Chapter 3: Abe

The moment Daniel opened door number two, he was greeted by a cold rush of air. It sliced at his skin like knives and made his teeth rattle. Looking around, he could see that he was standing in a grassy clearing right under the mountain. Long, black cable lines soar overhead, leading all the way to the cloud-covered peak of the mountain. When he turned around, he found that the door had disappeared. In fact, the entire station was gone. The only other thing he could find in the clearing was an immobile cable car attached to one of the black cables.

Cautiously, Daniel walked over to the machine and pulled the sliding door open. He did not know what he would find inside, but he certainly wasn't expecting to see a girl about his age staring back at him with her round, blue eyes.

"Who the hell are you?" she exclaimed. She had short, puffy brown hair and tomboyish freckles on her face.

"I'm sorry," Daniel apologized sincerely. He knew that a stranger like him had no right to suddenly barge in like that. "My name is Daniel. I just transferred here, and I didn't know about the whole reservations thing. The man at the desk just put me here."

"That Old Bishop wasn't kidding when he said he'll find me a boyfriend if I come early this year," the girl said to herself. She then turned her attention back to the newcomer. "Don't just stand there like an idiot. Come sit. We have one extra seat every year. My name is Amanda Lee, by the way. Does it sound Asian? Well, I'm racially ambiguous anyways."

With a hint of hesitance, Daniel climbed aboard the cable car. The inside was similar to the compartment of a train; there was a long table at the center and seats on both sides. Because they had just met, Daniel did not want to jump into any conclusions about this Amanda person, but the way she rapidly fired out every single word she said without really thinking it through gave him the impression that she was rather hard to handle.

"We're just waiting for my friends," Amanda rambled on. "Micah said he's taking the Portkey with Seth, so they should be here soon. Hey, you said you just transferred here, right? You got a house yet?"

"Hmm?" Daniel asked, jumping at the unexpected question. "What house?"

"Wow, you definitely are new!" the girl cried with a gasp. "Don't you know that Ilvermorny has four houses? They are like factions based on your talent. The Horned Serpent is for the nerds, Wampus is the jocks, Thunderbirds are basically cool people like me, and Pukwudgies are a group of really nice people who don't win anything."

"Yup, that pretty much explains it."

A new voice entered the conversation. Seconds later, the source of the voice slammed the door open and bounced into the seat right next to Daniel. The newcomer was a boy with a dark tan and dirty blonde hair that was long overdue for a trim. His presence was lively enough, but he didn't look like someone you would want to mess with.

As soon as he sat down, another boy emerged through the door. He was about a head shorter than the former and a lot paler. The wire-rimmed glasses on his face jumped up and down as he struggled to climb aboard the car.

Daniel surveyed the people around him. They were not exactly what he would imagine a group of friends to be like, but they still seemed like nice people.

"Who is the new guy?" the boy with the glasses whispered furiously and conspicuously to Amanda as he sat down next to her. "You know I'm not good with strangers."

"This is the new transfer student," Amanda explained. "Daniel, meet Micah Wong and Seth Howl. Everyone, this is Daniel Astor. He didn't have a reservation so he got placed here."

"Pleasure to meet you, partner," the blonde said. "Seth Howl. Captain of the Wampus Quidditch team. Hope ya like Ilvermorny. Don't mind me asking, but what year are you gonna be attending?"

"Fifth year, I believe," Daniel replied, shaking Seth's outreached hand. When the handshake was over, he felt as if the bones on his hand would never heal.

"Just like the rest of us! Aww man, this is gonna be great!"

Seth's over-enthusiastic voice stopped as the ground beneath them began to rumble. Daniel panicked for a moment before he realized that it was just the movement of the car. He peered back at the window behind him and saw the trees slowly sliding by. Pretty soon, they were in the air. From then on, they could barely feel the movement from inside the car.

"The cable cars are pretty amazing," Amanda said when she noticed Daniel's expression. "We will be there before nightfall. After that, we have our sorting ceremony. You'll find out then what house you belong to then."

