August 30, 2014 - Heads of Houses
August 30, 2014 - Heads of Houses
Alt Title: Day 30 - Heads of Houses
Author: mmooch
Chapter Summary: **For the 2014 LiveJournal’s Twisted Shorts FaD** challenge. It’s time to establish new rules, starting with the different Houses at Hogwarts.
Chapter Crossover: Criminal Minds; Harry Potter; Charmed; The Sentinel; Scarecrow and Mrs. King; Veronica Mars
Rating: FR-13.
Word count: 1336
Challenge: for the livejournal 2014 August Fic-a-Day Challenge.
Timeline: a decade or so post-series for S&MK; a few years post-series for VM (AU if necessary).
Disclaimer: BtVS/AtS characters belong to Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy. HP characters belong to JK Rowling. Scarecrow and Mrs. King characters belong to Brad Buckner, Eugenie Ross-Leming and CBS. Veronica Mars belongs to Rob Thomas, Stu Segall Productions, Silver Pictures Television, Rob Thomas Productions and Warner Bros. Television. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.
Teachers’ lounge
“I’m just saying that whatever the reason the school had in the past for separating the children into different Houses, it’s doing more harm than good now,” Gideon insisted after several of the incumbent teachers complained about Buffy restructuring the housing situation. “Look at the way the Houses are described by those outside of them: Slytherins are supposedly future evil wizards and witches; Hufflepuffs are the outcasts that nobody else wants; Ravenclaws are know-it-all bookworms; and Gryffindors are brash idiots. Do you really want to put those labels on 11 year old children?”
“So what’s your plan?” Nicolas Flamel asked Buffy.
“I want to base the Houses on age groups instead.” She held up her hand to stop the protests. “First and second will be Hufflepuff…teach the children the value of building friendships; third and fourth will be Ravenclaw…teach them good study habits if they don’t already have them; fifth will be Gryffindor…teach them bravery as they look towards their first set of exams; sixth will be Slytherin…instill in them a healthy sense of ambition for their life goals; seventh will be Merlin, a new house…remind them of their heritage as they head into the future.”
“Why do you have them set up that way?” Flitwick asked, thinking that he already knew, but he wanted to be certain.
“The younger children need the sense of community more, so keeping them grouped together with another year will lessen their homesickness. Fifth and seventh years are major test years, and should have their own Houses so they won’t be distracted by people who aren’t under the same pressure they are. Sixth just happens to get their own House by default,” Buffy explained.
McGonagall handled the next issue with her question, “What about the House Cup and Quidditch?”
Since he was the one in charge of the new system, Cole described it to them, “The idea is to make the House Cup a monthly award so that every house stands a better chance of winning it at least once during the school year. The points will only accumulate for that month, then start over. The winning house will receive a special reward…like their own trip into Hogsmeade, or a party in the Great Hall. We have a list of items that can be rewarded and how many points they can get, as well as the same thing for punishments. That way we don’t have different punishments/rewards for the same behavior.”
“What about Quidditch?” Rolanda Hooch asked since it was her area of concern.
“Tryouts will be open to all the students, first years included. There will be two leagues: junior varsity and varsity. The JV teams will be limited to those students in years 1-4. Varsity will primarily be years 5-7, but if a younger student shows enough promise and can get parental permission, they can join as a fourth year. There will still be four teams for each level. In addition, we will be introducing other sports for them to participate in since not everyone likes flying and/or the level of physicality that Quidditch can achieve at times,” Jim Ellison said. “Plus there are the months when it isn’t practical to play Quidditch because of the weather.”
Arlington, VA
“Are you sure we’re in the right place?” Xander asked as they studied the house in front of them. “This place is the Norman Rockwell of normalness; how can they deal with the strangeness that is our lives?”
“The spell sent us here,” Buffy assured him. “I gotta believe that means they can handle a little stress in their lives.” She went up and knocked on the door.
The lady who answered was older, about the age Buffy’s mom would have been if she was still alive. She had a warm smile and kind eyes…exactly what Buffy wanted in a House mother. Now all she had to do was convince her.
“Mrs. Stetson? My name is Buffy Summers; my friend, Xander, and I would like to speak with you. We’d like your help, please,” Buffy said.
Although it was a woman speaking, something about the situation caused Amanda’s mind to go back in time to when she first met her husband, Lee. It was something about the eyes. They were the eyes of a good person.
“Please come in,” Amanda offered. They went into the living room where Lee was sitting. He stood up and tensed at the sight of strangers in their home. Even years after retiring, he still worried about past enemies coming after him and Amanda. “This is my husband, Lee. Lee, these people are Buffy Summers and Xander…” she trailed off when she realized she didn’t know his last name.
“Harris, ma’am,” Xander supplied with an easy grin. He reached forward to shake hands with both of them. With all the time spent around dangerous men and women in Sunnydale and at Hogwarts, both he and Buffy assessed Lee as another dangerous man within seconds. He had the look of a man who’d rip their throats out if he thought they were a threat to him and his wife.
