Opening Feast on Cascade Hall

System

May 08, 2020 10:29 PM

Crotalus by System

0 System Crotalus 0 System 0 5

Mortimer Brockert

May 08, 2020 10:29 PM

Opening Feast by Mortimer Brockert

Another year was upon them. This year Mortimer's eldest grandson, Jasper would be joining the school's ranks. Once everyone seemed to be in attendance, Mortimer placed a Sonorus charm on himself and began to speak. "Welcome to Sonora for the new first years and welcome back for all older students. First years, you should have receieved a blank badge at the end of Orientation." At least they hadn't gotten it when they first got there, some were liable to lose it. "You will dunk the badge in the Sorting Potion and it will turn the color representing your house which are blue for Aladren, yellow for Teppenpaw, red for Crotalus, and brown for Pecari. Afterwards, you may join your house table." He watched his grandson with interest.

After the first years had been settled, Mortimer continued."Would Dorian Montoir and Peyton O'Malley please come up and get your Head Student badges." He continued. "In addition I'd like to call up Nessa McLeod, Katerina Vorontsov, Allegra Brockert and Evelyn Stones to receive their prefect badges. Congratulations." Mortimer was incredibly proud of Allegra but he was disappointed that Topaz had not won as well. He was not disappointed in the Aladren, of course, but in the staff. How could Miss McLeod have won? The girl was an annoying self-righteous, judgemental, hypocrite and his granddaughter was a model student. At least Ruby hadn't lost to someone who was terrible and completely undeserving in every way, even though the Teppenpaw was the better option. Mortimer supposed Miss O'Malley was the next best choice, as Miss Delachene had a questionable grip on reality and Miss Vorontsov was a Pecari.

He had misgivings about Miss Stones too. Everything he knew about her suggested poor judgement and mental instability, but then no Pecari was ever really had the responsibility for the position. And Mr. Montoir winning was bound to give him headaches from complaining members of society. Like it was his fault or something when the students picked and had since before he'd ever been Headmaster.

But, at least Allegra got it. And her friend Katerina. The latter of which was puzzling really, since what little he knew of Miss Fitzgerald was that she was a slightly more pleasant version of Miss McLeod and the latter had beaten Topaz who was perfect for the job. He certainly thought that the younger Miss Vorontsov was the better option but considering what terrible taste most people obviously had, he was surprised that they'd apparently agreed with him.

Still, as Allegra accepted her badge from him, he gave her look of pure pride. Mortimer felt this would be good for the Crotalus, she might not have her cousin's intellect, but she was a very kind and gentle soul, which meant she'd be there to listen to anyone's problems.

Once the new prefects and Head Students had returned to their tables, Mortimer continued, "Our Midsummer event this year will be a fair to raise money for several charities, chosen by students." Not his first choice either. He would have preferred something that students would find, well, fun. Fun made happy students, happy students made happy parents and happy parents made a happy Mortimer, because he didn't have to deal with them. However, he had not had any better ideas and instead, had simply suggested adding a "fun" component. "Those who wish to run a booth must have your charity approved by a member of staff" This was important given that some people had a very distinct problem with the concept of appropriate "and hold a planning meeting within the first five weeks of the term."

"Now we will sing the school song." Well, they would anyway. Mortimer did not sing . Lyric sheets were passed around and the song began.

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

That done, he dug into his steak and bourbon.

OOC-Views expressed in this post belong solely to Mortimer and do not reflect those of the author or any other character, except perhaps Topaz.

Subthreads:

Crotalus

Let's get things started! by Graham Osbrook with Jezebel Reed-Fischer

Here we go again. by Jessica Hayles with Sadie-Lake Chalmers

Another year, another disappointment. by Julius Astley with Felipe De Matteo

One Year More (tag: Peyton) by Jasmine Delachene with Peyton O'Malley

I'm going to die, aren't I? by Allegra Brockert

Aladren

Harper's Quest VII: The Grand Conclusion [Ness McLeod] by Gary Harper with Ness McLeod

How do they DO that? by Quincy Wright with Morgan Garrett

Okay, I really need to make some friends. by Isabella Harrington with Mara Morales

Magic? Yes. Headaches? Go away. by Josephine Clyde with Heinrich Hexenmeister

Here we go again. by Bonabelle Row with Ellie Alperton

People are going to pay for this by Topaz Brockert

Teppenpaw

Now the fun begins! by Valentine Duell with Philippe Delachene

Mixed feelings. by Katerina Vorontsov with Johana Leonie Zauberhexen

That was a lot of surprises. by Lyssa Fitzgerald with Dathan Fischer

Get ready for the future. by Nathaniel Mordue with Freddie Zauberhexen

Being Sorted by Jasper Brockert with Alexander Pierce-Beales

People want... me? by Dorian Montoir

And so it goes, I guess. by Vladimir Brockert

Pecari

Well this is an interesting turn of events. by Evelyn Stones with Tatiana Vorontsova

Party in Pecari!!! [Tag: Theo, someone] by Stanley O'Malley with Anya Delachene, Theo Spurn

Here's to a new experience! by Aelia Astley with Leonor De Matteo

So... what do we do now? by Janis Rosemary Silver with Mab

Meine Zeit hier kommt zu einer Mitte by Hilda Hexenmeister with Parker Fitzgerald

Staff

Ch-ch-changes by Isis Carter-Xavier with Lawrence Marsh

This ought to be one for the books. by Grayson Wright with Killian Row

There are to many people here. [Professor Xavier] by Osvaldo Alamilla with Nathan Xavier

11 Mortimer Brockert Opening Feast 6 1 5

System

May 08, 2020 10:29 PM

Aladren by System

0 System Aladren 0 System 0 5

System

May 08, 2020 10:29 PM

Teppenpaw by System

0 System Teppenpaw 0 System 0 5

System

May 08, 2020 10:29 PM

Pecari by System

0 System Pecari 0 System 0 5

System

May 08, 2020 10:29 PM

Staff by System

0 System Staff 0 System 0 5

Evelyn Stones

May 08, 2020 11:45 PM

Well this is an interesting turn of events. by Evelyn Stones

On the whole, Evelyn shouldn't have been surprised to be prefect. She knew as well as the next person that Malikhi just hadn't been there for it over the past few years, and even if Evelyn wasn't most people's first choice, she was more involved if nothing else. Really, she wasn't surprised. She knew from the previous year and Heinrich's prefect assignment that this would happen for her class this year. Still, she tried to avoid eye contact with Malikhi as she made her way up for her badge. Her shiny new prefect badge that her parents hadn't thought she'd ever be good enough to get. She did try to find Heinrich in the crowd, and sent him a beaming grin, but the best part was that Ness was there. Ness was a prefect too! Since Topaz was terrible, that made a lot of sense. But now they would have prefect duty together and they could use the prefect lounge, and it would be perfect. Would she have duty with Heinrich? Or Nathaniel! He'd been nice. And Katerina was great, of course. She didn't know Allegra well but she thought that she was probably nice, too. Also, none of the prefects were boys, which was exciting. They each had very distinct ideas of what their own identity meant for them, and that was really cool.

These thoughts were fleeting however, because when she returned to the Pecari table, she was reminded that Aelia friggin' Astley was a Pecari now. Julius' sister! She'd heard about Aelia, although she and Julius didn't talk a lot about family, but she wouldn't have expected any Astley to be a Pecari. This was wonderful and a bit hilarious.

Evelyn was feeling good. She'd had a mostly good summer - a mostly great summer really - and she was sixteen now and those were both exciting things. There were bad things though too, including a really crappy letter from her mom. She'd gotten it just before her birthday and it was nice to know that she was alive and well, but any lingering feelings of sympathy for her mother were quickly replaced with anger and near hatred for a woman who had utterly betrayed her own daughter to the hands of horror. What kind of mother was that? Evelyn could only hope Michaela would have it better than she did. It was a bit odd really, because she had the same feelings about CJ. All she could hope for for her young siblings was that they had a better go of it than she had. Evelyn had found happiness but she certainly hadn't started there.

Geez. She was feeling reflective tonight! The Opening Feast always made her feel a bit that way, because there was always something new about it. It was a reminder of where she'd been before and where she was now. It made her think about how she'd gotten there because what else could she think about? Her life had turned around in a lot of ways since her first year, and she was beyond excited to see where it went next.

Right now, it was going to go to scrambled eggs and waffles. Breakfast for dinner seemed like the right sort of celebration for a night like this and Evelyn was starving. She had, as she did every year since her first, worn thematic makeup. Her lipstick was chocolate brown and her eyeshadow featured some color from each House. Where blush had been applied to her cheeks, gold dust had been added to emphasize that, as happy as she was about Sonora, she was happy about Pecari. That was new, too. To think that if she'd been in Aladren where she'd wanted to be, she and Ness couldn't have both been prefects!

When the song finished, Evelyn turned to the meal with the rest of her classmates, and dug into the breakfast she was so excited about. That's when she looked up and really saw who she was sitting across from for the first time.

"Hi," she grinned. "What are you thinking for dinner?"

22 Evelyn Stones Well this is an interesting turn of events. 1422 Evelyn Stones 0 5

Stanley O'Malley

May 09, 2020 6:01 AM

Party in Pecari!!! [Tag: Theo, someone] by Stanley O'Malley

Despite having been in the Hall a bazillion times (slight exaggeration), entering with a group of first years about to be Sorted was somehow still an impressive sight. The tables lined with older students, scattered with a few empty chairs just waiting to be filled in - it was awe-inspiring. Stanley scanned the tables, locating the people he knew and determining which table was which House. He saw Peyton in Crotalus, Theo in Pecari, Gabriel in Aladren, and Vlad in Teppenpaw, just to name a few. And he wondered where he would go. Stanley wasn’t especially concerned with goldarn book learnin’, so he figured Aladren was probably out. But as to the rest, he wasn’t really sure.

Fortunately, he didn’t have to wonder long, because it was time. Stanley took the potion as quickly as he could and dunked in his badge. The effect was quick, and it transformed: brown! Pecari! He passed the potion off to Wally, equally eager to see the second result. Wally’s turned a different color, which was sad but inevitable based on the everything about the two boys, but Stanley absolutely beamed at the color. “Walls! Crotalus!” he cheered, gripping his brother with both hands. “Like Mom and Dad! This is awesome!”

“I’ll see you later,” he added, pulling Wally into a quick hug. “Have fun!” Stanley absolutely sprinted off to the Pecari table. There wasn’t an open seat next to Theo, but Stanley yanked out one of the empty ones he passed and pulled it along with him, shoving it in between Theo and whoever was sitting to his left. “Theo!” he beamed, leaping into his seat. “Sorry,” he said to the other person, who he had definitely jarred, to say the least.

Then Headmaster Brockert - How am I related to him again? - announced the Head Students, and Stanley absolutely lost his little mind. “WOOO!” he cheered. “Yeah, Peyton!” He turned frantically to Theo and the other kid, as well as anyone else close enough at the table to hear. “Hey, hey, do the wave with me! My aunt won Head Girl! Ready?” He didn’t wait for the response before bolting upright with another excited “WooooOOOOoooo!”

The rest of the Headmaster’s speech was less eventful. Allegra Brockert got Prefect, but once again, Stanley had no idea how he was related to her, so it was definitely less of a Thing for him. He clapped along cheerily to the rest of the updates, though, and soon enough, the old man (no offense) was done talking, and they were left to their own devices for a while.

“Dude, this is gonna be great,” he said to Theo. “I’m so freakin’ pumped!” Stanley wanted to include that neighbor he had disrupted, so he smiled in that kid’s direction, “Hey, thanks for letting me squeeze in before. Sorry if I hit you with the chair or anything. I just wanted to sit by Theo - we’re practically brothers. I’m Stanley! Who are you?”

12 Stanley O'Malley Party in Pecari!!! [Tag: Theo, someone] 1491 0 5

Gary Harper

May 09, 2020 6:09 AM

Harper's Quest VII: The Grand Conclusion [Ness McLeod] by Gary Harper

Gary sauntered into the Cascade Hall for his final opening feast here. Prefect duties made sure he arrived earlier most of the other students. He supposed it was naturally a time to be reflective upon his time here and so he delved a bit into the feeling. He recalled the awe he had felt when he first walked into the Cascade Hall, along with all of his wild theories about wizards and their society. After spending so much time here learning their ways, his ways now, he knew better. He looked around the hall to see if Mr. Row was around, but didn't see him. The summer had gone... okay. He wasn't entirely sure what to make of what had happened and needed some help sorting it out.

It wasn't long before the students began to pour into the hall and he had prefecty things to do. It took his mind off of some of the things he was going to have to figure out yet as soon as he could. To that end, as people were coming in he kept his eye out for Ness. He spotted Jasmine. He smiled and waved and made sure he was busy with some prefect-type tasks making him unfortunately able to chat. Eventually everyone was settled and he took a seat at the Aladren table next to Ness, giving the now fifth-year student a traditional salutation before the Headmaster began his lengthy speech.

He watch the first years get sorted, and wondered if any of them would want to join the gaming club. He took specifically took note of the new blue students, prefect duties and all. When the new head students and prefects were called up, he gave them the appropriate cheers. He was a little disappointed that the people he had voted for hadn't won, but at this point it really didn't bother him to much. He sang the song. For the last time thankfully.

Then it was finally time. He began loading up his plate with food, turned to Ness, "Congratulations on prefect, you'll be great for the job." Then he momentarily stalled out. Where to start with the real discussion? He may as well start with the easier one. So he gave his housemate a traditional Gary grin and began, "So, like so many that have come before me, I have but this final year left at this school. Which means, the gaming group may need to find someone else to run games if they wish to continue. That task will be left to the group that remains after this year as it won't affect those that are moving on, but I'll be happy to help that person along with whatever they they might need to take over." He paused for a moment considering his next words, hopefully this wouldn't be taken the wrong way. "The most I'll do along the selection lines is make a recommendation. I would suggest finding one of the younger students to take over. The experience the rest of you have gained from playing is great, but I'm not sure how the group will handle picking a new game master every year or two. Continuity is a good thing in a situation like this. Morgan may not be a bad choice, maybe one of the new first years is an avid gamer." He paused again for just a moment, "I'll bring it up to the group when we meet, but I thought I should kick-start your thinking process ahead of schedule. Plus, as always we'll want to keep an eye out for new recruits."

Well, that had been the less complicated topic. That meant it was time for the other one, he sighed. "On another topic entirely, I'm going to need an unbiased third-party opinion. I'm admittedly way to emotionally invested to make a clear decision, so I'll post the question to you. Should I date Jasmine this year?"

2 Gary Harper Harper's Quest VII: The Grand Conclusion [Ness McLeod] 1404 Gary Harper 0 5

Isis Carter-Xavier

May 09, 2020 8:45 AM

Ch-ch-changes by Isis Carter-Xavier

OOC: TW: Slight internalized homophobia.

BIC:

Things were always interesting at Sonora, that was for sure. Isis never knew what to expect, but it was always interesting. At least the changes in the Professors Brooding-Hawthorne’s lives meant that Dora would have a new playmate to grow up with, and that was always good for a young child, but she did have a couple reservations. Isis never wished the women - or anyone - any ill will, but their lifestyle did provide her with a slight sense of discomfort. She just didn’t get it, and it had never been a part of her upbringing. But it seemed to be a pretty prevalent thing here, based on some of the kids she had seen, so she had a feeling she was in a minority. And, in all fairness, she knew there was sort of a commonality she had to appreciate with their struggle, as a Muggleborn African-American woman in an interracial marriage. So she held her tongue and did her best to quiet the uneasy feeling she felt, knowing that it was unjust. It was a challenge, but it was eye-opening to really discover that even she had prejudices to unlearn.

In any case, the non-student child population of Sonora sure was on the rise. She and Nathan had their own news, but today seemed like not the day with everything else going on, and there wasn’t any physical evidence that couldn’t be easily hidden at this point, so she held onto the information for the time being. Instead, it was time to focus on the year ahead. Opening Feasts were always pretty fun, a nice transition back into the school year. Perhaps she had grown softer now, but she felt small pangs of nostalgia watching the kids return each year, noting as well as she could at a distance who looked tan from summer exploration and who grew taller and would soon be needing new uniforms once again. Isis had watched so many children grow up now - Nevaeh was somehow twenty-one now! - and could feel the time passing so acutely. An odd sensation, indeed.

She watched the Sorting as she did every year, with nervous eyes counting the roaming new Pecaris. One boy dragged a chair over to Theo Spurn and suppressed a groan. Theo was a good kid, but his particular peculiarities often led her to more work than he probably intended. Actually, looking now, she was pretty sure that was Sophie O’Malley’s son. Interesting.

She applauded the new student leaders. Teppenpaw and Crotalus often won these awards, and it seemed a little less often than her own House received them, although that wasn’t especially surprising. She was quite pleased for Evelyn getting Prefect, knowing that the girl had been through a lot in her time.

The fair announcement and song passed uneventfully, and as they were released to their meals, Isis smiled to a neighboring staff member, “Excuse me, could you pass me that plate?” with a gesture to indicate which she meant. But then a wave of sickness hit her stomach, and she canceled her request. “Actually, nevermind. I think I’ll just have some juice for now. Anyway, how was your time off?”

12 Isis Carter-Xavier Ch-ch-changes 31 0 5

Graham Osbrook

May 09, 2020 10:10 AM

Let's get things started! by Graham Osbrook

Going to school was, of course, a very important day in a young wizard's life, but Graham had been surprised by how much fuss his parents had made over it. When he had woken up, too nervous to stay in bed any longer, and gone downstairs, he had found the kitchen decorated more elaborately than it ever was on any other occasion besides birthdays. Indeed, for a moment, he had had the panicked, half-awake thought that it was his little sister Claire's birthday, and that he had forgotten it - there had been balloons and presents, after all, and those were usually clear indications it was someone's birthday. Before he could blurt out anything about this, though, he had noticed the banner, which had spelled out in very big letters that the occasion was Congratulations, Graham!.

If he had to judge, he'd say that had taken him even more aback than getting going-away presents. Presents, after all, could be acquired just by walking into the shop and grabbing something, but the banner indicated planning. He still could not believe they had actually procured a banner for the occasion.

The presents, of course, had been more useful: a new wristwatch with bigger numbers on the face, to help him stay on time for his classes - a package of iced cookies and a yo-yo, those had to be Claire's input, which were in his trunk upstairs - and, most surprisingly of all, a broomstick. He knew how to fly, of course, but he had never had an adult broomstick all to himself before; since they had outgrown child-sized brooms, he'd always shared with Claire. Perhaps this was why it had never really occurred to him to think of broomsticks as super-cool, but he had surprised even himself by the attention he had given to studying the paperwork, learning about the features, until Mom had actually made a joke for once and he had put it away in favor of finishing his last-minute packing - how did that always still exist, no matter how carefully one tried to avoid it? It even happened to Mom when they traveled, and Mom was so scrupulously organized that it could be a little scary.

Finally, though, all the packing had been done - all the travels completed - all the goodbyes said - and then, the wagon had lifted off the ground, and Graham had had about three seconds of an odd, uncomfortable mix of excitement and homesickness before he had realized that this wagon did not look very well put-together and had promptly transitioned to fear for his life.

It hadn't been that bad, really, in retrospect. Next time, he would do better. He had still been a bit poorly-feeling, though, when he had landed on solid ground again and promptly been talked at a lot by a somewhat somber-looking wizard in dark robes and glasses. He had tried to eat a sandwich to settle his stomach, and before he knew it, they had been off on a tour, and he had tried to remember as much as he could, but then they had moved along to something else, and now here they were, at the Sorting.

He had acquainted himself with the official literature on the four Houses, and had rather thought he would go into Aladren. As he withdrew his badge from the potion and watched it turn red and silver, he could see the logic of this placement, he supposed, but he was still surprised as he affixed it to his robes and walked over toward the table which seemed to be The Place to Be tonight if one was a Crotalus.

Had other people always been this tall? He was not sure other people had always been this tall. He had been around adults his entire life, but somehow, they did not seem as obstructive to his vision as these older students did.

He applauded politely for the prefects, not knowing any of them, and tried to listen to the headmaster's (very few) remarks, but his stomach had stopped lurching some time ago and was now keenly looking forward to the supper he could only assume they were going to be served any time now, as there were plates and cutlery and goblets laid out for everyone at each place on the table. After the strange anti-climax of starting the day with a celebration only to spend most of it feeling ill and then the very matter-of-fact nature of the Sorting, he also felt quite tired. There were, however, niceties to be observed, so even as he began putting food on his plate with slightly unseemly haste, he also smiled and grabbed the bull by the proverbial horns and acknowledged himself as one of the proverbial sore thumbs sticking out so prominently in a room full of people who had done all this before.

"Hi," he said. "I'm Graham. I'm new here." His attention was promptly diverted by something he saw just past his neighbor. "Is that a sweet potato casserole?" he asked, making a mental note to include this in his first letter home. It was a subject of some debate in his extended family as to whether sweet potato casserole was a dish to serve as part of a meal or if it was a dessert, so it might entertain everyone to have a completely outside perspective added to the mix.

16 Graham Osbrook Let's get things started! 1498 0 5

Valentine Duell

May 09, 2020 10:21 AM

Now the fun begins! by Valentine Duell

Valentine followed the other first year students from the orientation through the tour of the school. It was interesting and confusing at the same time, but she recognized many of the places from Mama and Papa's descriptions. Now she just had to figure out how they were all actually connected together. Papa had told her that she would figure it out soon enough. He had gotten lost a time or two his first year, it wasn't a big deal. So she paid attention as they wound about the corridors, taking mental notes and getting completely turned around in the process. At the end though, they entered Cascade Hall.

It was a beautiful and enormous room, and there were all sorts of people moving about within. Most of the older students were seated at the four big house tables. She moved where directed and played with the blank badge in her hands while the headmaster spoke. He was a bit intimidating. As the sorting cup started to work her direction she felt nervous. This was it, this moment would determine a lot about her life for the next seven years. The potion came to her she dunked the badge into it and it came out... yellow! She released the breath she hadn't realized she was holding. She was in Teppenpaw, Papa's house! The potion moved on to Bonny, and her heart sunk for a moment as she saw that they were to be separated. She gave her new friend a smile, "I'll see you in class tomorrow!" Then she made her way over to the Teppenpaw table and found an open seat. Once there she gave Bonny a quick wave from one table to another. Not quite sure what else to do with the badge, she attached it to her robes and listened to the rest of the Headmaster's speech. It was not very long.

She cheered at the students that were appointed heads and prefects, she didn't know any of them, but she made sure she remembered Peyton and Katerina. The head girl and her new house's prefect. These were the people she was supposed to go to for help so it would be good to get to know them. There should be older student prefects as well, she glanced up and down the table and saw two older boys each wearing a prefect badge.

There was going to be a fair this year? That sounded like fun! Also raising money for charities was always good. She wondered how she could help with that, she'd have to find some students that had a good idea and work with them.

After the song, it seemed like the formalities were over, so Val turned her attention to the food that covered the table. The snacks at orientation had been nice, but far from filling, plus they had walked all over the school, and now her stomach was starting to complain. The aromas were wonderful and she began to make some selections for her plate. She took a bite and smiled, turning to her neighbor, "That's good. Hi, I'm Valentine! What's your name?"

2 Valentine Duell Now the fun begins! 1490 Valentine Duell 0 5

Jezebel Reed-Fischer

May 09, 2020 11:00 AM

Ugh, not too fast please. by Jezebel Reed-Fischer

Summer was said and done. Sitting in the library with Martin and not talking at all was said(?) and done. It was nice to be back but also it was weird. Jezebel felt a bit like all her secrets were laid out on the table since she and Dathan had reconnected and she found her eyes watching Dorian go up for his Head Boy badge. It was encouraging to know that his date to the Ball hadn't disqualified him, although the vote had taken place before people may have known. Normally she didn't want to say someone was an experiment but seeing how this year went for the older boy definitely would be an experiment of sorts.

The meal began before Jezebel really realized what was happening, lost as she was in her own thoughts. Of course, that meant she'd missed the fact that she'd sat near a new first year. Had she been this small before? Granted, Jezebel wasn't particularly tall now either, but still. She was thirteen now and that meant she was someone at least. An Intermediate had a different sort of status than a Beginner, in Jezebel's opinion. That was important to keep in mind because she didn't want to be a jerk. It was always important to keep one's own position in mind.

And her position was precarious as heck.

"Hi," Jezebel responded. "Nice to meet you, Graham. I'm Jezebel." She watched his eyes to find out that yes indeed there was a sweet potato casserole. "Ooh, that's great! I'll have some when you're done," she said. Tonight was a feast. Tonight was a celebration. And tonight, just tonight, Jezebel didn't care two knuts about whether she ate a proper meal. Food was one of the few ways she acted out in any sort of defiance against her parents, although she actually didn't like overeating or too many sweets anyway. So while Graham took casserole, she took some asparagus. Then she took the casserole. "Where are you from?" she asked.

22 Jezebel Reed-Fischer Ugh, not too fast please. 1454 0 5

Tatiana Vorontsova

May 09, 2020 11:19 AM

Really? by Tatiana Vorontsova

The trick, Tatiana had long since realized, was to simply nod and smile to Mama's face, then do as she would behind Mama's back. This trick had failed her very few times in her minority, and she had not yet seen fit to test whether being more open could work better since she had attained her majority. Most of the time, this only applied to wearing the jewelry she wanted, but this year, it was also about matters far more serious.

That was not something that would come up tonight, she supposed. It was too busy, everyone getting back to school, settling in. In the morning, however, she would have to make her position clear, and then there might be trouble. Possibly, if Katya did not heed Tatiana's hissed warnings about demonstrating the benefits of having a year's worth of access to the Restricted Section under her belt if Katya carried any more tales, she would even have to deal with Mama over it. Tonight, though, she could concentrate on more normal things, and so before coming down to the Feast, she had pointedly ignored the things Mama had suggested she wear, instead decking herself out in the closest approximation she could to Pecari's colors for this, her last Opening Feast.

Gold was easy to do. She had a whole set of golden bracelets and a necklace and a pair of double-drop earrings all of hammered golden beads in the old Eastern Empire style, which she had promptly donned, her wrists in particular heavy even by her standards with bracelets - besides the ones which matched that necklace, she had also her everyday chain bracelets, and on one wrist also an extra enameled bangle, just in case Dorian should for some reason scan her wrists. Brown, however, was a hard color to bring in - she didn't even have anything enamel in brown, because why would she? It was not a very pretty color most of the time, at least in jewelry....

Smoky quartz was the closest she could get, which was where Mama would have disapproved - she would not think it nice enough to bother with at all, much less to wear to a formal event. It was what she had to work with, though, so she had pinned three large brooches of smoky quartz set in golden sunbursts around the neckline of her robes. Then, though, she had felt there needed to be something more between the necklace and the brooches, so on had gone a slightly longer necklace of collet-set opals, rounds alternating with opals. Good enough, she thought, even if she was called up as Head Girl.

She did not expect to be Head Girl. She had made a point of letting everyone know that of course she could be, but had demurred that it didn't sound like very much fun, too, to make things easier for Vladya. Still, though, she held her breath for a moment when the announcement was made, only to let it go in order to make a point of clapping for Dorya and calling "urra!", her rings glittering in the candlelight as she did and did so with a smile.

She let the rest of Brockert's remarks go un-listened to (she would find out what she needed to know later, when she wasn't in such a crowd, at the end of the day) and instead turned her attention to socializing and eating. She smiled at Evelyn Stones as the Feast began.

"American food," she said in response to the question. She had noticed that the kitchens sometimes tried to supply something like Russian food, bless them, but it was her last first night at Sonora. It seemed somehow fitting to act more American than usual, just as it had seemed fitting to be more Pecari than usual in her dress choices. "Urra to you also," she said, pointing to Evelyn's badge. She raised her glass to Evelyn. "Na tvoi zdorovny'," she said. "Or you say - to you? To your good?"

OOC: Since they exist, jewelry pictures: gold necklace, opal necklace.

16 Tatiana Vorontsova Really? 1396 Tatiana Vorontsova 0 5

Philippe Delachene

May 09, 2020 12:16 PM

Woo-hoo! Let's do this Sonora Thang! by Philippe Delachene

Philippe loved the tour. It was the one thing his sisters hadn't been able to explain: where everything was. Anya had tried to draw a map for him, but her drawing skills were subpar, and Jasmine tried to explain with words, but her spacial reasoning was questionable at the best of times, and really, actually seeing the school was something you just had to do for yourself, and Philippe loved every moment of it. There was more than one point where they passed a statue and Philippe had to look at the top of it to see if Anya was sitting there because it looked like the kind of thing she wouldn't be able to resist, but she was apparently being tempted elsewhere today. Only one spot was just so tempting even Philippe had to climb over it.

Then it was over, and Philippe would have been disappointed, except that it meant he was finally going to be Sorted! The question of what House he would be in had been debated nightly, both with his family members and in his own head, for months now. Dad and Anya hoped he would be a Pecari like them. Jasmine believed he was a shoo-in for Teppenpaw. Mom promised to love him no matter where he ended up, which sounded good on paper, but to Philippe it just sounded like she didn't know him well enough to venture a guess.

But here it was! Sorting time! He dunked his blank badge into the potion and . . . he paused just for a moment to savor the suspense, then pulled it out and saw . . . yellow! Teppenpaw! Awesome!

He let out a small cheer and headed over to the Teppenpaw table. He was the first Delachene/Greer/Nash Teppenpaw! Go him! He successfully completed the set! He shot Jasmine a thumbs up for guessing right then took a seat and said hi to his closest new Housemates.

He listened attentively to the Headmaster naming Head Students and Prefects and was visibly disappointed by the names read out. He knew Jasmine had been up for Head Girl and she had really thought she had a shot at it. She said she'd campaigned and everything, which people normally didn't do at Sonora elections. He did recognize the name that was called instead because Peyton was Jasmine's best friend and she talked about her a lot. He didn't think his sister was the sort to hold grudges about that kind of thing, so he guessed Peyton was next best. Still, it would have been cool to tell people his sister was Head Girl. Saying his uncle had been Head Boy in his day just sounded like he was bragging, so that probably wouldn't come up. Saying 'yeah, my sister goes here, too, she's the new Head Girl!' was way more casual and conversational.

But that was not to be.

The charity fair sounded kind of cool. A half dozen ideas for what one he could support popped to his mind, ranging from the standard feed-the-hungry and Sponsor-A-Starving-Kid-in-Africa to Wildlife Protection to even something like the Horse Breeder's Association. Probably not the last one though. They sent Mom mail asking for donations, but he didn't really think they counted as a charity. Probably better to pick something with a more obviously altruistic goal.

Then there was food and it was awesome! Philippe filled up his plate and grinned at the other first year name Valentine who introduced herself to him. As he poured himself some pumpkin juice (his favorite), he replied, "Hi, Valentine. I'm Philippe. Everything here is nearly as amazing as my sisters described it. Do you have family here?"

1 Philippe Delachene Woo-hoo! Let's do this Sonora Thang! 1489 0 5

Aelia Astley

May 09, 2020 12:33 PM

Here's to a new experience! by Aelia Astley

If Aelia could've felt any more excitement, she might've burst. Such an event would've been rather unfortunate and would've put a very final stop on her chance to experience Sonora for herself, rather than imagining it through Julius' newspapers. Her eyes were wide and glittering as she followed the other first years into Cascade Hall for their sorting. She wasn't entirely sure which house she would get. She knew Juju was in Crotalus (she gave him a small wave as she spotted him) and he had hopes that she'd join him which, she supposed, would be nice in some ways. On the other hand, it seemed a little silly to have both of them in the same house. There were, after all, three other houses that were undiscovered. How fun would it be to find out about a different one? Maybe she could even be an insider informant for Julius' newspaper! How cool would that be? He'd be able to publish a tell-all issue on a different house!

Then again, the very fact that Julius knew little about the secrets and inner workings of each house was probably an indication that anything behind their secret doors should remain private and secret and she wouldn't want any of her new housemates to turn on her for spilling all of their hidden treasures.

She refrained from letting out an excited squeal as her name was called and she almost skipped up to the cauldron, her blank badge in hand. She bit her lip, taking a deep breath. Whatever colour her badge changed to was going to tell her where she was going to live in Sonora for the next seven years. She just hoped it put her in the right place.

She dunked it in. It came out brown.

That wasn't the colour of Crotalus. That was the colour of Pecari. Aelia wasn't going to be with her brother. She was going to have a different experience of Sonora, in a different house with different people. She was going to have a Sonoran experience that she could call entirely her own. That was amazing.

She happily went over to the Pecari house's - now her house! - table and found a free seat, offering a smile to anybody who looked at her as she sat down. She tried to concentrate on the awarding of Head Student and Prefect badges but she could only just about retain the Pecari prefects name in her memory - Evelyn Stones. She was sure she had seen that name before. Didn't she work on the Aronos with Julius?

When it came to the school song, Aelia joined in singing. She wasn't as good as her sister who was far more musically talented than she was but Aelia could just about carry a tune without offending anybody's ears which was good. She didn't want to offend anybody, whether it was by bad singing or verbal accidents. It was far too early in the year for problems to happen, not that she'd want them to happen at any time during the year! She wanted her whole time at Sonora to be the best and not because Astleys deserved the best but because she was only going to have this experience once in her life. Aelia should make it the best one it can be.

When she was allowed to help herself to food, she wasn't sure what to pick. Everything did look delicious but would it be as good as the food at home? This had been something she'd worried about and despite Julius assuring her that the food was top quality (and Julius never settled for anything less than perfection), Aelia did have her doubts. She was a fussy eater and didn't want to put the start of her new life as a Sonoron off to a bad start by picking the wrong food. Eating the wrong thing could ruin her whole day which would be a shame as the day had been so wonderful.

Maybe she could use this to her advantage to strike up a conversation with someone! That would be a good idea! Maybe she'd make a friend that way.

So, she looked round her table, hoping somebody would catch her eye. When they did, she gave them a bright smile and said, "Hi, I'm Aelia! What do you think is the nicest thing to eat at this table?"

20 Aelia Astley Here's to a new experience! 1494 0 5

Leonor De Matteo

May 09, 2020 12:59 PM

New would be nice by Leonor De Matteo

This was Leonor's first feast as the heir to the De Matteo estate. Los Jardines de Plata was firmly within her grasp, and still felt very far away. It didn't help that Felipe was being worse than ever. She'd never seen him so happy and she didn't appreciate him rubbing it in. Plus Zara came to visit over the summer which was all well and good and she really wasn't as terrible as Leonor had thought, but it was annoying too. She had done her part to keep Felipe busy, which was great since Leonor wanted to talk to him less than ever, but she thought she had a good idea what she was doing to keep her brother busy and that was gross.

She was torn between her happiness at being back at Sonora, away from her parents and the obligation to be nice all the time, and her perpetual exhaustion and frustration. She knew she was doing it to herself. Felipe had been stressed when he was in this role, but he had been a bit more willing to accept help. Leonor wasn't even willing to accept that she needed any. Plus, if she wasn't as nice as Felipe anyway, and was generally better suited to the leading part of this whole thing than the people part, so why not just accept it? Lean into it even?

Still, for all that she wanted to be Leonor, she couldn't turn off the De Matteo part of her brain, which lit up something fierce when an Astley was sorted into Pecari. So she wasn't the only younger sister who didn't get into the house of planners and blah blah blah. Felipe and Julius weren't close as far as Leonor knew, but an Astley was someone to know about and there was no denying Aelia was Julius' sister. So when the girl sat near Leonor and then addressed her directly, Leonor was perfectly happy to establish herself in this pureblood's life. Sure, they were both Pecari. Sure, they had some sense of adventure or something in common. But there was more than that and Leonor was thrilled.

Also . . . maybe she could have a friend someday. Not that she needed friends. Of course she didn't need friends.

