An attempt on Cascade Hall

Mortimer Brockert

June 24, 2022 10:50 AM

Opening Feast by Mortimer Brockert

Yet another year at Sonora was upon them. Mortimer was glad to be back. As annoying as some of the people here could be, given that most of them were teenagers, an inherently annoying group of people, at least he did not really have to socialize with them much. In fact, that was a large part of why he didn’t retire. If he retired, he might have to actually spend more time going to parties and getting together for other social events with members of pureblood society. So, being Headmaster gave him an excuse not to.

Anyway, this year, his grandson Olaf would be coming to Sonora for the first time, and Mortimer was looking forward to that, given that Olaf was the most like him of all his grandchildren.

Once the older students were assembled at their tables and the first years entered the room. Mortimer cast Sonorous on himself and rose." Welcome to Sonora for the new first years and welcome back for all older students. First years, you should have received a blank badge at the end of Orientation. You will dunk the badge in the Sorting Potion and it will turn the color representing your house which are blue for Aladren, yellow for Teppenpaw, red for Crotalus, and brown for Pecari. Afterwards, you may join your house table." He noted Olaf’s sorting with pride and immense pleasure. Very like him indeed and just where he always expected. He had quite the knack for guessing what houses his grandchildren would go into.

After the first years had been settled, Mortimer continued. “Would Morgan Garret and Gabriel Wilson please come up and get your Head Student badges." He continued. "In addition, I'd like to call up Rosalynn Tellerman, Ian Malone, Henry Spellman and Augustine Reed-Fischer to receive their prefect badges. Congratulations.” Arguably not as terrible choices this time although of course Isla and Esme were better ones. However, generally speaking it wasn’t that Mortimer was anti-Rosalynn, Gabriel or Morgan-as much as he was ever not completely anti-someone- he was pro-Isla and pro-Esme. In the case of Rosalynn, there was always the factor that she was running two clubs and while Isla was in both of them, that still meant that Mortimer’s granddaughter had less chance of being over-extended than her roommate.

However, at least Rosalynn was friends with Isla and Sapphire had spoken well of Morgan. As for Gabriel, he was a very intellectually curious Aladren which Mortimer thought was a positive attribute. Besides, anyone whom he truly disapproved for Head Student had been excluded from the ballot to begin with this year.As for the rest, Ian was a very dedicated student with the goals of becoming a Healer from what he had heard and Augustine…was the least of evils which most of the time was the best one could hope for from Pecari and Isla had fairly positive things to say about him. Henry Spellman…was the only option but at least he was better than his brother.

Once the prefects and Head Students were back in their seats, Mortimer continued. “This year we will be once again having our Team Challenges.” He had always been fond of this event given that it kept students busy. “ Your teams will be announced within the next couple of weeks with details to come. Our midsummer event will be the concert and acts will consist of challenge highlights as well as any other performance people wish to put on.” He couldn’t imagine why they would want to do anything else with the Challenges going on plus their normal schoolwork, not to mention CATS for the fifth years and RATS for the seventh years.

““Now for the singing of the school song.” He had finally figured out exactly how to mention the school song being sung without lying and saying we would sing the song. We would not be singing, because that would include Mortimer and he would be doing no such thing. They would be singing but saying that seemed to be a bad idea as well. So, the song would be sung,that could be agreed upon by all, even if it was not sung by all. Someone would be singing. Lyric sheets were passed around and the song began.

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

That done, he dug into his steak and bourbon.

Subthreads:

Aladren

An attempt by Lazarus Jareau-Fletcher with Bertie Jackson

Fifth year! by Rosalynn Tellerman with Nausicaa Scapetello

...Me? Seriously? by Morgan Garrett

Interesting.... by Mara Morales

Teppenpaw

Hi, friendly house! by Robyn Lundstrom with Valentine Duell

For me? (tag Leviosa or Piper or both) by Cole Pierce with Piper Wilson

All on my lonesome by Philippe Delachene

Crotalus

Making deliveries by Yaniel Ayala Velez with Lyla Holland

How are you? [Amethyst] by Iris Cobb with Amethyst Brockert

It's going to be a good year! by Verdillia Scurlock with Claire Osbrook

Not at all surprising or disappointing... by Sadie-Lake Chalmers

Pecari

Happy sad by Stanley O'Malley with Oz Spellman

I'm new! by Xarryn Bavol with Fortune Ardovini

I did it! by Theo Spurn with Alexei Vorontsov

Is it over yet? by Mab

Staff

11 Mortimer Brockert Opening Feast 6 1 5

System

June 24, 2022 10:50 AM

Aladren by System

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System

June 24, 2022 10:50 AM

Teppenpaw by System

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System

June 24, 2022 10:50 AM

Crotalus by System

0 System Crotalus 0 System 0 5

System

June 24, 2022 10:50 AM

Pecari by System

0 System Pecari 0 System 0 5

System

June 24, 2022 10:50 AM

Staff by System

0 System Staff 0 System 0 5

Stanley O'Malley

June 24, 2022 1:44 PM

Happy sad by Stanley O'Malley

Okay, so Mom was kind of a hot mess at goodbyes this year. A lot of emotions about her babies growing up. Stanley thought that was weird, because it wasn’t even their last year, but he guessed maybe there were some big happenings happening. Mom and Dad were about to enter a brand new decade - one that every time he said it, Mom threatened him with violence - and there were big ages coming around the bend for the kids too. Stanley and Wally were going to be seventeen, and Charlotte was turning eleven this year. So, yeah, if she was getting weepy just imagining them growing up, next year’s wagon farewell was bound to be a catastrophe.

In any case, the boys had escaped, mostly dry and unscathed. The wagon ride was always its usual combination of turbulence, an experience that was always predictably unpredictable. He didn’t know how Wally managed to read through part of it, the way his book bounced around so much.

It was over, and as they stepped back onto solid ground, it occurred to him that they didn’t have that many wagon rides left, and maybe Mom’s emotions weren’t quite so crazy after all. They were sixth years now. Things were winding down.

So he was determined to make the most of it, he decided on the spot, and the Challenges sounded like an excellent opportunity to do so. His parents had told him about them, and how they took a well-rounded team to excel at every challenge, so he hoped he got some compatible teammates. He needed a team like… like his Boys Squad. He had the brawn, Wally had the brain, Theo had the heart, and Tommy pulled it all together. So yeah, something like that.

And, oh. Theo was a seventh year. That was sad. And so was Gabriel, and oh hey, Gabriel got Head Boy! That was cool. He made a note to go say congratulations at some point.

He didn’t want to get too hung up on the Sadness about people being seventh years again, though, so he just turned to a neighbor with a friendly smile. It took him a second to not be sad, because he habitually looked around to see where Anya was sitting, and then it made him sad that she wasn’t here to yell at him. But this person was probably good for a chat, anyway.

“Hey,” he grinned. “Are you excited for the challenges?”

12 Stanley O'Malley Happy sad 1491 0 5

Oz Spellman

June 24, 2022 5:17 PM

Just happy and perfectly normal by Oz Spellman

OOC: CW - internalised homophobia BIC:

The thing with Lorena hadn't survived last term. At the time, Oz had been sure it was his fault but over summer he had got to know some of the girls in his neighbourhood. They hadn't been aiming for anything as serious or long term as had been implied with Lorena, but he had got on fine with them. Girls definitely worked for him. Maybe it hadn't worked with Lorena because she was boring. As for what had happened with Xavier, that had clearly been a blip.

He had been feeling confident of this until he actually saw Xavier. Their kiss had replayed in his mind a few times over the holidays. It had been a weird thing to happen, and it was normal to think about that. He wasn't quite sure how to justify to himself the alternate versions of that scenario he had run through his head - other kisses, other situations... But whilst he had been far away for the summer - whilst Xavier had been an abstract concept in a different part of the country - it had been easy to play around with him in his head and pretend that it was all harmless and didn't mean anything. Seeing Xavier for real... rather than pushing all those thoughts down into their little storage box where they were supposed to stay, it had brought them all bubbling up to the surface. Maybe it was just boredom. That excuse would have flown better if he'd been away from other sources of amusement for more than half a day but hey, he one hundred percent believed in his own ability to get bored and restless that quickly. The alternative was that he had accidentally caught feels for his best friend. That wasn’t going to work out.

Obviously, Xavier liked him back. He’d made that plenty clear. But whilst people like Philippe and Freddie might have been able to walk around being openly gay, that was different. It was so obvious in both their cases that they were probably going to get called it anyway. They might as well enjoy the benefit of a bit of making out. But Oz was Oz. Loudmouth class clown, Beater on the Quidditch team, roommates with Billy and Gus. It wouldn’t be the same for him.

And he didn’t need to deal with it because sure, he had kissed Xav one time but there was a difference between doing something kinda gay and being gay.

Which meant that it wouldn’t hurt to repeat it.

Which was absolutely not what he was meant to be thinking.

He liked girls. Even if a voice that sounded grossly like his mom was saying people could like both and it was okay if he did, he could still choose to just go with girls and no one would ever need to know. It would be a much easier plan to follow if there were hot and interesting girls at school. Hopefully puberty would wreck Xav’s face or something so Oz wouldn’t be tempted.

He took a seat deliberately far away from Xav, but couldn’t help watching him—he was more interesting to look at than the first years. He saw Xav make a face part way through the sorting, and remembered his sister must be there. Oz turned in time to see a dark haired girl taking a seat at the Teppenpaw table. Then his eyes returned to his best friend. The only other thing that caught his attention was Henry’s name being called for prefect (and, very obviously, not his own). He whooped for Henry, and for Gus too (who was definitely the most sensible choice out of all of them).

After the stupid song, the food appeared, and he wasted no time in loading up his plate. He’d never gone hungry at Sonora, and he didn’t even go hungry at home that much since mom could save whilst they were at school, but he still felt the need to get in quickly and load up. It was a habit fuelled by childhood experiences rather than logic. And by the fact the feast was good.

He’d noticed he was sitting next to Stanley. Whilst Oz had been loading his plate, Stanley had been looking kind of sad, but other people’s personal pre-feast thoughts were absolutely private business and should be left well alone. He was about to strike up a conversation about how someone sensible had been in charge of giving out prefect badges this year, when Stanley asked something else instead. He’d dimly registered the announcement, and challenges sounded pretty fun, and he could usually get behind even weird wizard ideas of fun. He tried to squish down thoughts of Henry getting splatted by Quidditch-style games or mercilessly bullied by his teammates. That was going to have to be another advantage to not being prefect - if anything like that happened, Oz could just flat out punch them in the face or hex them. For the bullying, anyway. As for the rest… at least medical care was free here? Nope, definitely not thinking about that.

“After that mega hype up and all those juicy details?“ he asked with a grin. “Man, who wouldn’t be. Dude knows how to sell it,” he joked. He bit into a lamb chop with only slightly less fierce enthusiasm than he would have done moments ago; he was never going to get over being able to have things like that, but he couldn’t quite let go of the idea that this was going to suck for Henry. “Got any inside scoop on what all that actually means?” he asked.

13 Oz Spellman Just happy and perfectly normal 1514 0 5

Yaniel Ayala Velez

June 24, 2022 5:19 PM

Making deliveries by Yaniel Ayala Velez

Yarielis wasn’t sure whether it was best to arrive early or late when trying to drop off a gift to someone before the start of the feast—given that the gift was food, the ideal thing would have been to find Cole hours beforehand, when he might have wanted a snack, and not when he was about to sit down and be served everything he could possibly imagine. That probably made it stupid and redundant, and Yarielies was half-tempted to not even bring it. But Papa had been excited about them making gifts for people, and it would be a waste not to—Cole had enough friends that he could easily share out the contents of the box even if he didn’t want it (at) all himself.

So, having determined that complete avoidance was not an option, that just left the question of arriving early, so as to be sure to easily sort the thing out before the feast began, or arriving close to the start of the event so that Cole might actually be there. Honestly, the thought of almost being late and having to give someone a present they might not want in front of a room full of people were both so deeply mortifying that there really was only one option.

