift shopping had further revealed to him that Jasmine had a penchant for being pink and princessy. These were not traits he had ever particularly encouraged in Cleo but more through his own lack of desire to be immersed in such a world - he supposed they were not harmful traits in and of themselves, so long as they didn't shade into being interested in short skirts, wearing too much make-up and giggling over boys. But even then, better than hanging out with actual boys, or even adult men, as Cleo had been doing up until that point).

Cleo had purchased Jasmine some note paper bearing little purple crowns and the words 'Pretty as a Princess' in the border, and a pen with a glittery pink crown on top. Cleo did not have a strong sense of taste, or an ability to really read other people's. The fact that Jasmine came from money and had finely crafted, official Disney princess merchandise as her standard had not occurred to her, or if it did, it did not register as a significant difference. Jasmine liked princesses, so Cleo had bought her something princessy. And practical, because practical gifts were always a good idea. The giving of this gift would wait until they were back in Crotalus though, because even the pull of her new friend came nowhere near close to the appeal of the oldest and best one, and thus Cleo gravitated towards the Pecari table instead.

“Hi,” she smiled, sliding into the seat next to Parker’s. A parcel, wrapped in shiny blue paper, was clutched very obviously in her arms, but she waited until the headmaster had officially welcomed them back before holding it out with a cheerful, “Merry Christmas.”

Parker's present was significantly more personal than Jasmine’s. It consisted in the main part of a large notebook with a brown cover onto which Cleo had inked various different plants. The drawings were accurate, well executed, and no doubt recognisable as her own style to someone who knew her as well as Parker did. The cover was not sitting flat, so that he would be forced to open it. Cleo had used a packet of snapdragon seeds for this purpose (a flower that, conveniently, was supposed to be planted in January). Hopefully, when he opened the book, he would see that the plain page that came before the neatly ruled book had also been decorated. This time, the flowers formed a loop around the words 'Gardening Club Plans by Cleo and Parker (co-presidents)'

“What do you think?” she asked, when he’d had time to have a look at it. And it was clear from her tone, and the slightly anxious way she shuffled in her seat, that she didn’t just mean her decoration, or her penmanship, but really was referring to the suggestion that was being made.

13 Cleo James Making plans (tag Parker) 389 Cleo James 0 5

Jozua Sparks

October 18, 2018 4:54 PM

I feel tired by Jozua Sparks

Jozua rubbed his eyes as he dropped down into an unoccupied seat near Joe. It was a mark of his exhaustion that he didn’t realize immediately that it was also next to Kir McLeod. He didn’t dislike Kir, not exactly, but the younger kid often left him feeling flustered, defensive, and confused, so under ordinary circumstances, circumstances where his circadian rhythms were aligned with Arizona, or at least Oregon, rather than the Netherlands, he probably would have chosen to sit elsewhere. But his body thought it should have been asleep hours ago, so he felt accomplished enough that he had successfully picked a seat near a friend that wasn’t already occupied.

His eye was caught by something shimmering and he realized - after far too long staring - that the person next to him had painted their fingernails and that was why they were glimmering like that. They were kind of hypnotic and he realized he missed (or possibly micro-napped through) the headmaster’s speech when they stopped fluttering around and reached for food.

He went about doing that, too. He honestly wasn’t very hungry, but he took enough to hopefully avoid anybody asking in concern if he was feeling okay.

The fingernails were twirling a spoon now and his eyes caught on them again. It was probably rude to stare at hands. He made himself look up at the girl to compliment the paint job but . . . the fingernails didn’t belong to a girl.

He was still trying to get his sluggish brain to process that when Kir asked after his break.

“Uh,” he said, trying to catch up to this development and not blurt out something stupid. “Fine,” he managed by way of answer. “Visited my Dutch grandparents. In the Netherlands. Got back just in time for the wagon. It’s been a long day. Are your fingernails painted or is sleep deprivation getting to me?” Well, he’d done alright up until the end there.

OOC: Joe’s proximity approved by his author.

1 Jozua Sparks I feel tired 348 Jozua Sparks 0 5

Kir

October 20, 2018 3:15 AM

And confused? by Kir

Jozua was kind of fascinating. Kir sort of got the feeling that Jozua didn’t really like him but perhaps had just enough Teppenpaw in him to not want to make that obvious, or to seem like he had a prejudice against a particular group. Admittedly, the evidence Kir had to go from was slim - there had mostly been that one incident where Kir’s behaviour had been way too camp for Jozua to deal with, resulting in Jozua snapping but becoming contrite when called out on it. Jozua’s natural reaction to that seemed to be to avoid him. Kir’s was to keep poking Jozua to see if he could break down a few of the misplaced ideas that seemed to have lodged themselves in the other boy’s brain about how boys were supposed and allowed to behave. Kir was extraordinarily pleased, therefore, when Jozua both sat down next to him and commented on his nails, although both reactions potentially were brought about by sleep-deprivation judging not only from what Jozua said but also how he said it - the ‘how’ being ‘a little like someone who has had their head beaten against a rock or is really high.’

“They’re painted,” he answered cheerfully, deciding to take Jozua’s reaction as merely a comment and not a criticism. After all, for all that Jozua seemed bemused by the fact that Kir was wearing nail varnish, he had not said anything overtly hostile about it, and he seemed bemused by everything, so that in itself was not a reason to take offence. “Specifically, with a polish that mimics its surroundings - it’s blue and wibbly and shiny because the room we are in is blue and wibbly and shiny,” he added.

“Netherlands sounds cool. My mom’s Dutch. But like… like the way people here are Irish. We don’t have any family there any more, that I know of, and I don’t know who the last person on her side who spoke a word of it is. You speak much Dutch?” he asked.

13 Kir And confused? 366 Kir 0 5

Jozua

October 20, 2018 10:51 PM

Well, that's not unusual by Jozua

Painted, yes. Okay then. Well, it was Kir. Kir wore something around his eyes, too. So, okay. "That's cool," he said, mostly in commentary about the paint's ability to mimic the surroundings. He really wasn't in the right brainspace to be able to formulate any kind of opinion on Kir himself wearing such nail polish in the first place.

It took a little while for him to catch on to the fact that the Irish 'people around here' Kir was referring to were Americans in general, particularly the kind who wore shirts that said 'Kiss Me I'm Irish' on St. Patrick's Day but were otherwise just Americans, and not the school Founders who really were Irish. After he got that - the sip of the sugary juice he didn't actually remember putting in his glass probably helped - Kir's statement made more sense.

"Um, not as much as I should," he admitted. He took another sip of the helpful brain-boosting juice. "I can say and understand Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I know 'Sorry' and 'Thank you'. I can communicate about the major biological needs - hunger, thirst, being tired, and needing to pee. If I need to say anything more than that, I can tell people I am an American and I don't speak Dutch. The language is only the first part of the huge gulf between me and Dutch relatives," he added. "I think it actually helps us get along better, not being able to understand each other."

1 Jozua Well, that's not unusual 348 Jozua 0 5

Joe Umland

October 20, 2018 11:46 PM

I'm as clueless as you. by Joe Umland

Midterm had been a time of contrasts, to Joe’s mind. The contrast between the time they had all spent at home and the time spent at Julian’s had been…stark. At home, it had been life as usual – which was to say, tradition, comfort, family – just with the addition of a baby. At Julian’s, he had kept wondering when someone was going to admit that it was all an elaborate practical joke – the sharpest moment of that had been when he had suddenly realized he was standing in a small castle and wearing a black turtleneck while his sister smilingly introduced him and John to someone who was supposedly a senior official from the office of experimental charms.

To his relief, however, the vast majority of the holiday had been spent at home, with his parents and some configuration of siblings and no potential Connections. He had overdosed on rich food and elaborate religious ceremonies, to the point that the clean lines of the Cascade Hall were both alien and not entirely unwelcome now that he was back, though the thought of a feast was less engaging than it would have been before the holidays…until he realized this was his last school feast.

His last school feast. How was that possible? And, he realized a moment later, it wasn’t just his last school feast, but his family’s as well. He was the youngest child in his family, and even if they all had kids someday – something which, despite Julian having done it, seemed so adult and far away he could not get his head around it – they were Canadians. They had come here because Mom and Dad had worried about Julian’s past, and John and Joe had, as they always had back then and as Joe still did even now, just followed her, but there was no real reason for hypothetical future Umlands to come here. It was hard to imagine, though, not just being away from the school, but the school going on with none of them in it. Joe had been four years old when Julian had come to Sonora. He had turned eighteen before the holidays. He didn’t really remember a time when the school hadn’t been part of their lives.

A sharp awareness of the moment he was in descended on him, just as it had at Julian’s cocktail party, but this time it was less amusing, more borderline panic-inducing. He had been making motions involving university applications and studying for RATS and whatnot last semester, and even over the holidays, but it hadn’t seemed real. Right now, though, it seemed very real. He was in the twilight of his school days. He was practically an old man. He was going to have to go survive in the real world in just a few months. Holy God.

He realized the food had appeared and started to cross himself, but stopped halfway through the gesture, feeling as awkward doing that kind of thing at Sonora as he did not doing it at home, where the appearance of food triggered muscle memory the same way a bell triggered salivation in Pavlov’s dogs. Instead, he reached out for a dish and started serving himself as Georgia asked how his holiday had been.

“It was good,” he said. “The whole family managed to be around a lot this year.” It had all gotten so complicated, with Stephen and Paul having their lives and Julian and William and Cecily doing whatever it was rich people did all the time and John and Sammy living in a tent in New York. Joe was the only one who didn’t cause scheduling problems. His great claim to fame, he thought dryly. “And it’s always nice to visit a place where people spell words correctly and know how to cook,” he joked. “How was yours?”

16 Joe Umland I'm as clueless as you. 329 Joe Umland 0 5

Isaac Song

October 21, 2018 2:02 AM

Ready to chat away by Isaac Song

Lots of things were changing in Isaac's life. One of his best friends, Jason, had a girlfriend now and spent more time with her than he did with them. It sucked, but his girlfriend was pretty cool, so he couldn't hate her. Drake had broken his leg during their annual snowboarding trip, which meant their trip was on a hiatus for now. Since Drake's family was the one who took them up to Big Bear every year, Isaac wasn't sure if they'd be willing to keep taking them up there after this. Maia had changed too. She was starting to look more Korean and less Americanized in the way she talked and dressed. It was weird to see that, like he didn't know her that well anymore, and he knew he had to make a little bit more of an effort to keep in touch with her. She seemed happy, at least, and he was glad for that.