“I run a school in Scotland for talented children,” Buffy began after she and Xander accepted Amanda’s offer of coffee. “The school is supposed to be one of the best in the world of its kind, but when I took over, I found some serious problems with the staffing. Most of those problems have been addressed, so it’s time to focus on the last - and possibly most important - positions: the different house parents. There are five houses at the school and I’d like each house to have a man and a woman to care for the students assigned to that house. When we put our criteria into our search engine, your name came up near the top of that list, Mrs. Stetson…and yours as well, Mr. Stetson.”
Lee snorted, “Me…a house parent? I think your search engine is faulty.”
“What criteria did you use?” Amanda asked.
“Strong, caring, intelligent, very protective of children…” Buffy paused, then smiled at both of them. “Sound like somebody you’re married to?”
“That’s Amanda to a ‘T’,” Lee responded with a goopy look in his eyes as he stared at his wife.
“It could have been written for you, too, Lee,” Amanda replied emphatically. She wasn’t sure where he got the idea he was bad with children, but he was wrong. One of her greatest regrets was that they never had kids of their own. Still, it didn’t stop him from loving her boys as if he were their biological father.
“This school…what’s its name?” Lee asked. He still had a few contacts in the business, so he’d be able to find out if this was a legitimate offer or not.
“In order to tell you that, we first have to tell you a big secret,” Xander told them. “Hope you know how to handle secrets.” He was confused by the smile Lee and Amanda shared.
Neptune, CA
“Did I hear you right? You want me to be in charge of kids?” Veronica asked incredulously.
At the same time, Xander asked, “Are you kidding me?”
“I’m not kidding, and you did hear me right, Ms. Mars,” Buffy answered both of them. “You are very intelligent and maybe a bit reckless at times, but usually only with your own life. The house I’m thinking of needs somebody who can demonstrate how to put brains into action. There’ll be another house parent to make sure you don’t do anything crazy with the kids. Honestly, the only problem I really see is that at the moment, electronics don’t work at our school, so cell phones and computers are a no-go. We do have people working to rectify that, however.”
“Why wouldn’t electronics work in your school? Who builds a school in a place like that?” Veronica demanded to know.
“People who haven’t embraced the technological age,” Buffy answered.
“The Amish?”
“Nope…witches and wizards,” Buffy said, enjoying the look her blunt reply created.
A/N: I have to admit that I’ve never watched Veronica Mars, just looked at ‘best of’ clips, so I’m really sorry if I have her character wrong.
Tomorrow…The rest of the house parents.
Alt Title: Day 30 - Heads of Houses
Author: mmooch
Chapter Summary: **For the 2014 LiveJournal’s Twisted Shorts FaD** challenge. It’s time to establish new rules, starting with the different Houses at Hogwarts.
Chapter Crossover: Criminal Minds; Harry Potter; Charmed; The Sentinel; Scarecrow and Mrs. King; Veronica Mars
Rating: FR-13.
Word count: 1336
Challenge: for the livejournal 2014 August Fic-a-Day Challenge.
Timeline: a decade or so post-series for S&MK; a few years post-series for VM (AU if necessary).
Disclaimer: BtVS/AtS characters belong to Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy. HP characters belong to JK Rowling. Scarecrow and Mrs. King characters belong to Brad Buckner, Eugenie Ross-Leming and CBS. Veronica Mars belongs to Rob Thomas, Stu Segall Productions, Silver Pictures Television, Rob Thomas Productions and Warner Bros. Television. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.
Teachers’ lounge
“I’m just saying that whatever the reason the school had in the past for separating the children into different Houses, it’s doing more harm than good now,” Gideon insisted after several of the incumbent teachers complained about Buffy restructuring the housing situation. “Look at the way the Houses are described by those outside of them: Slytherins are supposedly future evil wizards and witches; Hufflepuffs are the outcasts that nobody else wants; Ravenclaws are know-it-all bookworms; and Gryffindors are brash idiots. Do you really want to put those labels on 11 year old children?”
“So what’s your plan?” Nicolas Flamel asked Buffy.
“I want to base the Houses on age groups instead.” She held up her hand to stop the protests. “First and second will be Hufflepuff…teach the children the value of building friendships; third and fourth will be Ravenclaw…teach them good study habits if they don’t already have them; fifth will be Gryffindor…teach them bravery as they look towards their first set of exams; sixth will be Slytherin…instill in them a healthy sense of ambition for their life goals; seventh will be Merlin, a new house…remind them of their heritage as they head into the future.”
“Why do you have them set up that way?” Flitwick asked, thinking that he already knew, but he wanted to be certain.
“The younger children need the sense of community more, so keeping them grouped together with another year will lessen their homesickness. Fifth and seventh years are major test years, and should have their own Houses so they won’t be distracted by people who aren’t under the same pressure they are. Sixth just happens to get their own House by default,” Buffy explained.
McGonagall handled the next issue with her question, “What about the House Cup and Quidditch?”
