On my own head be it on Cascade Hall

Manfred Bulla

December 16, 2005 7:33 AM

On my own head be it by Manfred Bulla

Manfred stood on the cleared path, and watched the wagon until it was there merest speck of black in the pre-dawn sky. His breath fogged in the freezing air and his hair was ruffled lightly by the light breeze, but he didn't move until it was completely out of sight. At that point he sagged from his precious rigid stance and lifted a hand to his face, massaging one temple with his thumb. This was just perfect! Just what he needed, on top of everything else.

He shivered and his hand dropped back down so he could pull his cloak closer around him. To this point he had somehow forgotten the current crisis - this entirely unexplainable, freezing weather. The weather patterns at Sonora had been, in all his years there, entirely predictable. Even where he stood the snow was building up again. His shoes were covered with white snow, and - with an irritable shake of his shoulders - it had built up on his robes and head. It was cold, and there were still things that needed doing.

Manfred stamped his feet, shook himself one more time, and headed back inside.

Inside the Headmistress' office he was able to stop and think. Things just seemed to keep on going wrong this year, and although he himself had predicted the happenings with the weather, he just couldn't see what it was that had caused it. The charms - he pulled a book down and leafed through it to a certain page, and frowned down at it - they shouldn't have lasted half this long. They shouldn't have lasted a fraction of the time that they had.

But, they had lasted.

And they had lasted, to the best of his knowledge, flawlessly up until now. So what was different? He got out of the chair, and paced, irritably. From the door to the desk to the window and back again. Around and around. Over and over. Why? What was different about now? Had they just failed, like he thought they should have done over a hundred years ago, without renewal? The room felt wrong, the wrong shape for his pacing, the wrong colour for his peace of mind, the wrong smell even. Manfred frowned again, going over to a shelf, pulling down the diary that Lucinda had been so adamanet contained all the answers again, and Moved back around the desk to sit down again.

It felt wrong, sitting in that seat. It was Lucinda's seat, not his. And the room, generous collection of Charms text non-withstanding, was far too Crotalus for his own taste. He preferred the more calming colours of his own rooms, done up in Teppenpaw yellow and maroon.

But escape to there wasn't an option at the moment. Manfred had a job to do, a front to present, and he wasn't going to let anyone, least of all himself down. He flipped through the book again, and if it wasn't with the patience he had shown in previous times, perhaps he wasn't entirely to blame. It was hard, even to pretend, when one found oneself at the helm of one of the most prestigious schools of magic in the America's.

"Acting Headmaster." He tried the new title out quietly, letting the words escape into the otherwise silent room. "Acting Headmaster Bulla." He wasn't entirely certain he was comfortable with it. 'Deputy' was one thing. 'Headmaster', even if it was only temporary, only 'acting', was something else entirely. But, there was no choice.

Lucinda had fallen victim to a chill. The weather being what it was, it had worsened. Philemon had done what he could, but when even the usual heating charms were failing to have any effect on the school, it had at last been decided that a break was in order. Some time away, a chance to visit her family, to recuperate after her illness had been arranged. Manfred had been shown the secret method of opening the Headmistress' office, and now had to deal with everything.

There was quite a lot to deal with.

The students were back after the Christmas holiday. He wasn't at all convinced that the staff were appeased after the disasters of the year so far. The departure of Bastian Reiner and Alexander Zephyrflame in the midst of the break didn't help in the least. The new Quidditch coach had been settled in, but now he had to find replacements for the two professors (classes had been cancelled for this week), try and convince everyone that the current weather wasn't anything to worry about - a difficult task when he himself believed the opposite - the paperwork on the desk in front of him was already more than he had been prepared for with the situation with the Muggles, and he had yet to give notice to the ministry about the new situation.

Standing again, Manfred turned to the window and opened it, looking out over the Labyrinth Gardens. It seemed almost peaceful, the snow drifting slowly down, the white blanketing of the grounds. Below him, a young prairie elf armed with a shovel attacked the snow on the paths enthusiastically, but without much success. A couple of older elves were using their magic to much more success, scolding the young one when she accidently threw new snow where they had cleared it.

