I love the city. I always have, ever since I first set foot in the city limits on vacation when I was 12. The architecture, the vibe, the magic, the jazz, it all surrounds you and enraptures you into loving every piece of dust here. So I leave the hazy heat of my home, Georgia, for the bustle of The Magic Capital of the US, New Orleans. And while I'll miss the lush green trees and summer nights spent on the porch, watching the sunset and sipping tart lemonade while the crickets and cicadas sing their interesting little tune, I'll leave it all for New Orleans. Because I love it there.

And the fact that I also get to study my favorite subject, magic, is an added bonus.. The rush that runs through your body whenever you cast a spell inthralls me, that extreme focus you fall under as you look into the future intoxicates me. I just genuinely love magic.

It doesn't mean that the rest of the world does though. Ever since The Magical Enlightenment in 2000, when the entire wizarding and magical community came out into the open, the world has been split into 3 different groups. The people who desperately want to be wizards, the people who don't really care, and people who refuse to accept us. And unfortunately, most people are in the latter position. They can't segregate us, due to the 28th Amendment to the Constitution, which gives Wizards the same rights as muggles, but they sure as hell don't make us very welcome. It isn't like that everywhere though, the south of France, England, Bulgaria, Canada, and parts of the US are very accommodating. But the conservative areas are not. It's not to say that everybody there is prejudiced, there are some very kind and accepting people there, but overall most people don't accept. I remember when my powers first started causing havoc in the 3rd grade, the boy, Andrew Carter, tried to convince everyone that I was possessed by the devil and that I was going to hell. I was homeschooled after the events in 3rd grade.

But some people are fine with it. Ms. Theme runs a potions shop just 5 minutes from my house, and people tend to treat her nicely, with the occasional one-sided idiot being idiotic.

Georgia, while being backwards in its belief system, is still my beautiful home. And I still proudly ride my broom around town despite the idiots who claim I'm Satan. Because as far as I'm concerned, they can take a branch and shove it up their ass.

New Orleans is special though. The whole place is charged with magic and excitement, not hate and stubbornness. New Orleans is the place for magic, it's the place for people like me who want to broaden their horizons in ways that unfortunately, beautiful small towns can't. It's where Abberax Academy of Witchcraft is located, and that place is my absolute dream. But money was tight, and so I had to settle for homeschooling. And money was tight there, and so no scholarships where being handed out. My mother is a good teacher though, so I have learned a lot, but I was always craving more. I craved more perspective, more people, and more opportunities. I helped out at Ms. Theme's shop and brewed potions for her sometimes (potions is one of my skills along with rune magic, enchantments, and divination, with divination being my absolute best), but I don't want to have all of this magic and waste it on just running a simple shop. I want put my divination skills to use and become a psychic. And Abberax has a whole psychic arts program, which I was dying to be a part of.

Hint word there, was.

I got my letter just last week. It read:

Dear Ms. Cynthia Herein,

We are pleased to inform you that your request for a scholarship to Abberax Academy of Witchcraft has been accepted. You shall be granted a full ride including boarding expenses to attend for your 6th and 7th year in the Psychic Arts Program. Please make sure to arrive at your doorstep at exactly 10:30 am sharp on the morning of August 28th, 2013, so that the train can pick you up. Please make sure that you have the following magical instruments:

- A wand

- A crystal ball formed out of crystal of choice and holder

- A cauldron

- 1000 sheets of parchment

- Blue ink, red ink, and black ink

- 5 quills

- 1050 parchment rollers

- A pendulum

- 1 20 once piece of your choice of crystal

- 1 tarot card pack

- Jewelry Box

- Herb Box

- 1 Altar Bell

- 1 Pentagram Altar Box

- 1 Pre-Enchanted piece of jewelry (your choice) containing plain magic

- 1 set of Rune Stones in Glass, and 1 set of Rune Stones in your choice of crystal

- 1 Talisman piece of jewelry in the crystal of your choice

- Necessary clothing toiletries

- Tarot Cards and How to Properly Use Them by Keel Macabee

- Advanced Divining Potions by Austia Yao

- Enchantments for the Psychic at Heart by Gen Heartlock

- Horace Wilda's Key to Rune Magic and Translation by Horace Wilda

- Pentagram: The History of Psychic Arts by Verna Greenhand

- The Dreamwork Method by Alice Cosby

- Astronomy and How to Harness it's Power by Helga Vaultt

The books necessary for your core classes that are not advanced for the Psychic Arts program, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, and Flying will all be given to you on the first day that classes start.

