Author's Note:

The name Siobhan is pronounced Shiv-on, Aislinn is pronounced Ash-lynn, and Brannagh is pronounced Brah-na. All three names are of Irish origin. I know there are a lot of similarities to Harry Potter, and I am trying what I can to stray away from the HP story line. I really hope you like the new chapter!

As for the reviews I've had, thank you so much! I appreciate them more than you could ever realize, and I have tried to fix the things that you pointed out. Please continue to review me, and give me the criticism I need!

Crowmist

The days passed by as the new term at Crowmist loomed closer. With each day, Maria grew more and more nervous of attending the school. There were a lot of preparations yet to take place, and Maria wasn't near ready to leave. She would miss home, and her parents.

Finally though, the day arrived and they had an unexpected visit from Andrew. When he arrived at the Carondolette home, he held a carrier of some kind.

"What's in the carrier, Andrew?" Maria asked as she brought an old battered trunk downstairs and into the breeze-way. She was wearing her school uniform; which consisted of a nice black sweater vest, with an amethyst colored blouse, a black, dark purple, and amethyst bowtie, and a long black skirt with dark purple knee high socks, and black loafers.

"Maria, let me fix the suitcase for you." He pulled out his wand and tapped the old battered trunk, which turned into a leather cream colored trunk, with dark purple and amethyst filigree, and silver toned fastenings and straps. On the top, Maria's name had been imprinted on the trunk in cursive. The trunk looked strangely familiar…like Maria's wand that had been nestled down at the bottom of the trunk, where it was safe.

"Oh, I almost forgot. Maria, this is for you." Andrew then handed Maria the carrier and upon her opening it, a calico kitten with purple eyes and a bow around its neck. mewed up at her as if to say hello.

"Oh… look mom, she's so cute!" Maria coaxed the kitten from the carrier and hugged it close to her chest, petting her gently. The kitten immediately started purring and nestling itself into Maria's long hair.

"Thank you so much Andrew!" Maria's mother exclaimed, scratching the little kitten's head.

"what are you going to name it, bug?" Marcus asked, as he brought down Maria's traveling bag so it could go in the trunk of the car.

Maria thought for a moment, of what a good name was for a kitten. She supposed her new kitten would probably be trying to catch mice at school. "Pounce."

"Pounce… it's a good name. Alright, now let's get your things into the car, and be on our way. We don't want to miss your grand voyage out on the sea." Andrew said as he picked up the trunk and hauled it out the door and to the car's trunk, while Maria carried Pounce in her new carrier, and into the car beside her. "I'll meet you at the school, Maria." Andrew apparated – Maria now knew – with a loud crack.

After everyone – and kitten – piled into the car they set off for Beverly Pier on the other side of Salem. There wasn't much traffic, due to schools in the area already starting, so coming and going was a pretty easy feat. As they pulled into the parking lot and pulled into one of the many empty spaces, they noticed how peculiar that the pier was completely desertedAfter unloading the trunk and Pounce, they stood at the end of the pier.

"Okay, so now is the easy part. Getting to the ship. I'm going to show you how to do this, Maria, because I won't be here to help you next year. So watch carefully." Marcus stated. Maria watched him meticulously, and watched his every move. He pulled his wand out, and tapped the post on the pier in a certain spot. To the left, a cart appeared for the trunk to be put on, along with any other possessions. "Push the cart off the end of the pier." Her father said, then jumped off the end of the pier. Maria rushed to the edge and he wasn't anywhere to be found. There had been no splash, and the cold water gently lapped against the supports of the poles.

Maria took hold of the cart, and nervously ran off the end of the pier. Nothing happened. She just found herself running, and she didn't hit water, as she was still on the dock. Maria looked around and saw tons of other wizards and witches around as they said their goodbyes. A ship had appeared also, and Maria stopped running. Just then, her parents appeared beside her

"Good job. Now you see the ship? We need to get your possessions on it. I'll take care of it, you just say goodbye to your mother." Marcus stated as he lifted her trunk with a spell and directed it in midair to the gangplank and up onto the ship in the cargo hold.

