Grayson Wright
November 29, 2019 12:05 PM
Welcome to Orientation, New Students! by Grayson Wright
He had, Gray thought, no-one at all to blame except himself. He had actually brought up the subject of Orientation at the last staff meeting and asked if he was up for it again, which had been taken as volunteering.Admittedly, it was not the most onerous of duties, and he had to admit that Nathan had other things going. Wife, child, that sort of thing. Gray thought most of the staff wanted a moment or two to brace themselves against the oncoming storm of a new year, but if what he understood about small children was accurate, Theodora Xavier was at just the size where Nathan and Isis were not getting such a moment right now at all. Plus, Gray had the least going on in his personal life of anyone on staff, he thought - at least so far as his coworkers knew.
In reality, his summer had been...interesting. He put it out of his mind, though, as the wagons landed and he stepped forward to play the role of usher.
“New first years over here,” he called. To help out further, there was a sign directly over his head saying “1st Years Here” - the formatting deliberate, as he figured that even any students whose English wasn’t very good would be able to recognize the Arabic numeral and make some logical deductions. They would almost surely not all be Aladrens, but developmentally, they should all have some capacity for reasoning. Just in case, though, there were other signs, arrows, pointing them toward the clearing where he would talk a lot and then allow them to ask questions or get to know each other, as they pleased. “Leave your luggage with the wagon, please - it’ll be in your dorms after the Opening Feast. New first years over here!”
Professor Grayson Wright was thirty-eight years old, fairly tall but not to the point that his height drew attention to him in most crowds. He had dark hair and dark eyes and unremarkable robes - neither expensive nor cheap - a couple of shades brighter than navy blue. If there were students who were not good with names among the little throng which came over to him, he expected he would for some time - definitely at least for the day, unless they were Aladrens - know him mainly as That Professor With the Glasses, as his glasses were more distinctive than any of his facial features. He smiled pleasantly at them once he was sure he had them all.
“Hello everyone,” he said. “My name is Professor Wright. I’m going to be your Charms teacher, and if you have the honor of joining Aladren House after the Opening Feast this evening, I’ll also be your head of House. For now, I’ll be your orientation leader. Welcome to Sonora Academy.”
He shepherded them into one of the clearings in the Labyrinth Gardens, where a running fountain stood in the center and there were three tables off to one side, away from the roped-off entrances to other paths. On the first table was a number of folders, each the same forest green color as the students’ robes. These contained class schedules, school maps, and lists of the major school rules students would be expected to follow. On the next table was a variety of snacks – sandwiches, fruits and vegetables, cupcakes, cookies, and various other finger foods – and small plates to eat these on. On the third were small glasses and a selection of water, fruit juices, and fruit punch.
“Everyone be sure to collect a folder, there’s a lot of information in there which will be helpful for you as you get settled,” he urged them, and then began the speech. After several years, he had it down pretty well. “Sonora is a seven-year school which focuses on giving you all a thorough education in magical theory and practice. You’ll start out, for your first year, with seven classes – Charms, Care of Magical Creatures, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, Potions, Transfiguration, and flying lessons. You can drop flying lessons in your second year and start other electives in your third year, if you want to. In your fifth year, you’ll take your first set of major exams, the Critical Assessment of Talents and Skills, or CATS. After that, you may select classes to focus on, though you’ll need at least two to graduate and three if you want to pursue your education in the magical arts further after you leave Sonora.
“In the meantime, we know that you all come from different educational backgrounds now,” he said, because this was true. Some might have gone to Muggle elementary schools while others might have had specialized tutors for each subject while others might have had…more unorthodox training. Most fell somewhere on a continuum between the extremes of unschooling and specialized tutors for each subject. “Your professors all have office hours when we can give you extra help in our subjects if you need it, and Professor Skies, our Deputy Headmistress and your Transfiguration teacher, runs special sessions for anyone who needs help with reading and writing English more fluently, or with basic maths, or other general academic support. You can see times for those in the schedules in your green folders.