He watched for a few minutes, then shook himself. The staff had been aware that the Headmistress had been ill, and that she was planning a short recuperative break, but the decision that she leave early in the morning had been triggered by an overnight downturn in her health. Manfred, even though he knew it was best for Lucinda, couldn't help but wonder if the decision had been too rushed. But now wasn't the time for second thoughts.

He leaned slightly out of the window, and hailed the elves.

"You there. The young one. Run and find Professor Connell. Actually, see what members of the staff you can find - the Medic, Papp and that Librarian if you can drag him from his hole, and get Tellerman to come too. Tell all of them that Dep-" he cut off for a second the corrected himself, "Acting Headmaster Bulla requires as many as can make it for an emergency meeting in the Headmistress' office as soon as possible."

The little elf squeaked something that Manfred didn't quite make out, but ran off regardless. It was past time that someone got to the bottom of this.

Yet, even as he continued to gaze out over the grounds, Manfred noticed that the snow had apparently stopped falling. While perhaps a more normal reaction would have been to have the thought 'thank Merlin' flash through his brain, it was not so.

"What next?" the barely audible words escaped his lips, and were carried away by a sudden increase of the wind, not to be heard by anyone else.

Manfred closed the window again, conjured up additional chairs, pulled out another couple of books he thought might be useful and left the door ajar to allow the others to enter if and when they arrived. He moved back to Lucinda's chair and settled down to wait, allowing the familiar stiff backed formality to take over again, so he could be what he had to be. A proper, strong and capable Acting Headmaster in Sonora's time of need.\n\n

39 Manfred Bulla On my own head be it 2 Manfred Bulla 1 5

Professor Kijewski

December 28, 2005 3:15 PM

What in the world? by Professor Kijewski

It was so cold. That was the only thoughts that ran through Kiva's mind as she shuffled through the snowy pathways to get to the owlry. She was a native to New Mexico and never had to deal with cold winds such as these. She had even owled her mother to ask her to send her some warmer clothes, though those did little to help her.

It wasn't like she hadn't lived with the cold before. She had camped on the snowy tops of the Andes mountains while studying the animal life that thrived there. She had lived on the glaciers of Alaska to study penguins, polar bears, and sea-lions. But she had been well prepared for each of those in her snow gear and warmed tents. Here, at Sonora, Kiva expected it to be mild and somewhat cozy.

This was not the case.

Kiva finally reached the Owrly and gave herself a quick shudder to rid herself of excess snow. She was worried about the birds. Sure they could handle some snow, but with the wind and the freeze, she wasn't so sure they would survive. Kiva was tempted to ask Professor-Headmaster-Bulla if he could help her with charms to ward off the cold for the birds or perhaps find some santuary for them to stay until the weather was fixed up. But, for now, she took to checking on the birds three times a day to make sure they were alright.

Once she checked the birds, Kiva closed the doors and shut them as tightly as she could before walking the long trek back to the school. As she went, a Prairie elf stopped her and told her the acting Headmaster wanted a word with the staff and then left her alone on the path in search of the other staff members.

Kiva frowned and continued her way to the school and then through the school until she reached Headmistress Marnett's (now Headmaster Bulla's) office. She looked around for a moment, unsure of whether or not Tony was still around now that the Headmistress had left, but couldn't find him amongst the plants. Kiva gave a quick knock before opening the door wide enough to stick her head in, "Excuse me, Professor Bulla, but a Prairie elf informed me you'd like a word."\n\n

0 Professor Kijewski What in the world? 0 Professor Kijewski 0 5

Manfred

December 29, 2005 10:42 AM

You might be onto something there by Manfred

It was just as well he hadn't had to wait too long. Manfred had irritably flicked halfway through one of the books he had pulled down, and casting another glance at the window when there came a knock, and Kiva stuck her head around the door.