Christmas had been a little sad without his Dad and Maia there to be with them, but the two of them had come to the States for New Year's. Saying goodbye to everyone once the holidays were over was sad, but Isaac was pretty glad to be back. He had his own life here at Sonora, and he didn't want to give that up.

Over the break, he'd gone shopping a lot with his older sister Lauren. She'd picked out really snazzy outfits for him, and Isaac really liked how he looked these days. Since the ball last year, he'd been really getting into fashion and dressing better. Some older girls at the Christmas party had noticed, and he liked getting compliments for his looks. It made him feel cool. He was hoping for some of that attention here too. If he couldn't change his uniform, at least he could make sure his hairstyle was styled and his shoes looked cool and matched his uniform. Lauren had kindly pointed out he needed to broaden his footwear from Chucks and basketball shoes.

Otherwise, it was fun having extra responsibility at school as a Prefect. It made him feel like a bigger part of the campus life. It was the only way he talked to any of the younger students too, because otherwise he preferred getting to know the older students and his peers. He couldn't wait for Advanced classes, even though he knew it was going to be harder. He was looking forward to working on more difficult things with older friends instead of being the oldest age group in his current class.

The Opening Feast was impressive as always, and the Headmaster's speech was characteristically short. He didn't remember what the Midterm Event was going to be, but he'd figure it out soon enough. Isaac heaped mac and cheese on his plate, excited to eat some heavy comfort food. "Hey, how was your break?" he asked someone sitting near him. With friends or strangers, Isaac really liked to talk. He didn't believe in eating quietly.

19 Isaac Song Ready to chat away 375 Isaac Song 0 5

Kir

October 21, 2018 6:41 AM

You'll find it happens all the time by Kir

“Thanks,” Kir smiled, when Jozua complimented his nail varnish. Maybe sleep-deprived Jozua was a bit more chill. Or maybe he’d grown up a bit since they’d last talked. Kir found himself relaxing slightly, losing a little bit of tension that he hadn’t quite realised he was holding. He was perfectly willing to stick up for his causes when needed but he really didn’t want to have to engage battle-mode all the time. It was nicer when everyone was just getting on. With this in mind, he decided not to continue the topic of make-up, but let Jozua lead them off down the road of foreign language vocabularies and midterm.

“Guess that gets you through a fair few situations though,” Kir smiled, when Jozua admitted the limits of his vocabulary. “Generational, cultural, or just… not in each other’s lives enough?” Kir asked, when Jozua mentioned the gulf between him and his Dutch relatives. “That is, if you want to tell me. I’ll understand if you don’t, though messy family dynamics are kinda my specialist subject,” he reassured him. “My dad’s parents are presumed not to know of my existence, and would deny being any relation to me if they did,” he offered, both to reassure Jozua that there was very little that he could say that would surprise or shock, and also to cast the shade where it belonged, as he didn’t want Jozua to think he was referring to his immediate family, of whom he was very fond.

13 Kir You'll find it happens all the time 366 Kir 0 5

Kyte Collindale

October 21, 2018 7:10 AM

I can do that by Kyte Collindale

Kyte took a seat at Pecari table, his school robes thrown on sloppily with the collar all skewiff. He didn’t like the things, never had, and had chucked them on at the last possible minute before the feast. They looked pretty scrumpled, like they hadn’t seen any place other than the bottom of a bag for a couple of weeks. His hair fell into his eyes, and reached down around his shoulders. Most people who believed in grooming and tidiness and the like would probably have said he looked like he needed a pair of scissors taking to it, but he liked it that way and his family had never raised any objections to it. Overall, dishevelled was usually an apt word to describe him.

The headmaster’s speech was so brief that it didn’t even register (he’d noticed a ripple in the walls that looked kinda like a dragon if you squinted just right - but then it was gone). The plates of food appearing in front of him did register though. It was the one thing this school got right. Food, good food, and always lots of it. He pulled a solid looking lump of meat from one dish, then noticed his neighbour’s interest in the mac and cheese and felt that was a good decision, so took the spoon after he had done with it, before adding a slice of pepperoni pizza as a garnish.

“It was rad, man,” he grinned when Isaac asked about his break. “Last couple of holidays, Raine and I have been legal, so MACUSA’s guys can’t bust us for using wands at home. And anything’s better than school - or should I not say that kind of thing to you now you’ve got that?” he nodded to Isaac’s chest, where the prefect badge stood out, although his tone was still casual and friendly enough that it was clear he didn’t really regard Isaac’s status as prefect as a threat. “You go snowboarding again?” he asked, remembering this detail from Isaac’s previous holiday stories because it had been way cool.

13 Kyte Collindale I can do that 335 Kyte Collindale 0 5

Jozua

October 21, 2018 11:12 AM

Just wish it happened less to me by Jozua

Between the juice and the first couple bites of his food, Jozua felt a little more awake than he had when he sat down. Enough so that he was able to follow Kir's comments without getting stuck and needing to think about anything too hard this time. Enough so that his own sentences felt easier and were not so confined to the simplest of grammar and vocabulary. But not so much that his do-not-overshare filters were back in place.

"A little of all of that," he said, "but mostly social class. I mean, the Sparks are well off enough, but we're not . . . the filthy-rich-go-to-balls kind of family. The Maartens are." He shrugged a little self-deprecatingly. "Mom has led her parents to believe we're higher class than we are so she could get their blessing to move out here and get married to Dad. That we don't speak Dutch helps us maintain that illusion because we can't accidently contradict anything she's told them, or give away that Mom gets to work on research projects like she loves to do instead of socializing like she would hate doing."

"I mean," he hastened to add, "Mom loves her parents and the rest of her family and all, and they give great Christmas presents, but distance and language barriers and a few lies and dancing lessons make that love a lot easier for all of us. I don't think she'd get disowned or anything, if they found out the truth - the Sparks really were one of the founding families of Aladren, like she told them. We're just . . . Sparks. We blow up our house more often than we host parties there."

1 Jozua Just wish it happened less to me 348 Jozua 0 5

Georgia

October 22, 2018 9:13 AM

Challenge accepted by Georgia

It took Georgia a moment to remember that Joe was Canadian. Unless he was overly apologising in a slightly weirdly pronounced way, it was just one of those things that tended to slip her mind. She got that he was joking about the spelling and the food, but she wasn’t quite sure how to joke back. She just flat out didn’t know enough about Canada… She sort of knew they were meant to be the butt of jokes and say ‘eh’ a lot but neither of those things fitted. She was lame at comebacks. She would probably think of something when she was on her way to bed. Oh well, it was better than putting her foot in it like she usually did when she tried to think of something snappy or funny. Maybe not thinking of anything counted as like… personal growth somehow. It was presumably better than saying dumbass things.

“That sounds nice. Assuming you like your family,” she added. Ok. That last part was probably a thing that she shouldn’t have said, so there she was, back to her usual form. She moved swiftly on.

“Mine was good. Just… chilling and doing Muggle stuff with my dad, and then… I guess girly stuff with my mom? Shopping and coffee.” It was weird as a realisation, but she wasn’t sure how to define the time spent with her mom. It definitely did not revolve around magic. Her mom just wasn’t super into that world. In some ways, it felt like an argument to Georgia to get into it - she saw how miserable and isolated her mother was, not being able to really connect honestly with people, but at the same time, it made it feel like sticking a finger up to both parents to choose magic. And whilst that was, like it was to almost all teenagers, occasionally tempting, she didn’t actually hate her parents all that much. “Uh, so you might not know much about this but like… Next year, when I can legally use magic at home like… how much of a bad idea is that? In my dad’s place, I mean. My mom doesn’t have that much tech. Like, I know I can’t draw attention to myself, but like… am I going to make the TV blow up if I start accioing my snacks? Sorry, you might not really know about this kinda stuff but I’m not exactly sure how to find out. Aside from a bunch of really disastrous experiments.”

13 Georgia Challenge accepted 346 Georgia 0 5

Joe

October 22, 2018 12:10 PM

I didn’t realize I’d thrown any gauntlets. by Joe

“You assume correctly,” said Joe, slightly amused and slightly concerned that Georgia felt the need to add that final clause.

Truthfully, he thought he might love his family members far more than he liked most of them, but for most people he imagined this was a distinction without a difference and so didn’t mention it. It was a mess to sort anyway - the kaleidoscope of events shared or not shared with each person, the nuances of personal compatibility versus trust for this or for that. Overall, though, his family had pulled itself back together - pretty much the worst, short of one of them actually dying, had happened and they had been sent reeling for a while, but they’d sorted it out. However personalities met in small clashes, they had each other’s backs and that was what mattered. Or some sentimental rubbish like that.

Joe contemplated what Georgia defined as girly stuff. “I’d agree with you, but half the dudes in my family only drink coffee,” he said lightly. Shopping - he wouldn’t even go there. He knew exactly enough to know shopping could be a thing anyone did, and sometimes it was presumably a thing rich dudes did (William had to get the symbolic and, at least to Joe’s unpracticed eye, extravagant-looking jewels he tended to give Julian on special occasions from somewhere) and sometimes it was definitely a Girly Thing.

He listened to the discussion of technology, thinking. He hadn’t laid eyes on a television in years, and probably the last time he had, it hadn’t been switched on. “I...can’t say for sure,” he admitted. “I mean, my mom works in a Muggle library, you won’t short it out just being near it unless you’re freaking out or something, but - I think the thing is that the more magic you do in one place at one time, the weirder things get - as this place keeps showing us every two or three years. But if it’s just you, then unless you’re doing magic all the time, I’d think you were okay - but take that with as many grains as salt as you want, both my parents are wizards, Mom’s just Muggleborn.” He took a sip of his ice water. “You’re getting started thinking about it early,” he commented. “I was just thinking about how I don’t even want to think about next year.”

16 Joe I didn’t realize I’d thrown any gauntlets. 329 Joe 0 5

Georgia Kirkly

October 22, 2018 9:01 PM

My cluelessness will not be rivalled by Georgia Kirkly

"Ahh, but there is a difference between drinking coffee and going for a coffee," Georgia countered with a smile that suggested this was not an argument she was taking very seriously, "Any of the dudes in your family want to spend ages lingering over a skinny caramel macchiato and outfit-watching the passers by?" she challenged.

