"Nathan" a whisper echoed through the darkness of the room. The boy in question was staring straight ahead, unsure of where exactly he was. The voice sounded close yet far away. The confusion was clear in his demeanor; his eyes straining to try and make out anything in his surroundings. He felt something come up behind him, a woman he was sure of once this something pushed herself against his back. A pair of cold arms wrapped around him and he felt a face bury itself in the back of his head. "Wake up"
Nathan woke with a start, eyes squinting against the harsh sunlight. The scenery around him was moving, trees speeding by him. The sleeve of his hoodie went up to wipe the drool at the corner of his lips.
"We're almost there" a feminine voice made him turn his head to the side. His mother was driving the car they were in, her red hair tied into a loose ponytail. The signs of worry and nerves were clear on her face. Nathan simply gave her a nod and turned to look out the window again.
"I'm sorry, that I couldn't be a help to you at all. Your grandma told me about this, but I never took her seriously. How could I? I thought she was losing it"
"Mom" Nathan cut in, "it's okay," he said in a soft voice. He knew his mother had the habit of babbling on about things when she was nervous. And right now, he couldn't exactly handle that. Not when his mind would not be in the conversation. He has had that dream one too many times for it to be just some stupid dream. And each time he had it, the woman seemed to get closer to him, this time being able to hug him as she did. That was what his mind was occupied by.
Natalie gave a small nod of her head, biting her lips and stealing a glance at her son. She knew that something was wrong with him, outside of the things he has been suddenly able to do that is. The boy had become something of a recluse after his abilities had surfaced, choosing to stay in the confines of his room rather than do what he loved. He had been ignoring all his friends and only ever talked to her during dinner time when they could sit face to face. It was worrying for her to see her son change so drastically. It was a lucky break when she had run into her old friend in town. She had been the one to tell her about his school for gifted children, gifted like her son here.
The rest of the journey was spent in relative silence, mother and son just watching the road ahead of them. In no time the school was before them and Nathan felt a bit of awe at the sight of it. And when they passed through the open gates, he could feel something. Something about this place made the hair on the back of his neck stand upright. Something about this place got him excited.
Their car stopped at the entrance and Nathan stepped out to a gathering of six, three male and three females. One of them was the teacher he could tell from the way he dressed and two were not students. Two people Nathan actually knew.
"Landon? Rafael?" the call made the two boys turn around, shock clear on their faces. Landon was the one to make the first move, coming to him with a large smile on his face and embracing him. Nathan was surprised and the return hug was awkward, a few pats on the boy's back. "Why are you guys here?"
"Raf here" Landon moved back and motioned to his brother in all but blood, "turns out is a werewolf. Hope and Professor Saltzman recruited him"
"Well more like looked out for him and invited him o join our school" the one known as Professor Saltzman stepped forward. "Natalie, Elena told me you'd be coming here today"
"Mr. Saltzman" Natalie stated with clear surprise, shaking hands with the man. "He was my high school teacher" the redhead explained at the questioning look from her son.
"That I was. Your mother was a fantastic student. I can hope the same from you" the man smiled. "Why don't you go with Lizzie and Josie here while your mother and I sort the administrative things" he suggested, motioning to the two girls who stood flanking Rafael. One of them was blonde with blue eyes while the other was brunette with chubby cheeks. The chubby-cheeked brunette stepped forward with a smile on her face, linking her arms with his and gently pulling him along. Nathan went with her without a question, giving his mother a somewhat nervous smile.
The girls took the two boys indoors, showing them around the various parts of the lower floor of the building.
"Everybody gets along with everybody here, for the most part," the girl known as Josie spoke.
"The wolves are pretty cliquey. They like to hang with their own" Lizzie added to her sister's words. They were fraternal twins as Josie had informed him.
"In defiance of the school's commitment to inclusiveness," the brunette added further.
"That is why we volunteered to be your tour guides" Lizzie finished with a smile towards Rafael.
"Well, wolves are pack animals" Nathan stated without a thought and found himself at the end of the line of sight of three people. "I read it on the net" he added hastily, smiling at them nervously. Lizzie seemed to be kind of annoyed at the interruption while Josie seemed to almost appreciate his input in this matter.
"As I was saying" the blonde pushed forward. "we volunteered to be your tour guides- to give you a good witch-welcome before your hairier brethren corrupt you" she stated, clearly talking to only Rafael.
"What about you?" Josie looked to Nathan, "what are you?" she asked the taller male.
"Whatever can do this" the male held his hand out. He focused on his hand and after a moment of silence and Lizzie letting out a scoff, a small fireball formed on the palm of the extended hand.
"A witch" Josie's eyes were wide with awe and her lips were stretched into a smile, "who taught you to do that?" she asked. Nathan just gave a shrug.
"I just pictured it in my mind one day and suddenly it happened. I almost set fire to my house" he explained with a laugh at the end. This time even Lizzie looked slightly impressed while Josie looked very impressed.
"Not many witches can get the hang of conjuring a fireball like that without being shown" she informed the guy, "you have a natural talent for it" she added with a smile. One that Nathan returned not for politeness's sake.
The four of them continued to walk again but only moved a little before stopping again. This time in front of a classroom.
"Now, this language has been carefully crafted over centuries. So, you may think you can play fast and loose with the syllables, but you'd be very wrong about that. Because otherwise, a love charm becomes a what?" a man was teaching a class inside, talking from what it sounded like to Nathan to be about some complicated language concerning magic maybe. Probably Latin.