It was a weird question, though. The nicest thing to eat? "I'm Leonor," she replied, starting with the easy part. "They've always got great fruits and things. Mango and pineapple. I also like this one." She pointed at an authentic dish, which was her favorite part of this school - if she had to speak stupid English all the time, at least she could enjoy foods from home, and it was nice of the elves to do that - and smiled at Aelia. "Ceviche Verde. Squid and such."

OOC - This is the dish Leonor is talking about.

22 Leonor De Matteo New would be nice 1471 Leonor De Matteo 0 5

Quincy Wright

May 09, 2020 3:45 PM

How do they DO that? by Quincy Wright

Quincy was full of questions. He and Janis had had a great talk and now it was time for some great food. But first, there was a ceremony. And in that ceremony, one of the biggest reasons that Quincy couldn't quite reconcile magic and science would occur. Psychologists around the world would have paid with life and limb for a sample of the sorting potion that would sort them into their Houses based on some unknowable ability to detect something or other in them. Philosophers would wonder endlessly at the ethics of sorting people at age eleven and question whether this sort of thing reflected personalities or shaped them. Biologists would ask what it was inside a person that was detectable and chemists would ask how a potion could detect it and, furthermore, how a potion could be brewed with the specific traits of each House in mind. None of those questions could be answered, because the only explanation was magic. This was the sort of stuff that kept Quincy firmly planted in the magic world, regardless of how much he'd enjoyed his classes at muggle school. If he was going to be a scientist when he grew up, he was going to wear a pointy hat, darnit. And he'd be as well equipped with a microscope as a wand.

These thoughts were filling up his mind when his name was called and he dunked his blank badge - what kind of material was that? did it have some sort of special coating or something? would it sort the same way if someone dunked it on his behalf or was it that physical connection to his badge that made it work? - and it came out . . . blue! The one color he could be pretty confident in when he saw it. Just to be sure, he glanced back over his shoulder at Janis and mouthed "Aladren," his eyebrows coming together to make it a question. She nodded and he grinned his thanks at her before turning back to the front of the room and making his why to the appropriate table. He wasn't really very surprised that he'd been sorted here, but more than that, he was excited. He literally would get to hang out with the kids who just wanted to study stuff for fun. A bunch of them probably liked to study stuff that he didn't find remotely interesting, and there were probably a bunch of Pecaris - ooh, like Janis! he cheered raucously when she took a seat - who would be into some adventurous biochem studies.

Then they sang a song but Quincy was still thinking about the potion and didn't really pay that much attention. The headmaster said something about a charity fair? That was cool. He'd have to ask his mom if she knew any good ones. Then, it happened.

All at once, food appeared. All the food. Every food. Quincy knew it was going to happen, his mom had told him so, but he hadn't really known what it would feel like to see it in person. It felt good. And interesting - Quincy really wanted to know about the mechanics of transporting things this way. How much of it was illusion for show and how much of it was sincere? How much was magic? How much was science? In this case, Quincy decided as he took a bite of the best fried chicken he'd ever had - and he'd had some good fried chicken before - the cooking at least was both a science and magic. The elves had perfected the art of it as well.

He would have been perfectly content to think through some more of these questions and enjoy the hot grease and perfectly crunchy skin of his chicken leg but another student interrupted him and he didn't want to be rude. He made an effort to be a little more presentable, even going so far as to wipe his mouth off with a napkin, as he listened to them.

OOC - All the Janis bits approved by her author.

22 Quincy Wright How do they DO that? 1495 Quincy Wright 0 5

Anya Delachene

May 09, 2020 6:15 PM

That's me! I'm Someone! by Anya Delachene

Anya sat next to Theo. Theo was an awesome person. He was fun, they had blanket fort sleepovers in the common room, and he gave soft things at Balls, and, really, what wasn't there to like about Theo? Weird to think a year ago she didn't even know who he was. Weirder still to think that they wouldn't be in the same class this year. She was an Intermediate now and that was kind of hard to wrap her head around. She could take elective classes and she'd be sharing class with fifth years who seemed really old to her. They were people who were making prefect this year.

People like Evelyn Stones and Ness McLeod, who she knew from Quidditch, and while they weren't a crazy amount older like, say, Jasmine, and while she'd even hung out with Evelyn a few times in the common room when they were both bored, fifth years were just old people she had no business sharing a class with. She'd barely been passing classes aimed at 11 and 12 year olds. How was she supposed to keep up with ones that had 15 year olds in them?

Okay, admittedly, most of that wasn't the material itself. The problem was doing the homework and paying attention to the test long enough to finish it. But the point remained that homework was going to get longer and tests were going to get more tediously detailed and she wasn't looking forward to any of it.

So sitting with Theo was a good way to hold onto Beginners for just one more night.

Except, after one of the new kids got sorted she found herself . . . um, not sitting next to Theo. And it wasn't because she was sitting on the table this time, either. She was still in her chair and everything, even though she'd kind of gotten jostled in the process of Not Sitting Next To Theo Now. She had good balance, though, so she'd kept her seat.

"No problem," she said, mostly by rote in response to the word 'sorry', though it was kind of a little bit a problem. That was kind of rude, wasn't it? She wasn't world's foremost authority on rude though, so maybe it was okay? He'd said sorry.

Worse, she'd missed seeing Philippe dip in his badge. But there he was, at the Teppenpaw table, so that at least answered that pressing question. She'd hoped for a Pecari sorting, but she'd mostly figured that was the long shot outcome, figuring him better suited to Aladren or Teppenpaw. Jasmine had put money on Tepp so Anya had called Aladren. To his face, though, she'd only ever told Philippe that Pecari was awesome and he should join her there. But she'd put little enough faith in that possibility that she hadn't even saved him a seat.

Clearly, that had been a serious oversight. If she had, maybe Shovey would have sat there instead of pushing between her and Theo.

Speaking of Shovey, he cheered wildly when Peyton O'Malley got named Head Girl and Anya frowned at him even more blatantly. That was her sister who had just lost. Who was this guy anyway?

This was Stanley, apparently, who was like brothers with Theo. "I'm Anya," she told him, still looking and feeling a little cross about this whole thing. "Theo's friend."

1 Anya Delachene That's me! I'm Someone! 1453 0 5

Katerina Vorontsov

May 09, 2020 6:39 PM

Mixed feelings. by Katerina Vorontsov

At the Teppenpaw table, Katerina Vorontsova looked almost as she might have at any other Feast. She was wearing her uniform, of course, because it was required. She had on immaculately clean little shoes. Her long blonde hair was swept back from her face only with a barrette, most of it falling loose down her back for one last year, and she wore pink pearls - three strands neatly nested, glowing softly around her neck. In one respect, however, she was very different than she had been at her previous Feasts, and it was that she had not cracked a single American smile all evening. As she sat down at the Teppenpaw table, her small, pale face might have been carved from marble and ice.

It had been a difficult summer.

She noticed her sister's entrance, of course, because it was hard not to notice when Tatiana entered a room: she glittered when she walked, a rare quality around here. In the back of her head, she wondered if Tatiana expected to be Head Girl; they had been so busy with alternating rounds of fighting and being off speaking terms and being on only terms of overdone formality that Katya had never thought to ask her about that. She wondered what would have happened if she had not written Mama and Papa about it when the ballots had come out - would they have even known that Tatiana had somehow gotten herself nominated? It was, after all, not even the least assimilated display which she had ever seen Tatiana make - far from it. Katya knew that her sister probably had the most wealth on her person of anyone in the room right now, but the display was not half so flashy as Tatya could get when she decided to dress herself up like a basileia, dripping in emeralds and sapphires and pearls....

She started to half-smile fondly before she remembered that she was still angry with Tatya for threatening to curse her yesterday.

The Sorting went fairly quickly, and then it was time for announcements. As a result, Katya's face was still stuck in a pained grimace over both Head Student announcements when abruptly, she heard her own name.

Prefect. She was the new Teppenpaw prefect. She forced her expression into something vaguely resembling a smile as she stood up and walked to the front, so flustered that she thanked the headmaster in Russian instead of English when he handed her the badge.

She should, she knew, be happy. She had spent last year working extremely hard, after all, so she could experience this exact moment. At the time, though, she had not rather wished to hex the Head Boy....

"Very good, Allegra," she whispered to the new Crotalus prefect, forcing the smile to become fractionally more natural before she turned and walked back to her own table. She did not glance at the Pecari table at all as she walked back to the seat she had just left, the most notable moment of her school career over in a blink, without her getting to enjoy it one bit.

At least, she thought gloomily as the food appeared, there was still dessert to look forward to.

OOC: 'basileia' is the feminine form of the word (basileus) used in the Byzantine Empire to denote the emperor, and it was in the Justinian Code that only the emperor could wear the specific jewels Katya lists (though depictions of Justinian's wife, the Empress Theodora, indicate she shared the privilege).

16 Katerina Vorontsov Mixed feelings. 1418 0 5

Johana Leonie Zauberhexen

May 09, 2020 8:49 PM

Yes that. by Johana Leonie Zauberhexen

CW: Cissexism, ciscentrism, transphobia, homophobia.

OOC - Italic dialogue in German. :)
IC -

Johana Leonie's summer had been so close to perfect. Malikhi had visited briefly and everything seemed like it was on the up and up. Like Johana Leonie was getting all the things she'd ever wanted. Now, she could hardly think of the pretty dresses she loved so much without thinking of . . . someone else wearing one. A purple one. And that stupid girl who had helped Friederike Albert throw everything away. He'd been doing so good. He'd been enjoying school, they'd been getting along, everything was great. And now what? Johana Leonie hadn't told her parents what she'd seen, but it had effectively ruined the rest of summer for her and her moodiness was clear, as was Friederike Albert's shame. He should be ashamed!

Johana Leonie looked around as the prefects were called and frowned, disappointed when Kai didn't get it for his House, although she recognized the girl who did as Heinrich's date to the Ball last year. She wanted to think more about that instead of thinking about everything else that she was thinking about. She felt like she wanted to talk about it all but to whom? She hadn't told Kai yet, as he'd already gone back home by then and she wasn't sure how to put it in a letter. She wasn't even really sure she wanted to try. The Pecari table didn't hold only his eyes for her though, and Johana Leonie tried to find Hilda; her fellow German speaker was probably the only one she could talk to about this because she was the only one who would understand it and Johana Leonie didn't know these words in English. She didn't want to know these words in English.

She did clap for Katerina as she took a seat at the Teppenpaw table with a new badge in hand, and she watched her almost wistfully. The fifth year was stoic, which was a bit odd but not really the point right now. Johana Leonie couldn't help admiring her because she was perfect. She was pretty and proper and all done up with pretty things. Pretty things that only girls were supposed to wear. maybe if Johana Leonie associated herself with Katerina as much as possible, then she would learn how to be proper too. She obviously wasn't going to get that sort of information from associating with her own brother, and Hilda was a bit less interested in such things than Johana Leonie. Hilda was certainly supportive, but still.

"Good," Johana Leonie said to Katerina, smiling at her when the song ended and the feast began. "Congratulations. You deserve it!"

22 Johana Leonie Zauberhexen Yes that. 1432 0 5

Evelyn Stones

May 09, 2020 10:08 PM

Maybe an interesting swerve of events. by Evelyn Stones

Tatiana was one of the first people who had been nice to Evelyn. She'd met Ness and Malikhi first, but Tatiana was a sweet older girl who had helped her feel a bit more okay, and suggested she talk to Katrina because they were the same year. She'd been a third year then and it was sort of amazing to see how far she'd come since then, even if from afar. Evelyn didn't especially a lot of attention to Tatiana, but she was hard to miss, and it was lovely to think that Evelyn was changing as dramatically as her Housemate. She was pretty sure she legitimately was, too.

Evelyn grinned when Tatiana raised a glass to her, and she mirrored her movement. She wasn't actually sure you were supposed to say but 'to you' sounded good enough. "And to you," she agreed. "Congratulations."

American food was such a funny thing to Evelyn because she'd so often heard that there was no such thing. She thought that was bananas because the state of Texas practically had their very own cuisine, and even things passed on from other cultures were distinct in the United States sometimes. "Are the Russian dishes good?" Evelyn asked, not having tried any that she could remember. If she had, she hadn't known that that's what it was. She was bold, sure, but when it came to food, there was no time to waste. Eccentricity only got you so far if you ended up eating gross food, and mid-school year wasn't exactly when Evelyn was feeling the most adventurous. She was pretty sure she was supposed to like fish 'n' chips a lot more than she did though, what with Mo's being basically home on the Oregon coast, but she just didn't get into it.

22 Evelyn Stones Maybe an interesting swerve of events. 1422 0 5

Valentine Duell

May 10, 2020 4:52 PM

Yes! What shall we do first? by Valentine Duell

Philippe, that was a cool name. She decided to be bold like Bonny had been, she waved her hand dismissively, "Just Val is fine." Yeah... nickname permission given! He was a first-year student just like her. She recognized him from orientation and was pretty sure he was one of the boys who had climbed on something during the tour. She was fairly certain that wasn't the proper thing to do, but he looked and acted like she felt. He was so full of excitement and energy it was hard to contain. She couldn't help but smile widely at him and respond with just as much excitement.

"It is amazing! I love it already!" Then she shook her head at his question, "No. Mama and Papa came here when they were in school, but I don't currently have any family here. You have sisters?" She was jealous. To have a sibling would be fantastic. "How many? I take it they are here now?" Suddenly she realized that if Philippe had sisters here, he probably had more up-to-date information about the school than she did. "Did they tell you what all to expect? What will classes be like? Are the teachers nice?" She realized she was getting carried away and she stopped herself from continuing to pour out more questions upon Philippe.

She verbally, and physically, backed off a bit. Had she actually leaned in that close to him? Her face turned a shade or two more red as her smile took on a more apologetic shape, "Sorry, I'm just so excited to be here finally." The fire in her eyes blazed once more and her smile returned to it's previously excited form, "Mama and Papa have been telling me stories of their time here for ages and it just sounds so fantastic." She poured herself a glass of water in an attempt to compose herself. Had he actually taken the pumpkin juice? Maybe he just wasn't sure what it was. Then she asked in what she hoped was a much more calm voice, "What are you looking forward to the most?"

2 Valentine Duell Yes! What shall we do first? 1490 0 5

Katerina Vorontsov

May 10, 2020 7:38 PM

It's not pleasant, is it? by Katerina Vorontsov

Katya smiled for the first time as Johana Leonie congratulated her on getting the badge. She even almost meant it. It was, after all, a good thing - not just for Katya herself, but for all of them, the part of the school population which did not regard English as a native language. Admittedly, she was not the first at all, but she thought she might be the first girl to accomplish this, and that was something to be proud of, whatever else was going on in her life.

"Danke," she said. "I will try to do a good job. How is your summer?"

It was an obvious question, and one she expected would be returned to her quickly enough. If - when, really - that happened, she planned to lie through her teeth. She was an American, technically, was she not? Americans looked at everyone with false kindness, while Russians surveyed everyone with sincere hatred - that was how the joke went, though in truth, it was more that at home, one regarded people one was indifferent toward with indifference....

A technicality, though, and one she was not inclined to probe further. Even at home, she would not have told the truth to someone outside her family, because one simply didn't do that kind of thing. It was quite impossible for her to harm Montoir's reputation any further than he had already done himself, but she could, in this small way, protect her sister, and in so doing, answer one of Tatya's allegations - that Katya was a silly, shallow little girl who would put the opinions of the masses ahead of loyalty where loyalty was due. Of course, Katya didn't want everyone to think she was associated with people who thought that way, but...it would protect Tatiana, too, at least for a few hours, before Tatiana no doubt screwed everything up herself first thing in the morning if she was not, as they all hoped she really was, bluffing...Why, she wondered, would life simply...not be what it was?

16 Katerina Vorontsov It's not pleasant, is it? 1418 0 5

Graham Osbrook

May 10, 2020 8:01 PM

I don't think I want to do that. by Graham Osbrook

Jezebel. Now, there was a name you didn't hear every day. Graham wondered if this implied anything about her background - if she was a pureblood, or if her name was just...a name her parents had liked and therefore saddled her with.

He thought his dad was - very technically - a pureblood, in the sense that none of Graham's great-grandparents on that side of the family were actually Muggles. While they did just fine socially, though, thank everyone very much, though, the Osbrooks were not the kind of family which people usually had in mind when they applied the label, and not just because Graham's mother was a true half-blood - Muggle father, witch mother. People needed quills and inks and different kinds of paper, not to mention seals and stamps for those who felt fancy, and Dad and Grandpa had set up a chain of shops selling such items across the country. There were some exceptions, but on the whole, it seemed that most witches and wizards were not terribly fussed about exactly when the last time a Muggleborn had married into the family had been when making such purchases.

As for his name - he had never been able to get his parents to offer a satisfactory reason why they had decided to name him after a type of lightly sweetened cracker. He really hoped he would sometime, there had to be some kind of story, right?

"Nice to meet you, too," he said politely, and then grinned when she didn't look at him like he was a crazy person for knowing what sweet potato casserole was. He had been vaguely worried that some people might, as he had the vague idea that sweet potatoes were one of those things that some people might not have heard of, though he was unsure where he had gotten this idea. That, he thought, meant it had probably been from Grandmother - Jacqueline Greene was the source of a lot of vague impressions that weren't really easy to find solid evidence for, and which she would often deny she had ever given. "Sure thing. Thank you," he added as he was presented with the dish. He took a good helping, noting with pleasure that its insides were properly orange and creamy, without a lot of stringy bits in them. He did not like it when there were a lot of stringy bits. "Here you go - and I'm from Texas," he added. "Where are you from?"

16 Graham Osbrook I don't think I want to do that. 1498 0 5

Tatiana Vorontsova

May 10, 2020 8:15 PM

I can see how it could change your direction a little. by Tatiana Vorontsova

Congratulations - that was a good English word. Tatiana knew what it meant, or at least would have said she did a few moments before. She wasn't sure why Evelyn would say it to her, though. She had done nothing so far, other than applaud some people and make a point of specifically congratulating Evelyn for being a prefect...perhaps Evelyn was trying to teach her the word she should have used in an English toast?

"Congratulations," she repeated. "I know this word. It is also the word for right now?" she asked, just to check.

In theory, she had no real reason to continue trying to learn the subtleties of English. In theory, after this school year, the knowledge would not be very useful to her again - even when she met other English-speakers, they, too, would most likely not regard it as a primary language. She knew this, all too well. Perhaps it was just habitual to ask, though - and anyway, a year was a long time. She would need to do the best she could to keep up with everyone else for the rest of it, just like always. Plus, well, wouldn't it be a good party trick to know the correct way to toast someone in English when she did happen upon other English-speakers as an adult?

She tilted her head a little when she asked if Russian dishes were good. "I think so," she said. "But at my house, we always eat them, yes?" She smiled, blue-green eyes crinkling with amusement at a memory. "You should see my friends, when I show them how make tea," she added. "But some of their food also good. And sometimes I find interesting food here. What food you like most?" she asked, finding this a perfectly reasonable topic of conversation. Food was essential to all, from highest to lowest, from lowest to highest, and it really was interesting, seeing how many kinds of it there were in the world.

16 Tatiana Vorontsova I can see how it could change your direction a little. 1396 0 5

Theo Spurn

May 11, 2020 7:09 AM

An awesome someone! by Theo Spurn

Theo had had a really really really good summer. He had spent all his time with as many people as possible. Mum and Dad (Dad especially) had seemed pleasantly surprised that they hadn't been called into school over anything. This seemed to mean that Theo’s behaviour was reasonably in line with what everyone else thought was appropriate. There had been some finer detail stuff about homework and self-organisation but it wasn’t bad enough that he needed to repeat a year. Except in the way that everyone sort of repeated the year because ‘beginners’ was a thing of which he was still a twirly little cog (only with fewer jutty out pointy bits and more velvety snuggles) only this time he would have Stanley and Wally distracting him instead of Anya. That possibly wasn’t fair. Wally wasn’t really distracting.

But speaking of all of those people, here they all were! Anya sat next to him and he hugged her and said words at her (they were a bit jumbly but were mostly about summer and good and seeing her and her summer and seeing her was good and hello!). And then all the first years came in, including his first years, and he knelt up on his seat to get a better look, cheering as Stanley’s badge turned brown.

“WOO!” he cheered, “STANLEY HEY STANLEY OVER HERE OVER HERE STANLEY HEY!” he called out. “YO WALLY!” he also added with an enthusiastic wave because it seemed mean to leave anyone out. It was not totally surprising that Wally had gone to the house of ‘please be shh.’ Wally quite liked shh but was rarely pushy enough to insist on it, so that fit.

And then Stanley was there like… literally, right there and Theo beamed and grabbed him into a hug and then Stanley got excited about things and they did a wave and a woo and Theo wasn’t really following why only that everything was really exciting right now.

Then Stanley did introductions (he remembered things like that, which was good because then they got new friends - or at least learnt the names of the people Theo had already pounced on which he supposed was useful - or in this case existing friends got to be known).

“YES!” he beamed when Anya declared that she was his friend, because it was not just a little bit true but exceptionally true. He hugged Anya enthusiastically. This involved bodily throwing himself across Stanley, but that then meant he was leaning into him too and that was a type of hugging so now everyone had some hug and that was good. “Anya is great! I told you about Anya! Remember? I told you. Anya’s great. She does camping with me. And adventures. I told you, remember?” he chattered away, practically vibrating with excitement because everyone was the best.

13 Theo Spurn An awesome someone! 1476 0 5

Lawrence Marsh

May 11, 2020 1:19 PM

Only my hair has changed... what's changed about you? by Lawrence Marsh

Looking out over the hall gave one the impression of the Okavango. All activity and excitement, new animals exploring this magical hall for the first time and old animals returning and seeming to calm down in the presence of the known. Lawrence looked out over this smaller floodplain and sipped his apple juice. He was still trying to decide if he wanted to have a few student helpers or not.

One the one hand, he knew that any help he could get would make his days slightly easier and possibly quicker, but it meant that he’d have to deal with some of his students more often than he had been. On the other other hand, did he want to end up like Mahanand? That had been his summer decision right?

He took another drink of juice as the head master began his spiel. Lawrence still didn’t understand what the old man did per say. It felt like Selina did most, if not all of the work. Though that sounded like most other professions, it still seemed sad to be the case here. The more competent woman doing all the work, but the old white man with connections being the one in charge. Lawrence found it fascinating how different people viewed these things so differently. As a pureblood, he knew the culture that Brockert came from, but he also thought it was odd that everyone accepted the lack of enjoyment the man felt towards the students and the professors themselves. Maybe he gave the parents some comfort that Selina could not?

Lawrence was distracted as a great commotion arose from the Pecari table, causing Lawrence to class sideways quickly at the House teacher. There was a job you’d never find Lawrence doing. Even if it was asked of him by his flock. Plus, he was unsure of what House he’d even belong to. Now the students were doing the wave? Lawrence noticed Theo as one of the students in the loud group and smiled. Theo was not the strongest student academically, but he had a way with animals that Lawrence found nice. Well, with some animals. Other animals Theo didn’t do well with. Lawrence was still trying to figure out that one.

Lawrence was snapped back into the moment by a question. He saw Isis gesture towards the plate and began to reach for it when she called him back.

“The apple juice is good,” he said, raising the flagon in front of him. “Are you sure you don’t want a plate?”

He grabbed one for himself and another for her and moved it closer to her just in case.

“It was…” A flash forward in time? A tedious reminder of why he didn’t live on the same continent with his father? A constant reminder that his mother was still trying to set up an arranged marriage for him? Sad that he didn’t get to see as many of the beautiful creatures in his home country? “What it was. Exchanging students for my parents. Fewer animals. More tedious conversations.” He gave a smile. This was small talk right? Was this right? He went to run his hand through his hair and stopped. It wasn’t there and for a moment he could feel adrenaline surge through his system only to die just as fast and he waved the hand around his head, “Oh, and I umm got sheared a bit.”

41 Lawrence Marsh Only my hair has changed... what's changed about you? 1462 Lawrence Marsh 0 5

Lyssa Fitzgerald

May 11, 2020 1:47 PM

That was a lot of surprises. by Lyssa Fitzgerald

The notebook slipped under her arm as she hurried into the hall. Green robes did make for the friction needed to hold a notebook under your arm as you ran through the halls Lyssa thought before grabbing the book in her left hand. She slowed down enough to make it look like she hadn’t just sprinted towards the doors. The Head Master hadn’t begun his bored reciting of the school song, nor had any of the first years sat down, so Lyssa figured she’d not missed very much as she slid into her seat at the Teppenpaw table.

She put the notebook down in front of her and looked around at the other tables. Her brother seemed lost in his own world, as per usual. A smile grew on her face as she saw Ness sitting at the Alderen Table. Lyssa hadn't seen Ness since getting to campus, and she could feel a heat rising slightly in her chest. She hadn’t even thought about the fact that the prefects would be chosen from her year this year until both Ness and Katia’s names were called out while Lyssa was looking at her. The momentary sadness of not being chosen was overcome by excitement for Ness and Katia and Lyssa began to clap. The loud commotion behind her caused her to turn briefly towards the Pecari table. They seemed… excited to say the least.

Then there was another surprise. Dorian’s name was read out as Head Boy. Lyssa felt tears on the side of her eyes. Head Boy and Girl were voted on by their classmates. This meant that even with his dance at the ball last year, his classmates still wanted him to be Head Boy. It didn’t matter to them who Dorian was seeing, they saw him. Lyssa was a bit sad Parker didn’t get the honor, but Dorian had it and that was just as good. She whistled as he walked up to get his badge. Keeping the tears just on the edges of her eyes.

Lyssa was coming down a bit when the head master surprised her again. The midsummer event sounded right up her alley. She opened to the last page in her note book and quickly made a note to inform Cleo about this, and discuss having an expanded booth from the ball. Maybe this time with some help from the McLeod Foundation, or at least pamphlets from them. She tried to see if she could get Parker’s attention, but he was busy focusing on the trio that had caused a commotion before.

As the song came to an end, Lyssa sat back down and pointed to her neighbor, “Hey, can you pass that…” Lyssa couldn’t figure out what it was, but it looked like it might be sweet potatoes, “Mashed sweet potato looking dish?”

OOC: I allowed myself to also write about Parker. :)

41 Lyssa Fitzgerald That was a lot of surprises. 1421 0 5

Ness McLeod

May 11, 2020 6:52 PM

Roll for survival by Ness McLeod

Ness took a seat in the Cascade Hall, very aware of several things. One, that Topaz was an absolute psychopath and that Ness, whatever other faults people could find, was not. Two, that people didn’t always seem to gel with Ness that well (though DnD felt like a solid proof that that wasn’t always the case). Three, that although Ness was not a psychopath and Topaz was, Topaz was related to the headmaster. It was hard to say how much swing this had. The Purebloods and the Brockerts did not win by default in every single scenario. Ness trusted that the rest of the staff was fair-minded enough that they wouldn’t have put up with working in a school where that happened. But Topaz was his granddaughter.

Ness gave a slightly tense greeting to Gary, though it was a pleasant distraction for a moment. Ness had to admit that Lyssa had occupied more thoughts than Gary had over the break, especially after he’d taken Jasmine - of all the people in the world, why her? - to the ball. But Gary had always been someone Ness had… admired. And that kind of feeling didn’t go away all of a sudden, just cos Lyssa was all kinds of hot and intriguing. It still felt good that Gary came over. It wasn’t always Ness going to bug Gary and try to get his attention. He’d chosen to come sit with Ness, not the other way around. It wasn’t impossible to believe that, in spite of some truly terrible choices on his part, Gary actually liked and valued Ness too.

Ness tried not to glare at the first years, because that was definitely unprefectly. Not that any behaviour now was going to affect the outcome, but Ness either needed to prove they had been right or wrong in whatever they had decided. But seriously, how freaking slowly did they have to dip their stupid badges? Ness was pretty sure no group of first years had ever been so ponderous or hesitant - why could they not just stick the damn things in, whip them out, job done??!

E.ven.tu.a.ly the very slow eleven year olds were done, and the headmaster was standing up and - and what if he just said Topaz, whatever the rest of the staff had decided, because he was the one speaking? But he didn’t. He said Ness’ name. He said Ness’ full name, including the ‘a’ which the Aladren honestly thought some people might have forgotten about or not even known. But that wasn’t enough to spoil the moment. Nothing was enough to spoil this moment.

Evelyn was also going up on the stage to collect a shiny, shiny badge. Every feeling about her being in the wrong house, and how it would have been better if they’d been roommates was vanishing. They got to be housemates in the summer. At school, they could be besties, and now prefects together, which would have been impossible otherwise. Ness offered Evelyn an enthusiastic hug. And Dorian had headboy too! Ness kind of wanted to send a rainbow firework into the air for him but it’d probably look like Ness was celebrating getting prefect, which would look inappropriate. The only bad decision was who they’d picked for Teppenpaw, and Ness tried to send a sympathetic look Lyssa’s way. She would have been perfect.

Ness returned to Aladren, listening with interest for once to the speech. The fair sounded awesome! Ness could already think of one good cause… Although if they weren’t allowed to pick something they were connected to, Ness knew a bunch of others too.

“Thank you,” Ness grinned, as Gary offered his congratulations. And compliments. Sure, it was what people said, but it was Gary saying it. Gary thought Ness was great. Or would be a great prefect. But that was basically the same thing, especially in Aladren.

Then he mentioned how he would be leaving, and Ness made the appropriate sad face, but then it turned to the fact that the gaming group would need a new leader. And Ness couldn’t help but notice they’d come right into this topic after talking about how great Ness would be as a prefect… Though obviously Gary had been thinking about this for far longer than that. And he’d come deliberately to sit with Ness… Ness, who he thought was great. And who the school clearly thought was responsible and had leadership qualities.

As Gary paused, Ness almost jumped in with ‘I’ll do it!’ but then he carried on.

And… okay, well, Ness was younger than Gary. And Heinrich. But he had said ‘the rest of you.’ And not changing every couple of years. That didn’t make sense.

At first, when he said Morgan, she had to assume he was joking. Ness had, until that point, not really had much against Morgan. She had seemed like a surprising addition to the party, but was pretty good at hamming it up. She was funny. She was… fine. She was not leadership material though. She was a second year.

Ness waited for Gary to laugh and say he was kidding. He instead started a sentence about how ‘on an unrelated topic.’ Maybe this was the joke? Maybe he was going to ask on an unrelated topic, and in Ness’ totally unbiased opinion, whether Ness would be a good DM?

He did not.

What he wanted was Ness’ opinion. Because apparently Ness was great… as a sounding board for how to choose other people for every single role in his life. Pretty flowery girls like Jasmine. He wanted Ness’ unbiased opinion on that. And… a second year who dressed for DnD like it was a tea party! These were the people he was choosing over Ness!

“I’ve never seen the appeal of Jasmine, no,” Ness stated angrily, definitely not with tears prickling because Ness was absolutely not going to cry over any of this and definitely not in public. A hasty retreat to a bathroom sounded kind of appealing right now. But Ness had just been named prefect. Ness was supposed to work co-operatively with the other prefects. Including Gary. All year long. “But I don’t really care what you do with your love life or your stupid-” except Ness couldn’t finish that sentence. Because it was not true. Ness did care very much what Gary was doing with his stupid game. Because it wasn’t stupid. It was the second best thing after Evelyn that had ever happened at Sonora, and apparently any sense that Ness had been good at it or that all the hours poured into playing it had earnt any kind of respect from Gary were a thing Ness had just made up because he didn’t trust Ness to be able to do it, and wanted to give it to some stupid second year. “Seriously, MORGAN?” Ness demanded, probably loudly enough that - depending on where she was sitting - Morgan herself heard it. Ness scowled as fiercely as possible in an attempt to disguise the fact that there were distinctly and definitely several tears escaping at this point.

13 Ness McLeod Roll for survival 1419 0 5

Grayson Wright

May 11, 2020 7:28 PM

This ought to be one for the books. by Grayson Wright

He was, Gray thought, becoming increasingly difficult to knock off-stride - a quality he had never observed in himself in his life, and which he had never expected to acquire. It was, however, becoming increasingly clear that Sonora was building up his resilience. A couple of years before, he had been moderately terrified by Anya Delachene's antics. Upon seeing more children among the current first years (one revealed to be Anya's brother) engage in more moderate versions of the same behavior, he had merely assured them that they would have plenty of time to explore the grounds and mansion later, if they would kindly come down now to continue the school tour.

Whether this was good or bad, he had no idea. He had always noticed that he dealt with actual explosions in a rather calm, almost detached way, but situations which looked likely to explode were another thing altogether. Neither Anya nor her followers had actually died, happily, but it felt vaguely wrong to have been quite so stoic about the possibility this time around....

Ah, well. They were wizards. Magic was a dangerous business, as everyone said, as everyone who knew any knew. There were very few physical knocks they could take, short of jumping off the belltower, that he thought the medic would find impossible to patch up, and they would no doubt get far more interesting injuries here and there before they left school - and that was only accidents in their actual classes, or when doing legitimate spell practice. If they annoyed anyone enough to provoke light dueling outside of class, or played with potions in the dormitories, then even more atypical conditions might wander into the hospital wing. It was the nature of the world.

He helped get the first years into a reasonably line-shaped line and through the badge-dunkings, and once that was done, headed for his place at the staff table as unobtrusively as possible, Vanishing the stupid hat before he sat down with a nod to his neighbor. Then he fixed his features into an expression of bland attentiveness for the Headmaster’s speech.

It was, he thought as the school song rang out at the end, going to be a challenging year. For one thing, they were inviting the students to nail their political colors to the masts, if they wished, and while some would do unoffensive things like the school’s general scholarship fund or some society for ensuring the preservation of historic sites or the like, others would enthusiastically cause controversy – prominent among them probably the newest Aladren prefect, he thought, with a glance toward Ness. Injuries from dueling in the corridors might increase this year, assuming Ness was still alive in the morning – he had never known what to think about that time Mary had told him she thought Topaz Brockert might have tried to poison someone. Topaz generally seemed to behave herself, and having morbid interests was nothing to judge someone on as a whole, but Gray just vaguely felt as though there were something…off…about the girl. Whether it was just discomfort with her hobbies or some small body language thing he couldn’t even pinpoint, he had no idea, but….

Well, he did rather wish he could have avoided having any relative of any other staff member in his House, but no such luck. It was the way of the world. At least, he thought, he was unlikely to find himself responsible for any of the small children running around these days for any length of time. He had no intrinsic objection to children, and in fact made a point of greeting Nathan and Isis’ little girl in her own right whenever he happened to cross paths with her, but he did not really want to be entirely responsible for one for more than a few minutes. It was quite enough being responsible for the Aladrens more or less all the time and everyone else when they were in his classroom – which reminded him, he also needed to check in with Ellie after classes tomorrow….

Yes, it seemed like it was most likely going to be an extra-challenging year. He was glad that the rough draft of the Charlotte Ayleward sequel had gone surprisingly quickly for him, and also that he had several years of old lesson plans neatly filed away for occasions when he couldn’t pull anything new out of thin air in time.

For now, though, there was a Feast. It was time to celebrate the beginning of the year, and to try not to think too much about what could go wrong. He lifted his goblet of juice slightly to a colleague with a smile. “Here’s to the new year,” he said.

16 Grayson Wright This ought to be one for the books. 113 0 5

Jessica Hayles

May 11, 2020 10:01 PM

Here we go again. by Jessica Hayles

As she stepped into the Cascade Hall to begin her fourth year, Jessica had an odd feeling, for very nearly the first time, of being almost where she was supposed to be. It hadn't been a given by any stretch of the imagination, but her parents had considered the possibility of sending her to boarding school in high school, and she was...at the age, anyway, where she would, in an ideal world, have started high school.

(She could not say that today was the exact day she would have started high school, because it probably was not. Nobody at home had started school in September since her parents were kids. She should have been in high school for a month already by now.)

