Acting Headmistress Sadi Powell
August 22, 2011 5:17 AM
Welcome back! by Acting Headmistress Sadi Powell
There were some things that just couldn’t be predicted. Unless, of course, you happened to be a decent Seer, but Sadi Powell had not been gifted with the Sight. This much was perhaps obvious – if she’d have known she would contract Neplac’s disease on her visit to Romania a couple of years ago, she probably would have forgone the trip. As it happened, she’d been forced to resign her post as Headmistress of Sonora Academy, thanks to the degenerative and aggressive illness for which there were assorted treatments, some of which Sadi was finding more beneficial than others. As a generally optimistic and calm individual, Sadi had not experienced great concern, as she had access to both Druids and Healers, but nevertheless she had found herself incapable of looking after the school and students to her preferred standards, and so David Regal had begun his term as Headmaster.Just as unpredictably, a family emergency – about which Sadi knew only few details – had commandeered David from his position only a day or two into midterm. It had quickly become apparent to him that this emergency, whatever it had been, would detain him from returning to his Headship duties when term resumed, and would keep him away for several weeks at least – potentially until the end of the year, though the exact time frame was thus far undetermined. At such short notice, it would be practically impossible to have hired a replacement professor, especially as the cover period was currently so vague. Amelia Pierce, as Deputy Head, could have filled in for a short while, but she was under-prepared and unqualified to lead the school for potentially the rest of the year (not to mention the ramifications of indignant parents threatening to remove their children from a school lead by such a woman). To Keep the Board of Governors satisfied, a suitable solution had to be found in record time.
The most sensible option had been for Sadi to resume her old post temporarily. The year and a half respite had been sufficient for her to regain some strength (thanks in equal parts to her husband’s care, efforts of the local Druids, and the natural Healing powers of Colorado mountain air. Admittedly, she looked a decade or so older than her sixty-two years; Her once chestnut hair had now almost entirely grayed, and was tied, as ever, back into a neat knot at the nape of her neck. She was wearing robes of a customary warm shade of brown, yet was a great deal thinner than she had been the last time she stood at the staff table to address a room of gathered students.
There were, understandably, some looks of confusion directed towards the woman who most would recognise as a previous Headmistress, and who was standing in Headmaster Regal’s place. Her presence would soon be explained, however, when all the students had gathered and were quiet. “Good evening,” Sadi greeted, her tired voice amplified by a charm, “and welcome back from your midterm break. For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Sadi Powell, and I used to be a professor at Sonora.” She smiled calmly at the younger students to whom she would be unfamiliar. “Headmaster Regal has unfortunately been called away to a family emergency, so I will be looking after you for a while until he gets back.” Her neglect to specify any duration was intentional.
“As I understand it, you have been celebrating the anniversary of the birth of one of Sonora’s founders this year,” Sadi continued; what David had been unable to tell her, Amelia had volunteered. “There will be some themed activities occurring within the next few weeks, and at the end of term you’ll have the Midsummer Ball to look forward to. I’ve been asked to remind you that this will be a sixteenth century themed event, with appropriate banquet, and that period costumes are encouraged. On this occasion, non-students will not be permitted to attend, so for those of you planning on taking a date to the Ball, please select a partner from amongst your fellow students. Prefects and Head students will lead the first dance, as is tradition.” It was only fair to remind these students of the need to find a dance partner for the opening number at the very least.
“I have also been led to understand that Headmaster Regal has uncovered a forgotten school song,” Sadi said with a smile. Apparently the students had sung it at the Opening feast, but obviously she had not been present for the occasion, and was hoping they wouldn’t mind repeating it. “I was hoping you’d indulge me with a performance.” As had happened at the start of the year, music sheets rapidly presented themselves to students, and with a flick of Sadi’s wand, music began, cuing the students in to the song that would at least be a little familiar on this occasion.
Following the song, the Acting Headmistress resumed her seat, and the tables were laden with the variety of delicious foods for which Sonora had become renowned.