"Ok. That helps. Thanks," Georgia nodded. Joe had basically told her he wasn't really sure but in quite a detailed way. Trial and error was not a very reassuring method to have to use, but it seemed like she could at least be around her dad without causing too many issues, and likely that they could keep doing the things they always had done. Just... everything in moderation. This was not a maxim that she was great at following, and it did not sound particularly fun to live by, but it was better than no TV ever again. More interesting was what he said about his mom. "I haven't thought about it that much," she assured him, when he admired her future planning - something which, as far as she was concerned, was non-existent. "I have no idea what I want to do with my life, just... trying to figure out if it's going to change stuff at home, being of age. That's not so far away. So, your mom, she's like... got a foot in each world? And that works?"

13 Georgia Kirkly My cluelessness will not be rivalled 346 Georgia Kirkly 0 5

Joe

October 22, 2018 10:48 PM

I accept your challenge. by Joe

Joe considered Georgia’s distinction between having coffee and going for coffee. “I can’t swear to anything, but I think I’m going to have to give you that one,” he concluded finally. “I’m not entirely sure I know for sure what you just said.” How did you put the words ‘skinny’ and ‘caramel’ in the same sentence? Caramel was literally sugar and milk, if he recalled correctly. Not exactly health food. Maybe it was a reference to the diameter of the cup such a beverage was made in?

He was not exactly sure how to describe his mother and her relationship to the world to an outsider, and so paused for a moment, using the food in front of him as an excuse, to give himself time to think.

“I guess you could put it that way,” he said finally. “But you know, there’s five of us, so for twenty years Mom was pretty much just a Catholic homeschool mom. She’d teach lessons to other kids in the homeschool association sometimes – she has a graduate degree in medieval literature – but she didn’t get out that much, you know? I’m still amazed she hasn’t adopted four or five more kids and replaced all of us since I’ve been here.”

He was joking. Mostly. Not entirely. He knew John had been quite seriously worried at one point that she’d do exactly that, and that he might not be Mom’s Specialest Favourite (Mom and John would both deny that such a position in the family pecking order existed. Joe, Julian, Stephen, Paul, and their dad all knew better. Joe would not be entirely surprised if Cecily knew better by now, it was that obvious, though admittedly he had spent much of midterm hearing about how Cecily was clearly, in the no doubt entirely unbiased opinions of her mother and grandmother and John, a baby of unusually well-developed intellect) anymore if one of these new siblings happened to end up on an intellectual par with John but lacked his Issues. So far, however, Mom seemed to be handling the transition to a sporadically-feathered nest relatively gracefully without resorting to expanding the family further.

“I think my brother Paul, and maybe my brother John, they might be closer to what you’re talking about, though,” he said. “Paul’s a Squib, so obviously he doesn’t do magic – but he has a foot in this world all the time because of the rest of us. It doesn’t seem to bother him much. And John and his best friend, they both study Muggle science and magic stuff, and apparently haven’t blown up anything too valuable yet – “ Joe knew less about Clark’s situation, but he had to assume Cornell would have at least taken it out of John’s scholarship if he had blown up any significant quantity of their stuff, and since John was still there and the only other way he could afford being there would involve bank robbery, which was against John’s religion, it stood to reason he had managed to avoid blowing anything too valuable up – “and John seems pretty happy anyway. So it’s a thing that can be done.” Another sip of ice water. “I’m mostly a wizard, but I can’t imagine just being – completely without contact,” he offered.

16 Joe I accept your challenge. 329 Joe 0 5

Isaac

October 23, 2018 9:09 PM

You know just what to ask by Isaac

"Nah, you can say whatever you want and I won't bust you. I mean, unless you say something crappy in front of a professor, then I guess I have no choice." Isaac grinned. "That sounds like an awesome break," he added.

Kyte and Raine's life sounded so cool. The way Kyte talked about it, it seemed like they lived on the edge and kept things interesting. He was going to miss hearing his stories when he graduated. "I can't wait till I'm legal. Going back home will be so much more fun." His family got to use magic all the time to do chores, like cleaning their room or organizing things, so it felt kind of unfair. At least Lauren made it kind of even by helping him out here and there.

"Yeah I did, but it got cut short cause my friend broke his leg trying to do a trick. His family is the one that takes us and lets us stay in their cabin, so I'm not really sure what's gonna happen next year. They seemed pretty upset about the whole thing, but hopefully they're not too traumatized. Knowing Drake, he'll want to hit the slopes again once he's better." Isaac poured himself some soda, feeling just a little bit guilty. Just one glass wouldn't be so bad.

"It was nice seeing family, but honestly I'm glad to be back. Are you looking forward to graduating soon?" The mac and cheese had already disappeared from his plate, so Isaac scooped more on, this time adding some chili pepper flakes to give it a kick. "I can't imagine living past my CATS yet, but it must feel nice to be almost done."

19 Isaac You know just what to ask 375 Isaac 0 5

Evelyn Stones

October 24, 2018 11:03 PM

It feels like two ones of us instead.... by Evelyn Stones

Evelyn wasn't sure what to think when Malikhi suddenly pulled her into a hug. She thought the gesture was rather forceful after having spent so much time around the very consent-oriented McLeods, but knew she probably wouldn't have minded before and tried not to be taken aback. She knew she was on edge, and that wasn't Malikhi's fault. Still, she had to remind herself not to lean away from him. Then he said he missed her. Her arms wrapped themselves protectively around him, as if her contact could somehow ward off whatever was bringing such fragility to Malikhi's voice.

"I'm glad you like it," she smiled when he leaned away. "You didn't have to do that!" she added, trying to imagine what he could've gotten her that would be too big to bring downstairs. At least they both lived in Pecari so it wouldn't be too hard to move from one dorm to the other. "Thanks, Kai." A smile played in her voice and she felt herself relaxing.

Still, Malikhi seemed off. He asked about Christmas like the idea of a good Christmas was wholly unimaginable, and she wondered more at his than her own. "It was okay," Evelyn said, erring on the conservative side. In truth, she'd had a pretty good Christmas break, and certainly a nicer one than if she'd gone home. Still, she hated that she didn't want to go home, and that had weighed heavily one her over the holidays.

"What about you? You seem down," she returned. For a moment, she toyed with the idea of joking about how returning to school could bring anybody down, but decided against it. She was afraid he'd take it to mean she didn't want to see him or worse, that he'd say he didn't mind Sonora, he just didn't want to be around her. She was pretty sure that wasn't true but not quite 100% sure and 'pretty sure' wasn't the same thing. She was also terribly afraid something much more severe than homesickness and a return to academia were dogging him and didn't want to play that off. "You know you can tell me anything."

22 Evelyn Stones It feels like two ones of us instead.... 1422 Evelyn Stones 0 5

Kir

October 25, 2018 8:57 AM

Well, at least you're no longer in intermediate potions by Kir

“Nice,” Kir grinned appreciatively, amazed to find that he actually had something approaching common ground with Jozua. He could certainly respect his family politics a lot more than he’d expected. Well… maybe. He supposed there were right-leaning non-society types, and the kind of family that an ex-socialite might marry into could certainly fit that mold. But research had been mentioned, as had explosions. And not that Kir was necessarily pro-explosions as such, it just… it made the Sparks clan somehow seem a lot safer to him; anyone who didn’t mind their house getting a bit blown up from time to time couldn’t be too terribly formal.

“Respect to your mom, she sounds like a very determined person. And a bit of a renegade,” he grinned, “My aunt’s marriage choices were definitely a disowning offence. Eloping on the night before her arranged marriage and thus pissing off someone very rich and important, in order to set up home with her Muggleborn roommate, i.e. another woman. That opened up my dad’s eyes to a few things, and when it came to picking sides, he took hers and jumped ship too. Guess my family doesn’t believe in doing things by halves,” he grinned.

“What kind of research is your mom involved in?” he asked, giving Jozua a lifeline back to safer and more familiar territory in case he needed it. Plus he was genuinely interested.

13 Kir Well, at least you're no longer in intermediate potions 366 Kir 0 5

Georgia

October 25, 2018 9:29 AM

I'm not sure where to go from there. Does that mean I win? by Georgia

Georgia grinned at Joe’s acceptance of defeat. A couple of their conversations prior to the ball stood out vividly in her mind as being fairly awful - the one where the crockery had yelled at her, and the awkward conversation where they had danced around the subject of the ball before throwing each other a bone and agreeing to be each other’s pity date (they had used nicer words, but that had been the gist). However, in spite of this unpromising premise, the date itself had not been bad. It had not been totally devoid of awkward moments, but she was starting to chalk those other two conversations up to somewhat extreme extenuating circumstances, and felt that maybe her and Joe talking wasn’t something that was doomed to be constantly terrible. It was actually kind of fun right now. And he was cute to look at, which didn’t hurt any.

The more he talked about his mom, the less convinced she was that it was a model for her own future plans. Adopting five kids and being Catholic and a homeschool teacher all sounded like a lot of hard work and just very… mom-ish. Or kind of like verging on Maria von Trapp from the ‘Sound of Music.’ With being a librarian on the side. All very much things Georgia did not see in her future.

“Pretty sure none of those specifics works for me - the librarian or the science stuff, but good to know it can be done,” she smiled, “My mom is… kinda the poster girl for making a hot mess out of the whole foot in each camp thing. All I know is, I don’t want to be her. Sorry. Probably oversharing there… Though I feel like thinking your parents are a mess and not wanting to into them is fairly normal, right?” she checked.

13 Georgia I'm not sure where to go from there. Does that mean I win? 346 Georgia 0 5

Malikhi Hill

October 25, 2018 11:32 AM

To be honest, I just feel wrong. by Malikhi Hill

You know you can tell me anything...

Could he? Could Malikhi really tell her everything? He knew that he didn't want her to say 'I'm sorry for your loss' because that was a stupid saying. Why did people apologise? Unless they had caused the accident, they had nothing to be sorry for and it made them sound dumb. When he'd been at the funeral, the only thing he'd wanted was a hug from Evelyn and her holding his hand. She didn't have to say anything and simply just be there for him, letting him borrow strength that he currently couldn't find within himself.

He had come to the feast with the intention of telling her but now that the opportunity had arisen, he found himself struggling to find anything to say at all. He couldn't brush off her question as it was clearly written all over his face that he wasn't his usual self. He also thought that telling her was perhaps selfish, given that her Christmas had gone 'okay' and he didn't want to ruin her positive feelings - he had a sneaking suspicion that her holiday had gone better than simply okay but he didn't press the matter. He was probably going to upset her enough with his news and there was no need to make it worse by accusing her of witholding her true feelings and thoughts.

