HoH Speech on Crotalus Commons

Selina Skies

December 16, 2022 9:25 PM

HoH Speech by Selina Skies

Every year, it got harder and harder not to tell Mortimer Brockert that he was incompetent, ridiculous, and absolutely unfit to run a school. The latest instance of this had seen him sinking down even further than the very low bar that she had set for him. She would have thought that even he would be against students having inappropriate physical interactions on campus. For once, his old stick-in-the-mud mindset would come in useful and would actually be aligned with what was in the students’ best interests. But no. Apparently, his need to have a knee-jerk reaction to the idea of ‘change’ or to doing anything anyone else suggested was stronger than any of his other morals or instincts. It mattered more to be spiteful and vindictive to parents - to disagree with them, regardless of the topic, for daring to speak up - than to actually think about the issues concerned. Or he was delusional enough to think Sonora really was perfect, captained as it was by his magnificent self. She was sick and tired of trying to manage his impossible ego - one that was at once as impenetrable as an erumpant hide, because of course nothing he thought could ever be wrong, and as fragile as glass because there was no form of parental concern that wasn’t a ‘complaint.’ None of that was new, of course, but when the issue at hand was basic child safeguarding, it did cross the line into gross professional incompetence. It made her simultaneously want to run screaming from the building, and to also never leave, because without her, who would actually run the school, listen to parents, or promote the well-being of the students?

Given his utter distaste for hearing parent opinion, and the fact that it was always on her to resolve their queries, she had a good mind not to invite him to any of the discussions on parent matters. After all, he’d repeatedly and loudly voiced the opinion that he didn’t want to be involved and it was her job to deal with it. Maybe it would be easier for all concerned if she just didn’t consult him…

At least good sense had won out, and she had one less worry on her mind as she collected the new Crotalus first years from the feast. She focussed her energy on offering them a welcoming smile, and pointing out the landmarks they could use to navigate between the hall and their common room as they made their way back.

“We are about to round the final corner to Crotalus Commons. As you will see, it is guarded by a rather gruesome portrait. He is name is Gunther, and he is an inferus, or animated corpse. Whilst he might be rather scary, he cannot hurt you - paintings can move between each other’s frames but they cannot come out of them or interact with us beyond speaking.” Gunther did not even do much of that, but he was able to recognise the Crotalus passwords. “Please be polite when giving him the password, which this month is Bubbling brew.” She said this last part as they made their way around the corner, so that Gunther promptly swung open without the first years having to spend too long looking at him.
Once inside, the room was much cosier, with rich reds and lots of velvets, although there were admittedly quite a few snakes involved in the house decor too.
“Welcome to Crotalus. I am Professor Skies, your head of house, deputy headmistress and transfiguration teacher. You may come to me with any concerns you have whilst at Sonora, or to your prefects, who are Lavender Brockert, Henry Spellman and Iris Cobb. Lavender has the additional honour of being one of our head students this year,” she added, conveying only her pride not her surprise at that. She had thought Valentine Duell was a shoe-in. She pointed out the older students as she spoke. “Though, of course you can also go to any adult or peer you feel comfortable with,” she informed the first years.

“Curfew is at ten. You are required to be back in the common room by then and to keep noise down after that time, preferably by being asleep. Notices about clubs, changes to your class schedule, passwords and any other useful information will be displayed on the notice board over there, so please check it regularly. The password changes every two weeks. Passwords and the location of the common room are not to be told to people outside of Crotalus house.”

The notice board also currently bore a notice about the new bed rule. Selina had been unsure how best to share the information. Part of her wanted to gather the whole group, and give a very clear explanation and opportunities for questions, because she was well aware that not talking about things openly and honestly was how they got whispered about and distorted. However, she didn’t want to take away from the introduction to the first years, and knew most of her colleagues were opting for a notice. She had tried to include as much of the necessary information as she could reasonably convey in print instead of in a relationship-education speech.

Rule Reminder: Beds are single occupancy.

In order to encourage healthy, school-appropriate relationships, students are not permitted to have visitors sleep over.

In order to parallel the rule of not visiting the other set of dormitories, beds have now been warded to be single occupancy only, with consequences similar to entering the wrong corridor.

Any questions, see Professor Skies.

“We say your school house is like your family,” she addressed the new first years. “Like any family, there are going to be different personalities, and not all of you will get along all the time. However, you need to learn to co-exist and co-operate, even when you come across people who are different to you. I expect all house members to treat each other with courtesy and respect. If you feel someone is not doing that, please come and discuss it with me.

“Boys’ dormitories are to the left, and girls’ dormitories are to the right,” she informed them. “You cannot enter the corridor to the other dormitories – and I mean ‘cannot’ not ‘may not,’ as in it will forcibly expel you. In much the same way, whilst you can sit on other people’s beds, beds are limited to one occupant at a time, and will expel you if you break this rule. Are there any questions?”

OOC: You do not have to reply to this post but may do so if your character has any questions.
You are now free to post on any board, except other common rooms and staff/prefect lounges.
You are free to set future posts at any point in the first half of the year.
You may be in multiple threads at once, so long as they are happening at different times from your character's perspective, and do not contradict each other (e.g. you may continue posting at Orientation, and the Opening Feast. Once classes go up, you may post in multiple classes at the same time - just take care to remember which happened first, so that what your character knows remains consistent)

Subthreads:

How does this work [Mr. Alexander Pierce] by Ida Stanford with Alexander Pierce

13 Selina Skies HoH Speech 26 1 5

Ida Stanford

December 20, 2022 7:44 PM

How does this work [Mr. Alexander Pierce] by Ida Stanford

Ida followed the witch from the Crotalus table in the hall to her new dormitory. She once again took mental notes, which she was pleased to discover, melded well with the ones she had taken during the tour. She was reasonably certain she could find any of the major areas around the school already. Then her attention was drawn towards Gunther.

