Nathan Xavier
May 22, 2015 7:45 PM
First Year Orientation by Nathan Xavier
The school was trying something a little different this year. The flying covered wagons that brought the students to Sonora were arriving at each of the standard magical transportation centers around the country a few hours earlier. The pick-up schedule that was sent out with acceptance letters and supply lists had reflected this change in large letters and red ink so it would not be easily missed.So instead of arriving at Sonora just in time for the Opening Feast, they were instead landing on school grounds in the middle of the afternoon. This timing change was implemented to accommodate a new Orientation Program for the incoming first years.
So as student disembarked from each wagon in the Labyrinth Gardens, Nathan Xavier, the school's groundskeeper, was there to offer guidance on the new process.
"Welcome, welcome back, leave your luggage on the wagon, the elves will relocate your belongings to your rooms for you." In fact, even as he spoke there was the popping sounds of elf magic vanishing away the suitcases, trunks, and sundry other items packed into the wagon's storage cubbies. For the older students, the items would be beside their bunks before they even reached the school building. For the new first years, their things would be placed in a temporary storage room until the children were sorted, then delivered to their appropriate room during the Feast.
"New students, please head over there," he pointed out a large clearing around a circular water fountain where two buffet tables had been set up with many varieties of snack foods and drinks. A banner hung over the tables clearly identifying the purpose of the event, *First Year Orientation - Welcome to Sonora Academy!*
"We will begin a brief orientataion program as soon as all the wagons have arrived. Please mingle amongst yourselves and enjoy the refreshments in the meantime."
Once the new first years had departed, he turned back to the older students remaining. "Returning students, you may either get settled in your rooms for a few hours or socialize in the Cascade Hall until the Feast begins. There will be some pre-Feast snacks available there, too, if you get hungry. Please find your Head of House or a prefect to get your password." At least one from each House should be about the wagon landing zone for that purpose, himself included.
After all the wagons had unloaded and he gave the password to the final lingering older Teppenpaws who requested it, Nathan headed over to where the new first years had gathered.
He cleared his throat, cast a Sonoras charm on himself make himself more easily heard in the open space, and began.
"Your attention please. May I have your attention?" He repeated that as necessary until he felt he had achieved his goal. "Thank you. First of all, on behalf of all the staff," he nodded to the several who had stuck around to help him chaperone, "I'd like to extend a warm welcome to all of here at Sonora Academy."
"My name is Nathan Xavier, the school's Groundskeeper. I'm going to start with a quick overview of what you can expect here, then we'll break for a mixer so you can get to know some of your fellow yearmates and continue enjoying the food our Prairie Elves have prepared for you. Then we'll finish off the orientation program with a tour that will deliver you to the Cascade Hall, our dining hall, where we will then commence the Opening Feast and your Sorting."
He paused a moment to let them digest the itinerary, then launched into his 'brief overview' - which, admittedly, was not especially brief.
"Sonora is a seven year magical boarding school. You'll be learning five core magical subjects here including Potions, Transfiguration, Charms, Care of Magical Creatures, and Defense Against the Dark Arts. For your first two years, you will take those five classes at beginner level. Beginner classes combine both the first and second year students, so as first years, you can work with students who were as new to this a year ago as you are now and see how far you can advance in just a year.
"In third year, you'll begin Intermediate Classes in the five core subjects, and be given the option to take whichever electives are being offered at that time. If you would like to study an elective class that is not offered, please speak to your Head of House - I'll get to those in a minute - and they can help you set up an independent study program. Intermediate classes combine the students in their third, fourth, and fifth years.
"At the end of fifth year, you will take what is called a CATS test. That's a Critical Assessment of Talents and Skills. It's a standardized tests most American magical schools administer at that time. Your CATS scores will help determine which courses you are allowed to continue into the Advanced classes as many require a minimum test result to continue in that subject.
"In sixth year, you will begin your advanced studies, and you may drop the subjects you no longer wish to take, though you must keep at least two. Advanced classes combine the two oldest years in the school, the sixth and seventh years. At the end of Seventh year, you will take another standardized test called the RATS - the Ridiculously Anal Testing of Skills - which, as the name implies, will be the most difficult test you will ever take in your entire life. Rest assured though, it has not yet proven fatal, so you should all survive it. Your results will, however, largely determine which college, university, apprenticeship, or entry level job you can get when you leave here, so do take them seriously."
