Decisions, decisions.... on Quidditch Pitch

Coach Pierce

November 04, 2011 12:32 PM

Flying Lessons for First Years by Coach Pierce

In her 'Quidditch Coach' hat, Amelia Pierce was only responsible for teaching one class: Flying Lessons, which was given only to first years (though older students could attend if they wanted to and signed up in advance). It was generally a popular class among the kids because there were no homework assignments or tests, and half the class was allowed to play broom tag or a pick-up game of Quidditch for most of it while the true beginners were given basic lessons. The rest were only expected to participate to the best of their ability.

As long as everyone spent the entire period sitting on a broom in the air and at least attempting to do as instructed, they passed. It was not a difficult class by any stretch of the imagination. The final exam was flying from one end of the pitch to the other and back without crashing. That got an A. If they could do in under ten minutes it was an E. Under five earned an O. Most kids earned Es and Os in her class.

"Hello," she greeted her new class of first years once they seemed to have stopped trickling in. She allowed for 'getting lost time' the first week, but she'd dock points for poor punctuality later. She was Head of Crotalus and the Deputy Headmistress; it was practically in her job description to be a stickler for rules. "My name is Coach Pierce. I will be your flying instructor this year."

"Now, I know most of you will not view this as a 'real' class, but I can and will take House Points and assign detention if I catch any of you messing around, and I will catch you if you do. I expect you to show up on time. I expect you to behave and show each other respect. I will not tolerate insults or taunting of any form. I expect everyone to try their best."

Unlike the years prior to Valerie Lennox, she did not assert that there would be no exceptions because sometimes there apparently were good medical reasons for some students not to participate. Those students would be seen to on a case by case basis.

There was one reason she would hear nothing about, no matter how much some of the Board of Governors howled. "For those of you with parents who support WAIL, I assure you, they will not disown you for hovering on a broom and flying across the pitch for one hour, once a week, for one year."

She took a breath, and used the short pause to look around the group to make sure they were still listening. "That said, I am aware some of you already know how to fly. I offer those students the priviledge of forgoing the basic lessons and doing whatever you like so long as you are on your broom and flying for the duration of the lesson. I have Quaffles and other muggle varieties of balls available for your use. Later, once I know I can trust you, I'll allow bludgers and Snitches. If you need anything else, let me know and I'll see what I can do."

She waited a moment to let them try to imagine what other equipment they might need for more creative flying games, then added, "Just remember, this is a priviledge and if I have any problems with you fighting amongst yourselves or interferring with my lessons, you will all be down here hovering five feet over the ground with the beginners."

With that threat leveled, she expected not to have any problems with the experienced kids (in point of fact, she had not yet had to follow through with it in six years and hoped she never would). "Now I'm going to call roll, and then anyone who feels they do not need basic instruction may go play. Please raise your hand and say 'here' when I call your name. Bauer, Alicia." She went through the list, giving 'Pierce, Thaddeus' no more emphasis than any other name since she didn't want to embarrass him, and marking attendance. "Okay, that's it. If I didn't call your name, let me know. Experienced fliers, you may take to the air. School brooms are over there, if you don't have your own."

She gave a few seconds for unnamed students to make themselves known and for the fliers to get out of the way. She did note that her brother was among them, which was only right, though honestly she would have personally liked it better if he had stayed.

"Everyone else, line up here." Her wand flicked out and a white line appeared in the grass. "If you have your own broom put it down beside you. To your right if you're right-handed, to your left if you're left-handed. Everyone else, just stand in front of the line."

Once they did that, Amelia started distributing brooms to those who didn't have one yet. "Put it to your right if you're right-handed, to the left if you're left-handed," she repeated as she moved down the line. Once they all had brooms beside them, she instructed, "Now hold your wand hand out over your broom, like this," she stepped over her own broom, lying in the grass, so that it was to her right. She held out her right hand over it. "Palm down. Now, in a firm voice, like if you're ordering a dog to sit, tell it to come to your hand by saying 'up' - Up!" she said, louder, in demonstration, and her broom leapt up directly into her hand.

"I'd like you all to try that. You may need to try it a couple of times to get it to work. Once it's in your hand, just swing one leg over it like this," she demonstrated climbing onto the broom, "and just hover there for a bit. Try to keep steady and not drift too much. Raise your hand if you have a question or a problem. Barring too many of those, I'll show you how to manuever once everybody gets into a hover."

OOC: Hello and welcome to Sonora. Your character earns points for their House by participating in classes, so be sure to follow the posting rules. Long quality posts earn the most points. Have fun!

Subthreads:

... by Angel Shield - Teppenpaw with Waverly Canterbury - Pecari!, Angel

I don't try my best, I do my best by Theresa Carey, Pecari with Jade Owen, Theresa

I’m not afraid of heights by Gareth Whitebriar - Crotalus with Thaddeus Pierce II, Cepheus Princeton - Crotalus, Gareth, Cepheus Princeton

Not the sharpest knife in the drawer, this one. by Shiloh Romano with Jorge Garcia (Pecari), Shiloh Romano (Crotalus)

Not really my thing. by Evan Brockert with Henny B-F-R

Decisions, decisions.... by Alicia Bauer, Aladren

Not so bad. by Arabella Brockert, Pecari with Alexandra Deveraux, Crotalus

0 Coach Pierce Flying Lessons for First Years 0 Coach Pierce 1 5

Angel Shield - Teppenpaw

November 05, 2011 1:59 PM

... by Angel Shield - Teppenpaw

Just as his Perfect predicted during the opening feast, the first years were required to gather for flying lessons. The soft prickle of grass on the soles of his feet was pleasant, and more interesting than carpet, stone, or wood. Pale toes curled lightly in the green blades as Angel listened to the instructions given by Coach Pierce. A delicate ghostly hand rose and Angel murmured a soft “Here” when his name was called. Many of the other Purebloods took her invitation to forgo instruction and move straight into flying. Angel remained behind with those who required further guidance in the matter.

He stood broomless and waited as the Coach moved down the line handing out school brooms. The young albino didn’t look up when she stopped in front of him, dark glasses hid his crimson gaze but still didn’t erase his discomfort with looking at people. Carefully he reached out and took the broom before placing it on the grass to his right. He shifted uneasily as he stood again, uncertain about the next step.

Biting his fingernail as his fellow students all started chanting the word UP, Angel stared down at the broom. Hesitantly he shifted his right hand away from him so that it hung listlessly above the broom. “up?” The softly spoken word was lost in the loud voices of his peers, and the broom didn’t so much as twitch at the weak command. “up?” Still nothing. He’d wondered why they were required to take this class for the duration of the year. Seeing his indifferent broom refusing to do more than lay in the grass Angel realized it might take the full year for him to get it to obey him.

0 Angel Shield - Teppenpaw ... 0 Angel Shield - Teppenpaw 0 5

Waverly Canterbury - Pecari!

November 05, 2011 4:45 PM

So the fairy tales <i>are</i> true! by Waverly Canterbury - Pecari!

Waverly was a little scared for the flying lessons. She had never even used a broom for sweeping before. She wasn't sure if her mom even had a real broom. But when she went to the Quidditch pitch (after asking for directions), she found that the brooms that she had in mind were not the same as magical brooms. She wasn't sure if she was relieved or not. She smiled a little though. She remembered the fairy tales her mom had read to her. Witches on brooms, just like on TV! She was a real witch now, but not an evil witch. Thank goodness. It was nice to know not all of the fairy tales were true.

Waverly looked around at her peers. It looked like she wasn't the only one who hadn't flown before. She answered roll call with a cheerful, "Present!" and proceeded to listen with attentive ears to what was to come next. She was a little jealous of those who already knew how to fly. She felt like she had missed out on a childhood with magic. But still! She was magical! Waverly still had to get used to that.

When the group split, she stood with the people who were new at this magic stuff, and then when she got a broom, she felt a little silly at putting it down. She was left-handed, so put it on her left side. She cleared her throat and then called, "Up!" Nothing happened, and Waverly immediately felt foolish. Did she think she had the force or something? But she supposedly magical, so Waverly said, "Up!" The doubt in her mind probably didn't help, but Waverly couldn't help it. She looked at her neighbor who seemed to be having trouble too.

"I can't seem to get my broom up either," Waverly said to him. "You probably have to say it louder to the broom, but I don't know what else to do. Does the broom listen to you? Do they have ears?" She furrowed her brows for a moment, before she realized she was being rude. "Oh, sorry!" A bright smile encompassed her face. "I'm Waverly. It's nice to meet you! I'm new to this whole magic thing, so I have no clue what to do."

0 Waverly Canterbury - Pecari! So the fairy tales <i>are</i> true! 0 Waverly Canterbury - Pecari! 0 5

Theresa Carey, Pecari

November 05, 2011 9:25 PM

I don't try my best, I do my best by Theresa Carey, Pecari

There were times when it bothered Theresa to have to defer to some members of the family, but it was easier when it meant Grandfather paid for a trip to the seamstress, as he had before she went to visit Lucille. The younger girl outranked her, but it was essential to the branch’s dignity that she not, at least during the two weeks of the visit, hugely outdress her.

Since Lucille enjoyed riding horses the way Theresa enjoyed archery, some of those clothes had been for riding, which was coming in handy now. The embroidery had cost enough to make her mother wince a little – not that Mother didn’t always wince when they were having clothes made; to hear her tell it, they were all but starving already – but the wide band of pink and yellow roses on their green stems around the hem of the divided skirt would, if she put the jacket she had on with it under her robes in her bag, let it look like she was wearing a real skirt as long as she didn’t move too quickly in the rest of her of classes if she didn’t have time to change after this one. Since she could no more run around in one of her brothers’ old clothes, as she very rarely got away with at home, here than she really could wear a normal skirt while riding a broom, she actually found herself feeling a little gratitude toward Lucy, as well as thinking that maybe there was something to the family’s idea that everything happened for a reason.

Fleetingly, she wondered if helping her not look like an idiot today would be enough of a reason to get Arnold and Jay out of trouble if Mother and Grandmother ever found out they regularly let her play broom tag with them and the other boys – overall, she thought not – but there were too many other people for her to study now for her to think too much about that.

When the first name – Bauer – was called off the attendance list, though, she stopped rating Alexandra’s outfit and started paying attention, trying to learn names as quickly as possible. She didn’t think she had all of them down by the end of it, but it was a good start, and another class or so would, she was sure, let her have them all down.

Arthur had mentioned that the class was taught in two parts, along with a blunt directive to stay with the beginners “so none of the wealthier morons think you’re like Pierce,” so that didn’t come as a surprise. Being the younger of a set of twins cancelled out enough of the advantage Arthur had by being older and male that Theresa would never really have to obey him even when they were adults, just listen politely to his opinions if he chose to offer them before making a decision however she wanted if there were no other factors, but he had a point similar to one Mother had made, so she stayed put when the class began to split up. She and the boys had never flown very high, anyway, or tried to play Quidditch since they did realize that was improper for her, so she’d do better just flying a bit here than she would trying to work over there.

She didn’t have a broom with her, so she just stood by the line as instructed, until a broom was distributed to her and she moved it to the same side as her wand hand. She watched the coach carefully as she demonstrated the rest, found nothing that looked too different from what she’d seen before, and shrugged before looking at the broom and sharply, firmly, as though telling one of the littles to do something, said “Up!”

Unlike Brandon, the broom knew how to take orders, and it smacked her hand hard enough to hurt because she wasn’t ready for it. She bit her lip as her fingers closed around it, then shook her head a bit, making the black-brown braid hanging down her back sway, to clear a bit of water from her eyes as she mounted. Bending her knees a little, she rose about five feet in the air and stopped, thinking that it really was easier in this sort of skirt. She could balance much better, for one thing. Then she looked around to see who else had pulled it off and saw someone hovering nearby.

Shyness was something she had heard of, but it wasn’t something she had a lot of experience with. “Hello!” she said cheerfully, smiling and reaching up to adjust her hat so she could see better. “This isn’t too hard, is it? How do you do?”

0 Theresa Carey, Pecari I don't try my best, I do my best 0 Theresa Carey, Pecari 0 5

Gareth Whitebriar - Crotalus

November 06, 2011 11:50 AM

I’m not afraid of heights by Gareth Whitebriar - Crotalus

Why do I have to take this class? Couldn’t there just be a test to prove we know what we’re doing? This is such a waste of time. Gareth thought unhappily as he stood in line with the other first years. Sure, muggleborn boys should be taught how to fly, but Purebloods already knew how. Those who were suppose to know any way. Girls also stood in the line and Gareth shifted uncomfortably at the improper behavior. When his name was called Gareth raised his hand and said “Present.”

The children who knew what they were doing were given the freedom to fly on their own. Taking a slow deep breath Gareth made his way to the balls and grabbed up a red leather Quaffle. Chaser was one of the positions he planned to try out for so getting a little practice in wouldn’t go amiss. Setting his broom down Gareth said in a firm authoritative voice “UP!”

With the skill of years of practice Gareth ignored his sweaty palms, the way his heart thudded heavily in his chest, and the feeling of his stomach dropping down around his knees somewhere. The fear was an old thing, and meaningless. There was no reason for it, no past falls, or close calls. It had just always been there. And it was completely unacceptable, so he’d learned to ignore it, deny it, pretend that it didn’t exist. He would do these lessons because they were required, and never show how uncomfortable flying made him. And he would get on the Quidditch team, because it was required by his father for all the males in the family. School and Quidditch simply went together, to not play would be akin to choosing not to take Transfiguration, it was simply unheard of.

Throwing one leg expertly over the broom Gareth turned to one of his fellow experienced flyers. “Hello I’m Gareth Whitebriar of House Blackbriar, care to play?” His Welsh accent helped hide the slight tremor of fear the words held, fear that wasn’t reflected in his features.

0 Gareth Whitebriar - Crotalus I’m not afraid of heights 0 Gareth Whitebriar - Crotalus 0 5

Angel

November 06, 2011 12:59 PM

… by Angel

Laughter and shouting mingled with the various chants of up as the students who knew what they were doing took off to play, and the students who didn’t attempted to get off the ground. A subtle glance down the line showed varying degrees of success on at this project. Some of the students had very little difficulty getting the brooms to obey them. Others, including the girl next to him met with the same trouble he was having, where to broom failed to respond at all.

A few more hesitant whispers of up were interrupted by the girl next to him suddenly speaking. He was unaware of the state of ears on brooms, but a quick scrutinizing glance revealed nothing external. Keeping his gaze on the broom Angel said softly “Angel Shield.” to her rather abrupt introduction.

Her next sentence caused Angel to glance fully at her before dropping his crimson gaze. He’d never seen a muggleborn before, and surprisingly she looked like any other witch he’d observed so far. There was nothing to mark her as different that he could see. Perhaps it was like color? Something that other people could differentiate, but that continued to elude him. Deciding to attempt her advice he said in a louder tone “Up?” still the broom remained indifferent. “Broken?” He asked quietly, perhaps that was the problem. Maybe the charms that made the brooms function had degraded.

0 Angel … 0 Angel 0 5

Waverly

November 06, 2011 3:25 PM

Don't you speak much? by Waverly

Waverly had to lean forward a little to hear his name, but she caught it thankfully without having to ask for it again. He was shy, that was for sure. Waverly liked shy people. She was glad when he took her advice, and then said, "Broken?" like a child. Waverly felt suddenly like the big sister she was and shook her head. "I don't think they're broken." She remembered the Coach's advice and cleared her throat. She had to use her queenly commanding voice.

"I order you up!" she told the broom, her left hand hovering over it. The broom promptly rolled over, startling Waverly slightly. She was irritated. She saw her peers flying already and wanted to do the same. "Coach Pierce said to command it," Waverly told her new friend, "so I guess we have to do that." It would be easier for her to help him if she could help herself.

Waverly glared angrily at the broom then and clenched her hand once before ordering the broom again. "UP!" she commanded in her queenly voice, and suddenly the broom smacked into her palm. Startled and intruiged and definitely excited, Waverly looked over at Angel, beaming. "I did it!" she exclaimed. "All you have to do is order the darn thing to come up." Now that she had done it, her past attempts had seemed silly. Now she was just feeling nervous about sitting on a broom and flying like those witches she'd read about in storybooks. This was all so surreal.

"Come on, now," Waverly encouraged. "I'll wait for you."

0 Waverly Don't you speak much? 0 Waverly 0 5

Angel

November 06, 2011 4:38 PM

... by Angel

A small frown touched his pale lips as Waverly denied that the brooms were broken. He stared down at his broom, which still hadn’t moved at all and wasn’t so sure. Shouldn’t it have at least twitched? The tone Waverly used changed completely as she tried her command again, this time adding more words. To Angel’s surprise the broom flopped over, proving that the girl had been right, they weren’t broken.