Yarielis entered the hall nice and early, and—as suspected, not finding Cole at the Teppenpaw table—placed the box in one of the empty places. Teppenpaws seemed like they could be trusted not to steal, and so even if Cole’s curiosity wasn’t attracted by the random box, hopefully someone would see it and pass it on to him. It had his name on the lid, next to the little red and white logo of The Island Bakery. That would probably be sufficient enough for him to guess who it was from. If Yarielis had ever mentioned the bakery to him. It was possible that had never come up, given the limited amount Yarielis shared about… well, everything. But the words ‘Puerto Rican cakes and pastries’ were written under the logo, which should probably be a clue. If he knew that… Even if he didn’t, it was probably something that he could make a reasonably educated guess at. Inside the box, he would find a handful of quesitos—Yarielis had given him something suitable for sharing, given he had so many other friends.

The second year took a seat at the Crotalus table, with a clear angle from which to anxiously watch the box. Though if anyone decided to mess with it, it wasn’t really like Yarielis would say or do anything.

Apart from the anxiety around that, it was much better being sat at one of the tables than it had been the previous year, being paraded in front of the whole school. Yarielis felt for the poor first years on display, and tried to smile at the incoming Crotali. The headmaster’s speech was short, but still managed to contain two terrifying pieces of information—challenges and a concert. Yikes, and no thanks. Sure, Yarielis played Quidditch, which was both athletic and competitive, but ‘schoolwide challenges’ sounded much more like ‘bond with your peers through shared stress’ which wasn’t good. The school song was still baffling and unfamiliar - Yarielis had only heard it once, and at that point had been overwhelmed - so that got sort of mumbled through with an attempt at good intentions.

Once that was done, it was time to eat. Yarielis took a moment surveying the options.

“Hey, is that barbecued pork?” the second year asked a neighbour, nodding to a dish on their opposite side, and thus out of reach.

13 Yaniel Ayala Velez Making deliveries 1554 0 5

Robyn Lundstrom

June 24, 2022 5:48 PM

Hi, friendly house! by Robyn Lundstrom

Robyn had actually seen parts of the school before, when she’d come to see Xavier over Christmas. Still, she tried to put that to the back of her mind so that she could enjoy the tour with her peers, wanting it to be something they were all sharing in together, rather than another thing where her brother’s shadow slipped over her. She hadn’t seen all that much of it when they had visited. There had been other students staying too, and their visit had been meant to be kept on the downlow, so really, the library was the most familiar place.

She had seen inside the Cascade Hall too, but she still decided to be awed and amazed when the group was led in. It was also a very different sensation taking a peek into it when it was empty verus being led right up to the front of it when it was full of people. Robyn tried not to fidget or look nervous.

As she walked forward, her main thought was ’Anywhere except Pecari.’ She didn’t think her brother’s house was a very likely option for her, but she did have to admit that life had forced her to at least somewhat roll with the punches. She wouldn’t have minded being classed as flexible or adaptable (even if she wasn’t totally sure she was) but she didn’t want to be lumped in with her brother. The rest of the houses all sounded fine. Still, she smiled broadly as she pulled her badge out of the potion and found it was yellow. Teppenpaw was the friendly house, and given how unfriendly this world had been to her family so far, that was very comforting. She couldn’t help but glance over at her brother, even though she didn’t need his stupid approval, and all he did was poke his tongue out at her anyway (okay, he was clapping too, but he was still such a jerkface).

Robyn made her way to her new table, offering cheerful smiles to her neighbours. The only downside was when Lyla went into Crotalus. They’d been getting on so well. Did this mean they weren’t as compatible as Robyn had thought? She hoped they’d still be friends even though they were in different houses. And maybe this was a good chance to get to know more people. Normal people who weren’t Xavier had more than one friend. It was honestly weird to be that obsessed with one person—he could blame it as much as he liked on having to do extra classes but honestly, he just blatantly fancied Oz, and Robyn suspected he wasn’t motivated to look beyond that. She was. She was going to be different to Xavier in that way too, and have lots and lots of friends.

“Hi,” she smiled at the person next to her. “I’m Robyn!” She had led with how excited she was to be here with Lyla, so tried to think of something else. “Do you know anything else about the challenges and the concert?” she asked.

13 Robyn Lundstrom Hi, friendly house! 1558 0 5

Valentine Duell

June 25, 2022 7:10 AM

Hi, friendly newcommer! by Valentine Duell

Valentine wandered into the Cascade Hall for the opening feast with a light spring in her step. She loved time home with Mama, Papa and Aunt Giselle, but she was glad to be back at school with all her friends again. The fact that there were only two more years remaining of this made her a bit sad, but she'd resolved to make the best of it!

The sixth year made her rounds though the gathering students in the hall, finding her friends. They were all greeted with some combination of cheery smiles, waves, hugs and perhaps one or two kisses. One of the other things that had happened over the summer and was contributing to the girl's happiness was the reception of her CATS results. She'd actually done well enough to continue along with the studies she needed! Granted that also filled her with a minor level of dread at the thought of advanced transfigurations, so she tried not to think about it at the moment. Instead she found her seat at the Teppenpaw table, with some open places around her as usual.

Val watched the first years march in and get sorted with her normal attentiveness. It was fun to watch them and their reactions. This was also why she tried to find a seat with empty spots around her for the opening feast, they could then sit with her and she could get to know her new housemates! She'd always liked that to do that, and once she'd become a prefect, it had become her official job and solemn duty! As such, she was delighted when one of the new girls sat next to her smiling cheerfully. "Welcome to Teppenpaw!" Val said to her with delight and a wide, friendly smile.

The headmaster continued to speak then and she cheered for her two gaming club members who were the new Head Students! She did likewise again for the new prefects. As the headmaster then continued on, she was incredibly relieved that somehow the Challenges had landed in between her CATS and RATS, but she did feel a bit sorry for the classes above and below her. She had heard about the challenges, and wondered what they would actually be like. That plus the concert would make for an interesting year. The song sheets appeared and she sang along with the others thinking that she'd only do it one more time.

The food appeared and she ignored it for the moment as she turned to the new student next to her. It looked as though the girl had a similar thought and was already introducing herself. "Hi Robyn!" Val responded, "I'm Valentine and welcome to Teppenpaw again!" She considered Robyn's question for only a moment, "I don't know much about the challenges, they come up every seven years I think?" She wasn't entirely sure on that point, so definitely left it as a question. "So each student only has them once. If I remember correctly, the last time it was some sort of magical obstacle course?" Again, it was definitely an uncertainty.

"As for the concert though," She continued on, "That comes up every four years and sometimes seems a bit mis-named." There was a slight laugh in her tone as she continued, "A concert usually makes people think of music, but this, as far as I understand, is more of some sort of performances that the students put on for their family. Last time around, we did historical plays that showed off the magic we were learning. It was fun!"

Val's stomach growled lightly which cruelly forced her attention away from her new friend to the food in front of her. "Grab some food, do you have any favorites?" She asked while scooping some chicken, mashed potatoes and broccoli onto her own plate. "Oh, by the way, I'm one of the Teppenpaw prefects," she added while indicating the prefect badge on her robe. "So if you have any questions about anything, or any problems with anything, come find me and we'll see what we can do! Professor Xavier will go over more of that later after the feast, he is a dear." Then with a slight twinkle in her eye she asked, "Are you ready to start learning magic?"

2 Valentine Duell Hi, friendly newcommer! 1490 0 5

Xarryn Bavol

June 25, 2022 7:15 AM

I'm new! by Xarryn Bavol

Xarryn had enjoyed the tour, and he'd especially liked the short peek he'd gotten into the water room of MARS. He expected he'd be spending a fair amount of time there, swimming, and playing on a beach, and maybe, if it let him, sailing the deep ocean. He was less enthused about some of the other rooms like the library, where there were so many books that Xarryn felt a little seasick (Landsick? Maybe reading would be easier if the world was a bit steadier? He wasn't going to bet on it. He didn't actually get seasick. He got booksick.) just looking at them.

Eventually the tour deposited them in the Cascade Hall, and Xarryn felt a little bit more at home with all the water around them, though waterfalls were not exactly a common feature of the high seas either unless you counted rain. Still, it smelled like water, (not that water had a smell, exactly, but Xarryn always knew when it was nearby, and smell was as close as he could come to explaining how) and that was nice, even if it didn't have the homey tang of salt.

He dunked his badge into the offered liquid when he was told to do so, and it came out brown. Pecari. He grinned. He'd hoped for that one. It was the House of Adventure!

He bounded over to his new table, smiling at all his new co-adventurers that he'd be living with, and said "Hi!" to the one he found a chair next to. "I'm Xarryn!" His sun-bleached blond hair was short and shorn unevenly (a hairdresser, Dad was not, and looking a little unkempt went with their image anyway) and his skin was tanned almost darker than his hair was. His blue eyes were bright and excited. "Is Pecari as awesome as the brochures make it sound?"

He was well aware of how misleading some brochures could make things sound. Windy's Pirate Fleet didn't exactly go in for false advertising for their cruises, but some of the minor details about the more tedious and uncomfortable aspects of sailing across the ocean pretending to be pirates of old did get a bit glossed over.

1 Xarryn Bavol I'm new! 1560 0 5

Cole Pierce

June 25, 2022 6:02 PM

For me? (tag Leviosa or Piper or both) by Cole Pierce

When Cole walked into the Cascade Hall before the Opening Feast, he glanced around the room and waved at Yarielis and some other people he knew who were already seated at their own tables. Some older Teppenpaws were around, but he seemed to be the first of the people he knew well to arrived. He'd left Lenny up in their room putting away his clothes - Cole was fine living out of his trunk for the first few days, but Lenny worried about wrinkles and liked to get his hung up right away, and he hadn't seen any of the girls down in the common room when he passed through either.

He saw an unattended box and went to make sure somebody hadn't left it behind when they went to sit somewhere else and was surprised to find his own name on it. Huh. Well that was lucky. It was from The Island Bakery, but there was no other name on it besides his own to suggest who had left it for him. It did say the bakery specialized in Puerto Rican cakes and pastries, which was where he was pretty sure Yarielis was from so he looked back toward her, saw her watching, and assumed he'd guessed right. He smiled widely and waved and mouthed "Thanks!" in her direction Then he sat down in the seat his cakes and pastries had claimed for him and opened it up.

There was, in fact, pastries inside. He had no idea what they were called or what was inside them, but he tried one anyway, and it was good. Cream cheese, maybe? He turned around to look at Yarielis again and gave her two thumbs up and another smile, and held up the half-eaten pastry thing to show he'd tried it and he was saying it was good.

He finished eating the one he started, and put the rest of the box away for later. He probably shouldn't spoil his dinner and even if dinner wasn't imminent, he doubted the pastries were vegan so he didn't want to share something with his other friends when he didn't have an alternative to give to Lenny. Minutes before a feast probably wasn't the best time to be sharing food anyway.

He waved as some of his Teppenpaw friends started arriving. "Hey!" he called out cheerfully. "Over here!" he called to make sure they saw him and the empty seats he had saved. They chatted idly as they waited for everyone else to arrive and find seats, Cole mentioning the summer highlight of his boy scout camp and his excitement to be back at school.

After a little while, the first years walked in and got themselves sorted.

He clapped for the new Head Students and Prefects, not surprised that Mab hadn't gotten Head because she'd happily (for Mab) reported that she hadn't even been on the ballot last spring, but he was a little disappointed he couldn't brag about his cousin Alexander getting it. None of the fifth years were anyone he knew, though he was pretty sure Rosalynn was one of Lenny's cousins. He didn't need to pretend he knew her in present company, however.

The announcement of the challenges though, made him sit up in interest. After the song finished, he was eager to share what he knew, "Oh, my parents did the challenges! As advanced students, they both got to lead a team. I'll have to tell them those are happening this year!" Cole and his friends were only second years, so they would not be leading anything, but it was cool, that he was getting to do something that he'd heard his parents talk about from time to time.

1 Cole Pierce For me? (tag Leviosa or Piper or both) 1546 0 5

Robyn Lundstrom

June 25, 2022 6:03 PM

Hello my housemate and prefect! by Robyn Lundstrom

Valentine… Robyn searched her brain, trying to work out whether that name was familiar because of anything Xavier had said, or just because it had stood out when looking through his yearbooks. Even if Xavier had mentioned her, they weren’t particularly close, and now she was Robyn’s housemate and Robyn’s prefect.