“Outside of classes, you have options about how you spend your time. We have some student-run clubs and sports here, and you’ll see notices about meetings posted around the schools when they’re ready to start up for the year. Breakfast is from 6:30 to 8:30 a.m, lunch is from 11:00 to one, and supper is five till seven, but you can find snacks and drinks there between those times as well. Curfew is at ten p.m., and at that time, you’ll need to be inside your Houses – those are parts of the building where your dorms are attached to a common room you share with other people in all seven years who were Sorted into the same group as you . They’re four groups of rooms, and tonight, at the Welcoming Feast, you’ll be Sorted into one of them by dipping the blank badges you have now into a cauldron. If your badge turns blue, you’re an Aladren – the House that values learning and problem-solving.” He might have sounded a little proud there; he was a former Aladren as well as Head of the House. “If it turns red, you belong in Crotalus, the House for people who like to be well-prepared for everything. Yellow means you’re in Teppenpaw, the House for our diplomats – and a House which has done very well in the House Cup recently,” he added, lest Teppenpaw sound lame to them. “Finally, if your badge turns brown, that means you’re a Pecari, the House for people who always land on their feet and are always willing to take a chance. All the Houses have other traits, though, so don’t worry if you don’t think any of those things sounds exactly like you – there’s a place for everyone here at Sonora.
“Your House will have prefects, who are older students, and a Head, who is a staff member – I’m the Head of Aladren, for instance. They’ll all look after you while you’re here. Your House can earn points based on things you do – excelling in class or in sports, or showing responsibility, or somehow helping the school community and showing leadership. The House with the most points at the end of the year earns the House Cup, and sometimes other privileges – Teppenpaw House has hosted the Cup for a good while now, but last year they tied with Pecari, so anyone can win.”
“If no-one has any questions about all of that, you can mingle and get to know your classmates for a while and have some snacks until we begin our tour of the mansion. If you do have any questions, feel free to come see me – and welcome again to Sonora.”
OOC (Out of Character) Note: 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 acclimated to the site before we throw you into the big Opening Feast, which is open to the entire school population and can be a bit overwhelming.
Now, go forth, new first years of Sonora! Post, enjoy, have fun! Everyone here is happy to help out, so if you've got a question, put it on the OOC board or try to catch somebody in the Chatzy and we'll try to get you an answer as quick as we can. Have fun and we’re glad you could join us!
[Credit to Nathan Xavier's author for the content of this OOC notice]
Subthreads: I don't know about this by Mab with Morgan Garrett
Taking an unexpected step. by Mara Morales with Leonor De Matteo
Is this a trick? by Alexander Pierce-Beales with Alexandra Borealis
I choose upside down! by Theo Spurn with Joanna Rose-Turner, Josephine Clyde
#FreshStart #MeetingMrWright by Sadie-Lake Chalmers with Grayson Wright
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Grayson Wright
Welcome to Orientation, New Students!
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Grayson Wright
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Mara Morales
November 29, 2019 4:17 PM
Taking an unexpected step. by Mara Morales
Mara looked around at all the people descending off different wagons, calling out greetings to friends and moving this way and that, mostly with airs of being people who knew exactly where they were and were perfectly comfortable being there. Her dark eyes took in the high hedges, the pink-colored Spanish colonial mansion rising up beyond it, the white dude in glasses under a sign summoning Mara and the other new kids over to him. Finally, she looked at the tall, thin, very very white thirteen-year-old standing next to her."This is it?" she asked, speaking Spanish.
"Yes," said Jessica, also speaking Spanish.
"I think there might be more kids on one school bus at home than in this entire place."
Jessica laughed. "Probably," she said, switching to English. "APS it is not."
Mara looked over her sister. Took in Jessica's long, shining pale red hair, swept back from her face with a silk headband that had to cost at least fifty dollars. Her diamond earrings. Her knee-length dark brown skort and perfectly back-to-schoolish short-sleeved camel-colored cashmere sweater. Her shiny, shiny black platform sandals and glossy pink toenails, which perfectly matched her glossy pink nails. "Jezi, what do you know about APS?" she asked with a half-smile.