He sniffed sharply and felt his stomach churning and he worried that there was a distinct possibility that he was going to throw up. He abruptly set down his fork and pushed his plate away, his already small appetite well and truly gone. Then, beginning to simmer in his blood, just prickling under the surface of his skin, he could feel anger beginning to burn. Why did his Dad have to go and die? Why did they have to be in that stupid car? If his father hadn't had such an aversion to apparating, everything would've been fine. Christmas would've been wonderful and Malikhi would've returned to Sonora without this cloud of darkness that had begun to follow him. Why did they have to be in that stupid car? Why did muggles continue to use them when they were accompanied with such danger? Why had they been invented at all?

Why did the world have to take his father from him?

He sniffed again and saw that his vision was blurring, his eyes filling with brand new tears. He wished they'd stop doing that. He'd cried so much that they stung and hurt, only seeming to add further insult to injury. Cascade Hall and its feasts and the surrounding students became watery and nothing more than big blobs of colour and his hands balled into fists, his knuckles becoming white. He needed them to stop. This wasn't how he wanted to tell her, his eyes flooded with tears, his throat tight.

Maybe the better thing to do was just tell her, get it over with and move on. Like ripping off a band-aid.

He took a deep breath and used his sleeve to rub at his eyes. He blinked rapidly, trying to clear his vision. He'd left her waiting too long. He had to answer.

"There..." Another breath. "There was an accident. On the first day of the holiday. My Dad came and picked me up from the transport centre."

As he spoke, he saw images flash through his mind. He saw himself waving and grinning as he pulled his suitcase along, his Dad sweeping him into one of his classic bear hugs.

"My Dad's a muggle so he'd brought his car."

He could hear the thunk of his suitcase as his Dad lifted it into the boot of the car. The slam of the car door once he had slipped into the back seat. The sound of the engine coming to life as his Dad turned the key.

"We came to a traffic light junction. I was talking to my Dad, telling him about everything."

He blinked and saw the lights changing from red to green. He felt the car moving forward as his Dad began to drive across the junction.

"There was a driver who ran a red light. He was going too fast. I think he was drunk, my Mum said. He crashed into the side of the car."

He winced as he remembered hitting his head. The crunch of metal, the sound of shattering glass. Then, rolling and rolling, everything spinning, his stomach clenching as he tried not to throw up.

"I woke up in a muggle hospital."

His skin remembered the feel of the scratchy white sheets, his eyes burning as he thought about the too-bright lights. The incessant beeping of the heart monitor he'd been hooked up to. All the nurses and doctors who didn't smile, either because they didn't care or because how could they smile at the little boy who'd just lost his father?

"My Dad didn't make it."

20 Malikhi Hill To be honest, I just feel wrong. 1423 Malikhi Hill 0 5

Tess Whittaker

October 25, 2018 11:51 AM

The last time [Tag Ben] by Tess Whittaker

Tess’s standard post-holiday feelings of both happiness and sadness at returning Sonora were not quite the same as usual this time around. As ever, she’d had a lovely break, enjoying spending Christmas with her family, especially now that little Emma was older and well past the stage of being more interested in the wrapping paper than in the presents.

However, as much as a small part of her usually just wanted to stay at home and not undergo the seven-month separation from her family, for the first time Tess was facing the prospect of her last term at Sonora. Home would always exist, but in seven months’ time she’d be gone from the school, from its familiar corridors and noises, from her dorm room, and from all the places she hung out with her friends and her boyfriend. The future, normally such an exciting prospect, seemed suddenly to be dauntingly close.

Tess knew what she wanted to do; the fear didn’t lie there. She had already sent off her applications to study healing, and there was nothing she could do now but wait to hear back. She’d squashed all worries on that front when she’d sent off the last application. No, the terrifying part of growing up was leaving Sonora and everything that was familiar. She’d have to start all over again, making new friends and learning how to live in a new place. She hoped her friendships from Sonora would continue for years to come, but what if they didn’t? Tess had every intention of owling and meeting up with her friends on a regular basis, but sometimes people just drifted apart over time for no obvious reason. What if that happened to Tess and her friends? Even worse, what if no longer being at the same school, no longer being in classes together and spending so much time together every single day, meant that she and Ben didn’t make it as a couple? Tess was happy and confident that things were going well between them, and she generally tried to bury the worry that it wouldn’t last, knowing that it was completely illogical. However, fears about Ben and her friends tried to surface as she realised that this was her last school feast.

Headmaster Brockert’s speech was short, but it gave Tess a minute in which to try and get a grip. She wasn’t going to have any type of panic about this if she could help it, and especially not in the middle of a feast.

Still, Tess always had a very open personality, and she wasn’t going to pretend that this was just another normal meal at Sonora.

Tess turned to her boyfriend, no longer feeling overwhelmed by thoughts of the future, but still mildly disconcerted by her realisation. "Ben," she said, with a half-panicked, half-jokey grimace. “This is our last feast at Sonora.”

9 Tess Whittaker The last time [Tag Ben] 338 Tess Whittaker 0 5

Joe

October 25, 2018 3:49 PM

Call it a tie? by Joe

“Possibly,” said Joe when asked if considering one’s parents hot messes was par for the course. “I don’t think Mom or Dad is a mess, but I also don’t want to be them. Plus maybe it’s different with biological parents. I know at least one of mine definitely qualifies as a hot mess.”

To put it mildly. The reason he had grown up with his family was because Sam had gotten herself locked up when he was just shy of a year old. Paul said he had no idea who Joe’s biological father had been, but Sam and Paul both agreed that John’s had been removed from the picture after he’d gone postal. Paul had never said anything about his own, and Joe wasn’t going to ask - his brothers both had sore points where All That was concerned.

Joe...didn’t. Maybe it was just because he had been so young when it all went down, but to him it was just...how things were, he guessed. He had enough stuff to deal with without dwelling on all that.

“I’d definitely rather turn out like Mom or Dad than like her, but mostly I’m holding out for figuring out something of my own while I’m at university.”

16 Joe Call it a tie? 329 Joe 0 5

Ben Pierce

October 27, 2018 2:32 PM

That's strange and unsettling by Ben Pierce

Ben loved the school feasts. Partly because it meant coming back together with his friends, partly because it meant the return to his second home after being away for a while, but mostly it was because of the food. The brevity of the Headmaster's speeches helped, too. That was over quickly, and then the food came. Ben piled up his plate full of all his favorite dishes without worrying about his dad giving him incredulous looks that said as plain as day 'how do you fit all of that in your stomach?' (They used to say 'how do you think you are going to fit all of that in your stomach?' but then Ben did fit it all in consistently enough that the verbage of the look changed.)

He turned toward Tess as his girlfriend said his name, and he smiled at her. They had met up a few times over break - the advantage of having non-Sonora homes reasonably close to one another - to exchange gifts (he'd given her a necklace he thought she'd like) and make snow men in the park and just generally spend time together, so while it was always wonderful to see her, they didn't have much lost time to make up for after the break.

What they did have, as Tess reminded him, was a growing shortage of time left at Sonora. "Oh, geez," he groaned. "It is, isn't it? I'm gonna really miss the feasts." He looked at his plate, trying to memorize the piles of food for future reference. "Don't tell my mom," he stage-whispered, "but the elves are better cooks." There would alwasy be home-comfort foods that he preferred from Mom or Dad, if only because of the love baked into the meals, but for straight up taste-tests, variety, and volume . . . he was absolutely going to miss Sonora.

And thinking of missing Sonora made him think of what came next. "Get any acceptance letters yet?" he asked. They had mostly coordinated where they applied for secondary education, selecting schools that had good healer programs for Tess, a good Quidditch program for Ben, and ideally, the option for a Care of Magical Creatures major, though he was mostly applying as 'undecided' since he wasn't sure he could make a Care of Magical Creatures degree work for him in Boston. There were a few schools they each applied to without the other (especially if one of his and one of hers were in the same city), but mostly they were hoping that the end of Sonora didn't also mean the end of seeing each other regularly. After all, Tess might have declined his first accidental marriage proposal, but that was still Ben's long term plan.

"I haven't seen anything either way so far," he admitted.

1 Ben Pierce That's strange and unsettling 339 Ben Pierce 0 5

Kyte

October 30, 2018 9:00 AM

But not how to understand the answers by Kyte

“I will not say deliberately crappy things to professors,” Kyte promised, “Honestly, I don’t think I really have done that much… I just sort of say what I’m thinking and people sometimes get offended. I manage it super well without even trying,” he grinned proudly.

“What’s the big deal about a broken leg?” Kyte asked, looking confused. The idea of cancelling a vacation and being ‘traumatised’ over a broken bone were completely alien to him. “Ok, if it’s like… a mega serious break, you probably need to get a healer involved but those guys can mend stuff like that in a flash. Overnight at the worst.” The fact that Isaac had Muggle friends had come up during their previous exchanges, which had included mention of a unicycle, but it had sort of slipped Kyte’s mind. Or, even if it was vaguely present due to the mention of snowboarding, he couldn’t see how much more serious a broken leg might be without magic. He had heard mixed things about the Muggle word - some people complained it was slow at everything and some people were talked about the quick fixes and shortcuts they had that magical folk didn’t. He hadn’t thought about it much, but he figured it vaguely sort of evened out, and he just couldn’t imagine why a broken leg was seen as so serious when it wasn’t to him.

“Oh. Merlin. Yes. I cannot wait to get out of here,” Kyte emphasised. “It has its moments, and the food’s great but… I belong here like a fish belongs on a broomstick.”

13 Kyte But not how to understand the answers 335 Kyte 0 5

Jozua

October 30, 2018 4:57 PM

One of the great blessings in my life by Jozua

Jozua’s eyebrows raised in surprise and something akin to horror when Kir talked about his aunt’s marriage choices. He wasn’t high class. Even with his mom’s family factored in, he was still a Sparks and Sparks were, quite frankly, the obvious scapegoats if anything went wrong in Aladren. When the plague broke out last year - especially with Jozua and Dad being two of the first to show symptoms - Dad’s involvement in the effort to find the cause and cure was as much to prove his own innocence as it was to help the town. Because until proven otherwise, the default assumption had been that the Sparks had done something catastrophic again.

So nobody was trying to arrange his marriage. If the Maartens had any opinions on the matter, they never got far enough through the language barrier to reach him. As best Jozua knew, they were leaving that entirely alone since he was not a Maarten in name and therefore did not overtly reflect on them. Even if they did think they had a say, he felt pretty sure they would have no objections to Lily Spencer. She was from a better family than Dad was, certainly.