"Miss Kijewski - apologies, Kiva - glad you could make it. Come in. Don't close the door entirely, just leave it as you found it. I don't want to have to get up everytime someone arrives. Much easier this way. Pull up a chair," he gestured at one of the seats he had conjured up before. "I hope it won't be too long before everyone else can join us. Lucinda had to leave this morning, so it's official now. I need to get to the bottom of this fiasco. There's letters, letters she hadn't even thought to tell me about, from the ministry, from the council - everyone who thinks they've a right to stick their nose in has done so."

He paused momentarily to prevent himself from actively saying what he thought about that and to regain his formality. To distract himself, he picked up some papers from the desk, a glimpse of a familiar insignia reminding him that his father would expect a missive in regards to this temporary change in command at Sonora, then neatened the stack and placed it down again.

"I'll explain further when everyone else is here, but the point is this: the weather has gone awry. I think everyone has noticed it by now. Either that or they're blind, deaf, dumb and their sense of touch is in a sorry state. There were some..." how to put it without being disloyal to Lucinda? "inquiries just last year into how the spells had lasted as long as they have, and Lucinda has indicated that the answers are in this," he picked up the old notebook and passed it over to Kiva, "although I've yet to get through it all. The crabbed handwriting," he explained. "It gives me a headache.

"This weather problem needs to be solved, and it needs to be solved fast. The Alumni event was a disaster. The only person who seems to have come out of the entire situation happy was Regina Pierce." Again he paused, although this time the slight change in his expression was all that was needed to express both his acknowledgement of the Californian Pierce Clan's power, and the way most of society regarded them - an interesting expression indeed, as their power commanded respect, but that didn't stop them being considered little more than wild hillbillies or worse - hippies. He muttered something that might have been "crazy old woman" under his breath, then continued. "It's going to affect next years applications. Although, if you've been keeping up with the news from north, that scare with the Muggles might be doing similar things to Salem. It may well turn out well for us."

Perhaps it was silly, telling a staff member all this, but Manfred had seen what happened when Lucinda just pretended to one and all that everything was just fine and dandy. The disasters continued, and got worse each time. He hoped, that by openly admitting the problem, and seeing what his staff knew, and being able to talk to them about it all, an answer might be found. A solution discovered. The problem solved.

He glanced at his watch. "That elf had better not be dawdling."\n\n

39 Manfred You might be onto something there 0 Manfred 0 5

Dione

December 31, 2005 2:44 AM

Way too late at night to think up a witty subject... by Dione

For once, Dione’s habit of packing seemingly-useless items finally paid off. She remembered gathering her belongings in preparation to leave for her teaching position. It’s Arizona, she thought, why bring a winter cloak? It would never get so cold there. Even so, she found herself neatly folding it and laying it down with the rest of her clothing, sure to be something that would sit and collect dust in the wardrobe. How wrong she was for now she was wearing that same cloak as she walked about the snowy Sonora.
The black woolen material was dusted with powdery white from the snowfall that never seemed to stop. Out of all the chaotic weather conditions that had occurred that year, the snow storm wasn’t nearly as bad as the previous two. So it was cold. By wearing layers and a heavy coat, even the most frigid of temperatures were bearable. Still, even Dione was chilled to the bone by Sonora’s drastic temperature; it rivaled the bitterest winters in her New England home. She didn’t care that the wind was enough to cut through the thickest of clothing; she was not going to miss the snow. Winters at home often brought a fair amount of snow, and the last thing she expected was a blizzard, or even a flurry for that matter. Though the snow was just another difficulty just like the dust and mud storms, it wasn’t such a problem. Why had classes been cancelled? A couple of teachers had left because of the weather problems, so postpone those until new professors come in and keep the other classes going. Ah well, at least she had some time to relax and enjoy the rare occasion. The snow was always so soothing…unless there’s an insistent little voice breaking the silence.
Dione looked down to see the little prairie elf standing in the snow. After listening to his urgent message about an emergency meeting, she sighed and started to walk towards the school. It was about the weather, no doubt. Maybe there was some news or even a breakthrough in trying to fix the weather conditions. She went straight to the office where she would find Headmaster Bulla, and rapped lightly on the door before entering. “I was just informed of an emergency meeting…?”\n\n

0 Dione Way too late at night to think up a witty subject... 0 Dione 0 5

Marian

January 02, 2006 1:25 AM

Ditto here by Marian

All was not well in the eyes of the potions professor. The dust storm hadn’t been all that bad, in her opinion, despite the close call the Craven twins had had. The mud problem had been unwelcome, but still didn’t bother her as much as it could have. This new development in the meteorological merry-go-round was the straw that broke the camels back, as far as Marian Connell was concerned.