Maria surveyed the ship - dubbed the Milady - and all her beauty. She had never really seen something so beautiful. The massive sails billowed slightly with the breeze, and seagulls swooped and coasted the currents of the air at the very top of the masts. It was magnificent. Maria turned to her mom and suddenly felt so sad. She would miss them so much while she was away at Crowmist, and it had never really sunk in until just that moment. She hugged her tight, and started to cry.

"What's wrong, bug? We'll see you at Christmas; you won't be gone all year. Right? What there to cry about? It's okay, I promise." Marcus said as he hugged his tiny daughter as he returned to the two. He knew he was going to miss her, as he held back tears. He couldn't believe his little girl was about to leave to the same school he attened, and wouldn't see her for five months. He knew he had to be strong for his wife and his child. What would they think if he started to cry?

Lydia, on the other hand, let the floodgates open, and tears streamed down her face as she hugged her daughter to her as tight as she could. She would miss this little girl more than anything. It would be so weird to not have her around.

"ALL ABOARD!" someone called from the ship. Students started lining up single file onto the brow to get onto the Galleon. Maria gave her parents another tight squeeze before letting them go. "I'll miss you… I'll write you every day, I promise."

"Goodbye my little bug. Have a safe journey. We love you." Lydia said as Maria started toward the line of students. Her parents watched her until she was out of sight on the ship.

Once on the ship, Maria mingled with the other students and looked over the Port side of the ship at her parents. They were still there, watching and waiting until the ship pulled out of port and made her journey. Maria still didn't know where exactly where she was going; only that she was on her way there, and that destination was the home of Crowmist School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where she would spend the next nine months. The boatswain call whistled overhead, once everyone was boarded, signaling the ship was leaving port. There was a sudden wind, and the ship lurched into motion. Maria could smell the salt from the sea, as they traveled down the east coast. She wasn't sure, but she thought the wind had a magical feel to it. They seemed to be moving a little faster than a ship this size would be sailing with a normal northern wind. Maria also noticed there were no deckhands aboard the Milady; she seemed to be sailing crew-less. The only people Maria noticed were the other students. Upon further inspection, many of the students wore a different color to her deep purple. Many wore blue, red, green, and yellow. It seemed to be only the students Maria's age that wore the purple.

"Excuse me." Maria said meekly as she approached one of the students in yellow. The student just looked at Maria and went back to the conversation they were having. Maria felt dejected. She was on a boat, with about 500 other people she didn't know, and was completely ignored. Feeling defeated, Maria went to the starboard side of the ship and slumped down against the railing, looking out to sea. Many of the other passengers stood or sat in circles and conversed about their summer events.

Maria wasn't aware how long she had sat against the railing by herself, before being approached by another student in purple.

"Hi…" the student said. Maria looked up and there stood a girl her age, in purple robes. She had straight blonde hair, almond shaped green eyes, and a round face with rosy cheeks. She was about Maria's height and build, maybe a little taller, and had a sort of shy disposition. She seemed to have a hint of an Irish accent when she spoke. It seemed to be that this girl had forced herself to talk to someone.

"Hi." Maria replied with a smile.

"do you know where we're going?" the girl asked as she sort of twiddled her thumbs.

"No idea. My name is Maria, what's yours?" Maria asked. She might as well try to make friends, being that no one else was event attempting to speak to her.

"Siobhan. May I sit with you? Everyone else seems… busy."

"sure, I don't mind Siobhan." Maria replied. "where are you from?"

"Michigan. You?"

"Salem. It must have been a long trip from Michigan. Wow."

"Not really, we apparated, so it was really quick."

"are you a pure-blood or…"

"No, my dad is pure-blood and my mom is a muggle. I happened to get dads magic genes. What about you?"

"I'm… I'm not sure. I just found out I was a witch, although both my parents are magical. I don't really know anything about being a witch, and honestly it's kind of hard. It was a real shock when I got my letter, and my parents explained everything. I didn't expect it, as it happened the day after I turned eleven."

"Wow that sounds terrible. I guess it's better than being a squib." Siobhan replied.

"A what? What's a squib?"

