Coach Amelia Pierce
August 20, 2010 10:42 AM
Crotali! Young Crotali should follow me. by Coach Amelia Pierce
About once a year, Amelia Pierce looked out on the school and wondered three things. First, she wondered how Bel was doing. September first was her adopted daughter's birthday, and she always felt bad that she had to be away for it. (Not that Bel would have been home anyway, as she was starting her final year of college today, but Amelia left the house first, so it still felt wrong.) Second, she wondered how in Merlin's name she ended up here, in Arizona, when she was the matriarch of the Boston Pierce branch. Now that she actually owned real estate in the city, it seemed especially ludicrous that her job was more than halfway across the country.But mostly what she wondered every Welcoming Feast was: How the heck did I wind up in charge of Crotalus? It wasn't that she didn't think it was the right House. She'd been an Aether back in Salem, so Crotalus was probably the closest match Sonora had. It wasn't even that she'd been named Head of House the very first year she started working for the school. She was a family Matriarch, after all, and she'd worked at a school before, so she had some experience leading kids. Plus, there had been a lot of staff turn-over that year and at least three of the four Houses were getting new Heads. That wasn't the problem.
In fact, there wasn't a problem at all. She liked being Head of Crotalus, and it made sense, in as much as anyone being Head of Crotalus could make sense. It was just that Crotalus was divided. The other three Houses, you knew what you were getting. Teppenpaw and Aladren, especially, were fairly uniform. Teppenpaws were friendly and nice kids. Aladrens were smart and scholastic. You knew what to expect from those kids as soon as you saw them change yellow or blue.
Pecari was significantly less predictable. She could grant that McKindy did have a handful with that lot. A kid turns brown, and you could get anything from an outgoing Quidditch fanatic to muggleborn witch trying to convince the world she's a pureblood. But Pecaris ran the gamut. They were supposed to be unpredictable. They were supposed to be wild and adventurously independent. They were mixed, but they weren't split.
Crotalus, however, is a House of cautious rule-following strategists. On paper, it sounds like a group of people that would gel and behave. They don't always. When they run into differences of opinion or personality clashes, Pecaris might pitch skirmishes or create trouble, but Crotali break into opposing armies and lay battle lines. At the current time, it was the seventh year girls that were closest to outright war, and Amelia would secretly be glad to see the lot of them go. Not that she would ever say as much out loud.
Now, as she called for the new first year Crotali to gather around her, she just hoped they were all lucky enough for this bunch to actually get along with each other. They were the largest group in the new first year class, outnumbering Aladren two to one, but the first year class was small this year, so it was about the same size as last year's group.
Adair, Bennett, Errant, O'Malley, Saren, Thorpe. Some of the names were recognizably pureblood, but when she'd watched them interact over dinner, none of the new kids seemed overly uptight or openly belligerent. There was a fair chance she might have another peaceful year group on her hands.
The fact that none of them sent evil-eyed looks her way was also promising. Of course, that could conceivably be due to the fact she hadn't drawn their attention before now. Pureblooded the Boston Pierces might be, but they were generally viewed unfavorably as scandalous muggle-loving liberals who had helped co-found DISCUSS and started running an office for it out of their home. Most pureblood families frowned on everything that DISCUSS promoted - an end to arranged marriages, gay rights, muggleborn and witch equality, and the belief that playing Quidditch did not turn girls into lesbians.
She'd know soon enough if any of these kids were from such families. And then she'd attempt to stay as neutral as she could and not join the battle camp opposing them. That was the hardest part of being the Head of Crotalus. Because her own Crotalus nature said she should hunker down against her enemy and plan their downfall.
Except, they weren't enemies. They were kids. Her kids. They were all her kids, even the seventh year girls. And she was going to guide these new ones through the next seven years of their lives with equal and unbiased diligence. She would and she could do that.
"I am Amelia Pierce," she announced, once she had the full set of new first year Crotali, "of the Boston Pierces. I am your Head of House and the Sonora Quidditch Coach. Please follow me and I'll show you the way to our common room."
OOC: This post continues on the Crotalus board. If you wish to reply to it, you may, but it is not necessary. You may continue your conversations in the feast below. This pair of posts is just to give you permission to post elsewhere in the school.
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