Selina Skies
November 24, 2023 9:37 PM
Head of House Speech by Selina Skies
At the end of the feast, Selina gathered her charges from the table. She paused to check that Grayson's new Aladrens followed him out of the room without fuss, given the incident during the sorting. Beyond keeping an eye now and checking in later, there wasn't much she could do other than hoping the Collindale girl didn't eat him alive.She led her new Crotali along, pointing out useful landmarks to navigate by as they made their way up to the Common Room, and trying to engage them in a little bit of chitchat to get to know them.
“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 Horn of Viper.” 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 Iris Cobb, Verdillia Scurlock and Yarielis Ayala-Velez." 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.”
“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, beds are limited to one occupant at a time, and will expel you if you break this rule. Are there any questions?”
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Selina Skies
Head of House Speech
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