Ferreole LeBeau, Headmaster of Salem, does his best to appear as a crazy, tyrannical, unforgivingly harsh, curmudgeonly, ornery old Cajun wizard, but the fact he's actually a marshmallow with a mushy heart of gold is the worst kept secret at Salem. He adores his students with every bone in his body, and even when he's at his most frightening, a misty, fond twinkle in his eyes can be detected by the youngest Salem Junior. He is a man with a flair for the dramatic and high-volumed theatricality. Distinctly batty, colorful, eccentric, feverishly vibrant and more than a little bit terrifying, Ferreole stomps through life like a one-man tornado. He’s always there to help, but the process can be vaguely petrifying and more than a little chaotic. You know, when you go to Ferreole, or when he seeks you out—his deep love for his students and his years of watching their tragedies and triumphs have given him a knack for sensing when one of them needs him—that his advice, his musings, his words or his presence will be precisely what you need. It just comes with the side effect of feeling a bit like the survivor of an unexpected whirlwind. He takes his own, his colleagues' and his students' tragedies, sadnessess and failures deeply personally, and he never forgets them, but that isn't commonly known.

He has a peg leg from the left knee down, as a result of fighting this thing, in December 1941, which he eventually defeated a la kamikaze, broom, wand, wizard and all into its eye, because he's completely effing insane just that bad ass. He has also has a cane big knobby stick that is a thing of terror for many of his more unruly students, because he uses it to squish feet and lightly wallop misbehaving heads (despite efforts of his staff to get him to discontinue that). He spent several years after his recovery in Europe, working as a wizarding EMT healer during and after the war, which furthered his reputation for being bat-shit crazy, because he often charged in, wand blazing, to heal and help without much concern for whether or not the Dark Wizards had left or were still there. He's been Headmaster since 1968.


Things to know if you are a Student or Salem Staff:

• He knows everything. Beware.
  
• He remembers everything, including that crush you had your first year on the Quodpot coach that you could have sworn you never told anyone. Mind like a steel trap when it comes to his students, former and present.
  
• He plays matchmaker. Again, Beware.
• He has a habit of showing up without warning (usually behind you, usually in a dark hallway, and usually poking you with his big knobbly stick)
• He's quite good at knowing when he's needed, and has knack for showing up at the right time, but he still hides being helpful behind lots of snarling and grumpy theatrics. He's scary, but he luffs you.
• You've met him. He's gotten an House Elf to smuggle you some ice cream after a throat-chord curse, or told you a ridiculous story about a singing accordion when you were a homesick Salem junior, or called you into his office, making you practice a spell you're horrible at until you get it right, under the guise of making you help him de-pgymy puff the place
• He will not answer any questions about, or acknowledge Boris's existence most days.
  
• He is EXTREMELY firm in his beliefs about equality among all, muggle, half-creature, etc.
• He will NOT cheat for you (but he won't stop you from doing it)
• He likes his food spicy, his staff on their toes, and his students to have backbones—he's been known to issue demerits like they're candy to any student that loses to him in Quodpot.

Things to know specifically for Staff:

• His staff, if they aren’t similarly nutty, most likely find him exhausting to deal with, as he's both everywhere at once and nowhere to be found
• It's a constant battle on the part of his staff to get him to enforce punishments—not a hard one, because he knows they're right and caves because of it, but a constant one nonetheless.
• He roars at his staff often, expects nigh impossible standards out of them, and 'fires' someone least once a week (which he never follows through with, because he's just as mushy about his staff as he is with his students)
• He hates the funding discussion ever year. His staff probably has to actively chase him down and hex him to his chair to get him to go over balance sheets and such—and he is a speedy little demon, despite being 98 and having a peg leg. He does it in the end, but usually only after locking himself in his office for 48 hours with lots of angry banging and yelling and odd colors of smoke

Things to know historically:

• Louisiana Cajun wizard
• Lost his wife the day he battled the Kraken, and has mourned her ever since
• Worked as a Healer for…a really, really long time
• Spent several years Healing overseas, from 1942-1950, involved in the war effort
• Taught Medical Magic and was the school nurse from 1951-1968
• Became Headmaster in 1968
• He's filthy rich, but does nothing with it personally (long story not gonna go into here), so it rots in his account unless being used for Salem scholarships, charities to help displaced witches and wizards (particularly after Katrina) and two wings of the North American Magical Hospital (one for magical creature injuries, one veterinary wing). None of this really helps his "I'm mean and ornery" image, despite the fact none of it is in his name.

If there is ANYTHING you need to know, about his beliefs, or stances, or what he may have said to you at one point, or anything, PM me or post here and we'll sort it out!

Wanna deal with a daughter that has a paternal family name which have made men tremble? After all, she /is/ one of the people LeBeau is going to need to know throughout this tournament!