"That's our librarian, Mr. Williams. He's subbing for our Chemistry of Magic teacher, who accidentally incinerated himself last week in hellfire" Josie informed the two boys and both of them gave her a look, wanting more of an explanation.
"Burned all the hair off his body, but didn't leave a scar" Lizzie added and the look was transferred to her. But neither twin elaborated on the topic.
The four watched a girl turn in her seat and Nathan heard Lizzie let out a groan from her place beside Rafael.
"She who shall not be named" the blonde intoned.
"Talking about her gives her power" Josie informed the boys in a hushed voice.
"Voldemort?" Nathan asked and Josie shook her head with a smile while Lizzie nodded her head enthusiastically.
"Josie's evil ex" the blonde explained. The ex in question looked back to the four of them and gave a wink. Probably aimed at Josie with the way how her grip on his arm tightened. The girl muttered something that made no sense to Nathan and watched as a golden orb hovered in the air above her outstretched hands. A moment later it popped and a large cloud of smoke burst out of it. Everyone in the classroom began to cough while the four outside wrinkled their noses in disgust.
"That's right! A stink spell" the librarian turned Chemistry of Magic teacher Mr. Williams exclaimed.
"Come on" Lizzie muttered, turning to look at Rafael. "We'll show you the turret. It's where all the seniors go to smoke"
"What do they smoke? Eye of Newt?" Rafael asked and an amused smile built upon both Josie and Lizzie's faces.
"Weed" Josie explained to the male with her smile still intact. The twins led the boys away from the class and out of the building. The turret did not come next. Instead came to the fields outback. The twins showed them the field where the students seemed to be playing some sort of game consisting of floating goal rings.
"Quidditch?" Nathan asked, once more feeling the excitement building up inside him.
"Not exactly," Lizzie told him, sounding less mean and friendlier than before. "Alyssa Chang made a broom fly in physics last year, but Rick Rogers fell thirty feet during practice, so real-life Quidditch remains an elusive pipe dream. It's called Wickery. Our parents invented it when we were ten" she informed the boys. The four split up, Josie and Nathan going to sit away from Lizzie and Rafael.
"Hey" Josie greeted a boy with an afro and sat down beside him, seating Nathan on her other side.
"Yo!" MG greeted her with a grin. His eyes then fell on Nathan who he held his hand out with a smile. "And hi there! My name is Milton Greasley. But call me MG"
"Nathan" the boy smiled and shook hands with the boy. The three then turned their attention to the field where two players collided not so gently and a round of cheers and boos went out from the stand.
"Their version of the sport, it's a bit more violent than ours" Josie explained, laughing awkwardly.
"Lizzie mentioned something flying brooms and a guy falling from thirty feet and injuring himself" Nathan brought the topic up. "Why didn't you guys put some sort of spell on the ground under the field of play? I think the wizards and witches in Harry Potter used some spell like that on the sandy ground to cushion the fall and not cause injuries"
"I don't think they did" Josie shook her head. "Remember how in book two Harry broke his arm from falling?" she asked and Nathan was reminded of a very funny moment from the books.
"And Gilderoy Lockhart made a mess while trying to fix it" Nathan added and the trio shared a round of chuckles.
"But your idea does sound like something doable. I'll bring it up with The Headmaster" Josie said after a pause from their laughter, turning her attention back on the field. Nathan's eyes then went to the side when he noticed Rafael walk away. Lizzie was still sat there and Nathan had the odd feeling that something was wrong. When the blonde stood up and walked away briskly, Nathan excused himself from the other two and followed Lizzie. In doing so he had missed the defeated look on Josie's face.
Following Lizzie through the field and into the building had lead Nathan to the kitchens. Lizzie had yet to notice him, even when it was just the two of them in the room. Nathan slowly walked over to the blonde, feeling some sort of disturbance around him. Which was odd considering nothing was happening around him. And then suddenly he had to step back when Lizzie let out a scream and with a wild flailing of her arms sent plates tumbling off the shelves. He had to jump further back when utensils were thrown next, utensils consisting of knives as well.
"Lizzie!" Nathan called out to the blonde. But it didn't seem to have an effect on the blonde seeing as she continued to make things fly around. Nathan narrowly dodged a knife that was thrown in his general direction, wincing as it grazed his arm. She was having a breakdown he realized and a very familiar yet unfamiliar scene played in his head. A scene consisting of his mother and him.
Gritting his teeth, he stalked forward. "Lizzie! Listen to me!" he shouted. The blonde was still out of his reach and Nathan found himself dodging more of the things she was throwing around. Then time seemed to slow around him as a knife came right for him.
"Stop it" a voice rumbled in the back of his mind and Nathan felt an odd prickling sensation in his eyes. Time seemed to flow normally again and Nathan thrust his hand forward. The knife stopped inches from his palm. But that wasn't the only thing. Every single object that Lizzie was throwing around stopped midair. Lizzie seemed to notice that and she turned around to face Nathan, looking at him with tear-filled wide eyes.
"N-Nathan?" she stuttered. Nathan just gave her a smile and made his way to her, the things still frozen midair.
"It's going to be okay" he wasn't sure what it was that was bothering the blonde. But whatever it was, he wanted to let her know that it will be alright. Lizzie looked at him in silence before she stepped forward as well and slammed her face into his chest. Her hands gripped his hoodie and Nathan felt her shaking against him. Now, this was not something he was familiar with, a girl crying on him. So, he did the thing that came naturally to him. He awkwardly patted her on the back.