One more try and Waverly’s broom snapped up into her hand. Angel had watched the whole thing, but couldn’t figure out how she’d gotten her broom to work. It just sounded loud to Angel, and when he’d tried to be loud nothing happened. Seems Waverly succeeded he expected her to get on the broom and fly, instead she just stood next to him. Come on, now. I’ll wait for you. She said. Surprise colored his cheeks a light pink as he tried again. “UP?” The word was loudly spoken, still flavored with hesitance.

Angel frowned as the broom remained still. He nudged it lightly with one foot as if that might help the thing along, but it remained unmoved. All you have to do is order the darn thing to come up Waverly had said. Unfortunately, Angel had never ordered anyone to do anything in his life, and had no idea how to do such a thing. A small sound of frustration escaped the albino as the broom remained stubbornly indifferent to his commands.

0 Angel ... 0 Angel 0 5

Waverly

November 07, 2011 12:05 AM

Okay then. I guess I'll have to make up subjects! by Waverly

Waverly felt like she had been enlightened in her short little triumph, and now she wanted everyone to feel the same. Angel was different, she had noticed that much, but that just made her want to be his friend more, even if he didn't talk. She could talk enough for the both of them. Smiling encouragingly, she watched him as the broom refused to respond to him. Frowning, she wanted him to command just like she had, but she thought that he wouldn't feel comfortable doing that. Well, really, when was a better time to try than now?

"Come on, you can do it!" she told him. "Just say, 'UP!' in a commanding voice. Like, uh, I don't know, if you have any pets or anything. Or if your parents bossed you around, use that voice. Or if your brother or sister bossed you around too, then use that voice!" She smiled at him, proud that she had thought up that example all by herself. She really wanted to fly up now, but she wanted to wait and see Angel do this too. Her green eyes were fixed on the boy, watching and waiting for him to do something. To make his broom at least move.

0 Waverly Okay then. I guess I'll have to make up subjects! 0 Waverly 0 5

Angel

November 07, 2011 10:12 PM

... by Angel

“UP?” Angel all but shouted at the thing. No, apparently volume wasn’t the deciding factor as the broom remained stubbornly on the grass and not in his hand. He was about to just give up and sit dowin to wait for the end of the lesson when Waverly spoke again. Crimson eyes watched her from behind his dark glasses without looking directly at her. In fact, it didn’t look like he was paying any attention at all, but his full focus was on the muggleborn girl.

Use a commanding voice, I have no pets, I’ve never commanded anything…but…maybe I should sound like Lady Cynthia? Angel thought over Waverly’s words as he chewed his nail absently. His guardian always spoke harshly, and never asked anyone anything. Both house-elves, and Angel were often on the receiving end of her telling them what to do. Maybe that was what Waverly meant?

Taking a deep breath, Angel subconsciously straightened his normally hunched shoulders as he glared haughtily down at the broom in a near perfect mimicry of Lady Cynthia’s snooty ways. “UP!” He commanded, his voice a bit higher than it had been. To his shock the broom actually obeyed him! The sharp smack of wood against his out held palm was so startling that Angel didn’t curl his fingers around the wood. After a brief second the broom fell back to the ground. Angel blinked down at the once again unmoving broom, not sure what to think.

0 Angel ... 0 Angel 0 5

Waverly

November 07, 2011 10:46 PM

Yay! by Waverly

Waverly knew Angel could do it. For goodness sake, if she could do it, then anyone could! She watched him as he pondered what to do, and then when he took on a sudden demeanor of anger and power, she was surprised, but in a good way. Everyone had that person in them, or at least knew someone like that. She gasped when Angel's command brought the broom up to his hand, but let the air out again when the broom fell. "You got it!" she exclaimed. "Just do that again and actually catch the broom." She smiled again, giddy with delight, as if she had gotten her broom off of the ground again.

"Okay, come on! Do it again, and you know how to do it right now!" She was happy for him and really wanted to get up into the sky. As she watched him, she pulled a black hairtie from her wrist and tied back her long brown hair into a ponytail. It would get in the way when she was flying. Ah, flying! What a magical word! Waverly sighed, just thinking about it, and glanced up at the sky where most of her peers were already flying.

"Okay, just one more time, and grab it! And then we can fly with everyone else!" she exclaimed happily. She hoped he had a burst of confidence now. Ah! Magic was all just so wonderful and so new and so nice! Waverly looked at Angel, encouraging him with her eyes to go on.

0 Waverly Yay! 0 Waverly 0 5

Shiloh Romano

November 08, 2011 5:08 PM

Not the sharpest knife in the drawer, this one. by Shiloh Romano

Shiloh was not a brilliant child. Her various tutors over the years had assured her of that. But she had tenacity and conviction, and when, four years earlier, she had been introduced to her multiplication tables, she steadfastly set to the task. Her tutor, most likely frustrated by the slowness of her memorization, had relented to the use of an abacus, but Shiloh refused. And eventually, she could handle all up to 15 for her table, a feat that once she felt confident with, she immediately shared with her parents who both seemed to find a handle on numbers unnecessary in a seven-year-old girl.

But Shiloh had been terribly pleased with herself, despite her parents' unimpressed response. She made a game of it afterward, tying together numbers whenever she could, just to see if still, she knew how to play with the numbers. One of her favorite games was used with her clothes; when she had been packing to leave for Sonora and was forced to limit her wardrobe to the space made available in her trunk, she set to calculating the number of unique outfits she could create with a set number of clothes. Four skirts, seven blouses, and two sweaters would give her 56 different combinations. That particular game kept her occupied for a week, until her mother in a fit of impatience and pique, forbade Shiloh from doing anything with the trunk and gave the task to one of the maids instead.

It was a complete delight then when Shiloh finally unpacked her trunk at school. For hours, she played with the numbers, running by different article combinations, with or without accessories, a tuneless humming slipping out from under her breath throughout. Her behavior was sure to have driven her poor roommate insane, but Shiloh was oblivious to that sort of thing. She was still so taken by the game of combinations that she thought nothing of the appropriateness of donning a cordoroy skirt with a pair of her whitest stockings to wear to Flying Lessons. She was concerned only with considering that she could wear that same skirt again later in the week with a different shirt and sweater, perhaps with leggings, and even after that, she had another 73 different combinations she could create.

Her thoughts on clothes and numbers came to a screeching and total halt, though, once roll call began and the silliness of her morning thoughts revealed themselves. She stared hard at Coach Pierce, willing her Head of House to realize Shiloh's dilemma. She couldn't possibly climb atop a broom while in a skirt! What would her mother say? What her classmates think? As Coach Pierce continued to detail the rules of the lessons, Shiloh's cheeks grew more and more flushed, her hands knitting themselves anxiously. She considered, just for a moment, making up an excuse about not feeling well, but Coach Pierce's directives regarding parents and something or the other about crying had just enough force behind it to intimidate that thought away.

Instead, Shiloh dutifully walked to the section of the field given to those who already knew how to fly. She stared at her broom, feeling wretched. If she didn't participate, she would get a bad grade and Coach Pierce would think she was a bad student. Then she might write Shiloh's parents and tell them, which would be just awful all around. Looking completely dejected, far more than really was necessary for the situation, Shiloh turned to her nearest neighbor, hoping for mental fortitude, "There's no way I can fly. My mother would be horrified."

Being both unfamiliar with WAIL and the mentality behind it-- her parents were a disinterested lot when it came to sports and the like, despite having birthed six sons-- Shiloh was completely ignorant of the alternative meaning her words might take.

0 Shiloh Romano Not the sharpest knife in the drawer, this one. 0 Shiloh Romano 0 5

Angel

November 08, 2011 8:25 PM

... by Angel

It appeared that his small success pleased Waverly greatly and Angel was glad. If he hadn’t been able to get the broom to move that time Angel planned let her go on without him. Now that he’d gotten the broom to function properly Waverly wanted him to do it again so that they could join the others in flight. The ghostly pale boy glanced up, his darkly tinted glasses slipping a bit as he studied the flying students.

Again he focused his attention on the broom at his side. Remembering how it felt to make it cooperate the first time Angel didn’t have much difficulty with getting the broom to respond again. “Up!” It leapt into his waiting hand and this time he managed to grab hold of it before it fell. Now that the first part of flying had been competed Angel glanced hesitantly over to Waverly.

With a wary breath Angel brought one leg up over the broom, revealing grass stained toes as the robes he wore were pushed out of the way. “Stay low?” He asked hopefully. If she wished to go high he wouldn’t argue but it was a risk. At the moment he didn’t feel unwell, but his dizzy spells didn’t give much warning and falling from the height that some of the students were flying at would be quite painful.

0 Angel ... 0 Angel 0 5

Jorge Garcia (Pecari)

November 08, 2011 9:09 PM

It's not nice to talk about yourself like that. by Jorge Garcia (Pecari)

Jorge, thus far, liked Sonora. With his sisters and extended family already having attended Sonora, he already had a brief understanding of how things worked around here. For one, the school was rather accepting of things. Dulce had told him that their Defense Against the Dark Arts professor was married to a woman and the previous Charms Professor was in a relationship with a man (she wasn’t quite sure if marriage was involved, but there was a man involved in some way). This did not bother the Garcias at all, people loved who they loved and all that stuff, but Dulce wanted Jorge to know that the staff were human and they could be very different. She also explained that there was a bit of blood tension with certain families. She advised Jorge to just stay out of all the politics. Jorge was quite okay with not getting involved.

Even though he would never admit it, Jorge was looking forward to lessons. Dulce had decided to take it upon herself to begin giving him lessons over summer. He was a little bit annoyed by it, but only just a little. It was for an hour a day and it was giving him an advantage. He knew what to expect. He wasn’t sure if that was very fair, but it wasn’t like he could do the magical part of the lessons. He’ll be doing that for the first time with all of his classmates.

The one lesson, though, that Dulce did not talk about was the flying lesson. Dulce did not enjoy flying anymore than Lita did. Of course, Lita did not enjoy it because she was afraid of heights. Dulce didn’t fly because she found it completely pointless. Jorge, however, loved to fly. He wasn’t sure if he was going to go for the Quidditch team this year or not. He had played in the past and his Tio was a famous Pro Quidditch Player in Portugal, but Jorge didn’t want to commit himself to anything just yet. But, at least he had his flying lessons!

He had gone down to the pitch with his broom in hand (it was a gift from his parents for his eleventh birthday) and waiting rather impatiently for the lesson to begin. Jorge wasn’t allowed to fly back home because the Magical community they lived in was surrounded by Muggles. But, whenever they were in Mexico or Spain and even the community if Los Angeles where his Abuelos lived, Jorge had been able to fly there. He missed it. The Coach went straight to the point and Jorge was grateful for that. But, he was even more grateful for the fact that he was allowed to go off and fly without having to sit through the basics.

Taking his broom, Jorge wandered off, set on simply flying around for awhile. He enjoyed the wind and the speed. But, before he could take off, a girl spoke up beside him. “Why would your Mother be horrified?” He asked. He knew there were a lot of people who thought girls should never play or fly, but Jorge didn’t really think much of it. For one, his Tia Julia was one of the most bada** people he knew and if she wanted to fly, she would never let someone tell her otherwise. And, he didn’t really see what was so wrong about it. It was just being above the ground for an hour. No big deal. “Is she one of those people who think if a girl touches a broom, she’ll suddenly like other girls?”

0 Jorge Garcia (Pecari) It's not nice to talk about yourself like that. 0 Jorge Garcia (Pecari) 0 5

Thaddeus Pierce II

November 09, 2011 12:07 PM

Neither am I by Thaddeus Pierce II

"Here!" Thaddeus called out promptly when his name was called on the role. He wanted people looking for the kid with the same last name as the woman running the lesson for a short a time as possible. He did meet the gaze of everyone who did look at him, though, refusing to be ashamed of his family name, even if he did have to share it with the Boston Pierce who was Sonora's Coach.

He was relieved, however, when he discovered he would be allowed to leave the beginners (and the coach) on the ground, and took this opportunity at the first chance. He mounted his broom and flew into the air, feeling vaguely like he was slacking off, since this was generally what he did when his lessons at home were done and he was permitted a few minutes to relax. The Aladren in him insisted this couldn't be a class itself.

It was, however, all that was required of him at the current time, and he was presumably getting graded for it, so he would play on his broom as he had been told to do. Broom riding was also more fun with others, so he looked around. Another boy who had flown up nearby seemed to have the same thought in mind.

Flying nearer to accommodate communication, he returned the introduction, "I am Thaddeus Pierce the Second, of the New Hampshire Pierces," he gave his branch more emphasis than he might have otherwise, since there was the Boston one down on the Pitch below him and he needed to distance himself from her if he wanted to make the proper sort of connections at school. "I would very much enjoy spending the lesson with you," he added, in answer to the direct question aimed at him.

1 Thaddeus Pierce II Neither am I 213 Thaddeus Pierce II 0 5

Waverly

November 09, 2011 1:50 PM

Now off to flying then, shall we? by Waverly

Waverly was glad that it seemed so much easier for him to get his broom up. But now it was time to actually fly the thing, and she had no clue how to do so. "Yeah, we can stay low," she agreed. If she fell off or something, she didn't want to fall from very high. Clearing her throat to hide her nervousness, she mounted her broom the way Angel did and sat on it. It was much more comfortable than it looked, delighting the girl even more.

"Okay, let's go!" she said with a smile, and then a little gasp when the broom began to take off without her consent. Suppressing a scream, she held onto the broom tight as she went higher and higher into the air. "How do you control this?" she shrieked, and then suddenly she was quite high off the ground. She looked down at Angel, and then her senses slowly came back to her as the broom stayed stable in the air.

"Okay, let's go down," she said, talking to the broom as if it could hear her. She remembered their coach saying to control the broom, and so she grabbed the stick and pushed it down like a lever, still gripping it tightly. The broom ascended much too quickly, making her level it again. She was breathing hard, learning how to control it. It was still making her shake, though. She pushed the stick down much slower and gradually, making the broom do the same.

Soon she was on the ground, and then collapsed onto it, panting from the panic and adrenaline. "That was so scary," she breathed. To be honest, she wanted to try it again just to get used to it and to practice controlling it. If witches and wizards traveled this way, then she was determined to learn too. "Let's just stay low, if my broom will let me."

0 Waverly Now off to flying then, shall we? 0 Waverly 0 5

Cepheus Princeton - Crotalus

November 09, 2011 4:07 PM

Good. Between the three of us, there won't be any worry by Cepheus Princeton - Crotalus

Cepheus was already dragging his feet as he walked to class, and it was only his first lesson! He hated doing things against his will, but he knew he had to because it was school. He couldn't wait for the actual classes to begin. He knew his head of house was also the coach and was teaching this class, but that wasn't enough to bring excitement. He just wanted to be done with this stupid lesson. He'd been flying for as long as he could remember; he didn't need lessons! He dearly hoped that these Americans were intuitive enough to know that there were some better bred magical folk that didn't need to learn this.

He made his way onto the pitch and then to the group of his peers waiting as Coach Pierce spoke. He called, "Here," when his name was called and then proceeded to tune out most of the lecture until she said that they could go off on their own. Cepheus definitely perked up at that. Maybe these American school wasn't too terrible after all. So far, anyway.

Cepheus had brought his own broom, a prized possession and English-made, and found his roommate sharing introductions with another bloke. Looked as though they were going to toss a quaffle around or something. He mounted his broom and joined them in the air in time to hear the other bloke introduce himself and his family.

"Mind if I join you two?" he asked politely, and then greeted them. "Morning, Gareth," he said, and then looked at the other student. "Cepheus Princeton," he introduced himself, his English accent pouring out of his mouth. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Thaddeus," he said, unsure if it would be too common to point out that he had the same name as their coach. Pierce. That must be quite prominent here in America. It was a name to note, even if he had no idea where New Hampshire was. He had to study up on his American culture more.

"Were you all going to play Quidditch, or something of the sort?" His position was out since the coach wasn't allowing the Snitch to be loose, but tossing a quaffle around didn't sound too terrible.

0 Cepheus Princeton - Crotalus Good. Between the three of us, there won't be any worry 0 Cepheus Princeton - Crotalus 0 5

Jade Owen

November 09, 2011 4:22 PM

I do neither by Jade Owen

If she felt like it, Jade might sign up for Quidditch. She was tall and she had a lot of energy, and while she might not be especially graceful on a broomstick just yet, she was sure she could improve. She didn't play especially well with others, so the whole 'team' concept might be challenging, but it wasn't as if Jade didn't know how to share; she grew up wth two older siblings in a family where nothing was ever new. Case in point: her red sweater with a dalmation on its front had been acquired from a thrift shop, and her orange and brown striped leggins had belonged to Josephine first. They were too small for Jade, really, but the first year had succeeded in stretching them when wet so they still reached her ankles.