Since he was the one in charge of the new system, Cole described it to them, “The idea is to make the House Cup a monthly award so that every house stands a better chance of winning it at least once during the school year. The points will only accumulate for that month, then start over. The winning house will receive a special reward…like their own trip into Hogsmeade, or a party in the Great Hall. We have a list of items that can be rewarded and how many points they can get, as well as the same thing for punishments. That way we don’t have different punishments/rewards for the same behavior.”
“What about Quidditch?” Rolanda Hooch asked since it was her area of concern.
“Tryouts will be open to all the students, first years included. There will be two leagues: junior varsity and varsity. The JV teams will be limited to those students in years 1-4. Varsity will primarily be years 5-7, but if a younger student shows enough promise and can get parental permission, they can join as a fourth year. There will still be four teams for each level. In addition, we will be introducing other sports for them to participate in since not everyone likes flying and/or the level of physicality that Quidditch can achieve at times,” Jim Ellison said. “Plus there are the months when it isn’t practical to play Quidditch because of the weather.”
Arlington, VA
“Are you sure we’re in the right place?” Xander asked as they studied the house in front of them. “This place is the Norman Rockwell of normalness; how can they deal with the strangeness that is our lives?”
“The spell sent us here,” Buffy assured him. “I gotta believe that means they can handle a little stress in their lives.” She went up and knocked on the door.
The lady who answered was older, about the age Buffy’s mom would have been if she was still alive. She had a warm smile and kind eyes…exactly what Buffy wanted in a House mother. Now all she had to do was convince her.
“Mrs. Stetson? My name is Buffy Summers; my friend, Xander, and I would like to speak with you. We’d like your help, please,” Buffy said.
Although it was a woman speaking, something about the situation caused Amanda’s mind to go back in time to when she first met her husband, Lee. It was something about the eyes. They were the eyes of a good person.
“Please come in,” Amanda offered. They went into the living room where Lee was sitting. He stood up and tensed at the sight of strangers in their home. Even years after retiring, he still worried about past enemies coming after him and Amanda. “This is my husband, Lee. Lee, these people are Buffy Summers and Xander…” she trailed off when she realized she didn’t know his last name.
“Harris, ma’am,” Xander supplied with an easy grin. He reached forward to shake hands with both of them. With all the time spent around dangerous men and women in Sunnydale and at Hogwarts, both he and Buffy assessed Lee as another dangerous man within seconds. He had the look of a man who’d rip their throats out if he thought they were a threat to him and his wife.
“I run a school in Scotland for talented children,” Buffy began after she and Xander accepted Amanda’s offer of coffee. “The school is supposed to be one of the best in the world of its kind, but when I took over, I found some serious problems with the staffing. Most of those problems have been addressed, so it’s time to focus on the last - and possibly most important - positions: the different house parents. There are five houses at the school and I’d like each house to have a man and a woman to care for the students assigned to that house. When we put our criteria into our search engine, your name came up near the top of that list, Mrs. Stetson…and yours as well, Mr. Stetson.”
Lee snorted, “Me…a house parent? I think your search engine is faulty.”
“What criteria did you use?” Amanda asked.
“Strong, caring, intelligent, very protective of children…” Buffy paused, then smiled at both of them. “Sound like somebody you’re married to?”
“That’s Amanda to a ‘T’,” Lee responded with a goopy look in his eyes as he stared at his wife.
“It could have been written for you, too, Lee,” Amanda replied emphatically. She wasn’t sure where he got the idea he was bad with children, but he was wrong. One of her greatest regrets was that they never had kids of their own. Still, it didn’t stop him from loving her boys as if he were their biological father.
“This school…what’s its name?” Lee asked. He still had a few contacts in the business, so he’d be able to find out if this was a legitimate offer or not.
“In order to tell you that, we first have to tell you a big secret,” Xander told them. “Hope you know how to handle secrets.” He was confused by the smile Lee and Amanda shared.
Neptune, CA
“Did I hear you right? You want me to be in charge of kids?” Veronica asked incredulously.
At the same time, Xander asked, “Are you kidding me?”
“I’m not kidding, and you did hear me right, Ms. Mars,” Buffy answered both of them. “You are very intelligent and maybe a bit reckless at times, but usually only with your own life. The house I’m thinking of needs somebody who can demonstrate how to put brains into action. There’ll be another house parent to make sure you don’t do anything crazy with the kids. Honestly, the only problem I really see is that at the moment, electronics don’t work at our school, so cell phones and computers are a no-go. We do have people working to rectify that, however.”
“Why wouldn’t electronics work in your school? Who builds a school in a place like that?” Veronica demanded to know.
“People who haven’t embraced the technological age,” Buffy answered.
“The Amish?”
“Nope…witches and wizards,” Buffy said, enjoying the look her blunt reply created.
A/N: I have to admit that I’ve never watched Veronica Mars, just looked at ‘best of’ clips, so I’m really sorry if I have her character wrong.
Tomorrow…The rest of the house parents.