Please be aware that your crystal of choice must be the same crystal. This crystal will be used for the duration of your time here at Abberax.

A handbook shall be coming your way very quickly on the way things work at Abberax Academy of Witchcraft. We cannot wait to have you as a student.

Sincerely,

The Faculty of Abberax Academy of Witchcraft

I swear, opening that letter must have been the best feeling in my life. I actually got to go! I can go out and actually meet wizards other than my mom and Mrs. Theme and actually start to become a part of the Wizarding community! It's going to be great. I can just tell.

My mom was happy for me, but also a bit sad. She said to me, "I'm going to miss not being your teacher anymore. But I'm happy you get to follow your dreams. I'm also going to miss lecturing you about your hair." It's been a running joke in our household about how mom doesn't really approve of my hair. I once had stark white hair, sickly pale like my skin due to me being half changeling (On my Father's side). I thought that it would prevent me from being accepted into the wizarding community because changelings are not liked, but she thought that it made me unique and more 'mystically mysterious'. So I dyed it lavender, and she's hung it over my head ever since as a joke.

My mom really is my only friend. Well, only friend that is a being. As a kid I always played with the sprites that live in the garden, and sometimes I converse with them. But my mom is my only being friend. Since I was outcasted, it made us closer. I really do love her. But we agreed that I need to go out and experience life and meet some new people.

She helped me pack my bags and we bought the supplies we didn't have on the Internet, and I went over to Mrs. Theme's shop to tell her the news. She was happy for me, and gave me a 2 vials of dragon's blood as a parting gift, and I gave her my latest batch of brownies infused with calming draught. I also bought a parcel of lavender to press. I'll miss that shop.

I've gone to all of my favorite places to excess in an attempt to become sick if them, but I feel as if it's only made things worse. I feel even more attached, despite my best efforts.

But now I'll get attached to a whole new place, once I'm there.

Abberax Academy of Witchcraft.

And I can't wait.

-/-/-/-/-

Soooo whad ya think? I'm trying to makes this story as Mary-Sue free as possible, so if I start leaning towards that territory please tell me so that I can fix it, because nothing is worse than an annoying Mary-Sue.

And on that Mary-Sue note, here's the entry part of the OC Contest! I'm looking for about 3-5 OCs for this story. I need certain parts to be filled, and so I might ask to change parts of your character's backstory if necessary. If I need to I'll PM you, and if you are not on an account unfortunately I'm going to have to change them without your input.

Rules:

- No Mary-Sues. I tend to find that musical abilities are linked to Mary-Sue territory, so please, regain from the 'sings like a lark and plays masterful guitar' descriptions.

- I'm not accepting scholarship OCs because it would mess with the plot line of the story.

- No extreme drama, please. It only makes your character very annoying. Take Hermione for example. She didn't come from a troubled childhood and yet she was still a powerful character, so please just don't make everything so troubled

-You can create whatever kind of legacy you want pertaining towards your character's bloodline. I would prefer if their roots are in New Orleans, because it will help with the story.

-You can enter 1 boy and 1 girl at the most

- Don't be a dick if your character doesn't get chosen. Because if you're a dick, then the chances of me using your character in another way decreases. And don't be pompous either, because it works the same way. Just be a nice person.

- Look at the other submissions before you enter so that your character isn't a copycat of somebody else's. People have copied off of my characters before and it really pisses me off. Again, just be a nice person.

An explanation of the AU I'm putting in place here:

- Abberax was established in 1837 was a boarding school for the magically gifted, and became the sister school to Hogwarts. It was hidden that it was only accepting magical students, and when a non-magical student applied they where denied, and the school would basically give bullshit reasons as to why they where denied.