As she reluctantly made her way to the Crotalus table, acutely aware of exactly how unwelcome there she was (she was fairly sure there was exactly one person in the entire House who didn't actually hate her for one reason or another - one for personal reasons, the others because she happened to be Muggleborn), she tried to shove the thoughts of what might have been aside. It didn't matter. It was over, and that was all there was to it. Besides, things here were improving. She had friends, even plans - spotting Lyssa, she waved with a smile, though there was no time to go have a catch-up with anyone before the first years showed up for Sorting.

Poor things, she thought as she watched the new Crotali joining the table. They looked so little. She hoped for their sakes that they were purebloods and nasty, unpleasant, judgy people, and for Sadie's sake (and, to some extent, her own sake) that they were not. Humanity, she thought dryly; however you tried, sooner or later, everyone ended up playing a zero-sum game somewhere along the line. She applauded for the new prefects and heads, wondering how it was going to go for Montoir, noting with satisfaction that she recognized Allegra from Katerina's art club - there, she was sort of vaguely close to connections right there. Admittedly, the person who particularly talked to her was Lyssa, who wasn't part of that clique of fifth and sixth years, but Lyssa lived with Katerina and they all were part of the same club, so, it was an improvement over being a little first year with no connections whatsoever here....

She started to unwrap her napkin from around her knife and fork as Headmaster Brockert stood up, expecting him to be too brief and dull to be worth listening to as usual, only to look up in surprise as he went on a bit longer than usual. Her eyes actually focused on him, even, after he said something about a charities fair - this was something that was actually kind of up her alley! Or at least something she understood the basic premises of. No organizations she knew were likely to be eligible, but there had to be something worthwhile to support around here...she would have to have a chat with Skies, she decided, or perhaps Row or the librarian - she thought she had next year's badge in the bag already, given Felipe and Jeremy's infamous outburst last year and the fact Martin was so quiet it was actually quite possible to forget he was even there, but it couldn't hurt to put a cherry on top. That cherry on top would make it all the nicer to rub in Mordue's face next year, after all -

Even as she entertained the amusing visual of actually smashing a sundae into Jeremy's face, though, she felt a familiar, unwelcome squeezing sensation around her heart and instantly closed her eyes, willing herself to breathe. In...out. In...out. Steady. Even. Breaths. No, she was not going to remember the last time she had tried to take any initiative; she was not going to allow these butt-hats she was forced to call classmates sap her of confidence to the point that she shut down and stopped functioning. Maybe she wouldn't be able to stop this sensation from hitting her at the most inopportune times over and over and over again all year, but she could master it. She could.

By the time she was through with this affirmation session, the song was over and the food had appeared. She reached gratefully for the macaroni and cheese. Terrible for her, of course, but it was a special occasion, and she had something to celebrate, after all - even if that something was just the absence of something else, specifically, having not succumbed to panic right here at the table.

16 Jessica Hayles Here we go again. 1442 0 5

Sadie-Lake Chalmers

May 12, 2020 4:56 AM

Not dead by Sadie-Lake Chalmers

Omg, you’re not dead!

That had been a weird way to be greeted and Sadie-~~Lake~~ Sadie’s summer had basically been one hashtag lined highway to hell since. Actually, maybe it was accurate to say it had been Sadie-Lake’s summer. Certainly the girl who knew how to #StrikeAPose, #BringYourAGame and to mingle with the Buzziest of #FamousOnline celebs had very little in common with the girl now making her way into the Cascade Hall.

It had started with the #IWantItHall wedding - proving that a lack of a unique name didn’t have to prevent you from coming up with a cheesily standout online presence. In fact, a name that was a common noun and easily rhymed just seemed to make the hashtags write themselves. Sadie-Lake had featured heavily in both the #HallOfFame photo booth shots, and the #HallBall videos that were trending not only on Instagram but something called TikTok.

The ‘omg’ comment had come courtesy of a girl about her own age. Sadie-Lake knew who she was, of course. She couldn’t remember her fullname but her hashtag was #Jenastics because she did a lot of floor routines. So, maybe it was Jennifer, or Jenna, or maybe it was just ‘Jen’ or ‘Jenny’ as her given name or maybe her fricking actual birth-certificate name was ‘Jenastics’ because frankly Sadie-Lake would not put that kind of thing past anyone at this point.

They - Jenastics and the other #Instagirls - had seemed to regard her with a degree of hostility and suspicion. It was like they were curious about her sudden disappearance but didn’t want the idea of vanishing off social media to be something that got someone more attention than they’d been getting for being on it. After exclaiming over her non-deceased status they’d proceeded to gush over each other’s most liked recent posts. The conversation smacked of being prearranged, as one where none of them was bragging, but all just complimenting each other. In a way she obviously had no way of joining in with. Well, she could laugh and smile and agree their posts had been great. They didn’t know she was that cut off after all. But obviously no one could say anything nice about anything she’d done. They would if they could, they assured her. But they just… didn’t know what she’d been doing. The whole magic thing meant that she’d had to brush that off as being unimportant. Well, the whole magic thing and the fact they clearly didn’t really want to know anyway.

The snap of cameras had been unavoidable at the wedding, and she’d been grouped in for countless shots with all her ‘friends’ for their parents’ social medias. And given that it was obvious that the rules were off for that day, her mom had had a field day shooting what felt like a billion images of her. All in that aqua ‘dress’ which showed off her midriff (only the slightest line of it but she hated it).

She had somewhat hoped the Internet was fickle enough that people would have forgotten her existence and would not care that she was back so briefly. She had tried to ignore any reaction because she couldn’t see what would be a good one. Either people would be all over the pictures, which would be problematic in case anyone from school saw them, and because it would make her mom want more, or they would get totally ignored. Which, whilst she preferred it, was fundamentally sort of depressing.

The reaction had leant towards the former. Not totally. She hadn’t trended. But there had been a Buzzfeed article about ‘Hall The Drama!’ revealing the choicest bits of gossip (carefully agreed and leaked, she was sure) from the wedding. Apparently she was gossip. Her presence was enough of a sensation to be remarked upon alongside cheeky images of a diet blogger eating cake and two youtubers making out. There had also been an outfit round up on a style blog aimed at teenagers, one which was pretty popular.

She really hoped everyone from school had better things to read during their holidays.

None of it was beyond the circles she had moved in prior to school, and no one had noticed her when she arrived. But now… Now if they browsed past it, she would stand out so much more. She also wasn’t sure it was going to go away again. Her mom had been spurred on by the positive response, and had built up a bank of pictures to post strategically online throughout the term.

Now she was back at Sonora. She almost debated not going to sit with Jessica. It was tempting to pick one of the snobby Purebloods who was absolutely guaranteed to have not seen any pictures of her online over the summer. However, they would still treat her like trash just on principle, so it wasn’t exactly a plan for a fun evening.

She also wasn’t sure she could deal with sitting there not knowing whether Jessica knew and was going to… laugh at her? Think less of her? Or, maybe worst of all, like her better for something she wished she wasn’t?

Jessica was waving at the Teppenpaws as Sadie sat down. Because Jessica had like a million friends and loads of people to wave to. Sadie glanced over at Aladren. Bella had been Not Horrible and even quite fun to hang out with at the ball but Sadie was pretty sure they were not on waving terms. She wasn’t sure she was on waving terms with anyone.

“Hi Jessica,” she said softly as the song ended. Maybe too softly. Maybe that was the only problem. But as Jessica took a pointedly deep breath and reached for the dish in front of her, Sadie wasn’t sure whether it was because she hadn’t been heard or because she was being ignored.

13 Sadie-Lake Chalmers Not dead 1480 0 5

Jessica Hayles

May 12, 2020 12:17 PM

Good. I don't want to be alone in this madhouse. by Jessica Hayles

As the squeezing sensation in her chest diminished, Jessica replaced the macaroni dish she had grabbed and looked around at her surroundings properly again. Almost immediately, her eyes fell on the one person in all of Crotalus she thought might actually not hate her.

"Sadie!" she said, her smile flicking on like a light. "There you are!" She realized belated that this might sound odd. "Sorry, I've been..." She fluttered one hand beside her head to give an impression of the sort of mental state she had been not even mildly enjoying this evening so far. "How was your summer? Happy to be back?" she asked.

She had, as she looked benevolently down at the second year, an odd impression that she had forgotten something - something important, even. Something vaguely business-related. That, though, did not make much sense. Jessica had barely left the house this summer, except for a brief trip to South Georgia with her mother; her only real contact with Arvale had taken the form of being allowed in on a few deeply boring Zoom meetings about trends on Instagram, during which she had been expected to not wear mascara and to be prominently propped up on pillows in bed like an invalid - convenient, she supposed, if she actually had dozed off that one time she'd thought she'd dozed off, but otherwise more grating than gratifying. She suspected her father had mostly had her do it just to support the narrative that she was chronically ill and that this was why she had vanished off the face of the earth three years ago. Regardless of all that, though - why should looking at Sadie make her think of anything even remotely business-related?

16 Jessica Hayles Good. I don't want to be alone in this madhouse. 1442 0 5

Morgan Garrett

May 12, 2020 1:03 PM

Just a quick hop-skip outside of space-time and back again. by Morgan Garrett

Second year. It was simply marvelous. Somehow, Morgan had survived her first year, and while she would not have been that surprised had it turned out that she'd had the lowest scores of all the Aladrens in first and second year on final exams, she had nevertheless done well enough that Dad had remarked that nobody who'd gone to school with him (a group which had apparently included, in the crown jewel of all indicators that it was a small world after all, Professor Wright; Dad had begun his career as the perennial reserve of the Aladren team while Professor Wright had been Keeper) would believe she was his kid even if they'd had the same name, as his first year grades had almost gotten him re-Sorted. She thought he was joking about that last bit, anyway, but it had still been nice to hear.

Now, it was a brand new day, and she had decked herself out in blue and black pieces of costume jewelry as a show of House pride, glad that the colors went well enough with the green uniform robes. One of the bad things about the idea of a world where she was in Crotalus was that she would almost certainly not fit in there - Dad had mentioned that Aladren had its fair share of snobs, which Morgan had not observed yet, but that they would usually not go out of their ways to hassle younger Aladrens, but that Crotalus girls could be mean - but another was that any occasion which involved flaunting one's House was also an occasion for the other three Houses to snicker about Christmas coming early behind one's back. She clapped a bit as new kids joined the Aladren table, interested to see boys - Dad said boys had dominated the House when he had been a kid, but girls seemed to do so now that Morgan was.

She clapped more for Ness and Evelyn - how cool was that, that she knew two of the prefects, to some degree? - and then listened to the speech, though most of it was put aside as not that relevant to her. She might do something with someone else for the Concert if asked, but she didn't really know of anything she'd want to do on her own, or anyone who'd be too likely to want to follow her anywhere. For now, supper was definitely more interesting than thinking about something all the way in next semester.

She started serving herself food right away, glad of the increased variety here compared to most meals at home. She took a couple of bites before she looked up at one of the new first years, who also seemed to be enjoying the food a great deal. "Hi," she said after swallowing. "Welcome to - " But then she faltered, distracted by a loud noise from further along the table - one that sounded rather like her name. She turned her head in that direction, blinking in surprise, and then realized the first year was now looking at her. Putting aside someone talking loudly about her as a problem for later, she looked back at the boy with a smile. "Welcome to Sonora," she resumed cheerily. "I'm Morgan - I'm a second year, so I'll be in your classes this year, too."

16 Morgan Garrett Just a quick hop-skip outside of space-time and back again. 1470 0 5

Dathan Fischer

May 12, 2020 1:38 PM

Variety is the spice of life. by Dathan Fischer

Homework was, Dathan thought, hardly something to celebrate a return to, but part of him was nevertheless glad to see summer come to an end. It was a wrench to give up lack of homework and having family and the comforts of electricity around again, but at least here, he didn't feel as though he was possibly doing something slightly wrong by keeping secrets.

He was glad that Jazz had told him the truth, of course. He could see how it had to be better for her to have someone know, so she wasn't forced to carry it around all by herself, and he was glad that - up and down as their family relationships could be sometimes - she had felt she could trust him with that piece of information. Still, though - it felt vaguely wrong to keep things from his parents, and telling them wasn't an option. For one thing, he had promised he would never, ever tell anyone what she'd told him till the day he died. For another thing, for all he knew, Dad might tell his uncle, who might tell his aunt, who might kind of...implode. So it was better to just be away from the rest of the family for a bit, and get used to the knowledge before they went back to Kansas City for Christmas in a few months.

Plus, the first night of school was always kind of cool, with the Sortings and the Feast and everything. Those were always something to look forward to, wondering just who would join which table, if not quite as interesting as he imagined it might be when his younger cousins came along.

He didn't know Dorian Montoir personally, but clapped politely just the same when the older boy was announced as the new Head Boy. For one thing, Dorian was a Teppenpaw, Dathan was a Teppenpaw, it followed that he ought to be pleased that someone from his House was Head Boy. For another thing, if Jezebel happened to glance over to the Teppenpaw table, he thought it would be better to not be one of the people visibly less than enthusiastic about Dorian's election, as Dorian had shown that he was apparently not at all into girls last year at the Ball. With prefects, it was purely House sympathy which got Katerina Vorontsov some clapping as he noted with interest that this made her Teppenpaw's only girl prefect - especially since he was pretty sure that all four of the prefects were girls, based on Ness McLeod's rather memorable outfit from the Ball....

He listened with interest to the bit about the Fair, but put aside more detailed thoughts for after he ate when the food appeared on the table. Dathan smiled when one of the older girls asked him if he could pass the sweet potatoes. "Sure," he said, handing it over. He got some regular potatoes for himself and glanced back toward the head table. "What do you think about this fair thing?" he asked, deciding to make conversation. "Sounds interesting, doesn't it?"

16 Dathan Fischer Variety is the spice of life. 1457 0 5

Janis Rosemary Silver

May 12, 2020 1:46 PM

So... what do we do now? by Janis Rosemary Silver

Falling water. Everywhere. Transcendent beauty flashed across Janis’ eyes as the light played across the floor and in the chandeliers. Janis felt like a simple Muggle who had witnessed some form of real Magic for the first time. She knew this was all Magic, with a capital M, but why had dad not worked this into their fancy new house? Maybe she’d suggested this in her letter tomorrow too, along with Quincy’s observation about weather charms.

She had stayed with Quincy, in part because he was the only person she knew and in part because the way his brain worked was fascinating. He thought of things she’d never even thought to think about and that got her mind spinning. He also seemed like he needed some help or else he’d be taken advantage of and Janis was more than willing to protect a newfound friend, especially someone not too high in their britches.

Cloistered mouse in a peep show, she thought as she stared up at the ceiling, this place is massive. . It was like a holy grove in the Redwood forest combined with a lake near Tahoe and a ballroom all combined into one place. Now this is the kind of Magic I can get behind. Janis thought about. She was examining the waterfall closest to her, not paying attention, when she ran into the back of Quincy.

“Sorry Quincy,” she whispered. It seemed like people were getting quieter and the first years had stopped walking.

As the sorting started, Janis was intrigued by how the Magic might work. Again, what happened if she had many of the characteristics of the houses. Was it like plants, where the dominant trait was the one that came out? What did that mean in this case?

Quincy went up before her and she leaned to the side to see what color his badge turned. He turned around after pulling out a blue one and mouthed Aladren looking confused.

OH RIGHT! He couldn’t see color or something like that. Janis nodded yes and smiled as he went off to his table. Then, she stepped up to the cup. She wasn’t sure she’d follow Quincy to his table. He was more bookish than her, which made sense with his father being the owner of a bookstore. Still, a part of her wanted to be placed in Aladren. The only person who seemed worth a damn in the school so far was in that house, so she took a deep breath and plunged her badge into the liquid.

Is Fitzgerald in Aladren? Maybe they are in a different house? she thought before she pulled the badge from the cup. It came up wet and… not blue. It looked wet. What color was wet? It took a moment for Janis to realize that it wasn’t a wet color, it was brown. She looked out into the crowd, forgetting what that color meant for a moment and started walking down the stairs. She was not sure where she was going but wanting to make sure she wasn’t in the way of the next person.

When she got to the bottom of the stairs, she took a deep breath. Brown. Brown meant Pecari. She looked towards the table as a young boy streaked past her and towards the table. She flinched inside. That’s who she was placed with? This is who the cup thought she was like?

She walked a bit more calmly to the table and sat down as other people had their names read. No one named Fitzgerald was called. Other than that, she had no idea who these people were, but the streak boy was cheering wildly. Janis merely looked sideways at all the older students at her table, silently judging them. The girl with a scarred arm was there, that was cool. There were a couple of bro-y looking older guys, not as cool, but possible buyers. A beautiful young woman wearing gobsmack amounts of jewels, which Janis looked over to see if she could lift any of them quickly, but not so much. A redheaded girl seemed fun but looked fairly quiet.

As the group sang, she could also hear a fair number of accents around the table. Interesting, did marijuana travel well? She’d have to ask dad. Thought maybe that was best saved for in-person conversations in case someone was reading her mail.

She sat down and turned to her neighbor, “Hi, I’m Janis,” she said, picking up some of the bread on the table but not a lot else. She’d eaten so much cheese with Quincy that she wasn’t really all that hungry at the moment. “So, anything I should know about Sonora?"

41 Janis Rosemary Silver So... what do we do now? 1493 0 5

Killian Row

May 12, 2020 2:02 PM

Will you write it? by Killian Row

So far, Killian had blurred the lines of colleague-friend with Marsh and the lines of what-kind-of-counselor-is-a-guidance-counselor with Ellie. But really . . . that was sort of great. He got to hang out with a cool guy with a great twinsie beard thing going on and he got to (hopefully) help a student out even before the term had really begun. It was also exhausting and Killian was famished and not particularly interested in what the Headmaster had to say and just really wanted some food, dang it. He did memorize the new students' Houses though, as that would be helpful to know. Odds were that they wouldn't come talk to him for a bit, but Mara Morales - Aladren, second year, entrepreneur - had proven that it wasn't a sure fire thing to bet on.

There was another reason that he watched the sortings though and that was to find the girl with a bow in her hair who was his niece even though that was weird. She got Aladren though. He knew that he would be proud - or whatever this warm feeling in his chest somewhere between his heart and terror was - no matter what House she'd gotten, and it would have quickly been followed up with "well of course, because she's so ____" but it did feel nice to see her get Aladren. Brainy one, that. She certainly didn't get that from her father.

When the meal began and Killian took a moment to shovel literally whatever was closest onto his plate - except mushrooms because that was disgusting - and then grinned at Gray when the man turned to him. He lifted his own glass, realized he hadn't put anything in it and promptly added some of whatever-the-heck-is-in-that-jug, and lifted his glass again. "Cheers," he said before taking a drink and returning his glass to the table. "You're Aladren Head of House right?" he confirmed, knowing this already because of course he did but it was polite to confirm such things probably. "My niece just got sorted there," he smiled. "Bonny. Or Bonabelle?" He didn't actually know what she wanted to go by here. "So that's a thing."

22 Killian Row Will you write it? 1450 0 5

Quincy Wright

May 12, 2020 2:20 PM

Tell. Me. Everything. by Quincy Wright

Quincy nodded and smiled at the student whose name he had already forgotten by the time she finished what she was saying. It wasn't that she talked for a long time, but Quincy just . . . well names were hard and stuff. It was pretty cool that she was paying enough attention to say hi to him and introduce someone he'd be in classes with. He was curious what his classmates would be like and this one - Miranda? - seemed nice enough.

"Good to meet you," he told her. "I'm Quincy. Normally I'd shake your hand, but. . . " He waved a chicken leg around to emphasize his point. He wasn't really sure what else to say because food was happening and magic was happening and he was pretty sure being nice to people meant doing more than just starring at them and forgetting their names. His mom told him that a good way to have conversations was to get the person to talk about themselves, or at least to do more of the talking. 'Ask questions,' she'd tell him. Well if there was one thing Quincy was born for it would be this. The only trouble was picking a question. He thought that maybe he could test the waters and ask something that he was actually really curious about because then he'd get to see what sorts of minds he'd be living with, but then he risked a terribly awkward conversation if they weren't interested and then he'd have to ask about something else. He could ask about something he was mildly curious about so he wouldn't be disappointed either way, but then he was starting out the conversation with little investment and that seemed not awesome.

The girl - Matilda? - had been distracted by someone up the table for a moment and he'd taken the opportunity to clean up a bit, but now he wondered if he should ask about that. At the same time, he wasn't sure he wanted to ask about the social dynamics of people he didn't even know at all, and also he didn't care very much. Back to the issue of investment.

"Good food," he managed grasping at the first thing that caught his attention. As he was still really hungry, commenting on food was an easy one. But he hadn't asked the girl - Monica! no - a question yet and that was supposed to be a thing that he did. "Where do you think they get the products for this many dishes from?" he asked, going with what came to mind first when he looked around a bit cluelessly. "Like is there a local farmstead?"

22 Quincy Wright Tell. Me. Everything. 1495 0 5

Sadie-Lake Chalmers

May 12, 2020 5:51 PM

Me neither by Sadie-Lake Chalmers

Distracted. Jessica seemed to be saying she had been distracted, or busy thinking, and she was talking to Sadie like nothing at all was wrong. Sadie felt her stomach unclench, felt Sadie-Lake drifting back into the ether. Because here they both were, in their unflattering green sacks that no amount of angles and filters could save, at an honest to goodness feast that no one was even photographing. And, if Jessica was going to treat her just like normal, then maybe everything was…. Normal? It seemed a strange word to apply to witch life, but it felt like it fit. This felt more real, somehow. People had their heads up, looking at each other - really seeing and really talking.

“My summer was nice,” she smiled, lying through he teeth. It was easy to do. It wasn’t a real question. No one disliked summer. It had #BeachVibes (including #Beachware, #Bikini, #Saltwater #SunSeaSand) and #Icecream (#ScreamForIceCream #FlavorOfTheWeek #CaloriesDontCountOnHoliday) and… family. #FamilyTime. #HappyFamily. Not #Reunited cos they couldn’t admit to being apart. But… all those good and wholesome things.

“And… yeah?” she added, seeking Jessica’s approval about being glad to be back. She wasn’t sure it was cool to want to be in school. She searched for a decent reason because she was pretty sure that ‘I think being a witch might feel a bit more normal than being at home’ was not one. “It’s nice to see you again,” she added. No. Great. That just made her sound like a suck up. “And uh… school’s interesting.” Did that sound geeky? She gestured vaguely at the flowing walls, which still made her head spin every time (and also kinda made her need to pee - it was a really weird decor choice) to show that she meant more than classes.

“How about you?” she asked, returning both questions to Jessica.

13 Sadie-Lake Chalmers Me neither 1480 0 5

Morgan Garrett

May 12, 2020 6:32 PM

My best guess is a variant on Vanishing/Conjuring with enchanted objects, specifically tables. by Morgan Garrett

Morgan laughed and nodded as Quincy - fun name, hard one to forget, that; the only other Quincy she had ever heard of had been John Quincy Adams, and it would be quite difficult to confuse this Quincy with him, as one was about her age and was a wizard and the other was an ex-president and kinda dead - used a chicken leg to illustrate why he didn't want to shake hands.

"Yeah, pretty good excuse," she said. "I bet magic can get grease stains outta clothes, but I don't wanna accidentally test it on mine." Eating at home - well, the Kentucky version of home; it was a little easier at Dad's house, since Sage insisted they ought to try to be vaguely healthy - was a perilous business; it was a rare meal that didn't have something fried in it there, and one tiny crumble of bacon could ruin a girl's favorite shirt before she even knew what was happening, it was awful.

She tilted her head when asked about where the food came from, taking a bite of her own meal while she reflected on the question. "You know, I don't know," she said thoughtfully. "I think there are some food gardens somewhere on the grounds, but they probably have to order some stuff in, like any cafeteria." She realized that she had just said something that might not make any sense to him. "Do you know what that is?" she asked. "A cafeteria, I mean? I'm half-blood, I don't know if all wizards know about cafeterias, since y'all don't have elementary schools."

16 Morgan Garrett My best guess is a variant on Vanishing/Conjuring with enchanted objects, specifically tables. 1470 0 5

Gary Harper

May 12, 2020 6:48 PM

Hmm... 15? What's the DC? by Gary Harper

Gary momentarily reeled back at Ness' response, but gathered himself quickly again. He'd gotten a reaction, that was a good sign, but it wasn't quite the one he had thought it would be. This wasn't the Ness that he had sat with and had semi-heated, but always logical and level headed debates on the nature of magic, was it? Where was the Aladren that was ready to meticulously point out each logical fallacy that had brought you to your current state of mind? This Ness was nearly raw emotion... with just a few words, he had hurt the new prefect in a way he hadn't thought possible. Somewhere he had stepped on a landmine. Had something happened over the Summer? The get together had been postponed, did that have something to do with this?

The cause didn't matter terribly much at the moment. He had to move fast and shift his script. No problem, the McLeod's have been forcing him to get good at improvising since he was a second year student. Hmmm.. interesting connection. With that he had made up his mind on one front at least. His grin had vanished at her response, and it didn't return now. Instead he gave Ness a cool, calculating look, locking eyes. One that his housemate should be well familiar with, one that meant, 'I have a challenge for you. Do you accept?' Hopefully it would also give his companion a chance to calm down just a bit. The emotion displayed was good, he had been a little worried on that front, however it could have just been a result from Ness' warforged from the first term and the the robot pirates from last term. He could see the tears and the efforts to hide them and his stomach twisted at what he had done... and maybe at what he was going to do. He uttered a silent prayer to Tymora, Avandra, Cayden and any other deity of luck or gambling that might be listening in as he rolled these dice.

After the moment's pause he asked in his best calm voice, "Why not? I began running games here when I was only a wee second year. That first table, populated with much older wizard students, was one of the most frightening things ever. But I took the chance I had, and I ran the games for them because I wanted to see actual wizards play pretend wizards. It was fantastic. Thank goodness I had Zevalyn at that table though, I don't know if I could have done it without her." he paused just a moment for emphasis, "The point is, anyone could run games for the group, if they want to."

He made sure he was making solid eye contact now, hopefully to drive home the challenge, "They have to want to though. It takes a lot of time, effort and dedication to plan, organize and build these stories. It takes quick thinking, improvisation, and the ability to throw all of that planning and building time away when the players turn left instead of right during the game." Gary leaned back, attempting to ease the mood he had tried to create, however his eyes never wavered from those of his friend. "If you know someone that wants to try, they will get their chance."

Gary paused again, not for effect this time. His shoulders slumped just a bit, as he voiced the idea that had been kicking around in his brain. "I'm going to take a break for most of this term and just play the game. The group will need to decide who they want to run games next year and no one can make a proper decision without good information. So, we will have an adventurers guild this year. We'll all make some characters and anyone that wants to throw their hat in the ring for next year's game master position can make up a job for the guild. They can run the adventure and see how they like the game from the other side of the screen. Then everyone can figure out what they want to do for next year. Then for my last term in this school, if they want to, I can help the chosen one work on whatever they think they need help with while they get their footing in their new role." He shrugged, "If it is Morgan, so be it. If it is someone else..." He gave Ness one last challenging look and then turned back to his plate.

"Also, it'll give me a chance to hit the books better." Gary commented a little sadly, "My grades weren't what they could have been last year and I've got RATS to prepare for as well." He sighed, "As for Jasmine..." He trailed off a bit, he couldn't shake the feeling that this was a sensitive topic as well, but he wasn't sure why. Ness had clearly stated about not caring about his love life and that was exactly why he has asked. He needed someone that didn't care one way or the other.

He waved his hand dismissively, "It's pretty much over. We hung out a bit over the summer and she made it fairly clear that while she was fine with dating through this year, she didn't see it going any farther than that. I think she wants someone that doesn't make her magical horses uneasy just by getting to close to them." He took a bite of food, "It's a fair point I guess if she wants to run that ranch after school. Plus there is no way I can pull off the prince act for longer than an evening. I'm not sure she's all that into gaming either, so she's probably right about it not working out in the long run."

Gary continued to poke at his food and ramble on, not really noticing at this point if Ness was even still paying attention, "To me, the point of dating is to find a girl I can connect with for the long term. You know, engagement, marriage, generating offspring to continue the cycle of life and to ensure the genetic information of my ancestors and I continues to exist. Dating Jasmine now would be like continuing to walk down an corridor that you know is a dead-end with nothing there. The best I would get from the experience would be maybe some more experience dealing with girls."

He shook his head, "No, I want to find a girl that is at least has the possibility of a future. Dating is the method to find out, and I've reached that conclusion with Jasmine... or she's reached it with me, same result either way. Unfortunately, where does that leave me now? I haven't exactly been a social butterfly here at Sonora. I only know a few girls and and I don't think I could get any of the other ones warmed up to me enough before the year is out." He finally turned to Ness, "The girls I do know are all in the D&D group, "Morgan is to young, and I think Evelyn might like Heinrich." He lowered his voice, "Don't let that get around though in case I'm wrong."

He looked at Ness with almost a pleading look in his eyes, "What other girl is out there that is easy to talk to, likes games and D&D, and could see some future with me?" he sighed. "I'm open to ideas."

2 Gary Harper Hmm... 15? What's the DC? 1404 0 5

Jessica Hayles

May 12, 2020 8:15 PM

Guess we should stick together then, huh? by Jessica Hayles

Jessica was not entirely pleased with Sadie's response. She enjoyed the part about being glad to see her again, of course - it was pretty fricking novel at this point, someone actually being glad to see her; she had no idea if Sadie meant it or was just sucking up to someone rich who could keep her in lip gloss for the rest of her life, but either way, it was refreshing after several years of mostly feeling like either a burden, a pariah, or at best a poseur - but Sadie always sounded like she was asking permission for whatever answer she gave to anything. It was sad...and concerning. Was she that much of an ogre?

This was not a thought which had ever occurred to her before Sonora. She had not had close friends before Sonora, of course, but that was because she had been busy. She had always been invited to everyone's birthday parties in primary school, and they had all come to hers. She had always assumed she would make close friends when she was older, when classes were more homogenous - people focusing on the same things she was, all of them on the same level, choosing to take more classes than not - but she had not questioned that she could have made friends if she hadn't been so busy. Now, though...she had pushed it aside last year, because things had started going well, with the Deutschtent girls and Sadie and Lyssa, but...things had gone well with Felipe at first, too, and that hadn't lasted. Perhaps she was...flawed, fundamentally, somehow....

She shoved the thought away. The trick, as she had always been taught, was simply not to disclose too much. Hide away all the ugly things, or at best, remove them altogether, like a sculptor chipping away all the marble which surrounded the statue. Reality was overrated; the purpose of people, if they had one, was to conceal and perfect the sloppy bits of it. Very, very few things were best in their natural states. They all needed refinement.

"Ditto to all that," she said with a smile when the question was returned to her. "Summer was fine - I read a lot. Went swimming. Shopping. The usual, for these days. I think it's going to be an interesting year here, though, from what Brockert was saying. Do you think you'll get involved in any of the Fair stuff?"

16 Jessica Hayles Guess we should stick together then, huh? 1442 0 5

Sadie-Lake Chalmers

May 12, 2020 9:04 PM

I'd like that by Sadie-Lake Chalmers

Ditto to all that. Sadie was not convinced that ‘all that’ included being pleased to see her too but it was nice to pretend that it did. Certainly, Jessica didn’t seem displeased. She was smiling and being friendly enough. Sadie just wished she could be sure of having something of substance to say so that Jessica wouldn’t become bored of her.

It was one of the drawbacks of having had her personality spoon fed to her in hashtag sized bites over the years. Once you stripped that all away, what was left? Probably an interaction that had all the thrill and distinctiveness of watching beige paint dry.

“I swam and shopped too,” she nodded, when Jessica talked about her summer. She was just trying to find common ground, but she was worried she came across like a sad little echo instead. “And like… went to cafes and stuff with my mom,” she added, trying to find something of her own to contribute, seeing as detail beyond ‘yeah it was nice’ seemed expected/encouraged. There were a lot of very hip cafes around where they lived, catering to lifestyles like her mom’s. It was all very #CoffeeLover. She didn’t want to venture the details that tied her back to that kind of thing though.
She served herself some sweet potatoes and salmon as Jessica asked about the fair. That was the trouble with being the quiet one. The other person asked you everything first, and you had to take the risk of giving the answer. Still, there couldn’t be anything wrong with helping out charities, right?

“I think so,” she nodded. “He said it’s for good causes, right? So that’s probably a nice thing to do. Are you gonna?”

13 Sadie-Lake Chalmers I'd like that 1480 0 5

Grayson Wright

May 12, 2020 9:29 PM

Maybe, we'll see if it lends itself to plot. by Grayson Wright

Gray was mildly confused by Killian's question, but nodded just the same. "I am, yes," he said. "For...eh, it's been a few years anyway. Since before Lawrence came," he added with some confidence - Rory Taransay had been Head of Aladren before Gray had been Head of Aladren, and Rory Taransay had also been the Care of Magical Creatures teacher. Gray was not very good at keeping track of timelines in real life (one of the many ways in which fiction was preferable to real life, it was much easier to sort out what happened when on the page), but he was confident of both of those facts. "Why?" he asked in return.

The reply instantly made the question make sense. He nodded, privately betting, inside his head, that the girl was more likely to call herself Bonny. Bonabelle was a name like Grayson, he thought, bit clumsy, easier to shorten than to work with, though the sounds were completely different - the trouble with his name was how it had too many consonants, and slid toward an unappealing z sound in the middle in most enunciations. Bonabelle was all soft sounds, there was nothing particularly uneuphonious about it, it just sort of seemed like it would take too much of a whole breath to say at once.

He did not share these musing with her uncle. "Excellent," he said instead. "She's in a good place - I'd say the best of the Houses, but I'm double-biased," he admitted. "I was an - er, that is to say, I was a student in Aladren, twenty..." no, he was forty now, somehow, and had left Sonora well before he was twenty... "five or so years ago," he concluded. Twenty years ago he had been twenty, so five years before that, he had been fifteen, if he was doing math even vaguely right, and therefore, he had been in Aladren at that time. "So it's home. Did you expect her to be in Aladren?" he asked curiously. He thought of Aladrens as people who were usually easy to pick out for what they were. There were a few exceptions, of course, but even those tended to become more Aladren the longer they were in - the basic materials were there, even if they sometimes expressed themselves differently. Gray himself had not been the most typical Aladren, but he could look at the House description and see himself just the same - and, better yet, his House, at least, had not seemed to mind. There was little of the infighting and passive-aggressiveness one could get with groups of Crotali, or the roughness some Pecaris could have when dealing with others, and he thought it edged Teppenpaw out for the Best House title simply by virtue of having love of learning and problem-solving skills as part of their charter. Most likely, Bonabelle had the makings of some form of greatness, and while Gray felt that he had never really lived up to his potential, he still thought Aladren was a better place for tapping into one's potential than the other Houses were, as a rule.

16 Grayson Wright Maybe, we'll see if it lends itself to plot. 113 0 5

Aelia Astley

May 13, 2020 5:23 AM

Even old can be nice! by Aelia Astley

Aelia bit her lip as she looked again across the spread at the table. Everything did look delicious and safe but she just wasn't sure. Looks could be deceiving and that even applied to food. She tried not to look too disgusted at the dish that Leonie? No, hang on, Leonor had pointed out. There seemed to be a lot of green in it and Aelia wasn't a fan of green foods. Peas were nice and she could just about deal with broccoli but green apples were out of the question as well as green cabbage. Lettuce had no taste and was therefore pointless and boring. She decided to opt for Leonor's better idea and turned her attention to the fruit bowl. Yellow was much more appealing! The mango looked fresh and juicy and the pineapple looked succulent so Aelia helped herself. She spotted some red apples too and after examining them to make sure that they were completely red, added some to her plate and started to cut them up into slices.