"Enough from the news to never want to go there," said Jessica, and Mara laughed, unable to actually argue. The news did not paint a very good picture of APS. Mara was lucky that she had only previously attended public school in a very technical sense in Atlanta - that the father she shared with Jessica had paid the necessary bribes to get her into a fairly posh charter school. Mara knew she was lucky that way. Her mother only reminded her of that ten times a day even when Mara didn't set Carmela off by pointing out some way the system was kind of screwed up for some people even if not for them, and God help her if she ever complained that it was, perhaps, even slightly unfair that Jessica got to use Dad's name and that Mara and their baby sister Lola did not. She had long since learned her lesson about mentioning anything like that.
She was going to have to touch on it, though, now, she thought. She had also long since learned the trick of asking awkward questions when everyone involved was on the brink of action and separation, so they didn't have time to linger awkwardly over it.
"Jezi?"
"Hm?" asked Jessica, already looking around, presumably for her friends.
"If you ever come up - if I run into somebody who knows you, or know somebody who knows you, or whatever - what am I supposed to say?"
Jessica frowned, and Mara wondered if there was a scene coming, but Jessica wasn't reddening. "Tell them the truth," she said. "You're my sister. Lots of people have half-siblings, it's fine - here, anyway."
Here. Here where Arvale Cosmetics and the Groves political empire weren't things to consider. Here where Mara's existence wasn't a threat to the family reputation.
"Okay, I gotta go." Jessica tapped her fingers twice against her own lips, then blew Mara a kiss. "Love ya."
"Love you too," said Mara, and then watched Jessica walk off into the crowd, proud and lovely, fundamentally part of another world.
White Dude was named Professor Wright, which, Mara thought, was possibly one of the Whitest Dude names ever. Still, wasn't like he could help it, and he seemed nice enough. Jessica had said she thought sometimes he was being sarcastic but wasn't sure, but he was mainly just giving them information without much elaboration now, which Mara liked. As his speech ended, she ran through it in her head, trying to recall as much as possible: Four Houses. Seven classes - or was it six? They could take extras in eighth grade. There was food between classes. Curfew was at ten. Try to win rewards for your group. Standard enough stuff, but with wizards.
One of Mara's hands was busy holding the green folder, but she smoothed down the skirt of the pastel-rainbow-striped sundress her mother had picked out for her first day of school, apparently not realizing that it was bound to wrinkle while Mara spent hours on a flying wagon trying desperately not to die before she ever got to Arizona. The denim jacket topping it and covering the fact that it had only thin straps over the shoulders, but it didn't occur to Mara to remove it - bare or nearly bare arms and shoulders were against the dress code at her old school. Instead, she rolled her shoulders under it, flipped her black braid to hang over the front of her shoulder so it didn't press the denim into her slightly sweaty back, and walked over to get some fruit punch.
"Hey," she said with a brief smile to someone else there. "Lot of info there, huh?" she added, remembering that she was a stranger in a strange land and therefore could not only be a polite Georgia girl to people she didn't know. She had to actually try making conversations, try making friends.
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Mara Morales
Taking an unexpected step.
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Leonor De Matteo
November 29, 2019 11:57 PM
Soo, this is happening. by Leonor De Matteo
OOC - Dialogue in italics is in Spanish.Leonor was at Sonora. Leonor was a Sonora student. There was a good chance she was even far enough from her brother's age that she wouldn't be under his shadow all the time, and that made it all more exciting. However much she said she wanted to put Los Jardines de Plata behind her for now, Leonor practically wore it as a billboard. She wore a rose-colored linen dress that flared out where it fell to her knees. Cream colored ruffles matched a ribbon she wore in her hair. It was a much nicer outfit than most of what Felipe wore, and that's exactly how Leonor wanted it. She couldn't help being who she was, so at least she was going to own it.
That wasn't true for everyone, though. This had become obvious over the summer, and she wasn't sure what Felipe's friendship with Jessica Hayles looked like right now, but she didn't ask either. They didn't talk about these things. They had duties and priorities and Leonor was far more interested in making sure that she was going to have fun, and that she was going to look good doing it. Her nails were even painted with some of the polishes Jessica had provided her.
The older girl was pushed from Leonor's mind when Professor Wright began speaking. Naturally, Leonor already knew all the professors' names and subjects, and she could have picked Professor Wright out of a crowd before she met him. He gave his speech - providing no new information - and Leonor did as what was expected: she got her folder, she got a finger sandwich, and then she got interrupted.