Before she seriosuly considered adding her name to the sign-up sheet in the Pecari commonroom, Jade thought she'd see how well she fared on a broomstick that wasn't about a thousand years old and had been flown into the side of a building on multiple occasions (aka the brooms they had at home). She more or less liked the Coach, and respected the mention of WAIL. It was like a dirty word in the Owen household ('a disgusting past time for bored rich wives with no imaginations') but Josephine had told her more about what it really meant. Jade had laughed. A lot.

When it came to splitting up into groups, Jade wasn't sure which side to go. She knew how to fly, had ridden a broomstick before, but not well, and not for a long time. It might serve her to stay with the beginners to refresh herself (and to see what it was like flying on a half-decent broom). Then again, the others got to do what they liked. Hmm. Eventually, it was Theresa Carey that drew Jade to stay with the true beginners. She laughed to herself every time she remembered she now shared a room with a Carey and a Brockert (as well as poor Waverly, who would obviously be lining up, because she was Muggleborn). Right, if all the other girls in her room were staying with the coach, then Jade was, too.

She stood in line, commanded her broom up, and was delighted to notice it obeyed her instantly. She easily swung a lanky leg over and gently, gingerly, pushed off from the ground. She hovered a little anxiously, wayward eyebrows drawn together in concentration, and she wobbled when a nearby greeting startled her. Why was Theresa wearing a hat?

"Hello," Jade replied, keeping both hands firmly on the broom handle. "It's not too hard," she agreed. "Just... unusual. I haven't flown in a while." And never on something that stayed so still. At least when a broom was tying to buck its rider off there was cause to be unnerved; her current state of consternation was humiliating.

0 Jade Owen I do neither 221 Jade Owen 0 5

Shiloh Romano (Crotalus)

November 09, 2011 4:38 PM

Aw, that was knife of you! by Shiloh Romano (Crotalus)

Shiloh was aghast. What other way would her mother possibly react than with pure horror at the idea of her only daughter riding a broom, who knows how many feet in the air, while in a skirt? It was positively indecent, and for a brief moment, she could only stare at her classmate in pure incredulity. "I'm ShilohRomanoonlydaughterofEnzoRomanoandonlygranddaughterofAndreaRomanopleasedtomeetyou," she said in one quick rush, manners forcing her into introductions before all else. "And I'll have you know that my Momma raised me to behave like a proper lady, and there's just no way I can get on that broom-- it just isn't decent!"

She gave a huff of breath, her earlier despondency having translated to indignation easily. It wasn't so much that Shiloh was prone to emotional fits; it also wasn't that she was particularly high-strung. Well, not particularly. It was probably simplest to say that Shiloh was a girl who had grown up believing firmly in the fairy tales and stories that most children, while enjoying, eventually realize are made-up. And in the world of fairy tales, princesses aren't simply happy, they're gloriously, wonderously happy. Step-mothers aren't merely bad, they're evil incarnate, black sludges of nastiness and horror. And princes, they weren't just brave, they were courageous and indestructable and stronger than a thousand men!

For a child having such a love for the imaginary, though, she lacked a similar scope in imagination. Hers was a world of literal meanings, where double-entendres and subtle undertones were completely over her head. As such, she mistook her classmate's question entirely, and stared at him in confusion.

"What does a broom have to do with anything?" Her tone was still miffed, and she crossed her arms impatiently. Her classmate asked odd questions, she decided. "And what's wrong with liking girls? My roommate's a girl, and I think she's awfully nice."

0 Shiloh Romano (Crotalus) Aw, that was knife of you! 0 Shiloh Romano (Crotalus) 0 5

Gareth

November 11, 2011 11:44 AM

Now that’s sorted, let’s play by Gareth

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Thaddeus.” Gareth said easily, though his curious gaze flitted for a moment to his head of house before returning to his fellow first year. He knew that the elder Pierce was one of the females that helped spark the whole hullabaloo resulting in the formation of W.A.I.L. Though his family and the rest of the Briar branches disagreed with the extent of damage W.A.I.L claimed playing Quidditch caused on the psyches of proper young ladies, all were in agreement that it simply wasn’t something their daughters should engage in. I’ll have to keep an eye out on Meggie, I’d hate to see her go tough what Nydia did. Gareth thought as he tossed the Quaffle to Thad. He knew his cousin was a bit rash and might take it into her head to do something foolish like actually try out for the team.

“Good morning, Cepheus.” Gareth replied as his roommate joined them. “I was thinking seems we aren’t permitted bludgers or snitches as of yet that we could brush up on our chasing skills? It would increase our chances of making the team if we try out for more than one position.” He added. As first years they’d have to show enough versatility to make up for their lack of standing among the older student who would no doubt also be trying out.

“Do either of you want to play keeper? It’s not a position I care for.” He asked as they gained height. Gareth kept his eyes on the other players, nonchalantly not looking down.

0 Gareth Now that’s sorted, let’s play 0 Gareth 0 5

Angel

November 11, 2011 11:58 AM

... by Angel

Angel had barely lifted his feet from the tickling blades of grass to hover when Waverly shot off into the sky. “How do you control this?” Came a tiny wail from the girl Angel tracked with his ruby gaze. He had no answer for her, and wasn’t sure what to do. So, he remained hovering, barley half a foot off the ground as he watched the muggleborn girl fight to regain control.

He’d almost decided that the best course of action would be to fetch the coach when he saw Waverly level off and fly in a more controlled fashion. Almost as fast as she’d flown up Waverly plummeted and Angel’s eyes widened in worry, hoping that she didn’t crash. Again the girl and broom leveled off, stopping the decent. This happened again and again as Waverly jerkily made her way back to the ground. Angel felt sick just watching her and decided that he much preferred just hovering.

After all, the coach only said they had to be on their brooms for the class, not that they had to go high. And he was sure he could make it across the field just fine half a foot off the ground, as he could sixty feet up. Waverly collapsed off her broom and onto the ground once she finally reached it and Angel watched her with anxious eyes. He was about to get off his own broom to see if she had been harmed after all when she said they should try again. Biting his lip with nervousness Angel remained on his broom as he waited for her to remount.

0 Angel ... 0 Angel 0 5

Thaddeus Pierce

November 11, 2011 12:34 PM

Sounds good to me by Thaddeus Pierce

Thad was moderately relieved that neither of the Crotali asked about his relationship with the Coach. Either they were being polite or they already knew. (Not impossible, of course, but he dearly hopefully it wasn't common knowledge as far away as wherever it was their accents came from; the Pierces had been a tiny and fairly unremarkable family when they left England back when Jamestown was still new, and they'd had no contact with the mother country since 1858 when the first California Pierce went to Hogwarts. Boston was bad enough; he really hoped they didn't know much about the Californians, especially from that era.)

For now, though, they fortunately seemed willing to associate with him, and he was not going to look that gift winged horse in the mouth. He caught the Quaffle Gareth threw to him. The wind wasn't bad, and they were only a short distance apart, so he didn't even fumble it a little. He was pleased by this. Honestly, he was good at flying but didn't have much practice throwing and catching the Quaffle. He jumped at the chance to avoid proving that to people who presumably had more experience.

Disowned or not, it would be downright embarrassing to miss a throw or a catch when his biological sister was the school's Quidditch Coach.

"I'll Keep," he volunteered. He tossed the ball over to Cepheus, again taking advantage of the lack of wind and the easy distance. He flew toward the trio of hoops, taking a position in front of them. Here, he though, it would be a little harder to demonstrate a lack of ability. Any potential misses would undoubtably be attributed to the skill of the would-be Chaser taking the shot rather than a significant failing in Thad's ability.

He did have a sharp eye that missed little, so he kept a close eye on both of his new Crotalus opponents, hoping to get an idea of what they were going to do before they did it by observing their body language for tells.

0 Thaddeus Pierce Sounds good to me 0 Thaddeus Pierce 0 5

Evan Brockert

November 12, 2011 5:22 AM

Not really my thing. by Evan Brockert

Evan had little enthusiasm for flying. He was allowed to do so, certainly as he was male and his mother didn't object to it, just Quidditch. Which the Aladren was also not to interested in, so he didn't care about being banned from it.

Actually, the only one of them who'd ever cared about that was Nina. Adam was afraid of flying, Chelsea was a Proper Lady, and Hope didn't like the idea of either competing-especially against his house both because they were supposedly scary and because her friend was on the team. Nor did the Teppenpaw care to be violent towards others.

And Kaylie used to play, but had gotten badly hurt. This was why the rest of them weren't allowed. Evan's eldest sister had crippling back pain to this very day and from what he understood, would stay in bed with her bad back for days at a time. He didn't want that for himself, nor wanted to inflict it on anyone else. Evan liked not being incapacitated.

Furthermore,as far as Evan was concerned, the game was not only too violent but too structured as well. Games like Quidditch had too many rules, but none that prevented people from being injured. Evan tried to avoid doing things which would add more restriction to his life. Pureblood life was rigid enough as it was.

Besides, it was likely that Evan would get bored or distracted playing. Something else might attract his attention, like imagining what else the hoops could be used for. They could be giant bubble blowers! He gazed over at them, wondering precisely how that could be accomplished. Or they could be strung with netting in order to be giant butterfly catchers.

Then Coach Pierce began to speak. Most of the rules-though Evan was what his great-great-grandmother called a "non-conformist" and didn't care for rules that much-seemed relatively reasonable. He followed rules when they made sense and he had to. Evan just didn't see the point in willingly doing something that created more structure.

He went to go get a school broom, as the only person in his immediate family with a broom was Nina and she certainly wasn't going to let Evan use her custom made racing broom. The Aladren got on well with his siblings for the most part, but they really didn't trust him with their possessions. He'd tinkered with too many of them in the past.

Now should he stay with the beginners or go with those who already knew how to fly? Evan had flown before of course and in itself, it wasn't horrible. But there was nothing about it that stimulated thought or creative thinking. Therefore, he'd really not done much of it and while Evan wanted to get to know his classmates better, tossing a quaffle around was not the way to do it.

That was it.He'd go with the experienced fliers but not play. Instead Evan would spend the time in the air looking for bugs and butterflies and interesting things that he could use in a creative way. Much better than playing some structured game.

The first year looked down at his borrowed broom, really wanting to find more interesting ways to use it. Like the bristles could be colored and twisted together in a picture frame or something. Much more fun to Evan than flying. Instead, the Aladren placed his hand over it and said "Up!" The broom came right into his hand. Evan smiled and mounted his broom, and took off into the air. Before he knew it there was someone flying beside him.

11 Evan Brockert Not really my thing. 212 Evan Brockert 0 5

Cepheus Princeton

November 12, 2011 7:39 PM

We'll see how much of a Chaser I am. by Cepheus Princeton

Cepheus was disdainful of playing Chaser, since he loathed the position and also was not very good at it, but if it had to be played, then so be it. He wasn't about to argue since that was all there was to do. If this was all flying class was, then he'd be glad to come all the time. Flying was one of his passions, besides DADA, perhaps, and he enjoyed being high off the ground. It sent his blood rushing and gave him a feeling of superiority. At least up here it didn't matter an awful lot if he was smaller than most of the boys his age. He'd grow, he knew he would. Father said he would too. Anyway, he had to focus on the chasing that was supposed to be happening now.

And then Gareth said that someone should be the keeper, and Cepheus was ready to open his mouth, but Thaddeus beat him to it. Darn. Cepheus caught the quaffle and watched Thaddeus fly over to the hoops with sharp blue eyes. He wondered if the bloke was going to try out for Quidditch.

Cepheus looked at his roommate. "Let's practise passing it to each other and switch off shooting. I'll go first." It only made sense since he was holding the quaffle now. He nodded for Gareth to go ahead, and then followed him. He thanked Merlin that there was no wind right now. He did not want to miss a pass and look like a fool.

Cepheus tossed the quaffle to Gareth and then caught up to him, waiting for the pass back.

40 Cepheus Princeton We'll see how much of a Chaser I am. 216 Cepheus Princeton 0 5

Theresa

November 12, 2011 9:38 PM

That's a shame by Theresa

She had been told that things were very different here – Arthur had gone so far as to say that there was no proper and improper for many people here, and she could have sworn he’d said it with a hint of affection, though for what she couldn’t say – but Theresa was still finding it a surprise to see girls openly walking around in what would obviously be trousers no matter what you did to the hems of them. It was a small thing, but even at flying lessons, it struck her with the reminder of just how far from home she really was, seeing people doing things she’d had to sneak to do, if she did at all, without even seeming to think about it. It wasn’t just Jade at flying lessons, there had been older girls in the hallways and in the Cascade Hall as well, and flying lessons were just first years.

Their opportunity, she thought, a thought which struck her as very funny for some reason, for class bonding. Since all their other classes would at least be with the second years. Why was that funny? She was going to be as bad as Arthur soon if she kept that up.

“We’ll manage,” she said. Mother always said that, no matter what, though she said it differently. Mother had always sounded like she didn’t believe it, but since she’d been saying it for eleven years – if not longer – and they had always managed, Theresa couldn’t see a reason not to. Plus, Jade had just said she’d flown before, if not recently, and Theresa knew she had, too, so they weren’t even really true beginners. So, it followed, she was sure, that they would manage really well. “This isn’t nearly as bad as horses.” Demon beasts. She’d nearly cracked her skull more than once, and would have given it up as a bad job if that wouldn’t have involved admitting she couldn’t do something the other girls could. Certainly she would never, she was sure, understand why anyone would want to get on something that could think for itself.

Brooms could not think for themselves. They moved the way she told them to. She decided to see about turning this one so she could face her roommate without worrying about putting a crick in her neck, and smiled, pleased with herself, when she succeeded. “I don’t think either of us is quite ready for Seeker tryouts, though,” she added. Taking a tumble from this height would, she knew from experience, hurt a little; falling from the kinds of heights Arnold – and, a bit more reliably, Arthur – had described from Quidditch matches was something she was going to guess would hurt like that time Arnold lost control of his broom and flew through a window taller than his father while it was closed. He still said the worst part had been Arthur trying to help by reading aloud to him in a monotone while he got better, but she thought the part where she saw what a few of her bones looked like might well be worse. “Maybe in a day or two, right?”

0 Theresa That's a shame 0 Theresa 0 5

Jorge

November 12, 2011 11:24 PM

Very clever of you by Jorge

Jorge blinked at the girl. And blinked again. He had no idea what in the world she had just said to him. He got all of ‘I’m Shi….and you’. What that ridiculously long winded spat she just shot at him her name? Why in the world would someone have a five minute long name and then say it so fast that no one in this world could possibly understand what it was to begin with? But he didn’t have time to ponder this any further because she was saying that she was a proper young lady and riding a broom was indecent. Again Jorge blinked because a girl on a broom wasn’t indecent. And then he noticed the skirt.

Really? A skirt?

Why would a girl who knew they had a flying lesson wear a skirt? That was the most stupid thing he could ever think of someone doing. It was like she was doing it on purpose just so that she didn’t have to fly. What a girl thing to do. He could picture Adelita having done something like that when she had to take her flying lesson. Not because she felt that being on a broom was not lady-like, but rather because she was terrified of flying.

“I am Jorge Garcia.” He started, speaking slowly so that she knew how it was the proper way of introducing oneself. “And if you’re worried about your skirt, you can always ask the Coach to transfigure the skirt into shorts until the lesson is over.” Jorge suggested with a small shrug. “At least then it wouldn’t be indecent and you can still get through the lesson without your mother being horrified.”

Jorge climbed on his broom and hovered for a moment to see what the girl was going to do. But she just asked more questions that had him blinking again. “Do you not pay attention to anything?” Jorge asked of her. It wasn’t that hard to figure out what he was getting at if she had any idea on what the Coach was saying during her lecture. “The W.A.I.L. people? The women who feel that girls who play sports or ride a broom or whatever will like girls and not in a ‘lets just be friends’ way.” Didn’t anyone talk to their parents anymore? Or read the news? Or have older siblings to explain things to them? If the other first years were as naïve as she was, they were going to give all eleven year olds a bad name.

0 Jorge Very clever of you 0 Jorge 0 5

Henny B-F-R

November 13, 2011 12:00 PM

Not my cup of tea. by Henny B-F-R

Flying was number two on the list of classes that Henny would really rather spend in the library. She had spent all morning telling herself that flying was not Quidditch and that, at a first beginner lesson, the coach was not likely to make them do anything like barrel rolls at fifty feet or Wronsky Feints. Plus, said coach was Amelia Pierce, adoptive parent of one of the co-founders of D.I.S.C.U.S.S. Whilst that didn't say much for her tendencies to not make students perform suicidal stunts on broomsticks, it was very exciting. Henny's school bag proudly displayed one of the bright rainbow pins that showed she supported the organisation's full agenda.