"Thank you," she said to Leonor, grateful that the girl had helped her and hoping that she wasn't offended by not opting to try her... squid. Ew.

"So, what year are you in?" she asked, trying to keep the conversation going. It was through conversation that one made connections and it was always good to start on neutral, easy ground. She had noticed that Leonor hadn't been at orientation so it was easy to draw the conclusion that she wasn't a first year. It would be helpful to be friends with someone a little older as they'd already been through the first year and Aelia hoped Leonor might be willing to help her if she needed it. She knew Juju would help her where he could but Aelia knew he was busy with the Aronos and his own studies and that he had exams this year and she didn't want to have to go to him for everything. "Is it nice here?"

20 Aelia Astley Even old can be nice! 1494 0 5

Julius Astley

May 13, 2020 5:40 AM

Another year, another disappointment. by Julius Astley

Julius never enjoyed attending the Opening Feast. It was now his fifth year and his feelings still hadn't improved. Still, he tried not to let it show as much on his face this year. Aelia hated it when he looked grumpy and had a habit of asking him too many questions about what was wrong and he didn't want to spoil her first Opening Feast which he knew she would fully enjoy because that was what Aelia did. She found the joy in everything, regardless of how tedious it was. There was just so much hope in her regarding Sonora and the good time she expected to have and Julius didn't want to dampen that for her. He didn't smile when he walked into Cascade Hall but at least he wasn't scowling.

That wouldn't last long.

He had hoped that Aelia would join him in Crotalus so he could at least guide her through her first few years in Sonora but all hopes of that were dashed when her blank badge came out brown, declaring her a Pecari. Unbelievable. He might've lived with her being an Aladren or even a Teppenpaw but a Pecari? That house had people like Malikhi Hill in who, Julius had never forgotten, had ended up covered in slime at his first Opening Feast. Julius had never forgotten because he made mental notes to avoid people like that. If he had to give Pecari one positive, it was it was the House of Evelyn Stones. He knew that she too had been involved in the slime disaster too but preferred to think she was a victim, rather than the cause. Also, she worked on the Aronos with him and had proven herself to be worth his time. Hopefully, she and Aelia would cross paths.

This seemed more likely when the Prefect announcements were made, declaring Evelyn the Prefect for Pecari. That was good. However Julius, who had already started frowning about Aelia's placement, started scowling when it was announced that Allegra was Crotalus' Prefect. It was a sore point. Julius hadn't necessarily wanted to become a Prefect but not becoming one had become a source of disappointment for his Father who, as of the moment, had not let Julius forget it. It didn't matter that Julius was the Editor of the Aronos (something his Father thought was a waste of time) or that Julius consistently achieved high grades in his classes (something that wasn't applauded, just expected). He had pleased his Father by attending last year's ball with Allegra Brockert and now he was a disappointment for losing out to her.

So, the Prefect announcements were a sore point for Julius and was sure to be a source of annoyance for him through the entire year.

The announcement of a fair meant absolutely nothing to him. It was sure to be trivial and tedious and Julius already resolved that he wasn't going to attend at all, unless made to. The only reason he'd willingly go would be to create an article to publish in The Aronos. Not even Aelia would be able to drag him to such a frivolous affair.

He refused, for the fifth year in a row, to sing the school song, discarding his word sheet as soon as it came to him and was much happier when he could help himself to the food and didn't have to think about stupid things like where his sister was placed or that he wasn't a Prefect.

"Can you pass the roast potatoes, please?" he asked the person sitting next to him.

20 Julius Astley Another year, another disappointment. 1425 0 5

Isabella Harrington

May 13, 2020 5:52 AM

Okay, I really need to make some friends. by Isabella Harrington

Bella felt lonely as she sat down at the Aladren table. It was apparent that besides the odd courteous nods to the people already sitting there, she didn't have anyone to share her the stories of her summer with. She'd had quite the successful summer, having placed first in a number of dance competitions. Her mother and father had even managed to attend one which had delighted her more than anything. They were always so busy and Bella rarely saw them, except for Christmas and the odd birthday. They hadn't been able to see the whole event, of course, but they had seen something which was better than nothing.

Since attending the Ball alone last year, Bella was very aware that she hadn't successfully made any friends. She had met Sadie and they'd had a nice conversation but Bella wasn't sure that she could exactly call her a friend. More like an acquaintance. Still, Sadie had seemed like a really nice person and maybe they'd be able to become a bit more than an acquaintance this year.

Still, the no-friends situation really did have to be fixed because Bella was growing tired of having no one to talk to during dinner and no one to study with in the library and it'd be nice to have somebody to go with on Tumbleweed trips.

Either way, Bella supposed that it wasn't something that was going to be fixed today as it seemed that students usually spent the feasts talking to their friends about their summer and she doubted that a first year would come and talk to her. She wasn't even sure what they'd talk about. Bella guessed maybe they'd talk about the school because it was new to them but other than that, her mind drew a blank. If only socialising was as easy as dancing.

She listened to Headmaster Brockert with only one ear, letting out a long sigh when the food was served and helped herself to some rice and chicken and filled her goblet with water. She ate a few mouthfuls before deciding enough was enough. She couldn't spend another Feast with no one to talk to so looked for the nearest person who didn't seem to be engaged in conversation and asked, "How was your summer?"

20 Isabella Harrington Okay, I really need to make some friends. 1435 0 5

Mab

May 13, 2020 8:38 AM

It's a feast, so eating is customary. Though certain people have been known to paint. by Mab

If she was being completely truthful, Mab did not want to return to Sonora. She had enjoyed her summer. She'd collected a foster brother. She gotten to go rollerblading with her new family. She'd taken Taekwondo lessons and earned her yellow belt. She had her own room that she could retreat to when she needed time alone. She could watch tv, talk about comic books, or play video games with Alexander when she didn't. She had Alexander to back her up during Pierce gatherings so she didn't feel so much like an outsider. The only thing that could have been more perfect was if her Mom was there. It had been over a year now since she knew Mom was okay. And there was no chance she was going to find her here at Sonora.

The good thing was that she at least had Alexander for the wagon ride this year, and she knew what she was getting into. Last year, all of this was all so new and strange and foreign and terrifying.

She waited until the last moment to arrive for the Opening Feast and intentionally picked a seat well away from Anya and Theo, with plenty of empty seats around to limit conversation and interaction. Naturally this meant that as new Pecaris got Sorted, one stole one of her buffer chairs and another kid sat in another one.

Stealey then proceeded to . . . start a wave? Dear sweet Oberon and Titania, did Pecari really need someone even worse than Anya and Theo for drawing attention? Clearly, there was a fey subset that must feed on that sort of thing. At least they were all over there together and not here.

The one who was here thankfully seemed more low-key and once all the talking and signing (Mab did not participate in that) was done, she merely asked if there was anything she should know about Sonora.

Mab nodded. "Yes. There is. Many things."

1 Mab It's a feast, so eating is customary. Though certain people have been known to paint. 1473 Mab 0 5

Jasmine Delachene

May 13, 2020 1:07 PM

One Year More (tag: Peyton) by Jasmine Delachene

Jasmine was eager to get her last year of Sonora done with. It wasn't that she didn't like it here. She had good friends. There were definitely fun times. She didn't particularly like her classes, but she didn't hate them either. She didn't have any enemies. She even thought she stood a good shot at earning Head Girl. Ellie even made posters. Ellie had wanted to make posters. So overall, Sonora was good.

But after seeing Gary this summer and talking about things like the Future with him, she kind of just wanted to get to that part of her life. Sonora just felt like something standing in the way.

Of course, it was Philippe's first year, so maybe one year more would be all right, just to be sure he was adjusting all right. Plus, there was Head Girl to look forward to. She'd voted for herself and Gary, of course, which may now prove a bit awkward if they both got it, but she held no ill will toward her Ball date, and didn't think he did toward her either. His too obvious busy-ness when she walked in notwithstanding.

There were problems with Gary. Irreconcilable problems. They could be ignored for a time, and he was kind of cute for trying so hard, but these were things that would only build over time, and each time would be harder to forgive than the last, and someday, one of them was going to say something they'd regret and all the hidden resentments that had been building for years would just blow up, and she didn't want to be like her grandmother with seven (nine? fifteen? was anyone counting anymore?) failed marriages. She wanted to be like Mom and make the first one work. Forever. And that wasn't going to fly with Gary.

Problem 1: He was completely oblivious to important relationship signals sometimes and occasionally said really dumb things.
Problem 2: He didn't love horses. Horses did not love him.
Problem 3: He hadn't seen Tangled before this summer. (And while this had been rectified, it was a symptom of a greater lack of understanding of all things Disney Animation)
Problem 4: They did not have a lot of common interests.
Problem 5: He talked about games all the time. Even when they weren't supposed to be talking about games.
Problem 6: He didn't give her that fluttery feeling that all the movies talked about. She wanted to feel the fluttery feeling.
Problem 7: He tried too hard sometimes. It was sweet, but sometimes these things weren't supposed to require trying hard. They were supposed to just happen. When you with your Special One, you were supposed to feel easy and carefree and Gary was very rarely either of those things around her. She worried she wouldn't like him when he wasn't being who he thought she wanted him to be.
Problem 8: He was an Aladren. She was barely passing her classes other than Care of Magical Creatures. She was afraid he secretly thought she was stupid.

Of course, it wasn't all bad. Gary was a good guy. She liked him a lot.
Good thing 1: He was sweet and tried really hard to make her feel special.
Good thing 2: He was cute. Not quite in a "That guy is hot!" kind of way but also in more than a "My kid brother is adorable" way. So good cute.
Good thing 3: He was willing to try to learn her ways.
Good thing 4: They had a lot of fun at Disneyland.

But she wanted to raise horses for the rest of her life, ideally helping out at her Mom's Ranch and eventually taking it over when Mom and Dad retired. Gary didn't get on well with horses and wanted to go to school to be an architect. Then he needed to be architecting, and while she didn't know exactly what that entailed, she didn't think he could do it from The Middle of Nowhere, California, so that would be long hours away from home and she didn't think she'd like that. Plus Dad did the business side of the ranch while Mom did the Horse side, and she had always kind of imagined that's how it would work when she was a married grown-up, too. Gary didn't fit that model.

So they had talked about the Future and what they wanted from it, and well, she guessed they maybe broke up? She was good with dating until graduation. She liked going on dates. That was fun. They hadn't kissed a lot, just a few light brushes of lips, but she was open to the idea. She just didn't think a future together forever was on the table and had told him so. He had seemed disappointed by this conclusion but hadn't argued it. He had not given her a definitive answer on whether dating through this year was acceptable to him or not, and his obvious avoidance of her this evening told her he probably still didn't know. Or maybe that the answer was no, but he'd smiled and waved in a friendly enough fashion and she didn't think he was capable of that much guile if he had already decided to dump her completely. So probably still undecided.

The first years showed up, allowing her to stop thinking about this, and she cheered and gave her brother a thumbs up when he went into Teppenpaw, just as she had predicted. She turned to give Anya a smug look for the three stall cleanings she'd just gained for losing that bet, but it looked like her little sister was having a minor Pecari encounter and was too distracted to notice.

Then the Headmaster started talking again and Jasmine held her breath . . . and then deflated when it was not her own name to be called out as Head Girl. She buoyed quickly though, and clapped and smiled for her best friend and roommate. She'd told Ellie last year that she'd happily congratulate any of the now seventh year girls who might win instead of her, and she tried hard to maintain this attitude now that it was no longer just theoretical.

It got harder when one of the Pecari kids whooped and started a wave in support of Peyton's win.

But when Peyton returned with her new badge, Jasmine was smiling again. "Congratulations," she said, genuinely meaning it, "you'll make a great Head Girl." She nodded at the offending Pecari. "Is that one of your first years then?" she asked dryly.

1 Jasmine Delachene One Year More (tag: Peyton) 1397 0 5

Jessica Hayles

May 13, 2020 1:32 PM

Fantastic. by Jessica Hayles

"Cafes. That sounds nice," said Jessica, a touch wistfully, her accent accentuating the effect. Her mother had spent time with her in public perhaps three times in as many years now, not counting. Not really Mommy's fault, of course - what was she supposed to do, after all? Jessica could move around on her own to a limited degree with Robert in attendance, but her mother had a far more public profile. Plus, well, she had heard what she had heard. She couldn't blame her mother for not wanting to go to that much effort to spend public time with a bad investment. "Not really my mom's thing," she half-lied. "She just took me to her daddy's big Fourth of July barbecue."

Which had been nice, she supposed. Admittedly, she had had to be careful not to be spotted by the local news team that always covered Grandpa's big Fourth of July barbecue, and her extended family had not seemed to have any more of a clue what to say to her anymore than her parents did, but she had at least gotten to wear a pretty dress and hat, and be around people, and feel like she was at a party, even if she had still felt - as she had felt at the Ball - as though she were standing on the other side of a sheet of glass, staring in at everyone else mingling and talking and sharing and having fun. She had sat in an out-of-the-way corner and tried to write poems on cocktail napkins, and...that was about it, for the trip to her grandparents' place.

"Always a big to-do," she reported, her expression untroubled. "The governor and the first lady of Georgia came this year, even though they hate Grandpa, and I got to say hello to two Oscar winners - they were in Atlanta making a movie. Made Daddy a little mad, of course, since they weren't buying their set make-up from him, but it was still fun." Aside from the bit where her parents had been in a silent panic over it, of course. "Plus, Granny's housekeeper still makes the best homemade ice cream anyone ever had."

She nodded about the fair. "I think so," she said. "If I can find anything that anyone would get behind...I don't even know what organizations they have here, just that these people - " she cut her eyes around the table of Crotali with an expression of delicate contempt - probably wouldn't be very interested in any of the ones I know about." She leaned a tad closer, conspiratorially. "Though on that note - I've been talking to some people, we might have plans of our own for improving things a little around here. I'll let you know if it comes to anything, and you can let me know if there's anything you'd really like to see."

16 Jessica Hayles Fantastic. 1442 0 5

Killian Row

May 13, 2020 2:05 PM

Oh, there will be bunnies. by Killian Row

Killian grinned, amused to see his colleague and friend so modest and proud all at the same time. It was precious and Killian made a mental note that Gray would look rockin' in blue so he had some ideas for Christmas. Also, the man wasn't strictly wrong. Certainly there were a variety of students in every House, and sorting didn't necessarily prove perfectly accurate in terms of defining characteristics, but so much prolonged exposure to other kids who valued braininess and a "brainy" reputation would push even the least academically-oriented student to give it another go.

"I don't actually know her very well," Killian admitted, not feeling so bad admitting this to Gray as he thought he might. "I only met her in the spring, and then we spent some time at my parents' house this summer. She's a curious one, that's for sure." He sort of wished he had a better answer, but there wasn't much to be done about that. "Do you have any family here?" he asked, remembering the other student who'd just been sorted into Aladren, last name Wright. It wasn't a terribly uncommon name but the wizarding world was small and two Wrights in the same vague vicinity with magical ancestry was a bit less common than just worldwide 'Wright' populations.

22 Killian Row Oh, there will be bunnies. 1450 0 5

Mara Morales

May 13, 2020 2:21 PM

Very helpful if you're ever in a jam. by Mara Morales

Summer had been neither brilliant nor awful, as far as Mara was concerned. She had gotten a lot done, at the cost of a lot of money (apparently, goblins understood the concept of a currency-changing fee as well as humans did) and a good few arguments with her mother, and by the time she had forced the lid of her trunk shut on top of all her school things and comfort items, she had felt quite ready to get back to school.

She had gone back to Aladren while the first years were taken on their tour of the school, noting with surprise as she had walked into the common room that it had felt a bit like coming home after a long holiday, and that she had smiled automatically at the sight of her roommates. Just the same, though, she had not taken out the neatly color-coded and labelled accordion file boxes from her trunk. She somehow suspected Morgan and Josie would look at her like a space alien if she showed them what she had actually spent most of her summer doing, and so had stuck to catch-up talk about shopping and swimming and a few day trips her mother had taken her and Lola on.

As the Feast began, she looked over the staff table, noting with satisfaction that Mr. Row was there - she would probably reestablish contact there soon - and looking for Professor Brooding-Hawthorne of the Defense department, hoping she would avoid having to talk to a stranger about the list of questions she had after her careful study of her textbooks, her sister's textbooks, and several more books besides. Professor Wright managed to ditch his hat after escorting the first years in, which was a relief, as it really had been a stupid hat, and the Charms teacher was supposed to act more or less as her third parent and that meant his fashion choices might to some extent reflect on Mara. Headmaster Brockert looked as pleasant as ever, and there were the Carter-Xaviers, and....

...At this rate, she thought, she was going to turn altogether sentimental. She had known this place and these people for like ten months. It seemed altogether inappropriate to have such warm feelings toward them after only a two-month break.

She applauded for Ness McLeod in keeping with social custom, then started looking forward to her supper, expecting Headmaster Brockert to stick to form. It was a bit of a surprise, then, when he instead said something interesting. Mara listened with her chin in her hand, thinking as rapidly as she could - she had noticed what seemed like leaflets for non-profits which supported abused people and gay people in the library, but she was fairly confident those were directly tied to Ness. It was implied, though, that there were other good causes to rally behind - did that meant there might be something Mara could do with the issues that were actually close to her? Was there room for something about women in business, or for supporting the throwing of slime pies at Jeremy Mordu - er, for opposing the views of people like Jeremy Mordue? Could she and Jessica both get in on something like that, or would it be safer to still stay apart? Or....

She was occupied enough that she didn't immediately notice the food's arrival, though she picked up the plot as soon as some of the scents reached her nose. She was serving herself when she caught the eye of an older girl she also recognized from passings-by in the girls' corridor.

"Uh - good," she said, mildly surprised to be spoken to - she thought of this girl as the Very Quiet one, who kept to herself. Nothing wrong with that, of course, but it made sudden conversation a bit of a surprise. "I'm excited to be back, though. Lots to do this year. What about you?"

16 Mara Morales Very helpful if you're ever in a jam. 1472 0 5

Quincy Wright

May 13, 2020 2:28 PM

Ala Willy Wonka and that kid who was s'posed to be a chocolate bar? by Quincy Wright

Quincy grinned. If everyone in Aladren was this forthcoming, he was going to have a perfect time at Sonora. He sort of wanted to write home and tell Deidre to buckle up because she was going to have to stop thinking he was a loser if she wanted to come here with any success in the coming years, but that seemed like a harsh thing to send a seven-year-old.

He nodded, agreeing about grease stains. He tried to avoid them because a lot of times he couldn't see them anyway and that wasn't really embarrassing because he didn't care but a lot of people seemed to and his mom always told him to be more careful. Eh.

"I'm fullblood," he admitted, feeling a bit guilty. He had heard that such terms might be important here, as everyone seemed to care about everyone else's 'blood status' but he still hated it. "But I went to muggle school before this. Food here is definitely better than our cafeteria was!" He took an emphatic bite of chicken leg before continuing. "Do we get to help in the gardens at all?" He had a vivid mental image of waking up in the morning like an old man, cracking his back and grumbling about younguns, and then going out to tend a produce garden and look at some cool dirt. It was a pretty great mental image and he thought maybe he wouldn't have been a better gnome than human. It worked out though because gnomes didn't have microscopes or science or like . . . brains. "What's your favorite class?"

22 Quincy Wright Ala Willy Wonka and that kid who was s'posed to be a chocolate bar? 1495 0 5

Grayson Wright

May 13, 2020 2:50 PM

...why does that sound ominous? by Grayson Wright

"Ahh," said Gray, upon hearing some of the backstory of Bonabelle Row and her uncle. There was almost certainly a story there (Gray was an only child, but had been exposed to people with larger families enough to know that one usually knew one's uncle reasonably well or not at all), but out of respect, he thought he would not ask about it unless details were offered. "Well, curiosity is a good fit with most of us. She'll do well, as long as she doesn't make the kind of friends who egg each other on into dangerous experiments too much, and I don't think we have many of those in the House these days."

Or at least, he added mentally, if there were, they were good enough at it to not draw attention to themselves. This, however, was not the kind of statement which seemed particularly likely to draw approval from her uncle, so he kept that thought to himself. As long as they only moderately endangered themselves, didn't endanger anyone else, and technically stayed on the right side of the law when testing their limits in some of the...dodgier...aspects of magical law, he thought it was best to let them get on with it. Persecuting them for what was more or less harmless would only drive them to be more creative about avoiding detection, which could make it worse if things did get out of hand.

"Not that I know of," he said about having family of his own here, with a curious glance toward the Aladren table. "I'm an only child, so definitely not my nephew. The family has been on this side of the Pond for a long time, though, so it's not impossible we're distant cousins of some kind. I imagine your family's a little easier to keep track of - while you're here, anyway. Do you have a large family in general?" he asked, always a bit curious about other people.

16 Grayson Wright ...why does that sound ominous? 113 0 5

Lyssa Fitzgerald

May 13, 2020 2:52 PM

That gives it all the flavor... or so they say. by Lyssa Fitzgerald

OOC: Slight internalized racism

Lyssa felt a small pang of guilt as Dathan answered her. She hadn't meant to ask the redhead for red potatoes, and hopefully, he hadn't taken that way. Lyssa decided she'd swallow the apology already forming in her mouth in case he hadn't thought that at all.

Dathan was one of the younger boys that intrigued Lyssa a bit. He seemed a calmer than many of them, at least from her interactions with him. He also was, she'd been told, related to Jezebel though they didn't appear to be siblings. They didn't look that alike. Maybe they were adoptive siblings? Or they could be cousins or Aunt-Nephew? Either way, Dathan had been a bit of question mark for Lyssa. The fact they were in the same house mingled with the fact that they hadn't shared any classes (and this would be the only year they would), meant she knew who he was, but didn't know him. So she smiled at the boy as he dished out the potatoes finding herself pleasantly surprised by his eagerness about the fair.

"Yea, it does. It is a nice continuation of what Cleo did last year." Lyssa began thinking about how some students might need to combine booths, especially if she and Ness had similar ideas. Then a thought struck her, "I wonder, though, who is going to donate to different charities if all the students are manning booths? Are the parents going to attend?" Lyssa made an exaggerated face. "Not sure if all parents will agree with all the charities that money is being raised for, ya know?"

It did pose a possible educational moment, though. If a student wanted to support one charity and their parent was against it. The parent would then need to have a conversation (in public or private) with the student about their views. A discussion was always good. Communication was always better than silence or hiding your thoughts and feelings. At least Lyssa thought so. She turned to look at Ness just as she heard Ness yell something at Gary.

Oh no. That's not good, Lyssa thought.

41 Lyssa Fitzgerald That gives it all the flavor... or so they say. 1421 0 5

Johana Leonie Zauberhexen

May 13, 2020 2:58 PM

Not a bit. by Johana Leonie Zauberhexen

On the whole, the Zauberhexens were maybe a bit more friendly and open to small talk than were many Germans. That probably came from growing up in such a small town that there was no such thing as a stranger and everyone was in everyone's business all the time. Naturally, that extended to the rest of the world when there was no other way to do things as far as they knew. Still, Johana Leonie sort of hated it now because she didn't want to talk about her summer. She didn't want anyone to know about her summer. She resisted the urge to look around because Friederike Albert was at this table somewhere. They had hardly spoken and she didn't want to speak. She didn't want him to hear her lie to this nice girl who spoke German for her.

"I am glad to be back at Sonora," she said with a weak smile. She thought for a moment of turning the question around, but she didn't. She wasn't sure whether it was because she didn't want to put Katya in the same position she'd been in, as Johana Leonie certainly didn't know how her summer had gone either, or because she didn't want to hear about how great her summer had been. "Are you looking forward to getting back into your classes?" she asked instead.

22 Johana Leonie Zauberhexen Not a bit. 1432 0 5

Morgan Garrett

May 13, 2020 3:06 PM

No idea, sorry - never read that book. by Morgan Garrett

Fullblood - that was an interesting way of putting it. Morgan wondered if there was some political thing going over her head here. Pureblood obviously came with an insult to everyone else built right there into the name - implying that if you weren't one of them, there was something debased about you, something tainted. It was like when people made remarks about the sort of family you came from at home - implying that just being related to so-and-so somehow made you worth less as a person. Fullblood...well, there was still the good old question of what the heck the other half of Morgan's was supposed to be, anyway, or else how she was only surviving with half a human's proper portion of blood cells, but she thought it sounded a little less insulting than the alternative.

"Oh, good," she said when he said he'd been to elementary school and therefore knew what a cafeteria was, and also appreciated fully how lucky they were in terms of school food here at Sonora. Maybe it wasn't home, and every night wasn't as luxurious as the Feasts, but it was sure as heck better than eating institutional cafeteria food three squares a day for seven years in a row. "Yeah, beats my old school by a lot, too." She thought about his next question. "You can ask Professor Xavier, if you want," she said. "See that guy up there...kinda big guy? He's the Herbology teacher, so he probably knows. He's head of Teppenpaw, too, so it's probably in his contract to be nice about it even if he tells you no."

The question of what her favorite class was took a bit more thought. Last year, getting used to really being part of the magical world and all, she had had her share of dramatic mishaps in all her classes, sooner or later, and had found them all challenging. On the whole, though.... "Charms I think," she said. "And not just because the Charms teacher is our Head of House," she added with a grin. "Professor Wright makes you take a lot of notes, and the essays can be tough, but charms are a lot of fun, and they're a lot more useful, like, every day while you're just doing stuff than some of the other classes are. They're all really interesting in their ways, though. Which one do you think you'll like best?" He could, after all, hypothesize even if he was Muggleborn, and since he was not, he might have a well-supported idea of what he was going to like even on his first night of school.

16 Morgan Garrett No idea, sorry - never read that book. 1470 0 5

Killian Row

May 13, 2020 3:11 PM

No reason. by Killian Row

Killian couldn't exactly promise that Bonny wouldn't try some outlandish experiments, in part because he just didn't know her that well and in part because she did seem adventurous. He chocked most of that up to the fact that her experience was generally limited though and she just wanted to know more stuff. He couldn't imagine she was that different from her new Housemates in that regard. Probably.

For a moment, Killian wondered what House he would have been in if he'd gone to Sonora. He'd been a Hufflepuff but that certainly didn't carry a one-to-one correlation to any of the Houses here. Teppenpaw didn't strike him as quite the same fit although it was probably the closest. Somehow Pecari seemed closer, although Gryffindor certainly hadn't. There was no way to know unless the potion down there worked for adults too. He doubted that would go over well although the image of himself vaulting the staff table to drunk a badge in the potion was pretty entertaining and, he thought, brought him that much closer teeth Pecari side of things.

"Pretty easy," he agreed about keeping track of his family in the States, grinning. Sometimes people got weird, not knowing what to say from someone who was clearly a foreigner. Killian thought it was wonderfully amusing that Gray, who clearly considered himself at least mildly weird, was the most normal about such things. He was a good dude. "None of us actually live here. Bonny and her dad, my brother, live in London, and I guess I sort of live in Ireland? I'm a bit all over most of the time. My immediate family is fairly small, just my parents and my brother and me. And Bonny now, I guess. But I haven't seen my brother in a long time before now, so it doesn't really feel like a big family most of the time. I've got a few aunts and uncles, but that's about it."

22 Killian Row No reason. 1450 0 5

Dathan Fischer

May 13, 2020 3:20 PM

It makes the flavors more complex, anyway. by Dathan Fischer

Dathan made a face, too, when Lyssa pointed out that parents might make things...unpleasant, at least for some of the booths. He was prepared to guess that most people agreed with what their parents thought about things, but Jezebel had proved over the summer that this was not a rule which anyone should regard as universal. Even family didn't always know everything there was to know about a situation or the people in it. Plus, even at home, there were sometimes things like signs posted to remind parents at t-ball games not to hit each other or other people's kids, which meant parents getting snippy with students who weren't related to them might also be a thing...

"I hope not," he said. "He said something about asking your Head of House, I think, if you wanted to run a booth, though, so I'm guessing that it won't be everyone who gets involved with running things. The rest of us just...buy raffle tickets I guess? Or that pay-for-a-pie-to-hit-the-mayor with game? Except here I guess it would be the Head Boy and Girl, or maybe the headmaster."

He had to bite his lip, hard, to avoid laughing at the mental image that went with the idea of Headmaster Brockert standing on a platform with students vying for the right to hit him with a cream pie. Somehow, he got the feeling the headmaster might be too curmudgeonly to do such a thing even for charity, but the image was hilarious just the same. Before he could share it with Lyssa, though, she looked over his shoulder, looking distracted. "Everything okay?" he asked before considering that she might have just lost all interest in conversing with third years after this initial exchange of pleasantries.

16 Dathan Fischer It makes the flavors more complex, anyway. 1457 0 5

Quincy Wright

May 13, 2020 3:25 PM

I'm not fast enough to think of another metaphor. by Quincy Wright

Quincy following where the girl - M.....elissa? - pointed and committed the man's face to memory. He probably wouldn't have to since he'd be taking Herbology soon anyway, but it was nice to know and his memory clearly wasn't doing a whole lot else right now. Admittedly, a name like Professor Xavier was easier to remember than... Marianna's? Quincy didn't have to have seen a movie before to know that Sonora apparently had X-men teaching classes.

As Margaret explained why she liked Charms best, Quincy decided that there was probably more variety to Aladren than he'd maybe thought at first. He hadn't expected all of them to be super into science, especially since many of them wouldn't even know what it was, but the note-taking and homework side wasn't exactly where his interests lay either. Practicality, however, was something he could get behind and he nodded.

"Charms are definitely what I see my parents use the most," he agreed. "I'm excited for potions and herbology and care of magical creatures," he told her. "I really like physical sciences and that's about as close as you can get here. Although . . . " Hmm. Maybe he could study the physical nature of charms better in those classes than others? He'd probably get a better idea of the impact of charms on soil composition in herbology, but he'd understand the charm itself better in, well, Charms. "I'm sort of excited for all of them, though."

He looked at Professor Wright again, trying to decide what the likelihood was of any familial relax. His father had never mentioned a Sonora professor on his side of the family, although he probably would have used the guy's first name and Quincy definitely didn't remember what that was. Perhaps he would write home and ask about it. Or he could ask the professor, he supposed. He could also try to consult school records and family records though and play it up Nancy Drew style. that might be fun.

"What do you do when you aren't in class?" he asked Monique.

22 Quincy Wright I'm not fast enough to think of another metaphor. 1495 0 5

Jezebel Reed-Fischer

May 13, 2020 3:47 PM

Good. Then maybe we'll get along. by Jezebel Reed-Fischer

Jezebel didn't think she'd ever met anyone from Texas, so that was exciting. She hadn't really met anyone from anywhere though, as she hadn't traveled much before coming to Sonora. Now that she knew Graham was from there, she could recognise hints of an accent that she might have overlooked otherwise. At a school like Sonora, with folks from literally all over the globe, it was a losing battle to try to pick out where everyone was from.

"Great barbeque I hear," she joked, raising an eyebrow. "I'm from Kansas City. Not nearly as cool." She smiled at Graham, both because he was new and because he was nice so far. It was a good reminder that people could be nice and that she could be herself. Plus, Graham was just sorted into Crotalus and if she had anything to say about it then this House would stop being full of crappy people. Perhaps that was projection . . "Good football team, though. Go Chiefs." She raised a fist in a sarcastic cheer. Her dad liked football but her mother certainly did not and since games were often on Sunday . . . well, Jezebel had a prior engagement Sunday mornings. "I'm glad you went for the sweet potato casserole. I think of it as a thanksgiving food and forget it the rest of the year, but it really is so good," she added as she scooped some on to her own plate.

22 Jezebel Reed-Fischer Good. Then maybe we'll get along. 1454 0 5

Katerina Vorontsov

May 13, 2020 3:54 PM

Too confusing, too diluted. by Katerina Vorontsov

Katya was not precisely a smile expert. Indeed, she counted herself something of a smile novice, despite having gotten her hands on every bit of English language propriety literature she possibly could and read all of them (in happier times, Tatya had teased her about how she could make her way as a translator of fussy books about how the Anglosphere lived if she did not marry), including the strange ones that talked a great deal about different types of smile and when they should be used. Reading about smiles and even looking at little diagrams, however, was not enough to gain real expertise, and she often wondered if she was doing it right when she put on her American smiles for her classmates.

Despite all those reservations, however, she couldn't help thinking that Johana Leonie's smile looked a bit...under-enthusiastic, especially for her. Perhaps she was feeling unwell. That would be unfortunate; Katya hoped that getting further into the food would revive her friend a little.

"Oh, yes," she replied to the question about classes. "I have some nervous about the exams, writing much, but I like to learn." That much, she expected, was obvious to anyone who knew her more than in very passing. Less obvious, perhaps, was the reason. She supposed there was some satisfaction in learning for its own sake, some pleasure, but the main thing was always making an impression. She had always, at home, been malen'kaya, the little one, the sweet little one, the good girl. Nobody had ever given her credit for being as clever as Anya or Tatiana, even though she privately thought she was cleverer than either. She simply somehow didn't seem to draw attention to herself the way Tatiana in particular did. She thought it had something to do with being considered both sweet and little....

Well, that was unimportant. "Und du?" she asked. "What plans have you for this year?"

16 Katerina Vorontsov Too confusing, too diluted. 1418 0 5

Evelyn Stones

May 13, 2020 3:56 PM

I think I'm supposed to be an adult at some point. by Evelyn Stones

Evelyn nodded. "Yes," she agreed. "You're in your seventh year now! That's very exciting." She supposed 'congratulations' might have been a bit preemptive, as Tatiana might be really ticked off about this fact, but oh well. Evelyn, for her part, was very much looking forward to being an adult and being away from the constraints of her father's house. If nothing else had come from this summer, a reinstated hatred of the man had.

She smiled a bit at Tatiana's comment about Russian food at home, not sure whether her question hadn't been clear or whether Tatiana hadn't understood it. It was a good answer either way, she figured. "Are the Russian dishes at Sonora good though?" she clarified. "Like do they taste at all like what they do at home?"

It was always a bit funny talking to girls like Tatiana because it was these sorts of people that made Evelyn release beyond all doubt that all her conversations with Ness about sexuality and such really were loaded, little as she might have known at the time. Sure, she liked a boy. But with girls as pretty as Tatiana in the world and people as amazing as Ness in the world, it was almost harder to imagine anybody not being open to dating anyone else. She supposed she might not have thought Heinrich was pretty with so much jewelry, so she wasn't quite free of some of her more gendered ideas about such things, but still. In any case, Tatiana had lovely eyes and when they were all filled up with amusement, Evelyn felt good for taking the conversation somewhere the older girl found funny.

"I've never had much tea," Evelyn admitted, ready for the shock that was undoubtedly coming her way. "I love eggs. And brownies, but that's not a dinner thing usually." She gestured at her plate and the eggs there. "They can be cooked so many different ways and they're almost always delicious. Plus they're in cake and stuff." She grinned.

22 Evelyn Stones I think I'm supposed to be an adult at some point. 1422 0 5

Graham Osbrook

May 13, 2020 4:22 PM

I think I'd like that. by Graham Osbrook

"It is," agreed Graham fervently about the sweet potato casserole. "We have it at Thanksgiving at home, too, but then we have more...most special occasions, I guess," he said, thinking over the major holidays of the year. "And everybody argues about whether it's part of the meal or if it's a dessert, and when you should eat it and everything, and nobody ever agrees, but I don't think they really care that much," he added musingly, thinking over the repetitive arguments. Everyone said the same thing over and over again, word for word almost, at the same points in the meal even. "Everybody agrees it's good stuff, though."