The challenges were every seven years, and the concert every four, which meant Xavier had never done them either. His first concert would also be Robyn’s. Ha. Not too little for everything now, was she? Though a magical obstacle course sounded sort of scary, and she hoped it wasn’t anything like Quidditch. She had been considering playing it just because Xavier didn’t, and was still half entertaining the idea of being one of the non-violent positions, but the trouble was even those got violence inflicted on them. It sounded like there were lots of clubs, so she could easily join something her brother wasn’t in without having to play a potentially lethal sport.

“Pasta dishes,” Robyn answered, when Valentine asked her about favourites, though she was more than happy to step outside of that, especially so that she didn’t have to compare Sonora’s food directly with her mom’s. “But I’m up for trying new things.” She took a small scoop of potatoes in some kind of cream sauce, with crispy cheese on top.

“Yes, absolutely!” she promised, sitting up a little straighter when Valentine asked if she was ready to learn magic. She didn’t think they were about to start then and there, but something about the question triggered her ‘being on perfect good behaviour’ response, which included preparedness and perfect posture. “I did it by accident a bunch at home. So that means I can definitely do it, right?” she added, a little of her nervousness creeping into that question.

13 Robyn Lundstrom Hello my housemate and prefect! 1558 0 5

Iris Cobb

June 26, 2022 6:22 AM

How are you? [Amethyst] by Iris Cobb

Iris still hadn't gotten over it yet. She made her way into the hall with cautious steps, her eyes darting about in all directions. For the moment the coast looked clear, but that would most likely change. This was hardly 'proper behavior', especially for a Crotalus, but she couldn't help it. The idea of ghosts had always unnerved her, but it hadn't been a real issue until she had started coming to Sonora. Still, she had managed, she had dealt with their presence, but now.. she shuddered at the thought.

Iris moved quickly through the room seeking her roommate at the Crotalus table. She sat down and breathed a sigh of relief. Everything was fine. Everything was just fine. She flashed Amethyst a quick if not mildly nervous and uncertain smile before the Headmaster began his welcoming speech. Despite that she knew she should, Iris barely paid any attention to the speech. She did catch the one bit, thankfully Billy had not been made prefect. Gus was undoubtedly the best of that group.

Once the speech and song were over and the food had appeared, she turned to Amethyst. "Hi, how have you been? Does the name 'Cobbson' mean anything to you?" Iris rattled off quickly with a touch of trepidation.

2 Iris Cobb How are you? [Amethyst] 1526 0 5

Verdillia Scurlock

June 26, 2022 6:24 AM

It's going to be a good year! by Verdillia Scurlock

Verdillia was excited to return to Sonora. It was always exciting to be in a school full of magic, rubbing shoulders with fine society people of the sort Mama would want her to befriend, but this year was going to be even better. Verdillia would be stepping up to intermediate classes. This meant a chance to stretch her magical prowess, and learn challenging new skills, and for one blissful year, not having to be her sister’s minder. Of course, it had been a good thing to be in the same class as Leviosa for her first year. It meant that Verdillia had been able to keep an eye on her, and steer her in the right direction—as much as such a thing was possible anyway. Leviosa would insist on being naive about things. Still, Verdillia felt she’d earnt a break from babysitting duty, and was very glad to have a chance to focus on herself and her relationships.

It sounded like a promising year for that. They had both team challenges and a concert, all of which would involve lots of group work. She wondered if the challenges occurred regularly like the midsummer events. She hadn’t heard them mentioned in the same way. She would have to dig into the school paper archives to see if she could find any reports that would give her a better idea of what they would consist of and how to prepare. There were probably also any number of people here who knew people who knew people who’d done them, if they were a regular thing.

After the school song, the feast appeared. Verdillia helped herself to a pumpkin and goat’s cheese salad, along with a piece of quiche. The weather at Sonora may have been charmed to follow Ireland’s less stifling climate, but it was still summer, and that seemed like a good way to start.

“It seems like we’re in for an exciting year!” she smiled at her neighbour.

13 Verdillia Scurlock It's going to be a good year! 1541 0 5

Lazarus Jareau-Fletcher

June 26, 2022 7:44 AM

An attempt by Lazarus Jareau-Fletcher

“Just try.”

Just try, Mom said. Like it was that easy. Lazarus always sort of thought his mom knew everything, but she clearly didn’t get it. He did try. He always tried. But it was hard to feel like you fit in when you were separated by a barrier. Nobody at school seemed to care that he was different - at least, they never said anything in front of him - but it was exhausting sometimes. He was pretty good with his magical book, turning to the page he needed to respond when necessary. But it was annoying, so sometimes he just didn’t respond. Talking to people when you couldn’t talk was just no fun. And anyway, people were exhausting in and of themselves. Lazlo was definitely more on the introverted side of things just in general.

He told his mom that he would, though, because that was easier than saying he wouldn’t, and he got on the wagon.

It was odd at first, watching the new first years scurry to Orientation and not falling in among their ranks. He had all this time now before the feast to go and do.. Well, apparently whatever. This school didn’t seem to have all that many rules, honestly. Overwhelmed by options and incentivized by lack of motivation, Lazarus just went up to his room and started unpacking his stuff. The elves would’ve done it for him, he knew, but he had nothing else better going on.

Eventually he meandered down to the Cascade Hall and took his place at the Aladren table, another weird Opening Feast experience: knowing where he was going. He listened as best as he could focus to the Headmaster’s speech, and instead of doing what he wanted to do and panic about the Challenges mentioned, he decided to make good on his promise to his mom and make an attempt by - gulp - interacting with someone.

As the food began to appear, he helped himself to the dish in front of him, but instead of sitting it down, he held it out toward a neighbor. His smile and slight nod of his head spoke for him, a gesture of Do you want this?

12 Lazarus Jareau-Fletcher An attempt 1548 0 5

Giselle Duell

June 26, 2022 10:24 AM

I dislike being uncertain about the future. by Giselle Duell

Giselle sat in her spot at the staff table and did her very best to keep up the appearance that all was find and nothing was wrong. She'd had plenty of training in that particular skill over her lifetime. So, for the most part, she was able to show a cool and collected outward appearance. Inside however, she had a number of things that were battling to upset her.

First of all, there was her living situation. Since returning to the US, she'd been living with Andrew, Marissa and Valentine. She knew they didn't mind, and to some extent needed her there if for no other reason than to continue to do their part in atoning for what had happened. But that didn't stop her from feeling like an imposing burden upon them. In her mind, it had been something of a temporary thing, at least once she had started working. A 'just until I'm on my feet again' type of thing. Well, after a few years now, she was more or less 'on her feet again'. She should find her own place and stop leeching off her brother and sister-in-law. But the thought of living on her own had another list of worries attached to it.

There was a part of her mind that hated her for that list of worries. She'd been under the thumb of people for to long. She'd also defied those people, traveled around the world by herself... twice, and fought against them. Suddenly now she was worried about 'living by herself'? Ridiculous. The problem was, that she had no set goal at the moment. She was adrift, and only now slowly gripping onto the reality of her new life. What she really needed was something to focus her attention upon, and apartment hunting was only so good for that purpose.

That brought her to the second issue she was wrestling with. Xavier. She would need to talk to Selina again, but as she understood it at this point, the boy was going to stay here at the school and she was going to be instructing him in the ways of the Seer. According to the officials now, he had untold Seer potential that was just terribly underdeveloped. If that wasn't a purpose, she didn't know what was. Unfortunately this was the boy that until recently they thought might explode and kill them all at any given moment. Now a good part of his development was in her hands? Wonderful.

No. Again, she could do this. She had been trained by the (evil) deputy-headmistress personally of the most knowledgeable and prestigious school in the world for divinations and Seers. Just because Lia had been a terrible, horrible witch, didn't mean that those teachings weren't sound. She... she just really didn't want to mess Xavier up any worse than he already was. So, she would just have to make sure that she didn't.

The last thing that was bothering her was a baby bird. It had shown up recently in some of her dreams and she didn't know what to make of it. Nothing about it was threatening, but it always came with an ominous feeling. She did not like it much. The Fates were unhelpful with more information about it at the moment. Now that she was back at school, she might be able to investigate a bit better than at home. If she got any time.

Giselle hadn't paid any attention to the Headmaster's speech while her mind had been contemplating these issues. The arrival of the food snapped her out of those thoughts and back to the present. As always, it smelled lovely. With a quick swish of her wand, she got the layout of the table and moved some food onto her plate. She set to eating with a bit of an absent air about her. What would this year bring?

2 Giselle Duell I dislike being uncertain about the future. 1517 0 5

Valentine Duell

June 26, 2022 11:18 AM

Okay, important question: Do you like hugs? by Valentine Duell

"Willingness to try new things is an excellent attribute." Valentine responded with a smile. "How else would you ever discover new things to like?" She nodded approvingly at Robyn's selection, "I like those," then looked down at her plate before continuing, "I'll need to get some once I've made room." She took a forkful of broccoli and ate it in order to start clearing space on her plate.

"Oh yes." Valentine assured the eager appearing girl, "You wouldn't be here if you couldn't do magic. You'll be floating objects around the room before you know it." Purely for demonstrative purposes Val pulled her wand out and floated the table's salt shaker over into her hand. With a wink at Robyn she sprinkled just a bit on the remaining broccoli on her plate as she stashed her wand again. It was nice to be able to do magic again, and it struck her that it was only a few months yet until she'd be seventeen and allowed to do as much magic as she wanted! Nobody could stop her, Mwa-ha-ha! Ooo... Bonabelle would be able to first though, and fairly soon... Hmm.. she may have a bigger party to plan for this year than normal. She may have to rope Mr. Row in again.

Another question popped into Val's mind for the first year beside her. "Did they give you a list of clubs and such? I think most of the ones from last year should still be going on. What sort of interests do you have outside of the academic circles?"

2 Valentine Duell Okay, important question: Do you like hugs? 1490 0 5

Robyn Lundstrom

June 26, 2022 5:54 PM

So long as I don't get turned upside down or tickled, yes by Robyn Lundstrom

“Anything else you recommend?” Robyn asked, feeling buoyed by the compliments from the older girl. She took a small piece of salmon because that was almost always a good idea, even if it wasn’t particularly adventurous, and it seemed like it would go well with the potatoes.

She beamed widely at Valentine’s assurance that she’d be floating objects around in no time. Her mouth fell open just a little bit at the salt shaker demonstration. She’d seen magic before, but seeing a student casually using it at the dinner table felt different. Even though Valentine was so much older than her, it made it feel much more relatable than the few times adults had done it around her. She realised she was gaping and shut her mouth quickly, though her eyes still shone with excitement.

“I made my stuffed toys dance sometimes,” she informed Valentine. Xavier’s accidental magic had been barely noticeable, even to him. He’d struggled to recall things which absolutely could not be accounted for any other way. Hers had been much more vivid, and it gave her high hopes that she wouldn’t be following her brother’s pattern in class.

“I don’t think so?” Robyn said, when Valentine asked if they’d been given a list of clubs. She’d had a quick flick through the folder, but as there had been cookies and potential friends around, it hadn’t been her biggest concern. She thought through her interests outside of school… A lot of it was just watching movies or hanging with her mom, doing things like playing dolls (which she probably shouldn’t admit to a grown up student like Val) or painting nails. But those were more friend hangout type things than hobbies. “I did dance and piano classes after school, and I was in Girl Scouts. Do you know what that is?” she checked. Most of those had been the sorts of things you just did by default, to keep you busy after school. Scouts had been her favourite. She enjoyed piano and dance, and she was in her class recitals whenever they happened, but they were things she practised a couple of times a week, not passions that she was dedicated to, and it showed. “And we’d go on a lot of family hikes.” Which wasn’t an option here. She swallowed down just a little bit of homesickness, and glanced at the Pecari table for reassurance. Xavier wasn’t looking her way, but at least he was there. “Are there any sporty things other than Quidditch?” she asked.

13 Robyn Lundstrom So long as I don't get turned upside down or tickled, yes 1558 0 5

Bertie Jackson

June 27, 2022 5:56 PM

Ah. Yes. Those. by Bertie Jackson

OOC: CW brief discussion of institutional racism BIC:

The students of this school could not be trusted to make logical decisions. Admittedly, there had been a run of quite good years. Students from various minorities had made the head student positions - the last two years had seen three Muggleborns, one trans student, and one immigrant all elected to office. But the tide seemed to have turned back the other way. Bertie was less annoyed about Gabriel than he was about Morgan. Gabriel might have been a Pureblood, but he was at least open enough to try out Muggle games and was interesting. He probably still believed certain people were ‘beneath him’ to marry, which was gross, and Bertie wasn’t exactly a fan of friendships that only ran as deep as ‘so long as politics aren’t on the table.’ Given that politics affected nearly every element of his life or existence, it wasn’t something he could easily brush aside just to get along with someone who felt there were limits to what he and his family were worth.