On arriving at the class, she learnt two things in quick succession – one that pleased her greatly and one that troubled her. She was glad to know that she could do 'whatever she liked, so long as she was on a broom and flying.' That meant she could fly, at low height and speed, from one end of the pitch to the other until their hour was up and still be totally within the rules of the class. That might have sounded boring to some people but she would have her thoughts to keep her company and it was safe. For this week, at any rate. The fact that Bludgers would be introduced in later weeks terrified her, and she made a note to speak to Coach Pierce before the class was over.

Taking a school broom, she got into hover and was preparing to begin her dutiful laps when she noticed another classmate who was breaking away from the group but not haring away to join the wild throw-abouts.

“Hi,” she smiled, pulling up beside the boy. “Evan, right? We're in Aladren together,” she added, in case he didn't recognise her. With such small year groups it was pretty easy to learn names and she thought she had an idea of who most people were already. “What were you planning on doing this lesson?” she asked. She kept her own speed slow and didn't make any effort to increase her altitude. If he was going to go any higher, he might find himself minus a companion. But then he might want to be by himself anyway. Some people liked having some quiet time to clear their heads. And, whilst her own head remained full of thoughts of imminent danger whilst she was on a broom, other people seemed to find it relaxing.

13 Henny B-F-R Not my cup of tea. 211 Henny B-F-R 0 5

Gareth

November 13, 2011 3:39 PM

It’s not too difficult by Gareth

To his suggestion Thad agreed to play Keeper, leaving him and Cepheus as the two chasers. He knew that chasing wasn’t something his roommate preferred, but it would do to pass the time. In truth Gareth didn’t care overly much for the position, he’d rather play beater. But like Cepheus he’d have to wait until they proved more experienced before the Coach let lose the Snitch or Bludgers. Thad threw the Quaffle to Cepheus before heading towards the three rings he would guard.

Years of practice kept his pale blue eyes on the red Quaffle and not on the ground that fell away as he and Cepheus gained height. His heart thudded uncomfortably against his ribs, but the feeling was as familiar to flying as the wind in his short blond hair and just as unimportant. Dismissing the sensation that left his throat dry but he refused to call fear Gareth moved alongside Cepheus as Thad got into position.

“It’s a good plan.” Gareth agreed as he easily caught the Quaffle, his long fingered hands gripping the ball as he tucked it under his arm and flew forward heading towards the goals. Cepheus wasn’t far behind and when the other boy was aliened with him for a good pass Gareth threw the red leather ball towards Cepheus. The day was calm with no wind and the ball arched easily over to Cepheus.

0 Gareth It’s not too difficult 0 Gareth 0 5

Waverly

November 13, 2011 4:11 PM

What adrenaline! by Waverly

Waverly was still a little shaken from her first attempt at flying, but it was good practice. She took a breath of air before mounting her broom again and then she nodded at her companion. "Okay, let's fly low and go slow." Waverly lifted a little on her broom, knowing how to control it now, though she had some trouble keeping the speed steady. "Be careful," she told Angel. She had a feeling he was a little bit more fragile than her.

She slowed so she was flying next to him and smiled at him. "It's not too bad so far," she said. Waverly had heard about a sport called "Quidditch" here. Apparently it was a big thing, like football. Or something. She wouldn't try out, but maybe Angel would? "Are you going to try out for Quidditch?" she asked, not knowing exactly what the game entailed or how to play it. All she knew was that it was played on brooms.

Waverly thought for a moment before deciding to voice her thought. "Is it hard to play?" Maybe he wouldn't know either, but it was worth a shot. She should probably ask someone. Coach Pierce would probably be the best person to ask...'duh,' Waverly thought, and then smiled a little to herself.

0 Waverly What adrenaline! 0 Waverly 0 5

Thad

November 13, 2011 4:15 PM

OOC by Thad

Since we're getting into a Quidditch playing sort of thread, it seems to make more sense to me that you guys alternate posts until a shot is made at the goals, and then Thad will post to try and save, instead of doing the normal post order, where Thad doesn't have much to do right now to advance the thread since the ball is in Cepheus's court.

1 Thad OOC 213 Thad 0 5

Cepheus Princeton

November 13, 2011 5:59 PM

Goal? [Thad] by Cepheus Princeton

Cepheus caught the quaffle Gareth had passed him and flew full speed ahead to Thad. He wasn't sure what he was going to do, exactly. All the Quidditch matches he had ever gone to, the Chasers had brilliant tactics. He wasn't sure how good Thad was as a Keeper either, so it would be difficult. He bit his bottom lip, and immediately releasing it. Darn. He had to remember to stop doing that. And anyway, he was flying, he didn't want to bite himself too hard. He was proud enough that he had caught the quaffle. Now it was time to aim it; time to get out of his head, like Father had said.

Cepheus took a deep breath as he approached the hoops and their Keeper, and he stretched up on his broom, raised his right hand holding the quaffle, and then threw it to the left hoop. He wasn't very good as a Chaser, and he didn't have the strongest arm, but he hoped to at least make one goal during his time playing. He sighed, and then held his breath, hoping that the quaffle would go in despite his inhibitions. He didn't want to seem completely pathetic in front of his new acquaintances.

40 Cepheus Princeton Goal? [Thad] 216 Cepheus Princeton 0 5

Alicia Bauer, Aladren

November 13, 2011 11:22 PM

Decisions, decisions.... by Alicia Bauer, Aladren

Starting school involved a lot of decisions, of kinds Alicia had never had to make before. She had been expecting that. She hadn’t, though, foreseen that the kind she was used to were going to get more difficult.

Playing dumb was never really fun by itself, apart from the thought of how she knew what she knew and other people did not, but she had always been good at it. It was just one of those things that went with being The Baby. If she wanted to seem like an adorable little someone who couldn’t possibly do something wrong, then she had to seem less smart than she really was. She was really used to it now, did it without even thinking half the time, because it was what worked. The problem was, though, that it worked at home, which wasn’t where she was right now, and with ordinary household matters, which weren’t what she was dealing with.

Instead, it was to fly or not to fly – or rather, to fly with the very beginners or with those who had a little more skill. The Feast had involved admitting she did know one end of the broom from the other, but also that she hadn’t touched one in years and expected to fly horribly, at least a little to save face. How the rest of the Aladrens – and the rest of first year, though she was focusing on her House right now – thought of her might depend on this, and she didn’t know if she would rather they think of her as a technically competent but disinterested flier or as someone who needed to learn the basics over again. Which way would make them all think better of her?

She looked between them, looking for inspiration. Thad and Evan both went with the experienced group, but had the excuse of being male; it wasn’t so much that she could accept them as a guide to proper behavior as she had to try to figure out what they would consider proper behavior for a girl, or else figure out how to convince them her behavior was proper even if it wasn’t. Girls couldn’t have opinions of boys the way boys could have opinions of girls in this matter, which annoyed her, but there was nothing she could do about it right now so she tried to ignore it, so being irritated wouldn’t mess up her thinking.

Henny was also going with the experienced group, but…ugh. Alicia would have given a year of her life to be really secure, to know that she could make little mistakes because her family was enough to get her out of it. Instead, if she messed up, she was going to have to talk her way out of it, and whatever she did, she was going to have to do it right now because the groups were separating.

She stepped away from the very beginners. At least this way, she would be away from the Boston Pierce.

Kicking off on a school broom, she rose in the air, going up a few feet at the time as she began to feel more comfortable and could look around…where she saw Henny talking to Evan. Her immediate impulse was to go over there and find out what they were talking about, and then start working on Evan since she really hadn’t had a chance with him yet, but before she could do that, someone else was in her way, too nearby to not acknowledge without being rude.

She smiled brightly, making a mental note to maybe ask Henny how she liked Evan later. Could she play shy, maybe? She’d have to find an empty bathroom or unused classroom and practice a little. If she had time. School was very busy. “Hi,” she said cheerfully.

If she could say nothing else for school except that it was busy, she could say that it was at least more interesting than home. There, she knew exactly how any given anything was going to go, but here, every conversation was still something that might not be what she expected. So far, she thought she liked it.

16 Alicia Bauer, Aladren Decisions, decisions.... 210 Alicia Bauer, Aladren 0 5

Thad Pierce

November 14, 2011 12:51 PM

Keepering by Thad Pierce

Thad hadn't ever really watched Quidditch; the New Hampshire branch's association with WAIL made the family leary about actually attending games. However, he had listened to a few games on the Wireless, just to get a sense of what it was all about, and he'd read a couple of books because Derry had, and Thad thought it was a serious failing in his education if Derry ever knew more about any subject than he did.

Somehow, Thad had not gathered through any of those sources how much pressure would suddenly descent upon a person hovering in front of the goals while two other people approached him with a Quaffle passing between them. Even in such an informal setting, Thad felt a sense that his honor, his family's honor, his House's honor, his ancestor's honor, and his future legacy all depended on stopping that ball from going through the hoops behind him. It was utterly irrational, he knew that. Logic dictated that this light game during flying lessons would be largely forgotten by the end of the week, if not by the end of the day, but a determined focus settled on him just the same.

He followed the Quaffle's path from Cepheus to Gareth and back to Cepheus again. Cepheus then did not look at Gareth again, but he did look at Thad, and past Thad to the goals beyond. Neither had done that prior to their passes. Cepheus, Thaddeus was sure, was going to shoot.

He readied himself. He wasn't entirely sure which goal Cepheus was going for until he raised his arm and clearly aimed for the hoop to Thad's right. Thad moved, lunging for the red ball.

For a moment, it didn't look like he was going to get there in time. Unwilling to allow that to happen, he threw himself forward on his broom, in a move that was no doubt seriously dangerous and not something he would do under ordinary circumstances. He didn't think about that, though, until he knocked the quaffle aside and his certainty that he was under threat shifted from the idea that the goal might be made to the idea that he was about to fall if he didn't do something about his overbalanced position right now.

Fortunately, he was a good flier. He turned his awkward lunge into a roll, and used the momentum of that to reseat himself. He dove after the ball, catching it with relative ease (chasing after falling balls was one of the few Quidditch activities a solo flier could actually do), then rose back into the air and tossed it back to Gareth for another chasing run against him. He may have also given Cepheus a look of smug triumph, but that would be less than polite, and Thad prided himself on being politically correct.

1 Thad Pierce Keepering 213 Thad Pierce 0 5

Jade

November 14, 2011 12:52 PM

I find it suits me by Jade

"What's wrong with horses?" Jade found herself asking heatedly before she'd even consciously reacted to Theresa's comment. "I love horses," she added afterwards, not defensively, but simply as a statement to put context to her initial outburst. "There's a whole field full of them behind our yard, and the owners let me ride them sometimes," Jade dwelled on one of her favorite topics a moment longer, noticing that she was starting to get the hang of floating without wobbling. Maybe it had to do with the horses - since theresa had made the comparison, Jade had made sure to sit up a little straighter, engage her leg muscles a little more, so it was more as if she was riding a horse than sliding down a banister, and this seemed to have given her the control she'd been lacking. "Hey, I've stopped wobbling," she commented aloud.

Theresa commented that neither of them were ready for Seeker try-outs just yet, white elicited a crooked grin from her partner, displaying slightly oversized front teeth. "I guess Seeker would be the best position to play," Jade replied, after a pause for thought. She knew she hadn't told anyone yet that she might be thinking about signing up for Quidditch, so she presumed the conversation was small talk rather than literal hypothesizing. Besides, she didn't want to go round making assumptions about other people, but from the very little she knew of and about Theresa carey thus far, she hardly expected the other girl to actually sign up for Quidditch. Josephine said girls from that sort of family didn't play, anyway.

"I don't think I'm all that good at team games," Jade shared this tidbit of personal information with her roomate. "If someone else messes up I know I'd get angry with them. I guess with Seeker you've only got yourself to blame if you screw it up."

0 Jade I find it suits me 0 Jade 0 5

Theresa

November 14, 2011 9:17 PM

Don't your relatives make fun, though, if you don't? by Theresa

Theresa was taken off guard by the force Jade used to defend horses at first, but listened to the rest of her speech before she said anything, nodding slightly at the mention of using the neighbors’ things. Merlin knew it was nothing uncommon for her and Jay to steal Arnold and Arthur’s stuff, or use things on Uncle Anthony and Aunt Lorraine’s estate that weren’t on theirs or were of inferior quality there, and Little Anthony and Henry hardly seemed to notice sometimes that their things weren’t property-in-common. They were the same year’s children and had grown up together almost as much as Arnold and Arthur had, Henry even taking his lessons with Anthony even though Anthony was the heir. Jade’s observation that she wasn’t wobbling anymore made her smile.

“That’s good,” she said, adjusting her own grip on the handle again. “But I don’t suppose there is anything wrong with horses, if you like them. I just never rode one until my cousin Lucille had me thrown on one this summer, and I kept falling off it. It was harder to manage than this,” she gestured to the broom she was on. “Though it’s how I got the riding habits, so I shouldn’t complain too much if this class is going to last all year,” she added, gesturing now to what she was wearing. “I’d hate to be on a broom in one of my real skirts. I can’t work out how to work sidesaddle out on the cushioning charm without losing my balance even worse than I would the other way.”

All she had brought, aside from these riding clothes, were her fall and winter dresses and a few skirt and blouse sets, mostly practical things. She was hoping her spring wardrobe was a little…prettier, though she fully expected to end up bringing a few of last spring’s dresses for Potions lessons and such things. Even for that, though, she would be in a dress – and in Defense classes, if she couldn’t convince herself it was all right to wear these to those. The family was always strict about girls keeping their place, but it seemed to her that it was worse in the past few years, somehow, at least for her.

“I guess so,” she agreed about Seekers only having themselves to blame if they messed up, making note of what Jade said about her thoughts on teamwork. She wouldn’t do very well in Theresa’s other house, she thought; being part of her immediate family was practically a team sport by itself. Theresa, of course, was the captain. “Though I guess they could blame the Beaters, if a Bludger took them out.” She smiled quickly to cover for her unseemly knowledge of the game. “My cousin Arnold is the Seeker for the Aladren team,” she explained. “He’s never lost, and all he does at home is talk about that and how many times he gets hit every match.” Arthur had once actually accused him of not even trying to avoid the Bludgers. Theresa didn't find it outside the realm of possibility.

0 Theresa Don't your relatives make fun, though, if you don't? 0 Theresa 0 5

Arabella Brockert, Pecari

November 15, 2011 7:42 AM

Not so bad. by Arabella Brockert, Pecari

Arabella really didn't care about flying at all. She hadn't really spent time on a broom much at all, because it was considered improper. True, most of the time Arabella didn't really care about being so that much and hated a lot of the girly pursuits. Still, she saw no need to anger her parents and shame her family just in order to do things she just plain didn't care about.

It wasn't as if Arabella had flown with her cousins or anything either. Ryan couldn't fly and was not a sporty person to begin with. Amity was a girl like her. Sure she had more energy than people considered a good thing for a pureblood lady and in Pecari,but that didn't mean Arabella had to like flying and Quidditch. Just because one was interested in one sport didn't mean they had to love doing them all.

She listened to Coach Pierce mention the rules. Arabella supposed she had no choice but to fly. Oh, well. It wasn't as if she was going to try to get out of it. The Pecari was going to have to do all kinds of things at school that she wouldn't want to do and flying wasn't that bad. It wasn't as if Arabella was being forced to play Quidditch or something, just hover on a broom.

It wasn't as if Arabella made a habit of being defiant. She just did what she thought was best even if others didn't agree. Putting Carrie in her place was the right thing to do, going to war with the Deputy Headmistress over hovering in the air and flying around the pitch wasn't worth it. Arabella thought that WAIL was a bit silly, that Quidditch and flying turned girls into lesbians.

Actually Arabella wondered how this woman had even gotten to be Deputy Head. She was considered a pariah of sorts, someone that good purebloods weren't supposed to associate with and here she was the second most powerful person at Sonora. What if she did someday make Quidditch mandatory? It would cause a tremendous backlash against the woman. Arabella could accept having to do things she hated like potions essays-though she was sure not to do very well on them-but she was morally opposed to forcing people into an activity that wasn't absolutely necessary.

Come to think of it, she wasn't sure why flying lessons were mandatory either. Arabella had always been taught that nobody really needed to fly. Still, she was pretty sure that Carrie would absolutely refuse to do so next year in lessons, and the last thing the Pecari wanted was to be like that little brat.