He took a bite, swallowed, and then added, "Kansas City is cool too, though. There's two of them, but they're in different states! Which one are you from? What's it like?" he asked, deciding this was probably a safer topic for discussion than football. She sounded like she was being more sarcastic than devoted, but he knew how people could get about football - his Grandpa Greene would have probably had quite a bit to say about her remark, and why the Saints were better. Even Grandmother had a vague appreciation at this point, and she was a witch. Graham, however, knew relatively little about it other than the existence of a number of teams; he was more enthusiastic about his dad's favorite Quidditch team. Texas had one of the United States' relatively few international-grade teams, and Dad kept swearing that he would get them tickets to any World Cup which had an American team playing and a Texan on that team. They did travel to see games sometimes, once even the U.S. vs. Canada, but since it was virtually impossible that a World Cup would ever happen in the United States, going to the World Cup would involve major travel, an exciting prospect. He was curious about the world outside of Texas and Louisiana - and now this isolated corner of Arizona - and would welcome an opportunity to see it.

16 Graham Osbrook I think I'd like that. 1498 0 5

Tatiana Vorontsova

May 13, 2020 5:50 PM

Honestly, it's overrated as a pastime. by Tatiana Vorontsova

Tatiana nodded when her educational status was brought up. "Yes," she said, unsure why they were here now when they had been talking about words, but willing to go along with it. "I have seventen years," she added, since her birthday had been in July. As soon as she had said that, she remembered the English word for the concept - seventeen - but she did not correct herself. It sounded enough like the literal translation from Russian she had made that Evelyn would probably just assume that it was Tatiana's accent distorting the right word a little. "So, all six years here, now year seven. And you have four years, now year five."

She listened closely as Evelyn clarified her question about Russian food, feeling silly - it really was sort of obvious that most people would like the food of their own cultures, wasn't it? Why would someone ask her if she liked Russian food in general? Perhaps they could reasonably ask if she liked American food better, but if she had not had some appreciation for Russian food, she would have never lived long enough to attend Sonora.

"It is not bad," she said. "It is nice, when we have some here. They follow the book good. The paskha last year, it was good! But American elf still does not make the best kulich," she added sadly, reflecting on the attempt from last year, when she had stayed here for the western Easter break, Pascha having occurred later in the spring this year. She had still eaten it enthusiastically, of course, because she had sensed it had been made more or less specially because she was there, and because so-so kulich was better than none at all, but it had not been quite right, not like the kulich they had at home for Pascha. "One time there was okroshka, was good, and they have...I think you say dumpling? These are not always what I know, but they so-so like."

She looked blank, more than anything, at the idea of not having tea - how did anyone survive without tea? - but was distracted by briefly thinking that Evelyn was talking about cooking brownies into things, using brownie as an ingredient rather than an end goal. The hand gesture drew her attention to eggs on Evelyn's plate, though, and she figured out where her comprehension had gone wrong.

"This is so," she said with a nod when she understood what Evelyn was getting at. "At home we also use much eggs - put things in egg, put egg in things...when it is Maslenitsa, oh! so many eggs, to make blini. When I am small, they take...egg out of...egg-outside, keep the outside in whole, and I put paints on them with my sisters, give to Mama and Papa and other family," she recalled happily, hoping she was more or less comprehensible. "We do this...springtime. Like your Easter. So many eggs for blini and kulich, so we play. Do you do this also?"

16 Tatiana Vorontsova Honestly, it's overrated as a pastime. 1396 0 5

Morgan Garrett

May 13, 2020 6:31 PM

It's okay, I'm not either. by Morgan Garrett

Morgan nodded as Quincy talked about the classes he was looking forward to. "If you mean physical science like...chemistry and physics and stuff, I think that's mostly a combo of Potions and Transfiguration," she said. "Which are pretty much the two hardest classes we take, so that's fun. Still, I guess we have to live up to the brainy House label somehow, right?" she joked, trying not to think about her own potions work. She lacked a flair for Potions, somehow. She suspected it had something to do with how she chopped things. "Plus they all kind of tie together sooner or later, I think," she added vaguely. She could just about see the connections, sometimes, but it was not an automatic thing for her, or something she was sure was always there to be found, even.

She had a mouthful of mashed potato when he asked what she did outside of class, so she held up one finger to let him know she would answer, but that it was going to take her a second or two to do so - the mashed potato was nice and hot, which made trying to swallow too quickly a bad idea, unless she wanted to get burned. Since she did not, she took that moment to get it down, then took a sip of her drink before answering.

"You can do a lot of things!" she said excitedly. "There's the school-wide Quidditch team, if you're in to that, plus there's a couple of clubs - last year the Art Club was a new thing, a lot of people seemed to like it, and there's a school paper. Then there's Dungeons and Dragons - it's a game where some of us get together in the library every couple weeks and pretend that we are adventurers in a pretend world...it's hard to explain. Gary - he's one of our prefects, the seventh year one - he runs it, he could explain it better than I could. I just showed up because it's the closest thing to a theater club we have here, but everyone's super cool, it's a lot of fun," she concluded. "You should drop by sometime. What kind of things do you like doing?" she asked.

16 Morgan Garrett It's okay, I'm not either. 1470 0 5

Grayson Wright

May 13, 2020 6:47 PM

...I am still suspicious. by Grayson Wright

A few pieces of the puzzle were, so to speak, assembled for him as Killian talked about his family structure. Gray reminded himself that it was not nice to regard people's screwed up life stories as narratives, even if he did so in the context of appreciating the way those people were constructing said narratives he was not supposed to regard as narratives.

"I have plenty of aunts and uncles, but not as many cousins as you'd expect," he volunteered. Then, to atone for the sin of regarding Killian's family life briefly as a narrative, he added, "that's all on my father's side of the family. I could have anything on my mother's - she's a Squib, you see. Her parents apparently threw her out of the house with a fistful of galleons and a 'good luck' the day she turned seventeen. That's literally everything I know about them."

That was one of those things he understood - of course it would be horribly painful, and his mother would not like to think about it, much less talk about it - but still slightly regretted it. There had to be stories there, ones that, written just so, could actually do things - stories that could move people, rather than just entertaining them. Nevertheless, he had long since resolved never to ask her about it. There was such a thing as ignoring the greater good for the sake of the individual, after all, particularly when the greater good was purely a possibility and not a certainty. One did not just hurt one's mother on a maybe.

"Families, huh? Can't live with 'em, can't curse 'em."

16 Grayson Wright ...I am still suspicious. 113 0 5

Nathaniel Mordue

May 13, 2020 7:07 PM

Get ready for the future. by Nathaniel Mordue

The conversation with Alexander in the common room had gotten him slightly off-schedule, but Nathaniel had still managed to slip out to the owlery, tie his letter to his mother onto the leg of a school barn owl, and get back inside unobserved, which meant the year was, on the whole, off to a good start. Tomorrow could be a different matter entirely, depending on when he had a chance for a word with Evelyn Stones and how she reacted to the contents of that word, but for tonight, he had accomplished all his goals.

His heart had still been hammering with anxiety when he had left the owlery, and had kept that up for several twists and turns through the Gardens back to the school, but by the time he stepped into the Cascade Hall, he felt reasonably calm again. He looked for his cousin and brother at the Crotalus table, giving them both a smile once he spotted them, and then went to a place not far from the head of the Teppenpaw table, as seemed only proper for a sixth year prefect.

In all likelihood, he thought as the first years went through the Sorting, he was going to end up having to shoulder more than his share of the responsibilities normally spread across three prefects this year. It seemed very unlikely that Dorian was going to be able to, well, function very effectively, not after last year. Nathaniel couldn't imagine a single guy in Teppenpaw willingly turning to Dorian for advice after that display at the Ball, and Merlin only knew what Tatiana would do to her ex, now that she wasn't confined in a ballgown in the middle of public...Of course, there would still be the fifth year prefect, but that could well be Lyssa Fitzgerald, in which case Teppenpaw was sure to slip into chaos in a distressingly short period of time. He held his breath when it was time for the prefects to be named, then exhaled in relief, clapping, when Katerina Vorontsov was chosen. Katerina, at least, was someone a reasonable fellow could work with, and who had never to his knowledge indicated any perverse inclinations in public, unlike her roommate and the new Head Boy.

Who, he wondered, would be the next Head Boy? His eyes roamed the other tables he could see from where he was sitting, evaluating his year group. As bizarre as it seemed, given his nervous condition and all the inconvenience it had caused and was (considering his sessions with Dr. Greene) causing the school, he thought he might actually have a chance of getting on the ballot. Winning was an entirely different matter, one depending on a fickle electorate which operated in mysterious ways, but the selection of the candidates was a matter for the staff, who had reasons to dislike him. However, Head Boy was usually easier to get than Head Girl simply because of numbers, so maybe....

He thought about it as the headmaster began making remarks about the fair, letting Brockert's voice slip in one ear and out the other. Did he want to be Head Boy? Could he actually think about taking on another burden without flinching? He wasn't sure. Nor was he sure that - be it by his own will or not - if he was elected, if he would be able to do the job without giving in to Dr. Greene's proposed medications. It was early now, too early to think too much about it, but he couldn't quite help it, not when the subject had just come to mind like that, and the alternative, for the moment, was listening to an adult talk at them all.

Putting the matter aside became easier when the food arrived. His appetite was still...inconsistent, given to periods of non-existence or diminished operation, but tonight, it seemed, it was behaving normally: at the sight of food, he realized very suddenly that he was very hungry, and he dug in, scooping portions of a variety of different foods onto his plate until he and another student both reached for the same serving tongs at the same time. Ever the gentleman, he withdrew at once, though it pained him to do so, figuring he could save that dish for his second helpings.

16 Nathaniel Mordue Get ready for the future. 1412 0 5

Killian Row

May 14, 2020 12:21 AM

0:D by Killian Row

Killian's eyes widened with the appropriate level of shock, and he muttered a low "geez" as Gray explained his major's experience as a Squib. Killian really really hated people like Gray's grandparents and he sort of wanted to hex them all so their socks would always be wet forever and they would be miserable. He wanted to do more than that, but he had long since learned that violent thoughts only led to violent words and violent actions, so he tried to avoid those ones.

"But you can curse at them," he pointed out, tapping the side of his nose before continuing a bit more seriously (but not that much more seriously because yeeesh was this turning out to be a heck of a start to a new school year). "Seems your mom did a good job with you. How'd you get into teaching Charms?" He remembered his conversation with Gray and Marsh at the Ball and the revelation that Gray was a writer and radio show personality, but somehow Charms professor made more sense of the man who sat beside him. Which, since that was apparently a later choice, meant it made the least sense. Because people were upside down and everything else was sideways and Killian really liked picking that all apart.

22 Killian Row 0:D 1450 0 5

Ness McLeod

May 14, 2020 6:46 AM

Apparently, only 4 by Ness McLeod

Gary got really serious very suddenly. Ness couldn’t blame him. That seemed a pretty smart reaction to getting ~~cried~~ glared at. His first words did little to alleviate what Ness was feeling. He was clearly in challenge mode, which was normally fun, but his first move was ’Why not? As in why not Morgan.

“That was different,” Ness countered, when he pointed out he had been younger than his players. “You knew what you were doing, and you were the only one who did. It made sense for them to listen to you.”

He was pushing the point now that anyone could have a chance if they wanted it. Ness wasn’t sure whether that meant to be fair to be Morgan - to be open minded and assume that anyone was capable, even someone in pearl strands - or whether Gary meant Ness could try it. He seemed to be talking in far more open terms now. And Ness would undeniably take a stab at it, not least to prove him wrong for choosing someone else in the first place, but there was still a part of that that wasn’t enough… Anyone could have a chance if they wanted it. But Ness wanted Gary to want it. And he didn’t. He wanted Morgan.

“We’ll see,” Ness shrugged, staring back just as firmly in a way that suggested the option of Gary or Morgan being served up on waffles for Ness to eat for breakfast was an exemption to vegetarianism that the fifth year was entirely willing to make.

Then they were back to Jasmine. And Gary had, apparently, got over whatever befuddlment jinx his hormones had been placing on his brain enough to realise that they were the worst match in the history of the world. And, with stellar use of the famed Aladren logic, was finally concluding that dating someone he had an iota of things in common with might be a good move.

Well. He hadn’t exactly said that. He hadn’t said ‘dating someone.’ He had said ‘girl’ and ‘girlfriend’ and then ‘girl’ a few more times for really good measure. There had been a whole explicit tangent on engagement, marriage and procreation too, just in case Ness had missed the screaming heteronormativity of his romantic inclinations.

He sharply underlined the point with listing the girls he knew. It was a short list. It was Morgan and Evelyn. Just the two of them. No one else.

And wasn’t that… kind of what Ness had always wanted? Ness didn’t want to be seen as a girl. You couldn’t have your non-binary cake and eat it. Or, if it wasn’t a binary, could you? Or was that more Shreodinger?

And also, none of that was the point. The point was that five minutes ago that would have been a fun debate to have with Gary, and now he had turned into someone who just said hurtful thing after hurtful thing.

He had made a point about being careful with Ness’ pronouns ever since the funhouse mirror experiment. To the point that it was almost sweet. Sometimes, you could see the cogs turning, or watch as a sentence veered off into a slightly awkward rehash. Ness had found it fun, and thought that it meant Gary cared. And maybe he did… He cared about respecting Ness’ pronouns. Apparently, there was a difference between that and respecting Ness as a person. As recognising that Ness’ identity was in any way something that could register with him.

And maybe Ness didn’t want to be Gary’s stupid housewife. Or any of the rest of that. Ness wanted someone to take to Pride. An ounce of logic might have said that, in the face of those revelations, Ness and Gary would work out about as well as him and Jasmine. And even though this was the Aladren table, ounces of logic were in short supply because it still really hurt that someone you’d always looked up to and liked wasn’t going to turn out to be all of the things you’d wanted them to be.

And had just called you undateable, and unfit to be their nerd successor.

Ness bit back the comment that maybe anyone intelligent enough for the middle two didn’t want to be referred to like a ring stand and a baby machine. And the comment that maybe Kir had got the only one. And the comment that Gary was stupid and boring and didn’t understand anything about anything. Not because they were too mean but because if Ness said more than two words, there was no way a wave of tears wasn’t coming with them.

“Don’t know,” Ness shrugged defensively.

13 Ness McLeod Apparently, only 4 1419 0 5

Josephine Clyde

May 14, 2020 9:15 AM

Magic? Yes. Headaches? Go away. by Josephine Clyde

A new term had begun Josie brimmed with excitement as she entered the now familiar Cascade Hall. To think that a year ago she’d stood where the little group of first years was huddled and had had the same nervous thoughts! She eyed their blank badges from her seat at the Aladren table and wondered how many of them would join the wonderful blue house. She’d let go some of her prejudice against Pecari and had Theo to thank for it, but he was clearly a special circumstance and she wasn’t really feeling generous enough to make any more exceptions.

Josie wiggled her fingers at Mara and Morgan, but saw that they were both engaged in conversations and left it at that. She could always bother them later at the dorms. Catching up earlier had been nice; she hadn’t realized how much she missed them, or how much she missed torturing them with her evil stories. Summer at home had been as awkward as before and strangely enough the only person who had treated her normally was Minnie. Her father was as weird as always and there was nothing to be said about the boys. Though, Daniel was graduating from high school this year, so maybe this time next year she’d only have to deal with Samuel. Summer had been filled with exploring some nearby hiking trails with Minnie and reading. There was a literal wealth of evil stories that she’d saved up for them, so long as another ‘headache episode’ didn’t flare up again.

They’d only happened a few times last year, but over the summer it felt like every week she’d had to deal with a splitting headache. Minnie gave her potions that would help a little bit, but they would always come back. Samuel had even asked her once if she was feeling okay after a particularly bad one. If it made her step-brothers feel concerned then she knew it was bad, but now that she was back at Sonora she felt lightyears better. Maybe they were magical growing pains? She wanted to ask her father about it, but he’d continued being stubbornly awkward with her. Ugh. Another headache had begun swimming around in her brain.

Distraction. She needed a distraction right now. Josie filled her plate with food, but found that it didn’t help with the baby headache too much. Maybe she was too alone with her thoughts. Talking might help, but since Mara and Morgan were off making new friends of their own she figured it was her turn to do the same.

“Hi,” Josie turned to whoever sat next to her, “I’m Josie, did you do anything fun before you came to school?”

44 Josephine Clyde Magic? Yes. Headaches? Go away. 1477 Josephine Clyde 0 5

Grayson Wright

May 14, 2020 12:40 PM

Your use of cipher is not decreasing my suspicions. by Grayson Wright

"Quite," said Gray at the response to his mother's early life. "Though she always says it could have, you know, could have been worse - they did look after her till she was old enough to look after herself."

It was a distinctly pessimistic view, and when Gray had been younger, he had wondered why she was like that. Now, well, he still didn't exactly agree with her thoughts on the sorts of people who tried to advocate for better legal standings and such for Squibs (she thought it was foolishness which would drive even more wizards to simply drown any Squib children they might have which somehow survived whatever attempts their families made to force magic out of them, as treating said children the way her parents had could result in being publicly embarrassed if said children made a public fuss and refused to change their names), but he could see where she had come by them. Nasty business, people could be.

He was confused by how his mother led to his job choices, but rolled along with it. "I had to get credentials in something, and I picked Charms after I left here...more or less just because it wasn't Transfiguration," he said with an apologetic half-shrug. "My closest cousin works in experimental Transfiguration, so I knew...I'd have survived advanced coursework there or in potions, but it would have been difficult, so I, uh, gambled, kind of, that charms wouldn't be as bad. I wasn't too worried about it after the first two years anyway, because I'd started getting paid sometimes for, er, the other thing, what I used to do - really just finished the program to please my mother. She'd have been a Crotalus, if she could have come to school, always wanted to be prepared. Which was smart," he admitted. "As eventually, I got on the wrong side of office politics, contracts didn't get renewed, and now - here I am," he concluded. "What's your story?" he asked in return.

16 Grayson Wright Your use of cipher is not decreasing my suspicions. 113 0 5

Leonor De Matteo

May 14, 2020 4:48 PM

Like the old ways? Hard pass. by Leonor De Matteo

Leonor nodded, a flat smile on her face when Aelia thanked her. What was she supposed to say? Well, what would Aelia think she was supposed to say? She knew that the proper De Matteo response would be something like my pleasure, I'm happy to help! or something equally trite, and Leonor was having none of that tonight. Except that she was sort of trying to make a connection here, so perhaps she should up her game. Ugh. That aside, Aelia did take fruit, and have several varieties, which was good to know. She might be one to ply with candy and baked goods if she enjoyed the sweets part, or a nice fruit basket if she enjoyed the . . . fruit part?

"I am beginning my second year," Leonor replied, taking a delicate bite of squid. She was pretty sure something like disgust had registered in her new friend's eyes and she didn't want to make her sick. Probably. But seriously, what was with this girl and her weird questions? Perhaps she wasn't really asking, but seeking confirmation? That made much more sense. She had a feeling, she wanted to have a different feeling, so she asked the questions she thought would get the answers she was looking for, with the hope that those answers would change her feeling. It was a good strategy to bear in mind, as it revealed a lot more vulnerability than Leonor thought she'd ever prefer to reveal of herself. "It is nice," she agreed.

Hearing herself say it out loud made her think of all the reasons it was true, and she actually managed to smile. "The Gardens are quite extensive, so it's a good place to go when you need some air or space, or just need to run." Physical activity was as much an activity for upper class as lower class where Leonor was from, and she didn't question whether or not another society figure might think so. "And classes are generally interesting and even exciting on a good day." This was less true, although if she compared it to her reading for her estate, Sonora classes were an absolute thrill. Plus sometimes they really did do some exciting stuff.

She turned to look around the room, craning her neck to spot her brother, however little she actually did want to see him. Nodding towards him to point him out without actually pointing, Leonor looked back at Aelia. "We've both got older brothers in Crotalus," she said. "Julius is a year older than Felipe. Which means we don't have to have classes with them for another year." She really did grin then. "So in that case, yes, classes are pretty nice."

22 Leonor De Matteo Like the old ways? Hard pass. 1471 0 5

Killian Row

May 14, 2020 5:18 PM

I'm completely innocent! by Killian Row

Killian rather enjoyed finding the threads that ran consistently through people's lives. So far, much as Gray seemed to think otherwise, family was a big one for him. Killian had suspected that perhaps his mother's lack of magic had encouraged him to study it more or to prove himself, but it was a bit funny that the son of a squib had become a professor of Charms to avoid the Transfiguration studies his cousin had been doing and then only completed it to please his mom after all. Family, it seemed, was a shaping factor as much for its encouragement as discouragement. Killian understood how that went.

He chuckled at the idea of sorting folks who hadn't come to Sonora, as that's precisely what he'd been thinking about as well. "I don't think my mother would have been in Crotalus," he said, thinking of the way she was basically never prepared for anything but loved to take care of others. Of course, it was exactly that tendency which had made everything that Lorcan had done with his life such a fiasco for the family. Perhaps family wasn't a shaping factor only in Gray's life.

"I sort of got into this by accident," he admitted, not exactly sure what else it would be to become a half-qualified magic academy staff member. He certainly didn't have the credentials of his faculty colleagues. "I was sort of interested in a little bit of everything in school, but nothing enough to really pursuit it except Muggle Studies. I spent some time abroad in Muggle cities but obviously couldn't stay there forever." He thought about explaining a bit about his brother, but since he'd established that Bonny was his niece and that he only had one sibling, that seemed like it wasn't exactly his story to tell, even if Gray wouldn't be one to misuse that knowledge. "I knew some close friends and family members who were not on the straight and narrow, shall we say, and I got mixed up in trying to help them all through it. Thought that maybe that would have been easier if someone had been there to do it a bit sooner on, so I ended up doing exactly that. Or almost exactly."

Gray was easy to talk to, which was nice because there weren't that many people who were easy to talk to. That wasn't to say Killian didn't have an easy time talking, because he nearly always did, but he that wasn't to say that he always managed to talk to someone effectively. Sometimes, he felt sure he was talking at people. Other times, he thought that maybe he was talking into people, which was a bit frightening. It was a bit like he was pouring punch for folks, which wasn't particularly hard to do, except only some of them had empty cups. The others had full cups, or just a straw, or just wanted him to pour it directly into their mouths. Blech. Turned out to be a rather nasty comparison. In any case, folks like Gray and Marsh were a bit more like they had empty cups and a punch bowl of their own, happy to share with Killian and happy to take what he had to offer. Which was punch. But only metaphorically. Because usually it was bread. Or just rugged good looks, but he suspected that was less effective in this case. Shame really.

Anyway.

"I'm glad we made it here at the same time," Killian said with a smile.

22 Killian Row I'm completely innocent! 1450 Killian Row 0 5

Philippe Delachene

May 14, 2020 5:39 PM

I'm planning to eat first. Well, maybe talk. Definitely talk. But eat, too. by Philippe Delachene

"Val," he repeated, grinning at her. "Nice to meet you, Val." He did not reciprocate with a shorter form of his name because he didn't use one. Everyone had always just called him Philippe, even if pronunciation varied from person to person.

He nodded in complete agreement to her enthusiasm about everything so far. He'd spent a lot of time imagining what Sonora would be like in the years since Anya left him alone at the ranch. This was basically surpassing all of that. He nodded again in confirmation when Val asked about his sisters, filing away the information that she'd had parents attending Sonora too. He was going to have to find Mom's old yearbooks and see if he could find anything of these other parents in there, that could be funny. He'd have to collect names at some point. So far he only knew them as "Wally's Mom", "Wally's Dad", "Val's Mom", and "Val's Dad" and he didn't think that was what they went by when they were students.

"Yeah, I have two sisters. Jasmine's in seventh year," he pointed her out at the Crotalus table. "The one in pink next to the new Head Girl." Then he turned around and sought his other sister at Pecari's table. She was smaller and harder to spot, particularly because she wasn't sitting on anything weirder than a chair, but luckily she was surrounded by even smaller people and wasn't totally obscured. He pointed over at her. "And that one over there, who already took off her school robe, is Anya, she's in third year."

He chuckled as she pulled back and apologized for asking the same kinds of questions he'd been asking his sisters for ages. "No, it's fine. I'm super excited, too. I've been waiting for Sonora for ages."

He then attempted to answer as many of her questions as he could. "I did my best to milk as much information out of my sisters as I could, but I'm pretty sure they haven't stored all of the relevant information in their brains. Jasmine had a lot to say about how people dressed, and the social scene, and that Professor Marsh knows what he's talking about in Care of Magical Creatures 'even if he is a bit scruffy'." He frowned up at the staff table but didn't see anyone with a long beard so he didn't know who to point out. "Anya told me a lot about the MARS rooms and the Gardens and the first years - now second years - that we'll be sharing Beginner classes with, but not a lot about the classes themselves. Neither of them have ever earned a whole O in a class yet so they might not be the best judges for academics anyway." Anya could get Os but she was too inconsistent to pull that for her average. Jasmine . . . probably got an O on any COMC unit that was vaguely equine, but the ugly uncuddly creatures dropped her average down to an E. Everything else she got solid As in. In the wizarding sense. Not the muggle sense.

"Professor Xavier," he snickered slightly at the name, "for Herbology, is our Head of Teppenpaw, so he is by definition nice. Anya says Professor Carter-Xavier is cool, and if Professor Xavier married her, she must be all right. She's the Head of Pecari, but I don't think she has her own class?" Anya had not been super clear on that. "Jasmine said Professor Skies - Crotalus' Head and Professor of Transfiguration - is a bit stern and strict but not mean. Professor Wright - who we met at Orientation - is the Charms professor, and seemed pretty nice, too. Jasmine says he talks a lot, though." Philippe had noticed that, but attributed it to the large amount of information he was trying to impart to people who might not have big sisters. "I . . . don't remember - oh! The Professors Brooding-Hawthorne teach Potions and DADA. The DADA one is reportedly kind of strict, too, but Anya says the Potions one is really nice."

"I think I want to see the MARS rooms the most. Both Jasmine and Anya have said some pretty amazing things about those, and I'm not sure how much I should believe them until I see them for myself. What about you? What are you most looking forward to?"

1 Philippe Delachene I'm planning to eat first. Well, maybe talk. Definitely talk. But eat, too. 1489 0 5

Osvaldo Alamilla

May 14, 2020 5:40 PM

There are to many people here. [Professor Xavier] by Osvaldo Alamilla

Success! He had gotten the job, that was good. It had been a last ditch attempt and if it had failed, he doesn't know what he would have done. It doesn't matter because it hadn't come to that. He was now the official groundskeeper for Sonora Academy... how the mighty have fallen. Well, it was at least something he could work with, something that would keep him and Manola and Edu safe for a while anyway. They had all been glad to take up the accommodations on the school grounds, and had just began settling in when he had learned that it was the opening feast for the new term and as an official staff member he was expected to attend. He did not like the idea. He had never enjoyed these sorts of social customs, and he really was not a fan of kids. There were going to be more than a few kids at this feast. He sighed as he check his dress robes in the mirror one last time.

"Get going, you are going to be late!" Manola chided him as she turned him around to face her. She adjusted a few things on his robe and tweaked his hair, like she always did, "This is important for us, behave yourself and make a good first impression."

He brushed her hands away, "Yes, yes. I am going." He moved to the door to get out from under her incessant ministrations and felt a tugging. He looked down and saw Edu, Manola's four year old son holding onto his robe. He gave a rare smile and patted the boy's head. "Be good for your mother and don't wait up for me. It will be late until I return." Edu smiled and let go and Osvaldo whisked himself out the door before the child could change his mind.

He had only gotten a cursory tour since everyone had been getting ready for the return of the students, but it mattered little. The place hadn't really changed in the past thirty odd years, and he had an excellent memory. He strode down the hallways and easily found his way to the illustrious Cascade Hall. Already it was teaming with far more people that he was comfortable with. It was foolish to think that some student might be his undoing, but stranger things had happened.

There was one person Osvaldo was watching for, the current Herbology teacher and as such, groundskeeper until someone arrived to fill in that position. Well, someone had now and he would need to learn as much as possible. The man was named Nathan Xavier, and he had been given an adequate description. As such, the man was soon located, unfortunately Osvaldo wasn't able to do more than get the seat next to the man before the 'festivities' started.

The headmaster began, he was a fine looking gentleman. Osvaldo thought he would definitely need to make a proper acquaintance with the man soon. The small children did their house sorting. Dunking badges now? What had happened to drinking the color changing potion? That sorting potion had been a real work of art, this... this was just a shame. There were some student announcements and something about a charity fair. It made him worry a little what he was going to need to oversee on that front from a groundskeeping perspective. Piles of kids trying to construct ramshackle booths in the middle of some garden somewhere. Lovely. Then there was the song. Osvaldo looked over the lyrics, but did not join in.

Finally the formalities were over and the meal began. The sight and smell of the food was enough to make up for the unpleasantness of the crowded hall. He hadn't seen food like this for ages it seemed. As much as his stomach longed to dive in, he had business to attend to first. He turned to the man he had been seeking and sized him up quickly. Satisfied he extended his hand, "Hello, I am Osvaldo Alamilla, the new groundskeeper. I believe you are Professor Nathan Xavier? I was directed to seek you out in taking over those duties."

2 Osvaldo Alamilla There are to many people here. [Professor Xavier] 1503 0 5

Freddie Zauberhexen

May 14, 2020 6:04 PM

Not Feeling Myself by Freddie Zauberhexen

CW: Internalized homophobia and transphobia

Going back to Sonora was a relief in a lot of ways. Although the fact that Freddie and Hana were in the same House meant there wasn't really that much distance between them, particularly since they'd be in classes together again this year, it was still better than be at home. As far as he could tell, she hadn't said a word of his . . . interests . . . to anyone. Not to Mama and Papa, not to Kai, no one. He was glad for that, but also it made the whole thing a bit worse as it only emphasized the fact that he was doing something "wrong" and "shameful." Also, it meant that no one who might be able to defend him in thinking it was perfectly fine knew either, and only Hana's opinion was heard. Freddie wasn't usually one to be particularly changeable, but he couldn't help wondering if his older sister was right this time. Maybe there was something wrong with him after all. Maybe she was right.

He took a seat far enough away from his sister that he could both give her some space and take some of his own. No one here knew anything untoward and it should have been easy to pretend there was nothing to hide from them. He wasn't actually sure whether he wanted to hide it or not. He noticed his roommate talking to someone, and he clapped excitedly when Dorian won Head Boy. Freddie almost was helpful that Dathan wouldn't mind if Freddie did wear whatever he wanted in the dorm, but then, he didn't like guys that way and supporting one didn't necessarily mean he was okay with the other.

Students were sorted, the headmaster said some stuff, and then they were singing. Freddie was usually excited to sing but couldn't help being quieter today. He didn't want to draw attention to himself and he didn't want to make other people feel small because he was weird. He'd done enough of that already. So he sang quietly and when the food appeared he ate quietly. He might've spent the whole meal in silence if not for the reaction of his prefect when they reached for the same dish.

"Entschuldige," Freddie murmured, withdrawing his hand as well. "Sorry. You can first be eating."

He looked around, hoping to find another dish that looked good. Truth be told, nothing looked good. He took a roll from another platter, and added a few green beans to his plate.

22 Freddie Zauberhexen Not Feeling Myself 1452 0 5

Lyssa Fitzgerald

May 14, 2020 8:13 PM

Complex... that's a good word... many meanings. by Lyssa Fitzgerald

He probably wasn’t wrong. Lyssa was just assuming that everyone would have a booth. But people paying for events made her think about what she could offer or games for people to play and pay for. They hadn’t made much money at the ball with sashes and buttons, but maybe they could make more at something else.

Lyssa snorted at the thought of the headmaster getting pied. He seemed too dignified and disdainful of many of the students to allow that to ever happen, which made the idea even better.

“I’d pay to see him get pied. I’m not sure I’m brave enough to be the one to throw the pie though.”

After the brief look at Ness, Lyssa turned back to Dathan. From what Lyssa could see Ness was not doing well with their conversation with Gary. Ness looked both on the verge of crying and throwing a punch. Gary. He was one of the nice ones. Lyssa for the life of her couldn’t think what Gary could have said to make Ness so… upset. Lyssa wanted to run over and pick up the drinker of entitled chauvinists and end the conversation. Still Lyssa knew if she did that it would simply make a bigger scene, and that was not ideal for anyone.

“Umm ya… no. I don’t know. It just looks like a dear friend is not enjoying the feast. I’ll talk to them once it’s polite to stand up or if punches are thrown,” Lyssa said, trying to put on a playful smile, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. She opened her note book and turned back to Dathan.

“The pay-for-a-pie-to-hit-the-mayor-with game is a good idea for the fair. Got any other ideas for fun games people could use? I may… or may not be manning a booth or three and will milk ya for all the suggestions you got.” This time the mirth in her chuckle did reach her eyes. Behind them though, she was wondering what had happened with Ness and why she, Lyssa, was feeling protective, jealous and worried all at the same time.

41 Lyssa Fitzgerald Complex... that's a good word... many meanings. 1421 0 5

Bonabelle Row

May 14, 2020 8:49 PM

Here we go again. by Bonabelle Row

Bonny was pretty proud of the fact that she'd sort of managed to make a friend during orientation, but that feeling turned to a bit of sadness when she and Val were put in different places. That being said, she couldn't help agreeing that she and Val should be put in different places. Val was exciting and excitable and very social, and Bonny mostly just wanted to read a book. As she took a seat at the Aladren table, she realized that that wasn't entirely possible despite her House placement. This was a very social sort of situation and she was going to have to get through it. Hopefully she'd make another friend, because there was no way she was going to enjoy this whole school business half so much if she had to do it alone. Well, mostly alone. Uncle Killian - who looked pretty proud, and pretty cool - was here, too.

The idea of a charity fair had Bonny's mind racing, as she thought of various institutions that she'd always wanted to be able to support but couldn't, given her circumstances. Although, it did make her worry a bit as to whether parents were expected to come. She loved her father, but she wasn't sure how he was going to do this year and not finding out until he showed up on campus was a bit anxiety-fueling.

So she focused on the task at hand, which was singing a weird song with an easy enough tune for her to pick up. That done, food arrived, and Bonny realized she was famished. She'd been eating some with Val, but now that the exhaustion of all the life changes occurring today was setting in, she thought she could probably eat a gryphon.

Mac 'n' cheese was nearest and looked delicious, so she went there first. The sauce was properly creamy, not just like the noodles and cheese she was used to. That was good too, but it was not the same. She took that and a dinner sausage, feeling a bit more at home with familiar food, and tucked in. After a bite or two, she decided to reevaluate her strategy to making friends. While shoveling sustenance into her face was a good approach to happiness-making, it would be less successful for friendship-making. So she looked up at the student across from her and smiled a bit, glad the student looked friendly.

"Hi," she smiled softly, generally comfortable with jumping in and initiating these things once she'd decided that was the best course of action. "I'm Bonny."

22 Bonabelle Row Here we go again. 1488 0 5

Ellie Alperton

May 14, 2020 9:50 PM

Round and round by Ellie Alperton

The conversation with Mr. Row had helped a lot. It hadn’t exactly fixed that Seth was non-magical, non-officially-dyslexic-but-totally-was and non-speaking-to-her-right-now. All of those were still very big problems which very much sucked, and two out of three of which might not ever be really fixable and… And as Ellie took a seat in the Cascade Hall, and watched the new first years, none of whom were Seth, come trickling in, she felt her eyes sting again and questioned what reason she really did have to feel better about any of it.

But talking it out had made her feel better really. On the plus side, she was now maybe… eighty percent sure she wasn’t getting expelled or in trouble? That part had definitely been good. And it was helpful to talk about your feelings and be comforted, and let a little bit of it out, even if none of the root causes could be vanished straight away.

After the first years were sorted, there was something to distract Ellie for a moment. She crossed her fingers under the table and… no! Was this just the year that nothing could go right?! Could a year be literally cursed? She shot a look of despair towards the Crotalus table, but Jasmine was smiling and clapping, and all their campaign rules about Peyton being her best friend and a good clean campaign and being happy whoever got it came back, and Ellie dutifully (though sadly) applauded. On a personal level, it was nice to see Dorian and Ness get their badges. But it would have been better if Jasmine had been up there too.