“If I wanted cold, I could have stayed up in New York,” she muttered angrily to herself as she stalked through the halls towards the acting-headmaster’s new office. “Arizona is supposed to be nice and warm. That’s why I decided to come teach here. I hate the cold,” she said through gritted teeth as she finally reached the Bulla’s new office.

It truly wasn’t just the cold that had her in such a miserable mood, although if she thought about it hard enough, everything that was going wrong could somehow be traced back to the blizzard. Classes being cancelled had been nice, but that also meant that a good number of the students were spending more time wondering around the building, and so were reentering the common room at all hours.

That actually was probably not merely a result of the blizzard. It was the students’ prerogative to wander around the building as they chose, at least before curfew. However, because of the blizzard, the only way into the Pecari common room was through her office, and it was swiftly becoming a never ceasing hassle to get everyone inside. Marian enjoyed her privacy a great deal, and having large groups of people invade her personal space every five minutes was starting to grate on her nerves, and although nothing had happened yet, she was starting to be a bit afraid of opening her drawers and such, knowing sooner or later someone, quite possibly the Cravens, though she never would be able to prove it with them, was going to get the bright idea of doing something to her office while they had the chance.

She had nearly kicked the little prairie elf that had delivered Bulla’s message just because she was in such a foul temper. She had managed to stop herself at the last minute, because she had the feeling if she did Paul Simon might decide to retaliate by setting a dozen or so of the things on her classroom. She was very glad that none of the natural disasters had destroyed it yet. She didn’t need a prairie elf invasion to demolish everything.

Reaching the end of the hall of plants, she pulled on the branch and hurried inside when the door opened. After nodding a hello to the other staff members, Kiva, Dione, and the new Acting-Headmaster, she sat down in a seat next to Kiva to wait for the rest of the staff to show up. \n\n

0 Marian Ditto here 0 Marian 0 5

Tarquin Reynolds

January 04, 2006 10:22 AM

[insert witty subject line here] by Tarquin Reynolds

Tarquin, clearly deemed fairly far down the pecking order (something he wouldn't have argued with) had been one of the last to be called upon by the prairie elf, which had simply uttered the message 'You. Acting headmaster's office. Pronto,' before departing.

And so, with more anxiety than normal, Tarquin headed for the headmaster's study, feeling like a student who had been summoned there, and trying to think what he had done wrong. Perhaps the headmaster disapproved of Danny's visit? Though he'd had permission. Bulla did seem like he might have some rather conservative views though, and as he'd taken over...

If it had been good news, surely the prairie elf wouldn't have delivered the message in that brusque, snotty manner. Convinced it was, at best, a telling off, and fairly convinced he was about to get fired (perhaps Bulla had disliked him all along, maybe Reiner had told him about the statue incident? Now Bulla had been acting head for five minutes so was getting rid of him as soon as he had the opportunity) Tarquin arrived at the office. The door was ajar. He knocked. And then, very, very hesitantly, poked his head around the door.

When he saw the rest of the faculty there (after a brief moment of terror at the prospect of his sacking having been turned into some sick spectator sport) a slight amount of reason caught up with him and he realised it must be a meeting. Relief swept over him, along with embarrassment at being one of the last ones in.