Morgan was just silly.

There was no other word for her, or for the decision to put her in office when someone perfectly qualified like Mara was her competition. Mara was intelligent, resourceful, and capable. What did people see in Morgan? Did they think she was ‘fun?’ He didn’t understand that, both as a description of her general overly loud, underly thought through execution of virtually everything, nor as a desirable quality in a head student. Interesting, how the fun white girl had got chosen over the highly qualified Latina. And yet when it had been Zara who was outgoing and sociable versus Jessica’s… whatever perceived competency, it had been Jessica who triumphed.

And speaking of all these idiots, Bertie was going to be forced to interact with them for ‘team challenges.’ That sounded like being forced to listen to a lot of nonsense in the spirit of ‘giving everyone a say’ even when people had ideas that made no sense. Great.

At least the food would be good. He was surveying his choices when a second year held something out to him without a word but with obvious invitation. Bertie was a little surprised, having not seen enough of Lazarus to know how he communicated, but he knew the struggle of not being able to get your words out well enough.

“Uh- - thank you,” he said. The way the words caught would probably read as hesitation to the younger boy, even though for Bertie it felt painfully obvious that his surprise had made him stutter. Blocks—the times where he just seized up between words—were always less obvious to others, unless they went on far too long. He heaped a small amount of the offered food onto his plate and then set it down. “Did you want anything?” he asked. This time, it was far more obvious. Several of the letters caught, giving more classically stuttered repetitions. He tried not to wince, or tense up. It wasn’t like it ever went away completely. He suspected it was a thing about him that was widely known. He’d just got used to being around people where he didn’t mind it happening, and where it didn’t matter.

13 Bertie Jackson Ah. Yes. Those. 1497 0 5

Philippe Delachene

June 27, 2022 6:42 PM

All on my lonesome by Philippe Delachene

It was a weird year already and it had barely even started. His sister had graduated. His boyfriend had graduated. And Philippe was now a sixth year in Advanced classes, which was somehow the least intimidating of those changes. He'd always been a good student. He'd always been a mature person. So, it bothered him deeply that two of the most important people in his life had gone on to the rest of their lives and left him behind to finish his schooling like he was two years younger than them or something.

Which, to be fair, he was. But he'd never really felt two years younger than Anya (and, at times, he could have sworn he was older one), and he'd only kind of felt like he was younger than Freddie when they first started dating. Last year, he'd been kind of mad he had to do a third year of intermediates instead of moving up to spend Freddie's last year in his classes.

Jasper was still here, of course, and he was glad for the consistency of his roommate, but he just felt cut adrift and alone when he got off the wagon without Anya, and he didn't have Freddie to catch up with at the Feast.

He sat down at the Teppenpaw table with a slight air of depression. The first years didn't really register on his radar as they came in. They could not make up for the year group that he'd lost to graduation. The Heads were the year above his and the prefects were the year below, so he knew the six people gaining badges, and he particularly clapped for the two Head Students who were both in the gaming club with him.

He did perk up at the announcement of the challenges. That might be a fun diversion, and maybe he could do a concert act, too, since he had a lot of free time opening up with sibling time and boyfriend time no longer available to him, plus he was dropping three classes going into RATS level (though he was picking up French as a formal independent study, so net loss of only two subjects).

Slightly buoyed by the thought of having new things to fill his empty time with, he sang the school song with middling enthusiasm instead of ignoring it, and then turned to the appearing food with moderate interest and then felt his stomach rumble as he realized very suddenly that he was starving to death. He filled his plate very full and after satisfying the worst of the initial hunger pangs, he turned to his neighbor, and asked, "Looking forward to the challenges this year?"

He didn't know a whole lot about them. Anya had been a first year when she did them, and had mostly just talked about a super fun obstacle course, but he wasn't sure if that was all there was to them. Jasmine must have been close to his age then, she was six years older than him, a seventh year when he started, so she'd been . . . fifth during the challenges last time? A year younger than him? That was really weird to think of. Jasmine, he was very ready to admit, was a lot older than him and it was hard to imagine being older than her for anything, even a repeating event that came through every seven years. He'd have to ask her about them. His oldest sister would definitely remember very different things than Anya had talked to him about when she was eleven.

1 Philippe Delachene All on my lonesome 1489 0 5

Theo Spurn

June 28, 2022 5:50 PM

I did it! by Theo Spurn

Theo bobbed into the Cascade Hall. He’d had an excellent summer. He’d helped Aunt Sophie with dad’s Wolfsbane potion. That was normal enough. He’d always done that, even when he’d been so small that ‘helping’ just meant sitting and watching very quietly and not getting in the way. Over the years, he’d progressed through various small jobs, such as preparing the ingredients, or giving the potion the requisite number of stirs, until this summer where—without realising it—he’d done almost the whole thing by himself. He was pretty sure that at Midterm, he would actually do it completely. He didn’t take advanced potions at school. He hadn’t got the requisite grade in his CATS, and whilst he and Professor Brooding-Hawthorne and his parents had talked it all out and negotiated, it had come out that what he really wanted was to learn that one potion. Dragging himself through a course which he didn’t always get on with, and which he was unlikely to get a passing grade in, was probably not the most effective use of his time. Not that grades were everything, and if he wanted to do it for the experience, he could, but it seemed like a lot of not-Wolfsbane-related-content to put himself through, just to have one or two goes at brewing Wolfsbane. But now he could do that! He, who had failed the potions practical of his CATS, could brew one of the most complicated concoctions out there! And the most useful.

He had also successfully arranged a pizza party for The Gang. This had mostly involved going shopping, and being mindful of a budget, and taking into consideration what everyone else would want. Given that he knew all the people in question very well, it was very easy to remember to include things that all of them liked. He and Dad had made the pizza dough, with dad doing all the really sticky gross bits, and Theo helping knead it once it was soft and malleable and soothing. Then everyone had come over, and put what they wanted on their part, and the whole thing had been a huge success.

Theo liked spending time with his family. They made it so that he was good at things. Sonora was mostly like that too. It was at least willing to help and do things a different way when they didn’t work for him, or give him extra help, though he had to stumble across some of those problems in the more direct and painful ways here.

He took a seat at Pecari table,deflating slightly as he remembered Anya wasn’t there any more. He would have to remember to write her letters. Like, really, really remember to, not just think about it when it wasn’t convenient, like class, and then forget about it when he actually had the time. Maybe he would also plan a trip to see Anya, or invite her over to stay, and then she could join in with pizza time. There were currently four of them, which worked well for splitting two big pizzas. But they could split them up another way, or even make square pizzas so it was easier to share, or make more dough and then give everyone a separate little one. There were always multiple ways to approach a problem, and he would do any of those things for her.

He was more interested in the people around him than the food when the feast began. Stanley was annoyingly busy, so he shifted seats until he found someone he could talk to.

“Hi!” he smiled. “What’s your favourite pizza topping and what did you do this summer?”

13 Theo Spurn I did it! 1476 0 5

Sadie-Lake Chalmers

June 28, 2022 11:41 PM

Not at all surprising or disappointing... by Sadie-Lake Chalmers

Sadie took a seat in the Cascade Hall, trying not to feel adrift. She had friends here. She had Esme and Mab - and Mab was very choosy about who she was friends with, so that counted for a lot. The Crotalus was not ungrateful, but she already missed Dathan, and couldn't help but feel that a year apart from him was going to be hard. Everyone said long distance relationships were a struggle, and that was with messenger and video calls. How were they supposed to keep it up via owl? What if he met someone else?

As the announcements came, she felt herself tensing, waiting for the one bit of potentially good news this year had. It didn't come. She kept her Oscar Loser Face on, smiling and clapping politely for Morgan. And Gabriel, though she felt more like she had lost to Morgan. She shouldn't be surprised. She had had to talk herself into even checking her own name. But after persuading herself, she had started to hope... Maybe she was her own worst critic, and others would see something in her that she had taken so long see in herself. No such luck. The disappointment stung more than she had expected.

She dimly registered the announcements about the concert and the challenges. She couldn't see herself participating, whereas Morgan would probably be front and centre.

At least you have a boyfriend, whispered a nasty part of her brain. It wasn't supposed to be a competition. It wasn't supposed to give her worth, and she felt bad for the fact that, even though she knew that, it did make her feel better about herself. She didn't have a head student badge, but she had Dathan.

For now... whispered another deeply unhelpful corner of her brain. It was amazing how many dark little recesses it could have, given that she generally didn't credit it with being all that big. Or maybe the problem wasn't its size but how crammed full of nasty little thoughts it was, squeezing out space for Gamp's Law and whatever Professor Wright ws trying to communicate at any given moment.

The feast appeared, and she had to admit that she was physically hungry, even if eating didn't sound super appealing. Still, she needed to look normal and happy, and like she didn't mind at all.

"Can I pass you anything?" she asked a neighbour, after scooping sweet potato mash and green beans onto her own plate. She didn't presume that everyone in her house would want to make small talk with her (though the odds had been greatly increased by Jeremy Mordue and Martin Crosby graduating) but they could at least be polite and helpful to one another (again, especially since certain people had graduted).

13 Sadie-Lake Chalmers Not at all surprising or disappointing... 1480 0 5

Lyla Holland

June 29, 2022 4:16 PM

Trepidation by Lyla Holland

Lyla didn't get the opportunity to explore the gardens with Robyn for more than a minute before Professor Wright had called the first years together to start the tour. It was a shame, but Lyla was also excited to learn more about her new school. Sure, she knew the basics, like the wagons and the prairie elves, but there was something different between reading or talking about it, and actually experiencing it.

When Lyla had dipped her paper, it had turned bright red, a bold color for a not-so-bold girl. Crotalus it was, then. She knew her mother wouldn't be disappointed, not exactly, but it had been something of a family tradition to be in Pecari. Lyla had always taken after her soft-spoken dad. Lena was the vibrant one like Mom. Lyla was more of a backdrop, essential, but unnoticeable to the untrained eye. Lena was the star of the show. Frankly, that's how Lyla preferred it. Being anonymous offered a sense of independence, of do-what-you-want-because-nobody's-watching-anyway.

It occurred to Lyla that she'd nearly be graduated by the time Lena started at Sonora, though that hadn't stopped the five-year-old from whining that 'it wasn't faaaiiirrrr' when Lyla had boarded the wagon.

Lyla selected a seat next to girl who didn't look too much older than her. Like Lyla, the girl's curls bounced with every movement of her head, though Lyla's hair was admittedly shorter, after an impulsive summer haircut. The girl seemed distracted, so Lyla focused her attention on Robyn. crossing her fingers that she'd be in the same house.

Unfortunately, Robyn went to Teppenpaw, though Lyla supposed it would be alright to have friends in different houses. It was just less convenient, to have to have to make time to hang out outside of classes. Lyla sat patiently through the rest of the sorting and announcements, wondering if she ought to have been taking notes.

Finally, the food appeared, the sudden smells making Lyla's stomach growl. She hadn't realized, but all she'd had to eat today was her cookie at the orientation. She watched carefully to see how others helped themselves before filling her own plate. The girl next to her asked about a platter on the opposite side of Lyla.

"Looks like it," she answered the girl's question, passing the heavy plate closer to her neighbor. She hesitated for three moments too long before besting her nerves and blurting out, "I'm Lyla."

64 Lyla Holland Trepidation 1559 0 5

Rosalynn Tellerman

June 29, 2022 6:13 PM

Fifth year! by Rosalynn Tellerman

Rosalynn walked through the library, gently touching spines and breathing in the scent of her secondary (tertiary?) home. Home would, of course, always be Las Vegas, but Sonora as a whole was her secondary one, with as much time as she'd spent here since she started as a first year, and within Sonora, the library was the required time sink location of most Aladrens in order to qualify for House perks like high grades and being thought of as one of the smart people in the school. She had already gotten her things settled into her room and talked with her roommates a little, and she hadn't made any specific plans with Tommy but figured this was where he'd come looking for her if he had any extra time before the feast.