"All right, that's academics. For general residential life, food is available in the Cascade Hall. There are specific times when breakfast, lunch, and dinner are served, but sandwiches, fruit, and snacks are available anytime between five am and curfew at ten pm. You may also request food from one of the elves. We have Prairie Elves working here at Sonora, which are a close cousin to the House Elves some of you may be familiar with. They handle the cooking in the kitchens, the cleaning inside the school, and help me with grounds maintence. They can be excitable but are generally very helpful to have around."
"Sonora has four Houses and each student will belong to one of them. Your House will be like your family here. You may earn points for your house during class and for exceptional behavior as well as some other activities. The House that accumulates the most points during the year will win the House Cup, which is a trophy displayed in the common room of whichever House won it last.
"The Four Houses are Aladren, Teppenpaw, Crotalus, and Pecari. There are a number of factors that go into determining which House you get sorted into, but to put matters into simplest terms, Aladren students are generally the ones who most enjoy learning, Teppenpaw students are generally social people, Crotalus students tend to be responsible, and Pecari students often like to try new things. There will, of course, be exceptions, so don't be too concerned if you get put in a House and don't believe you fit that single quality. And do try to remember there are smart people outside of Aladren and friendly people outside of Teppenpaw. No House has a total monopoly on their characteristics. You'll be living with each other for seven years. Get to know one another; don't just make snap judgements based on your classmate's House Badge."
Nathan took a deep breath, "Almost done, I promise. Extracurrularly, Sonora offers a variety of clubs. Keep an eye out for announcements on your House bulletins. Any student is welcome to create their own club as well if one does not already exist for your interest, you just need to find a staff advisor and a place to meet. Each House also has a Quidditch team, which is a wizarding sport played on flying broomsticks for those of you who don't know. First years are very welcome to join, so don't hesitate to sign up when the sheets go up. We're not a big school, so every House has openings this year." Aladren and Pecari had both graduated players last year, and Teppenpaw and Crotalus needed every body they could put on a broom if they hoped to have separate teams this year.
Nathan rubbed his hands together, "Okay, I think that was everything I wanted to cover. If you have any other questions feel free to ask me or one of the other staff here to help you. Now go mingle with each other, make friends, collect a map and the class schedule from the table over there, and I'll get your attention again when it's time for the tour and the Feast."
OOC (Out of Character):
Welcome first years to Sonora! You can post a reply here to ask staff questions or meet your new classmates. This thread is intended for first year students to have a chance to try out posting and get a hang of the site before we throw you into the big Opening Feast next week, which is open to the entire school population and can be a bit overwhelming. So post, enjoy, have fun! Everyone is here to happy to help out, so if you've got a question, put it on the OOC or try to catch somebody in the Chatzy and we'll try to get you an answer as quick as we can.
Subthreads: The Orientation by Seven Grayscale with Ingrid Wolseithcrafte
Curiouser and curiouser. by Laila Kennedy with Dustin Newell
An unfamiliar social situation by Louis Valois with Arne Reinhardt
Isn't this exciting? by Emilia-Louise Scott with Micah Breckinridge
It only goes downhill from here. by Wu Peizhi with Kira Spaulding
Unsolicited pressure. by Abigail De La Garza
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Nathan Xavier
First Year Orientation
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Nathan Xavier
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Louis Valois
May 26, 2015 12:09 PM
An unfamiliar social situation by Louis Valois
It had been an early start for Louis Valois that morning, to ensure all was packed before travelling to the Transportation Centre. His mother had stayed at home (busy planning a dinner party for business associates), and his father had left the Centre relatively quickly, not being the type to 'baby' his son. Left all alone, Louis had been horrified at the arrival of the wagon, being used to travelling in luxury. No one else was travelling with him, and it was a long few hours’ drive. He’d passed the time reading up on some more theory of magic, excited to finally be able to use a wand after years of waiting. Upon arrival at the school he was directed to the Labyrinth Gardens, where orientation was apparently to take place.Louis stood listening as the groundskeeper gave an overview of school life. Most of the information was already known to him – starting at a new school knowing nothing about anything would be nothing short of stupidity! He was slightly nervous about the large mass of unknown students, although he didn’t allow himself to appear anything less than confident.
When the groundskeeper had finished talking, Louis walked over to collect a map and timetable, not really sure who to talk to. His experiences of social situations normally meant people falling over themselves to talk to the young Valois heir, his father there to steer him clear of the less desirable contacts. Whilst now fully experienced in dealing with French wizarding society, Louis hadn’t yet met many Americans, and therefore had no idea which students were from suitable backgrounds.