She turned, already grinning, and ready to meet a new classmate, only to find that this was a face she already knew. They didn't know each other well, but they were the same age and their siblings - or "siblings" - were friends - or had been - and that was good enough reason to talk. Plus Spanish. Leonor was pretty disgusted with the fact that all of this business was in English, even if she was fluent. She would have preferred to go to a school in Italy or Spain.
"Mara," she acknowledged, dipping her head politely. "There is lots of information. It is meant to be informative, I suppose. What do you think of the Houses?" She eyed Mara for a moment before deciding that maybe she should start with something easier. "How much of this did you already know? Do you have questions?"
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Leonor De Matteo
Soo, this is happening.
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Mara Morales
November 30, 2019 2:44 PM
Yep. Here we go. by Mara Morales
Mara recognized the other girl almost at once. Leonor, the smart friend of Jessica’s, and the one with distinctly less of a stick up her butt. Or at least the one who hid her butt-stick better, if she had one.“Jezi told me most of that, yeah,” she said in Spanish. Leonor’s Spanish sounded slightly accented to her, but in a familiar way. Most of the Spanish-speakers at her old school - though by no means all - had also been from Mexico, or their parents had been. Some others had been from Puerto Rico or El Salvador. Mara’s mother, however, was from Colombia, and there were differences in rhythm and even usage. She thought her own Spanish probably sounded sufficiently Other to Leonor for any eccentricities to avoid giving offense, and she thought she was pretty good with Mexican Spanish too from school, but she was going to be careful anyway until they knew each other better. “She didn’t tell me, like, what time breakfast starts and stops, but I thought that was a little bit overkill anyway,” she said in English.
She took a sip of her fruit punch and then said, “Jez said there’s a...room that can have a pool in it sometimes here, too,” she said. “I didn’t completely get what she was talking about, but we can check it out sometime, if you want,” she offered. “Did your brother tell you anything else about this place?” she asked, trying to keep her tone carefully neutral on the subject of Leonor’s brother.
Truthfully, she had agreed with a lot of what Felipe had said, that day he’s very briefly visited them over the summer. The problem was, though, that nobody talked to her sisters that way, or about her dad that way, and got any thanks from her. Even if what they said was true.
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Mara Morales
Yep. Here we go.
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Leonor De Matteo
November 30, 2019 3:08 PM
Better us than them. by Leonor De Matteo
Leonor nodded. She suspected Felipe was more likely to be there at the start of the meal than she was anyway, and she didn't want to get up that early if she could help it. Felipe was the early riser, the planner, the ambitious one. He was the one that would get up early just to have more hours to get stuff done. But what worth was that if one of the things to get done was sleep? Leonor would take a good nap over a good work day any chance, since no one expected her to do that much work anyway. At least not important work. She was the behind the scenes helper and Felipe was the one that they really wanted to see. Which was dumb, because most people probably liked Leonor better anyway.She didn't mean to be harsh. Truth be told, she liked Felipe most of the time. She just didn't like that they were two blocks hewn from the same stone, but only one was fit to be made into a throne. It wasn't fair, and neither of them wanted it that way. Sometimes she could sympathise with Felipe for it, and sometimes she was just frustrated that he had everything she wanted and still didn't appreciate it.
Leonor blinked when Mara mentioned a room where they could swim, and then she burst into a grin. "You remembered," she said happily. "That would be good. I forgot that you probably haven't really seen magic before, right?" She wondered how strange that must be. She couldn't imagine living life with a foot in both worlds, even if one world was pompous and crappy. Or at least, some citizens of that world were.
For a moment, she considered asking about Houses. Leonor was very excited that Felipe and Jessica were in the same House and two years older, because that meant they wouldn't have any classes together for two whole years, and she only had to hope she didn't get into one of the four houses. She doubted she was enough like Felipe to get into Crotalus, but she knew enough about the reputation of each to wonder if she might anyway. But then . . . Jessica was in Crotalus. So the reputation couldn't be very accurate. However, she didn't actually know Mara very well yet, and it seemed like dangerous territory to bring up their combusting siblings. Perhaps another topic was safer, and Mara had asked a question, so that gave Leonor the chance to help steer that. But what to pick?
