Community Profile

Zodico House, one of the four Houses of L'Université des Arts Magiques, is a creation of Phoenix Rising. The community is open to attendees of Phoenix Rising and members of Zodico House.

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History

The Zodico House, easily the oldest of the four, was created in the bayous back when the school was still known as Éxchange Magique and its founder, Jacque Laurent, still lived. The House really wasn't much of a House at first — more like a happenstance. Gatherings of one particular group of students occurred every day as the Cajun students went back to their parents after school to enforced music practice. The unintended dissonance and the waltzes inexplicably played in common time drifted through the swamps to the other students of the Éxchange Magique, and jealousy was born in the bayou.

At first, the bemused Cajun students ignored the hard stares and snickering directed toward them. After all, they certainly didn't want to spend time practicing the fiddle instead of snogging during the Firefly Transformation Club meetings. As time passed, however, the musically inclined decided that they may as well have done what everyone thought they had: They formed the first House in the school's history. Named the Zodico House, they chose washboard player and Squib Alain Boudreaux as their Head of House and thus brought the ancient tradition of wizarding institutions to Louisiane territory. Sometimes, just to be obnoxious, they deliberately ignored key signatures in their daily practice and did a bit of snickering themselves as the other students' annoyed bellows echoed through the bayous.

Life in the swamp continued unabated with little to break up the monotony of hinkypunk pranks and the occasional duel or fistfight between the Zodicos and the other students — except for the discovery of Kelpies in the bayou waterways. One day, as Odette, the rather dreamy professor of Charms, wandered toward the edge of the bayou, a seemingly docile horse rose from the waters. Having never seen such a beast before — unsurprisingly, since they were allegedly only found in Ireland and England — Odette leapt onto its back, only to have the Kelpie dive to the bottom of the bayou. No one was particularly worked up about the loss of Odette, but the Zodicos were terribly excited to discover that, despite all research claiming that only a bridle could control a Kelpie, music calmed them remarkably. The Zodicos promptly adopted the Kelpie as their House mascot and made rather ugly swampwater-green shirts that proclaimed "Bayou Beasts."

Through the years, the Zodicos have used their status as the first House of L'Université des Arts Magiques to great effect, both in the magical world of music and in tormenting their fellow students. ("Bayou Beast" is said as frequently with pride as it is with scorn in the halls of the school.) No one can doubt the contributions that Zodicos have made to their art, however. Player pianos are the product of student Catalina Rodriguez, who insisted to her death that all Muggle versions should be burned for failing to maintain proper pitch, and the Practice PerformerTM, which pokes children rudely for wrong notes and incorrect rhythms, is a result of the school's prodigiously talented student body as well.

Perhaps the wildest time in the history of Zodico House was the famed Storyville era, though upon occasion L'Université tries to disguise what a large role its students played in embellishing the rise of "jass" music. Nightly, Zodico after Zodico would sneak out of the school's secret French Quarter entrance and stroll up to Rampart Street, returning in the wee hours to wake the gatekeeper while trying to get back in. Worst of all was Buddy Bolden, who not only snuck out each and every night, but woke everyone upon his return, his cornet blasts ringing through the school. (Muggles still haven't figured out that his legendary volume was the result of a Sonorus charm.) When the Storyville district was disbanded, the Zodicos mourned with a second line, though their unrivaled revelry again rang through the school when Louis Armstrong, a particularly popular student, was crowned king of Mardi Gras by the Zulu krewe.

The Zodicos haven't been any less raucous in the last half-century, though they are getting better about hiding it from the school's faculty — or at least compensating for it with their magical, musical accomplishments. Their place in the wizarding world of the arts is unparalleled, though the Zodicos still occasionally relish playing the wrong notes to annoy their rival students.

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For more information on Phoenix Rising, please contact info@thephoenixrises.org, or see fromashandflame. To chat with attendees of all Houses, please join phoenixchat.

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