This was her first time to see a moving inferus. He was fascinatingly hideous. Mom and Dad had discussed them before, having run into them, on what seemed to her at least, on a somewhat frequent basis. The witch told them the password, which she committed to memory, then moved Gunther out of sight. Ida assumed she'd have plenty more time to investigate him later if she wanted to.

Inside, the common room was quite nice. She could see being comfortable here. The witch introduced herself and went over all of the rules and information they would need to know. It seemed straightforward enough. She couldn't think of any questions at the moment, so once Professor Skies was done with them, she turned the boy she had seen and heard about, but hadn't yet met.

"Hello, I'm Ida Stanford." She looked around, taking in their new surroundings again. "This is quite exciting, isn't it?" She gave him a friendly smile, "I guess if we are like family, that makes you my new brother and me your new sister."

2 Ida Stanford How does this work [Mr. Alexander Pierce] 1571 0 5

Alexander Pierce

January 13, 2023 7:10 PM

We will need to discover that together by Alexander Pierce

Alexander kept looking over his shoulder as Professor Skies led him and the other first year Crotalus out of the Cascade Hall, until he lost sight of Nicholas with his group of Aladrens that Alexander wasn't a part of. He didn't really register where they were going and he didn't really tune into what the Deputy Headmistress was saying until he was face to face with an inferus and he startled backward a step. Neither the professor nor Ida seemed concerned about it, though, and it was only a painting, so he carefully stepped past it, but mostly just felt grateful to Gunther for (a) being a doorway he wouldn't confuse with any other paintings, and (b) being unexpected enough in appearance to break Alexander out of his thoughts so he could start listening to his Head of House in time to learn the Crotalus password.

Finding his way back to the Cascade Hall tomorrow for breakfast might be tricky, but as long as he could follow someone else heading that way or stumble upon a landmark he recognized from Professor Wright's tour (Professor Wright was the Aladren Head of House, where Nicholas was right now, and was probably telling Nicholas the same things Professor Skies was telling him right now - which he should be listening to).

Alexander shook himself and made himself pay attention to the Head of House's speech. He took note of each of the prefects, as well as the location and purpose of the notice board. He flinched slightly at the admonishment not to tell students of other Houses where Crotalus was located and wondered if that was directed at him. He wouldn't tell Nicholas if it was against the rules, but he probably would have if she hadn't said something.

He flinched again at the invitation to think of Crotalus as his family. This wasn't his family. His family was probably listening to Professor Wright trying to tell Nicholas that Quillan and that other boy were his new brothers. But no, no that wasn't where Skies was going with the analogy. She meant get along even if you don't have compatible personalities.

Clearly, she'd never been to Mt. Pierce if she thought family tried to co-exist and co-operate in peace rather than draw feud lines and pretend the other side didn't exist except to put them down.

Then the professor finished explaining everything and Alexander started to panic again at the idea of going up to his Sonora dormitory without his brother at his side. Before he could get too far into it, though, the other first year spoke to him, and he smiled automatically and politely back at her.

"Hello, Ida Stanford. I am Alexander Pierce, of the New Hampshire Pierces. You may call me Alexander," he granted, because with the number of Mr. Pierces in the school, formal forms of address would get very confusing very quickly (though it was nowhere near as bad as the number of Mr. Brockerts here, he was pretty sure). "It is exciting," he agreed, though he might have put it closer to terrifying ever since the sorting ceremony, but exciting was a more socially acceptable synonym.

He winced though, at her attempt to adopt him. He was somebody's brother, but not hers.

It would be impolitic to say so though, so he forced the polite smile back onto his lips, and latched onto the word that had no separation anxiety attached to it. "I have never had a sister before."

1 Alexander Pierce We will need to discover that together 1566 0 5

Ida Stanford

January 22, 2023 11:21 AM

How do you think it will go? by Ida Stanford

Alexander seemed a bit uncertain about things. She had a keen eye and noticed his attention wandering on occasion though the tour and even during Professor/Deputy-Headmistress Skies' speech. She wasn't quite sure which title to use for their overseer, and thought perhaps it was situationally dependent. In Transfigurations class she would be Professor, if brought to her office for some sort of disciplinary action it would most likely to be Deputy-Headmistress. Although Ida was sure that second situation wouldn't even happen... at least to her. Which one to use as Head-of-House though? Well, she had introduced herself here as Professor, so perhaps that one was the one to use.

He seemed very formal at first, which based upon his introduction made sense. She knew about the big Pierce and Brockert families and such, but this was her first... well, technically no, her second interaction with someone from one. Nicholas was Alexander's brother and she'd talked to him at Orientation. She best thought she should try and be really polite again, but was going to have to wing it again. "It's a pleasure to meet you Alexander." He'd said her first and last names which had sounded a bit odd, but then specifically stated that she could call him Alexander. So she followed suit, "You may call me Ida." It seemed mildly silly, what else would he call her, but protocol was protocol.

"I haven't either," she responded to his comment about not having a sister, "I also haven't ever had a brother. Having a sibling, even if a pretend one is new to me, you will have to know if I'm doing things okay. You at least have a brother, I met him during orientation. He was nice. " She smiled to show her approval. "Do you have anything you are looking forward to here at school?" It seemed like a natural question to ask to continue the conversation.

2 Ida Stanford How do you think it will go? 1571 0 5