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Louis Valois
An unfamiliar social situation
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Louis Valois
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Arne Reinhardt
May 26, 2015 4:07 PM
Ditto. by Arne Reinhardt
For Arne, coming to Sonora just meant one more thing he had to stay on top of in order to prove himself to his father. While Tobi brought home alright marks—never perfect scores, but never so low that their father was upset with him, just average—Arne was determined to prove himself to their father, prove that he had more talent than Tobi and prove that even if was was born second he was more deserving of the shop than Tobi. It was odd that an eleven year old be so obsessed with his future, but ever since Tobi had left the shop for Sonora and their father had said Arne picked up on the techniques faster than Tobi did, had felt as though he would at least get an equal share. Yet a floo call he overheard (sometime just before Tobi came home last year) between Father and Grandfather indicated that this wasn’t the case.He had spent the duration of the summer looking over Tobi’s old textbooks when he hadn’t been in the shop as he figured if he got ahead now and picked up the lessons quickly at Sonora, he would receive better marks than Tobi which would put him one step closer to showing that he was more deserving than his older brother who, in all reality, would have been perfectly happy living in a shack in the woods by himself, surrounded with animals and limited contact to the outside world save for floo calls from Liac. He scoffed. While Arne wasn’t a particularly materialistic guy, his version of the dream would have included the shop and actual contact with actual people.
And, though his stomach growled slightly when the grounds-keeper had let them go about their own business, he forced himself to walk towards the maps and timetables. He couldn’t depend on Tobi for directions if they weren’t in the same house as they’d have different common rooms and thus be walking to class different ways, and if they were in the same house he didn’t envision himself sticking around to listen to Tobi’s unsolicited help. He reached for a map and a timetable and turned to grab some food and maybe bother Laila, when he saw another boy standing by himself. “Hey,” he said in a rather gruff manner, rolling up the map and time table and stuffing them into the back pocket of his jeans next to his wand. “You don’t look like you’re from around here.”
In actuality, Arne had no idea where the other boy came from, but it didn’t really matter to Arne if the other boy had been raised in the garden they were standing in. It was something to say and besides that it sounded aloof enough for him that he didn’t really care. “So,” he said in a manner that likely sounded as though he were sizing the other boy up. “You trying out for Quidditch?” Since Tobi played, it was something he hadn’t really considered doing but the moment the words left his lips, Arne realized just how much he did want to join the team. He didn’t think he had ever really felt this driven to do anything since he’d discovered how much he liked metal charming.
OOC: Note, obviously since he’s only 11, Arne hasn’t actually been allowed to do magic in the shop, however he has been taught to do the other magic-less portions of the craft.
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Arne Reinhardt
Ditto.
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Arne Reinhardt
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Louis Valois
May 27, 2015 2:06 PM
A tentative alliance? by Louis Valois
Louis looked at the boy who had spoken, whilst neatly folding his map and timetable and tucking them in an inner pocket of his robe. "I am actually from France," he replied, with a surprising and almost complete lack of French accent. Then again, being taught English since the age of four by a native speaker had helped with that. "Louis Valois." He held out a hand for the boy to shake, wondering if he would have actually heard of either Louis' family, or his family’s expensive and elite clothing line.Louis contemplated quidditch. He could try out for his house team, he supposed - he could certainly handle a broom with some skill, having learnt at quite a young age, and it might be good fun. However, he wasn't sure how much free time he would have, so perhaps that was a decision to be made at a slightly later date. Besides, the boy sounded as if he was interested in finding out potential competition, so Louis wasn't going to give him a definite answer. He’d have to wait and see – not that Louis had actually made up his mind yet.
"I might try out for Quidditch," he informed the boy. "It depends on how much free time I find I have. I assume you hope to join a team?"
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Louis Valois
A tentative alliance?
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Louis Valois
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Arne Reinhardt
May 28, 2015 3:36 PM
Like a craftsman sort of thing? by Arne Reinhardt
Arne grinned and accepted the hand of the Valois boy. He vaguely recognized the name but as he had never really been one for knowing, or caring, who was who he figured it was probably the name of one of his grandfather’s clients. “Arne Reinhardt,” he replied, disregarding the formalities that he was sure would have mattered had Valois not been foreign and not accustomed to the American way of doing things.Besides, if Valois was from the sort of French society that appreciated fine art then he’d certainly know the Reinhardt name as the Reinhardts were an old German family of metal charmers who created all manner of things for the high end community and such formalities wouldn’t be needed. Over the years, the Reinhardts had moved over to the American continent, and were in the process of building up a client base. His father and one of his uncles had been the first two to move to the United States, their older brother being the only one who remained in Germany.