As she hadn't been on a broom much, Arabella decided to stay with the beginners. One advantage to WAIL-stupid as it was-was that other pureblood girls were certain to stay with the beginners too and Arabella wouldn't have to feel embarrassed if she and Waverly were the only ones with the beginners. The Pecari would hate being considered the worst in class. Especially as then Coach Pierce would hate her like Ryan thought the woman hated him.

Though her family would certainly say that being liked by Coach Pierce was no great honor, that it was only a step above being liked by Aunt Pearl. As Ryan was liked by neither, he should feel really great about himself, but of course, did not.

Seeing that her roommates indeed were all staying with the beginners made Arabella feel considerably better. Being the worst would just be humiliating. She wanted to at least be seen as competent. Ryan had confided in her how hard it had been for him not to be.

She placed her hand over the borrowed broom and said "Up." A few more tries and it jumped up into Arabella's hand. She mounted it and hovered in the air. Hm, well, maybe this was okay after all. It wasn't as if she had to play Quidditch or anything.

In fact, Arabella really didn't want to be one of those Pecaris who was all gung-ho Quidditch and flying. Not because her family wouldn't approve but it was just such a stereotype. But certainly there were less pleasant things than flying. Arabella thought she might rather do this than embroider-she was awful at that anyway-or go to a tea party or get a manicure or something prissy like that. "This isn't so bad." The Pecari remarked to her neighbor.

11 Arabella Brockert, Pecari Not so bad. 217 Arabella Brockert, Pecari 0 5

Jade

November 15, 2011 1:46 PM

Yes. I ignore them. by Jade

"I fall off, too," Jade admitted in case it helped to make Theresa feel better about her own recent experiences. I've been riding since I was little, but sometimes I try jumps that are too high for the horse, or something will spook them and they'll rear up and throw me off." She'd had a couple of sore incidences, but the saying about getting back on the horse was certainly most applicable to the scenario of being thrown off the horse in the first place. "But mostly it's fine and I love it." The comment Theresa made about skirts passed Jade by - she hadn't owned a skirt or dress since she was about six years old, and had refused to wear them a little earlier. As it was just as easy for her to get hold of clothes that had once been owned by James as by Josephine, this wasn't really a problem for anyone in the family. In fact, as Josephine tended to refuse boys' clothes, it meant Jade got the clothes worn by one less person than those few items that passed through both her elder siblings first.

When Theresa mentioned that her cousin Arnold was Seeker for the Aladren team, Jade's ears perked with interest, and her blue eyes widened as she listened to the account. "He must be really good," she surmised. "James says Aladren have won the Quidditch championship the past two years because of their Seeker." Oops, she'd mentioned her brother. Her plan of going through school pretending not to be related to him was apparently going to be short lived. She'd have changed her last name if she'd thought it would help, but apparently the three Owen children looked too similar for anyone to believe they weren't related. Jade was taller, with a rounder face and smaller nose than either of the other two, and she had curly hair and manic eyebrows, but apparently that still wasn't enough to throw people off the scent... or whatever the visual equivalent of scent is.

As she attempted basic turns left and right on her broom, she mentally weighed up the pros and cons of being a Seeker. She didn't mind about losing and having everyone in the House hate her, that really wouldn't be an issue. She didn't think being hit by a Bludger would hurt much more than fracturing her coccyx twice in as many days, and presumably the medic at Sonora was suitably proficient at healing to lessen any potential pain she might suffer. Compared to the boasting rights of having actually caught a Snitch and won a game, these seemed small consequences in her opinion. "I think I might actually sign up for Seeker," she said to Theresa. She'd have to check the sign-up board first, just in case Pecari already had a handful of Seeker hopefuls. Jade didn't want the position strongly enough to have to fight too hard for it.

0 Jade Yes. I ignore them. 0 Jade 0 5

Shiloh

November 15, 2011 9:36 PM

Even 'cleaver' of me, you might say. by Shiloh

"It's very nice to meet you," Shiloh replied instantly, her head giving a slight duck and bob with the words. Some of her huffiness lost its energy, her brown eyes growing large as a glimmer of understanding dawned overhead. Jorge Garcia made loads of sense! She nodded once more, this time in gratitude. "That's a great idea!" she enthused. "I'll do just that. If you'll wait just a mo--"

She broke off and frowned. Coach Pierce looked slightly occupied; she wondered what sort of impression it would give her Head of House to learn that Shiloh Romano, only daughter of Enzo Romano and second granddaughter of Andrea Romano, hadn't had the head to consider what would be appropriate to wear to flying lessons. Hadn't her mother packed the trousers for exactly this reason? Shiloh stayed rooted where she was, turning around jerkily to better face Jorge. "She does look busy, doesn't she? I'll just, um. . ." Her eyes ran across the pitch, reaching for some sort of inspiration for her self-imposed dilemma. Her gaze arrested, finally, on the bag by her feet, her school robe neatly folded atop it.

Shiloh's smile returned to its normal wattage; this would work splendidly. She began arranging the robes around her waist, fashioning a make-shift riding skirt that would adequately provide her modesty once she alighted. Just as she began to get her broom in position, Jorge's words caught up to her. "I did pay attention; after all, Coach Pierce was talking and she's the teacher," she corrected, fidgeting further with the robes bunched around her waist. "But those Whale people or whichever she talked about, I don't know about them."

She was still confused about the parts about girls liking each other in the 'not friends' sort of way. She couldn't think of any other way to like someone, other than to be their friend. She knew about love of course; that was ALL kinds of different from just liking someone. But that was between boys and girls, princes and princesses-- Jorge made it sound like these whale people thought girls would do all that romantic stuff like she read in her stories with other girls. She pursed her lips and cocked her head. Jorge was surely strange if he thought that was possible.

Shiloh shook her head and finally got on her broom. She quickly caught up to Jorge's height and hovered close, her head bent and voice lowered. She didn't want anyone to overhear her; it'd be awfully embarrassing for her new friend if people learned that he thought girls could like other girls like they liked boys. "That's awfully silly, you know," she said, her tone matter-of-fact. "Why would those whale people think that? Girls don't like other girls like that, after all. How could riding a broom possibly change that?"

0 Shiloh Even 'cleaver' of me, you might say. 0 Shiloh 0 5

Alexandra Deveraux, Crotalus

November 15, 2011 10:35 PM

No, not really. Yet. by Alexandra Deveraux, Crotalus

Somehow, Alexandra was not at all surprised to see Theresa wearing the hat that matched her riding costume, neat as a mannequin and still stubbornly trying to keep the sun off. Nor was she very surprised to see her cousin examining her robes a lot more carefully than she was examining Theresa’s. To be an otherwise sensible person, Theresa really was overly concerned about clothes. Alex was more interested in the way the South Carolinian girl had her almost black hair pulled out of its usual waves and into a tight braid. She would have liked to have done the same, but hers was too short for it right now, so she’d just had to tie back what she could of it in a ribbon and hope the rest didn’t get in her face too much.

Even that, though, was just a brief distraction from studying her Head of House for the second time, this time without the sheer newness of everything keeping her from taking up much time with anything. Now she guessed she would see just how awful the woman really was, because there was no question of her going into the Advanced group Theresa had mentioned in passing, because she’d never been on a broom before in her life. Never even really been around one. There had been no need; Mother certainly wasn’t going to let her fly, there had been no boys in the branch for most of her life, and the idea of Father on a broom was just ridiculous. She could as easily see her strait-laced father playing Quidditch as she could see him standing on his head and juggling with his bare feet. She supposed Uncle Jack must have at some time, but she didn’t spend much time with her uncle.

The speech provided nothing too shocking, though she started to laugh and had to bite her lip when it turned out that the coach had a sense of humor about politics. Unless there really were people who thought they’d be disowned for hovering. Really. It was the assignment; parents knew about it when they sent girls to school. It was ridiculous to think of….

She shook her head a little. The group divided as she’d been told it would, a broom came to her, and she looked down at it. “Up,” she said, without much emotion. It twitched, rose a foot or two, but then fell back to the ground. “Up, she repeatedly a little more forcefully. Another repetition of that brought it up, finally. “Well, then,” she added under her breath, adjusting her grip on it.

Mounting took another moment of study, but finally, she was on it and hovering, one hand keeping a firm grip on the handle while the other tried to tuck back her hair. She gave up on that when the girl hovering next to her spoke.

“It could definitely be worse,” she agreed. “I am Alexandra Deveraux, of the Louisiana Deveraux. How – “ well, she already knew how the other girl did; it had been the basic message of what she’d just said. “ – Do you like Sonora so far?” she continued instead.

0 Alexandra Deveraux, Crotalus No, not really. Yet. 0 Alexandra Deveraux, Crotalus 0 5

Theresa

November 16, 2011 12:20 AM

Your great-great-grandfather doesn't disapprove? by Theresa

Theresa’s mouth moved into an ‘o’ of surprise at the idea of jumping over something on a horse. She’d seen Lucille do it, but she hadn’t really thought about it in those terms. “Oh, my,” she said. “I never tried that.”

The question was, of course, if she now had to. A girl who wasn’t even old enough to come to school yet could do it, and one of her roommates could as well, and they both enjoyed it and she was more or less stuck with them, so did she have to learn? She was perfectly happy with shooting as her sport of choice and had no real desire to pick up a new one, but….Well, she had noticed there was a definite tendency for her siblings’ votes to carry more weight than hers, eldest or not. It wasn’t like she was exactly unused to having to do what someone else liked instead of, or at least in addition to, what she did.

Of course, there was no evidence at all to suggest that Jade was the sort of person she’d have to bend her neck to, never mind her knee. She’d decided that her roommates were more or less like sisters, she had to live with them and should make the best of it, but if she ever went along with Diana, it was because she either really didn’t mind or because she was just trying to keep the peace, not because she had to.

But she didn’t like other people being able to do what she could not do. She would have to think about that, and consider for midterm. The family liked that she was friends with the North Carolina heir’s sister; Mother said it was up to her to be a good influence on Lucille, so she didn’t turn out like the other North Carolina girls and be disowned. If she wanted to go there and ride horses, she was sure she could, though she thought now that she’d really rather be with her family as much as she could while she could. There had been days for the past two years, ever since the twins left, when she’d said she couldn’t wait to get to school and get away from her brothers, but now that they weren’t here, it was all strange. She didn’t like it.

She smiled proudly when Jade mentioned that she’d heard of Arnold already. “He is,” she said bluntly to the assertion he was very good at being Seeker. “The whole team’s very good, of course – our honored cousin from Georgia just became the captain – but Arnold always gets the Snitch.” Praise she never would have said to him, of course. It was the kind of thing that made Aunt Lorraine mutter in exasperation about Careys, almost as though she were not one herself. "Is James one of your relatives?" she asked.

When Jade suddenly announced that she might become the Pecari Seeker for real, sounding serious, Theresa stared at her for a moment before she caught herself. “Really?” she asked. “Your family would let you do that?” Hers…Merlin’s boots, she couldn’t imagine the backlash, even if she’d been prepared to risk her neck flying against Arnold while Edmond – otherwise known as the biggest man Theresa had ever seen; Uncle Anthony and Grandfather were both tallish men, but Uncle Anthony in particular resembled a string bean more than anything, and Grandfather Macomber had risen from Auror to department head by skill, Mother always said, more than force, and would have looked much more like a department head than an Auror if not for some of the more interesting scars – was hitting Bludgers at anyone flying against Arnold. She knew enough about Quidditch to know that was an important part of it.

0 Theresa Your great-great-grandfather doesn't disapprove? 0 Theresa 0 5

Angel

November 16, 2011 11:44 AM

... by Angel

A small nod of agreement was given at Waverly’s demand to be careful. Angel had no interest in flying off the way she had, and he had every intention of being careful. Again he lifted his feet from the grass and gave his broom the slightest of nudges forward. It jerked slightly into motion and Angel gasped, fear danced along his spine at the thought of the broom shooting off the way Waverly’s had. It didn’t, just slowly inched forward.

Again Waverly passed him, her broom still apparently wishing to go fast. At least this time it didn’t make a run for the sun. Angel shifted a bit so that the broom glided forward a hint faster, more of a walking pace as Waverly slowed to match his speed. “Not bad.” He agreed. The rest of the students were much higher and going at speeds that were dizzying to watch so Angel kept his gaze on the ground a few feet from him. “Quidditch?” He asked hesitantly.

In his mothers clearer moments she often spoke of her older brother who’d played professionally when she was a girl, so even though he knew nothing of flying and had never actually seen a game he did know the basics of it. But, explaining would require many words and Angel didn’t want to sound completely foolish. Better to be thought an idiot than to open your mouth and prove it Angel his guardian liked to said.

Speaking was required here. That truth was something Angel had to come to terms with. It wasn’t like Lady Cynthia’s house where when ever he was required to talk it was limited to simple yes and no answers. He needed to start at least attempting to converse with people if he wanted to succeed and not be sent back. Biting his lip Angel pulled up on the broom slightly so that it came to a halt as he tried to fight the words into some semblance of understandability.

“Two teams, seven players. Each to one side.” Angel pointed to the rings on each side of the pitch. “Keeper keeps rings. Chasers, three for teams play Quaffle to rings.” Again he pointed to the rings. Frustration filled him as he tried to explain. He could easily see it in his mind, the chasers throwing the Quaffle back and forth and taking shots at the rings while the Keeper defends. But the words were like sand in his grasp, slipping away until he was left with a few awkward grains to offer her. “Two bludgers attack teams, beaters fight away. Seekers seeks snitch to win.” Angel stared resolutely at the ground, his whispery Georgian words sat between them like a pile of discarded toys.

0 Angel ... 0 Angel 0 5

Gareth

November 16, 2011 7:55 PM

Chasing to pass the time by Gareth

Gareth’s mouth went dry even as he started to lean forward in an effort to reach Thad before he toppled off the broom. Seeing the other boy right himself from his precarious perch by executing a neat roll and regaining his seat caused Gareth to pull up. “Nice save!” Gareth called out to the other boy. He had to admit feeling a bit impressed and wondered if Thad planned to try out for keeper on his team. While the move had been a bit reckless, it worked. And with a little practice Gareth was sure the Thad would make a great keeper.

The Quaffle flew again in his direction and Gareth caught it with ease, his slightly damp palms not quite slick enough to make the red leather slip. Turning his broom Gareth focused on Cepheus. “Care to pass back and forth while we gain some distance?” he asked, not wanting to make a run at the goals while they were still so close. Scanning the pitch he made note of where the inexperienced flyers were so that they didn’t have any mishaps or collisions incase one of the new flyers lost control.

Seeing that the flight path was reasonably clear Gareth wheeled around and began flying back down the pitch. Glancing back he saw that Cepheus was close enough to pass to and he tossed it back, practicing throwing backwards seems it was a good chasing tactic to throw off the other team.

0 Gareth Chasing to pass the time 0 Gareth 0 5

Waverly

November 16, 2011 9:57 PM

!!! by Waverly

Waverly saw Angel stop his broom midair, so she did the same, except more abruptly, to listen. He was going to explain Quidditch to her! She tried to listen intently, but he didn't use complete sentences, which confused her a little. Did he not want to talk, or did he not like talking? Or was he making fun of her by talking like that? Waverly had a strong feeling that he wasn't trying to make fun of her, and that feeling was supported when he started to look frustrated.

She had to sit and think about what he'd said after he finished talking. Okay, so there were two teams and seven players. There was a Keeper, Chasers, and...Beaters? She had no idea what a Quaffle was, or bludgers. How did the bludgers attack the teams? Were they the enemy team? Were they called Beaters to the other team? Oh, and there was something called a Seeker. That made seven players, okay. And the Seeker had to find something called a Snitch. This game sounded really confusing.

Waverly had so many questions now, but she didn't want to make him talk if he didn't want to. He had drifted off and ended his sentence rather sadly, and Waverly didn't like sad people or people being sad, so she smiled at him. "Oh, I get it! Thanks Angel." And then she began to fly again. "Come on. Let's fly some more! Maybe I could try out for the Quidditch team once I get into flying." She smiled encouragingly at Angel and added, "Do you think you'd ever try out for Quidditch?" She still had to get used to rolling the word off her tongue.

0 Waverly !!! 0 Waverly 0 5

Evan

November 17, 2011 7:33 AM

What would you prefer to do? by Evan

He looked over at the person next to him, a girl he recognized from the common room. "Yup, that's right. And you're Henny?" Evan asked. He didn't know the names of all his classmates yet, after all, he'd just gotten to Sonora and hadn't met a lot of people yet. Still, he had memorized the names of the other Aladrens in his year. Evan was pretty good at memorizing things.