Ellie sort of mumbled along sadly with the school song because being given a chance to bloom out in the desert was obviously a sore spot right now. Then the feast appeared. Ellie felt sort of gross, and not really hungry, but in that way where she could tell that food would probably make it better rather than worse. She was all kinds of tired and sad, and that made her not really want to eat, but underfuelling her body was not going to help with the first of those problems. There was also the possibility that eating could even help with the second one too. Were there any feelings that could not be drowned out by cheese?

She was about to reach for the solid comfort food in front of her when someone else got there first. It was a first year. Ellie swallowed hard. She did not hate this girl for not being Seth. That would have been taking it way too far. But being the chirpy kind of welcoming person that looked after first years though might have been something that was solidly on her pass list for the evening, had it not been for one thing; someone else had taken care of her that day. It had felt nice. And it seemed only fair for her to pay that forward. Or, as it might have been without her even realising it, pay it back.

Also, the first year then said ‘hi’ to her which meant she was pretty stuck with that plan either way. But it was what she would have chosen.

“Hi,” she did her best to smile, scooping some mac n cheese herself, and sprinkling it with ham pieces, “I’m Ellie,” she replied. ‘Bonny’ was a pretty name. Literally. Ellie wondered if it was a hard thing to live up to, although Bonny didn’t seem like she was having any difficulty in that area. She sometimes wished she’d named herself something a little more creative, although equally she liked that her name didn’t stand out as comment worthy - as ‘wow, how did you end up with a name like that?’ worthy. None of those were things she felt particularly inclined to share out loud on first meeting though. However, she did note that dropping what she had named herself into conversation was a good way to open that door, if she wanted to. It wasn’t like that was an experience most people had… “I like your bow,” she smiled, “Did you guess you’d be an Aladren?”

13 Ellie Alperton Round and round 1456 0 5

Bonabelle Row

May 14, 2020 10:06 PM

Where she stops, nobody knows. by Bonabelle Row

Anyone who was also going for mac 'n' cheese first was someone at least worth giving a chance to, and this girl seemed particularly nice. She looked more than a bit exhausted and maybe sad, but that was none of Bonny's business. Ellie, she thought, was a lovely name. 'Bonny' was round and big, like swallowing a melon and saying a name at the same time. 'Ellie' was like saying the start of something that could go anywhere else. That was nice to think about. Bonny had often wondered at the impression of various names, since she had occasionally come to the need for forgery and if she was going to make something up, she wanted it to be believable.

"It's good to meet you," Bonny replied to the girl's introduction before taking another bite of food. Everything was really really delicious, and her stomach felt warm and happy to be getting all filled up. She shook her head when asked about getting into Aladren, though. "I didn't expect to be going to Sonora," she admitted. "I was down for Hogwarts" - where she would have made a great Ravenclaw in her opinion - "and didn't know what to expect here." She had, of course, done everything she could to learn about the school before attending, but she'd also been busy with other things. Besides, getting to know Uncle Killian was more important than getting to know about the school, as their relationship would impact her experience here more positively than simply knowing about the Houses and such would have. "But I think it makes sense," she added with a soft smile.

"What year are you in?" Bonny asked. "Did you expect to be here when you were sorted?"

22 Bonabelle Row Where she stops, nobody knows. 1488 0 5

Ellie Alperton

May 14, 2020 11:03 PM

Uh. Aladren. You've stopped in Aladren. by Ellie Alperton

Ellie had read about Hogwarts. It had come up in the history of Sonora. The school founders had gone there, she thought. It was lucky that she had this context, as she still thought it sounded more like a disease than a school. Though she supposed without having read about it, the context of Bonny’s remarks and her accent would have been enough clues. She hoped so anyway. Ellie was an Aladren, after all.

She was curious about why the sudden change of plans. She considered whether or not it was polite to ask. Bonny didn’t seem super upset, though perhaps she was just keeping it inside cos of being in public. But then she probably wouldn’t have brought it up. And she should be friendly. Ellie found herself glancing at the staff table as she thought that, and noticed with a twist of her stomach something that rather distracted her from that question - namely that Mr. Row was talking to Professor Wright. And was it her imagination or had he just glanced over here? More or less right at her?? Oh yikes. Were they talking about her?? She knew Professor Wright had to know at some point, but it was still a super awful feeling to think about them casually discussing her failures over their dinner.

She turned her attention back to Bonny - it had only been the briefest flicker that her eyes had gone to the staff table for, and apart from fumbling her fork slightly, it had probably not been the most noticeable moment - as the other girl asked some questions.

“I’m a third year,” she declared. It sounded bigger than she felt, especially after how far out of her depth she’d been this summer. “And… probably?” she stated regarding Aladren, “I… I didn’t grow up knowing about magic,” she stated cautiously, making sure there was no overt reaction to that fact, “But then I read everything I could about the school when I found out. So, I guess from that, I expected Aladren, and based on that kind of behaviour it’s not totally unexpected that it got me. “Do you have any questions about the school?” she asked.

13 Ellie Alperton Uh. Aladren. You've stopped in Aladren. 1456 0 5

Bonabelle Row

May 14, 2020 11:18 PM

Oooooh.... hence the blue? by Bonabelle Row

Third year! Bonny had known the girl was older than she was but she hadn't expected to find someone who was in intermediate classes right off the bat. This was exceptionally fortuitous, and made even more so by the fact that Ellie was sincerely very nice, despite whatever was making her seem so sad. She was surprised to hear that Ellie hadn't grown up knowing about magic, but more because she couldn't wrap her head around it than because there was anything wrong with it. She'd met Muggles before, but not many. A number of questions came to mind, like about the numbers that she sometimes saw on the bottom of bills her dad got in the mail. They weren't addresses but her dad had said they were used to get in touch with people who didn't use owl post. She couldn't imagine how that worked with just a bunch of numbers, let alone why they would need to know those. Some companies, it seemed, wanted to make sure that any adult member of the house could pay the bill, by whatever means they used. It had almost made Bonny laugh since she was the one who would be paying this bill, albeit with her father's money.

"That makes sense," Bonny smiled. It was nice to be around other people who were prone to looking to books for their answers to life's questions. "I can't imagine trying to adjust to all of this without any knowledge of it beforehand. I'm not sure how I'll adjust in a new country, let alone a new world." Ellie, it seemed, was amazing and strong and that was so cool! Bonny was the strong one in her own life, and it was nice to know she wasn't going to have to be the only strong one here. And now there was even an opportunity to ask questions! "I don't think so," she said hesitantly. "I spent most of the summer with my grandparents and Uncle Killian-- Mr. Row," she added for clarification, pointing to her uncle at the staff table. He was talking to the professor that had done their orientation, so that was kind of cool. She thought that Val would probably have liked to know that. "And he answered a lot of the questions I had about it then. He didn't tell me about any of the people though," she assured Ellie, realizing that it could sound like she'd gotten the low-down on her new classmates. "He keeps all his work stuff very private. But he told me a little about the prairie elves and some of the classes and things."

22 Bonabelle Row Oooooh.... hence the blue? 1488 0 5

Felipe De Matteo

May 15, 2020 12:09 AM

This is the best year of my life so far! by Felipe De Matteo

Felipe had been completely over the moon for several weeks now and he couldn't help grinning most of the time. He'd tried his best to maintain a more professional facade at home, as he wasn't quite sure whether he wanted to tell his parents that he'd found someone who liked him enough to stick around. At some point, sure. But then there would be conversation of courtship (more conversation of courtship), discussion of pregnancy and reputations and closed doors, and Felipe thought that things were just fine the way they were. They knew he'd gone to the Ball with Zara, so at some point in the next few weeks, he would write them a letter and then they'd know he was dating her now too. The timeline could be a little wiggly, particularly now that he and Zara weren't exploring the gardens of Los Jardines de Plata together.

There were only two things that could make him stop smiling for the most part. The first was when he started thinking too much. Zara was incredible and beautiful and kind and they were fourteen. He was amazed that he'd managed to catch her attention at all, but without all the trappings of arranged marriages (an idea he was really starting to come around against), he wasn't sure how well he'd be able to keep her attention. There were so many guys better than him in basically every regard. Sometimes he was just happy to enjoy the time he had while he had it, but sometimes he was just a scared, sad insomniac. The other thing was Leonor.

Upon Felipe's arrival back to Sonora, he'd been eager to see Zara again. They'd kept in touch via letters for the rest of summer after her visit but hadn't actually seen each other - or kissed each other - in what felt like far too long. Also, he'd gotten something for her and wanted to be able to actually give it to her. He did have some concerns that she would think he was trying to buy her affection, but he really truly only wanted to express it and wasn't really sure how to do that otherwise. His father gave his mother gifts, so that seemed like an appropriate way to demonstrate his own feelings, right? In any case, he'd been careful not to get anything extravagant or flashy for her. Leonor, however, had taken it upon herself to make sure he could not give it to her just yet, and so he'd pushed it from his mind.

The way she looked at him since the Ball and then again since Zara's trip made him think she knew things that he wouldn't have preferred she knew, but he wasn't sure how she could. Perhaps at the Ball, because that had been rather public, but at home? The only sign of anything untoward was his and Zara's mutual disappearance, but he'd essentially been told to keep his guest busy and entertained so as not to interrupt Leonor's education or disappoint Zara, and he'd done exactly that.

Upon their joint arrival back to Sonora, Leonor had made a point of lingering where she knew he'd be. He hadn't told her where the Crotalus Common Room was, but between her friendship with Jessica and her relation to himself, it wasn't surprising that she had a general sense. So she'd lingered and waited and then set about keeping him occupied. He couldn't say no, because she was his sister and he was supposed to be a good big brother. Besides, he was determined to be a better human. Zara was consistently a good human, and Felipe was supposed to be. Now that he wasn't doing it just to fill a role, he thought that maybe he'd be a little better at it. He wanted to try at least. Leonor, for better or worse, was asking for attention. Or demanding attention, maybe. So he'd paid her attention right up until they were meant to take their seats in Cascade Hall.

He'd craned his neck a bit, taking advantage of his additional height gained over the past few months, and done his best to find Zara at the Teppenpaw table, prepared to send her a grin if he could find her. Felipe took a seat near Julius Astley, a boy he didn't know terribly well but knew he was in the year above himself, and was surprised to hear another Astley's name be called and . . . sorted into Pecari. That, he knew, was not a great feeling. He'd been surprised and concerned when Leonor had been sorted there and he wasn't sure whether he was more surprised and concerned that his sister, after the song was done and the feast begun, had taken to chatting with the first year.

Felipe was still feeling mostly perfectly happy, which made the entirety of Julius' dourness seem even more shocking than usual. He knew the older boy wasn't famous for being friendly, but he was no Jeremy Mordue either. Probably. Perhaps this could be a chance for Felipe to be nice to someone? He passed the potatoes with a polite smile and served himself some corn and shrimp.

"Our sisters are getting along," Felipe said, nodding towards the pair at the Pecari table. He really really hoped they were getting along, now that he'd said it. "Is Aelia your youngest sibling?"

22 Felipe De Matteo This is the best year of my life so far! 1434 0 5

Jasper Brockert

May 15, 2020 8:23 AM

Being Sorted by Jasper Brockert

After several years of watching his sisters and two of his cousins go off to school, it was finally Jasper's turn to attend Sonora. Following an orientation, which, with four older sisters, two older cousins and his grandfather being Headmaster, was all old information to him, it was finally time for his Sorting. Jasper had definite ideas about where he did and did not want to go. Mostly, he did not want to be in Aladren, where he would be easily accessable for Topaz to torment, or Pecari, where his Uncle Eustace had been. Unlike his sister, his uncle was not currently here of course but it was possibly that there were a lot of people exactly like him there.

Not that thinking that there would be people like Uncle Eustace in Pecari meant that Jasper thought all Aladrens were like Topaz. Neither Emerald, Grandfather nor Uncle Ben was. If Topaz had been the one who had graduated instead of Emerald, he wouldn't have minded being Sorted into Aladren. Not that he and his eldest sister were especially close, but....she wasn't a psychopath.

Either Teppenpaw or Crotalus would be fine though. Jasper knew that some people characterized Crotali as mean and snobby and that just wasn't fair. Okay, Esme had some definite things she was snotty about, such as fashion and propriety but Allegra and Sapphire were two of the sweetest people he knew. Knowing this, it was probably unfair to paint Pecaris as all being like Uncle Eustace, but Jasper really had nothing else to go by and besides, if any of them were like his uncle then he didn't want to be around them any more than he wanted to be around Topaz. He was capable of standing up for himself but he didn't want to have to.

Finally, after what felt like quite a while, it was his turn to dip his badge. Jasper smiled as it turned yellow. Teppenpaw! Oh good. Tepps were generally nice people and he was glad that he was considered nice above anything else. Plus, Ruby was there too.

He sat down at the Teppenpaw table. Once all the first years were Sorted, Grandfather called names for Head Student and prefect. Jasper winced. Allegra had gotten it and Topaz hadn't. The new Teppenpaw wasn't sure whether to be happy for his cousin or fear for her safety. Topaz with power might have been a bad thing, but the Aladren was very much a sore loser, and her not getting it was bound to be worse. Just look at the Challenges, Ruby hadn't even won but she'd beaten Topaz and the fifth year responded by tormenting her all summer long.

So, basically, Nessa McLeod-someone whom Jasper figured was the "Snotti-Ness" that his sister referred to-should sleep with one eye open. Which she should have figured out by now anyway.

His attention was then pulled to one of the new Pecaris that was making a huge ruckus in response to the Head Girl, who was not his sister. However, Jasper did not take offense at this, he knew he would be just as happy if Ruby had won, though he might not have displayed his happiness in quite the same way. He was generally more restrained than Shouty appeared to be.

Finally, his grandfather mentioned a charity fair, which was kind of cool. Jasper liked the idea of helping people. Of course, he wasn't sure how much fun it would be for people. Then they sang the school song, and food appeared.

Jasper smiled at the person across from him "Hi. I'm Jasper Brockert of the Western Brockerts." His tone was warm and friendly.

11 Jasper Brockert Being Sorted 1496 0 5

Janis Rosemary Silver

May 15, 2020 2:30 PM

You do paint with your words don't you by Janis Rosemary Silver

Immediately. Or maybe not immediately, but fairly quickly. That’s how soon it took Janis to realize whoever the girl was sitting next to her might be someone she’d have to watch. You run with certain people long enough and you can feel those that you need to pay attention to in your bones. Mama always said it was sixth sense. Janis felt it was more likely to be repetition of experiences. Not that divination was rubbish, just more that it wasn’t that simple. And this girl was one that perked something in the back of Janis’ brain.

She had been fairly quiet and though not rude in her response, she was not forthcoming. Janis could understand that. She even respected it in a way. Still there was something about her that was also hungry. Janis knew that feeling and knew it could be dangerous. One thing Janis could figure though was that she was not wealthy like the older girl sitting down the table bedecked in jewels. She was simply adorn and Janis couldn’t help but wonder if she should be worried by this girl or want to be her friend.

“Good to know,” she said nodding her head. “You've been here long?” Janis asked motioning here head around the hall, “It’s all a bit… over the top for a school no?” She took a piece of bread and started chewing. Janis had lucked into Quincy in the gardens apparently. She hadn’t had to deal with squawky on the other side of the table nor someone like this Miss Mystery. She smiled her best smile as she chewed playing the innocent first year who was simply curious, while trying to figure out what this new girl was about.

41 Janis Rosemary Silver You do paint with your words don't you 1493 0 5

Valentine Duell

May 15, 2020 8:07 PM

That sounds like an excellent plan by Valentine Duell

"It is nice to meet you as well, Philippe", she returned the formality and felt very grown up and proud for doing so properly. She also attempted to reproduce the pronunciation of his name that he had used, although she didn't think she had gotten it quite right. Valentine followed Philippe's finger as he pointed out the two older girls.

The first one was much older, a seventh year. She was very pretty, Jasmine was a pretty name as well. The younger of the two sisters looked like she was in the middle of some sort of minor ruckus. She wasn't quite sure if she could think of a properly polite observation to make on Anya so she decided to just smile and nod as he pointed them out. Would she interact with them much? Probably not as she understood it, they were all in different class levels and different houses. Philippe was in the same situation, "How much of them do you think you'll see now that you're at school here with them? The classes are split by beginners, intermediates and advanced levels, right? You are all in different houses as well."

Valentine did her best to follow Philippe's talking while trying to figure out which of the might go with which names. They all looked nice enough sitting at the staff table chatting. She nodded in agreement as he got around to Professor Wright, "Yes, he seemed nice at orientation." If his sisters weren't that interested in academics, their thoughts on the teachers of those academics might be negatively influenced, so it was best to keep an open mind.

"Ooo... yes, the MARS rooms! Mama and Papa talked about them. They sounded fantastic as well." She did not have to consider the answer to his question very long. "Just being around people my age! The classes and learning and magic is wonderful, but I get to spend time with you and Bonny and..." she waved a hand indicating the student body at large. "At home there was nobody. Well, it was Mama and Papa and their friends and their friend's kids... but they were all much older or much younger than me." She grinned straight at Philippe, "Here I've got you!"

2 Valentine Duell That sounds like an excellent plan 1490 0 5

Mab

May 15, 2020 8:40 PM

No. I don't paint. by Mab

Janis seemed . . . weirdly normal. This was not a bad thing. Alexander had struck her the same way and she had more or less literally adopted him. She relaxed marginally, as much as she ever did. The one thing Janis did do that did not make a lot of sense, though, was that when she asked another question, it was not a follow-up to her original one, which had been much to vague to expand upon.

She just accepted that there were many things she needed to know. But how long Mab had been here was not one of them. It was, however, what she asked about.

"I am a second year," she answered, not seeing any reason to hide this information since it would become readily apparent in Beginner classes tomorrow. For that matter, so would her name, but she remained reluctant to share that. Names had power and sharing your Name gave others some of that power. She hadn't seen any instances of it here, yet, but some fey were known to be able to control a person if they knew their True Name.

"We will have classes together this year," she added, though that was basic information Janis should already have. It also wasn't one of the many things she needed to know.

She collected some food onto her plate - choosing only dishes that she recognized because she knew the kinds of things some fey folk ingested now and she wanted nothing to do with either pumpkins or spleens - and recognized that conversational etiquette suggested she should probably ask a question in return, particularly since she was Not Answering one of Janis'. Mab no longer felt qualified to judge what was over the top now, and what wasn't.

"Are you," she began, then paused just a moment, to make sure she had the terminology they used in the Fey Lands correct. People didn't call folks like Mab 'changelings' here. That would probably be like admitting culpability. "Muggleborn?" she finished. Then, so the girl didn't feel offended, because this was apparently something some people did find offending, Mab added, "You seem . . . sane." If she glanced briefly at Theo and Anya after making this statement, that was just a subtle warning about one of the many things Janis needed to know.

Which, upon second consideration, was probably not the most diplomatic thing to say when trying not to be offensive, but this was why she was not in Teppenpaw.

1 Mab No. I don't paint. 1473 Mab 0 5

Ellie Alperton

May 15, 2020 9:25 PM

You got it by Ellie Alperton

“You’ll do fine,” Ellie assured her, when Bonny said she wasn’t sure how she’d adapt, “I mean, it might be hard and stuff sometimes, but almost everyone here’s in the same boat one way or another - some people are adapting to magic, and some to new countries. At least you already speak the right language - there’s quite a lot of international students,” she added by way of explanation, “Even everyone who grew up and expected to come here has to adjust to being away from home. So, I guess the staff, and everyone else is quite used to helping with those kinds of feelings,” she smiled sympathetically. “Does it seem very different so far? Do we all sound weird? You sound really classy,” she laughed. “Oh, and you’re not the only…. English(?) person,” she added, her intonation checking she’d got that right. “Professor - the Defence Professor comes from there too,” she added, deciding names would get confusing as there were two Professor Brooding-Hawthornes. “And I think a couple of the older students but I don’t know which ones.”

As it turned out, Bonny possibly didn’t need to know this. Or possibly knew all this already. Because ‘Uncle Killian’ had told her a lot about school. Though not so much about the people. Ellie followed Bonny’s point even though she obviously knew exactly who Mr. Row was and where he was sitting because she’d been watching him anxiously a moment before. Looking over here and- oh. Hmm. Maybe she wasn’t the reason why. It also amused her to think that, if he was looking over now, and had seen Bonny point, he might be having exactly the same worry she’d had a moment before. Except probably not because he was a grown up and probably didn’t let things like that bother him. And except not the same because, whereas she might have been mistaken, he’d be right that they really were talking about him.

“Oh. That’s cool,” she smiled, “Your uncle is super nice,” she added appreciatively, thinking back to their conversation. Their conversation that had included how his brother had been really sick, and maybe still sort of was. And this was Mr. Row's niece. People had more than one brother, of course. And unmarried sisters who still had their family name. And not that there was a polite way to bring that up at the dinner table. But in spite of Mr. Row keeping work stuff private from his family, and Bonny not knowing about the students... Well, it was a logical fallacy to assume that meant the same in reverse. And did Ellie know something about Bonny now?

“So, are you going to have to call him ‘Mr. Row’ when you’re in class?” she asked, trying to find some more normal direction to go from that instead of 'so is your dad sick?'

13 Ellie Alperton You got it 1456 Ellie Alperton 0 5

Bonabelle Row

May 15, 2020 9:52 PM

Let's hope I keep it up! by Bonabelle Row

Bonny wondered if Ellie was intentionally separating her from the international students. She was one as well, although she did speak English, that was true. Perhaps most of the other international students didn't? But if some of the older students were also English, then it wasn't that much of an oddity. That was just fine with Bonny. With her British accent and her dad's Irish one and her uncle's Irish/Scottish mix, and her grandparents having one of each, Bonny had become well-accustomed to the fact that she had an international family, if not always in the "exchange program" sense. She nodded to confirm that English was the right word and glanced up at the staff table as if she might be able to pick out the Defense professor. Uncle Killian had said that there were two married couples on teaching staff and she wasn't sure she could pick those out either, let alone find a professor by their subject.

She smiled, surprised that Ellie knew her uncle well enough to know he was nice. Really, she shouldn't have been. For a moment, she thought about asking why they were acquainted, but she didn't think that Waugh her business. She knew his job description well enough to know he had more individual relationships with students than professors might. Although apparently she didn't know that much about his job description, because she blinked in more sincere surprise when Ellie mentioned class. "Does he teach classes, then?" Bonny asked, glancing back up at her uncle and wondering if he'd not mentioned this for any particular reason. "He said he wasn't a professor." She cocked her head at Ellie, making it a question.

"I'm not actually sure," she laughed. "He said I could call him either one, but I don't know if I want to make it weird for other students, you know? I'd much rather not draw attention to myself. Mr. Row," she said, over-enunciating the words to test them out. "It sounds so odd. I only ever hear people call my dad that."

22 Bonabelle Row Let's hope I keep it up! 1488 Bonabelle Row 0 5

Isabella Harrington

May 16, 2020 5:12 AM

I'm hoping not to be in any sort of jam anytime soon. by Isabella Harrington

Immediately after asking her question, an embarrassed blush coloured her cheeks. It was probably sort of rude to just randomly ask a stranger how their summer went, without any prior introduction. She'd just really wanted somebody to talk to. At home, she mostly talked to her grandmother and her many letters that she'd sent to her cousin had gone unanswered. It was starting to look like that was a bridge that couldn't be mended and Bella was tired of trying. It wasn't her fault that she was magical and he wasn't and that she had to go to a 'special school' (as it had been phrased to him) to further her education. It was frustrating and annoying and also meant that Bella could only enter dance competitions in the solo division as she had no partner, which wasn't nearly as fun.

Anyway, she had thrown herself into the deep end, she might as well learn how to swim in it so she answered the girl's question.

"My summer was good too," she answered, offering a small smile. Despite not knowing the girl, it was a nice feeling to know that the holidays had postively for the both of them (in spite of Alex's stupid behaviour). "I entered and won a few dance competitions," she shared, a proud note evident in her voice. She did hope that it didn't seem like she was bragging. Bella was just proud of herself and that all the hard work she put in to making sure her footwork was perfect and her music timing was spot on amounted to a win.

She was curious by what was on the girl's agenda. It seemed like she was very driven, given that they'd only just arrived and she already had a list of things to see to. Bella didn't ask, though. It felt like it would be rude to pry into a stranger's business. On that note, Bella decided to introduce herself properly. If there was one way to start breaking down the barriers of anonymity, it was to put names to faces, something that Bella probably should've started the conversation with.

"I'm Bella Harrington," she told her, smiling. "It's nice to meet you."

20 Isabella Harrington I'm hoping not to be in any sort of jam anytime soon. 1435 0 5

Julius Astley

May 16, 2020 5:27 AM

That's lucky for you. by Julius Astley

If there was another sore point to press when it came to Julius, it was his siblings and he couldn't help but pull a face when - what was the boy's name again? Felipo? Felipa? Fel-something - asked him about Aelia. He loved both his sisters dearly and had looked forward to his third year when Aurelia should have joined him here at Sonora. However, it was not to be. His father had had better ideas, wanting to establish a stronger presence in France, his mother's home country and had sent Aurelia to school there, away from her siblings and the life she was used to. He knew that Aurelia was strong and that she was managing from the many letters that they exchanged over the school year and the catch ups they had during the summer but Julius had never forgiven his father for that move. It often felt like the Astley patriarch took a delight in making his children bend to whatever he desired, like pawns in a game that none of them wanted to be a part of but there was nothing any of them could do.

"Yes, she's the youngest," he answered the boy, unable to stop himself from glancing at the Pecari table where she was seated. "I have another younger sister, Aurelia, but she's attending school in France."

It was interesting to know that the girl that Aelia was currently engaged in conversation with was the sister of the boy, as well as a little concerning. He knew Aelia wasn't as picky as himself about who she conversed with and had decided to take it upon himself to make sure that who she spoke with was worth her time (especially now she'd been sorted in Pecari of all houses). The way to do that at the moment, was to carry on talking to this boy and try to find out about their background and who they are. It was a point in their favour that the brother had been sorted in Crotalus. Julius had next to no concerns or issues with his housemates so at least that was something.

He helped himself to some potatoes, another thought occurring to him as he did so. If it turned out that the pair were from a respectable family, this could be a chance to make a new connection for the Astley family. Maybe his father would appreciate that.

Then again, he also might not. It was always hard to say.

"So, you're a fourth year?" Julius asked, pretty sure that was correct. He knew he'd seen him around last year and the year before.

20 Julius Astley That's lucky for you. 1425 0 5

Aelia Astley

May 16, 2020 5:46 AM

I think we call them 'traditions' now. by Aelia Astley

Aelia listened to Leonor as she talked, a polite smile on her face. She knew, of course, about the general layout of the school, having received a map in her orientation folder as well as information from Julius over the years. The Gardens sounded like a nice place to take a cool afternoon walk but Aelia would definitely not run. Getting all hot, sweaty and sticky did not seem like a fun way to pass an afternoon, especially given that there seemed to be no actual benefit or reward from doing so. It did seem like that would be a waste of her time. She would much prefer to find a nice spot with some pretty flowers to draw. At least she'd have something to show for her efforts.

The mention of classes was more interesting. Aelia already knew a few basic charms and spells, thanks to her prior home education as well as her older siblings but she wanted to learn different things and was curious about her Herbology lessons (any questions on that Juju had mostly dismissed, branding the class a waste of time) and Care of Magical Creatures (something her sister had branded her mad for because most creatures were dirty or noisy or just disagreeable). Charms were all very well and good but Aelia knew about the basics of waving a wand. She didn't know about the nature that the Wizarding World had or the creatures that roamed the land and was thirsty for that knowledge.

"Which class is your favourite?" she asked, curious. "I'm not looking forward to potions. I don't think I'll be any good at it."

She looked a little sullen at that but it was true. Julius had shown her some of the potions that he'd learned during his first years and it all just seemed so complicated and Aelia often got different potion ingredients confused and instructions mixed up. She didn't want to be bad at anything but she was pretty sure that potions was going to be challenging for her.

When Leonor pointed out their brothers, Aelia looked over at the Crotalus table and felt pleased to see that her brother was chatting with Leonor's. That was nice. She knew that Julius wasn't the friendliest of people outside of his family which was a shame because at home, he had a nice personality. Hopefully, he was making a friend. Hopefully, she was making a friend too. She smiled at Leonor, pleased that her first day at her new school was going ever so well. In a bid to further her fledgling friendship, she decided to ask a new question to find out more about Leonor.

"What do you like to do outside of class?"

20 Aelia Astley I think we call them 'traditions' now. 1494 0 5

Sadie-Lake Chalmers

May 16, 2020 6:58 AM

I'm trying by Sadie-Lake Chalmers

Was Jessica… jealous of her? Not like full on mean jealous but like.. Sadie had something that she wanted? She sounded kind of like she would have liked to spend time in cafes.

“Yeah, there’s a lot of nice ones near us,” she smiled, hoping it didn’t sound like boasting. She just… wanted to keep this going. Sadie’s shoulders straightened a little, feeling good that she’d managed to say something interesting until the realisation hit her; Jessica liked something from Sadie’s other life. The Sadie-Lake life. Maybe she really would like her Insta personality self better than the real thing.

“Oh, I bet that was loads of fun,” she added when Jessica mentioned some big family barbecue. Like… REALLY big. Wow. Her jaw dropped slightly as Jessica mentioned governors and Oscar winners super casually, like it was no big deal. Jessica’s world was so glamorous. She met with real talented people, not just people who knew how to pose online. However cool Sadie, or even Sadie-Lake’s cafes were, Jessica was bound to see through her in an instant. Fake, flash in the plan, zero real content… Maybe she was better off being Sadie (witch) to Jessica (slightly older witch) rather than trying to connect about anything that went on at home.

And then Jessica rolled through that idea like a hurricane. At first, it sounded exciting. She had plans. Plans she seemed to be letting Sadie in on. And then… merging? Bringing that world into here? Of course, if it was just Jessica’s parts of their world, then that would be a great thing. But what sort of thing did she mean? The biggest thing Sadie’s parents couldn’t get over was the lack of technology here. But Jessica couldn’t mean that, right? Cos she couldn’t stop it all blowing up or whatever it did.

“What kind of thing?” she asked, trying to sound curious, although her expression looked a little anxious. But perhaps that wasn’t too out of the ordinary to be noticeable.

13 Sadie-Lake Chalmers I'm trying 1480 0 5

Hilda Hexenmeister

May 16, 2020 7:30 AM

Meine Zeit hier kommt zu einer Mitte by Hilda Hexenmeister

Hilda was now in her fourth year at Sonora. She was not particularly looking forward to it. With Heinrich moving up to Advanced classes, she foresaw her grades tanking in spectacular fashion and though she was by no means an Aladren, she liked having good grades. She wasn't stupid. English was. She got the concepts, she just couldn't express them well enough to prove it.

She'd continued over the summer to improve her verbal and reading comprehension of the language, and it was getting better. She'd understood almost three quarters of the Headmaster's speech. It just wasn't going to be anywhere near as good as Heinrich translating for her and understanding 100% of what was said in class. Academic help would help, and Heinrich would of course continue aiding her with her homework because he was the best brother ever like that (no offense, Hans) but she wanted to just get English and she wasn't and it was really really frustrating.

She sat down at the Pecari table for the Opening Feast with a grim look of determination. She had friends. She had more friends than she'd ever imagined it was possible for her to have in America. But very few of them were in Pecari. Really, there was just Evelyn here, and Evelyn was more Heinrich's friend than hers, though she was nice enough to Hilda. But she was down there talking to the Russian girl, and Hilda was here, and she was probably going to need to stumble her way through another English conversation, just like she was going to have to stumble through her classes, and while that was okay with people like Jessica who were stumbling their own way through learning German and got how hard it was, she worried the rest of the school just thought she was as dumb as the sterotypical beater she played on the Pitch.

So after mumbling her way through the school song, she just reached for some bratwurst and didn't say anything to her neighbors. If they wanted to talk to her, it was on them to start that conversation.

1 Hilda Hexenmeister Meine Zeit hier kommt zu einer Mitte 1433 0 5

Gary Harper

May 16, 2020 7:34 AM

Alright then, what happens next? by Gary Harper

Gary got the distinct impression that he was not doing well in this particular social interaction. Ness looked hurt, angry, sad, the full gamut of emotions that he did not want to inflict upon anyone. Much less one of his best friends. What was going on? Had he really rolled that badly? It certainly wasn't unheard of but it must have been a string of critical failures for this result. Unless there was something else going on. He hoped it wasn't anything serious, maybe he'd need to write to Kir and see if he could shed any light on the situation.

In the meantime though, these terse answers were starting to get on Gary's nerves. If something had happened, he supposed it was understandable but this was not the Ness he had come to know. It bothered him. 'We'll see'? What kind of an answer was that? The more rational part of his mind argued that it was a perfectly legitimate one. Ness had CATS this year and who knows what else going on. Running games was time consuming and it was perfectly fine to weigh options in order to reach an optimal solution.

That part of his brain wasn't really getting listened to though. He wanted Ness to want to run games, to take over the club. He knew Ness could do it, but Ness had to want to do it. He wanted to know that it was going to be in good hands after he left. Even if he wasn't going to be a part of it anymore, he wanted to know that it could continue, that he had made some level of a mark on this place for all his time spent here.

Parker was leaving as well this year. He couldn't actually see Heinrich or Evelyn taking over, and Morgan... yeah, it could happen, but had really just been suggested to kick in Ness' competitiveness. Which apparently may have backfired. Other than that, unless someone else showed up that wanted to run games and had some experience with them already... he wasn't sure about that. What was the likelihood of that happening?

He stabbed some of the food on his plate, and spit back a little terse himself, "Yeah, fine. We'll see." A brief flicker of something ran though him as he added, "I think you'd do great with it." He shoved the food into his mouth and tried to chew away his agitation.

Ness didn't know of any available girls. Oh well, that shouldn't be terribly surprising. Maybe he'd have to ask Heinrich if he's heard any rumors. Maybe Evelyn heard something and told him.

2 Gary Harper Alright then, what happens next? 1404 Gary Harper 0 5

Alexander Pierce-Beales

May 17, 2020 1:45 AM

Being friendly. by Alexander Pierce-Beales

A year ago, Alexander had been a completely different person in a completely different life. It was hard to believe that his life could be turned upside down and then right side up in a new configuration in the span of less than a year. At his first Opening Feast, Alexander had taken to chatting with his prefect, who had since become very important to him. Sepia Man had special powers of helping other people and Alexander thought that maybe he'd be able to use that as his example to do the same for one of the first years.

It got a lot harder when the first-year across from him introduced himself the way terrible people did. Maybe that wasn't fair, but who the heck just went around introducing themselves with their genealogy, like that made them special? It wasn't very considerate. That being said, Alexander didn't mean to judge someone that fast, even if he was pretty sure it was safe to assume that Jasper Brockert of the Western Brockerts came from a crappy family. Except that it was the Brockert family and Allegra at least seemed nice, so maybe Alexander was being the crappy one.

"Hi," he returned a little curtly. "I'm Alexander. Welcome to Sonora," he said, aware that his neutral expression rarely led into a smile. He did manage to look friendly enough with his eyes that most people at least knew when he was trying to connect though. "How far west?" he asked. "I grew up near Seattle." Where he was from was maybe a different question, but this would do just fine.

22 Alexander Pierce-Beales Being friendly. 1475 0 5

Ellie Alperton

May 17, 2020 7:50 AM

You'll do fine by Ellie Alperton

“He’s not, so we get to just call him ‘Mr’,” Ellie confirmed when Bonny stated she had thought that her uncle wasn’t a professor, and asked about what he did. It felt sort of funny explaining to her what her own uncle did. Apparently, Mr. Row had been so keen to tell her all about Sonora, but had somehow omitted his own contributions from the story. That made her smile, because he was either sort of scatterbrained or far too modest for his own good but either way she thought he really was a very sweet person.

