Selina Skies
June 03, 2024 9:00 AM
Head of House Speech by Selina Skies
At the end of the feast, Selina gathered her charges from the table.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 Gilliweed.” 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 Verdillia Scurlock, Yaniel Ayala-Velez and Lyla Holland." 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.
“You two are rooming on the left,” she informed the two boys. “And you know where your room is,” she added to Grim. Selina had discussed their preferred arrangement with them. Magic certainly helped make that easier. Grim could use either corridor to arrive at their room. Both girls and boys would find it accessible from their own corridor but neither could use it as a crossing space, or enter it when Grim wasn’t there. “If you enter a corridor that does not belong to you, 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?”
Subthreads: Home? by Grim Noir
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Selina Skies
Head of House Speech
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Grim Noir
June 12, 2024 4:10 PM
Home? by Grim Noir
Grim followed their new peers with a sense of trepidation that they would have preferred to pretend didn't exist. Still, having some structure was helpful and at least this way they could try to memorize faces and such as they walked. The lady introduced them to the portrait and password system and it was the first time Grim properly perked up, eager to meet someone they understood a bit better. Inferi were not, of course, the same as vampires, nor did Grim have a wealth of experience with inferi ain general because of the whole dark-wizard-evil-magic-nonconsensual-animation-of-a-corpse thing, but at least Gunther was a little bit more familiar. Death and the macabre were well up Grim's alley. They made a mental note to look for him in other portraits around the school; if he could move, perhaps Grim could spend time with him elsewhere rather than giving away the entrance to their common room. Secrecy was sacred to Grim.The common room itself was not terribly impressive but certainly better than their space at home had been. Of course, the red and silver color scheme was very familiar and Grim almost smiled a bit upon seeing it. They peered at the two boys that the lady spoke to about their room and then nodded when she touched bases with Grim as well. Remembering the social expectations involved in this one, Grim nodded.
"Thank you," they replied. "Gender is optional."
That sufficed as an explanation for thank you and their accommodation, they felt, so they punctuated the statement with a small shrug of the shoulders and then squinted a bit at the lady as a new thought crossed their mind.
"You are lady professor?"
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Grim Noir
Home?
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