But just the mental image of Mom being hours away from marrying some stuffy dude who wouldn’t want her to work but who her parents picked out and found worthy of their daughter, and then her running off and eloping with Dad at the last minute - Dad, that is, not even some other woman - was enough to make him shudder at how the Maartens might have responded.

Jozua certainly wouldn’t be taking annual trips to Europe, that was for sure. The Sparks would probably be poorer, too. They didn’t live off the Maarten’s support or anything, but Mom had brought in a good sized trust fund with her, and the birthday and Christmas gifts they got each year were a not insignificant portion of the annual Sparks budget.

“That . . . wow,” he said. “That must have taken . . . guts.” And desperation and terror and a whole lot of trust and love for the other woman. And while Jozua didn’t think most pureblood families or even the Maartens had easy access to hired goons or whatever, he was still kind of surprised Kir’s aunt had even survived that. Well, he guessed disowning was a symbolic death, so she hadn’t really in the eyes of the rest of her family other than Kir’s dad.

“I guess Mom got lucky she could pick her husband without too much interference.”

He grabbed eagerly onto the new topic Kir floated. “Oh, she’s into history.“ He realized that it wasn’t often that people asked after what his mom did, and he suddenly wasn’t sure if it was because she was a woman or simply because her research never endangered the entire town and had to be defended to wizards with metaphorical pitchforks.

“She focuses especially on the outward expansion of European wand magic into the Americas, Africa, and Asia. She studies how human magic already existed in those areas, and how well - or more often poorly - the two mixed when they encountered each other, as well as the influences in both directions that have occurred in how magic has been practiced since then. It’s pretty interesting. I can get you a copy of her book.”

1 Jozua One of the great blessings in my life 348 Jozua 0 5

Kir

November 01, 2018 9:59 AM

Eh, seems like it might be a laugh by Kir

Jozua’s face was definitely… doing a thing. It was hard to tell whether it was a good thing or a pushed-over-the-edge, unimpressed-with-all-this-gayness thing. It was just… a thing. A little bit like Kir was slightly breaking him. His initial verbal reaction didn’t do much to confirm either way. But then he managed to find a compliment. Guts. Kir nodded. Jozua still looked like he was struggling to be polite but at least he was willing to make that struggle. Kir didn’t necessarily think the other boy was a bad person, he just seemed to lack any practise in dealing with stuff outside of his middle class cookie-cut family bubble. That was fine with Kir. Jozua was trying - making an effort. He wasn’t sure it would quite go over the same way with Ness, who simply thought that people shouldn’t dare to think like that (‘that’ being anything less than fully switched on rainbow alliance and awareness) in this day and age. Ness would say Jozua was trying - in terms of one’s patience. Luckily, he doubted there were going to be many reasons for them to interact. Except, of course, Quidditch… But that was structured time without much space for discussion. Hopefully.

“I tend to think so,” he agreed. “It’s funny - my aunt’s like the sweetest, quietest one out of all of us. She loves to bake and everyone thinks she’s this mild mannered person. But she’s got a lot of fight in her really.

“Yeah,” he agreed, when Jozua described his mom as lucky, “Though… it’s kind of weird to think of that as ‘luck.’ It seems like it should be such a basic human right.” He supposed the word ‘privilege’ might be better. And yet, that sort of thing happened most amongst Purebloods - some of the most privileged people, in every other sense of the word. It was one of those things where they were both the perpetrators of and simultaneously the victims of all the systems he despised in the world, and that was a sometimes just too headspinny a thought to deal with.

“Wow. That’s cool. I kind of wished we learnt more history here, or politics. Human stuff. I’d love a copy,” he smiled, genuinely excited by the subject of Jozua’s mom’s book.

13 Kir Eh, seems like it might be a laugh 366 Kir 0 5

Jozua

November 01, 2018 4:03 PM

Here’s a funny offer... by Jozua

Jozua nodded in agreement that ‘lucky’ was perhaps not the best word to use in regards to ‘not having to run away from an arranged marriage your parents were forcing on you for political reasons.’ It was not something he had ever had to worry about and until this conversation, he hadn’t really thought too hard about how much mom might have had to worry about it either. From he knew of the Maartens though - how he needed to dress and act around them, the formality of their parties - it wouldn’t have been far fetched for mom to have had to deal with something like that.

She got out of it though some combination of luck (there was that word again) and distance, but a lot of people in that social class didn’t. He looked around the Returning Feast and wondered how many of his classmates would end up married to strangers they’d had no say in choosing.

He wondered if Lily would be one of them and felt a little ill.

Glad that Kir seemed genuinely interested in History of Magic, he tried to push that thought away and focus on the more academic topic. “I can lend you my copy tomorrow. I’ve got it up in my room. If you like it, Mom has loads more at home.” A terrible thought occurred to him, and he prevaricated, “Maybe. I think. If they survived the fire. I’ll ask.” His own copy had been lucky enough to be in his tree fort, which was far enough away from the house to have avoided the explosion. “But I’m sure she can get more from the publisher if necessary.”

“I started taking a History of Magic Independent Study last midterm,” he added, cautiously. “A History RATS is recommended for the curse breaker program I want to get into after Sonora.” He hesitated, not sure he really wanted to invite Kir McLeod of all people to spend any more time with him than he had to. On the other hand, maybe it was his Teppenpaw showing, but he didn’t really like the ‘independent’ part of ‘independent study’ all that much. Having someone other than Professor Philpott to discuss the readings with would make slogging through some of the drier material much easier. Even if it was Kir. “If you want to pick it up, too, I wouldn’t mind a study partner,” he offered hesitantly. There was, after all, no guarantee Kir wanted to spend time with Jozua either.

1 Jozua Here’s a funny offer... 348 Jozua 0 5

Isaac

November 02, 2018 8:05 PM

We can adjust by Isaac

Isaac grinned at Kyte's admission. It was pretty easy to ruffle a few professor feathers in Isaac's opinion, especially with everything that went on at this school outside of class. The plague came to mind, and Isaac was very glad he wasn't a professor here. They had way too much to deal with besides teaching.

Kyte's lack of empathy about a broken leg at first startled Isaac. But he realized that Kyte's reality really didn't make a big deal out of broken bones. His family really didn't either, since they hardly needed even a healer to repair bones or fractures quickly with his family members around. But his friends were a different story. It was a big deal, and Isaac had adapted to that way of thinking. After all, even though he'd never had a broken bone, it really looked like it hurt for everybody, magical or not.

"Well, Drake is a Muggle, so he and his family don't fix broken bones the same way we do. They had to get a medic and use a helicopter to get him and fly him out to a nearby hospital." He wasn't sure if Kyte knew what a helicopter was, but he didn't stop to explain. "Then the doctor had to straighten out the bone with his hands and then put a cast on it to make sure it stays straight. I've never experienced it personally cause my family's magical, but I heard it takes weeks to heal naturally, and then months of physical therapy to get back to normal. Drake is a big football player too, so he's really upset about it. He's probably going to have to miss the whole season this year."

It sucked to miss an entire season, especially when he was trying so hard to make it to the big leagues.

"You hold it together a lot better than I imagine a fish would," Isaac replied with a chuckle. He wanted to make a joke about fish sticks, but didn't think it would make much sense to Kyte. "Any plans for when you get outta here?" he asked instead.

19 Isaac We can adjust 375 Isaac 0 5

Kyte

November 03, 2018 9:49 AM

Yup, doing that now by Kyte

There were some unfamiliar words in what Isaac was saying - he didn’t know what a helitokter was but the word ‘flew’ kinda helped there. And the bit about a Muggle doctor casting something, when that was what you did with magic... But Kyte had never been one to slow down and obsess over the details. He got the gist.

“Duuuuude,” he drew out the word, his re-evaluation of the situation evident. “Duuude, are you like… serious?” But the question was rhetorical because he was pretty sure Isaac wasn’t making this stuff up, because… well, who would?

“That sucks. That’s like…. Whoa. Weeks?” he verified. “Man. Man, that’s got to be so. damn. boring. Couldn’t you like… spike his water with a drop of skelegrow? I mean, I don’t actually know if that would have helped. And then if it went wrong, I guess the Muggles would be really clueless how to fix him. But then maybe he’d get transferred to a magical hospital and they’d just like… fix his leg while they were at it cos they wouldn’t know that’s not normal. Yeah, you should have messed him up real good with magic and then he’d be fine. Though I guess you’d be in quite a lot of trouble,” Kyte was not really considering any of this a viable plan as such, he was just thinking out loud.

“Wow. So, hang on… Your Muggle mates, they do all this snowboarding stuff, knowing they could hurt themselves in ways that take… forever to heal? That is hardcore. Respect to Whatever You Said His Name Was,” Kyte added, holding out a fistbump for Isaac to take in lieu of said absent friend. The fact that Kyte had forgotten his name wasn’t really a reflection on his feelings about them, he just wasn’t great with names, and there had been way other more exciting details in Isaac’s story.

He grinned in response to Isaac’s comment about how he was doing better than a fish. Regarding his plans for after school, he added

“Probably run away to join the circus.”

13 Kyte Yup, doing that now 335 Kyte 0 5

Kir

November 04, 2018 7:52 PM

Funny is good by Kir

The casual mention of a major fire did not strike Kir as sharply as he would have expected. The information seemed vaguely familiar. Beyond the fact that Jozua had already mentioned blowing up their house.

"I think I heard something about that from the gossip mill. Guess it's one of the things they got right. Did you lose much?" he asked. Magical people, of course, had all kinds of enchantments to protect against fire and undo some of its damage. However, they also had magical fire to contend with, which could... complicate things. From Jozua's phrasing, it sounded like quite a lot of damage had been done.

"Yeah, I'd love to borrow it. Thanks. And I swear, it must have been a pretty close run thing me getting Teppenpaw over Aladren, so you know I'll take good care of it."

Jozua took History of Magic. That was interesting. Kir was not expecting more than a friendly chat about that when Jozua suddenly invited him to join him. Kir almost dropped his fork in surprise. He almost asked Jozua to repeat himself. Teppenpaw tact, however, managed to keep him from doing both. That only left answering the question itself to handle. The answer was a solid "maybe." He was pretty sure he could handle Jozua on a weekly, or whatever it was, basis. He wondered whether Jozua could handle him. Or to what extent he, Kir, was going to feel like he had to keep a lid on it because he was on Jozua's turf. It could be a pretty fractious relationship. But the thing was, Jozua of all people knew that. He knew how annoying he (possibly) found Kir and had invited him anyway. Maybe Jozua didn't have that big a problem with him, or was changing his mind. They were getting on well enough right now, after all.