Subthreads: Asking a question [Jane] by Jethro Smythe with Jane Carey, Jethro
Likewise by Deputy Headmistress Amelia Pierce with Sadi Powell
A ball sounds delightful... by Jessica Applerose
Where is my glass slipper? by Kitty McLevy
Panic by Raines Bradley
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Acting Headmistress Sadi Powell
Welcome back!
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Acting Headmistress Sadi Powell
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Jethro Smythe
August 24, 2011 3:09 PM
Asking a question [Jane] by Jethro Smythe
Jethro's most recent holiday was almost inseparable from his other recent holidays, in that one of his female relatives got married and he was expected to attend the wedding. He did, of course, and he got lots of food, and people who he thought he was probably supposed to have recognized continually spoke to him, and wished him well. He'd thanked them, because that's what Cynthia had suggested he do in that situation, but the whole situation felt rather odd. jethro infrequently understood social situations, but thanks to practise and his sister's guidance he thought he was becoming rather adept at handling them.On the topic of social situations, there was a ball at the end of the year, and that definitely counted as a social situation. Jethro heard enough of Headmistress Powell (he thought she'd left and they had a new Headteacher now, didn't they? Maybe she had been on a long vacation; he didn't catch the specifics surrounding her presence there)'s speech to hear the mention of the ball, and that all dates had to be other students. That was fine with Jethro, as he was intending to ask Jane Carey. He liked spending time with her, and he thought she usually looked nice, too, and best of all, she didn't seem to mind spending time with him, either. The sixth year had told Cynthia of his intention, and she had encouraged him in it.
While the notion was still fresh in his mind, before he had even touched any of the food, Jethro stood from his current seat and made his way to where Jane Carey was sitting (he'd indenitfied her earlier on, even before the Headmsitress had started speaking). As if fate were approving of his actions, the seat next to Jane was empty. Jethro stood behind it a moment, and said, "Excuse me, Miss Carey," - he usually called her Jane, but there were lots of other people here on this occasion, and Jethro knew that using first names in such circumstances was only suitable for family members - "would you mind if I sit here?"
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Jethro Smythe
Asking a question [Jane]
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Jethro Smythe
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Jane Carey
August 24, 2011 9:18 PM
Answering one question and asking another by Jane Carey
For Jane, the greatest significance of midterm had not been attending a social event, or spending time with her family on a significant day, or even her brother’s seventeenth birthday. Instead, it was that her year of mourning had finally, officially, no matter which date of Julia Carey’s death was counted, ended.She still missed her mother, still didn’t know how she felt about some things relating to her, but somehow, she felt freer now. Maybe there would still be a little guilt, for a while, any time she wore bright colors, or laughed too much at something, or even had a dance, but she wouldn’t have to deal with knowing everyone thought she shouldn’t at the same time. After a year full of nightmares, putting silencing charms on her bed after lights out so Kirstenna wouldn’t hear her crying, remembering at the worst moments, unpredictable moods…After all that, she just felt tired, and like she was fighting herself, and if she hadn’t moved on yet, at least she knew that she could now, that it was allowed and no one would think the worse of her for it. In fact, they would think less of her if she didn’t.
She’d taken up time with her dark hair, so it fell from its ribbon to just below her shoulders in neat waves instead of a mass, and put on some of her few pieces of jewelry, a silver bracelet and necklace, some amethyst earrings that had really been Mother’s, and a purple and white dress as a little private celebration – she preferred lavender to deeper shades, but it was winter, and it was enough that the dress had a few bows and some lace on it – but abstract thoughts about grief and social norms and time fled when she noticed that, instead of a man, there was a woman at the Head’s seat at the top table. A familiar-looking woman. Her hair was grayer, her face thinner, but Jane could have sworn she was the old Headmistress. What could she be doing here, and in Headmaster Regal’s place?
The answer came out. Jane felt herself wince slightly at the mention of Headmaster Regal having a family emergency – for him not to be back, it must have been something very bad, and for it to be something so long that Miss Pierce couldn’t handle it for a few days, it must have been worse than Mother’s death; she had only been allowed to stay out of school long enough for Mother’s funeral last year, and hadn’t even really missed any notes – but she didn’t mind having the old headmistress back. Maybe it was just because she had been the head of Sonora when Jane began studying there, but she felt comfortable, though that wasn’t quite the right word, with Headmistress Powell being in charge of things.