The first year smiled pleasantly at his companion. He was a bit surprised to see a girl who wasn't staying with the beginners. Girls usually didn't fly or want to fly. Well, Nina did, but the sixth year was different somehow and Great-Grandfather never seemed very pleased with her. He hadn't been very happy about Nina going into Pecari. It wasn't a place for "proper young ladies" apparently, but Nina really wasn't one. She hated going to fancy parties and the like. At least she was prefect though. Great-Grandfather liked that.

He hadn't been happy about Kaylie playing Quidditch either, but that was before WAIL became such a big thing. Evan didn't really understand WAIL. He was intelligent enough, he just didn't see the logic behind it. The first year could understand why it might not be ladylike but that it turned girls into lesbians made no sense. Kaylie had played and she was as far away from being one as a person could possibly get. All she'd wanted her whole life was to meet her true love, get married and have babies. Aside from the babies, Kaylie had that goal achieved.

As for Henny, either her parents were very liberal or she was another non-conformist like him.It wasn't as if Evan tried to be one either. If one tried not to conform to the mainstream culture deliberately, they were still conforming to some subculture. Take Nina for example, she had no desire to be part of the proper pureblood lady culture, but she had wanted desperately to conform to what her roommates were doing.

On the other hand, Evan just simply did whatever without much thought for what others thought, to a certain extent. He tried to do what was required of him but as for hobbies and whatnot, he liked what he liked, even if it seemed odd to others. Evan didn't care that much about seeming weird.

"Well, I was going to just fly around looking for bugs and stuff. And different sorts of interesting objects I can use to create things." Evan explained. "I like to make things out of whatever I can find. And collecting bugs and butterflies and rocks and stuff. That's way more interesting to me than playing sports of any kind.Hey, do you want to help me look?"

11 Evan What would you prefer to do? 212 Evan 0 5

Cepheus

November 17, 2011 10:04 PM

And to pass this class. by Cepheus

Cepheus couldnt' help feeling disappointed even though he hadn't expected his throw to go in. Thad was a good keeper; he had to give him that. He nodded. "Cheers to your throw, Thad!" he called to him, and then flew back towards Gareth. He wondered if he'd been keeper, would he have saved a throw like that? Cepheus wanted to say yes, say that a Princeton was good at everything, but it most likely would not be true. Neither chasing nor keeping were his specialities.

"Sure," Cepheus responded to Gareth's offer, and followed his room-mate down the pitch. He caught the quaffle without slipping or reaching too far to grasp it, and continued to fly, passing Gareth on the way. He really wanted this class to be over now. He continued to fly down, and then motioned for Gareth to fly ahead of him now so he could have practise tossing the quaffle to someone ahead of him instead of behind.

All this practise reminded Cepheus of a Quidditch match he'd played back at home. It wasn't anything special or professional, just a friendly game within the family. He, Dorian, Cornelius, Theo, Lily, Victor, and Devon had gotten together during a family meeting at the Princeton Manor and had played together while their parents were meeting. Devon had been the keeper because no one wanted him to be a chaser; he'd have kept the quaffle for himself. He and Dorian and Dorian's older brother Cornelius had been the chasers, and while Cepheus had hated the role, he hadn't done too badly. Perhaps that was why he wasn't fumbling with the quaffle now.

Cepheus wasn't sure what had brought on that memory. Most likely because was homesick. For Merlin's sake, he would be glad to see even Devon's face again. Well, perhaps not Devon's face. Aunt Cece's, perhaps. Once Gareth was ahead of him, Cepheus threw the quaffle to him. Throwing so hard hurt his arm a bit. If his older cousins had been any nicer, they would've had loads to teach him, one wanting to be a Quidditch professional and all. But he wasn't a friend; just a family member, and Cepheus wasn't very keen on seeking only a family's member's advice. Cepheus flew alongside Gareth, waiting for any direction from him.

0 Cepheus And to pass this class. 0 Cepheus 0 5

Gareth

November 18, 2011 10:40 PM

That as well by Gareth

The plan was agreed upon and the two boys headed back down the pitch. When Cepheus waved him on ahead, Gareth went willingly. It was always more difficult to catch the Quaffle when it came from behind and Gareth should get more practice with it. He kept most of his attention on the boy behind him, but also on the airspace in front of him. Not only for other first years that might get in the way but for imaginary bludgers too. Getting into the habit of looking for them now might save him a nasty encounter on the field if he made the team.

The Quaffle whizzed at him much faster this time than the prior passes and Gareth just barely managed to get his hands up in time to catch it. Smack! Hard red leather stung his palms as he caught the speeding ball before it got away from him. Slightly startled blue eyes glanced back at Cepheus but Gareth didn’t call the other boy on the strong throw. During try outs, and even more so during games, the other players wouldn’t be using gentle passes. Most on the team would be older than him as well, so it was good Cepheus was putting force behind his throws.

Seeing that they’d put enough distance between them Gareth turned. “Right, we can toss back and forth as we head back down. Before we get to the rings I’ll fly towards the left, you to the right. Pass it to me and I’ll aim for the center. He shouldn’t be expecting that one.” Gareth directed as he looked down the field at the three rings. It was likely Thad would expect either he or Cepheus to take a shot at one of the side rings, leaving the middle open.

0 Gareth That as well 0 Gareth 0 5

Angel

November 18, 2011 11:31 PM

... by Angel

Oh, I get it! Thanks Angel. The words filled him with a curious warmth, almost fever like in its intensity. He could feel the heat in his pale cheeks and knew a startling blush had painted his face. It worked, she understood satisfaction filled him at the thought. It was like that one moment between finishing a sketch and tearing it free to be discarded. A single moment of shining perfection. Angel had never felt it when dealing with a person before and wasn’t sure how to respond.

But, explanations were unneeded as Waverly moved on to her next question while coaxing him back into flight. Reluctantly Angel nudged his broom back into motion, his stomach lurched and the blush vanished as he paled when the broom jumped forward faster than he anticipated. At least it remained close to the ground and didn’t attempt to force him upward. Angel was moving at a slow jog now, which was nearly too fast for his touchy system to tolerate as the sight of the grass moving quickly under him made him slightly dizzy.

“No, too dangerous.” Angel finally replied. It wasn’t even the bludgers, which if they hit would probably break his bones far more easily than another child’s simply because of his poor nutrition. But because of the height and speed required to play would leave the young albino incapacitated. His body simply wasn’t strong enough for such a vigorous game.

0 Angel ... 0 Angel 0 5

Arabella

November 19, 2011 11:47 AM

You expecting it to get worse? by Arabella

Arabella looked at her neighbor, recognizing her as the girl Ryan had been sitting with at the Opening Feast. That was her cousin, helpful and polite. If Carrie was anything to go by, the fourth year was better off with his mother hating him. He'd turned out much better than his sister, that was for sure. Merlin, Arabella wanted them both to pay, Carrie and Aunt Pearl. The latter had caused her family nothing but misery for years. To hear Grandpa and Aunt Jana talk, it wasn't just how the woman treated Ryan either. And Carrie was turning out just like her from what Arabella could tell.

"I am Arabella Brockert, of the Colorado Brockerts." The Pecari greeted Alexandra. "Pleased to meet you, Miss Deveraux." She had never liked giving the formal greeting very much. It was so...stuffy. So prim. However, she was used to it and as Alexandra had introduced herself that way, Arabella figured she should too. Besides, Sonora was mostly pureblood so the Pecari had better get used to it.

However, that didn't mean they had to be completely formal. "You can call me Arabella though." Calling each other Miss would suggest they were not peers. If the first year had to go through the year calling everyone Mr. and Miss so and so, it was going to drive her crazy. Besides, Arabella was pretty sure that there were other Brockert girls at Sonora and it would just get confusing. Plus, it made them sound old and prissy.

"I like it pretty well." Arabella replied to Alexandra's question. "I mean we haven't really had classes or anything yet." She wasn't really looking forward to some stuff about them. Like written work. The Pecari was absolutely dreading it. Flying she could handle, even if it was considered improper-proper things weren't that enjoyable to Arabella anyway-but essays and research papers on topics that probably would not interest her. That was another story entirely. She doubted she'd even be good at that.

"But my roommates seem okay so far, at least." Arabella continued. They seemed like neither stereotypical Pecaris, which the first year was not and determined not to be nor did they seem to be...like whatever type of Pecari that Aunt Pearl was. Something Arabella wanted to be even less than she wanted to be a stereotype of any kind. If she had to live with someone like her aunt-or Carrie-Arabella would need to be moved to another room for the safety and sanity of all.

"So what about you?" Arabella gave the other girl a friendly smile. "Do you like Sonora so far? Is there anything in particular you're looking forward too?"

11 Arabella You expecting it to get worse? 217 Arabella 0 5

Henny B-F-R

November 19, 2011 1:07 PM

Well, tea is definitely my cup of tea. by Henny B-F-R

“Yes,” Henny nodded to confirm her name, almost finding herself adding 'it's short for Henrietta,' but realising that that was a little silly, seeing as he'd just saved her the effort of explaining to him that she preferred to be called by a shortened version of her name. She was surprised he already knew that, seeing as she was called Henrietta on the all the registers.

“Definitely!” Henny agreed, as Evan said hunting for things would be more interesting than sport. “I'm not really one for Quidditch, but I do already know how to basically glide about on a broom, so I didn't want to stick with the absolute beginners, going over 'up' and stuff,” she added. “I'd love to help you, so long as your hunt stays quite close to the ground – or at least, so long as my part of it can. I don't really like heights,” she didn't suppose not liking speed was going to be much of an issue if they were combing the ground for interesting objects.

“What kind of things do you make?” Henny asked, rather interested in what sort of projects could involve stones and twigs as well as live bugs. Perhaps they were for different things. Art in one case, potions in the other, or something like that. She was all for freedom of expression but she wasn't sure she'd find an arrangement of insects a particularly appealing artistic prospect.

13 Henny B-F-R Well, tea is definitely my cup of tea. 211 Henny B-F-R 0 5

Alexandra

November 19, 2011 8:34 PM

I'm just not ready to rule out the possibility yet by Alexandra

Colorado. The word conjured up mental images of dead grass and an excessive amount of mountains. Alexandra knew nothing of it, though, except what she’d learned in her American geography and genealogy classes, and all she really remembered from those was that it was very far north, she thought that it was also western, and that the Brockerts were important there. That part of the country had never been stressed; Father was somewhat interested in the outside world despite having married within his own state, but Mother was therefore home more to supervise her education, and as far as Mother was concerned, if there was anything really valuable in a state Careys weren’t in, Careys would already be there.

That was no reason to be difficult, though. Aunt Priscilla came from outside that circle of states – as, for that matter, did Grandmother Devereux – and as Grandfather had told her seriously when he was explaining why she must be very good at school, they couldn’t just keep marrying amongst the same families. They had to have new connections, whatever Mother thought about it. She nodded when Arabella said Alexandra could use her given name.

“Arabella,” she repeated, then smiled back for a moment. “I’m Alex – andra.”

She’d thought about offering permission to just call her Alex, since that was what most people did, really, but that was definitely too informal right now, especially since she thought ‘Alex’ was really used a lot more often for ‘Alexander’ than ‘Alexandra.’ She also thought, when Arabella mentioned that her roommates seemed all right so far, of mentioning that she was related to one of them, but opted not now to since it wasn’t important.

“Knowing people I’m not related to,” she said in reply to Arabella’s question. She realized, though, that it could sound wrong – like she’d rather not know Mother and Father, Grandfather, Uncle Jack, and so on and so forth. All the people that her future, her entire life, was defined by knowing. That wouldn’t be a good thing for her to say, or for someone to think that she had said “I mean – people our age. The only ones I’ve ever known are my mother’s cousins.” Startling as it was to realize, Lissy really was nearly her mother’s cousin in the sense that everyone used; Grandfather’s much younger half-brother was her father. A half-brother was nearly a brother. “What about you?

0 Alexandra I'm just not ready to rule out the possibility yet 0 Alexandra 0 5

Cepheus

November 25, 2011 2:49 AM

Passing it on. by Cepheus

OOC: Gareth, hope you don't mind if I did a little God-modding...I just said that Cepheus and Gareth passed the quaffle down the pitch so we wouldn't have to write every single pass. Forgive me if you're offended!

Cepheus was glad Gareth had caught the quaffle. What an embarrassment it would've been if he'd thrown it terribly. He followed Gareth closely, Seeker-trained eyes waiting for a move. He was a horrible Chaser, he could admit that much, but he was glad he was getting some practise on the pitch. He needed it. Gareth turned, suddenly, and Cepheus flew closer to listen to his plan. He nodded. "Divide and conquer. Good plan," he said, smirking. He turned his broom around and then nodded. "Lead the way then, mate."

Cepheus followed his roommate back to Thad, and waited for the quaffle to be passed to him. Cepheus was tired of this "flying lesson" already, and he wanted to get to real classes, like potions and DADA. His blue eyes flickered between Thad and Gareth, flying down and passing the quaffle, making sure he wasn't getting too close. When they had approached the rings, he had possession of the quaffle. He flew to the right hoop, hoping he looked like he was going to aim.

Instead, he turned his upper body and threw to Gareth. He was a little too excited about this game plan, but, as stated before, he wasn't a Chaser of any sort. He didn't make hoops. He just hoped Gareth would.

0 Cepheus Passing it on. 0 Cepheus 0 5

Arabella

November 25, 2011 11:50 AM

So long as we don't have to play Quidditch or anything,,, by Arabella

She smiled back, glad to have gotten permission to call the other girl by her first name right off the bat. Having to call people one's own age Miss and Mr. was just so...odd. It made them sound old and Arabella was not ready to be old yet. She hated the idea of having to be a little adult. Adult life didn't seem to be much fun. Women had to be even more formal and proper than girls did, holding teas and whatnot with other women and men worked all the time to increase the family fortune. Neither sounded like her idea of a good time.

When Alexandra answered her question, Arabella tried not to laugh. She nodded with understanding. "The cousin closest to my age, I can't stand." The Pecari admitted. "Most of my time has been spent with cousins older or younger than me." Ryan was a good three years older than her and Amity was two years younger. Her own brother and sister were even younger. There were some distant cousins, including Evan, but Arabella had not spent that much time with them.

"Which isn't the other Brockert in our class." Arabella added, realizing that Alexandra might think she meant him. "He's my...third cousin, I think. I don't know him all that well." Which meant he was technically the cousin closest to Arabella in age but she had been using the word in the normal sense.

She went on. "The cousin I meant isn't here at school yet. I suppose I'll have to warn people about her come next year. I pity any girl who ends up rooming with her, as she is just dreadful." Arabella asked. "Are any of your relatives here? Do you have any close to our age?"

"Hm, I think I'm looking forward to classes where I get to use my wand."The Pecari replied. She was particularly looking forward to Defense. Arabella sort of wanted to learn how to duel, but to say so was hardly proper and she didn't want Alexandra to avoid her or anything.

11 Arabella So long as we don't have to play Quidditch or anything,,, 217 Arabella 0 5

Evan

November 26, 2011 12:12 PM

What if the cup of tea belongs to someone else? by Evan

Evan smiled pleasantly at Henny. He didn't remember where he'd heard that was what she was called exactly, but he was pretty sure he'd heard someone call her that. He'd also noticed that her last name was exceedingly long and Evan would really rather not called her Miss Boxton-Fox-Reynolds. The Aladren kind of wondered about the story behind her last name, Evan had never heard of anyone who had three last names. Maybe some women who'd been married twice would list their names that way but there was no way Henny would have been married even once. Pureblood girls married young, but not that young.

Plus, Evan didn't think Henny was even a pureblood. Pureblood girls usually didn't know how to fly, they weren't allowed on brooms in most cases. And a muggleborn girl wouldn't have ever been exposed to such a thing of course.She probably was a halfblood. Not that it mattered that much to Evan. He only thought about it now because he'd been thinking about her last name and how long it was and how she couldn't possibly have hyphenated because she was married twice. He supposed Henny's mother could have had Boxton as a maiden name and then married a man surnamed Fox and then one surnamed Reynolds, but then Henny would have taken the last name of which ever one was her father.

"I'm not overly fond of Quidditch either." Evan replied. "Plus, I'm not actually allowed to play." He realized that was unusual for a pureblood boy so he further explained. "My mom doesn't want us to play. My oldest sister did before WAIL really caught on and she got hit in the back with a bludger. Most of the time, she's rather incapacitated and my mom doesn't want that-or worse- to happen to any of the rest of us as well."

From what Evan understood, part of Kaylie's problem had been an experimental magical surgery that had gone wrong and it was surprising that his eldest sister could walk at all after it, but then she wouldn't have had to ever have it in the first place if she'd not gotten hit with that bludger. Still, even though Lily felt guilty for having done it, most of the blame was placed on the healer who'd destroyed Kaylie's back further, not Evan's cousin. That healer had been disgraced, lost his license and been run out of the western half of the country.