Eventually, that time ran out, and her watch buzzed to tell her it was time to stop doing what she was doing and get down the the Cascade Hall. She'd set an alarm because this was a year she really couldn't turn up late. She was a fifth year and not being present for prefect announcements was a serious faux pas.

She got to the Aladren table with plenty of time to spare, finding a spot with a few empty chairs around it as she didn't see her friends yet. She flipped open her notebook for tracking her clubs, reading through the ideas she'd had over the summer, trying to decide which to start with for each of them. When she next looked up, the room was a lot more full and the first years were being led in by Professor Wright. She clapped as the new Aladrens were added to their ranks, waving a hand to point out that there was still an empty chair next to her.

Once they were all sorted, the Headmaster called up Morgan and Gabriel, both Aladrens, and she clapped loudly for her two Housemates. She didn't know Gabriel all that well, but she'd had warm feelings for Morgan since they'd worked together to provide Friday night entertainment in the common room prior to starting an actual Performing Arts club.

Then it was the moment of truth, and Ros held her breath and let it out with an exclamation of joy as it was her name that got called. She went up front to collect her badge with Ian, Henry, and Gus. She was the only girl, but the teachers couldn't be blamed for that. She was in a boy heavy year group and all the other girls were in Aladren with her. She felt a little bad for Isla and Lorena who hadn't won the honor, but not so bad that she wasn't practically floating in happy pride as the Headmaster gave her the shiny badge and she pinned it onto her robes, and her face hurt a little from smiling so big.

She returned to her seat, still not able to stop smiling, still half floating as she bounded back. The only reason she even heard the rest of the Headmaster's speech was because there were important key words like 'concert' which of course pinged loudly within her Performing Arts Club President hat, and 'challenges' was likewise well tuned for her Aladren hat and 'teams' resonated well with her normally as she did prefer group work to being on her own.

All in all, it was going to be a very interesting year, she thought, if perhaps just maybe a little bit overwhelming with prefect duties, on top of two club presidencies, on top of a concert year which her Performing Arts Club was definitely going to need to do at least one act for, on top of having school wide team challenges to compete in, on top of it being a freaking CATS year and her entire future rested on those tests.

"Oh boy," she said, out loud, but mostly to herself, as the lyric sheets disappeared. She was pretty sure she had sung, but she didn't actually remember doing so. "This is going to be a year."

OOC: Tommy, I tried to leave it intentionally vague for whether or not they hooked up in the library before the feast. I can edit to make it more obvious one way or the other if your post decides that.

1 Rosalynn Tellerman Fifth year! 1520 0 5

Nausicaa Scapetello

June 29, 2022 6:49 PM

How fortunate for you. by Nausicaa Scapetello

Nausicaa’s displeasure of Sonora Academy of Magic was not dwindling. Professor Wright’s tour had shown just how truly lacking it was in all of the finer things. The MARS rooms were at least minorly intriguing, although she couldn’t fathom why anyone would want one dedicated to sports of all things. The library was small, but hopefully adequate. Hopefully Father would be able to send her the books that this one inevitably would not have to properly supplement her learning experience. Finally they reached the end of the tour into what she could only assume was supposed to be the ‘big finale’ of the tour with the Cascade Hall. It was… nice.

She paid little attention to the other students in the room and instead swept her eyes over the staff table. The headmaster was supposed to be the head of one of the big and influential families in the U.S.A., so almost someone of her level of society. She spotted him in the middle of the rest of the motley looking staff members. Once again she wondered how Father could have done this to her. At least she wasn't living with her uncle anymore.

Despite the man's lower society rank, Nausicaa listened attentively to the Headmaster. After all, it wouldn't do to insult him so soon. Unfortunately he was explaining out the school's ridiculous sorting ritual as if they were mere children. To be perfectly fair, perhaps some of her classmates needed it like that. As she took her turn, she thought once more of some of the other wondrous methods that she had heard other schools use to sort their students. Would she get to experience any of them? No. She was dropping a badge into a color changing potion. At least it came out blue. Nausicaa turned and walked stately to the Aladren table thanking Merlin for that one small turn of fortune. If the badge had come up any other color, she wasn't sure what she would have done. From her research the Aladren house seemed to her the only house that was worth belonging to.

One of the older girls at the table indicated a seat next to her. It was still to early to say who was might be useful or worth knowing. At bare minimum the girl was at the Aladren table, and had been studying a notebook. She didn't take that for a bad sign. So she smiled pleasantly and took the seat. The headmaster continued and it seemed like she had selected well enough after all. Both head students came from this house, naturally, and the girl was now a prefect. It usually paid off to get in good with those in authority. As such she applauded the girl, Rosalynn Tellerman according to the Headmaster, and offered congratulations upon the girl's return.

The Headmaster then droned on about 'team challenges' and the 'concert'. She knew about the concert, apparently the school rotated four end of year events. As far as she was concerned the ball was the only one that was mildly interesting. She hadn't come across anything about these 'challenges' in her research. It seemed like more researching was necessary. Then they sang, if you could call it that. Nausicaa scanned the words and did her best to blot out the horrific noise emanating from the people around her. That confirmed that despite a MARS room dedicated to it, the school did not teach anything about the musical arts. At least her neighbor wasn't completely terrible at it.

Miss Tellerman then either started talking to herself, or was talking to someone without actually addressing them. "Quite," Naussicaa responded directing her comment towards the girl next to her. "Congratulations again on gaining prefect. I am Nausicaa Scapetello of Ravenna." It was always best to start of with introductions, and since no one else was here to make them for her, she would just have to manage on her own.

2 Nausicaa Scapetello How fortunate for you. 1561 0 5

Yaniel Ayala Velez

June 29, 2022 9:10 PM

Oh. Um. It'll be...uh... fine? by Yaniel Ayala Velez

OOC: CW body image issues BIC:

Cole made contact across the hall not once, not twice, but three times. The first time was a wave, before he’d even seen the box. A few people got waved at, Cole was popular, but Yarielis was included. It was starting to feel safe to say they were friends. Then he found the box, and gave both a ‘thanks’ and, once he’d tried one of the quesitos, a thumbs up. Yarielis had made a friend happy. It was a good start to the year, and the Crotalus—for just a second—felt warm and content.

The feast got going, and Yarielis asked for the pork, and then realised it was one of the new first years sitting there. Oops. That probably wasn’t the most glowingly welcoming thing to have said. It had just felt more natural, when it was hard to be sure whether anyone here wanted to engage in a casual conversation, but it probably didn’t seem very friendly. It probably seemed like Yarielis was greedy and food-obsessed. That was something the second year was wary of, being broader and more heavily built than most of the other students. It was a reason why Yarielis didn’t mention the bakery much, even though the bakery was awesome… Not that Yarielis shared a huge amount with people anyway, but even that, which was something the Crotalus liked and was proud of, came with the subconscious, stinging worry of being judged. Yarielis wasn’t fat. Just a different body type. One that was good for playing Beater, but it felt so different to how most people here looked. As if that wasn’t unfair enough, being bigger meant puberty kicking in good and early. It had been just about possible to hide the signs of that in the bulky school robes last year, though Yarielis was always convinced people were looking and noticing. Now, it was getting harder, though if Yarielis leant forward, elbows on the table or shoulders hunched, it helped. It was obviously rude to lean on the table at the feast, but Yarielis was definitely keeping arms forward, and shoulders rounded to take the most advantage possible of the tent like fabric of the school uniform.

The stabbing swell of anxiety pushed a bubble into the conversation, as Yarielis tried to work out how to fix having said something stupid (a process slowed down by the gripping, treacled claws of self-loathing that were snatching at rational thoughts and trying to take over the space). The first year filled the void with an introduction. Well, that worked, though it probably should have been Yarielis taking the lead, as the responsible older student.

“I’m Yarielis.” The second year made sure to pronounce it slowly and clearly, even though it felt much more natural to mumble everything in an attempt not to take up too much space. “Welcome to Crotalus.”

13 Yaniel Ayala Velez Oh. Um. It'll be...uh... fine? 1554 0 5

Lyla Holland

June 30, 2022 3:47 AM

Right or wrong, there it is by Lyla Holland

Yarielis. It was a nice name, but not one that Lyla had heard before. She thanked the older girl for the welcome.
The corners of Lyla's mouth turned up in a shy smile. She was getting the hang of this socializing thing. Now, to find something to keep the conversation going.

"I like your hair," she said, tucking her own curls behind her ear, "Curly hair is a pain to take care of, isn't it? Yours is really nice, though."

Weird, Lyla, but okay.

Time seemed to stop when Lyla called herself weird. Why was she doing that? Maybe she was just a weird person. She'd been weird with Robyn earlier, and Robyn hadn't seemed to mind. Maybe she should just...embrace the weirdness? Lyla weighed it in her mind. Not fitting in with her classmates had featured prominently in her anxiety episodes, despite her parents telling her it didn't matter. Lyla broke off a piece of her dinner roll and dunked it in the gravy that overflowed from her mashed potatoes. She chewed it slowly, thinking.

As reluctant as she was to accept that her parents Could Possibly Be Right, her experience with Robyn earlier was proof that she didn't need to be perfect, at least. In fact, Robyn had seemed nervous about fitting in, too. What if all they needed to do was...not fit in, together?

Still, if she was going to bombard people with a million questions like her brain wanted her to, she ought to give them a warning up front.

"Sorry in advance," she said to Yarielis, picking her words carefully, "I am a bit weird and I like to learn about people, and magic, and well, lots of things. so I kind of ask a lot of questions. If it bothers you, just say so and I won't."

Well. There it was, out in the open. Lyla's heart pounded while she waited to see if her approach had been the right one. Despite telling herself that it didn't matter, she didn't want to step off on the wrong foot with one of her housemates first thing. Still, she'd offered to refrain from her insatiable inquiries, and she'd certainly respect any answer Yarielis gave, so the quaffle was out of her hands, so to speak.

64 Lyla Holland Right or wrong, there it is 1559 0 5

Yaniel Ayala Velez

June 30, 2022 8:35 AM

What is 'it?' by Yaniel Ayala Velez

“Thanks,” Yarielis smiled at Lyla’s compliment, looking genuinely pleased. It was a well-developed habit and automatic reaction. It was what you did when someone said something nice or was happy with you, even if your feelings about the subject in question ranged from neutral to loathing. When it came to hair, Yarielis’ were the latter. The mess of curls was stupid, annoying, and inconvenient, and the second year had frequent fantasies of just cutting the lot of it off. Lyla seemed to understand some of that pain too, judging by her other comment. “Yeah, it is,” Yarielies acknowledged, with a much more rueful smile when Lyla talked about how hard it was to take care of curly hair. “Yours is nice too.” That was easy to say because it was true. On Lyla, the tumble of curls looked good. It was only on Yarielis where everything was just wrong.

Mama liked them though. Mama thought like Lyla did, that Yarielis’ curls were pretty. She loved brushing them and braiding them, and she only had the one kid, so it wasn’t like Yarielis could pass that part of parental bonding onto someone else and take a pair of scissors to the infuriating locks.

Then there was silence.

Great.

Again, luckily, the first year was the one to break it. Lyla seemed to be feeling sorry for something, which was probably Yarielis fault. Most people weren’t really comfortable with silence. Yarielis wasn’t great with it either, to be honest, but that had never come with knowing how to fill it. Fortunately, the first year was asking permission to do just that by asking questions. Questions Yarielis probably should have asked if she had, because that was what friendly, welcoming people did.

“Ask away,” Yarielis invited. “I’d be happy to answer.” Not least of all because it stopped the second year having to think of conversation topics.

13 Yaniel Ayala Velez What is 'it?' 1554 0 5

Claire Osbrook

June 30, 2022 9:33 PM

I hope so. by Claire Osbrook

Intermediates started today, and Claire had never been happier about the exact age gap between her brother and herself. Since Graham was starting his Advanced classes, Claire had been able to dodge the worst of the lectures about how important everything she was beginning today was. Not for her were the reminders of exams and life choices and all that - Graham's new set of problems was even more important than Claire's, so he had managed to catch the majority of the headaches that came with aging.