Plots are plenty to be had!

...Just need to likewise send letters to him and Durmstrang soon (potential small time threadage before they all meet UNLESS Gabie's met him before).....

Ideas?

• You've met him. He's gotten an House Elf to smuggle you some ice cream after a throat-chord curse, or told you a ridiculous story about a singing accordion when you were a homesick Salem junior, or called you into his office, making you practice a spell you're horrible at until you get it right, under the guise of making you help him de-pgymy puff the place.

As the one introducing the over population of Pygmy Puffs (lol lol lol lol lol lol)

Mace can see through the Headmaster's facade like how Ferreole can see through Mace's apparent laziness. Probably told Mace many times to shape up if he's been slacking somewhere and thinking "Steinbeck" whenever there's a resurgence in the Puff numbers or a Transmutation gone awry. Mace has probably had Tom and Jerry like moments with Boris if the stuffed croc ever went after the puffs. Outside of that point of contention they're very respectable to each other.

Also worth mention in Anadotti Squiggs was involved with a death of a student in 2003 and faced expulsion when found reanimating the corpse. She must have been pretty deft at avoiding Boris to get away with her deviancy, although now she'll be absolutely even more terrified of it especially from the viewpoint of a squirrel.

And if a remember a mermish term I coined "lebou?" Heliotrope is going to get very confused in the upcoming year.

Also good for a PM or IM to trade ideas.

I imagine Jimmy would have to get on him a lot about funding for the sports teams.  And as much as he'd be like "COME ON, OLD MAN, I NEED THIS SIGNED LIKE YESTERDAY" he definitely loves Ferreole a bunch. He would set aside a special seat for him at all sporting events even if he wasn't going to show up.  He is also a big proponent of spreading rumors about Boris to scare younger students into behaving, as he was terrified of Boris as a first-year. He considers Boris the slightly less official mascot of Salem. ALSO, I have the cute but weird thought that Jimmy would have written him a lot of letters while he was stationed in Iraq.

I think Sam would have been especially wary of Ferreole as a younger student (having come fresh out of East Jesus nowhere probably still wearing his little suspenders and wide-brimmed hat) but would have come to depend on him greatly as his parents withdrew from him. Especially now that he's essentially separated from his family permanently (barring his permanent return home) he would really rely on Ferreole as a surrogate father.

GABRIELLE: I feel like a lot of Ferreole’s interactions with Ministry officials will be similar to his interactions with staff. Given the choice, he’d shove and shuffle all that paperwork off on someone else so he can go back to actually dealing with his students. I’m sure he does actually do anything in the end, because he cares too much about things being right for his students to not give it adequate effort, but she’s probably had to Howler him. Or just send lots of owls, depending on how polite she wants to stay.

MACE: I actually thought of Mace specifically because I was trying to figure out possible infestations (I was trying to remember cornish pixies, but I couldn’t, so I was like, um, um, pygmy puffs! Mace!) He doesn’t really have to worry about Boris eating them—Boris isn’t alive, and he’s stuffed, so there’s no like…digestive system. That being said, he’s still got hunting instincts, so I’m sure Ferreole’s had to bang him on the nose and get him to open up his mouth and let trapped puffs out. But yes, I can picture quite a few disgruntled bellows of STEINBECK echoing down the halls. But at the same time, he’d be sure Mace has space and resources to move forward with the venture.

ANADOTTI: Ferreole probably thinks he failed Dotti somehow, and it’s one of those things that he remembers heavily and weighs on him, particularly since there was a death of a student and it was on his watch. Saaad

JIMMY: AAAHAHA I love it. Is it sad that what first came to mind was a Scooby Doo chase scene? Where Ferreole goes in one door in a hallway and comes out another, and Jimmy’s chasing behind and they keep crossing paths, and lots of crossing doors, and Boris occasionally cameos, trundling across the hall, in the process of trying to get papers signed off on? I’m sure that (as much as Ferreole doesn’t like doing it) SOME of his reticence is because it just amuses the bashoosh outta him to make his staff scramble. Keeps ‘em on their toes. I think Ferreole is especially mushy about his staff, and Jimmy would be no exception. I’m sure he got oodles of return letters disguised as “GORRAM IT BOY, why are you philanderin’ around with muggles, come back and teach the brats Quodpot” but they secretly were full of understanding from his war-timey times and acknowledgment that it’s not the same, but it might help. And news and updates and all that crud. (AND LOTS OF “ANONYMOUSLY” delivered care-packages that just HAPPENED to have crocogatory tooth marks that were disguised, horribly ineptly, as “oh, sorry, a ravenous bear got a hold of this package in the sorting facility”) Also, I’m sure most of Jimmy’s staff-Holiday presents are actually for his daughter because, c’mon, nothing makes the old man more misty than an adorable small child who should be cherished and blatantly spoiled rotten (again, she probably gets ridiculously lavish ANONYMOUS birthday presents because really, what else does Ferreole have to spend money on?) All Jimmy would EVER have to do to get out of ANYTHING would be mention her. He might even sign paperwork if he gets to see new photos XD

UH. Basically his staff is his surrogate family, since all of his real family is passed away, and he and his wife never had any children. He’s not invasive about it, exactly, but he does dote on them? Even when he fires them. He’s probably fired Jimmy a lot. Which reminds him, JIMMY YER FIRED.