She made her contribution to the repetition of the school song, then went about lunch without further thought on the matter of who was Head of Sonora, or really noticing that she was alone at the table until she heard her name being said and looked up to find Jethro there. She supposed he’d been alone, too. The other Crotali didn’t seem to like him very much. She smiled and tilted her head toward the seat beside hers. “Not at all,” she said, putting down her fork on the edge of her plate for a second, but not taking her drink up just yet, until she asked him, politely, since it was public and so a little formal, “Are you well today, Mr. Smythe?”
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Jane Carey
Answering one question and asking another
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Jane Carey
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Deputy Headmistress Amelia Pierce
August 25, 2011 12:54 PM
Likewise by Deputy Headmistress Amelia Pierce
Amelia had known, of course, that David had left for an indeterminate amount of time. She'd been back and forth from Sonora to Boston over midterm, alternating between taking care of Crotalus House, filling in breifly for David until Sadi could arrive, and running home to be there forShe was also aware of exactly why it was that Sadi was sitting there instead of herself. She had been told when she'd been appointed Deputy that it was unlikely she would ever advance beyond that. She had too much controversy surrounding her name and it wasn't only because the Boston DISCUSS office was run out of her house.
The Boston Auror office hadn't stepped forward with her confession of killing a man yet, but she suspected they would if she tried to lay claim to Headmistress. It wouldn't overly surprise her if they were discreetly looking into David's 'family emergency' to make sure she didn't have anything to do with it. Which she didn't, of course. She wasn't even entirely sure what the nature of his emergency was.
In all honestly, she didn't want to be the school's head honcho anyway. She was even kind of glad she wasn't really qualified for it because that meant it wouldn't suddenly get dumped in her lap like it had Sadi's last week. She could tolerate it for a temporary spell, for about as long as the Board of Governors could tolerate her having it, but she was in complete agreement that any longer was too long.
After the speech and the song and Sadi sat down again, food appeared on the table. Amelia filled her plate, and waited for Sadi to do the same, then asked, "Welcome back."
She smiled, a little wryly, a silent acknowledgement of the Board's decision to bring in a retired and terminally ill former Headmistress instead of having the Deputy fill in as Bulla had when Marnett had an extended absense, "If you need help with anything, I'd be glad to help." She didn't specifically mention a downturn in Sadi's health, believing that was not only bad manners but bad luck, but she hoped it was understood that if that did come to pass, she'd be there. Supporting the Head was the Deputy's job description, after all.
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Deputy Headmistress Amelia Pierce
Likewise
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Deputy Headmistress Amelia Pierce
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Jessica Applerose
August 25, 2011 10:58 PM
A ball sounds delightful... by Jessica Applerose
Jessica was glad to be back for school. As much fun as she'd had at Regina's (and it was so much fun!), she sort of felt like she had been intruding. But she loved Reggie's family and it had definitely helped take her mind off of her own parents that were still at their conference, convention, whatever in wherever. Jess enjoyed studying, too, so it was with a happy skip that she entered her second home.The hall was busy as usual with the welcoming speech. She was surprised to see an unfamiliar face up there and began wondering what had happened to Headmaster Regal. She had heard of Headmistress Powell before, but had never really seen or met her. Well, she didn't really care. It didn't affect her really in any way. Jess sat down with the Teppenpaws and listened as the acting Headmistress began to speak.
She spoke of Amelia Pierce and she remembered Four's problem with her. He thought that she was bad or something. Goodness, she hadn't talked to him in such a long time. She would look for him soon. Him and Maddie. Jess' ears perked up at the mention of a ball. A ball? Jess began wondering what she would wear, her imagination running away with her. She'd probably want darker dress robes, maybe blue or something like that to bring out her eyes.