Alternatively, it was also possible, she thought, that her parents just...didn't see her as someone who needed the speeches as much as Graham did. She could never understand why, exactly, unless it was that she by some stroke of luck found it easier to just do her work and happened to be good at most of it, but for some reason, Mom and Dad both seemed to think Graham lacked motivation and that Claire had it or something. Which...when it was something she wanted to do, sure, but in general, she thought she was, if anything, more indifferent than Graham. She...just couldn't imagine getting as stressed as her brother had been all year last year. What was so upsetting about taking a glorified final? Other than the glorified bit, it...sounded pretty similar to their normal end of the year exams to her, at least from what Graham had fretted about in her presence last year.

She did wonder about stuff like that, but mostly shrugged it off as irrelevant for now. Yes, she was in the same classes as people taking CATS this year. No, she was not taking the CATS this year. She didn't see the point of worrying about them until at least the second half of next year, if not until, well, she was actually in fifth year. It wasn't like there weren't plenty of things going on right now, some of which the headmaster introduced to them for the first time in what, for him, constituted a long sentence.

"Yeah, it definitely sounds like it," Claire, smiling, said when Verdillia said the year seemed set to be interesting. She tucked her hair behind her ear on the right side. "Busy, too. I'm going to have to annoy my brother for all the details about what happened the last time this event came around in the schedule. He didn't tell me anything about teams or anything before."

16 Claire Osbrook I hope so. 1540 0 5

Lyla Holland

July 01, 2022 6:12 AM

Well, this could be worse by Lyla Holland

Lyla was glad she had sat next to Yarielis. The girl was polite, if a little on the quiet side. Crotaluses were notorious for being shy, though, so that wasn't exactly unexpected. Lyla hadn't thought she'd be considered the chatty one with whomever she sat next to, but she wasn't disappointed. In fact, it was kind of a nice change from at home, where Lena took up most of the verbal space.

Lyla had what her father called a naturally inquisitive mind, always wanting to know more. She'd learned, as she got older, that one question led to another, which led to three more, and people's answers weren't always satisfying. After the debacle last year of asking Mom about her family, Lyla had been very conscious about accepting whatever answer her subject was comfortable with. Pushing too hard just leads to hurt feelings.

Luckily, Yarielis had more or less given the green light to ask her anything, and although Lyla had listened carefully to the headmaster's speech, there were lots of things she didn't understand. What challenges? And a concert? Would she have to sing? Or was it a musical instrument sort of concert?

Lyla stuttered over the beginning of a half dozen sentences as they all tried to tumble out of her mouth at once.

Oops.

"Sorry," Lyla said, shaking her head slightly as though that would shake a singular question out. Start at the beginning , she told herself.

"What I meant was, what year are you in?" A nice, safe question. A question anybody would be comfortable answering. Lyla couldn't help but follow it up without waiting for an answer.

"Do they have a concert every year?"

64 Lyla Holland Well, this could be worse 1559 0 5

Yaniel Ayala Velez

July 01, 2022 6:34 AM

Agreed by Yaniel Ayala Velez

“Second year,” Yarielis answered. Which means we’ll have classes together. But Lyla probably knew that already, as Professor Wright was bound to have mentioned it, and the odds were she’d find someone else more interesting to sit next to anyway. Still, Yarielis gave her a small, encouraging smile, hoping to not be written off completely. It was too early to say whether they could be friends, but Yarielis would like to be considered at least a friendly face.

“Uh, no.” That was the short answer to the concert question. Except there were several pretty obviously implied follow up questions that even Yarielis would bite at. Besides, if they talked about school events, it would keep the conversation from coming back around to things about Yarielis. Sure, Lyla had said she was interested in magic and things and people, but Yarielis definitely hadn’t expected to be the focus of the questions, and wanted to keep it that way. Yeargroup was innocuous enough, but explaining school facts was much, much easier. “There’s four different events on rotation. Last year we had a fair. Alumni came and ran stalls to do with their hobbies or careers—like handicrafts, flying horse rides, Legos. Do you know what Legos are?”

13 Yaniel Ayala Velez Agreed 1554 0 5

Morgan Garrett

July 01, 2022 8:45 AM

...Me? Seriously? by Morgan Garrett

If Morgan sat down and thought about it, she knew she would be able to pull up distinct memories of six previous Welcoming Feasts, and that it therefore made objective sense that she was a seventh year. Since Morgan was not really given to that kind of thinking, though, it just...made almost no sense to her that she was, like, a seventh year!

She didn't know how she felt about it. On one hand, wow, she'd made it! On the other hand....

On the other hand, being a seventh year meant RATS. It also meant that this was her last Feast. It also meant that after this year, she had to stop dreaming about the life she wanted to have and start living whatever sort of life she could manage. It felt like it meant probably disappointing her entire family, even though she understood objectively how that didn't make much sense to worry about - the only people in the family who she thought had ever expected anything else were...well, okay, maybe just Sage. She didn't think Dad thought of her as a disappointment, exactly, so much as Dad didn't hold a lot of expectations about anything, regarding it as simply the natural order of the universe if any given thing turned out less than stellar and as a bonus if things went well....

On the whole, maybe the disadvantages outweighed the high points. But Morgan was good at not thinking about that.

She was not as good at hiding it when she was surprised, which turned into a disadvantage of being her when she heard the headmaster say her name. Her mouth dropped open and her eyes went wide as she promptly went pale and then red and then kind of blotchy in rapid succession. ...Me? Seriously? I didn't even vote for myself....

She had voted for Gabriel, though, and so she beamed at him as they collected their badges. "Congratulations!" she enthused, offering a hug. "How cool is this? And you, too, Ros - everyone - wow - "

She felt like she ought to spend a lot longer congratulating everybody and vaguely protesting her own lack of qualifications, but she suspected Headmaster Brockert would curse her from behind if she did, so she kept her enthusiasm brief and more or less quiet before going back to the Aladren table, feeling way, way more uncomfortable walking back than she had walking up - like she was holding everything up. She walked fast, with small steps, ducking her head until she could sit down again, still flushed as the speech went on and she barely took in two syllables of it. The sudden switch to music only just registered enough for her to join in in a hurry - thank goodness for the switch, it would be kind of bad if the Head Girl didn't have enough school spirit to sing the song....

She found she had a silly smile on her face when the food appeared and tried to scrounge up a good reason for it. "Wow, this all looks great, doesn't it?" she said, indicating the food. "It's weird to think that I've missed school food for the past couple months."

16 Morgan Garrett ...Me? Seriously? 1470 0 5

Mara Morales

July 01, 2022 10:06 AM

Interesting.... by Mara Morales

Mara did not expect Heads to fall out quite the way she'd voted for them to do so, because she had voted what she suspected was an unorthodox ticket. Specifically, she'd voted for herself and for Morgan, not bothering with selecting a representative for the guys. She had nothing against Gabriel in particular, but nor did she have anything for him in particular except that he was also an Aladren, and there was an important way in which he would fail to produce a balanced pair if she became Head Girl.

As much as she disliked the 'office politics' aspect of any and all 'public' positions, Mara considered herself a pretty good candidate in all ways except economic sympathy. She had grown up around wealth and power, and with the perks that came with association with the former, even if she had done so more in the shadows than her older sister had done - which was one of the reasons why she suspected that her sister had become Head Girl in her day. Jessica understood rich social elites because she was a white heiress, and she had the brittle charm of her class and culture, but she had gained some insight into littler people's lives once she'd discovered that the likes of that Mordue kid had their own weird form of racism that applied to her as much as it did to Mara. The 'rich and from a manners-obsessed background' bit, though, meant that only the worst of the Weird Racists considered her an unacceptable sort of person, which Mara assumed had translated into a broader demographic appeal than Jessica - high-strung, over-produced, imperious one moment and a bit pathetic the next - should have logically ever had.

Comparing herself to her sister, Mara had seen a couple of advantages. For one thing, she wasn't as obnoxiously obvious about being rich as Jessica, even if she did understand how they thought to a degree. For another, she was in a minority group wherever she went, plus a double one here. She'd be good for optics, especially if, as seemed likely, Gabriel won one of the two slots. On the other hand, though, she found it tiring just to think about trying to emulate her sister's bright-happy-smiley social face, and that thing did seem like it had been useful to have. On the whole, she thought she and Jessica probably balanced out, though it seemed the bright-happy-too-polite-to-get-to-the-point thing might have been more important than she'd thought, as while she'd guessed right about Gabriel, she had, it seemed, guessed wrong about who, between herself and Morgan, was more likely to grab a spot.

She was pretty sure she looked a little surprised, albeit nowhere near as surprised as Morgan did. Quickly, though, she put on a smile (she knew how the game was played even if she preferred not to play it - plus, Morgan was a good-natured sort, they were roommates, there was a degree to which manners were useful for functioning) and applauded with the rest of the House for having two of their own elevated to the top jobs. She approved of Rosalynn Tellerman, too - a pretty good crew, on the whole, at least for Aladren.

The headmaster also had more information, something that made her raise an eyebrow. Jessica had mentioned a challenge thing they'd had to do in her day, but the last concert hadn't involved it. Maybe it was an every-other-time kind of deal? Interesting, though.

"Hey," she greeted someone else with a polite smile as the food came out. "So, challenges, huh? Wonder how many, and how they're going to set up the teams."

16 Mara Morales Interesting.... 1472 0 5

Lyla Holland

July 01, 2022 10:18 AM

Just keep swimming by Lyla Holland

Lyla tapped her toes underneath the table. She'd have classes with Yarielis, at least for this year. That was a bonus. She was glad the concert wasn't every year, as musicality was not a strong suit. She nodded when Yarielis asked about the Legos. Her dad would build big predesigned sets, but Lyla preferred to free build.

"Do you like Legos?" Lyla asked, "I built a space station, once. It was great, until my sister pretended to be an asteroid and smashed it. I was so mad, but she got in trouble, so I guess it turned out fair."

She sighed, shaking her head slightly. It hadn't seemed fair, that her hours of work were destroyed in moments. All Lena had gotten was a time out and early bedtime.

Filling her plate a second time, Lyla spotted some brussels sprouts on the other side of Yarielis.

"Oh,, could you pass me those? You know," she said, refilling her apple juice, "Lots of kids don't like brussels sprouts, but they are my favorite vegetable. At least," she qualified, "the way my mom makes them. Are you taking flying lessons this year?"

It occurred to Lyla that she was acting like Lena and not stopping to let Yarielis even answer the questions that she'd insisted on asking. She quickly took a sip of her juice so her mouth would be full and she'd be able to stop talking. She was never this verbose at home, and it was strange to chatter now. Part of it was that at home, Lena was louder and more demanding, so Lyla normally took a backseat. Another part was that Yarielis was not talking much at all. Lyla had started filling the awkward silence, and she couldn't seem to stop. Maybe it was nerves? Lyla didn't know, but she tried to busy herself by eating so that Yarielis could get a word in edgewise.

64 Lyla Holland Just keep swimming 1559 0 5

Fortune Ardovini

July 03, 2022 5:42 PM

I'm not! by Fortune Ardovini

Fortune wandered into the cascade hall a little before it was time for the opening feast to begin. It still was a little weird to be wandering around the school before things officially got under way. The Pecari table was right where he remembered it being, so found his way easily and claimed a seat. It wasn't long before the new first years entered and things got underway.

One of the newly sorted first years bounded over to him as he cheered the boy's assignment to the house with the others. "Hi Xarryn!" Fortune responded, "I'm Fortune, and as far as I know it's the best house in the school!" There wasn't time for much more conversation as the sorting finished and the Headmaster stood to speak again. Fortune turned his attention back to the front of the hall.

He didn't know either of the new Head Boy or Head Girl, but he cheered for them anyway. Gus had gotten Pecari prefect and that was awesome. He hadn't interacted with Gus very much, but it had still been enough to make the boy like him. It seemed like there were a bunch of announcements this year. The Team Challenges might prove interesting, the concert.. well, maybe? The song sheets appeared again and he sang along as best as he was able after only hearing it once before.

The food finally appeared and he began moving items onto the plate in front of him. Then he grinned and gestured at Xarryn to follow suit. "Dig in! Got any favorites you see?"

2 Fortune Ardovini I'm not! 1549 0 5

Mab

July 03, 2022 7:38 PM

Is it over yet? by Mab

Mab sat down at the Pecari table as far away from everyone else as she could get. She was the senior prefect now that Anya had thankfully graduated, so she felt she needed to be present, else she might have planned to skip out as soon as the speech was done and she could grab some food to eat back in her room. But she was the responsible one of her year, and the younger prefects (regardless of which of the fifth years got selected) could not be trusted to perform any kind of helpful assistance should that be necessary. So she was here. And she was planning to stay for the whole feast.