"Bits and pieces," she said of Felipe's information sharing. "Mostly about the classes and the grounds. He is passionate about agriculture and I think he's been really taken with the landscaping done here." With the Gardens all around them, it wasn't really that hard to see why. "He said all the professor are really nice, and really helpful too, so that's good. Do you know do you know about what classes you think you'll like?"
He'd also said there were a lot of small people with small minds, but she wasn't about to tell Mara that. He hadn't said so with words anyway, just with the way he frowned a little when he mentioned the Mordues or the Brockerts or the Astleys. They were people with names and legacy was a sore spot for Felipe. With that in mind, it really shouldn't have been so surprising to him that Jessica would have kept things to herself. If they were as much alike as Leonor suspected, then Felipe would have done the same thing. Hey, Leonor would love to pretend she didn't have a brother. Either way, it wasn't Mara's fault and the younger offspring of Arthur Hayles was pleasant enough so far.
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Leonor De Matteo
Better us than them.
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Mara Morales
November 30, 2019 3:57 PM
I think we might be more capable. by Mara Morales
Mara shook her head. "Nope," she said. "I asked Jessica to show me some once, after she started here, but she said it was against the rules, and - well, you've met Jessica, you probably know. I think it would physically break her brain to try to break a rule," said Mara, with an amused, but not unaffectionate, smile at her sister's peculiarities.That, really, was where she got off-board with Leonor's brother. It was one thing to try to gently encourage Jessica to think an original thought without immediately suppressing it, but the minute you showed any anger, Jessica shut down, because anger was against the rules. Mrs. H didn't like it. Proper Southern ladies didn't express their anger openly, or associate with anyone who did, and Jessica lived for her parents' approval. She had nearly had a breakdown - and had had enough of a lapse in self-control that Dad had seen her have a panic attack at the apartment - just at being forced off the conveyor belt life which Dad and Mrs. H had designed for her. It was sad, really - and more than a little sickening, when it came out on the surface like that, which was one reason why they all made a rule of not pushing Jessica too far at home. Truthfully, Mara was surprised her sister had done as well as she had when De Matteo had gone confrontational; she hadn't thought Jessica had that much spine.
"The landscaping is impressive," said Mara. "I wouldn't want the job of making all this grow in a desert." She glanced around at the hedges, wondering again whose idea that had been, and what might be lurking in them. Jessica assured her there were no Minotaurs or anything like that, but since when was Jess the sort to go looking?
She shrugged slightly at the mention of classes. "It's still all too weird for me to be sure," she said. "I'm keeping my options open till I see more. What about you? You know any magic yet?" she asked curiously, wondering if the rules were different for people who didn't live in the regular world more often than they lived here, or who had other wizards in their families.
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Mara Morales
I think we might be more capable.
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Leonor De Matteo
December 01, 2019 3:28 PM
I think you're right. by Leonor De Matteo
Leonor laughed softly. She couldn't tell if Mara was joking about Jessica but Leonor found the sentiment amusing. Diplomacy had taught her that a soft laugh could be passed off as appreciating the joke if there was one, or empathising if not. That was the safest option in most cases."I think it is not too hard to make it grow here," Leonor said, understanding Mara's thoughts on the matter. Most of the agriculture and plant life at Los Jardines de Plata was done without magic, as there were just too many non-magical eyes around to risk anything grander than that. The only differences were little spells here and there that wove an ambience of magic into the otherwise seemingly normal garden and farm. "They use magic to change the weather, so these plants have an easier time growing here than other places. That's why it's not so hot here, too. At home, Felipe and I care for plants without magic, so I agree; I would not want that job here."
Mara said it was too "weird" to be sure about classes, and Leonor grinned. It wasn't a word she would have chosen for Sonora or magic, as both things seemed perfectly normal to her, but she liked the idea that maybe they belonged to a crazy world. Life in color, blood running through magic veins, and a couple of weirdos trying to get to know each other.
"I haven't done any magic on purpose yet," Leonor explained. "But Mama and Papa use magic at home, so I know about those a little bit. One of our tutors taught us a little about magic theory in the course of learning the history of the magic world, but I don't know whether that will help me use any."