He mumbled something about 'Prairie elf' and 'said you.. see me', given that he thought he should explain his presence, but fairly sure Prof-Acting Headmaster Bulla was well aware he'd asked to see him. He slipped into a seat next to Professor Connell, whom he knew by name only, wishing a seat next to Kiva was still free, but glad that Reiner had gone, and that he was next to someone who at least didn't look completely forbidding. Even if she seemed a little cross...\n\n

13 Tarquin Reynolds [insert witty subject line here] 1464 Tarquin Reynolds 0 5

Manfred

January 06, 2006 8:12 AM

Lookout... it isn't much of a plan. by Manfred

"Right," Manfred said. "If you four are already here... I think we can get started. Reynolds," Manfred picked up the old diary and leaned across the table to pass it to the Librarian, "you'd probably be best for going through this. It's an old diary - that of the founding headmaster. Lucinda told me that it has information in it that would explain away the weather spells working for so long. Find it and see if there's anything in there that can help us end this madness once and for all."

He didn't think that the madness needed any more explanation than that. It had caused ruin for the school this year, both financially (why had Regina decided to donate money anyhow?) and physically (massive cleaning up operations seemingly being needed on a monthly basis); and now it had cost them their headmistress. And the weather hadn't been in the least bit discrete either.

"Charms have to be the key. I know that's my area, but there - it can't be everything. If there's one thing I know about Weather charms is that they're notoriously unstable. Best I'd ever heard of other than the ones here lasted five years. Usually they're lucky to last half that time. These lasted one hundred and fifty years. It's entirely unheard of. And they're not even periodically renewed. They've just continued on since the time of the founders. There must be something else. Something that has augmented it - but I've never heard of such a thing being done with weather charms."

He paused a moment, and pushed aside the strenthening urge to stand and pace. It would reveal his agitation far more than Manfred was both comfortable with, or seemed a good idea if he wanted to retain authority. At least to his own mind.

"There has to be something else," he reiterated. "Something that has been overlooked all these years. I need you all to keep your eyes open for any little clue. Anything at all. I don't think this is going to be it. Report to me if you find anything. Sonora can't take much more of this upheaval. We need to bring stability back to the school."\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

39 Manfred Lookout... it isn't much of a plan. 0 Manfred 0 5

Simon Tellerman

January 09, 2006 3:38 PM

Re: Lookout... it isn't much of a plan. by Simon Tellerman

Simon cursed under his breath (mostly for the dramatic effect of being seen muttering - it wouldn't do to have anyone think he was pleased by the weather's lastest conspiracy to create more work for him - and his scarf muffled the words enough that none of the impressionable young students would be able to understand him) all the way from the front courtyard where he'd been not just overseeing, but actually taking part in the shoveling when the elf had summoned him.

His cheeks still red with the cold and with snow caked every crease of in his warm winter robes and the pair of jeans they covered, he didn't enter very far into the Headmistress's - now Acting Headmaster's - office for fear of dripping melting snow on something important. His woven hat, gloves, and scarf likewise stayed on because taking them off would spray the rest of the staff crowded into the office with wet snow.

He made no effort to call attention to himself beyond stamping his feet in the hallway just outside to knock the worst of the snow off his boots at least before entering (the stamping was more than enough to make some of them look toward the abominable snowman in their midst). Bulla was handing some old looking manuscript thing over to the librarian.

Acutely aware he was just the groundskeeper while most of these others were professors, he offered no comment during Bulla's spiel. He'd been homeschooled for most of his education by a woman who received what little book-learning she had from a mostly illiterate brother who got mediocre to poor grades at Hogwarts in the mid 18th century. The grand total of his magic classes at college had been 18 credit hours of Tranfiguration courses; the bare minimum for a minor. He was quite certain these people figured him to be the rough equivalent of an uneducated squib. Or perhaps a muggleborn who had opted out of going to a magical school.

Anyway, what Bulla said made sense to Simon but for all he knew, he'd been tripping over the whatever everyday since he got here and he never would have known it. Heck, maybe he had tripped over it and that's why it wasn't working anymore. Or worse, he'd tranfigured it into a wheelbarrow. It had lasted just fine for a hundred and fifty years until Simon showed up at the school. He hunched guiltily against the doorframe and hoped nobody else realized it might be his fault.

First thing he was going to do was untransfigure every rock and stick he'd made into some convenient tool. Just in case.
\n\n

1 Simon Tellerman Re: Lookout... it isn't much of a plan. 14 Simon Tellerman 0 5