"Oh, that's fine." Evan replied, nodding. Everyone was afraid of something. Autumn was afraid of heights like Henny was. Personally the first year was afraid of porcupines himself. They could shoot their sharp quills at people after all. "I'm just plain not that into flying or sports."

Evan beamed when Henny asked him about his artwork. "All sorts of things. I usually don't know what I'm going to make until I start making it. The bugs are for another collection though. I mount them, like you would see in a museum or something." Museums were neat places, even the Muggle ones. Once they'd gone to Wisconsin to visit Lily and Autumn's family, and had gone to a really neat museum.

"I'm sort of thinking of making stick people. Not like the kind you draw, but actual people made out sticks, like an effigy." Usually those were burnt. Marshall(who had been quite drunk at the time) had once wanted to do that with one of his father. Evan just wanted to create displays. There wasn't anyone he disliked enough to want to burn an effigy of them. "And I can like, dress them in clothing made out of leaves and stuff. Oh, and make them like furniture out of sticks for their displays too."

11 Evan What if the cup of tea belongs to someone else? 212 Evan 0 5

Jorge

November 26, 2011 2:52 PM

And they just keep on coming... by Jorge

Girls… That was all Jorge had to say about that subject. They never seemed to see the solution even if it was right in front of them. No wonder his parents had to keep Dulce and Lita on a schedule. With a schedule, they knew what was coming and how to prepare for it. They were already aware of what was to come. At the time, Jorge just thought his parents were being strict and inflexible. Now, he realized how much guidance girls seemed to need.

He sat on his broom and watched as Shi… whatever her name is tried to figure out what to do since the Coach was busy doing Coach things with the rest of the class that couldn’t fly very well or at all. She was rather entertaining to watch as she figured out how to work her robes into all of this mess. “How do you not know about W.A.I.L.?” Jorge asked her, thinking that she must have lived under a rock for the last ten years to not know who they are. The way she had introduced herself and the fact that she clearly knew how to fly told him that she had a magical background. Surely, her family would have known and explained to her about such things, right? “They’re all over the papers and stuff. Women Against ….something. I don’t know. They don’t believe the girls should play sports or something like that.” Jorge explained. He only knew bits about it, but he figured that explained it.

Jorge snorted. Aw, the poor girl had no idea about the world. “I agree that it’s silly for women to believe that riding a broom will change a person into liking the same gender.” Jorge said to her. “I really think you need to get out more, Shi.” Jorge commented lightly. He didn’t know how anyone didn’t already know about girls who liked girls or boys who liked boys. “My Tia told me that W.A.I.L. started when a professional Quidditch Player… what was her name…” Jorge paused in thought, “Rosie or something like that came out that she was into girls. The W.A.I.L. people took that to mean that any girl who plays Quidditch would also like only girls. They felt that Proper young girls should never show any interest in such sports.” He shrugged, he didn’t remember much about that conversation as he had been young, but his Tia Julia never lied. She was an Auror after all.

0 Jorge And they just keep on coming... 0 Jorge 0 5

Alexandra

November 26, 2011 8:01 PM

Or fall off from a height by Alexandra

Alexandra found herself immediately feeling a kinship with the other girl when Arabella had to define that the other Brockert in the class was only her third cousin. All her life, every time there was any meeting of Mother’s family, she had seen everyone constantly trying to sort out the exact degrees of their relationships through the tangles of half-siblings and relationships between mothers through other families even beyond the Careys and all the generations so mixed it was hard to tell what the right age was to belong to any except maybe the very oldest, the one that only had three or four people left alive in it. There were people who were technically a generation above her who were younger than she was, just babies and such, and wouldn’t have been really surprised to hear there were people a generation below somewhere in the family who were actually older.

Her family had its scandals, more than some, worse than some, but there was one thing that she thought they would always be able to use: they had a strong line. There were a few aberrations, members seemed to live either a very long time or die unexpectedly, and it was said that the Georgia matriarch’s father had never tried to marry her before she became useful to the family in her current capacity because he had only just managed a son in the end and it was believed she couldn’t have children at all, but by and large, theirs was a strong line. Alex’s grandfather’s grandfather, at the very top of the family, had married three times and had six children, neither of which was entirely uncommon, though it seemed to be more a matter of what the family needed at a certain time than of chance. She had heard her mother snap at her father before that it was no use blaming her for his lack of a son, that she had only done as she was ordered by those he wouldn’t argue with, either.

“Lots,” she said when asked about her own relatives. “All on Mother’s side, though. Her half-cousin Elisabeth is about a year older than us – she’s still at home, though, they teach her there. Then there’s Lucille, they expect her here next year, she’s my…grandfather’s grandfather’s aunt’s descendant, somehow. And there’s Theresa.” She nodded toward Theresa, who was chatting with Jade Owen. “Your roommate. Our grandfathers’ grandfathers are twin brothers.” It was easier just to list the generations like that than to try to figure out a degree of cousinhood, especially once identical twins got involved, she thought. Arthur had agreed with her that it complicated their relationship a little. “She has a bunch of brothers, Jay’s just a year younger than us. And her first cousins are here, too, they’re in third year.” She smiled slightly. “There’s probably lots more, but those are the ones I met at the last family reunion. There’s too many to really know everyone, I think.”

She frowned slightly in thought as classes came up. “I’m not sure what I’m looking forward to in classes,” she said. “I went over most of what we thought would be first year things last year, I turned eleven last September, but I don’t think I’m very good or very bad at anything. I’m just hoping I – “ she flushed, wondered if she could trust her new friend. Mother had said that people were always looking for their own advantage. “I can live up to what’s expected of me,” she finished honestly. “The family expects lots from each of us.”

0 Alexandra Or fall off from a height 0 Alexandra 0 5

Waverly

November 27, 2011 4:19 AM

Wheee! by Waverly

Waverly could see that Angel was encouraged by her pretend-understanding. She'd find a book on it later and get a more detailed explanation of it. But for now, it was enough, and she glad to have made someone happy. She had met only one other albino person in her life, and the girl had been very shy and quiet too. Maybe it was just the albinos in general 'cause there weren't too many of them, but that made them different in a good way.

Quidditch was dangerous? Well, they were flying at a really high height and throwing...a ball around? Was that it? Anyway, it was something like that, and it did sound dangerous. Like football in the air or something. Shrugging it off, she agreed with him. "Yeah. Quidditch does sound really dangerous." She smiled at him.

"You wanna go down now or fly some more?" she asked, gesturing to the grass. It wasn't too far down, but would still hurt both of them if they fell. And she didn't want Angel to fall. He seemed delicate. She flew closer to him. She was delighted that she was getting better at this flying on a broom thing (like in the stories!) and thought that maybe she could try out for Quidditch one day. Maybe next year. She'd study it up for sure!

0 Waverly Wheee! 0 Waverly 0 5

Gareth

November 27, 2011 4:40 PM

Taking the Shot (Thad) by Gareth

Cepheus agreed readily with his plan and Gareth gave a relaxed grin. It was a good plan, and had a high likelihood of succeeding, that was something Gareth truly enjoyed about the game. Creating plans and watching them unfold successfully. Of course, things didn’t always go as he might wish, but when they did it always felt brilliant.

The Quaffle flew easily between the two mock chasers as they flew. Actual games wouldn’t be so simple, Gareth knew. Between the other team, bludgers, and working with two strangers, the chasing position really wasn’t one he wanted. It would be easier to integrate into a new team as a beater, simply because they did not have to work much with the team as a whole, just defend and attack.

Together he and Cepheus began their run on the goals, the Quaffle a scarlet streak between the two boys as they flew. As planned Cepheus flew at the right ring and gave a pretty convincing feign at the right hoop before tossing the Quaffle towards Gareth. Catching the ball Gareth flew towards the far left goal, his eyes never leaving Thad, when it appeared that the center hoop was unguarded he threw the ball, aiming for the middle ring.

0 Gareth Taking the Shot (Thad) 0 Gareth 0 5

Angel

November 27, 2011 4:56 PM

... by Angel

Even though they weren’t flying nearly as high or as fast as the rest of the students, the sight of the ground moving below him was starting to make Angel feel a dizzy. So, when Waverly asked if he wanted to continue flying or stop he gave a shaky “Down.” Flying would probably never be something he could do with much confidence, or for long periods, but it was nice to know that he could do it, no matter how inadequate he was at it.

A small nudge brought the broom back to the level of the grass, and his white feet stretched down to reconnect with the ground. Swinging one leg off, Angel sat down abruptly the too sudden movement causing the dizziness from flying to intensify to an almost unbearable level. His vision started to darken, but Angel focused just on breathing to the exclusion of all else. One breath…two…three…the dizziness began to fade and Angel blinked a few times to clear the darkness from his sight.

No longer afraid he was about to pass out, Angel folded his legs to sit cross-legged in the grass. The laughter and talking of the other students sounded distant from his place on the grass and Angel glanced up at the fliers populating the clear sky. A hint of longing touched his ruby gaze at their easy flight, how they were able to freely enjoy the sky and each other.

0 Angel ... 0 Angel 0 5

Thad Pierce

November 27, 2011 7:51 PM

This . . . is probably not good by Thad Pierce

There was madness in his family. The most obvious example of that had been his Great-Great-Aunt Berta. She spoke of and to 'ghosts' nobody else could see, even now when she was one herself. She responded questions with answers that made the other adults give her strange looks even when the answer seemed to make sense. She was a self-proclaimed Seer and those were rarely sane at the best of times.

But it wasn't just Berta. There were other examples of lesser madness that had swept through most of three branches. He wasn't even going to count the nominal California Patriarch who had suffered a terrible head injury that left him with a debilitating form of magical amnesia. The Californians wisely only sent him into public on his good days, when he remembered most of his life, but Grandmother had told the family of his condition, if only so they would know not to speak of him. Joshua Pierce at least had an outside cause for his mental abnormalities, though, which the others could not say.

Derwent Pierce I had been functionally insane. Nobody had ever come out and told him this, but it was the conclusion he had come to after asking a great number of questions about the man who had made the Pierces who they were today. By most accounts, he had murdered muggles for fun, interbred with muggles for fun, robbed and swindled muggles for fun and profit (as much of the Pierce fortune came from this as from finding California gold, Berta claimed, though most of the other Pierce elders only mentioned the gold), and raised half-bred barbarian children and then abandoned them flat when the oldest was only a little older than Derry Four. (It was really no wonder that the California branch was so uncivilized, given their origins.) And that was not even broaching the subject of the Dark Magic that the man had purportedly practiced. No one sane did such things.

Belinda, the biological daughter of Thad's father's youngest brother, was a direct descendant of Derwent the Original. She had inherited all of his violent tendencies and had been terrorizing her cousins with horrific magicks long before she had finally and rightfully been dismissed from the family (according to Wesley). She had been involved in fistfights at school and had played a central role in the August Reunion Massacre. That she was also a lesbian had only come up later, but was no less significant in showing that something was not wired correctly in her head.

People had been less willing to discuss Amelia's maladies. Whether this was because they were fewer or because his sources did not want to speak ill of his blood sister, Thaddeus couldn't say for sure. He had gathered she was the one who had used the Unforgivable that had killed Derwent the Original. Even Belinda's well renowned violence hadn't actually killed anyone. It was not a promising indicator as to Amelia's level of sanity.

And the one thing they all had in common - Derwent One, Belinda, and Amelia - they all hated to lose. They hated it with a wild burning passion that allowed them to do things no normal person in their right mind would consider doing to avoid losing.

Thaddeus had exactly as much of Derwent the Original's blood in him as did Amelia and Belinda.

This was the only explanation he could raise in his defense.

It was the only logic he could raise to account for what happened when Cepheus flew at the hoop to Thad's left and threw the Quaffle to Gareth, Gareth went toward the right hoop as Thad turned sharply around and followed to the other side, then Gareth threw the ball at the middle hoop.

He had already been committed to a dive to the right, intent on protecting that far hoop from the obvious maneuver of throwing to the farthest goal from the one Cepheus had initially threatened. Thad had already moved passed the middle one when Gareth proved that had been his true intent, but he was still within a foot or two of it. He was, of course, moving much to fast to stop or even turn his broom around in time, but his brain - the one created by genetics shared with DP1 and Belinda and Amelia - produced a solution that was completely insane.

Thad knew it was insane, or at least he did now, but at the time it leaped into his mind it had seemed genius (which, of course, did not speak highly of sanity value given how narrow that line between genius and madness was) and he had immediately implemented it before the window of opportunity closed.

He had thrown himself backwards off his broom. Not toward the Quaffle, of course - he was crazy, not suicidal - but toward the middle hoop he had passed moments before. He flew the two feet without so much as a broom to assist his flight, and reached his arms out for the bottom rim of the hoop. Both arms went through the circle, just above the rim, and his torso thunked with enough force against the hoop and the post supporting it to knock the breath from him, but he got his shoulders over the rim, the painted metal digging into his armpits, and he felt the Quaffle bounce off the back of his head.

At least it had worked the way he had intended it to work. This would be a horribly embarrassing position to end up in if the ball had sailed harmlessly over him.

"Um," he called out, making a conscious decision not to look down just now, "Could one of you guys get me my broom?" Presumably the one his father had bought him was even now tumbling down to the earth below, though since his dismount was voluntary, it may have just kept speeding on past the right goal hoop. He was no more willing to move his head and risk disrupting his precarious balance to look for it than he was willing to see how far up he was right now without any magic supporting him.

1 Thad Pierce This . . . is probably not good 213 Thad Pierce 0 5

Cepheus

November 30, 2011 10:28 PM

Probably not. by Cepheus

Cepheus found Gareth's shot pretty good, so he watched Thad, waiting for the quaffle to go in. It looked like a fool-proof plan and he didn't think Thad was that good. So he was shocked when their keeper flung himself off his broom and at the centre hoop. "Is he mad?" came out of Cepheus's lips when he watched the quaffle bounce off of his head. Cepheus was a little slow then, but heard Thad's call. He had half a mind to let the bloke hang there to teach him a lesson on how not to block a quaffle, but no matter. He had to be nice.

Cepheus flew down and retreived the broom, using one hand to carry it while the other steadied him on his own broom. He flew up to Thad and handed him the broom. He smirked. "You're mad, you are, but I can't deny that was an impressive save." He turned his broom, ready to go down and retreive the quaffle as well, when he saw coach Pierce heading their way. "Pierce, er, Coach Pierce seems to be coming. Wonder what she has to say." He flew down to get the quaffle and then looked up, found Gareth, and flew upwards a little to toss the quaffle to him.

0 Cepheus Probably not. 0 Cepheus 0 5

Shiloh

November 30, 2011 10:56 PM

Okay, I'm spent now. by Shiloh

Vaguely, Shiloh realized that the whale people Jorge kept talking about were some sort of sports organization that didn't like girls playing them. How very strange. She wondered why anyone would care one way or the other if girls played a sport. No one cared if boys cooked or painted, why would it matter if she liked to ride a broom? "That really is silly," she repeated. "And to answer your question, my Papa didn't allow me to read the newspaper. He said little girls didn't need to bother with adult things. I had plenty of other books, though, with dragons and princesses and all sorts of wonderful things so I didn't mind at all."

And really, Shiloh didn't. Newspapers seemed awfully boring, and if her parents' reactions to the stories were anything to go by (plenty of frowning and groaning and occasionally the setting of the papers on fire), then newspapers were hardly nice things to read. She much preferred her story books instead. "I get out plenty," she was quick to correct. "Every day I would go into the garden to play and identify plants in the garden. And I've been to Newport at least a dozen times!" She thought to mention, too, her grandparents' villa in Italy, but was readily distracted by Jorge's continued explanation of the whale group.

Her mind came to a complete halt. "I'm confused," she said, truly sounding every ounce of it. "Are you saying that there are girls who like like other girls?" The idea was astounding; she couldn't imagine it. Was such a thing true? Did things like that really happen? Shiloh tried to imagine herself liking another girl that way and felt immediately uncomfortable. No, no . . . plainly these whale peple were crazy. Or Jorge was crazy. Maybe both. She would have to check the library, see if she could find some explanation there.

Surely, if such a thing existed, the library would have the answer. Shiloh decided to ignore the implications for now; it was just too much to consider and already her nerves were spent having worried herself into a frenzy about getting a bad grade for having worn a skirt. Diplomatically, she made a completely unsubtle change in conversation. "So Jorge, when did you learn you were a wizard?"

