The summer began to pass with amazing speed to William. Everyday he spent time reading his school books wondering how all the different spells would work. His parents had decided to tell the rest of the family that he had gotten a scholarship to a private school as they came by for summer barbecues and the like. Most of his family was very proud of him despite being completely unaware of where he was really going.
The most awkward part of the summer was when he had to tell Megan he wouldn't be going to middle school with her in the fall. It was even worse when his parents told him that he wouldn't be able to tell her that he was going to a school for wizards, the school had apparently told them in the parental letter that there was some law about telling other people about the magical world. He gulped as he sat on the swing on the playground next to Megan.
She was slowing down as he sat there, not enjoying the great weather and the fact that Eric Grossman was out of town for the next few weeks. Megan looked over at him, and asked, "What's up William?"
He took a deep breath and said, "I'm not going to middle school this fall."
"What?!" She shouted, nearly falling off of the swing as she did.
"Well," He paused, "Not the same one as you anyway."
"You're not going to St. Michael's are you?" She asked staring at him, "Cause I thought you're parents weren't religious or anything..."
"No," He answered, taking another deep breath, "I uh, got a scholarship to this private school out of the state."
"Wow," she murmured, "But why'd you even apply for it?"
"I didn't," William responded, "They sort of do it at random," he explained, "And they think I'll do really well there...so...yeah."
"So..." she said taking a few deep breaths herself, "You're not going to go to middle school with me?"
"No," William answered glumly, "But I'll be back during semester breaks and stuff, we can still hang out..."
"Yeah," She answered looking down at her feet. After a few moments she said, "I uh, just remembered my dad said I had to be home early. Talk to you later..." She got up and ran off to her bike and quickly began making her way home.
William sighed, wondering if they'd ever talk again. He had known Megan was looking forward to middle school, and he knew that he was her only friend just like she was his only friend. William sighed and wished that he could tell her the truth, but the school had said no. He slowly got up and got on his bike to ride back home.
William didn't see his only friend till the day before he was going to school. He was slowly packing stuff away. About a week ago, a letter arrived by owl early in the morning, scaring William right out of bed. The letter had supplied him with directions on how to board the school train in New York City, along with the fact that he would be living in Corey Hall 131 for his time at the Salem Institute. William shrugged as he wondered about who his roommate would be, packing away his clothes and books.
There was a knock at his door, and he looked up. Standing there was Megan, looking a little uncomfortable, "Hi," she said after a moment or two.
"Hey," William said, unsure whether or not to say anything else.
"I'm uh..." Megan shrugged, "Sorry that I haven't talked to you this summer."
"It's ok," William answered, "I sort of understand."
She nodded, and continued, "I just wanted to come and say good bye before you left." She then pulled a small package from behind her and then said, "And give you this uh...going away present."
William smiled as he took the small package from her and set it down on the top of his trunk. He paused looking at it and asked, "What is it?"
Megan laughed, "Envelopes and paper and stuff, you know, in case you wanted to keep in touch. Your mom told my dad that your school was really strict about email and stuff so I figured..." She shrugged and gestured at the package that now sat in his trunk.
"Thanks," William smiled. There was an awkward pause as they both stood there. Megan slowly closed the distance and gave him a hug. William stiffened a little, he and Megan had never hugged, it felt weird, "Erm...Megan?"
"I'm going to miss you," She answered. Just as it started to get awkward she released him and rubbed her eyes a little, "Middle school won't be much fun without you."
"Sure it will," William answered, "No Eric, cool math classes, it will be great." He tried to keep the lack of certainty from his voice, replacing it with a smile.
Megan smiled back, "Yeah, you're right." She then backed up a little, "I uh, got to go but I wanted to well...yep."
William nodded then said, "I'll be sure to write."
"Cool," Megan said, "I'll talk to you later then." She then backed up, gave an awkward wave and left. William heard her leave the house, and say goodbye to his mother as she did. He gave a smile and then bent down to close the trunk, locking it with a simple key.
The next morning the Fraser house was a flurry of activity as his father was wrestling his trunk into the family car, and his mother was checking through the house to make sure that he had not forgotten a single thing. Meanwhile, Elizabeth was grumbling that she didn't see why she had to get up so early just to say good bye to her brother. William was simply standing on the porch to his house, fiddling with his wand as he watched his dad firmly close the trunk with a large huff.
His mother came out of the house, while explaining to Elizabeth the importance of family things like this as she locked up the house. William slid the wand into his backpack and slung it onto his shoulder as he walked away from the house that had been his home for as long as he could remember. He looked over at the small brick cottage that was as quiet as always, no one outside, but the bushes all neatly trimmed. On the other side one of the older guys from the fraternity was standing out on the porch, he smiled at William and raised a thick mug as he did before taking a sip as the Fraser family piled into the car.
