Just a little warning that the whole fic won't be told in this style. It's just like this for the prologue and once the story sets off in Chapter One the fic will be told in present tense not past tense.

PROLOGUE

Ooo University For Fantastic People.

A place where only the prestige can go, and not through choice, but because they're chosen. There are no tests, no recommended grades that you have to acquire in school. There's no warning signs before you're accepted, no meetings with tutors or principles.

You just get in. And you'll know you're in, because you'll return home one day from work or school and there'll be a letter. A letter addressed to the special child, name and address written in a fancy handwriting that looks like a computer set font. It'll be sealed with a golden crest, a picture of a bird that looks like it shouldn't exist imprinted on the golden, solid clay.

Some know before they get the letter that they're accepted. They'll know from birth, or at some stage will learn the wonders of their bodies.

But I didn't know. I didn't expect to come home to a letter with a seal that glistened in the artificial light of my kitchen as my mother handed me the envelope. I didn't expect to open it to find I'd be moving schools, that I didn't have a choice. I didn't expect to be told I was different, that I didn't belong where I was.

It said I excelled in a magical art. I thought it was a misprint or scam.

I thought if I pushed it away and threw all of the evidence that it had ever existed into the bin besides my bed before I changed out of my school's uniform that I'd forget. That it'd fade and become just another of those silly things that happen one day but doesn't affect you.

But I had never been so wrong.

The knock on my door came early one Saturday morning. I remember my mother opening the door of my bedroom and rushing me to dress as quickly as I could. I didn't know what was happening – I didn't have the time to think it through, I just did as I was told on such short notice. My clothes mismatched and my hair wasn't brushed properly, but I stumbled down the stairs anyway, anxious to know what my mom had been so worked up about.

They were stood in the middle of my living room, my mother must have let them in after they'd grown bored of waiting for me by the door. I stared at them, the only thing I could do. They stared back, and for a short while the only thing that happened were strangers staring at each other, unsure of what to do.

It was them that made the first move.

The woman asked me if I had packed yet, she wanted to know where my suitcase was. I was confused, and for a moment she seemed unsure before she asked if I had received the letter. Then I realised what was happening. It hadn't gone away like I had hoped. And now that they were there I had nothing to do but go with them.

I ran up the stairs after I'd told them to wait a moment. It was rushed, but I took what I could from my wardrobe and stuffed it into the smiley patterned bright suitcase that I had had for quite a while. I struggled to fit my hairdryer and other necessities into the space that was left, but I managed, and within only five minutes of being apart from the visitors downstairs I had managed to shove the majority of the things I owned into a suitcase built for a ten year old.

I think they'd explained what was happening when I'd gone upstairs, because mother seemed less panicked when I'd returned. I pretended to be fine with it as I hugged her goodbye, telling her to tell my father that I loved him and would keep in touch. But I wanted them to explain to me, to tell me where I was going and why I was going there. They never did.

The man took my suitcase from me. They introduced themselves as we made our way to a mostly empty bus, I half listened to what they said. Part of me was elsewhere, thinking of all the things I was leaving behind, and all the things that were yet to come.

I think they understood my silence and distraction, because they stopped talking to me and started discussing how many children where yet to pick up before dropping us off with the next person. Maybe they had explained where it was we were going while we were walking, but by the time I had sat down in the bus that only had a handful of teenagers around my age, I'd already forgotten.

And I didn't really have the courage to ask again or strike conversation with the people around me. They didn't seem like they wanted to talk either. They were probably like me – confused and unaware.

But it didn't really matter if I knew or didn't know. Because I wouldn't have paid attention to the journey anyway, and by the time we had picked up the next kid I was already in a bubble of my own, soundlessly lost within a sleep that would stick around until someone bothered to wake me up.

Rated M for the later chapters that will probably contain smut and sexual themes. Thank you to anyone who has spent the time reading this.