"A squib is a person born into a pure-blood or magical family that has no magic. I know that if I was a squib and all my siblings had magic, along with my parents, and everyone else I knew, I would be very jealous."

"I suppose that would be worse. Do you know any spells or anything yet?"

"No. We aren't allowed to use magic outside of school. That's what my sisters tell me. They go to Crowmist, too."

"Oh, that's cool! I have no siblings." Maria replied. She often wondered what it would be like to have a brother or sister. "Did your dad go to Crowmist too?"

"No. he went to some school in England or somewhere. I think it was named Hogwarts. I know my grandfather is Nicholas Flamel; he's a great wizard in England, and very old. My last name is Flamel."

"Mine's Carondolette." Maria smiled at Siobhan, glad she was making friends.

The two girls sat in silence for a while, and enjoyed the weather as they continued to sail south. There was a nice breeze coming from the north, but overall it was very pleasant. The sky was an endless blue for as far as you could see out of sight, and the clouds where just wisps in the salty air, gently moving with the breeze. You could hear the occasional seagull call out as they dipped and dived and caught fish. Really, they weren't sailing to far from shore; since it was always in sight from the port side of the ship. The waves of the ocean lapped against the bow, as they bobbed up and down.

Maria continued to watch the other students aboard the Milady, as they talked and chatted about their summer, and how excited they were to head back to school. Surprisingly, Maria hadn't gotten seasick from the movement of the ship. She rather enjoyed the bobbing up and down. She casually mentioned to Siobhan that she was going to walk the deck, and would be back soon.

As she walked around, she heard a familiar voice, but wasn't able to see the speaker. She knew it to be Andrew's, but she wasn't aware of where he was. Maria wandered toward the voice, and stopped before she was in sight of the man that Andrew was speaking to.

"…I was right. We did find the right one. She's the real deal. I was with her the entire time she was in the shop." Andrew stated.

"What is she supos'd t'do? I'm ain't familiar with the legend, by no means." Said the more gruff gravelly voice; assumingly from the other man.

"Train her, of course. She needs the proper education to fulfill the legend. What do we have to lose?" Andrew countered. "The legend foretold a young girl that defeated the horned beast. The girl had magic, and the beast had demons. They say that this legendary beast is what caused of the disappearance of the lost colony back before Crowmist was founded. You know Crowmist was founded 5 years after the disappearance, where the old town hall was on the island."

"That may be true, Andrew, but will the girl be strong enough fer when the time comes?" The other man said. "Not even your great great great grandfather John White could defeat the beast, and 'e was a pure-blood."

Maria's jaw dropped. They had been talking about her. She was part of a legend? How could that be? She was just an ordinary girl that was good at reading. She wasn't some kind of legendary figure, for sure. And what was this beast they were talking about. Maria listened a little closer to what they two men were discussing.

"I know Skip, but he also didn't have the Invictus wand."

"So she 'as it then? It chose 'er? My lord, she might be able to do it after all. Save the school and all the wizards 'ere in the States. England 'as it cut out fer them though. That Potter boy starts school this year also; First year at Hogwarts I'm told. They 'ad a hard time gettin' 'im away from that family o' his, the Muggles? They didn't want it to be true that he could use magic like 'is parents did; too bad that they were murdered though by you-know-who. No one has heard from 'im since 'e tried to kill the Potter boy 'leven years ago after 'e did in 'is parents. Last I heard 'e was lookin' fer followers in the woods of Albania, though tis only speculations."

Maria turned and went as fast as she could. She returned to where she has left Siobhan, who was conversing with two other girls from the school, one wearing yellow, and the other wearing red.

"Oh, there you are, Maria! These are my sisters; Aislinn is in the red, and Brannagh in the Yellow."