As the car glided silently through the early Sunday morning of the town, they saw much more heavily laden cars passing into the university campus as their fall semester was due to start in a few more days. His sister fell fast asleep as they hit the highway, and his mother was fiddling with the radio and directions as his father kept a steady hand on the wheel. William felt tired but for some reason he couldn't bring himself to fall asleep, this was the first day of his training to be a wizard. Well, he reasoned, it was the day before the first day of becoming a wizard, but still he'd be on his way to the school before he knew it.
It wasn't long before they were gliding in amidst the sparkling towers of New York City. After that it was only a matter of parking and dragging the trunk (which had wheels on one side) down the street to the train station. They entered, pressing through crowds of people, coming out to enjoy a Sunday in Manhattan. Just as the directions had stated as they began passing through the crowds William was able to spot a doorway with the number 23 ½ hanging above it. He and his family stepped through the portal and down onto the platform itself.
The platform was wider than average and the train looked like something out of another century as it sat glittering in the lights of the train platform. Students in a variety of clothing were moving about, greeting each other, yelling out, and saying good bye to parents. William made his way down towards the end of the train and stood in front of a doorway. His sister sort of shrugged and then said, "See you in a few months squirt." Their parents shot her a look and she sighed and added, "I mean, I'm going to miss you." She then gave him a quick hug.
His father bent down and gave him a tight embrace, and said, "I know you'll make us proud William, but good luck anyway." After a brief pause he added, "Don't get into any trouble son."
Finally his mother came forward and gave him a hug. When she hugged him, William could feel the tears rolling down her cheeks, "Be careful dear," she whispered, "You know that we love you."
"I love you too Mom," He whispered, trying not to choke up.
"We'll be here in a few months to pick you up," She murmured, "And don't forget to write."
William nodded, and said, "I will Mom."
Just when it seemed like she was never going to stop holding him, a whistle blew and a few people were shouting "All aboard!"
William's mother released him, and smiled at him as he dragged his trunk up onto the train. The door closed behind him and the train sputtered to life as he set his trunk next to a bundle of others that were sitting in the doorway. He waved at his family through the door's window as the train pulled away through the bowels of New York City and then slowly chugged out into the sunlight of late August.
William quickly made his way into the train proper, looking into the compartments as he went before stumbling upon an empty one. He settled down into the window seat, and was about to get out a book to read when there was a loud 'oof' and the door popped open. Standing there was a boy that looked about William's age. He was taller than William and could easily be described as husky. The boy was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, and as he stood there in the doorway he asked, voice cutting clear over the low rumble of the train, "Do you mind if I join you?"
"Uh, no," William answered, trying to see around the boy to where he had apparently wrestled his trunk down the train.
The boy smiled and then dragged the hefty trunk through the door before closing it, turning around and introducing himself, "Chris Angeloni!" He extended his thick hand and William took it, trading his firm grip.
"William Fraser," He answered.
Chris took a seat opposite William and then asked, "You're starting this year at Salem too, right?"
"Yes," William answered.
"Great! All I've been able to meet so far are older kids, and, well," he said his cheeks becoming slightly flushed, "They didn't want me around them."
William nodded, and was about to get out his book again when Chris then asked, "So where you from?"
"Connecticut," William answered, and for some reason found himself asking, "You?"
"I'm from north Jersey," Chris responded, and he began to open his trunk. As he began to dig through it, he asked, "What room are you going to be in?"
William paused for a few minutes as he tried to remember before finally saying, "Corey Hall 131."
"No Way!" Chris's head popped up from his trunk, "We're going to be roomies man!"
"Oh, really?" William asked, images flashing across his mind as the prospecting of sharing a room with the much larger boy settled in.
"Yeah man!" Chris then held up his hand, "High Five!" William shyly held it up and was welcomed with a swift stinging sensation as Chris slapped his palm into William's. "This is great, hey, are you a quodpot fan?"
"Uh...quodpot?" William asked, confusion evident on his face.
"You don't know quodpot?" Chris seemed like William had told him he was unaware that the sky was blue, "It's only like the coolest sport ever. You get eleven guys on each team, all of them on brooms, and they're all trying to get the quod, which is like this ball, into a pot. Sounds easy, right?" William shrugged as his soon-to-be-roommate continued, "Well, if you don't get it in fast enough, the ball explodes and you're out of the game." William gulped, as Chris kept going on, "Man, I really want to try out for the team but like sixth graders never make it, you know? But maybe one day I'll get on it, and man, that'll be awesome."