"That could be interesting," he agreed, "Thanks. Maybe I could join you for a session or two and see what you're working on?" he asked, "History's a pretty big field after all," he added. This was a further genuine reason - Kir was more interested in recent history and civil rights, and he suspected that curse breaking was more focussed on ancient civilisations. Those were cool and all, and he wouldn't mind learning more by just being Jozua's reading buddy or sounding board or whatever, but it wasn't an area he felt likely to pour his own heart and soul into. This seemed a better reason to lead with than 'What if we hate each other?' It accepted the offer but in a way thay was tentative enough to back out later without anyone having to lose face. Hopefully. "It'll be useful to know a bit more about how independent studies work too," he added cheerfully.

13 Kir Funny is good 366 Kir 0 5

Evelyn Stones

November 04, 2018 8:48 PM

Everything feels wrong! by Evelyn Stones

If all the air in Cascade Hall had suddenly turned to ice, it still couldn't have made Evelyn's chest feel colder. She was aware of everything -- the red-rimmed, tear-shined eyes of someone she once felt like she knew well; the hard edges of the bench beneath her, digging into her legs; the way her tongue curled in her mouth, reacting to nausea and producing no words -- and of nothing. A moment ago, there had been dozens of raucous students in Cascade Hall. Now it was only the two of them.

She opened her mouth and shut it again. She thought of the times she'd seen adults handle terrifying horrible situations and realized they usually seemed to either swear, cry, or get really reasonable. She didn't feel like any of those were appropriate. The weight of the letters from her family over Christmas break, burning holes in her suitcase upstairs, suddenly didn't seem important. Nothing seemed important except that nothing was okay.

"Do you want to leave?" she asked. "I can grab some food and we can head upstairs, we don't have to sit here with everyone."

This was so different to their first exchange here months prior and Evelyn wasn't sure whether coming to Sonora was the best decision of her life or the worst one. Not that it had really been her decision to make.

"I can't imagine how you must be hurting. Let me know if I can do anything, okay?"

22 Evelyn Stones Everything feels wrong! 1422 Evelyn Stones 0 5

Malikhi Hill

November 10, 2018 6:14 PM

Can we go, please? Now? by Malikhi Hill

Malikhi had hoped that telling Evelyn of the tragedy that had befallen him and his family would somehow make it easier. As if saying the words out loud would make the pain of his new reality less harsh, make it sting a little bit less. He found that it only seemed to enhance it and this realisation made his stomach churn uncomfortably. Now, it wasn't just his own life that was miserable. He'd also put a dark cloud in Evelyn's too.

Being in Cascade Hall was becoming far too much. The noise of the other students that surrounded them was too loud, the smell of the food too strong. He felt too exposed, out in the open and wanted to retreat to his sanctuary in Pecari and hide away until everything stopped hurting. It was funny, really. There were many spells and potions for mending broken bones and healing cuts but there was nothing to help with the pain of losing a loved one. There was a pain in Malikhi's chest, a heavy weight in his stomach. It would be quite some time before he even felt remotely normal.

Which was why, when Evelyn suggested leaving and returning to their House, it was a relief. It took everything he had not to run from the room. Instead, he slowly stood up, hoping that they wouldn't attract attention. Before he started for the door, he turned to her and hugged her again, his lips near her ear. She had said exactly the right things and in that moment, he was grateful that he had met her.

"Thank you."

20 Malikhi Hill Can we go, please? Now? 1423 Malikhi Hill 0 5

Ruby Brockert

November 12, 2018 3:20 AM

Tagging Dorian by Ruby Brockert

Midterm had been wonderful for Ruby as usual. She had gotten many beautiful gifts including a beautiful red cap with a fur trim and a ruby necklace-everyone had the tendency to give them all their namesake gems though Amethyst's amethysts were still being kept somewhere safe because she was still too young. Amethyst was less than thrilled about this, because they were hers .

As for the rest of the family, the little ones were getting bigger. Olaf was three now and Alma was almost one. And Aunt Madeleine who was expecting a baby in February looked ready to pop. She seemed to have that glow that pregnant woman-who weren't Mother-got though.

In addition to that, her father's cousin Cory's wife, Amy, was having a baby even sooner, in January. Cory seemed to be more excited than any father to be that Ruby had ever seen. Not that Uncle Elmer didn't or that her father or other uncles hadn't been.

However, as happy as she was for them, the Teppenpaw couldn't help but feel bad for her aunt Helena. Aunt Helena was really trying to get pregnant but she seemed to have difficulty both concieving and carrying a baby to term. Topaz said it was because Uncle Eustace put pressure on Aunt Helena to be thin and that made it harder for her to have babies

Then there had been the dinner with her father's old friend Hamish McLachlan and his family. They had brought their daughters Vera, who had just graduated school last term and was getting married soon and Caroline who was Emerald's age and...their son Dean who was just a year older than Ruby. He was an extremely handsome boy and seemed so nice and polite. They had danced together quite a bit at some of the balls they had attended too.

Now she was back at school with promises to exchange letters between herself and her new friend. She sat down across from Dorian at the Teppenpaw table and Grandfather welcomed them back from break. "So how was your midterm?" Ruby asked the other third year.

11 Ruby Brockert Tagging Dorian 1405 Ruby Brockert 0 5

Tess

November 12, 2018 12:54 PM

Are you thinking with your brain or your stomach there? by Tess

Tess laughed as Ben’s first thoughts were of the food he would miss, and his dramatics when it came to such a fate. Tess was going to miss the legendary Sonoran feasts too, and, whilst the food would be a tragic loss, it was a much nicer loss to think about than others that came to mind.

“Don’t worry,” she promised, miming zipping up her lips. “I’ll take your secret with me to the grave.” Her eyes sparkled, loving how her boyfriend could lighten up any topic. You couldn’t be sad for long with him around – although, equally, one could never accuse him of trivialising serious issues. He really wasn’t too far off perfect.

And now it was Tess’s turn to groan as Ben mentioned the colleges they’d applied to. “I’ve heard absolutely nothing,” she confirmed. “I keep telling myself that there’s no point worrying about it, as there’s nothing we can do now, but it’d just be nice to know sooner rather than later!” Really, waiting was the worst part. Even if they got rejected from everywhere (as unlikely a scenario as that was), at least they’d know, and would be able to work out what to do next.

“What do we do if we don’t get in to anywhere?” Tess mused, not really seriously. “Do you think Kyte and Raine would take us in? We could muck out the animals or something, work our way up to being the fantastic performers that we would no doubt quickly become.”

The idea of travelling and working with Kyte and Raine in their family’s circus was a pretty brilliant pipe dream. Ben and Tess were great friends with the twins, and what could be better than working and living with your friends?

9 Tess Are you thinking with your brain or your stomach there? 338 Tess 0 5

Jozua

November 13, 2018 4:01 PM

Are we . . . Teppishly finding common ground? by Jozua

Jozua shrugged, not quite sure how he felt about the fire now. It had been two and a half years ago, and most of the inconvenience of it had passed. The new stuff was starting to get dings of its own, so it no longer felt as foreign and false as it had at first. He still missed some of his lost personal stuff, but even most of that had either gotten replaced or he had accepted two years of maturation meant it wouldn’t hold as much interest for him now anyway.

“We live in a Phoenix House,” he answered when Kir asked how much was lost. “So everything not in our fire havens. They’re pretty near immune to minor disasters, but get hit with something big enough and the whole place automatically evacuates anything alive in it and ceases to exist, taking out the house and everything in, including the source of the disaster. Dad and Grandad are both inventors and share a lab in the basement - Grandad works almost exclusively on new fire based charms, and Dad sometimes works with medical charms - so that’s kind of an important safety feature for both us and the town, but it kind of sucks when you’re fourteen and haven’t changed your fire haven stuff since you were nine. Then the Pheonix House can be restored to new with minimal effort - I think Dad had the house itself standing again that same day, though me and Mom left for the Netherlands while they worked on everything else - furniture, carpets, and all that kind of stuff, and getting all the wards and enchantments back in place.”

Kir seemed uncertain about working with him, which was fair. They tolerated one another well enough when they were both at Gary’s D&D club, but there were other people around and monsters to fight to keep them from bothering each other then. The rest of the time they seemed pretty happy to keep a fair amount of distance between them.

“Sure,” he agreed to a tentative trial session. “I’m following the recommended curriculum for passing my History of Magic CATS, so some of it is kind of tedious if that’s not something you need. To be honest, I made the offer so I don’t need to slog through the goblin wars unit by myself. Misery loves company and all that, right?”

1 Jozua Are we . . . Teppishly finding common ground? 348 Jozua 0 5

Evelyn Stones

November 15, 2018 9:45 PM

Definitely probably yes let's go by Evelyn Stones

Perhaps it was just the nature of spending winter break surrounded by people who were conscious of human sexuality in a friendly, healthy, considerate way, but Evelyn was suddenly quite aware of the implications of leaving alone with Malikhi and returning to their shared dorm. Of course, they wouldn't get past the Common Room but still. She did a double take at her own thoughts and wished desperately that she was not 12 and not a girl. Being like . . . 5 years old...or being a slug! That would all be better. At least then she wouldn't spend so much time confused about feelings. Why were there so many feelings all the time?

Evelyn nodded, glad that the offer seemed to be helpful to her friend. For a moment, she hesitated, wondering if they were technically supposed to ask a perfect before wandering off, but they wouldn't at any other meals during the term so she didn't see why she'd need to now. Grabbing a few items of food that wouldn't ruin her robes or burn her hands or drip, Evelyn gestured with her head for Malikhi to follow her out of Cascade Hall and away from the noise of so many feelings.

"We can talk or we can not talk," she promised Malikhi as they left the room. She wanted to tell him he could cry too, but whenever she'd seen boys start to cry, they usually also yelled and she was terribly afraid of what would happen if he yelled. Would he take out his feelings on her? Feelings were so irritating.

Cold fear knotted in her stomach and she forced herself to walk, to not think of the dangers of being alone with an emotionally unstable humanoid of greater physical size and strength. She hated the distance she put between them as they walked, but she knew she couldn't handle being closer than that, and crying wouldn't be helpful right now. Her breathing was hitched and nervous but she kept a pleasant expression on her face, just bovine neutral. Smiling would be inappropriate, and probably wasn't possible for her at the moment, but frowning or grimacing seemed rude.