0 Shiloh Okay, I'm spent now. 0 Shiloh 0 5

Arabella

December 01, 2011 11:50 PM

That would be pretty dreadful by Arabella

Arabella was slightly surprised when Alexandra rattled off a list of her own relatives that were attending Sonora or would be in the near future, including her roommate Theresa. The Pecari was quick to figure out that meant the other girl was a Carey through her mother the way Ryan was a Brockert through his. Not that there was anything wrong with being an O'Malley in itself. "Wow, you have as many around our age as I do,but mine are all on my dad's side."

Arabella did have cousins on her mom's side, but they went to school in New Orleans. The Pecari briefly wondered why Alexandra hadn't gone there, but figured it was because of the Carey family's history at Sonora. There was a school in Colorado where she lived too, but Uncle Clifford didn't like it because it was something in magical Colorado that he couldn't control and the Brockert family had a long tradition of going to Sonora anyway.

She went on, listing her relatives for the second time this year already. "Let's see, my first cousin, Ryan, who was talking to you at the feast is a fourth year." He wasn't that close to their age but he was Arabella's closest cousin here and Alexandra had met him. "His horrible sister Carrie is coming next year. I hope for Lucille's sake they're in different houses. Then, of course, there's Evan in our class, his great-grandpa and mine are brothers and Valerie Lennox and Nora Dobson in second year. Valerie's dad is mine's first cousin and Nora's...I think her mother is Evan's first cousin."

Arabella's grandparents' descendents tended to be closer in age to people in the generation behind them. Nora was the oldest of that generation and she was older than all of the Pecari's first cousins, other than Ryan. Valerie and her sister, as well as Evan and Hope and Alessa seemed to be exceptions. "Evan's sister Hope is apparently the same age as Theresa's first cousins. And next year Valerie's sister Melanie is supposed to come. Plus, there's some older ones here."

She paused thoughtfully. "I actually only know Ryan and his sister though," and Arabella had only just met the latter within the last year and wished that she hadn't. Prior to that she'd only had Ryan's descriptions to go on and those were not exaggerated. If anything, he'd held back. "I mean, I have other first cousins, but they're younger along with my brother and sister. My cousin Amity will be here in two years. I think there's too many to know in my family too." Arabella smiled warmly at Alexandra feeling a bond.

The Pecari nodded. "I'm sure you'll do great." She encouraged the other first year. Her own parents basically expected her to pass her classes, act like at least something of a lady, and not embarrass the family name. Arabella figured that Alexandra had a leg up on her, getting sorted into Crotalus while she herself was sorted into Pecari. Arabella's house was not the one that pureblood parents wanted their daughters to go in. She was personally just glad that other Brockerts had been sorted into Pecari between her aunt and herself. At worst, Arabella would be compared to Nina or Tawny.

"I think a lot of families expect a lot. Especially purebloods." Her aunt Jillian, Amity's mother, was one of the worst in this respect, even worse in this respect than Aunt Pearl. The latter might have put a lot of pressure on Ryan-at least until there was a restraining order placed on her to keep her from tormenting him long distance-but it seemed that she actually expected Ryan to fail miserably at whatever he did.

Aunt Jillian, on the other hand, constantly pushed Amity and Chaslyn into as many lessons and activities as she could and expected them to excel at them all, whereas the rest just had lessons in etiquette, genealogy, basic skills in reading, writing and math, dancing and the like, standard pureblood things. Arabella thought that was terrible that her two cousins had to do additional things and were overworked. She sincerely hoped that her new friend's family wasn't doing that to her.

11 Arabella That would be pretty dreadful 217 Arabella 0 5

Alexandra

December 03, 2011 3:03 AM

And then you'd hit the ground... by Alexandra

“I don’t really have any family at all on Father’s side,” Alex remarked when Arabella compared their situations. “That I know of. We’ve always been so caught up in Mother’s family.”

She was a little surprised to run into two of the same family so quickly, but, well, connections were connections, and that was why she was here. “I remember him,” she said of Ryan. “He seemed very nice.” After that, there was a great list of names and connections, which left her feeling a bit dizzy, but she didn’t say anything because she’d subjected Arabella to more or less the same thing a moment earlier. She’d have to write home and ask for a copy of the Brockert family tree to study; she was sure they’d be pleased to provide it to her. If she could make a few more connections before she did, then Grandfather or Father might even not include a slight note of censure about how she didn’t already know it.

She returned the smile with one of her own, though she was worried a little in the back of her mind about how it must emphasize her nose as she always was. She was almost used to that; she had noticed how she looked for as long as she could remember and not liked it. It was like noticing the temperature of a room, just sort of automatic and not usually so bad that it got too much in the way. “Fun, isn’t it?” she said. “I suppose, if you think about it, everyone must have too many relatives to know them all, but families like ours…Mother’s family has a big reunion every five years, that’s the only way I know as many as I do. They throw all the girls together and have a few of the older girls watch us while the adults are off in their groups, it’s awful.”

It was only polite for Arabella to assure her she’d do all right, but she accepted it anyway. “I’ll try my best,” she said, thinking she had at least already done better than some. Maybe they would take that. The comment about families demanding a lot drew a slight shrug. “I’m the only grandchild,” she said. “And the first one who hasn’t been homeschooled since my mother.” So they’d see how she did and then they’d decide what to do with all the others – James, and Great-Uncle Stephen’s grandsons, and her cousins, once Uncle Jack and Aunt Priscilla had them. They hadn’t, yet, but it was an article of faith in the family that they would. They were a bright young couple with a bright future, and once they settled down a little more they would have half a dozen sons and any chance of a fight between Great-Uncle Stephen’s sons and grandsons, and maybe Great-Uncle Thomas’ son for good measure, would be all over. “So I guess it was inevitably they’d expect a lot of me, anyway.”

0 Alexandra And then you'd hit the ground... 0 Alexandra 0 5

Gareth

December 03, 2011 4:53 PM

Not at all by Gareth

A satisfied smile had just started to form on his lips when the Quaffle flew. Thad was too far past the hoop to correct, and even though this was just for fun he wanted to score against the other boy after his prior save. There was a competitive streak in him that wanted to shine though and show that as much as he might dislike flying he was still pretty darn good at playing Quidditch.

Apparently his competitive streak was non-existent when compared to Thad who threw himself off his broom to make the save. Gareth sat frozen on his broom, unable to comprehend the mental move the other boy just pulled. Luckily Cepheus was on top of things and went to retrieve Thad’s broom because all Gareth could do was stare. It made no sense, this was just tossing the Quaffle about for fun, and they weren’t even playing a real game with two teams. He simply could not understand what was going though the other boy’s head. Gareth was sure that even if his broom were on fire he wouldn’t jump off of it. How could Thad simply leap off just to save the Quaffle in a game that didn’t matter? Maybe he could understand if it was the one goal that would lose the cup, but it wasn’t even practice!

Once Thad was secure on his broom again Gareth managed to shake himself out of his stupor and fly over to the other two. “You’re in Aladren aren’t you?” Was the only thing he could think to say.

0 Gareth Not at all 0 Gareth 0 5

Thad & Amelia Pierce

December 04, 2011 1:15 PM

Sibling Union by Thad & Amelia Pierce

Amelia had been watching her brother. Not enough to interfere with her beginners, but every so often she would glance up at the experienced fliers to check that there weren't any problems cropping up above her, and inevitably her eyes would fall on Thad and stay there just a little longer than they did on anyone else. She'd seen his first save again the two Crotalus boys, and though her breath had caught for a moment as he overbalanced, she couldn't help but feel proud of the kid as he blocked the shot, recovered his balance with grace and ease, and even caught the Quaffle again before it fell too far. Her breif moment of panic had been written off as an overreaction. She'd clearly gotten too used to kids crashing to the ground over the summer, with little Ben just learning how to walk (and fly, of course).

She turned back to help a beginner, but kept a small piece of awareness on her two Chasing Crotali, so she would know when to look back up to see if Thad saved again. She moved onto another student, offering some advice as to how to control the hover, then her eyes tracked back up to the goals her brother was guarding. She looked up just in time to see him throw himself at the central goal post.

"Excuse me," she said to the nearest beginners, calling her broom to her as she started to run on the ground toward the side of the pitch where Thad was dangling over the ground. In the same motion, she caught the broom as it sped to her hand, threw a leg over its shaft, and pushed up into the air. Her wand was in her hand, though she had no memory of drawing it. Presumably, she had used it with her summoning charm, but she couldn't recall the details of that any more clearly. For all she recalled, she could have done it wandlessly and she wouldn't have known any differently.

"THADDEUS PIERCE THE SECOND," she thundered as she got within bellowing range, as the boy reclaimed his broom from his friend, announcing her presence and displeasure.

Thad flinched as his mother's angry shout crashed over him, startled enough to hear that particular voice that he completely lost the reply he had been about to give to Gareth and nearly missed the cushion charm as he reseated himself on his broom again. Realizing immediately that his mother couldn't possibly be at Sonora, nevermind high enough off the ground to sound so close, he figured out who much have actually shouted, who could have shouted in a voice alike enough to be mistake for Mother's, and it didn't make him feel any better. He lowered his head, squeezed his eyes closed, and wished dearly that he was on solid ground, preferably under his bed where Coach Pierce wouldn't think to look for him. It didn't work.

Amelia frowned as Thad jumped violently enough to nearly dislodge him from his broom all over again. She briefly contemplated casting a levitation charm on him so he wouldn't slip and fall to his death while she regaled him with a long and emphatic lecture about safety, the inadvisability of throwing oneself off one's broom, and what a fall from this height would do to an eleven year old body, but ultimately decided he was stable enough now that he was performing a simple hover instead. She drew closer, coming within easy speaking range, and opened her mouth to go into the full safe-flying rules for her class, how things could have gone very very wrong if he had misjudged his leap, and how badly he was disrupting to her lesson down below. At least, that was the kind of information she had intended to be imparting to the kid at a raised volume, but what actually came out of her was a tightly controlled but calm voice saying, "I have not exchanged so much as a word with Mother for over fifteen years, either directly or by proxy, but this, this, Thad, I will tell her about personally."

"No!" Thad exclaimed lifting his head and turning it around sharply to face her. "Please, Amelia, please don't tell Mother," he begged, finding it oddly easy to call the school's Deputy Headmistress by her first name. But then, just now, he wasn't pleading with a school administrator or even the flying lesson instructor. He was appealing to the sister who knew exactly what a were-bear their shared mother could turn into if she deemed an action of her child's to be moronically dangerous. Which is exactly what his most recent stunt had been, his remaining sanity assured Thad. "She'll pull me out of school and lock me in the library and not let me out again until I'm thirty-seven, you know she will."

Amelia did know. Her relationship with her parents had been on the rocks since she hit puberty, some ten years or so before any talk of disownment had even been considered. But that wasn't why she was going to forgo her initial threat. A moment of consideration had revealled the flaw in the plan, and that was that the incident had happened on her pitch, on her watch. As soon as Mother was done smothering Thad, she'd no doubt come after Amelia next with intentions not nearly so kind. They had not parted on good terms.

"You will be grounded," Amelia informed him instead. "No free play for a month. You will be hovering with the rank beginners until November. Also, I will be writing to Father to inform him of your detention for disrupting class." It was a harsher punishment than she would have given anyone else. Had it been Mr. Princeton or Mr. Whitebriar, she may have even awarded points (they were Crotali after all) for ingenuity and creative gumption on the pitch, and kept them on the ground for no more than a couple classes. But she had a personal stake in Thad's well being and he had scared her more than any other first year possibly could have. Besides which, a detention was probably the safest way to meet with her brother alone, without raising flags that Grandmother might see.

Thad nodded, accepting the named punishment without protest. In truth, he still felt like he was getting away with something since no account of how he had disrupted the class was going to make it home to Mother. "Yes, ma'am," he agreed obediently. "I'm sorry, ma'am."

Amelia frowned, as much to look stern and unforgiving as because she disliked being called ma'am. Though she didn't approve of students using her first name as a rule, that hadn't grated on her nearly as much as the ma'am did. Bad enough Ben called her 'Gramia' - which she was taking as a mashing of 'Gramma' and 'Amelia' and she had started giving Derry and Gabby very severe looks for it - she didn't need her little brother calling her 'ma'am' as well.

"You'll be coming down to the ground with me now," she informed Thad and he nodded agreeably. She turned briefly to address her two House members. "You may continue to fly, but if I see any further leaping off of brooms, the offender will get two detentions and two months of being grounded." It had never been a problem before Thaddeus, so she didn't expect it would really cramp their game any. "Come," she waved curtly at Thad and started a slow descent back to the beginners.

Thad followed, and she didn't wait until they were out of earshot before she asked, with some genuine concern, "Are you hurt?"

"No," he answered, enough embarrassment and shame in his voice to convince her any injuries he might have collected were insignificant.

"That was a nice save, though," she added, giving him a small break. He looked over at her, obviously torn between pleased pride and continued shame. She grinned at him a little, "Bel's done far worse," she assured him. That wasn't saying much. Bel attended mandatory sessions with a psychologist twice a week, and she was likely the last person on Earth Thaddeus wanted to emulate. "Even Arnold jumped off his broom once," she offered slowing, expecting Thaddeus to at least be mildly curious about some of the less common stories about his deceased older brother, the only sibling he could admit to having.

Thad seemed to transform, his reaction well beyond what she had been hoping for. His embarrassment vanished, his blue eyes lit up, his posture straighted, and he asked with the eager curiosity that could only come from the promise of a new bread crumb on a subject with a dearth of them. "Really? Mom never told me that," he said.

Amelia laughed, "Mom didn't know." That, she thought with satisfaction, was surely enough of a carrot to pair with the stick of detention to open the way to an actual conversation with her little brother.

1 Thad & Amelia Pierce Sibling Union 20 Thad & Amelia Pierce 0 5

Waverly

December 05, 2011 2:04 AM

All good? by Waverly

Waverly was beginning to enjoy flying more when Angel suddenly said, "Down." He didn't sound very happy about flying as she did, so she followed him as he lowered his broom. She was suddenly concerned for Angel. Maybe because he was...the way he was, he couldn't handle flying very much? Or for very long?

Waverly went down, wondering if he needed to go inside because of too much sun exposure or something. He seemed to sway a little, and Waverly hopped off her broom, rushing over to him. When she reached him, he was sitting down and so Waverly sat down next to him.

"Are you okay?" she asked, concerned. "Was that too long? Do you need to go inside?" She didn't know what to think about Angel. She wished she knew how to take care of him or something. That would make being his friend so much easier. The only thing she knew about albinos was that they couldn't be out in the sun for too long. Biting her lip, she looked at him, waiting for his answer, wondering how she could possibly help.

0 Waverly All good? 0 Waverly 0 5

Angel

December 11, 2011 1:12 PM

... by Angel

”…need to go inside?” As the world returned to focus Angel became aware of Waverly talking to him. Going back in would have been best, but Angel wasn’t ready to do so. Now that he was back on the ground he was starting to feel better. There wasn’t much that could be done about his dizzy spells in any case seems they were a direct result to his body’s inability to properly digest food, which left him with a very small reservoir of energy to draw from.

“Better now.” Angel said softly as he reached out to run pale fingertips though the grass. He still had half an hour before the sunshield potion he had to take before going outside wore off, and the grass was pleasant. The dark glasses protected Angel’s delicate eyes from the sharp rays of the sun, and the potion protected his skin. These precautions made the outdoors far more accessible to Angel than it was to muggles who suffered the same affliction.

As she sat next to him Angel realized that he was holding her back from joining the other figures high in the sky. If not for him she would have been up there laughing and playing as well. He bit his lip as he tried to find the words needed to allow her to leave him. Reaching out he touched her shoulder lightly before pointing up to the other fliers. “Can go.” He offered.

0 Angel ... 0 Angel 0 5

Waverly

December 26, 2011 7:45 PM

Can we be friends? by Waverly

Waverly was glad that Angel felt better. His speech was odd, but at least he could speak. She wondered why he was so quiet and why he didn't seem to speak in complete sentences. Well, Waverly didn't want to dwell too much on that. He seemed like a nice boy, and she liked his personality from what she could tell from his few words. Well...it wasn't much, but she liked the little she saw. He was almost like a puppy to take care of, and Waverly enjoyed helping.

He told her she could go, and Waverly looked up at the fliers, tempted. But then Angel would be by himself, and Waverly didn't want to desert him to fly with some other people she didn't really know. And besides, friends didn't leave other friends. At least, she wanted to consider Angel a friend. She turned to Angel again and smiled brightly, her green eyes sparkling. "No, it's okay! I'll stay here with you. We're friends, anyway, and friends don't leave each other." She smiled brighter and closed her eyes, lifting her face to the sun. "The sun feels so nice and warm." Waverly was a desert girl through and through.

0 Waverly Can we be friends? 0 Waverly 0 5