"Hello, I'm Maria. It's nice to meet you!" she said cheerily. The two older girls said hello, and then continued to talk with their sister before giving her some galleons and leaving. Maria didn't know if she should tell Siobhan what she had overheard having just met her, besides she didn't even know if they were going to be in the same house. Maria decided to keep the information to herself, and tell Siobhan if they ended up in the same house as each other. Besides, she didn't even know how to make heads or tails of it, if anything. Maybe it was just a rumor. And why did she keep hearing about this Harry Potter kid? Was he really that important that someone had tried to kill him? Maria pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind, when she noticed a small cart of food being pushed by a little old woman. Maria hadn't realized, but she was absolutely starving, considering she had a very small breakfast. Once the small cart had arrived at the two girls, they noticed that it was made up of different kind of candies, both muggle and wizard. Maria immediately spotted her favorite; Twix bars. She bought a couple of them, along with wider assortment of wizard candy that she never even considered to exist. Siobhan explained what each of the candies was, and they tried them together. Maria was very surprised when she realized that the chocolate frogs were enchanted, being that it had hopped right out of her hand and across the deck, then off the boat into the water below.

"Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans?" Maria questioned Siobhan, "Flavored with… what?"

"Oh, things like earwax and dirt. There are also some pretty good ones, like orange sherbet and maple syrup, though. It's fun to eat them and figure out which ones are which." Maria opened the box and picked a nice blue one and popped it in her mouth. She immediately spit it out.

"What flavor was it?" Siobhan questioned with a grin.

"Tasted like… mouth wash." Maria giggled. She then tried another bean, but this one was a bit more pleasant. "Mmm, raspberry lemon!" The girls spent the afternoon picking through jellybeans before the whistled signaled that it was time to go below deck as the evening air began to cool around them. They headed below deck and settled in the gallery, between two ribs of the ship. It was quite warm with all the bodies inhibiting the area for the time being. Maria wasn't sure how long they stayed down below.

There was a whistle and a deckhand came down to announce that the other students were to disembark on dry land. The first years were to stay aboard. It took about half an hour for the older students to leave the ship and for all the cargo below decks in the hull to be unloaded before the ship suddenly shrank to a smaller size, just big enough for a little wiggle room for all the first years, and started to float in mid-air. There was an audible gasp as the ship started to rise in the air. Siobhan got Maria's attention and pointed to the back of the ship, and the wizards enchanting it to make it fly. The Ship then whisked its way inland.

After a few minutes, a castle all aglow came into view. It was gorgeous, as the lights seemed to welcome everyone in the vicinity, even the new students. The ship soared around the outside of the school, giving them an amazing look at where they were to live for the school year. There were massive towers, and the battlements were lined with candles. The entire castle was constructed of stone, instead of blocks of concrete, or brick. But, just as suddenly as it had begun, the showing of Crowmist was ending as they landed gently in the courtyard in the center of the school grounds. The brow was lowered and they were allowed to disembark, before the ship took off again for where ever it was headed.

The new students were met by a man, whom Maria recognized instantly as Andrew. "Hello first years, and welcome to your home for the next nine months. I am professor Parris, and I am going to give you a few rules before we head inside. First off, please stay in a single line and try to keep quite as we head through the Great Hall for the sorting, and then dinner. We ask that once you are sorted into your house, you head to the necessary table where you will find your house mates. You will stay within this house for the remainder of your schooling here at Crowmist. Your luggage will find its way to its necessary destination after you are sorted, so you won't have to worry about it. Now, if you would please, line up, and we'll head inside!" Andrew finished his speech, and inconspicuously winked at Maria, as she filed into the line with the other students. They started walking inside, and Andrew started talking again.

"There are four houses; water, air, fire, and earth. Water is blue, Fire is red, Earth is green, and Air is yellow. You'll be sorted into one of these houses by a simple task… meditation." Andrew stopped in front of a massive heavy wooden door clad in iron. Maria took in her surroundings and was flabbergasted. She hadn't anticipated the spectacular sight. The room they had entered had long woven tapestries hanging on the walls, two on each side, with one person on each tapestry. Each one clothed in a different color. Maria assumed they were the founders of Crowmist, being that they each had one of the school colors that represented each of the four houses. The walls were made of rough stone, and the ceiling vaulted high, and was dark at the very tippy top. The wooden rafters were visible, as massive logs that were hundreds of years old. The room was lit by torches, and they illuminated the area very well, despite the room being so large. Soon, they were on the move again, to another door at the end of their current room. The door swung open as they approached it.