And then the thought of having a date, no, needing a date came to mind. Her heart sunk a little. The only boys she really knew were Ben and Four, and she was pretty sure they knew more girls than she knew boys. She had spent most of her first year studying away after all. Silently brooding and angry, she tucked into her meal, thinking if she should ask either boy first though she didn't really want to be the one doing the asking. Maybe if she got desperate.
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Jessica Applerose
A ball sounds delightful...
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Jessica Applerose
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Kitty McLevy
August 26, 2011 11:35 PM
Where is my glass slipper? by Kitty McLevy
Christmas break had come and gone in the blink of an eye. It seemed like she’d just left, and now they were back again. Not that Kitty minded too much. Oh, it was great to see her family again, except that her brother Zack was being a total jerk. The small bruises that marked her arms and sides from his pinches left her almost as spotty as a leopard, not that he got out of it unscathed. His shins were almost one solid bruise from ankle to knee from her rather vicious retaliation kicks. Kitty had no idea why he was being such a snot all of a sudden, but she wished he’d knock it off. With Zack nit picking at her most of the time Kitty was glad to be back at Sonora.The lingering traces of annoyance melted like a chocolate frog on sun warmed cement when a fresh sheet of music appeared in front of her. Kitty grinned and sang enthusiastically, pleased that the new tradition was still going strong. Worry touched her features when she heard that Mr. Regal had a family emergency and she hoped everything was alright.
Over the break Kitty roped her dad into taking her shopping for her ball costume. A lot of the dresses were awful, involving way too many laces that made movement difficult. Finally she settled on something a bit simpler. She’d found it at a Renaissance fair shop in the mall, and usually she would have chosen the green one, but the color was rather dull, so she went with the red one instead. The Fair Maiden dresses had a white under dress with big draped sleeves, and a solid colored over dress that laced in the front. It was loose enough that she could move easily and Kitty couldn’t wait for the Ball.
The song finished, and the feast appeared. With a grin Kitty took a scoop of the first unrecognizable thing she saw, ever the adventurous eater.
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Kitty McLevy
Where is my glass slipper?
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Kitty McLevy
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Raines Bradley
August 27, 2011 3:10 PM
Panic by Raines Bradley
He did not notice it when he sat down, or else he would have chosen another seat, but the place setting in front of Raines Bradley was not correct. Frowning, he went about straightening the cutlery and making the angle of the goblet to the plate more to his liking, scarcely noticing anything else in his preoccupation.He did, though, notice when a woman's voice, familiar but not one he had heard recently, began to address the student body instead of Headmaster Regal's, though, and looked up from his task after only a last, perfunctory, miniscule adjustment of his plate to see what was going on. What on earth was Headmistress Powell....
A family emergency. Absence. Well, that wasn't very good, though Raines doubted it would mean anything important since he hadn't heard about it before he came back. His mother had a decent network, for someone in the position she'd reduced herself to in the fit of youthful stupidity that led her to marry his father, and his uncle had an excellent network, one he firmly believed might have become the best in the country after Uncle Charles allied himself with the Gardiners, and they told him things about Sonora-associated families that were important enough to know.
These thoughts of family pride, though, were driven out of his head by the mention of the ball. Instantly, his hand tightened on the fork he hadn't realized he was holding, and a sick feeling made his stomach clench as tightly. He thought a trace of sweat might have even appeared on his forehead, though he preferred to think that was his imagination. They had just ruined everything.
He had, of course, always meant to ask Miss Veronica to the ball. The prefect debacle had been enough of a blow that her invitation to the family Christmas party had just been a general one to her and her sisters and her grandmother through the Raineses, but the ball had been a sure thing. He had been thinking of asking her today, but after that...now it might sound like he was only asking her because the only people they could ask were other students, not some outside date.
He cursed himself for an idiot. How could he have let this happen? Everyone had known about Bauer and the fourth year for ages. He could have asked her before midterm. Now, though, he would have to wait longer, and pray that someone else didn't get there first, that she didn't take it for asking her as a last-ditch resort instead of as him working up the nerve to approach the most incomparable of girls....
He sat like a statue through the song. If this went any more wrong, he was doomed. He would be publicly humiliated. He had to stop that, but...how? With so many factors out of his control, how?