The first years arrived and Pecari only had a small take from them, which Mab thought probably spoke well of the year group. The Heads were named, neither of which she had voted for, but she'd long since accepted that her opinion was rarely the popular one so wasn't overly surprised, though she was disappointed for her brother and Sadie. She'd been immensely glad not to have been on the ballot herself, but from the way Sadie had been upset about it, she gathered that also wasn't the prevailing opinion. She thought her opinion was the right one, though. No extra work, no extra responsibility, no disappointment, and no proving you were as unpopular as you already knew you were. The only thing worse than being on the ballot and getting chosen, was being on the ballot and not getting chosen. Her way was a win all around.

The prefects were slightly less of a mess, their selection having been made by presumably competent adults (most of them she was willing to grant the benefit of doubt for that, even though they had decided to pick Mab rather than Leonor) rather than popular vote by teenagers. The new Pecari one was Gus, who was probably the least objectionable of the lot of Pecari fifth years. At least she wasn't going to have to work with Billy in addition to Stanley. Gus wasn't a huge improvement, but the alternatives were definitely worse.

One more year. One more year and she would be done here. It wasn't even that she didn't like Sonora - there were annoying parts of the school, obviously, but that would be true anywhere, because every school had other teenagers - or even that there was anybody that she actively hated - she had her avoid lists, of course, but they were more irritants than actual problems - and there were even people and parts of Sonora that she actively did like (Alexander, Sadie, even Xavier and Cole, and . . . well, the classes were pretty good most of the time when they weren't forcing groupwork on her) but it just felt like, with less than a year left until graduation, . . . she was just stuck waiting for her life to begin.

She just needed to figure out her life plan and do well on her Ridiculously Anal Testing of Skills first.

No pressure there.

Oh, and there would be some kind of challenges thing this year, too, that was somehow connected to the concert, though she remembered nothing like that from the last concert. Great, they were trying to make things 'interesting' for them again. She wondered if she could opt out. She preferred boring, thanks.

She did not attempt to sing the song. She did not attempt to socialize. She just collected some food onto her plate and watched those around her for trouble. This was Pecari. Trouble was a given.

1 Mab Is it over yet? 1473 0 5

Verdillia Scurlock

July 04, 2022 7:30 PM

Off to a good start by Verdillia Scurlock

"Let me know what he says," Verdillia replied, when Claire talked about asking her brother for information. She was mildly envious of Claire for having such a ready source of information, although really it wasn't any more heritage or connection than Verdillia had at the school - Claire just had birth order and age difference on her side. "I was thinking of asking Christopher - I'm sure he'll know something," she added, wanting to prove she could also bring ideas to the table.

"Has he given you much information about intermediate classes?" she asked. For the most part, she was looking forward to stepping up. She also rationally knew that people far less capable than her had taken and passed the classes, so there wasn't too much to be scared of. Still, it was a big change, and a class which went all the way up to fifth year. It was reasonable to take that seriously, at the very least.

"How was the rest of your summer?" she added. They had exchanged a few letters, and Verdillia had thrown in a seaside postcard too, but the long distance and busy summer schedules made it hard to swap a lot of letters. "Any new paper skills?" she added, to personalise the inquiry.

13 Verdillia Scurlock Off to a good start 1541 0 5

Yaniel Ayala Velez

July 04, 2022 7:52 PM

Or flying by Yaniel Ayala Velez

"Yeah, they're good fun," Yarielis smiled, regarding Legos. Smiling and agreeing was a default response, though in this case it was sincere. Playing with the fancy sets that Cole's parents had brought had been Yarielis' first experience of that type of building - of having the glossy instruction booklet, and the carefully pre-determined pieces. Lego at home was a big bucket of miscellaneous pieces and an invitation to use your imagination. It wasn't clear from Lyla's description what type of builder she was.

"That sounds annoying," Yarielis grimaced regarding the meteor strike, though it seemed a small price to pay for having a sibling. People with siblings often talked about them this way, like they were nothing but a nuisance. Yarielis wondered if they'd stopped to consider the benefits - that there was another set of shoulders to take some of the parental expetations, another head of hair to brush and body to dress, and that might have meant the freedom to reject some of the things you didn't like or want. If there had been a little sister, maybe Yarielis could have recommended all the ruffes and pleats and braids for her, passing it off as consideration and indulging the baby of the family, whilst living a life of t-shirts and shorts. That was a fantasy that Yarielis had indulged less often than the idea of having a brother. Little sisters had been a vague idea. Yaniel had been a fully formed make believe person...

And Lyla's favourite vegetable was Brussel Sprouts, and did Yarielis take flying? They really were whipping through things.

"Only first years take flying lessons. It's kind of a shame," Yarielis said, passing the requested dish. The requirement for scraping a passing grade in flying was so basic that the program barely even developed it as a life skill. It would have been good to have a more thorough program. As it was, flying fell into two categories - being able to just about hover along the pitch, or playing Quidditch. Yarielis enjoyed the sport, but not everyone did. Making real, proper flying into something that was "only for Quidditch" seemed like a great way to put people off. Plus it would have been good to have something active for students to do. "But I play Quidditch, so I still get to do it. You particularly interested in flying?"

13 Yaniel Ayala Velez Or flying 1554 0 5

Alexei Vorontsov

July 06, 2022 9:32 PM

Urra! What is it? by Alexei Vorontsov

Year Four. It was not precisely the halfway point in his education, since seven wasn't a number that halved neatly, but it was close enough - three before it, three to go after it. It felt like it ought to be a bit more significant, somehow, than Alexei thought it was really likely to be. Last year, there had been the adjustment to more advanced classes. Next year, there would be important decisions to make at the end of it. This year....

This year, well, here he was.

Here, too, was the Headmaster, who did at least add a bit of interest to the year which was about to begin with his vague comments about what was coming up. Challenges. So they were going to be put into groups and made to do something that was difficult? He frowned, trying to imagine what might remotely work. Just pitting them against the others in their age bracket - two beginner teams, three intermediate teams, two Advanced teams? Or would the older ones in each group always have too much of an advantage? These were important questions! But Headmaster Brockert seemed content to leave them to speculate, as was seemingly typical of him. There were times when Alexei, adjusting back to everyone around him speaking English full-time, appreciated the Headmaster's tendency to be extremely taciturn, but now....

He blinked, taken aback, when Theo Spurn suddenly appeared and asked about pizzas after the song, but Alexei had been in the same House and corridor as Theo long enough to know that the older boy was...peculiar, even when compared to the way most people here seemed to him. Since Alexei suspected he was still sometimes very lucky that Xavier wasn't the type to make fun of him for bungling idioms that made perfect sense in Muggle English, though, he supposed he was the last person who ought to judge someone else for that.

"Pit-sa? I like the cheese pizza," he said after only a slight pause. "I did not have pizza this summer. I did go to Peterburg to visit my sisters and the little ones," he added, since he was pretty sure the questions weren't directly connected to each other even though they had been said as though they were. "I have the nephew now - Anya finally has a son. They call him Andrei, like my papa. Papa is very happy about this. Do you like pizza, and have good things to do in the summer?"

16 Alexei Vorontsov Urra! What is it? 1531 0 5

Claire Osbrook

July 07, 2022 3:16 PM

But who knows what will happen? Or how we'll feel about it? by Claire Osbrook

"Good idea," Claire agreed when Verdillia mentioned asking Christopher. Their Housemate was not only distinct from them in where he slept, but also in how well-connected he was around the school, or at least seemed to be to Claire. She had no idea how the various Brockerts were related to each other, but there were enough of them that it seemed...very unlikely that he wouldn't know anyone who either knew something or knew who to ask for information. "Unless they - " she tilted her head slightly toward the staff table - "decide to lock down all the information to make it a surprise, of course. To be fair, I guess that would make it more of a challenge."

Her tone was pretty neutral, mostly because Claire wasn't sure herself what she thought of that. On one hand, surprises when it came to performance weren't exactly great - she liked feeling confident of what she was doing when she did it, which was why she assumed she still felt a little flustered and worried about saying something stupid or weird with Verdillia sometimes. It made sense, didn't it, since she'd grown up with just Graham and her grandma for company? But there was that other hand, which just...wondered sometimes, what would it would be like for something to happen. Maybe that was the difference in people, she thought - everyone wondered what it would be like if something happened, but some of them just wanted it and didn't feel all...ambiguous, about almost absolutely everything, to the point she bored herself with it sometimes.

"Graham's....not the world's best source for that kind of thing," Claire said diplomatically when asked what her brother had said about Intermediate classes. "Last year he was super-stressed out about his CATS - " she was pretty sure they'd talked the least last year of any year in their entire lives since Claire had, well, learned to talk - "but before that...." She attempted an impression of her brother's voice. "'Yeah, fine, I guess.' 'You'll like it, there's even more boring nerd stuff you have to memorize.' Stuff like that. I don't even know if he doesn't find anything interesting or if he just doesn't feel like saying. Is it just a brother thing, or an older kid thing, or is it anything like that with your sister?" she asked.

She smiled again when asked about her summer, even as she felt vaguely anxious about not having anything really interesting to share and therefore possibly seeming like the world's most boring person or something. "I've pretty much got tinting down now, but I'm still working on decorative applications," she reported of her paper-making. "Probably because you'd usually use charms for it and I can't do that at home. Other than that....read a lot, played with my grandpa's new dog...that's pretty much it. What about you?"

16 Claire Osbrook But who knows what will happen? Or how we'll feel about it? 1540 0 5

Theo Spurn

July 08, 2022 4:00 AM

Successful planning! by Theo Spurn

“Cheese pizza is good,” Theo smiled. Sometimes people thought the plainest option was boring, but that was mean. He didn’t think that. He could understand not wanting multiple different conflicting things in terms of taste and texture. Pizza was already three different things at once even if you went basic. He liked peppers on his. Which he called peppers when he was talking to his parents and ‘bell peppers’ when he was talking to everyone else. They were sweet and juicy and soft and crunchy. He usually picked them off and ate them separately, but sometimes ate them as a mouthful of pizza. That was another reason it was good to make his own - he could put vegetables on top of the cheese, so that he still knew where they were and didn’t get surprises.

The rest of Alexei’s information was fine, until he got to the blatant and confusing lie. At least, Theo thought it was those things. Any alternatives did not make sense. Firstly, babies took time. You could adopt them, and he supposed as an adoptee herself, Anya might do that, but he still thought he’d know about it. They were friends. Friends told each other important things. Alexei didn’t have a good reason to make up something so ridiculous, but that was a lesser truth than the fact she would have told him.

“Anya doesn’t have a child. She only just graduated,” he said, frowning. “And yes, I like pizza. I made it in the holidays, and that was one of several reasons why the holidays were very good,” he added, still frowning suspiciously at Alexei.

13 Theo Spurn Successful planning! 1476 0 5

Alexei Vorontsov

July 08, 2022 9:54 AM

Ah, very good! by Alexei Vorontsov

He had said something wrong. Alexei could tell immediately because of the way he was being frowned at. Fortunately, Theo expressed his objection to what Alexei had said. Unfortunately, it...just made things seem to make even less sense?

Except - oh! Oh, yes. Anya Delachene. She had just graduated. Alexei shook his head, smiling in relief - short-lived though it was - to discover that it was something relatively easy to explain away. It was not so much that he had said something wrong as that there was an unfortunate coincidence that had created some confusion. It could have happened even between two perfectly normal people who were speaking the same language perfectly, he thought - as, indeed, such things did happen at home sometimes, since there were really not a lot of names in his culture, he thought, compared to what he heard here. It was not impossible to discover that one was trying to have a conversation about two people with the same name, patronymic, and even diminutive name!