"A lot of new people this year," Micah grumbled under his breath, still unwilling to fully open himself to the new student.

For a second, Daniel felt a strange sense of deja vu crept over his shoulders. Those were the exact words the Old Bishop guy said. He had the feeling that those words go beyond describing just him and Abigail.

"Do you guys know anything about the new professor?" Seth asked suddenly.

"He's a hottie!" Amanda exclaimed with a huge smile on her face. "Ran into him the other day while shopping for the new textbooks. We totally had a connection there. And he is so nice! Gonna be staring at his gorgeous face for the rest of the year."

"Isn't he at least ten years older than you?" Micah scoffed. "Plus, it's illegal for a student to date her professor."

"At least he's daddy material. You know what they say: if you don't find a man by the fifth year, you'll have no one to go to the dances with. And only losers go alone. This is why I'm gonna try extra hard this year. Too bad all the guys in school suck. I mean, I literally friendzone everybody."

"Hey!" Seth exclaimed. "No offense taken at all. You are welcome."

"He is being placed as the new Deputy Headmaster of the school," Micah said, fully engaging in the conversation.

"Micah's parents are part of the Board of Magical Education," Amanda explained. "I asked them to change my final grade last year, but that didn't happen."

"Wait a minute," Seth cut in. "First year of teaching and he is already the Deputy Headmaster? He's gotta be super powerful or something."

"Not really," Micah said. "Apparently, he has some really good connections in the MACUSA. He is just a healer though. I heard he'll also be head of the house for Pukwudgie."

"Great," Amanda said. "Those boring shut-ins need a hot professor to spice up their life."

Daniel mind spun with all the new information he was gathering. A new professor suddenly gained such a high position? It was oddly coincidental considering that it was his first year attending the school as well. Did it had something to do with why he was suddenly enrolled here? The moment his mother broke the news to him did seem out of the blue.

"Hey, Daniel! You got a cat in there or something?"

Startled, Daniel quickly snapped back from his thoughts. It was Seth who had spoken, and he was pointing at the duffle bag Daniel had placed on his lap. It was wiggling around as if something inside was trying to get out.

"Oh shoot!" Daniel exclaimed. "Sorry, Abe! I totally forgot to let you out."

"Who is Abe?" Amanda asked, curiously peeking over the table. "Is it a cat? A mouse? Oh my god! Please tell me it's a hedgehog. Those guys are so cute!"

"Abe isn't really a tradition pet," Daniel said awkwardly as he reached into the duffle bag. When he pulled his hands out again, everybody else in the room gasped.

"It's a dragon" Micah blurted out.

The creature known as Able fluttered out of Daniel's hands and landed on the table. It was barely the size of an apple, with big, round eyes and short, stubby horns on its head. Green scales covered most of its body, and its tiny wings flapped excitedly as it gazed at the strangers around him.

"Aww! It's so cute!"

"It's like a cartoon baby dragon come to life."

"Is it dangerous?"

Immediately, everybody started talking at once. Amanda tried to reach out and pet the creature, but it blew a smoke ring defensively at her.

"Do I get second-hand smoking from that?"

"Guys, this is Abe," Daniel said, trying his best to be heard over the commotion. "My mother made him for me on my fifth birthday out of clay."

"I've never heard of breathing life into clay before," Micah said. "And the spell lasted for so long as well."

"It's not a spell," Daniel said with a laugh. "My mother is special in her own ways."

"Look, it's blowing another smoke ring!"

Although it wasn't exactly what he had in mind, Daniel was glad that he was able to impress everyone with Abe. Since he had grown up with these sculptures, he never expected one to cause such a huge fuss. As the cable car rose higher and higher up the mountain, the warm feeling in Daniel's heart rose as well. Even though he acted all cheery in front of his sister, he was actually really nervous about the new school year. However, this odd group of people managed to take all his fears and anxiety away. In fact, he might even call them friends.