Surely Mara must have seen magic somewhere along the way, or she wouldn't be here. Whether it was her own accident magic or Jessica's, she would have seen something. Leonor wondered whether that was uncouth to ask. Was asking about magical accidents a bit like asking about bathroom accidents? Either way, Leonor was curious and she was happy to share, too, so she didn't see any problem with asking. If she didn't ask her questions, she'd never learn anything.
"How did you find out you were magic?" Leonor said, settling on a bit more diplomatic phrasing. "It must be from your father . . . your mom isn't magic, right?"
If there was one topic in magic theory Leonor had paid attention to, it was the role of inheritance and genetics and family trees. She didn't understand almost any of it yet, but one thing had stood out: someone long ago could pass their magic on to their descendants, even if the people in between weren't magical. Perhaps someone long ago could pass on the De Matteo legacy then, even if the people in between Leonor and leadership weren't right for it.
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Leonor De Matteo
I think you're right.
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Mara Morales
December 01, 2019 3:50 PM
Shall we start the revolution, then? by Mara Morales
Magic weather. She had read a bit about that in the literature they had been given at home, but hearing someone talk about it as an everyday thing brought it home in a different way, and also made some of Jessica’s poems from the past two years make a little more sense than they had when Mara had first read them. She had wondered why Jessica had suddenly started making bizarre parallels between weather and liars....Though admittedly, some of that was probably just Jessica being Jessica. There was one long poem Jess had worked on a lot, with the typically dull title (Jess sucked at titles) “Waterproof Mascara,” which Mara thought might be about this or might just be Jess trying to take all the advice about how to be a modern poet to heart and, in the process, producing a lot of choppy gibberish.
“Neither of them are, but if it’s in the blood, I guess it must be from Dad’s side of the family somewhere. Since - well - me and Jezi. We found out the same way she did, though - one day we’re eating breakfast and some guy knocks on the door and starts talking what would sound like crazy talk, if I hadn’t already heard it already two years ago. So then we knew. I guess...maybe we should have before, but with my sister we never noticed a pattern and then I guess anything weird that happened after that, we blamed on her,” said Mara with a shrug. “Though apparently sometimes it was me. Maybe. It’s a thing when you’re flustered, right? I don’t get flustered much.” Surely she had not been somehow responsible for the time that jerk from school had had a bird do it’s business right over his head after he’d called Mara a name and told her to go back to Mexico. Surely not. She did not want to be responsible for all the bird bowels of Atlanta. That was way too specific a superpower for her to use or want.
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Mara Morales
Shall we start the revolution, then?
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Leonor De Matteo
December 01, 2019 11:30 PM
By all means, let's begin! by Leonor De Matteo
Mara was easy to talk to, and easy to get along with. Leonor could switch between two of her languages, she could say what was on her mind for the most part, and she could tell that she wasn't the only one who was trying really hard. Truth be told, it was the first time Leonor had ever met anyone that she could do that with, family aside. There weren't any magical people in Cuidad de Matteo that they knew of, and certainly not any of the children so far. There wasn't anyone for Leonor to be friends with except Felipe, because they were magic, and wealthy, and important. No one wanted to be friends with the daughter of the ruling family.Plus, it seemed like Mara and Leonor had something to offer each other. Whatever was happening between thither siblings was one thing all on its own, but more than that, they were both sincerely interested in the other person. Mara could swim and play and share that with Leonor, and Leonor knew magic, knew people, and had some brains to offer. They were both smart, and it made everything easier. At least, it made everything easier so far. If Felipe and Jessica were anything to gauge by, friendships were never guaranteed. It was a depressing thought, and Leonor quickly chocked it up to Felipe being Felipe.
"Not just flustered, but often. Sometimes also when you're scared, or happy, or sad, or when you really want something. When Felipe was younger, apparently he didn't like to wear clothes over his diaper and sometimes Mama would go in his room to find him something to wear and find the whole closet was empty. Don't tell him I told you that." She didn't really care that much if Felipe knew, but supposed that he would probably be upset with her for telling. She'd heard the saying, 'secrets don't make friends,' but she thought that the inverse was true as well: friends make secrets. And they keep them. If Felipe was raging mad at her one day because of this story, then she'd know that Mara wasn't a good friend. "I think I made a couple of my toys float into the crib with me when I was meant to be sleeping, but I don't remember much that young."