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Raines Bradley
Panic
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Raines Bradley
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Jethro
August 31, 2011 3:34 PM
Likewise by Jethro
As Jethro had anticipated, Jane didn't mind him sitting with her (or at least she claimed not to mind, not at all, in fact, and Jethro had no reason to suspect her of being mistruthful, as unlikely as the scenario was with others, Jane had always seemed so much more tolerant of him than anyone he'd ever met). Following her response, he sat himself down, and had delayed in serving himself out some food because he had come over for a particular reason, and until he'd dealt with that, he wouldnn't be wholly able to concentrate on anything else. Should he attempt to begin to handle food, it could be interpreted as inevitable that he would drop something on his robes, and this would undoubtedly have a negative affect on his current endeavour. Therefore he answered Jane's query about his health with empty hands and an empty plate."Very well, thank you," he replied. Then, "You look very well, too." He thought that when he'd heard other people make similar comments they'd done so far more eloquently, potentially with words like 'forgive' and 'assumption' thrown in for good measure, but Jethro had never been proficient at stringing more words together than was strictly necessary. So it was that he got right to the point without further enquiries, perhaps about her holiday, or other small talk that might have been embarked upon by his peers in a similar situation.
"I want to ask you something," he said, and, confident he had her attention, continued: "Would you like to go with me to the Midsummer ball?" It occured to him in the very moment that followed this question that perhaps he should have asked whether she would go with him, rather that whether she wanted to go with him, as this might not illicit the same answer. However, at least if she answered 'yes' to the question he had actually voiced, he could be sure that the second question would be similarly answered, and it was perhaps more satisfying to be sure that she would actually want to be there with him, anyway. It surprised Jethro how quickly his mind worked sometimes, as this thought conundrum was over with before Jane had even answered - which was just as well, otherwise he might not have been in a position to pay her full attention. As it was, however, he was able to wait silently for a reaction of some sort.
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Jethro
Likewise
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Jethro
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Jane
August 31, 2011 10:26 PM
Just answering a question this time by Jane
Jane had expected to be asked if she was well, not told that she looked like she was, but her smile didn’t waver at hearing it. For one thing, it was nice to hear that she looked as though she were doing well even if it wasn’t quite the same as just hearing that she looked nice – she still felt terrible about it sometimes, but she was increasingly coming to accept that she was a little vain about things like that – and for another, she had always been taught to accept what was if she could not effectively change it, and she doubted, coming from Jethro, that it was intended to be abrupt or an insult of some kind, as it might have been from some people in some circles. Mother had taught her to never let that smile waver even if it was clearly an insult, but she thought her temper might still drop her into hot water there every so often if it came up.Luckily, though, it didn’t. She hadn’t spent enough time in the hustle and bustle of society to make the kinds of friends and enemies that went with it, no more than the most casual of acquaintances at events, and no one at Sonora had ever seemed inclined to address her in that way. The Crotalus girls, she understood, sometimes did a bit of that between themselves, the ones who weren’t like Autumn, but they didn’t seem very interested in bothering a Teppenpaw, and she was just as happy not to bother them so long as they didn’t hurt her or her friends or her brother. Since they so far hadn’t, that she knew of, her life was usually peaceful.
“Thank you,” she said.
She thought she had an idea what this might be about when Jethro said he wanted to ask her something, but she nodded for him to ask anyway. Since it was Jethro, it might be something she wouldn’t think of on her own. It turned out, though, that it wasn’t, so she nodded again. “That would be lovely,” she said, then decided it was most likely better to leave no ambiguity at all and added, “So, yes.”
A bit of the back of her mind felt uneasy. Mother had mentioned how much she’d like a marriage with the Smythes, and her being dead didn’t necessarily mean the scheme had been dropped. Mother had been in close correspondence with people far more important than she had been for as long as Jane could remember, at least since she took Edmond in, though possibly earlier, to have been given him at all. She liked Jethro well enough, and it would provide a way out of the family right enough, and Edmond didn’t seem to disapprove, but she didn’t really think she wanted to be married to anyone. Accepting that invitation, though, might be seen as indicating she was perfectly all right with the idea.