- The school is named after the first headmaster, Abberax Démonte

- It is based off of the Hogwarts system, where there are 4 houses. Cognitio (Ravenclaw), Gaudium (Hufflepuff), Honora (Griffindor), and Sanguinem (Slytherin). *Side note, the story is centered mostly around Sanguiem, so characters from there are more appreciated.*

- The house names are in Latin. Cognitio means Knowledge, Gaudium means Joy, Honora means Honor, and Sanquiem means Blood.

- Sanguiem is not a house full a dicks, it's a house of ambition. Back before the Blood Acts of 2001, Sanguiem was the house where the rich and powerful pure-blood families dominated. Now the the Blood Acts have outlawed any prejudice against types of blood and the racism towards blood has died down, the house is not just for pure-bloods. And it's not a house for the bad guys either. It's a house for the ambitious at heart. However, most of the old and powerful families still dominate the house, but not to the extent that they used to.

- In New Orleans never has to shield itself away from the rest of the muggle world because it's a city based off of magic, so people almost expected it. And most of them where too drunk to notice anyways. They still kept things underground though, just so that nobody would start to question things.

- Voodoo is illegal magic, and has been outlawed in the US

- The Magical Enlightenment was lead my Hermione Weasly, who first approached the British Parliament and then gave Magical Beings rights as citizens, stopped the use of house elves as slaves, and made hunting laws against beasts. These laws where later adopted in most countries, but there are still some countries where being a magical being is illegal.

- The American style of magic differs slightly from the rest of the world. The American style is based off of some Voodoo practices, using pentagrams, altars, and rune magic to cast spells. It's a wandless form of magic that has been growing in popularity steadily since The Magical Enlightenment brought together more styles of magic. Abberax teaches both the American Method, and the English Method, but focuses more on the American Method.

- Abberax has several different specialized programs, including:

~Wizarding Craftsmanship (Students learn how to create wizarding instruments like wands, time turners, brooms, and rune stones and learn how to successfully run their own wizarding shop)

~Psychic Arts (Students focus on Norse, American, and Ancient styles of psychic magic, and also study demonics and how to deal with bad spirits. They gain the knowledge necessary to be a fully certified psychic and medium, and gains qualification for whatever branch of psychic magic they decide to pursue)

~Resident Wizard Studies (Students learn how to teach magic along with learning about magic from India, Africa, Asian Cultures, Bulgaria, France, Native American Tribes, America and Great Britain. Students can then take their skills to countries that are in seek of Magical Enlightenment and spread their knowledge as a resident witch or wizard to children with magical abilities who aren't able to go to school.)

~Healing Arts (Students learn mostly based off of the teachings of St. Mungo, with some American healing magic thrown in as well)

~Auror Studies (Students learn the knowledge needed to become an auror. Students learn the British Method along with a slight education in the American Method. Students master the art of dueling and tracking down people and things using basic rune magic.

- Students do not have to be a part of a program

- There is no dress code

- There is a Quidditch team

- The American Method is actually based off of Voodoo, Norse, Celtic, Britsh, and Ancient forms of magic, but is called the American Method because nobody but America teaches it.

So that's a mouthful. Now to the form!

Name:

Age: (Must be from 16-17, 16 having a birthday that is in September through October)

Year: (Must be 6)

Gender:

Blood Status:

Residency: (Must be in the US)

Facial Appearance: (ie. Prominent cheekbones, slim nose, heart shaped face)

Hair: (ie. Red, mid back, straight with bangs)

Skin:

Height:

General Clothing Style:

History: (Why they're at the school, what their family does, family situation, etc.)

House:

Program: (OC doesn't have to be in a program)

Personality: (Be descriptive, what do they like? What ticks them off?

Quirks: (ie. fidgets)

Skills: (Only 1-3 please.)

Realtionship: (If you want me to create a romantic relationship with another character. It may be existing or one that develops.)

What they think of Cynthia: (In case you forgot, Cynthia is my OC. Please don't just skip to the bottom for the form, please read the intro. So are they friendly? Have a crush on her? Despise her? Doesn't have an opinion?)

I need at least one male villain character, one female best friend, and one male best friend. The males must be in Sanguinem, but the girl can be in any house. The OC's I don't pick will most likely show up as minor characters.

Good luck!