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Leonor De Matteo
By all means, let's begin!
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Mara Morales
December 02, 2019 10:19 AM
One step at a time. by Mara Morales
Mara had to choke back a laugh when Leonor described what her brother had done with magic as a child. "I've got some stuff I wouldn't mind disappearing from my closet, when Mamá wants me to wear them," she admitted. "I guess I didn't want to that much, though, or we might have figured out something was up with me a little before we did."She thought back through her memory, trying to pull things up that hadn't seemed right. "I guess...sometimes if I didn't want to go somewhere, the keys got lost. Or Mamá couldn't find the asparagus or something, even though she knew we had some. This is the kind of thing you mean?" she asked, looking at her own hands with curiosity. On TV, when people did magic, usually they pointed at things. She hadn't seen a lot of real magic yet, but they seemed to use those wand things to point, which meant one of two things: either it was sort of instinctive to do magic through pointing, or else it was just easier to do magic with a wand that way because hands were better at gripping sticks than most other parts of the body.
"Do you know if magic is just in your hands?" she asked, following her line of thought. "Sorry - I was thinking - what if you hold the wand with your foot? Or like this?" She crooked her elbow as though she were trying to hold a stick in the joint. "Would it still work, or do you know? How does it work? Are we, like, born with stuff, or is it...in the air, like - basic forces stuff?" she asked, remembering what she could put together about how they had explained how electricity worked in her elementary school science classes. "Or do we learn this in class? I started reading the books but they didn't get too far into it, at least as far as I got in them before today."
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Mara Morales
One step at a time.
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Leonor De Matteo
December 02, 2019 8:17 PM
Big steps though, right? Like running, jumping, hurdling steps? by Leonor De Matteo
Leonor had never thought too much about the nature of magic. She hadn't really needed to. At the same time, she probably should have done so sooner. This was the sort of information that could impact the people of Cuidad de Matteo and it was her (really Felipe's) responsibility to learn about it."I don't think it is based on place," Leonor mused, trying to think through the questions Mara had asked. "Because I have traveled a lot, and there was never any difference in my parents' magic. But I don't think it's just in our hands either. There are magical animals and plants and things." That made it sound like maybe it was an element of the world, and maybe some people could access it and others couldn't. Could a muggle be taught how to do magic somehow? The implications were a bit more than Leonor wanted to confront right now.
"I think the classes will talk some about this, and you can choose to learn more if you want," she said, smiling. She had also read part of the books - or at least had been told to by her tutors in their final meetings together - but didn't want to rub that in. Mara was proud of herself, and no one should smash righteous pride; there were too many things in the world that already did that. "Our hands . . . that is how we do. We do things. We act. We make. I think that humans just use their hands to make, and so we use our hands to make magic."
Leonor paused, looking at Mara with a contemplative expression. "I like you. No one's ever made me think about this stuff before."
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Leonor De Matteo
Big steps though, right? Like running, jumping, hurdling steps?
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Mara Morales
December 03, 2019 9:06 AM
Is there another kind? by Mara Morales
Animals, plants, and things. That fit with the books, and also with the idea that magic was part of the natural world - maybe? Maybe they were all like electric eels - they could...how did electric eels work anyway? Did they generate electricity or just conduct it somehow? She made a mental note to Google it, then remembered that one of Jessica's complaints about this place was that they didn't have Google, and also that their selection of sources about regular topics was lacking at best, which made it a long shot to think she might find an ancient copy of the Encyclopedia Britannica lying around the library. Still, it was probably worth a look."That makes sense," she agreed with Leonor's explanation. Humans had evolved to rely a lot on their hands. It was the joy of opposable thumbs. "Though now I wonder if magic birds can do magic through their feet and their beaks," she said in Spanish, mostly joking, though she wouldn't object to finding out. She thought about watching the birds building their little nests in the springtime at home, how they used their feet and mouths to do it. Her mom thought it was the most awe-inspiring thing ever and tended to sing hymns whenever she saw it. Mara had not faulted her for that even before she'd considered the possibility of birds shooting lasers out of their faces.