The conversation continued along this vein for a while, with Chris talking near endlessly as William sat nodding and occasionally adding in his own words. As the day was growing long, William had learned that his roommate-to-be had one parent who was magical, but his mother (surprisingly the witch of the family) had actually insisted he had attend muggle school where Chris was never allowed to talk about Quodpot which he was very happy to now be able to mention, at great length. As the train chugged along, Chris asked, "So do you think it's going to be fun?"
William shrugged, "I don't know, I guess so, I mean as fun as school can be."
Chris nodded vigorously, "I just hope that we don't get too bogged down with work and stuff." He looked out the window as the train pulled them through forests and up into mountains.
William's eyes also lingered outside the window, and he then said, "Think we're almost there?"
"Should be," Chris nodded, "The ride was only supposed to take a couple of hours."
As if speaking these words were some sort of indicator, the train started slowing down, and they could hear people piling out into the hallways beyond the compartments. Chris smiled and hopped up out of his seat, tearing open the door, turning back to pull his trunk. William grabbed his backpack and slung it back over his shoulder as he passed out into the corridor and followed Chris down to the doorway. William yanked onto his trunk near the top of the collection and dragged it down with him. As they came out into the waning daylight, it was amazing.
The platform sat at the bottom of a hill from which he could see a few buildings poking up. All around him were tons of students, most of them wearing robes moving around quickly and easily. An older student rushed by them carrying a broom, and it was as he got to the edge of the platform that he jumped aboard it and zoomed towards the school. A couple students had hopped onto their trunks and called out a spell and were now casually surfing their luggage up the hill. Other students were floating trunks and suitcases next to them, with a couple of the younger students carrying them or making several attempts to levitate them before giving up.
There were a few adults standing around, shouting at students who were whizzing by on brooms or riding their luggage but it seemed largely ineffectual. Some older students were standing around shouting out directions for sixth graders. One of these pointed at Chris and William, neither of whom had gotten moving since stepping out of the train, "Hey, get up to Corey Hall and move in!" They both nodded absently as they began to move forward, off of the platform and dragging their luggage up the smooth incline towards the campus.
They made their way through a fine brick wall and open wrought iron gate with the school crest hanging above it. As they made their way in people were calling out greetings to old friends, and a few even waved hello to the new sixth graders as they passed. There were older students gesturing towards Corey Hall for the sixth graders, and once again an adult or two were moving about telling students to move along to their dorms.
William was
turning his head as fast as he could to try and take everything in.
Trees were strewn across the verdant green fields of the campus, and
all of the walkways were finely laid brickwork. Not far from the
gate was a wide one story building where tons of students were
heading, but several people began telling them to move towards Corey
Hall which was further in the campus. It was as he moved forward
that William caught sight of the main building itself. The building
was made of brick and rose up about three or four stories into the
air. All of the windows had dark blue shutters upon them, all
currently open to let in the summer sun, and he could see the thick
black front doors were currently thrown wide open. The walls had a
smooth ivy growing up them extending a little past the first floor in
some spots. He stood mouth agape for a few moments, and then Chris
tugged on his sleeve and said, "Hey William, come on let's go get
into our room."
William nodded absently as they made their way
down a shaded path from the main building toward another squat
building. The crowd moving to it was a strange mixture of students
who looked like they could easily be seniors in high school, and
sixth graders. As they approached they found the doors wide open,
and beyond them another set that opened up onto a massive courtyard.
Older students were standing at the door and saying, "Everyone pick
up your schedules in the quad. Sixth Graders sign in for room keys.
Seniors to the left, Sixth Graders to the right!" As they made
their way through the dimly lit hallway, the division of students
became clear as the older students immediately broke off to the left
and the sixth graders moved to the right.
William stood in line in front of Chris as they waited before a set of tables where several small creatures sat with rolls of paper. They were different from what William now knew were Goblins at the bank, they were thinner, with big eyes, and strange floppy ears, their skin was a strange hue, and they made William feel slightly uncomfortable as one waved him forward. "Hello," the creature's voice had a high pitch, and a strange warbling quality to it, "What's Misters name?" The creature asked, its face seemed like a wrinkly mess as it's huge eyes rolled up towards William.
"William, William Fraser," William answered after a few moments.
The creature nodded quickly, snapping its fingers as a scroll shot down from one end of the table and a small packet from another. The small creature then extended them to William, and William slowly took them. He turned to lift up his bags but found they were gone, as he began to turn his head around, the tiny creature said, "Oh, I took Misters things to his room." The creature's face stretched in what William hoped was an attempt at a smile as he walked around the table following the directions of an older student towards his hallway.
As he walked down the hallway looking for his room, Chris caught up to them, "Wow, I had no idea Salem had so many house elves."
"That's what those things were?" William asked turning to his roommate.
Chris laughed, "Of course, what'd you think they were?"