SAM: D’aww, Saaaam! _{fresh out of East Jesus nowhere probably still wearing his little suspenders and wide-brimmed hat is the best description ever}. Ferreole probably kept a REALLY close eye on him that first year or two, doing his best to um, tone himself down a bit (he probably failed at that too). But he’s absolutely there if Sam needs him, and he’ll step into any role needed of him. He’s got that knack of knowing when he’s needed, so I’m sure Sam’s run into him seemingly at random quite a bit. He doesn’t have all the answers, but he’s…you know, there, at least. Poor Sam D:

Ok, so thinkings in my brain right now go as follows:

Man, I effing love Morgan Freeman.
Man, Salem's Headmaster is a BAMF
Man, I think Ferreole LaBeau might be the only grown man in existence that Odie might trust.

The last part is really important to her, because she doesn't trust people in general. She has to work hard to both be ok and be strong on her own. Her history isn't full of neglect or abuse but there was always something missing that I don't think she found until she ended up in Salem. They're a lot alike really - prickly on the outside not so prickly on the inside. I see a running trend of her having to spend a fair amount of time in his office after most Holidays that she's subjected to staying with her mother rather than her aunt. I also think these might not be so much "coincidences" as Odie acting out because she needs to feel like someone sees there is more than her than just a bad attitude, that it comes from a place and it's how she protects herself.

Also... I think she might love Boris even if he us just a stuffed Crocogator. She isn't care of much and she may possibly have developed a notion that most things that look/act intimidating really aren't.

Also, Also, I think Odie is terrified of graduating because Headmaster LeBaus is the closest thing to stability in her life... but she doesn't admit that out loud on account of how he really already knows everything.

/end ramble

Have I mentioned yet that I adore Ferreole? (I can't help suspecting that he would be Salem's answer to Chuck Norris, much like Ignan Storm is for Hogwarts. But I digress.)

If I've got my dates right, Yolanda was in the middle of her education when Ferreole became headmaster, so she'll remember him as the school healer as well. As a student, she was almost certainly simultaneously in awe and terror of him.

She started teaching at Salem in '84, so they've had quite a while to get used to each other. I reckon she took him a bit too seriously at first, and the first time she was 'fired', got genuinely upset and had half-packed a suitcase before being told about Ferreole's antics. Nowadays, her response runs more along the lines of, 'All right, but if you wanna hire me back, I'll be wanting a 5% pay increase.'

So, after a couple of decades working under him, she tends to act exasperated, but really she loves him to bits. (She adopted an orphaned student during the '90s, maybe Ferreole had a hand in that? Just a thought.) Though I can see her slapping him upside the head whenever she catches him knocking a student's head with that cane of his (well, if she's able to get away with it, anyway). Also, she is constantly threatening to transfigure Boris into a toad if she finds him under her desk again. (She never does.)

P.S. I also kinda want her to call him LeBoo because of how he shows up outta nowhere sometimes.

P.P.S. As a Gambit fangirl, I heartily approve of Ferreole's surname.

Sorry to be so late in responding to the plotting....but, Myrni has connections to Salem...specifically, she taught there from 1993 to 2008. And she would have left on good terms....the only reason she really left was to be closer to her fiancee. Reading through the points you have here, I think she would have gotten along with him quite well...and since he likes to play matchmaker....he could even have listened to some of her concerns over her engagement if you wanted. If you think it might have been something he would have suggested, he could have nudged her to make the move back to the UK to be closer to her fiancee even if it meant losing her as a staff member.

In addition, Myrni's aunt (npc) is supposed to be a current professor at the school and her aunt's daughter (also npc) would be a 7th year student.

While he's here for the tourney, he could also try and lure her back to Salem. *smirk*

If you have a different view of their previous relationship, I'd love to hear it. Open to anything, really.

OKAY, SO Tracy thinks he's got the best Headmaster EVER and finds his nuttiness pretty exciting and prolly groans and then laughs whenever Ferreole does his Ferreole thing like "Oh geez, Headmaster LOL" and then laughs some more whenever underclassmen end up running to him bc of him or Boris TRACY WOULD TAKE HIS CRAZINESS IN STRIDE. 

