It was a gray January morning, and Karen Ravencraft sighed as she sat in the back seat of the car, driving down an almost empty stretch of highway. Her gray eyes stared blankly out of the window with her just-below-the-shoulder length chestnut hair in their way. She simply wore a black t-shirt and some blue jeans. Nothing what most people would call unusual.
"Karen, you've been like this the whole way down!" her mother told her again. Mrs. Ravencraft's hair was lighter at around the same length, but her eyes were just as gray as Karen's. Both mother and daughter had a finely shaped nose and cheekbones, but Karen wasn't really considered to be much of a beauty and her old school.
Karen just sighed. She was on her way to a school for werewolves and animagi, and Karen was a werewolf. She had been ambushed when she was around seven, and her father had died protecting her. However, the only thing he protected her from was death, not the werewolf's cursed bite. Now she was fifteen and three months old, meaning she had taken special medicine for werewolves ninety-nine times. She dreaded the upcoming hundredth time.
Karen sighed again.
In America, animagi were far more common in underage wizards and witches, however, it wasn't illegal if they were registered as soon as they decided to train to learn how to change. If they had questionable pasts, they were restricted to learn until they were of age. The Republic of Magic monitored them, and one slip up would get them into trouble. To tell the truth, Karen didn't know if being an animagus or a werewolf was worse.
"Are you going to even be able to say good-bye to me?" asked her mother, her eyes still on the road.
Karen said nothing and continued to stare out of the window at the mostly bare trees. To the Muggles driving past, they looked like ordinary people. The Muggles didn't know, but Karen and her mother were both witches. Normally, they didn't drive to go somewhere, but this was too great a distance to fly on their brooms. Not to mention Karen couldn't apparate. Lastly, buying tickets for an airplane would be a bit expensive for such a short distance, at least by airplane standards. Unlike the wizards and witches in Europe and some other countries, the American wizards lived like Muggles with electricity, cars, and the like. However, the Ravencrafts also lived in a rural wizarding town with all the magical things that come with it. It was a collision of lifestyles.
Could the name "The Magic School for Werewolves and Animagi" be any more conspicuous? The school spelled out its purpose, but not its actions. Karen didn't really trust this school would be anything special. Not like the illustrious European wizarding schools like Baeuxbatons, Durmstrang, and most especially, Hogwarts, school of the famous Harry Potter. All she really knew was that this school was in the Deep South's countryside, far from her Massachusetts home and old school, Salem Academy of Magic. Karen's mother wouldn't say anything and told her it should be a surprise. Karen had retorted sarcastically that the only thing that would surprise her was a massive unicorn population attending the school along with the werewolves and animagi.
Karen finally asked without looking up, "Where are we?" she had fallen asleep and lost track a while ago.
"You'll see in a minute."
Karen narrowed her eyes slightly, but not five seconds later, they passed a large sign that read:
"Welcome to Alabama"
Immediately, Karen thought of camo clothes, pick-up trucks, and trailer parks.
"It had to be Alabama, didn't it?" she asked.
"Alabama isn't that bad," replied her mother, "Just give it a chance."
Karen sighed for a third time, "What's so great about it?"
"There are many more horses here."
Karen loved horses, but after getting bitten, she quit her riding lessons. She was afraid that the horses would smell the foul werewolf stench, even though there was no proof behind her theory. She hadn't seen a horse in eight years. A unicorn maybe, but not one horse.
About an hour to an hour and a half later, they passed through the edges of a small town. On the right side of the road, there was a set of railroad tracks, a Chinese restaurant, a pizza place, and a movie store. On the left, a supermarket, a dollar store, and some other establishments. This scene only lasted for a fraction of a second before they passed two gas stations and left the area.
"We'll be there in about ten minutes," Mrs. Ravencraft said.
"Where are we?" Karen couldn't help asking.
"I think it's called… Montevallo? Either way, we're almost there."
So, they passed some pastures, a sign with the name "Wilton" on it, another gas station, a church, and another railroad. When they got to a sawmill, they took a left turn. They passed a sign with the name "Brierfield" on it, more pastures and another gas station.
"We're here." Mrs. Ravencraft said, looking in the rear-view mirror at her daughter.
Karen immediately looked ahead. They were going up a slight hill, but she saw no turns.
Just as she was about to ask, she saw a tiny green sign on the left that read:
"Creel Loop"
The driveway merged with a literal loop. A house was at the head of the loop and on their left side and faced the same direction they did. The house had a chicken coop behind it, and several roosters were walking around it. The loop surrounded the house's front yard. It turned into another driveway if they kept going straight, and the loop turned into a road on the other side of the house. When Karen looked beyond the loop, she saw two pastures. One had a barn in it, and the other was empty grass. There was no sign of any school what so ever.
As they continued around the loop, they parked in front of a classic Southern trailer. It was rusted and looked like no one was home very often.
"Let's meet them." Mrs. Ravencraft finally said.
"Who?" Karen asked.
"The Muggles and wizards who live here. Who else?"
"Do the Muggles know about the wizards?"
"Of course!"
They got out of the car, and walked up the stairs that led to the porch. Just as they got to the front door, it swung in to reveal a girl with dark brown hair and aqua-blue eyes. She looked the same age as Karen. The girl wore a black Pink Floyd t-shirt and blue jeans.
"Hello," started Mrs. Ravencraft, "My daughter, Karen, is transferring to The Magic School for Werewolves and Animagi."
"The Ravencrafts, right?" asked the girl shyly. Karen was surprised to hear no Southern accent.
"Yes." replied Mrs. Ravencraft.
There was a slight pause, "Come on in," then she turned around and said, "Daina! They're here!"
Another girl replied "OK Care, be there in a minute! I just have to get Devin through this part!" this girl had no Southern accent either.
The Ravencrafts sat down on the couch on the opposite side of the room. An antique television sat in front of them, right of the door and left of another couch. A kitchen was on their left side.
"Sorry," the girl started, "Daina and Devin like to play Halo too much."
"I'm coming!" Daina said.
On Karen's right, a hallway extended to the back of the trailer, and a girl with long wavy dirty-blonde hair emerged from the closest room. She also had blue eyes and was about the same age as Karen, too. She wore black t-shirt that had a red alligator on it, and the shirt had in red letters, "Later", above the alligator. She also wore blue jeans.
"Hey," she said, "Sorry about that. I'm Daina, and this is Carey."
The dark-haired girl waved shyly.
A large brown-haired boy walked out of the room from which Daina came. He seemed to be around eight or nine years old.
"Daina! We're not done with that level!" he had a loud voice and seemed to pronounce every syllable and had a strong Southern accent.
"Devin! Hush!" Daina replied, "Go play outside with Copper or Lizzie! We have important business!"
Devin groaned, and went outside, without shutting the door. Carey got up and closed it.
"Now, let's get started," Daina said in a much calmer voice.