“But yeah, there’s a period on our schedules with him. It’s kind of like… a study hall kind of thing? Like, sometimes we just do our own homework and he’s there to help out, or like… remind some of the kids who aren’t really self-organised that homework is a thing that needs doing. But sometimes he gives us little talks or quizzes about career stuff.”

Maybe it wasn’t ‘teaching a class’ in the most traditional sense, but Ellie was definitely not going to put Mr. Row down or say he counted any less than anyone else. She was sure some people saw study hall as a doss period, but that was disrespectful and she was sure he put in just as much effort as their other teachers. And, for Bonny’s purposes, it counted close enough - she was going to be in a situation where he was there, her classmates were there, and she was going to have to choose whether to treat him as an uncle or a teacher.

“So, what are you most looking forward to about being here?” she asked.

13 Ellie Alperton You'll do fine 1456 0 5

Felipe De Matteo

May 18, 2020 12:11 PM

It really is. by Felipe De Matteo

Felipe's eyes widened with excitement when Julius said his other sister was attending school in France. "France is beautiful," he said in perfect French. "I really liked it there when I visited before. Have you been?"

It was odd for Felipe to think about who he shared his house with. On the whole, he didn't really spend time with them, except Jeremy and Martin because one could only get so far away from their roommates. But Jessica had been the only Crotalus he'd spent any significant amount of time around, and she flew in the face of what a lot of their Housemates thought were appropriate society values, like blood status. More than that, Felipe was not used to being around people who were equally wealthy to the De Matteos - whatever Leonor thought of that - and who had the means to travel and engage with others abroad. Of course, Felipe and Leonor themselves were going to school in a foreign country, but he had suspicions that this would be his own country at some point. The only thing for him in Mexico was Los Jardines de Plata, and he had many more things - and many prettier things - here in the States. It was a little sad to think of using so much English and being away from where he'd grown up after Sonora, but he'd gotten pretty used to it and liked the idea of being here much better than the idea of staying at Los Jardines de Plata in any official capacity.

"Yes," Felipe agreed about his year. He nearly corrected Julius to say that he was a third year but, he realized, he wasn't a third year anymore. He was a fourth year and next year would be exams and Felipe really just wished they were this year so he could get them over with. In any case, the older boy seemed to be taking strides to get to know him. "Means I'll get two Balls out of my school experience," he chuckled politely. "Never quite expected such things at school, although they're different than the ones away from school of course. Are you interested in the charity fair?"

22 Felipe De Matteo It really is. 1434 0 5

Janis Rosemary Silver

May 18, 2020 12:15 PM

I never said you were artistic. by Janis Rosemary Silver

Second year. In her house. Did that mean that they were roommates? Or was Janis with the other girl from first year? Janis had read about the roommates in the folders when she picked one up with Quincy. Janis had never had a roommate persay. The house she’d grown up in was small enough that she could guess that her parents were her roommates, but now… well, she didn’t consider the new house home, but it was large enough for four families, and yet it was just the three of them.

Janis looked at the girl in front of her, who was still unnamed. Janis wondered what it would be like to live with someone like her. Would she be as tight lipped the whole time? Would that even bother Janis?

“Mmm,” Janis responded, nodding her head as she continued to chew on some bread. They would have classes together too. She remembered something about that also in the green folders. Still, that will be nice. Someone else. Someone older. Instead of having to figure everything else out on your own.

The way the girl asked her next question puzzled Janis. She wasn’t sure if the girl was a Pureblood asking if she should even bow down to speak to a Muggleborn or a Muggleborn asking cause she didn’t like Wizards. Though her look at the umm, cheering section, of the table made her realize the girl was wondering if she was normal. Janis swallowed her bite of bread.

“I am not Muggleborn. Though I had a few muggleborn friends when I was on the Ren Fair circuit. I also interacted a lot with them as we traveled, since Wizards aren’t into the Midevil times usually. Muggles are good people for the most part. Better than a few wizards if you ask me.” She looked over at the three across the table, “And thank you, if your comment still stands, I take that as a compliment.”

The girl seemed to me more open now. More like a window as the snow begins to thaw, not like a book someone is reading. So Janis turned back to her previous line of questioning.

“Besides some of my classmates being crazy,” she said, cocking her head toward the other side of the table, “is there anything specific you think I should know starting out? Any places I should go, things I shouldn’t do or people I should know? I mean, besides you.”

41 Janis Rosemary Silver I never said you were artistic. 1493 0 5

Leonor De Matteo

May 18, 2020 6:13 PM

Ugh by Leonor De Matteo

Picking a favorite class was hard for Leonor because they were all equally terrible. Leonor probably would have liked them more if she wasn't doing so much else at the same time - and perhaps she had once - but now it was just a lot. Plus, everything seemed to have some extra layer now. Herbology was necessary because of the way the De Matteos made their money. Potions was important because it often used some of the ingredients they brewed and it was easier to make potions than import them. The others were just a matter of being a witch worth her salt.

"Transfiguration," she decided, picking the hardest class. If she was good at transfiguration, she'd be good at anything, so she tried to focus her efforts there. Plus it was the most likely to help her shake things up at home once she was graduated. "Potions are hard to get wrong if you follow the recipe," Leonor added.

Apparently their brothers weren't an interesting topic to Aelia, and Leonor found herself liking the girl that much more for it. That was good because her next question was almost forgivable then. Truth be told, it wasn't a bad question. It was the fact that Leonor could hardly answer that was the problem. She thought of all the ways she actually spent her time outside of class compared to all the ways she'd like to and frowned thoughtfully. The first thought that came to mind for the latter was making s'mores with Theo, Anya, and Mab. That was the best. But that wasn't everyday and wasn't even really in Leonor's control. She'd taken to swimming pretty well, even going so far as to ask that her parents got her a swimsuit. They'd gone the extra step to get Felipe one as well, of course, but that was just as well.

They'd never needed to go swimming at home but Leonor pointed out some of the health benefits of the activity, so her parents took her and Felipe swimming a few times over the summer. Felipe wasn't very good, but he did seem to enjoy himself. It was . . . nice. Despite herself, Leonor liked to see her brother happy, and they'd even been able to play a bit. If anything were a true answer to Aelia's question, it would have to be this one.

"I like swimming," she said, the stiffness gone from her voice as she poked at a piece of squid. "The water MARS room is really nice to go swimming in. What about yourself?"

22 Leonor De Matteo Ugh 1471 0 5

Dorian Montoir

May 18, 2020 6:31 PM

People want... me? by Dorian Montoir

Dorian took a seat in the Cascade Hall feeling... a lot of things. Normally, he at least had some help in processing these before the feast by going to find Professor Brooding(-Hawthorne) but she had been nowhere to be found. He was not sure whether to feel more worried or offended. He did not think that she would just up and disappear without a word, and the door to her office still had her name on it, as did their schedules. That implied she had been busy. Too busy to see him. She had to know that his summer had been complicated, but she wasn't prioritising being available. That didn't exactly move him forward on whether to be worried or offended though.

He also wasn’t sure how much he’d be telling her… She would, naturally, be concerned about what had happened with his family. The fact that that wasn’t even the half of it… But the rest didn’t feel like it was exactly his to tell.

The rest of the stay at Vlad's had passed without incident. Dorian had wrapped his arms around his friend as he cried, holding him for as long as he wished to be held. Dorian had tried to be bigger, even though they were more or less the same height, letting Vlad hang his head and cry against his shoulder. Dorian had stroked his back, and Vlad’s soft curls had tickled his cheek and it had been tempting to pepper them with little kisses. Kisses could be friendly. But they could also be… misinterpreted. So, he hadn’t. He wished he could just fix Vlad's broken heart. The only thing he wished slightly more was that he had not been the cause of it in the first place.

But after that, Vlad had just tried to act like normal. Dorian knew enough of what that felt like to know that it probably was just an act, and every content smile made him wonder... How much was Vlad hurting on the inside? How good was he at keeping it a secret? At least, Dorian thought, when he had been falling apart mentally over the realisations he'd had about his own sexuality, he had had the good grace to look like it, even if he wouldn't specify what was wrong. On the plus side, it did mean they were less likely to get discovered. Dorian had tensed every time Vlad's mother interacted with him, but she either didn't know him well enough to notice or expected tension to be Dorian's default state right now. She had not said anything. Not to him, anyway. And nothing seemed to be wrong or broken. But then, how would he know? Apparently Vlad had been feeling all this with Dorian having no clue. That threw guilt and suspicion and confusion into the already potent mix of things he was feeling.

And he was trying really hard not to feel it, but he had to say one of the feelings that was rattling around amongst myriad others was a slight degree of resentment. He had been done. He had not exactly been totally out of the woods, because he was still clearing up the fallout from his own decisions. But he had stopped having secrets. He had ripped off all the bandaids, however much it risked hurting, and he had been... free. Whatever else he had to deal with, he hadn't had the heavy weight of a secret dragging him down. Now he'd been forced right back into that position.

It was complicated... He didn't want for Vlad to never have told him, or for him to have to deal with it by himself. That wasn't fair, and Dorian wanted to be there for him. The simplest wish would have been to want for Vlad not to be in love with him. But... It felt a strange thing to do. To wish for someone to love you less than they did. For Vlad's sake, he wished his life could be easy, pleasant and simple, and that would have the strong added benefit of not complicating Dorian's own. But if the way to get there would be to wish Vlad out of love with him... Why was he hesitating over saying he would do that?

Happily, wishes weren’t real, which left him having to deal with it the slower and more old-fashioned way of just… seeing what happened, and working it out. It was frustrating, sure, but given that he didn’t even know how he would wish this better, it was a relief not to have to.

He took a seat in the Cascade Hall, watching as Lavender got sorted into Crotalus. He felt a degree of personal responsibility for her but wasn't sure whether the best way to execute that was going to be staying out of her way, and avoiding tainting her by association, especially given where she had just been sorted. Of course, she would be better off with friends who didn't care about that sort of thing. But she couldn't possibly be expected to know that right now.

As the headmaster stood, Dorian took a deep breath, preparing for yet another complicated thing to happen. If Vlad was crowned head boy, Dorian would, of course, be delighted for him. But he would have to wonder how many people would have taken their vote back had they known what he knew. How many had voted for Vlad for not being a disgrace, like Dorian? And what it would do to Vlad in terms of pressure if he worked that out, or what They would do to Vlad if They worked something else out... Of course, if he himself got it, he had to worry that it was going to hurt Vlad's feelings, which were already in a pretty bad state. He almost entertained the wild idea of hoping that Gary got it, because then he and Vlad could be united in disappointment and perhaps a minor bit of jealous pettiness within the safe confines of Teppenpaw (this being the reason why Gary was a better choice than Parker to be beaten by, as Dorian wouldn't have wanted to really unite against Parker, however minimal the degree of any such act would be). Except, he didn’t really mean that. He didn’t want Gary to get it. He wanted it to be him or Vlad.

It was his name.

He sat in stunned silence for a moment before realising that he had to do something more than be amazed. He got to his feet. They had voted for him. He did not want Vlad to feel bad or jealous, and he hoped he didn't, because this really meant the world to Dorian. He once again felt that freedom he had felt at shedding all his secrets. Whatever grief it had caused him, he knew that he had been honest and been open. And now he knew that he was also still liked. Everything he’d been trying to convince his Mama of all summer - that he hadn’t ruined his whole life and all his future prospects - it felt somewhat vindicated. He could be himself, and still achieve great things. There were enough people who believed in him, who believed in love… Maybe there were more of them than the ones who believed in hate, even though that group tried to make their voices the loudest….

He made his was up to the stage and took his badge, taking a moment to catch Professor Brooding(-Hawthorne)'s eye as he did so, not minding if she saw that he might, just a tiny bit, have tears in his eyes. He blinked them back though, turning to face the hall and feeling triumphant. And Vlad… Vlad looked surprised (Dorian couldn’t say he blamed him) but not upset, and he was applauding, and that was the part that made it feel really real, and like it was a good thing. The badge might have meant the world to him, but Vlad meant more, and… and if Vlad hadn’t been applauding with everyone else, it wouldn’t have been worth it. His face broke into a delighted grin, as he made his way back to Teppenpaw table.

OOC - mentions of Vlad approved by his author

13 Dorian Montoir People want... me? 1401 0 5

Mara Morales

May 19, 2020 9:29 AM

Yeah, I'd rather not, either, but if it happens.... by Mara Morales

Mara raised her eyebrows slightly, impressed, when the other girl said that she had won several dance competitions over her summer. Kinetic intelligence - Mara would not characterize herself as exactly lacking in it, but she didn't have it to any degree that would facilitate winning dance competitions. "That's cool," she said.

Introductions. Those were things. She was mildly embarrassed she hadn't remembered to state her own name as soon as she'd finished her prior remark. Poor form, that; how were you supposed to ever get money from people if they didn't know who you were? "You, too," she said. "I'm Mara Morales. So, what kind of dancing do you do?" She knew nothing about dance and wasn't really planning to take it up, but it was always good to acquire new information when the opportunity just fell in her lap.

This was one reason why she couldn't quite understand her sister's attitude toward Sonora. There was not only a market here that they hadn't had a chance to exploit before, but there were also whole fields of study they had never even heard of before Jessica had gotten her letter, and others which they could have only ever imperfectly understood in their old world because of the Statute of Secrecy. Mara was not going to forget any time soon what it had felt like the first time she had had a proper wander-around in the library, staring at shelves, reading titles, picking up a volume and random here and there. It had been somewhere between terror - she had a vague notion it would be impossible to read every book in here in only seven years, especially since it seemed she'd only have two in which to really peruse the Restricted Section - and giddy glee of a sort she had only previously felt the time Dad had taken her to New York and taken her to FAO Schwartz when she was little. Knowledge was power, and seeking power felt...natural, somehow. It wasn't, she reasoned, a bad thing; power was like loyalty. It was a moral neutral, only good or bad depending on what one did with it.

16 Mara Morales Yeah, I'd rather not, either, but if it happens.... 1472 0 5

Parker Fitzgerald

May 19, 2020 9:53 AM

Oder Neuanfänge? by Parker Fitzgerald

Parker’s thoughts were going a million miles a minute, as per usual, when he walked into the hall. He was thinking about next steps and what he would do this year. Cleo had been a bit of a central force during his time at Sonora. A constant in his life here. Now she was planning, preparing, living outside the walls. Parker realized, belatedly, that he needed to do the same.

Over the summer, he’d been reading his father’s books on garden architecture and asking him questions about how one would do that. The idea that he could get paid to be outside, working in a garden, creating designs like those that he and Cleo had started doing at school, was an intriguing one. And as he got off the wagon this year he’d found himself looking at the Labyrinth in a new way. A curiously large garden that was filled with real plants, and yet under weather charms and housing things within it, including their challenges from a few years previous, the animals and what seemed like miles of pathways to walk. If wizards were as an aesthetical group as he’d found them here, there could be a market in making gardens for both Wizards and Muggles both.

Still, there was this year to figure out. He had to run both the Dueling Club and Gardening Club. He wanted to be on the Quidditch team and do DnD, all the while making sure that he was keeping up with his classes and being the best prefect he could be. It was… a lot. Parker looked around as he made it to the table. He’d been through worse, and none of the things he had to do were bad necessarily, just time consuming. Maybe he could get some help though, at least when it came to the clubs. He’d been put in charge of the Dueling Club when he was a third year, and he’d been running the Gardening club since he was a second year, so age had nothing to do with the different clubs.

Parker sat down in an empty seat, smiling at the other students already gathered. He felt almost big brotherly too many who where in his house. So much so that he’d taken some of the summer to practice a few of the foreign languages that people spoke in his house. He wasn’t great at any of them, but they made an effort to speak in his language, so he felt it only right to return the favor. Russian and German were… not easy, he’d come to realize. He smiled at Hilda next to him before the Headmaster was about to start talking, and was going to ask her a question in German. Before he could though the old man rose and the new students shuffled in.

Had he really been that small when he was a first year? He thought while watching them. Some staring in amazement others looking shy, thus negating the probability they'd be in his house. He crossed his fingers and silently hoped that there wouldn’t be another Theo. Theo wasn’t bad persay. He was actually quite good, he was just a handful. As a prefect, some of that handling was done by Parker. He also hoped that Evelyn was chosen as the new prefect. Nothing against Malikhi Hill, he was a good kid, and probably a good leader. He just wanted there to be some sort of gender parity. Having at least one woman made it easier for the other women to talk to someone.

As the first years dunked their badges in the cup Parker tried to clap and smile as each new Pecari was declared. When Stanley was decided and ran to the table with yelp, all Parker could do was laugh. He had kind of asked the powers, and received another Theo. Well maybe not. It just looked like they were good friends. That was probably nice for Theo and the new boy, Stanley.

Then the headmaster started calling peoples names. Parker had not thought he had any chance of winning head boy. Still, a small piece of him was sad when it wasn't his name that was called even though he hadn't voted for himself. This was quickly over come with excited for Dorian though and Parker cheered as the young man walked up. Parker couldn’t remember if he’d actually voted for Payton, and he felt a bit guilty that Tatia hadn’t received head girl. She was smart and dedicated and he should have voted for her if he hadn't. Payton was also a great choice though.

Parker noticed the Theo trio were also being loud. He did nothing to calm them down. Even though they were loud, as loud as 11 and 12 year olds could possibly get, they were not doing anything negatively disruptive. If they had started booing, he would have gone over and talked to them, but cheering for people was something he supported. And if they were burning off energy, they might get to bed at some normal hour tonight. Parker remembered that being an issue last year.

Parker almost stood himself though when Evelyn’s name was called. He was excited she would be joining their merry Pecari prefect crew. It was good. In the back of his mind he could hear a part of him say, “Order has been restored to the force.” But that wasn’t entirely true. Pecari leadership, including him, was still very straight, white and male (with notable exceptions being the Head of the House and the newest prefect). Was that what Pecari’s were? Parker wondered for the first time. Maybe it was that straight white males could be more adventurous because they had society backing them. That’s why they always “landed on their feet”.

Parker shook his head so that he could focus on the song. As head prefect he sang it as loud as he could to ensure that Pecari’s were at least heard. Plus, he’d heard the song enough now to know the words and how to sing it.

Sitting down he grabbed his plate and went for some of the mac and cheese while turning to Hilda.

“Hab schoonen Zommer?” he asked, pretty sure he got it close enough that she could understand what he was trying to say. “Sorry if that isn’t correct,” Parker said slowly with a smile as he leaned back ready to begin eating. He wasn’t sure if Hilda had ever been to the Dueling club, but, he thought to himself, she might make a good vice president of the club this year.

41 Parker Fitzgerald Oder Neuanfänge? 1402 0 5

Dathan Fischer

May 19, 2020 9:55 AM

This is true. It can be good or bad. by Dathan Fischer

Dathan thought about what Lyssa had to say about the courage required to throw a pie at Headmaster Brockert. "You have a good point," he conceded. "I don't know if I am, either."

He didn't know exactly who or what she was talking about when she mentioned a dear friend who seemed to not be having fun, but his brow creased slightly in concern anyway, and he thought of suggesting she should go look after her friend before she clarified the conditions under which she would do so without a suggestion. At those, he couldn't help but chuckle, though he doubted she was exactly fully joking. "Those sound like good times to intervene," he agreed. "If you have to. Hope the punches don't happen, anyway," he added sincerely.

He expected that to be the end of the conversation, especially when Lyssa seemed to be looking for something and came up with a notebook. He therefore had a mouth full of food when she turned back to him and started talking about other ideas he might have for the fair, frankly and somewhat cheerily admitting to being willing to collect as many ideas as he might have. He tried not to cough and held up a finger to indicate he needed a second to swallow before he could say anything else.

"Mm, sorry - I guess there's all the...usual carnival stuff? Do wizards have fairs usually?" he asked, thinking of the summer fairs at home and feeling a bit sorry for wizards if they didn't have that kind of experience. Jezebel might feel more comfortable here than she did at home, but there were good things about home too. "You know - hit a target to win a cheap bear? I guess here, you could make it, hit the target with the knockback jinx or something? Or who can...who can charm something the best? I guess we are wizards, so working some magic into it might be cool...identify the potion? Or broom races? Though that might be too big, since other people will have things...Or pay a bit for admission to a tent to see a show with...magic stuff?" He grinned apologetically. "Sorry, I'm just...making things up as I go along," he excused himself.

16 Dathan Fischer This is true. It can be good or bad. 1457 0 5

Vladimir Brockert

May 19, 2020 2:04 PM

And so it goes, I guess. by Vladimir Brockert

Vlad had stepped off the wagons as eager as ever because this time he had his baby sister at his side. He was so excited about Lavender’s first year at the school - arguably, maybe even more excited than she was - and it was great to see her off, wishing her the best as they separated for her to go to Orientation. But then as he walked away, a lot of other things set in. This was his last year. And Ivy was gone.

That was tough on its own, but everything in his personal life was so different now too. He was seventeen years old: a legal adult. Vlad could do magic at home. And he had, testing out his newfound freedom the week he had between his birthday and returning to school. There were changes coming now, things he had to decide and plan for. What was he going to do next year at this time? Employment? College? And what about… well, what about Dorian?

He wasn’t prepared for the changes in that dynamic this year, although he did feel glad that everything was out in the open, in spite of the complications. Vladimir didn’t like lying to Dorian, and keeping such big secrets felt like lying. He thought he might tell Tatiana soon. But that was it. That was all who needed to know. Mama, Dorian, and Tatiana.

To pass the time, he sort of just… wandered. He didn’t want to go to their dorm room right now because it made it all too present. Plus he tended to give Dorian the space when they first got back to the school, just in case he was adjusting to the time change and needed to rest. Although he would be very glad to see Dorian’s cat again soon. Animals were a comfort.

Eventually, the time did pass, and Vlad made his way to the Cascade Hall one last time. He detoured by the table designated Pecari and gave Tatiana a quick and light squeeze on the shoulders as a greeting while he went by. The already crowding Teppenpaw table didn’t allow him to sit right by Dorian, but he waved cheerfully at the sight of him, too. Peyton too, of course, across the way at Crotalus. They were all in this together as seventh years. Crazy.

Then a lot of surprising things happened. First, the Sorting. He was fully prepared to watch his baby sister come join him at the table, completing the Teppenpaw set. But Lavender went instead to Peyton’s table, to Crotalus. Honestly, he hadn’t even considered that she might not join his House. But at least she still had someone there to look after her.

The second surprising thing was the Head Student announcement. Dorian and Peyton! Vlad grinned wide, pleased that his two votes had won. He was a little surprised Peyton had gotten it, not that she wasn’t a great choice but just because she wasn’t especially one to intentionally attract attention to herself or ask someone to pick her. She had absolutely won on sheer merit. And Dorian. Oh, Dorian. This was the absolute best. Vlad made sure to send an extra happy smile his way, although a slight pang of longing in his chest reminded him that it also meant that he himself had lost. But that was okay. Vlad wanted to be Head Boy pretty bad, but he wanted Dorian to have whatever he wanted more, and Dorian wanted Head Boy. So it was okay.

He liked the sound of the fair this year, and he did his best at the song, although much like his mother, Vlad remained woefully tone deaf. He still didn’t quite feel like singing, but since it was his last time around, he couldn’t let the opportunity go by. “I can’t believe it,” he murmured to himself. In the next moment, he made eye contact with a neighbor and, blushing, realized they probably heard him. “Sorry, I guess I was talking to myself,” he said with a forced laugh. “It’s just crazy that this is my last Opening Feast.”

12 Vladimir Brockert And so it goes, I guess. 1400 0 5

Stanley O'Malley

May 19, 2020 2:13 PM

Awesome! by Stanley O'Malley

Stanley fell immediately in line with Theo’s chattering, and it was pleasant - but not surprising - to see that nothing about him was changed here. Stanley liked people who were authentic, and Theo was nothing but. He was always very Theo. Which was good, because Stanley liked Theo.

And if the introduction given was anything to go on, he was going to like Anya, too. “Sweet!” he beamed. “Nice to meet you, Anya! Theo told me all about the cool stuff you guys were doing here.” It was a decidedly rhetorical statement, given Theo’s own repetitive excitement, but the younger boy was awash in the excitement himself, and he wasn’t thinking about stuff like that. Not that Stanley ever really thought about what he was saying before whoops there he was saying it, but this was an especially noteworthy case. There was so much going on!

“Didja see Wally got Crotalus?” he asked Theo. Then he turned back to Anya, to provide a little context. Because he was a good dude like that. “That’s my twin,” he grinned. “It’s cool because our mom was in Pecari and our dad was in Crotalus! Legacy!”

“This is probably the best House though, right?” he asked, joking. Obviously Crotalus was probably pretty good too, since Wally and Dad and Peyton were all there. Oh, and Lavender! He hadn’t noticed what direction she went from the first year huddle, but he saw her there now. Of course, he knew people in Teppenpaw and Aladren too (God dang they had a lot of relatives!) but that didn’t register as much at the moment.

12 Stanley O'Malley Awesome! 1491 0 5

Isis Carter-Xavier

May 19, 2020 2:25 PM

Oh, y'know. Things. by Isis Carter-Xavier

Isis smiled despite the rocking in her stomach. “Positive. Thanks.”

She was honestly glad to hear some of the man’s summer - Lawrence Marsh was not a man she knew terribly well. Admittedly, other than her husband (obviously), she was a little reluctant to get too involved or attached to her coworkers. She’d had such a nice little friend group here a few years back, but now they had all moved on and had little contact. And as it had easily been the healthiest group she had ever been a part of (a laughable statement given some of their own individual issues), the parting blows had each struck chords, a sting that still resonated within her on occasion when she walked by the library or saw Gray leading the Aladrens.

Still, as mentioned, she knew very little about Professor Marsh, and it was only polite to familiarize a bit better. She definitely related to the parent struggle, that was for sure. They saw her mother in Phoenix quite a bit during the year, mostly because Isis was still generally worried about the woman despite her measurable growth in the last few years. But every conversation was a bit of a battle. She and her mother were both quite stubborn and maybe just a little too alike. And she strictly limited her mother’s time with Dora. That was a contentious point.

“It’s a good look,” she replied good-naturedly. Isis was well-known for keeping her own hair quite short, varying only between “buzzed to the head” and “nearly buzzed to the head”. For her, there was something freeing about it. She’d cut off all her hair in college, and it felt like another way to leave Detroit behind. She had never gone back. “Ours was just about the same. Mothers here, summer activities there. Running after a three year old never gets too dull, though, but that’s probably a good thing.”

Another wave of nausea shot through her, and she grimaced. “Sorry,” she apologized. “Not the conversation. Just… not feeling my best, I guess. It’ll pass.”

12 Isis Carter-Xavier Oh, y'know. Things. 31 0 5

Heinrich Hexenmeister

May 19, 2020 7:27 PM

There are potions for that? by Heinrich Hexenmeister

Heinrich was a sixth year. He would be moving up into Advanced classes, an opportunity he was both excited for and worried about. After looking over his grades and his plans for his future, he was pretty sure he would be dropping Herbology and Astronomy. He had no bad feelings toward either subject, and while his grades were decent if not stellar (Astronomy joke), he just didn't see himself needing those subjects in his future, whatever that might be. He was keeping Care of Magical Creatures mostly because it tied in directly to what Karl did for a living and while Heinrich had zero desire to continue living at the snake ranch into his adulthood, or raise any other kind of creature professionally, it at least gave him something to talk about with his uncle.

Besides which, rumor had it that Advanced lessons covered dragons, and Heinrich wanted to be there for that. Maybe, maybe, he'd consider a career that involved creatures, if they were dragon creatures.

Mostly though, he wanted to work with wolves. Raising good wolves.

Good metaphorical wolves. But very probably a real human child. He'd promised to help. So his near future may very well be full of some of the same techniques that training creatures used. Care. Attention. Setting examples. Regular feeding times. Rewarding positive behavior. That sort of thing.

His mother and father might have disqualified themselves for all future runnings of 'Best Parents in the World' but they'd scored way higher on that board than Evelyn's parents had, so of the two of them, he thought he had the better positive models to work with. Which was it's own kind of sick.

So a class with the words "Care of" in its title seemed like a bad thing to drop right now.

Beyond that, Charms and Transfiguration were just staples of magical education, so he couldn't justify dropping either of those without good reasons he didn't have, and dropping potions was unthinkable after all these years as Professor Brooding-Hawthorne's intermediate assistant and philosophy pupil. And DADA was his best class and basically what he wanted to do with his life (defend people against the darkness in the world) so he wasn't dropping that one either.

He still thought he might swing by Mr. Row's office before committing to this course of action, in case the guidance counselor had insights into the defensive capabilities of Herbology and Astronomy that Heinrich wasn't privy to, but he doubted his academic plans for the next two years were going to change much from that meeting. Mostly, he figured he'd be discussing what the real life alternatives to 'paladin' were, and asking for advice on how to win a custody battle against an unfit biological parent. He'd graduate a year before Evelyn. One year was forever in the eyes of a child. If he could watch CJ for her while she finished school, that would be one year less being exposed to Mathias Stones' bad wolf.

First though, he needed to get through the feast, and probably talk to Evelyn to make sure she was on board with that plan before he started consulting other people about it. Bad enough Uncle Karl was giving him the stink eye every time he caught Heinrich reading Karl's stash of child development and how-to-parent books.

Heinrich was mildly distracted during the sortings, though as a prefect, he did take note of which of the new faces now belonged to Aladren. He applauded politely for Dorian and Peyton, but Heinrich wouldn't say he was close to any of the seventh years save Gary. From their brief encounters, Dorian had seemed perfectly nice, as befitted a Teppenpaw, and Peyton was a good fellow prefect, so they both seemed like good choices. Dorian had danced with another boy at the last ball, which was unorthodox, but Heinrich wasn't one to hold that against people when Ness counted amongst his short list of friends.

His clapping became more genuine and enthusiastic as two of the people of that same short list got named prefect. He was glad to have both Ness and Evelyn added to the prefect team. The DnD group was very well represented. Unless if he was forgetting someone, Morgan was the only one who was not a prefect now, and she wasn't old enough to qualify. He did not know Katerina as well as Evelyn and Ness, but she was in Academic support and was the first other person he knew at Sonora who spoke a little German, so he approved her selection as well. The last prefect was Allegra Brockert, who he knew only in passing, but he'd never heard anything bad about her. It was a good group he would be happy to work with.

As the newly badged students returned to their seats, Heinrich gave both Ness and Evelyn a smile and a thumb's up, and he tried to pass Katerina a nod of congratulations as well, but he wasn't sure if she'd caught it. Ness sat down by Gary, and Evelyn joined Katerina's sister at the Pecari table.

The Headmaster said a few words about the Fair - a charity event, which sounded interesting; Heinrich would have to look into what options were out there, and then there was the song. Heinrich lip-synched, which is apparently a real term Americans use to indicate a person is pretending to sing but doesn't actually make any sound.

Then that was over and the food appeared. Heinrich filled his plate with a selection of both American and International dishes. Sonora was always good for supplying a wide variety.

While he was still pouring himself some water, the younger girl seated nearest to him, greeting him and asked a question, implying that she had every intention of conversing with him for at least a little while. This surprised him slightly, but last year Morgan had done the same, and that had worked out well.

"Hello," he said, being careful of his enunciation, so he would say it the American way and not the German way. His accent was still notable, of course, but it was much less severe than it had been even two years ago. "I had my birthday two weeks ago," he informed her of his most recent brush with 'fun'. "One of my friends has the same birthday, and she came to visit for cake and presents." Habit from years of barely getting by with minimal English meant it was all but instinctual to repeat back her question exactly as she had provided it to further the conversation. He was past needing to do so, but he saw no reason to mess with a pattern that worked. "Did you do anything fun before you came to school?"

1 Heinrich Hexenmeister There are potions for that? 1414 0 5

Ness McLeod

May 20, 2020 4:27 AM

Rampage by Ness McLeod

Gary threw ‘we’ll see’ back in just as combative a tone. And on what fricking grounds? We’ll see… if you’re competent? If anyone takes your side and votes for you? Why wouldn’t they? Evelyn and Heinrich were Ness’ friends, and the Aladren was the only reason why they’d even joined. Also, where did Gary get off being in a mood with Ness when he was the one being insulting?

Ness dished up a spoonful of broccoli and some bean chilli and then began stabbing the vegetables as if they had been the cause of the offense. You were never too old to pretend that your broccoli was tiny trees and that you were a freaking ferocious predator and should be feared. Even if you were a herbivore. And a prefect.

So fine. It was fine if Gary had decided to be a jerk. Because Ness had Lyssa and they were going to avenge wronged people and grind up the souls of the offenders to make their coffee. So, Ness didn’t need Gary anyway.

Except, the Aladren had never imagined him being on the coffee list. They were supposed to be friends.

Then he put the real kicker in. Saying he thought Ness would do great. Why even say it if he didn’t frigging mean it?

“That’s not what you said five minutes ago. Five minutes ago you were gunning for a second year with one year’s experience and saying you’d prefer her over me,” Ness glared.

13 Ness McLeod Rampage 1419 Ness McLeod 0 5

Lawrence Marsh

May 20, 2020 9:34 AM

Kind of like the known things, the known unknown things or the unknown unknown things. by Lawrence Marsh

The thought of a little child running around and Isis and Nathan running after it caused Lawrence to smile. He imagined Isis like a mother lion. Protective, but allowing for the child to play attack her tail, and woe be the one to get between her and her child. Whereas Nathan was more a male penguin. Vigilant and caring, but also standing in one place making sure the babies feet didn’t get cold. The imagery of a lion-penguin child made him smile more than anything.

“Thank you Isis. It still feels strange,” Lawrence said, running his hand through his beard. He stopped mid beard rub as she paused again. Lawrence tilted his head slightly. She seemed to have an upset stomach. Perhaps it was something she ate. Isis was already a mother and married to a man so she could also be pregnant, but Lawrence was familiar enough with the human herds customs to know that one didn’t just assume pregnancy. Still, she didn’t look well.

He thought through his bouts of stomach trouble, which happened more often than not during some of his past jobs. Small amounts of something would help as long as it would absorb some acid. Also, Lawrence briefly thought, when animals were pregnant, small amounts of food also help with the upset stomach, be those dogs or dragons, it was all the same (though small was relative when it came to dragons).

“If it’s your stomach, perhaps just a bit of bread or a banana will help calm it down?” he suggested. He reached for a basket of bread and placed it near her. It wasn’t as good as Killian’s but it would do the trick.

“I can also try to find the new healer to get you something for your stomach if you’d rather,” he asked. Remembering a few new faces at the first meeting of staff this year, there was the younger woman who seemed… flowery, in some way and an older gentleman who Lawrence knew he’d need to talk with soon as he was the new Groundskeeper.

41 Lawrence Marsh Kind of like the known things, the known unknown things or the unknown unknown things. 1462 0 5

Isabella Harrington

May 21, 2020 4:05 AM

You seem like a good person to have around. by Isabella Harrington

Mara was a nice name, Bella thought. The nice name fit with the nice character that she seemed to have. At the very least, she was very tolerant of having some random stranger strike up a conversation with her. Bella hoped that she hadn't stopped the girl from talking with some of her other friends. If she'd had any, she knew that she would've preferred to talk to people she already knew, rather than a stranger. Still, the whole conversation seemed to be going well. It felt like they were well on their way from strangers to acquaintances. Acquantainces having a conversation felt a little less weird and awkward. That was okay.

More points went in Mara's favour when she asked Bella about dancing. Bella was always more than happy to educate anybody in the subject of dance, if they were interested. She doubted that she'd be giving anybody any lessons (which was good, because such a thing would cut into her training time) but she was happy to talk about it.