He shrugged, squinting slightly as a cloud moved overhead, shining sun directly into his eyes. “We’ll see,” he said. “It really all depends, you know.” On many things, he added in his head. No sooner had he realized his desire to play Quidditch than he came to the conclusion that it was likely he wouldn’t be playing at all if if meant being on the same team as Tobi. Arne tossed his head so that his shaggy brown hair moved out of his eyes without having to use his hand, but the mop fell right back into his eyes anyway and he left it—at the very least it helped to block the sun out of his eyes. “What made you decide to come here anyway?”
France was a long way off, he thought. He himself would have been content to stay home in that infuriating town, because anything was better than being locked away in a boarding school for seven years, but he supposed that was the only way for witches and wizards to be taught. The Floo networks would be overloaded with students flying in and Muggleborns would have a hard time doing their homework at home surrounded by Muggles.
He wondered what the ratio of purebloods to Muggleborns would be and where that would place him when it really came down to it. He was a pureblood so it certainly placed him out of the Muggleborn category, but he wasn’t society and he’d discovered a Muggle record store while dinking around town that summer and proceeded to develop an unhealthy interest in Muggle rock.
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Arne Reinhardt
Like a craftsman sort of thing?
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Arne Reinhardt
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Louis Valois
June 01, 2015 10:09 AM
Someone to talk to, for starters! by Louis Valois
Louis nodded at hearing Reinhardt’s name. He had heard of the family business – he thought his mother might have commissioned them to make something recently. Presumably this boy was from the same branch of Reinhardts, given his confidence when stating his name. Well, they were a pureblood family, and a useful one at that, so surely this was a conversation his father would not disapprove of. Besides, talking to someone was far more interesting than standing alone.Louis smiled wryly at Reinhardt’s question, remembering the long discussion he’d had with his father. The idea of being sent to Sonora had been surprising, as it was traditional in the Valois family for the heir to be taught at home, with the occasional Valois going to Beauxbatons, the school most of Louis’ friends from home attended. Furthermore, Louis was concerned that learning in a class (with other students) would slow his progress – although he’d had plenty of experience of teaching himself, so he supposed he could just continue to research areas of interest in his spare time.
Being at a school with lots of other students would be a new experience for Louis. No doubt muggleborns would attend, an idea that quite intrigued Louis, never having met one before. He felt vaguely sorry for them, not having been brought up with magic, and of course they had little hope of going far in the wizarding world without a known family name.
“What made me decide to come here? It was really my father’s decision,” he replied. “I would have been happy with tutoring, or even attending Beauxbatons, but he decided it would be…beneficial to have me attend a school in America.”
Here Louis paused, not quite sure what to say next but hiding the fact. This really was an unfamiliar social situation – what was one supposed to say to someone from a family he knew little of? However, confidence was always important, and a Valois was never at a loss. “So do you have any idea which house you will be put into?”
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Louis Valois
Someone to talk to, for starters!
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Louis Valois
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Arne
June 02, 2015 3:28 AM
I could work with that. by Arne
Arne raised an eyebrow to see where the fancy French boy was going with that particular comment. His family made money from their work, of that he was certain, but since the Northwest branch was only just getting started, they didn't have nearly as much money as his grandparents who though served a large client base still weren't quite of the society level that his conversation partner obviously was a part of. Private tutoring and what not. Arne nearly scoffed.However, Valois' next question made Arne shrug. Arne shrugged. He didn't know nor did he care where he was sorted. He was certain he'd be able to find someone in one of the houses to talk to--so long as it wasn't Teppenpaw. He really didn't want to go there. "It doesn't really matter to me," he responded. "So long as it's not Teppenpaw. What about you?"
He gave no explanation for his hatred towards the house, and let his eyes wander his classmates, wondering which of the students surrounding him would end up in his house with him. He could almost guarantee that Laila end up with Tobi in Teppenpaw, but he couldn’t be positive and he hadn’t wanted to say anything about it out loud to her in case he was wrong.
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Arne
I could work with that.
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Arne
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