"Let me know what I can do," she said.

22 Evelyn Stones Definitely probably yes let's go 1422 Evelyn Stones 0 5

Dorian

November 16, 2018 6:54 AM

Blending in by Dorian

Dorian took a seat in the Cascade Hall. Although for the Returning Feast they were, theoretically, free to sit anywhere, he was always wary to be the one to break ranks and actually do it. He also wasn’t sure he wanted to sit with Jehan right now. He had promised to tell him properly about Matthieu and whilst he knew Jehan wouldn’t expect him to do that here and now he wasn’t sure what they would talk about instead. They would find something, he was sure - he and Jehan never ran out of things to say to each other. They could always talk about books, and that would be nice but… It wasn’t the conversation that they needed to have, and that was going to lurk beneath the surface, making the whole thing feel fake and strange. He couldn’t face faking the cheery facade for Jehan who would know it to be such.

He took a seat at Teppenpaw table, feeling the comfortable anonymity of being where he was expected to be, surrounded by gentle, kind people (plus occasional curve balls like Jozua and maye Nathaniel but they were far enough away). There were not that many people or places where he felt he could be fully himself, but Teppenpaw was generally comfortable. He did not have to do a lot of faking to blend in. He could be himself in that low key, quiet way, just sitting and not drawing attention, and he was fine with that. He found himself next to Ruby, who was the sort of person it was easy to make pleasant, light conversation with. And, predictably for the opening feast, she asked how his midterm been.

I spent a lot of it hiding from my brother or having homosexual fantasies about my best friend was the honest answer.

“It was fine, thank you,” he replied instead, practised enough to the social nicety of saying his Midterm had been fine to pass the remark off smoothly. And it had been. Matthieu was… an inconvenience, as always, but he had not been the whole of Dorian’s Midterm. Émilie had been her usual sweet self. They had spent plenty of time singing Christmas songs at the piano, skating on the lake, and sipping hot chocolate curled up on the couch together. It hurt that he missed out on so much of her life, and he felt in some ways that they were growing apart, but at the same time, they still fell back so easily into talking each other’s ear off the second they were back together. She had acquired some slightly irritating friends who had come over once or twice, which he had not enjoyed. Perhaps ‘irritating’ was too harsh - they just giggled a lot, and he wasn’t really sure why it was necessary. If pressed, he supposed he might admit that Émilie had those sorts of tendencies herself, but it was different when it was your own sister versus the giggly giddiness of strange, unknown persons. Dorian had spent a lot of time in general with his Mama, but particularly when Émilie’s friends were over. Not that this had deterred them… Her friend Charlotte seemed to find it endlessly amusing to creep up and look in on him then run away giggling as if it was some kind of game they were playing, or a dare. He had felt like something in an aquarium. The funny brother, back from America. Rare specimen. He didn’t know why Charlotte kept doing that though. He wasn’t that peculiar.

“The usual things - go ice skating, eat a lot,” he smiled. “How was yours?” he returned.

13 Dorian Blending in 1401 Dorian 0 5

Kir

November 17, 2018 8:34 AM

It may have some overlap with Aladren territory by Kir

"That's really interesting," Kir noted, when Jozua explained about the house design. For a moment, he questioned his house placement, as he was far more interested in asking more questions than commiserating over Jozua's losses but he reasoned that Jozua actually did not seem that upset. "Though yeah... Nine year old me versus fourteen, bit of a difference," he acknowledged sympathetically. "That's got to be a tough dilemma though... If you really love something, you have to choose between seeing it every day and keeping it safe. Like your favourite photos... I guess you can make copies but it isn't the same." He wondered what spells were used on the fire havens. Could they be applied somehow to individual objects instead? Or could the objects be charmed to... whatever the inanimate equivalent of apparating was, so that they moved into the havens when the destruction spell triggered? Given that Jozua's family were inventors, they had probably tried a lot of things and thought of all this already but maybe not... People who were intelligent and focussed on projects could be unsentimental, and not understand the value of those sorts of things… "Did your family invent their own house? I really want to understand more about how it all works." He was hoping that the answer was ‘no’ and that he could therefore look the subject up in the library, because he was pretty sure that ‘So, can my girlfriend and I come on a research trip and poke your house for science’ or ‘Can I have the blueprints?’ were not socially acceptable questions. And perhaps his willingness to prioritise that fact was how he’d just edged into Teppenpaw…

“The Goblin Rebellions could actually be really interesting,” Kir grinned, gathering enthusiasm by the second for the project, “I don’t know a lot about it, but I know it’s something that’s leaked down into relations today. It’s kind of like a lot of history… If you’re just trying to memorise names and dates, it’s probably not so fun, but when you actually dig into the politics of it… I wonder whether they try to make it seem dull on purpose. A lot of magical history tends to gloss over the not so nice things that magical humankind did. Though I guess if you reckon your assignments are going to be marked by crusty old guys, you might be better off not trying to rock the boat. Still… Understanding goblin mentality and their relations with magical humans could be pretty useful for curse breaking, right?” he added, trying to find a reason for Jozua to get excited about it.

13 Kir It may have some overlap with Aladren territory 366 Kir 0 5

Parker Fitzgerald

November 19, 2018 7:48 PM

Plans... with me? by Parker Fitzgerald

Parker had not enjoyed being gone for the Winter break. His house seemed different somehow. Somehow more lonely. Even though all of them had been together, he still felt like something had been missing. It didn’t help that he couldn’t talk to his mother and father about his school work, or practice flying on his broom.
Lyssa had mentioned that he could read his books still, but Parker wasn’t a reader really. He was more of an active participant. It’s why he liked, and found did well in Herbology and even Potions this year. Besides, there was only so much time he could spend in doors.
Still John Jr. had been surprisingly nice, and he had been able to go out with his friends from before Sonora. That’d been weirder. Their lives had all continued, and they made fun of the fact that they couldn’t snap, text, heck they couldn’t even email him. They asked him about his school. And Parker realized, for the first time, that he had never really talked to them about his school. So he told them the general outlines. That it was a special school, he took classes on plants and played sports. His friends were shocked to learn that it was coed and spent the rest of the time asking him questions about the girls at the school, and if they could come visit.
The whole experience had made him slightly lonely. And so it was with relief that he found himself sitting at the welcome back meal. Food in front of him. He might not like the role he played at the school, but at least he knew what that role was.
Just as he was getting ready to take a bite of food someone slide into the seat next to him. He knew it was before he even turned his head, his face breaking into a smile.
“Hi.” He took the gift from Cleo’s hands. He felt bad that he hadn’t gotten Cleo a gift and then realized that he hadn’t given her the gift he’d gotten her last year.
“I have a gift for you, but it’s in my room for the next time we meet.”
It was a book with plants hand drawn on it. It looked beautiful and specially made. Parker looked quizzically at the cover and moved to open the notebook as the cover seemed to bulge. If Parker felt guilty about his present to Cleo before he opened, he definitely felt guilty afterwards. But that gift was only brief and was taken over by the sudden realization of what it said.
Parker reread the cover page. “Gardening Club Plans by Cleo and Parker”

“Are you …” Parker cut himself off. Cleo was not someone who wandered into something without being sure.

Parker turned to face Cleo and went in to give her a big hug.
“Where do we start?” He said as he released her.

41 Parker Fitzgerald Plans... with me? 1402 Parker Fitzgerald 0 5

Jozua

November 21, 2018 2:35 PM

I grew up there by Jozua

“Yeah, one of my great-great-something grandfathers invented the house,” Jozua confirmed when asked Kir asked if his family invented it. “I don’t think it was Granddad’s dad, but it could have been his grandad maybe or the Sparks before him. Or further back. I don’t remember, just that it was one of the ones especially prone to blowing things up and endangering the whole town. Anyway, he got tired of rebuilding his house. It’s apparently a lot of effort to go through rubble trying to determine if anything is salvageable and largely a disappointing endeavor, so he decided to make a house that could skip over that step. So he built his house. Again. But as he was building, he added a bunch of enchantments. Some of them would ensure total destruction once triggered. Others . . . I don’t honestly know how this jives with some magic laws Professor Skies taught us against creating something from nothing, but the way it was described to me was that they let the house get restored back to its original brand-new condition with just a few spells. That’s probably an overly simplified explanation though, and I wasn’t there to see it in action. I don’t know, maybe it does something with what should have been the rubble and transmutes that back into a house or something.”

Jozua rolled his eyes, “Anyways, by the time he finished testing the thing, Aladren,” Jozua could not remember if it had already come to Kir’s attention that he was from the town bearing that name, so he thought it best to clarify, “that is, the town in Oregon; we’re from that Aladren, the one the House here is named for.” Jozua recognized the irony of the current discussion and Aladren’s status of the only surviving wizarding town so honored. He rolled his eyes slightly, grimaced, and shook his head. “We Sparks have tried our best over the centuries to doom Aladren to the same fate as Pecari, Crotalus, and Teppenpaw, but we have yet to be successful.”

“Anyway, my Pheonix House Inventing ancestor gave it a very good go, and after quite a few town wide wild fires - some from insufficient control over the initial trigger, some from over enthusiastic destruction of the rubble - a few of our nearest neighbors were pretty quick to buy his houses once he started selling them. But mostly they’re popular around where tornadoes or hurricanes or other natural disasters are common. I think we still sell some, but there’s not really a super high demand for houses whose major selling point is ‘Hey, if disaster strikes, there will be literally nothing left. Easy cleanup! Easy rebuild!’ Dad might have helped install maybe two his whole life? He’s been called out for reconstruction consulting a bit more regularly though.”

“Goblins are responsible for a fair share of cursed objects,” Jozua said thoughtfully once Kir brought up that line of consideration. “I never thought of that connection to curse breaking,” he added, impressed and surprised. “See that’s why a study partner might be a good thing to have.”

He wasn’t completely unaware that Kir might be pushing another angle there, particularly after seeing how exasperated Gary sometimes got with Kir’s character Erevan during D&D when goblins came up. Still, Jozua wasn’t against hearing the goblin’s side of the story.

“I know how to toe the line with crusty old guys in my exams,” he said dryly, a statement that was meant to refer back to their earlier discussion about the Maartens, but which could be just as validly interpreted at face value, “but in the library, we can try to rock the boat enough to make it interesting.”