(yeah, idk where my coherence went, either)

ODESSA: Ferreole will do everything in his power to make Salem a stable point of Odie's life. It’s the voice. You just can't not trust it. I'm fairly certain he'd see right through her acting out for what it is, and probably pre-emptively hauls her in his office under some pretense so he can secretly give her a LeBeau style pep talk (a LeBoost, if you will), which are usually sneakily disguised as lectures or spell practices. Which she can probably see through as him making her practice some spell or something for the future, because he knows she's going to be a hell of a witch, and wants her to be the best she can. BECAUSE HE'S SAPPY LIKE THAT. Boris is really just an oversized stuffed animal, so I'm sure he appreciates the affection. And Ferry probably makes references here and there about the future and how he never gets owls from former students (ungrateful ingrates!) because if he DID by golly he WOULD take the time to read and respond. It's like they think he ceased to exist! He never thinks that of THEM! HarrUMPH.

YOLANDA: Eeeheeehee! LeBoo! I love it! He will frown, look offended, and insist on correcting her pronunciation. And I will giggle like a madwoman. And I LOVE her response to his trying to fire her. He probably corrects himself now, and instead of firing her, tells her to fire someone else. Like Jimmy.  I'd LOVE for him to have had a hand in the forming of her family, and having tried to be all sneaky about it. She can be his McGonagall! And he will valiantly protect Boris from her threats, even though he complains about him all the time. And Gambit is the best. I'm totally a groupie (ssh!)

MYRNI WE TALKED ON AIM. And I'm super excited <3 He will definitely at least appear to try and steal her back, but he's also going to really just want what's best for her.

TRACY: MWAHAHAHA. Class President = someone for Ferry to shove paperwork off onto so he doesn't have to do it <3 Ferry is all mushy and proud of Tracy. Fine upstanding young man. NOT THAT HE WILL ADMIT IT.

ooo - awesome!  Just saw this thread and wanted to toss my two Americans your way. 

Tulojow could, very likely, have crossed Ferreole's path on a number of occasions.  I have in her history that she received her formal Healer training near Salem (I assume there's an upper level magical education system somewhere in the area.  This would have been starting back in 1958.  Ferreole definitely has that independent, rules are negotiable perspective that Tulojow shares and appreciates.  And Migs, I'm sure, respects and looks up to Ferreole.  Both are, I'm sure, potential plotting fodder.

I love this guy! Plus, he's Morgan Freeman, which just doubles his awesome-o-meter.

I currently have a Hogwarts Charms professor being checked over (Sebastian Cadmon) who spent a number of years as Charms Professor at Salem, which the Dark Lord was at large in England (he fled because he feared persecution as a muggleborn). With his memory, Ferreole would definitely remember him I'm sure we could do something there.

Nuri found this awesome pic for the Stalker Game:



No rush, but some time during the year we MUST have Ferreole and Gerard having drinks! Bonus if anyone is contemplating Michael Cain for a character.

Naomi's Jamaican family are voodoo witches and wizards that have roots from Jamaica, to Haiti, to Louisiana. The Inkwoods lived are a Louisiana family that an old charcter use to play from there, but I think it'd be fun if it was messed with a bit again. Here's some family info and then some Jamaica stuff, whenever you want to sit around and read really long thingies.

Anyway there's that idea you can play with. ALSO, her family, The Afamdi-Steeles, have a ton of traditions, and strive to live and respond to the environment they live in, be one with nature, all that jazz. Part of that is that they breed creatures, often to help them survive from muggle pollution/intervention/environmental hazards and to promote biological diversity in their area. One of the many things they made was a crocodile morph, the combination of a salt water croc and the american alligator, and Delilah has one living in the lake around her home. (Delilah is my Mungo's Healer/Voodoo Witch btw.) But that could probably have something to do with Boris if you want to use that plot nugget too.

BESIDES HISTORY, obviously, there's Naomi to plot with. She would probably have the most anticlimatic reaction to Boris since she grew up with Snickers (Delilah's Croc,) although I'm sure Ferreole would leave her raising an eyebrow or with a very strange impression lol.

Then there's Delilah, who he may have something in common with enough to plot with, and Torquil who always tinkers and is making gadgets if you want to do a short run-in between them. They are both old fogies like that.

I think he might enjoy Erik a lot though, or Erik may drive him up a wall, either or, whatever you think (:

There's also Ananke too! My Divination Professor. She would probably find Ferreole amusing/endearing, but would probably try and act as objectively and indifferent towards him as possible.

Hey! Herschel doesn't have a network. (I don't use them anymore so I deleted mine because... well.... I'm lazy.)

Anyway- I'm all ears for any ideas you might have! I know you said you were going to look for his to reply to o.o