William shrugged, "I don't know, I wouldn't have guessed elves."
Chris laughed again as they came to their room, "Here we are, home for the next few years!" He clapped William hard on the back and dug out the key from the small packet they had been given.
Their room was facing the quad and the windows were open letting in the sounds of the move-in day pour through with the late summer breeze. Their trunks had already been placed on opposite sides of the room, each at the foot of one of the beds.
William walked over to his trunk and immediately got out one of his robes. He wiggled it on and turned to look at himself in the mirror. He hadn't grown much over the summer and he was once again staring at a slight boy in clothing that could be construed as dorky. William sighed, then got his wand and slid it into one of the robe's deep pockets. On the other side of the room, Chris had also slipped on his robe and was now hanging up a poster for his favorite quodpot team the New York Sharks, all of the people in the poster were zooming around quods exploding about them. William slowly began unpacking his clothes and books placing them about his side of the room, slowly moving about the room as he did. He paused at the window a few times as the crowd quickly got worn down and the sun was making its continual progression across the sky.
"Hey, what's your schedule like?" Chris asked from across the room.
William shuffled through the paper he was given, and then said, "Transfiguration, History of Magic, Defense Against the Dark Arts, then lunch, Herbology, Charms, and Potions. With Potions being twice as long on Tuesday and Thursday." Then he sighed as he saw the last part, "And Astronomy once a week late on Wednesday nights."
Chris nodded, "Well we got Defense and Potions together." He pinned his schedule up onto the board set to the wall above his desk, along with a map of the school he began to mark off.
William looked at the map and noticed he had one too, he slowly marked off his classes. All of them but Astronomy, and Herbology were in the main building though different floors. As he began to pin his schedule up on to his own board there was a knock at the door.
They both turned to the older boy who was standing in their doorway. He was wearing the school uniform in black, and had long black hair tied behind his head, in his hand he held a clip board, "Angeloni and Fraser?" They both responded with an affirmative, he nodded, "Dinner's in fifteen minutes, and then Sixth Graders are being given a tour of the school. You're with me and Laura, be in the lounge in five, alright?" Both boys nodded quickly, and the older student walked off down the hall.
The two sixth graders straightened up their room before stepping out and locking the door moving with the herd towards the closest lounge. Standing at the head of the crowd was an older girl, presumably Laura, and the boy who had just spoke to them.
"Hi!" Laura called as the last students came in, "I'm Laura and this is Mike," the guy gave a short wave, "And we're going to be showing you guys around campus after dinner." She smiled, exposing nearly shimmering white teeth, "So come on guys, let's get going!" She then lead them right out through the dorm, past the hall of older boys, a few of which called out greetings to her as she passed. Mike, hung to the back of the group, scowling at anyone to keep from them from straggling.
As they made their way towards the main building Laura went on and on about the school, and how great it was, when the first Quodpot and Quidditch games were, who some of the best teachers were, and even some of the clubs around campus. William tried to pay attention but found it harder due to his position at the back of the group.
He looked back to Mike, who was still marching along behind the group, and began to hang back to ask the question when the older boy said, "Look, I'm only here because I'm serving a detention, don't ask me a question."
"Oh," William answered, speeding up as the older boy just scowled at his back. Chris laughed as William returned. They all quickly passed through the main hall of the school, with wings leading down to different classrooms, and several stair cases leading up through the school, and down to the basement. They made their way over to a door on the opposite of the entrance hall, framed by a pair of stairs on either side and into the cafeteria.
There were tables all over the place, and on the far side of the room were a bunch of people moving through a line of plates. As they moved in, Laura was calling out that all they had to do was grab a plate and start filling it up with food. William stuck close to Chris as they made their way through the line, but it was as he grabbed his plate and made his way to the food that he bumped into a round kid who was only a little taller than himself.
The kid's food dumped up against his robes, and he immediately turned on William. William gulped, he recognized that look, it was the same sort of look Eric Grossman would get on his face when he was about to do something. The boy's chubby face contorted into a mixture of emotions, and then he just growled, "Watch where you're going pipsqueak, or else." The larger boy marched off farther down the line.
Chris shook his head, "Wow, that kid was kind of...big."
William sighed, "Not even a full day at a new school, and I think I've already met the school bully."
Chris laughed and said, "Hey, what's the worst that could happen? I'm sure that he'll forget about it by tomorrow morning.
William nodded, and they sat down to eat their meal. The night passed calmly, with the tour of the school going quickly and without interruption. On the actual tour, William had made sure to get up closer to Laura so he could catch every word. By the time it was over, William could barely believe how tired he was, barely having the energy to clamber out of his robes and into bed at the end of the day. As he drifted off to sleep all he could think was that the school year was about to start and everything would go nice and smoothly.