"Ballroom dancing, both Classical and Latin," she answered with a smile.

Bella had never been able to decide which one was her favourite because, to her, they were both so different. Latin was fun and quick, with interesting and lively rhythms but Classical was like dancing in a fairytale, with slow, beautiful music and pretty, flowing dresses. There was also the technical aspects. They both had different holds and footsteps, Bella felt that you couldn't really compare the two.

"I've been doing mostly Latin dancing recently," Bella admitted and annoyance flashed through her as she did so. "I don't have a partner at the moment, so I have to dance solo and Latin allows that more than Ballroom."

It was annoying because she wanted to dedicate her time to both categories but Alex being a total and complete moron was currently prohibiting that.

"What do you like to do outside of class?" Bella asked, for once wanting to move the topic of conversation away from dancing. Thinking about Alex upset her and she didn't want to be emotional in front of her new acquaintance. There were just some things that other people didn't need to see.

20 Isabella Harrington You seem like a good person to have around. 1435 0 5

Julius Astley

May 21, 2020 4:28 AM

I could do with some of that luck. by Julius Astley

Hearing somebody that wasn't one of his sisters or his mother speaking French to him felt odd to Julius and yet, strangely comforting. It wasn't a well-known fact, given that his last name was Astley and that they resided in California but the truth was that Julius was half-French as his mother had been a Chasseloup-Laubat before marrying his father. Julius was proud of his heritage and they could trace his mother's line all the way back through history. Go back far enough and the name was practically royalty. Julius liked that. He had royal blood running through his veins. It was confirmation that he deserved the best.

"My mother is French," he told Felipe. "So, we go to France at least once every year. We have a villa on the coast in Capbreton."

Julius could never stop himself from bragging when an opportunity arose.

"It is a beautiful country," he agreed.

Julius tried very hard not to scoff at the mention of either another ball or the charity fair. The Ball last year had been tedious, his attendance only as a result of an instruction from his father. It had been a complete waste of time. Still, it had been a better idea than a charity fair. Julius was going to do everything in his power to avoid going.

"I'll probably only go to cover it for the Aronos," he told Felipe honestly. "And only then, if none of the other writers can or will write the article."

Curious about the other boy's attitude towards such things, he asked, "Are you?"

20 Julius Astley I could do with some of that luck. 1425 Julius Astley 0 5

Aelia Astley

May 21, 2020 4:48 AM

Well, whatever ways make you happy are the best ways. by Aelia Astley

Aelia tried to stop herself from blushing in embarrassment over Leonor's comment about potions. She knew that, in theory, they shouldn't be hard because all one had to do was follow a list of instructions but for her, it just didn't work. There were too many things to think about and it confused her. Still, maybe she'd get better with practice and regular lessons every week. That was something to try and aim for.

"Transfiguration sounds interesting!" Aelia exclaimed, trying to shift her thoughts back to a more positive wavelength. "I like the idea of being able to change things into different things. It seems like it's hard though, requires a lot of concentration? Does it?"

Aelia wasn't very good at concentrating. She was easily distracted, whether by outside interruptions or simply her own thoughts. Her teachers at home had often struggled to keep her focus during lessons but, in fairness, etiquette lessons were so terribly dreary. What did it matter which fork she used for her salad? A fork was a fork. Her sister Aurelia was much better at remembering those things and actually doing them. At least here at Sonora, the place settings weren't so complicated which was a blessing and she also suspected that not many people would care which fork she used to eat.

Like running, Aelia wasn't the biggest fan of swimming either. All of the Astley residences had their own private pools but Aelia much preferred to stay sitting at the pool's edge, just with her feet in the water. She could swim but just never found the appeal of going from one end of the pool to the other repeatedly. It seemed boring. She decided not to say that to Leonor, however. That seemed like it would be rude to dismiss something the girl liked.

"I like to draw," she answered, thinking to her sketchbooks and art supplies that had been some of the first things to go into her cases when packing. Well, those had been the only things Aelia herself had put in. The Astley house elves had packed her actual necessities. "It's nice to find something pretty and to put it on paper, that way you can look at it forever."

20 Aelia Astley Well, whatever ways make you happy are the best ways. 1494 0 5

Isis Carter-Xavier

May 21, 2020 3:39 PM

...Yes? by Isis Carter-Xavier

Ah, darn it.

“That’s very kind,” Isis conceded, “But I really think if I just wait it out a while, it’ll pass.” There wasn’t much a medic could do for this type of health anomaly. There was a parasite, sure, but Isis preferred it remain just where it was. If it would only stop offending the rest of her organs, well, then they would be in business.

She just needed something else to talk about, but they had already vaguely covered their respective summers. What else did one talk about with an acquaintance? “Are you planning any exciting lessons this year?” she asked safely. “Care of Magical Creatures is a pretty open-ended curriculum, as far as I can tell. You do a lot of interesting stuff there.” Isis had done her best to tend to whatever needed tended to whenever she filled in for Lawrence, but animals were tricky. Each species needed a plethora of highly specific, highly varied things. They were much harder than kids, she thought.

Although then she thought about how many small children she’d be occasionally responsible for and felt her stomach threaten to turn in an entirely different manner. There would be two with Zeus around now, and a third one joining the pack later on. That one was going to be a lot better at sitting still, but it also died for no reason a lot easier too, so there were tradeoffs in both directions. Of course, it would probably not actually be that bad. Dora was a good kid, and while she didn’t know Zeus yet, it wasn’t like he was actually her child or anything. So, yes, probably objectively easier than magical creatures - at least kids didn’t actively want to eat you. Well, usually.

12 Isis Carter-Xavier ...Yes? 31 0 5

Gary Harper

May 21, 2020 8:17 PM

Good game, do you prefer the lizard or the gorilla? by Gary Harper

Gary shifted just slightly to look back at Ness out of the corner of his eye. Then he slowly turned to face his housemate again matching the glare. This is why he hadn't wanted to get involved in the line of succession. There was no good way to go about doing it. Yes, Ness was the most experienced member that would still be around next year. Heinrich was older, but he had only started playing last year. Ness was naturally the one that should take over the club, but... but what?

He pulled back from the staring match and sighed. He poked at the food on his plate for a moment with little interest in it. "You're right." He finally said, "I just wasn't sure if you actually wanted to take it over. It's a fair amount of work, and you've got CATS this year along with figuring out all your future plans with classes and such for next year." He sighed again, "I botched up my fifth year because of this club and spent all last year trying to make up for it. I don't want to force that on you if you didn't really want it."

Finally he looked back at up at Ness, there was a tired look on his face, but the hint of his grin lurked at the corner of his mouth. "Look before you leap. The other side of the game master's screen isn't for everyone. I'm sure you'll do a great job, but you may find that playing the game is just more fun than running one. Once you commit to it, there are a bunch of people that are counting on you to entertain them for a few hours every week."

He thought over the 'genderless space pirate robot' game that they had played last year. That had been Ness' idea. It had been an amusing one as well but... Huh, there it was again. Was that it? An image slid through his mind of Ness running games, and all of those games focused on some sociopolitical message about tearing down the patriarchy or some similar causes. Was that it? Was he worried that Ness would turn the game club into some sort of platform for political upheaval? Maybe. Well, either the players would have fun, or quit if that happened and they didn't like it.

"At any rate, I'm officially going to stay out of it at this point," He poked his food again. He wasn't all that hungry anymore. "I'll set up the club and open up the floor for people. I'll help whoever wants it. Once the group has decided on what they want to do next year, I'll assist in any way I'm capable of before I move on. I'm not about to drop this on someone who doesn't really want to do it." He paused for a moment, "Heck, maybe we'll get a pile of new people and we'll need to run multiple games and need multiple game masters. Maybe the group will decide they want a few to share the load." He gave his fellow prefect a hopeful smile, "Who knows what the future holds?"

2 Gary Harper Good game, do you prefer the lizard or the gorilla? 1404 0 5

Josephine Clyde

May 24, 2020 5:49 AM

Oh! Uh…(a boy?!) Maybe they’re more home remedies than anything else? by Josephine Clyde

Stupid headaches, stupid eyes, stupid mouth. She should’ve paid better attention to the people sitting near her. Of all the people who could have answered her and it had to be a boy. An older boy at that. Josie looked at her new conversation partner with badly concealed wary eyes. She’d been able to avoid all contact with older boys last year. Sticking to Theo or Gabe had made it easier for her to escape undetected and all her other friends or friendly interactions had been girls. At least this one was a fellow Aladren. Maybe he had more in common with her than he did with her step-brothers.

He was blonde, just like them. Probably tall, like them. Probably mean…but then she heard his answer. Saw the almost careful way he spoke. It wasn’t like her step-brothers, all rash, brash and loud. This older boy might have been blonde and most likely tall, but their personalities seemed to be different. He had taken time to think about his answer before replying instead of something reactionary like Samuel and his response was pretty normal.

Actually…Josie, without really meaning to, leaned in closer to look at him. Now that she really looked at her neighbor, past the inherent maleness, she realized she knew who he was, kind of. He’d been a focal point of last year’s Opening Feast, Heinrich Hexenmeister the Aladren Prefect. The Prefects were some sort of position given to good students who were probably not jerks. As far as she could tell that meant they were nice people. Her back loosened its tight hold on her spine as she relaxed, comforted by the likely fact that he was definitely nice, he had to be. It made her feel safe enough to respond.

“Happy late birthday! Must be nice. My birthday is in the winter. I always need to spend it with my family. I guess maybe this year I can invite some friends from Sonora, but,” Josie reached for her apple juice to hide her concern, “My friends all live far away. It probably wouldn’t work.”

A birthday with her Sonora friends would be so much fun, but Mara and Morgan lived in the South and she wasn’t sure where Theo, Jezebel or Gabe lived. Maybe she could go visit them? Any of them. This new relationship she was building with Minnie wasn’t as terrible as she thought it was going to be, but it was never going to be what she had had with her mother. Who she was now was heavily influenced by the happy memories she had with her mother. Besides, maybe she could sell the idea to them as a ‘seeing the magical world’ experience. It sounded reasonable to her.

“I did a lot of reading and hiking. I live in Nevada, so it’s pretty close to school. What about you? Do you live nearby?”

44 Josephine Clyde Oh! Uh…(a boy?!) Maybe they’re more home remedies than anything else? 1477 0 5

Peyton O'Malley

May 24, 2020 2:32 PM

Hope it's a good one by Peyton O'Malley

It was her last year at Sonora, Ivy and Connor were gone and Peyton missed them already. At least she still had Vlad and Jasmine though. Plus, now her nephews were here, along with her cousin Lavender and she was excited for that.

And then there was Head Student. Peyton wanted it, but at the same time she wanted Jasmine to get it and spend time with her best friend in the Prefect lounge. Hence voting for the other Crotalus. She hoped Vlad got it too. At least one of them. And if not Jasmine, herself of course.

Not that Peyton expected either herself or Vlad to win. She was like, ninety-nine percent sure that Dorian was going to get it and ninety-nine percent sure that she personally was not.

However, she had to wait for the first years to be Sorted, which was something she was personally invested in as well. Stanley went to Pecari, which was what Peyton expected, but Wally and Lavender joined her in Crotalus, the former of which she also was not all that surprised about. The seventh year was glad though. That meant she could look out for Wally, whom Peyton worried was going to have a tougher time adjusting than his twin and he'd have their cousin with them as well.

Then it came, the big moment. She held her breath. As it turned out, the Crotalus was only half right about Head Student. Dorian had gotten it....but so had she. She got up to receive her badge, taking note of the new prefects as well. Peyton was glad-or perhaps relieved-that Allegra had gotten it and felt she could get along with her.

Her attention was diverted when she heard a bout of....a bout of Stanley rise up from the Pecari table. Her cheeks turned pink, but she couldn't help but be glad that someone was so enthused about her being Head Girl.

Because, as she walked back to her seat and spotted her best friend, Peyton felt the tiniest bit guilty. This was the second time that she'd beaten out Jasmine. She didn't know why, exactly. Okay maybe she could see why the staff would prefer her and she'd gotten prefect. as she was a better student then the other Crotalus, but Head Student? Peyton hadn't voted for herself, and Vlad only had one vote. She also knew that the sixth year Crotali-and probably Nathaniel too- would not have voted for Jasmine but they might have voted for Ruby or even Tatiana. But other than that, surely, people had to like her best friend more than her.

On the plus side, Eden had not been Head Girl and Peyton was. So there.

"Thank you" She replied to Jasmine's congratulations. "Yes, that's my nephew Stanley." Peyton replied. "The other one,Wally," She nodded in his general direction. "is in our house along with my cousin Lavender." Lavender had been the only girl to join them in Crotalus this year. It actually looked like boys were dominating this class. "Where did your brother end up?" Peyton asked.

Then she noticed something going on at the Pecari table. "Looks like Stanley's met up with Anya." That was sure to be a recipe for mayhem. She loved her nephew very much, but she suddenly felt incredibly sorry for Professor Carter-Xavier.

11 Peyton O'Malley Hope it's a good one 1403 0 5

Jasper Brockert

May 25, 2020 10:48 AM

I like friendly by Jasper Brockert

Jasper smiled "Nice to meet you, Alexander." He was a bit surprised by the older boy's question. Not bothered, as it was a perfectly reasonable and not offensive or prying one at all, but not one he typically got. Of course, Jasper was used to mostly interacting with his relatives and occasionally other pureblood children who knew who the Brockerts were-which admittedly, Alexander should have too, given the amount of them that happened to be at Sonora, including the Headmaster-and introduced themselves the same way he had. They typically didn't ask how far west. It was just how he was taught to introduce himself, he didn't expect it to especially provoke questions.

Still, it was no big deal. "Not as far west as you." Jasper replied. "I personally live in Utah, Salt Lake City specifically, but there are like, Brockerts all over the states west of the Mississippi River. I'm pretty sure someone lives in Seattle but I can't remember who." His family tree was large and complex and it was hard enough to remember people's names-though that was harder for Sapphire than him-and how they were related to him let alone who lived where. "I think we used to say Colorado Brockerts but there were a bunch of people not living in Colorado so it was changed to Western Brockerts." Even though there were no such things as Eastern Brockerts though some of the Brockert girls married people from eastern families. Of course, what they considered the east included what most people called the midwest as well as the actual east coast.

None of that was probably anything that Alexander really was interested in and it possibly sounded...obnoxious, as clearly the older Teppenpaw was not a society pureblood-and he knew from his sisters and cousins that some people here did not like people like him. Jasper had no idea if Alexander was one of them, though if he was especially vocal about it, Esme might have said something but she hadn't . Usually what he heard was tied up in Topaz's complaints about her roommate.

Still, he shouldn't have to be ashamed of who he was either. Jasper had merely introduced himself the way he'd been taught his entire life. He hadn't known who Alexander was and if he'd been a pureblood and the first year had not introduced himself the proper way, there might have been consequences affecting what people thought of the Brockerts. And, generally speaking, his family seemed to care more about what purebloods thought than non-purebloods. It was just the way it was.

On the plus side, he was in Teppenpaw. The house of kindness and respect was part of kindness. Jasper very much believed in treating most people with such, regardless of backgrounds. The only exceptions were awful people like Topaz and his uncle Eustace.

However, talking about that sort of thing was probably still not something Alexander would find interesting."Sorry, that's not something you probably cared about." Jasper apologized."So, tell me, what do you think of Sonora? What classes do you like? Personally, I'm looking forward to Transfiguration most, but what I'm really looking forward to is making friends."

11 Jasper Brockert I like friendly 1496 0 5

Alexander Pierce-Beales

May 25, 2020 11:01 AM

Then you're good in my book. by Alexander Pierce-Beales

Alexander blinked with surprise when Jasper explained so much about his family. It wasn't something Alexander would ever be able to do (although, to be fair, explaining everything he now knew about his family would take much longer) but it also wasn't something he had ever thought about that much. In his experience, most people didn't talk about their families the way Jasper, and admittedly some of the other pureblood students around campus, talked about theirs, so it hadn't ever come up. There would have been a time, about a year ago really, when Alexander would have been jealous. Now, he was perfectly happy with the family he had and there was not a thing he would change about it.

"You don't have to apologise," Alexander said kindly. "Can I ask though . . . why do people introduce themselves that way? Like with their region or whatever else?" Truth be told, Jasper was the first person Alexander would've been even a little comfortable asking. Maybe Allegra, but he got the feeling that Allegra wouldn't talk to a boy on her own if she could avoid it.

A small smile did briefly appear when Jasper said he wanted to make friends. "I don't think I really have a favorite," he replied, realising he'd spent so much of the last year trying to get his head on straight that he didn't really make time to think of a favorite. "I do like Professor Brooding-Hawthorne, so maybe potions." He remembered fondly the way she'd transfigured a couple of cowboy hats for him and Mab in Tumbleweed the previous year. Of course . . . "Maybe also transfiguration." Alexander did have an advantage in that visualising things came fairly neutrally to him, and if he had to draw it out, then that was no skin off his back. "I have liked making friends, too," he agreed. "It's nice the way the classes are split up, because you get to meet more people. You and I will be in classes together this year."

22 Alexander Pierce-Beales Then you're good in my book. 1475 0 5

Jasmine Delachene

May 26, 2020 12:04 PM

So do I by Jasmine Delachene

Jasmine nodded, and set the name 'Stanley' in her mind as one of Philippe's yearmates and Anya's Housemates, as well as Peyton's nephew. It was the last bit that gave him the most favor in Jasmine's book, and it was a factor shared by Wally, who was in their house, and she took note of him as well, as the one she might actually interact with if they happened to be in the common room at the same time. Likewise, Lavender, who was Peyton's cousin and in their House. Generally, though, she didn't expect to be talking to many of the first years other than Philippe.

"Yes, he's there, in Teppenpaw," Jasmine pointed out her brother when Peyton asked about him. "It's a good sorting. Teppenpaw suits him."

Peyton drew their attention back to the Pecaris, who were likewise suiting their sorting, and sighed a little. "Well, hopefully they won't get into too much trouble?" she guessed, basing this conclusion on wishful thinking rather than any kind of evidence that Anya knew how to avoid trouble or how to resist dragging younger boys into it with her. All experience with Philippe pointed to the contrary, but Stanley wasn’t Philippe so it was probably going to be different. She hoped. Maybe.

No, it was going to be terrible. She was just glad she wasn’t in Pecari.

1 Jasmine Delachene So do I 1397 0 5

Nathan Xavier

May 26, 2020 1:41 PM

Nah, it's not too bad unless you need to actually speak in front of the whole school by Nathan Xavier

Gray had effectively taken over the role of running Orientation. It just wasn't very easy to get everything ready in the greenhouses in time for the start of term when there was a small child underfoot all the time. Particularly a small child who liked swimming in fertilizer and digging the things he had just planted out of their pots. So he'd begged off the Orientation again in favor of getting in some quality Greenhouse time in while Isis watched Dora, and ended up talking a bit with Mary about children, so he was glad he'd been around for her to find.

He nodded greetings to his fellow staff members as he took a seat at their table prior to the feast. His hair was still a bit damp from the shower he'd taken between finishing up in the Greenhouses and now, and Dora was conspicuously missing this year, as the feast didn't end until after her bedtime and they were starting to enforce that more regularly. Plus the new rules for staff children strongly recommended they not attend the feast, which was supposed to be for the students. She'd been happy to stay behind anyway, playing with her new friend Zeus this time (though he imagined when she was 10 that would be a much bigger argument). He wasn't sure how much luck the elf Quippy was going to have getting her into bed tonight - or even to getting her to eat her dinner - but the initial parting had gone as well as possible.

There were a couple new staff people this year, and one of them took the seat beside him. Nathan nodded and greeted him politely, but he'd timed it - either by happenstance or intent - that he arrived right before the first years, and it wasn't until after the song (which Nathan hummed his way through more than sang) that introductions were possible.

"Yes," Nathan confirmed, "that's me. You can call me Nathan," he invited. "I've - not really done a lot in the groundskeeping arena lately. I'm a full professor, and a dad to a three year old, so the elves handle most of it. I just inspect their work once a month, or let them know if I spotted something off when I'm out and about. I gave a piece of the Gardens to the Gardening Club to oversee, so they take care of that part, and help me with the kitchen's vegetable garden. I can show you tomorrow where those spots are. As the Herbology professor, I'll keep after the greenhouses, of course, and the areas right outside of them where I've planted some things for classes and potions supplies. I guess the rest is under your direction now. Do you have any specific questions?"

1 Nathan Xavier Nah, it's not too bad unless you need to actually speak in front of the whole school 28 0 5

Philippe Delachene

May 27, 2020 7:17 AM

Good. Let's go with that then. by Philippe Delachene

Now that the initial excitement of meeting one of his new Housemates was settling into the comfortable feeling of having made a new potential friend, Philippe took a moment to start filling up his plate. He'd almost forgotten in his social glee that this was a feast and they were supposed to be eating. His stomach had reminded him with a gentle rumble, though, so now he was turning some of his attention to the food laid out around them. It was an excellent spread. Anya spoke highly of the food here, and Jasmine had no complaints either which was nearly higher praise than Anya's compliments.

"Oh, they have sweet potatoes!" he cheered and scooped out a large dollop onto his plate before answering Val's questions and comments.

"Well, I don't figure I'll see them an awful lot," he admitted in regards to his sisters. "They're in different Houses and different class levels, but I figure me and Anya at least will do some things together, and, I dunno, me and Jasmine might . . . eat together sometimes?" he guessed, floundering for an activity that might interest both of them at Sonora. At home they liked to read together, but he wasn't too sure she actually read for fun when he wasn't around, and he wasn't sure he wanted other people to see him getting read to by his older sister like a little kid. "They said the House table thing isn't strict and you can sit basically where ever you want when it's not a feast day like tonight."

He took a bite of the delicious smelling sweet potatoes as Val talked about her excitement of having other kids near her age to meet and spend time with, and he nodded with emphatic agreement. "These last two years since Anya left have been so boring at home most of the year. Now I've got her back, at least some of the time, and I have you now, too! And Wally, who I met at Orientation, and he has a twin brother here, and that kid over there is going to be my roommate," he pointed out the other first year he'd seen dunk a badge that came out yellow, "so that'll be interesting. I never had a roommate before. This is going to be great!"

1 Philippe Delachene Good. Let's go with that then. 1489 0 5

Hilda Hexenmeister

May 27, 2020 7:58 AM

Nein. Ich mag die erste Hälfte. by Hilda Hexenmeister

Hilda hadn't thought much of it when the seventh year prefect sat near her. It was an empty seat. She knew him from Quidditch, kind of, though he hadn't been on the team last year. She hadn't really expected him to talk to her, though. And she certainly hadn't expected him to talk to her in German. Imperfect German. But still recognizably German. And she was the last person who should cast aspirations on anyone struggling with a second language.

Once she finished looking stunned, she hurried to reassure him. "Nein, entschuldige dich nicht. Du hast es versucht," she smiled encouragingly. "Be not sorry. You try," she translated her own words, in case he hadn't followed. "Das reicht mir. That enough."

"Summer was good," she answered his question carefully, falling into the pattern she used with Jessica and some of her other German learning friends, where she spoke English for them and they spoke German for her. "Less English." Not no English though. Karl, Heinrich, and Hans were dumbbells who thought practicing it all the time was good for her or something. But there were small pockets where she was permitted a whole conversation in German. She grimaced slightly. "Less friends, too." She gestured vaguely toward the other House tables where Jessica, Johana Leonie, and Sophia were sitting. "Good to back, too."

OOC: German bits come mostly from Google Translate, so apologies if not correct.

1 Hilda Hexenmeister Nein. Ich mag die erste Hälfte. 1433 Hilda Hexenmeister 0 5

Anya Delachene

May 27, 2020 9:39 AM

Well fine then by Anya Delachene

The problem wasn't that Shovey was sitting next to Theo. Theo had waved him over and clearly thought the kid was worth knowing. The problem was that Shovey had shoved his way in between her and Theo. The problem wasn't that Shovey cheered for Peyton. Even Jasmine was cheering a little, too. And really, objectively, Anya did not think Jasmine was the best choice for Head Girl. If she'd been given a vote, she'd probably have voted for Tatiana or someone. Heck, maybe she would have even voted for Peyton. But Anya hadn't gotten a vote, and neither had Shovey, and Shovey didn't even know the other candidates, and it just irked her that he was dismissing Jasmine without even knowing about her. Especially given that he had just displaced Jasmine's sister from Theo's side.

Good news was that Theo still loved her, and it was hard to stay mad in the face of Theo's happiness and enthusiasm, especially when Shovey caught it and seemed just as happy about meeting her as Theo was to hug her. She hugged back, with Shovey kind of stuck in between them, so she guessed she was hugging Shovey, too, and staying mad while hugging was almost as hard as staying mad while looking at penguins, so she decided to be magnanimous and forgive him.

Mostly. For now.

"My sister's in Crotalus, too. She's Peyton's roommate, Jasmine?" she ventured, guessing that if Shovey liked Peyton so much he might have heard about Jasmine as well. "My little brother, Philippe, is in your year. He's over there in Teppenpaw," she made a vague gesture that was just as effective as accurate pointing because Shovey probably had no idea who he was supposed to be looking for anyway. "But yeah, Pecari is definitely the best. We're the only ones who have our Commons entrance outside." She didn't know exactly where the other Houses were, but it was usually only the Pecaris who turned up to class soaking wet on rainy days.

1 Anya Delachene Well fine then 1453 0 5

Mara Morales

May 27, 2020 10:29 PM

Thank you, I try. You do too. by Mara Morales

When Mara heard about dancing, the first thing she imagined was ballet. After that came tap dancers, and after that, not much of anything. Ballroom dancing was a thing she knew existed, but she didn't really know anyone who did that, and hadn't known that people their age even could.

"That's definitely something different," she remarked, and listened as Bella talked about how she was doing more Latin than Classical at the moment. She wondered for a moment if the other girl was from a family curiously like her own, at least to the degree of having a white father ('Harrington' was a name that practically wore tweeds) and a Latina mother (as Bella definitely looked less pale than some people around here), but the provided explanation was a pretty good one, too. Mara decided not to ask; she hated it when people said stupid stuff, making assumptions about what she liked or thought just because of her last name.

"Lately, I read a lot," she said when asked about what she did outside of class. "I like to call it market research - I've always thought I'd go into business, you know, and I can tell there's a lot of room in the markets here, but I have to know how this world works before I know how to advertise, yeah? Plus, I just want to know stuff - like, what was really going on in history that I couldn't learn about before I started here." She took a sip of her drink. "Were you born here - like, in a magic family, I mean?" she asked, wondering if she made any particular sense to Bella now. She wondered if that sensation was ever going to completely wear off - this odd sense, the moment after she said something, that it was possible they weren't even operating on the same basic definitions of what constituted normal. It had even started kicking in at home, so what chance did it really have of going away here?

16 Mara Morales Thank you, I try. You do too. 1472 0 5

Osvaldo Alamilla

May 28, 2020 6:22 PM

I will certainly pass on that experience, thank-you. by Osvaldo Alamilla

Osvaldo smiled at the man and began to fill his plate with the nearby food, "Nathan, very well. Thank-you." Business was underway, and a lack of sustenance would surely impede any progress on that front. He nodded as Professor Xavier continued talking about his life. Yes, Osvaldo knew how much work small children could be, luckily Edu was not three. That did bring an relevant question to mind, "Your child is three you say? Do you all live on campus here as well? Are there many young children about?"

"That sounds excellent, a quick tour around the Gardens would be most appreciated." He gave the man a smile, "I am sure I will have many questions over the next few days and weeks." He paused briefly, "For now, the only one that really comes to mind is about the elves. I have not seen any about yet, but I haven't been here long and it is my understanding that they generally work as subtly as possible. What is the procedure to direct them, and are there any in particular that I should know about?" That question brought another to his mind, did they have any sort of organizational structure? Surely they must, especially if they were not under closer direct supervision than a monthly check-up.

The greenhouses and potion supply areas were of interest as well, not so much to the groundskeeper though. Osvaldo wondered what kind of potion ingredients the herbology professor had growing. Mostly ordinary things without a doubt, but perhaps there were some more... interesting things as well.

2 Osvaldo Alamilla I will certainly pass on that experience, thank-you. 1503 0 5

Valentine Duell

May 30, 2020 6:04 AM

Okay, executing plan now. by Valentine Duell

Valentine's eyes began to look over the food items on the table when Philippe turned his attention that direction. Everything looked fantastic, so she began to load up her plate with anything that looked remotely delicious, which was most of it. This was a feast after all, and it wasn't a proper feast with out a decent amount of overeating. She also took some of the sweet potatoes. They weren't her favorite thing, but Philippe was very enthusiastic about them so she decided to give them a chance.

She nodded along as he talked about potential interactions with his sisters. The news about the relaxed table assignments was a relief, she would be able to eat with Bonny. It would have been sad to only see her new friend in classes and clubs. Oh, that was another question! "Did you sisters talk about the clubs and other activities? I know there is Quidditch, what other things are there to do?"

Once again, Val followed Philippe's pointing finger as it indicated more people. Her face fell a bit as he pointed out the boy that would probably be Philippe's roommate. There hadn't been any other girls sorted into Teppenpaw, had there? There hadn't been many girls to start with... was she not going to get a roommate? "I... I haven't had a roommate before either." she replied forlornly as she looked up and down the Teppenpaw table. "I guess I still won't have one." That wasn't fair, she had been looking forward to having a roommate. Someone to stay up late with and swap stories when they were supposed to be sleeping, like a never ending slumber party. Instead she'd just have an empty room to herself, just like at home.

2 Valentine Duell Okay, executing plan now. 1490 0 5

Allegra Brockert

May 31, 2020 11:48 AM

I'm going to die, aren't I? by Allegra Brockert

Allegra was incredibly anxious. This year it was her class up for prefect and no matter how it played out, it was going to suck for her. There were four ways it could end up regarding Crotalus and Aladren-the Teppenpaw and Pecari prefects didn't matter, though of course she hoped Katerina got it-and none of them sounded like they'd be especially good for her.

If she and Topaz both got prefect, that meant her cousin was prefect and the Aladren with that sort of power was not a good thing. Plus, they might have to patrol together. If Topaz got it and Allegra didn't, Topaz would have that power and she'd rub Allegra's nose in it. If neither got it...the Aladren would be seeking revenge but she'd probably only torment her roommate rather than Allegra, so that might be the best outcome of all. If Allegra got it and Topaz didn't....Topaz would find a way to make both Allegra and Ness pay for it.

As the Opening Feast began, her heart rate spead up. She honestly felt like she might vomit. The fifth year felt like she was in another no-win situation, the way she'd spent her entire life. Of course, Allegra honestly didn't think she'd get it. Julius had started the Aronos and starting an activity counted a lot. Something she obviously didn't have the confidence-lack of confidence being another reason she wouldn't get prefect- to do. Her only school involvement was going to Art Club and that was only to support Katerina. Gardenia Girls did not count as a school club because membership was not open to everyone.

Would Topaz get it though? Allegra felt that it was possible. Nobody on staff, not even Grandfather, knew what the Aladren was. Plus, Topaz really was very smart and a gifted student. And Ness was rather...abrasive. The other Aladren really only had school involvement in her favor. (And the fact that Topaz was a psychopath,but again, none of the staff would be aware of that factor.)

The first years were sorted but Allegra was too nervous to pay attention to wear Jasper was going. Then came the big terrifying moment. She braced herself. The names were called and her heart sank as she rose and went to the stage to collect her badge. The worst had happened. She was prefect. Topaz wasn't. This was not going to be good. Allegra legitmately feared for her safety.

And, to be honest, the Crotalus didn't want to patrol with Ness either and sincerely wished there was a third option for Aladren, though that would not have eliminated the fact that her cousin was going to terrorize her more than usual. Even though Topaz was not generally a credible source, the other girl had proven Allegra's cousin to be somewhat right. And Allegra was a pureblood girl who wanted to get married and have children. She'd grown up interested in playing dolls, not Quidditch. True, the Crotalus wasn't as girly as say, Ruby or Jasmine Delachene-and she didn't stuff dead animals like Topaz did-but she was girly enough, and she was terrified that Ness was going to be rude to her and give her a hard time about who she was.

Then there was the terrifying possibility of patrolling with boys. While Allegra enjoyed Nathaniel's company well enough and no real personal objection to the rest-even though she was supposed to-it would be indecent and improper to do so.

On the plus side, Grandfather was clearly proud of her and Katerina was prefect too. Also, Evelyn being prefect at least meant that Allegra would not have to worry about getting into an inappropriate situation with Malikhi Hill. She returned Katerina's congratulations and went back to her seat.

As she sat back down, she caught Topaz's eye which contained a look of pure malice. More so than usual. The Aladren held up a steak knife for a second before using it for it's intended purpose. Allegra shuddered. Now she could only hope that she could count on the fact that Topaz despised Ness more than she did Allegra. Not that she wished the other prefect ill, but well, it would take the focus off the Crotalus. And she felt bad about it but she also didn't want to be her cousin's target.

Despite the fact that it was inevitable.

11 Allegra Brockert I'm going to die, aren't I? 1426 0 5

Topaz Brockert

June 02, 2020 11:53 AM

People are going to pay for this by Topaz Brockert

So this was it, this was the year where Topaz would be getting prefect. After all, was there any better candidate in the whole school than her? She was definitely the smartest person in the whole school and an amazing student.Plus, there was no way the staff here thought of her the same way that her siblings and cousins did. Not even Grandfather. Especially not Grandfather.

Also, her competition was Snotti-Ness . There was no way that that wretched creature was going to compare favorably to anyone and especially not to Topaz. It was literally the case of the best possible person versus the worst possible person. Besides, while Topaz hid her worst impulses from the staff, Snotti-Ness was openly abrasive. Topaz was not wrong. (Well, she was rarely wrong about anything as she was a genius, but that was beside the point.) She was not wrong about her roommate, who acted like she was all tolerant and accepting....but turned around and looked down on purebloods, girly girls, and people who did taxidermy. Okay, Topaz thought girly girls, like Ruby and Angelique, were silly too, but she had never portrayed herself as this bastion of open mindedness.

Plus, the Aladren would have the joy of gloating, both towards Snotti-Ness and towards Allegra, because there was no way her cousin was going to get it either. The Crotalus was weak and soft and shy. Those people never got prefect.

Grandfather started speaking and Topaz waited impatiently for the firsties to be sorted. Her brother was among them this year, but she didn't care about him. In fact, as Jasper was the boy that her parents wanted so much she resented him more than her sisters. Topaz was glad that he wasn't sorted into Aladren though. Right now,Topaz had Aladren all to herself, as Emerald had graduated.

Finally, prefects were being announced. The fifth year prepared to get up and accept her badge.

Except that it wasn't her name called. She was stunned....and angry. How had this happened? The only thing Snotti-Ness had in her favor was school involvement. Did that really count for that much? Topaz had better things to do with her time! She was too brilliant to waste time on silly little clubs. And she had gone to Art Club....more or less to help her get prefect.

She supposed she could guess why the Brooding-Hawthornes voted for Snotti-Ness. But everyone else?

Not only that but Allegra had gotten prefect too. How was this possible? Had the world gone crazy? Not that Julius Astley was any real prize, but her cousin was not supposed to best her! That's the way things were.

Apparently, Allegra understood this. She looked a bit sick as she accepted her badge from Grandfather. The cousins caught each other's eyes as the Crotalus girl returned to her seat. Topaz held up her steak knife, knowing that it would be taken as a threat. And that was the intention. Both to freak her cousin out, and because well, Topaz was really going to make Allegra suffer. More than usual.

And more importantly, she was going to make Snotti-Ness suffer too. More than usual and more than she would Allegra-and considering how much she was going to make her cousin suffer....her roommate was not going to have a good year. Topaz was going to see to that.

11 Topaz Brockert People are going to pay for this 1427 0 5