1 Jozua I grew up there 348 Jozua 0 5

Ruby

December 02, 2018 8:44 PM

Well I found you anyway. by Ruby

That sounds nice." Ruby replied. " Mine was great! It was so nice seeing the rest of my family again." Family was very important to the third year. She loved every one of her relatives so much even Topaz and Uncle Eustace. Even though they didn't make it easy. In all honestly, she didn't spend too much time with her uncle, who thought women were inferior to men and never paid any attention to any of his brothers' children except the boys. Even then Olaf was still too little to interest him much. Ruby knew that Jasper though wished their uncle wasn't that interested in him and Christopher either.

However, in Topaz's case, Ruby tried harder. They were sisters after all. The first year wasn't really that interested in spending time with her though, which admittedly hurt. All she wanted was the same bond that she had with her other sisters and even Jasper. However, Emerald though that she was better off not spending time with Topaz and anyway, Ruby reflected, at least she did have all those other siblings to bond with. She knew her older sister thought being part of a big family was a pain but the Teppenpaw loved it.

She went on. "Plus I got so many lovely gifts. Mostly jewelery and clothing and cosmetics and pretty smelling soaps and things like that. Like this bracelet." Ruby extended her wrist to show Dorian her bracelet which was pink spinel surrounded by small diamonds and set in rose gold. It matched what she was wearing under her robes which the ruby necklace didn't. She was also wearing a new perfume with light floral scent.

"And my parents invited a friend of my father's and his wife and three youngest kids. Their oldest son couldn't make it but their younger son, Dean, is really nice." Her tone of voice suggested she thought quite highly of him, even if she didn't know him well. "I also attended more balls this year." Ruby added.

"So, what did you get for the holidays?" She asked. "And did you attend a lot of balls as well?"

11 Ruby Well I found you anyway. 1405 Ruby 0 5

Dorian

December 03, 2018 10:37 PM

That's ok, you're not scary by Dorian

Dorian admired the bracelet as Ruby held it out for inspection. Being friends with Tatya had been moderately educational on this subject. He certainly knew more gemstone names in both English and Russian than he ever thought himself likely to need, and in the latter case, it was sharply disproportionate to his general ability. He recognised Ruby's bracelet as a particular type of gold which was somewhat less brightly shiny than others. If he had ever been told the name in any language, he could not recall it but he had a feeling that the colour might mean it was more expensive. He knew just enough about different stones to know that there were a handful of possibilities regardless of the colour, and that he had no idea how to tell any of them apart. However, there was one thing he had known about jewellery long before meeting Tatya, and he deployed this now.

"This is very beautiful," he complimented her new acquisition, without very much idea whether this was true. Or rather, whether those who knew more about jewellery and fashion would be in agreement with him. He didn't think there could be an objective truth on whether something was beautiful, and he was sincere even if not well informed.

"I received many books. Probably this is not so surprising," he admitted, with a slightly self depricating smile. He was pretty sure he had a reputation for always having his head stuck in a book, "Mostly in French." For English books, his parents felt that the Sonora library and Jehan would do a better job of catering to Dorian's interests, and for Chinese they had stocked up on their trip in the summer. "And usual things like clothes and chocolate. My sister buys always for me something for writing - nice paper or quill - so that I remember to write lots with her. Not that I need reminder - I would never neglect to do this but she likes to have many letters.

"Some ball, yes. And the other events, like musical performance," the latter were still big society events - it was important to get dressed up, to be seen there, and afterwards there was the obligatory mingling. The concerts themselves he found enjoyable but the small talk afterwards was insufferable. He had never really been a fan, seeing as it was a combination of superficial pleasantries and people he felt ill at ease and like he did not belong with. And that was growing. For all kinds of reasons. For the fact that he spent much of his year apart from that community, which made his distance from it grow, along with own feeling that he not only did not fit in but did not particularly care to... Balls were worse. He didn't particularly know any of the girls well enough to want to dance with them. That left only small talk. There was a mounting sense of sheer hell about the whole thing. He wondered how to say any of this to Ruby though, who seemed to relish the society life. All of his friends seemed to be somewhat like this though - to relish going out and meeting people. Was he the only one who wanted to stay at home, cuddled up with someone he already knew? Still, none of them had ever really seemed to hold his nature against him. "It is nice that you meet someone good," he added, "I find that difficult sometimes, when I am at home... At these events, the people my own age are all going to school together, thus they all know each quite well," he admitted carefully. "But it makes my sister happy to go, so I enjoy to see her having fun."

13 Dorian That's ok, you're not scary 1401 Dorian 0 5

Ruby

December 12, 2018 11:50 AM

Thanks. by Ruby

Ruby smiled. "Thank you." She continued. "That's really nice. My sisters-Emerald and Topaz-both got lots of books. In English though. They're bigger readers than I am." The Teppenpaw didn't quite understand why her friend looked self-deprecating. There was nothing wrong with liking to read. Merlin knew that Topaz in particular seemed to think there was something wrong with not liking to read. Where would Dorian get the idea that there was something with it? True, there were people like Uncle Eustace who thought boys in particular should be out playing Quidditch but Ruby had always felt like people thought she was less intelligent because she was sandwiched between two sisters who were very much so and sorted into Aladren. However, she really wasn't. "I do read sometimes though." It was her turn to be self-deprecating a little. "Just not...a lot of theoretical stuff or non-fiction" Topaz exclusively read non-fiction "or anything outside of school. Mostly books meant for teenage girls."

She went on. "I wish I spoke French. It's such a beautiful language. Unfortunately, my parents never really pushed languages too much. We learned all the things that purebloods learn but other languages aren't really a requisite. We had to learn dancing and etiquette and basic academic subjects, of course." In some ways her and her siblings had had a rather unstructured childhood. Their mother just popped them out and then got overwhelmed quickly. Father was as attentive as one could be but he had to work often. Nannies and tutors helped, but Topaz in particular would always undermine them and Amethyst could be-much as Ruby didn't like to think it-kind of bratty sometimes. There was still hope she'd outgrow it,whereas with Topaz, the Teppenpaw seemed to be only one still optimistic.

Ruby nodded. "Musical performances are nice. Sometimes we go to them or the theater or the opera too. Just my parents, Emerald, Topaz and me though." With Ruby and her parents sitting between her two sisters." My other siblings are too young." It was pretty much decided that Jasper and Amethyst at least would get bored.

"That must be really hard." She said sympathetically. "I can't imagine. I mean, I do get some of that because there are others around our age that go to different schools that go to the same parties as I do. I mean, I know them, because we went to the same birthday parties and stuff growing up but as they go to some of the same schools and I go here, it's not the same.It's just too bad you can't come to ones here in America. Maybe next year you and your sister could come to my cousin's party at least. I'm sure Angelique wouldn't mind, she really wants to be known for her parties. There's no reason those in our social circle couldn't come. Jehan and his brother were both invited." Largely because of Emerald in the latter's case.

11 Ruby Thanks. 1405 Ruby 0 5

Dorian

December 16, 2018 7:40 PM

De rien by Dorian

"That is mostly how my sister reads," Dorian added amicably when Ruby was a little coy about her own reading tastes. "They are, some of them, quite good. I mean, she seems to enjoy," he added hastily, hoping he had not just made it sound like he read teenage girl books. He did not make a hasty denial of that possible assumption because he was aware that pointedly stressing that he did not read teenage girl books would only make it sound more like he did. Also, it would be a lie.

"Well, I can always try to teach you a little French," he offered. He was always happy to share his languages or have an excuse to speak them. In fact, it was harder not to pepper his speech with a mixture of languages, though he tried not to unless he knew a particular person was ok with him doing.so. "I did not so much study languages," he reminded Ruby, "They just.... sort of happen to us. I mean, we have extra tutoring for improving in all, but Russian with Tatya is the first time I sit and learn a language from nothing. It is very different."

Dorian was relieved when Ruby sympathised with his plight. He sometimes wondered whether it was his fault - that if he just tried a bit more, made the effort to put himself out there, he would have a better time. But he would rather watch, slightly bored and lonely, from the sidelines than have interactions that were actively unpleasant.

"I think I lose count of how many times I answer How is it to go to school in America?" he admitted with a wry smile. This brightened into a much more genuine one when Ruby offered to invite him to their party next year. His parents had been hoping he would start to get asked out in American society, seeing as that was the whole point of him coming here. And, whilst pleasing his parents was a good reward in itself, the idea of attending a party with his own friends instead of Canadian society was very appealing. Especially as, the icing on the cake, the guest list included Jehan. "I will like that very much. Thank you," he beamed at Ruby.

13 Dorian De rien 1401 Dorian 0 5

Ruby

December 19, 2018 7:14 PM

:) by Ruby

Ruby felt rather relieved when Dorian didn't criticize her reading tastes the way Topaz would. "Some of them are. I like the Mount Ivory series and Prophete's Academy." She simply didn't enjoy the hard theoretical non-fiction books that her younger sister liked or the biographies of dark wizards and other magical despots. The Teppenpaw didn't understand why Topaz liked reading about such terrible things. Emerald's theory was that the first year was trying to draw inspiration from them. Emerald was so hard on Topaz.

"That would be great!" Ruby exclaimed. She nodded. "I know, but we didn't speak French or Chinese or anything else. I mean, nobody in my family has been from another country in generations so we all grew up speaking exclusively English, with a little Latin thrown in because it's the language that spells are in. Only Topaz has really put any extra effort into it." Basically the Aladren thought that speaking a language that was archaic pretty much only used for spells made her seem even more intelligent.

She nodded in understanding. "That must be tough." Admittedly, the small talk at parties could get repetitive. " Of course, it's possible that if you came to parties here, you'd get asked what living in Quebec was like but really, I'll see what I can do about getting Angelique to invite you and Tatiana." Quebec wasn't really any further away from Salt Lake City than New Hampshire was and Winston Pierce was invited after all.

"I'm sure it would be easier to socialize with people you know well." Ruby really didn't feel like too much of an outsider in general but from what Angelique said it was really awful. Actually, Angelique generally made it sound like a fate worse than death. The seventh year was pretty outgoing and usually had the opposite problem from Dorian. She fit in well at society parties but not at school whereas Dorian seemed pretty well liked at school, where he seemed to be friends with half their class and had difficulty fitting in at home.

"I'll definitely talk to my cousin about it." Honestly, Ruby had thought Angelique would invite the purebloods in her class without thinking since she had for Owen and Emerald. Though Owen seemed to only need Jemima. When she was in the room, it was like everyone else ceased to exist for him. Ruby really hoped to find that kind of love some day. "She'd probably be really thrilled to have such a reputation for throwing balls that they're even attended by people from other countries."

11 Ruby :) 1405 Ruby 0 5