But that was silly. They were fourteen and sixteen, and her fourteen was, she had to admit, far cleverer than his sixteen, which meant he most likely had as much choice in what happened to him as she did when she was a girl. Besides, even if this was part of someone’s plan, then she might well come around to thinking the way she was supposed to by the time she left seventh year. She had been trying to be what Mother wanted so much since Mother’s death. It was inevitable that someday, she’d manage to be her best, inwardly and outwardly, and until then, outwardly would do.
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Jane
Just answering a question this time
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Jane
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Sadi Powell
September 06, 2011 4:44 AM
Thank you by Sadi Powell
One of the most pleasant aspects of returning to a previous place of work, however briefly, was the familiar faces. The majority of staff were familiar to Sadi, some more than others; Aaron, for example, had been staying with her and her husband for the two weeks previous while Jera was still out enjoying Romania with Jessie. Amelia Pierce was perhaps not quite so personally familiar, but Sadi had been working with her for a reasonable duration, and was fond of her. "Thank you," Sadi replied to the welcome and offer of assistance. "Trust me, I'll be sure to take you up on that." The smile that accompanied this statement was tired in its gratitude."How are things with you?" She already knew enough about the school, but had been so concerned with making sure she was on top of her work that she'd spared very little attention for the lives of her co-workers. She'd had a reasonably recent rendez-vous, as she'd come along to the midsummer festivities last year, having been invited to do so by David, but her brief stay hadn't really been sufficient to reaffirm old ties.
As for herself, very little had changed in Sadi's personal life since she stepped down as Headmistress. Admittedly she had more free time on her hands, but she and Toma were still living in their abode way up in the Colorado mountains, both working on their next publications; Jera was midway through her year at L'Academie de Român de Vrãjitorie studying dragons and other magical creatures, and Sadi's mother was still healthy enough to harrass them all on a regular basis, bringing with her society's gossip that Sadi would often rather not hear.
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Sadi Powell
Thank you
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Sadi Powell
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Amelia Pierce
September 09, 2011 12:50 PM
You're welcome by Amelia Pierce
Amelia smiled as Sadi promised to take her up on the offer of assistance. Not only did she like Sadi and want to be helpful, but it also banished the few inescapable feelings of ineptitude caused by not being able to fill in for David herself despite being the Deputy Head and therefore the obvious choice for temporary substitution. No matter how much she didn't actually want it, she thought it would have been nice to be asked.On the other hand, she may have felt obligated to accept if she had been asked, so maybe it was just better this way all around. There was entirely too much chance she would have, given that she was both Deputy and Head of Crotalus. She hadn't exactly had burning ambitions to hold either of those positions either.
She was, in fact, proving to be a fairly poor Aether. She'd acheived most of her ambitions with the disownment (independence from her parents' expectations, her own family, and becoming a career woman), and hadn't ever gotten around to replacing them with the next stages. She was quite happy where she was. It was probably just as well that she had adopted Crotalus as her new House. If anything, she'd call Aladren the ambitious House of Sonora.
Amelia laughed as Sadi asked how things were with her. Since the last time they'd talked (which they hadn't really been in a regular habit of doing even when Sadi had been the permanent Headmistress), her immediate family had gone through several major transformations.
"The big news is that my son has a son," she began with. "Derry Three and Gabby had a healthy little boy last summer. Ben just had his first Christmas. Bel graduated a little while back and she's working as an Auror now. She's also running DISCUSS again, and took over the rent payments on my old apartment. I've got the house," she frowned breifly, unsure if Sadi had been aware that she'd bought one a few years ago, "and Bel's taking care of that while I'm here, too." Which was only fair since about half the rooms were used for DISCUSS housing.
"And Derry Four's here," she nodded briefly to the Teppenpaw in the tricorner hat. "I'm being good and not interacting with him much, so Druscella will probably allow Thad and the twins to come to Sonora, too. Thaddeus is due next year," she added. "Handing out the sorting potions in September will be the first time I see my little brother in person."
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Amelia Pierce
You're welcome
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Amelia Pierce
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