"Oh, no - I was not clear," he said, glad it was something so easily cleared up. "I have a sister who is named Anna - we call her Anya, it is...a little name for an Anna who is in the family, with my people. She is not Anya Delachene - that is who you mean, no? I am sorry, I did not think of your Anya," Alexei admitted, a little embarrassed. Anya Delachene was, after all, someone he had seen a lot more than he had seen his sister in recent years. "My Anya is much older. And she went to school in Russia," he added, which explained yet further why Theo would have no idea who she was. "And now she has married Rodya, and she has three children - Anastasia, Natalya, and now Andrei. You see? I am sorry," he added helplessly once again, searching wildly for a change of topic. "Do you have brothers and sisters?" he asked

16 Alexei Vorontsov Ah, very good! 1531 0 5

Verdillia Scurlock

July 15, 2022 3:12 AM

Well, true... by Verdillia Scurlock

“I suppose that would make him rather preoccupied,” Verdillia said, trying to give Graham as much benefit of the doubt as Claire wanted her to. She suspected that didn’t need to be very much. “It sounds like a boy thing or a him thing,” she confirmed. “I made sure Leviosa knew what to expect, and helped her get settled with managing homework and everything.” Verdillia was an exceptionally responsible sibling, and she felt a little miffed that Graham wasn’t so diligent. It wasn’t as if they could even make the same excuses for him as they could for other people’s unfortunate siblings—Graham was a Crotalus. He was supposed to share personality traits with Claire and Verdillia. Perhaps Verdillia ought to look out a little more for her roommate. She had never seen the need, as they were the same age, but as Claire was the baby of her family, it might be different.

“Well, if this is what you can manage without, I’m sure it’ll be truly impressive once you’re of age,” Verdillia smiled, regarding Claire’s paper-and-ink making.

“That sounds nice, especially the puppy. My summer was very pleasant. We spent some time at the coast, which was very beautiful.” That sounded much more mature than saying they’d gone to the seaside and enjoyed ice cream and paddling and making sandcastles, even if that was a factually accurate description of what they’d done.

13 Verdillia Scurlock Well, true... 1541 0 5

Piper Wilson

July 22, 2022 11:53 AM

Apparently by Piper Wilson

Piper had had a really fun summer. As usual, a large part of it had been spent on St. Berylla’s which was always fun. The second year was at just the right age where she was old enough that she didn’t have to be watched by a parent or other adult at all times but not old enough to really be part of the social scene. Which gave her a lot of freedom and autonomy to do what she liked within reason. Piper had mostly spent a lot of time with her cousin Charlotte and some other girls close to her age who were varying degrees of related to her. Ones that also attended Sonora but whom she hadn’t spent much time with such as Liesl and Gwendolyn.

The whole thing was basically an informal family reunion, although there were other non-family members around too though she had spent more time with her relatives than anyone else. After all, at school. Piper saw most of the girls that she’d been hanging around, but she didn’t get to see Charlotte or her parents or her grandparents or her aunts and uncles or her older cousins.

Still, she was excited to be back at school and see her friends. She’d missed the other Teppenpaws. She entered the hall, waving to several people and took a seat with Cole at the Teppenpaw table. Piper listened to him talk about his summer while they waited for the Opening Feast to begin. The camp that the other second year talked about sounded like a lot of fun and she would love to go to one. Well, maybe not Boy Scout camp, since she wasn’t a boy (or a scout) but something similar for witches (who weren’t scouts).

In turn Piper told him about her summer too, hoping that Cole didn’t think she was bragging about going to somewhere that was so…for really rich purebloods. After all, she was a really rich pureblood and if she had to avoid mentioning things that made her sound like one, then she really couldn’t talk about much. That was her life, after all. It was part of her identity, not all of it by any means, but still part and she shouldn’t have to be silenced or made to feel ashamed, nobody should. Piper wasn’t bragging or trying to make others feel less than, she was just talking about what went on. She definitely did not think she was better than others who didn’t have the same advantages, just…luckier.

The first years came in and got sorted. Piper watched Samara, one of the girls that she’d hung out with over the summer go into Crotalus. She hoped the other girl who went into it was the nice sort of Crotalus. Samara seemed sort of…insecure underneath her friendly surface. Like she needed to be liked.

Then it was time for the prefect and Head Student announcements. Piper clapped enthusiastically when her brother’s name was called for Head Student. Honestly, Gabriel was a wonderful choice for Head Student. He was smart and kind and Piper had always really looked up to him. Of course, the voting pool was also heavily Gabriel-friendly considering it included Lavender, Wally, Stanley, Morgan-who’d also won and who also was a great choice- and Gabriel himself. “That’s my brother!” She exclaimed excitedly to Cole. Which he probably knew but still, Piper was proud of the seventh year and she was thrilled to share her excitement with her friend.

Headmaster Brockert then made the announcement about the Challenges! Excellent! They sang the school song, and then Cole spoke. Piper grinned at the other Teppenpaw and said. “So did all my cousins. The first time around my cousin Ryan was a team leader and he led his team to second place. I know it’s just second, but it was really a big deal to him. The other story I remember from that one was that Amity hated most of her teammates.”

The second year paused. “I don’t think that will happen to me though, I don’t hate anyone.” That could possibly change but it was unlikely since Piper rarely hated anyone. They had to be fairly terrible people for her not to like them. Okay, there were people in her family that they didn’t see and rarely talked about, but those people to her were no different from villains in a fairy tale.They were awful, but she didn’t know them.

“And then the next time, the twins’ teams were one and two. What kind of experience did your parents have?” Piper asked.

11 Piper Wilson Apparently 1556 0 5

Amethyst Brockert

August 12, 2022 2:34 AM

How you're doing is a better question by Amethyst Brockert

Amethyst’s summer had been pretty good. Now that she was fourteen, she was able to go to fancy balls. Unlike Aunt Shannon and Uncle Ben, her parents weren’t as…strict about things like that.Mother probably would have been okay with them going to a party at a younger age but Father actually did not think it was proper for eleven to thirteen year olds to go to a party with boys in their early adulthood. Of course, there were also balls geared for teens, which of course Amethyst had been happy to go to. She loved dressing up in a beautiful gown and meeting people.

Of course, it was incredibly unfortunate that she couldn’t have two of her favorite people there. The fourth year missed both Iris and Alexei, both at the balls, and just in general. Although she wrote to her friends, it wasn’t exactly the same as having them around to enjoy things with her. Maybe Alexei, at least, could be invited to some parties that she was at. After all, the main reason he wasn’t was a geographical and probably cultural thing.

Anyway, Amethyst was actually happy to get back to school and see her friends again, even though the actual activities she’d done over the summer were preferable to studying. She saw her Sonora friends as her true friends, even though she’d met many perfectly lovely people at the balls she’d been at, even dancing and socializing with Liviillian nobility. Lords and counts and the like. However, Amethyst still preferred Iris and Alexei as people.

Iris sat down, flashing her a smile that seemed a bit…off and the fourth year began to feel a tad concerned. Something about the other Crotalus seemed a bit jumpy. She really hoped that her friend was okay.

Amethyst was just about to ask what was wrong, when Grandfather began to speak. She was only half paying attention to what was happening as she was now worrying about her friend.However, she did notice Olaf being sorted into Aladren, which was what he wanted and everyone had expected. The fourth year hoped that this would make her cousin slightly less grumpy for at least a little while. She never knew someone so young could be such a curmudgeon. Honestly, he was an eighty year old in an eleven year old body.

She also noticed that Isla and Esme had not gotten prefect and Head Student. How very disappointing. The fourth year almost wondered if some anti-nepotism thing was at work since only Emerald and Allegra had gotten prefect and none of them had gotten Head Student-although with Topaz that was perfectly reasonable, even though her prefect opponent was not much better. Amethyst was honestly doubting her own chances at this point. She was sure Iris would make a fine prefect, just as she felt Rosalynn,Gabriel and Morgan were excellent choices but still.

Actually, was that what Iris was upset about? Had she been worried that Billy was going to get prefect? Although there were times when the staff made poor choices,and sometimes someone was the only option, she could not imagine that ever happening!Fortunately, Gus had won, a far more sensible choice than Billy or Oz.

And then came the announcement that Amethyst knew Esme had been waiting for. The Challenges. Something that had been a topic of conversation all summer among those attending Sonora. Amethyst had been well aware they were coming this year because of her cousin. Personally, she had to admit to being mildly curious about it although, as Olaf constantly reminded them, they might have to do things they wouldn’t want to do like flying and that Allegra had had a miserable time of it. So they might not have fun either. Amethyst didn’t want to do any of that of course. She didn’t want to do anything unladylike, nothing that would make her sweaty and gross and possibly smell bad and mess up her hair.

Was that what Iris was upset about? Was she worried about either the sort of events they would have or who would be on her team? Which would be a fairly natural issue to worry about, the fourth year was sure that Christopher was panicking right now. After all, he seemed worried about it any time the Challenges came up. Which was often, so the third year had quite the anxious summer and Amethyst felt kind of bad for him.

She also had felt bad for Allegra who seemed to be having terrible memories about the whole thing so when they came up, Josh quickly took her to a different room. The Crotalus really liked her cousin’s boyfriend, he was so caring and protective and just everything that Allegra needed. Amethyst was sure he would be proposing to her soon enough and she could only hope that Sapphire could find someone just as wonderful as Sapphire needed that every bit as much as Allegra did.

Of course, there was always the fear that Topaz would be angry if Allegra or Sapphire married before her. Even though it didn’t seem like the Aladren alumna really was interested in romantic relationships or marriage and children. And Amethyst could not imagine the sort of man who’d marry Topaz . He’d have to either be just like her or a total doormat for her to abuse. The fourth year didn’t know which would be worse. Despite her seeming disinterest, however, Allegra and/or Sapphire getting married before her-and Allegra doing so seemed likely-might be seen as beating her, besting her, and everyone knew that Topaz didn’t take kindly to that, especially not from them.

Actually, though, Mother was already doing that. She was nagging Topaz about getting married and saying things like ‘Well, Allegra found someone and Emerald and Ruby both got married right away, why can’t you do that too?’ Big mistake there. Mother apparently was the one person who didn’t seem to know better. She practically signed Allegra’s death warrant. Thank Merlin for Josh.

Though, to be fair, Amethyst might actually feel sorry for Topaz, if she wasn’t, well, Topaz . The Aladren alumna was being pressured to conform in a way she didn’t even want to. To get married and have babies, which the fourth year quite frankly was sure would be a disaster, given the fact that psychopaths were incapable of love and she would certainly cause unbelievable psychological destruction to her spouse and children, the way she had Allegra and Sapphire. Still, when Amethyst heard Mother nag Topaz, she felt a twinge of pity…until she remembered all that her sister had done and then she feared for Allegra’s well-being instead.

Once the school song was sung and food appeared, she opened her mouth to ask Iris if she was okay, but the other Crotalus spoke first. “No, why? I mean it’s kind of like your name but that’s all I can think of.” Now she was decidedly curious. Iris was asking about this and all…anxious about it seemingly.

11 Amethyst Brockert How you're doing is a better question 1532 0 5

Iris Cobb

August 17, 2022 7:06 PM

Fine, everything is fine. Nothing wrong here. by Iris Cobb

Amethyst didn't know anything. Iris let out a bit of a disappointed sigh. "Okay, it's..." she paused a moment considering things. How much should she tell? How much was hers to tell? What might happen if word got out? Probably nothing? But maybe not nothing? The thought of the Auror that had apperated near to them last summer when this had all started still sent shivers down her spine. They weren't doing anything illegal... she was almost completely sure about that.. almost. Still, she needed more information and she wasn't quite sure where to get it. Amethyst may know things or at least know where to find out things.

Iris glanced around to make sure nobody was to close or deliberately listening in on their conversation. It looked clear. Trying to look like this was just perfectly normal, ordinary, everyday conversation, Iris tried to explain things to her roommate in a hushed tone. "I'm not quite sure. Billy and I found an old house up on our mountain back home. It's a big fancy place, or at least it was. It had the name 'Cobbson' over the door and... " Iris hesitated, maybe that would be enough. More details might make her seem crazy. "Well, I was just curious if they had been some sort of big magical family at one point. It was definitely a wizard house." She thought that was probably an important thing to note. A big muggle house wouldn't have been quite so interesting.

Then she decided that some normal talk would make for a good cover just in case anyone was hearing anything. So she changed the subject, just slightly. "So, how did that last ball go that you wrote me about? They all sounded so wonderful, I wish I could have gone with you." Not that she thought Amethyst would have wanted her along, even dressed up in fanciest gown, she wasn't any sort of 'high-class lady' like Amethyst was. Just a run-of-the-mill mountain girl.

2 Iris Cobb Fine, everything is fine. Nothing wrong here. 1526 0 5