She blinked, slightly taken aback, by Leonor's assertion. "Thanks," she said. "I like you too. You seem cool." By which she meant 'did not get your back up over being asked something' and 'don't seem to care about the whole thing that my family is different,' but that was a lot of words, especially when they really didn't know each other that well yet. Mara wasn't as secretive as her sister, but there was such a thing as getting a little too weird with someone the second time you ever met them, and especially when it was the first of those two times when you weren't mostly thinking about saying something very undiplomatic to that someone's brother.
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Mara Morales
Is there another kind?
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Leonor De Matteo
December 03, 2019 11:08 AM
My big dumb brother probably thinks you should tip toe. by Leonor De Matteo
Leonor grinned at Mara's comment about birds. It didn't feel like the time to actually get too much into the theory of magic, so even though she was pretty sure birds didn't do magic, they just were magic, she didn't say so. That was what it meant to be important and to be nice; Leonor had the power to make or break this friendship. Now someone needed to tell Felipe that. Big dummy."As a cucumber," Leonor agreed with mock sincerity before smiling again. Mara really thought she was cool? She got the impression that the girl didn't mean it the way she knew sometimes people meant it, with popularity and reputation backing it up. If that were the case, the adjective would have been something more awe-inspiring, as it should be. Instead, Leonor thought that Mara probably meant some level of approval by it, and Leonor realized that although she had the power to make or break friendships, she wasn't the only one with that power. It certainly wouldn't help if Mara was crappy.
She felt a little odd then, and realized that it was one of those moments that was sort of a fork in the road. This was a moment where they could politely excuse themselves, continue talking here, or go get more food. Leonor was always up for more food, but it meant a decision had to be made. Did she want to leave Mara and solidify the fact that they were cool and likeable, but ultimately not friends? Just acquaintances on behalf of their crappy siblings? Or did she want to actually maybe be friends with this person? The latter seemed dangerous and scary, but not as fatal. She could decide later not to be friends with Mara, but couldn't ruin it now and then decide later that she did indeed want to be friends. Plus, she really could use a friend.
"I'm up for more sandwiches and juice," she said, nodding towards the offerings. She paused, letting Mara make of that what she would. "Do you want to join me?"
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Leonor De Matteo
My big dumb brother probably thinks you should tip toe.
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Mara Morales
December 03, 2019 12:27 PM
My sister is the type to ride a conveyor belt. by Mara Morales
A clear invitation. Apparently, she had made a better impression than her sister had. Of course, she hadn't exactly had that much time to screw anything up, and Leonor already knew the Big Secret...Part of her was still annoyed with Jessica for how she had put it, but...it was a strange thing. She knew, for instance, that her sister had not actually said anything that was untrue. Jessica and Dad did love her. She did matter to them. They were a family. Maybe they didn't look like most families, and maybe there were...tensions...but it wasn't like Mom was some kind of prostitute. Mara believed her parents did care about each other, just like a married couple with kids would, and there were no secrets or anything. Mom knew about Mrs. H. Mrs. H. knew about Mom. Mrs. H. knew about Mara and Lola, and had never made any effort to interfere in their relationships with Dad and Jessica. Jessica had seemed so happy about the prospect of them being able to be openly sisters - probably the happiest Jessica had really been in years....
But there was just the thing. She was happy when Jessica was happy. She loved her sister. She loved her dad. But sometimes, she wished it was somehow possible to express dissatisfaction with aspects of their lives without hurting them. Her mother, however, was firmly against that - that it was a show of ingratitude to Dad, and to America itself, and to Mom, and that it would definitely hurt Jessica. She didn't think her sister consciously used the fact that she could go from relatively okay to hyperventilating in the space of five minutes to try to control the rest of them or anything, but that didn't mean it didn't have that effect sometimes.
None of this, however, was particularly relevant to the moment, so Mara put it out of her mind.
"Sure. I think my head's quit spinning enough for food now," she agreed, and joined the other girl.
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Mara Morales
My sister is the type to ride a conveyor belt.
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