A note before we begin:

Hello everyone, thank you for clicking on this story. This is the first serious piece of writing I've ever done, and the first thing I've ever published to this site, so It's obviously not perfect. That being said, I hope to improve as I go and get better at writing interesting, compelling pieces. Hopefully the quality of this fic improves as the story progresses. I have some pretty ambitious plans for this story at the moment. I'm thinking about this being a five book series, with a focus of expanding the HP universe and adding more lore, as well as creating an interesting cast of OCs. Characters from this story will interact with characters from the original HP series, although it will not happen right away and interaction may be minimal in the beginning, largely due to the main setting of this story and also because I'd like to focus on my main characters for a bit at first. I'm dedicated to seeing this story through, however, because I feel like I have a very cool concept to work with that hasn't been overdone to the point of clichè yet, like the vast majority of Harry Potter fanfics eventually succumb to. I'd obviously like as many reviews as possible. It's the best way for this thing to get better, so be sure to give any feedback on what I could do better in the future!

Thanks,

StickWombat

The Ilvermorny Files

Book one

Chapter 1: The Magic School Bus

September 2nd, 2002.

Calvin Edgely stood on the corner of York and Wheeling, waiting for the bus to arrive. Next to him sat a ratty, old suitcase. It was a breezy September morning, and the leaves falling were brilliant shades of red and orange. The eleven year old was dressed according to the slightly chilly weather by wearing an old, ratty, sweatshirt. He was skinny. Very skinny, in fact, and the sweatshirt didn't fit well. He ran his fingers through his messy blond hair, attempting to extract the pet salamander that was currently nested up there. His attempt was unsuccessful, and the slippery amphibian avoided his grasp.

"Get out of there, little guy…" he muttered. He made another swipe at his salamander right as a jogger ran by. The runner slowed down for a second, giving Calvin a weird look. He smiled sheepishly as the man ran away. Giving up on his quest to grab his pet, Calvin checked his watch. It was a beat up old analog, and it had been a gift from his dad for his eighth birthday. Apparently it had belonged to his late grandfather, a man Calvin had never been fortunate to meet. The watch was in bad condition and barely even worked, but Calvin decided to wear it with honor. It was a nice watch if you looked behind the surface flaws. And it had character. At least, that's what his dad had told him when he'd given it away. Calvin squinted, trying to read the watch face. The bus was a couple of minutes late. You'd think the bus to a school for wizards would be a bit more punctual.

"Calvin!"

Calvin looked for the person who called his name and saw one of his neighbors heading his way out of the corner of his eye. He pretended to tie his shoe, wishing this was a conversation he could avoid. It wasn't that he didn't like Mrs. Jones, he just didn't want to get into a conversation that would last hours. She tended to talk too long, and was an exceptionally nosy lady. She'd probably find a way to get information about the "mysterious" boarding school he was attending. He didn't really have time to get sucked into one of these discussions. He had places to be! He had magic to learn! He didn't have time to talk with boring old people.

"How are you doing young man?"

Calvin turned around to look at the old woman. "...Fine," he managed.

"Your father tells me you're going off to an exclusive boarding school in Massachusetts. I'm sure that will be exciting."

"Yes, I'm pretty excited."

"Do you think you'll miss home?"

Calvin looked at her, incredulous. "Miss home? I've been waiting for this moment my whole life!"

Mrs. Jones didn't seem to like that response, but it was true. From a young age, Calvin had simply felt bored with the mundanity of life. But here, out of seemingly nowhere was the promise of a life as a wizard! A life filled with excitement, and intrigue, and even magic! It was a dream come true for any eleven year old boy, but especially him.

Which wasn't to say that he didn't like living as a… No-Maj. There were parts of being normal that he loved. He was sure that he'd miss his dad, and the little league team, and other things, but the promise of an escape from a life of a life of boredom as something like an accountant was certainly nice.

A horn honked and as Calvin turned around he realized the bus had showed up without him noticing somehow.

"It was nice talking to you, but I can't leave the bus waiting any longer!"

Mrs. Jones seemed to accept this begrudgingly and began to walk away.

The bus doors opened and Calvin looked up at the bus driver, an older looking man. He was dressed in the silk same robes that Calvin had seen everybody wearing when he went shopping for school supplies. And that included the lady who came to tell him he was a wizard.

"Last stop!" The bus driver yelled out.

Calvin stepped up to the curb."Is this the first year bus to Ilvermorny?"

"Yes it is," croaked the old man. "Ticket?"

Calvin rummaged through his pocket and pulled out a crumpled up ticket, given to him a few days back. He handed it to the bus driver and stepped on the bus, wheeling his suitcase behind him. The doors closed silently behind him, and the man pressed a button on the dashboard labeled disillusionment.

The bus itself was fairly large and also full. Kids everywhere chatted amongst themselves, dressed in robes and wearing weird hats. Miniature figurines on broomsticks zipped and zoomed around. Tiny frogs made of chocolate in every direction. It was a scene from a movie, or a fantasy novel, or something.

He could feel the bus beginning to get lifted out of the sky, and he looked out the window, grinning. Of course the bus could fly!

He strode down the aisle and took an empty seat by the window, sighing happily. Today was the first day of the rest of his life. Magic was real, and everytime he thought about that it was hard to resist smiling. This was literally the kind of stuff he daydreamed about during school. Leaning back in his seat, he pulled a book out of his suitcase. It seemed like a good time as to try to catch up on as much magical theory before the first day of school as the bus ride was bound to take a while. He knew he would probably be at least a little bit behind, and so he figured he'd have to do whatever was possible to close the gap. There'd be time to make new friends later. He cracked open his old, dusty textbook, and was about to start reading when…

"Hey!" A boy had taken a seat next to Calvin. "I'm Jerome. Jerome Waters." He extended his hand. "I take it you're First-Gen, too?"

Calvin hesitated, and then a bit nervously shook the proffered hand. "Yeah, how'd you know?"

"It's the clothes. We're about the only two people on the bus not dressed in fancy robes. We kinda stand out. There's something in your hair, by the way."

Calvin looked down at his ratty old sweatshirt, suddenly feeling slightly self conscious about his choice of clothing. He'd been told there'd be a dress code, but he wouldn't get his school uniform until the first day. At least Jerome didn't look much different as he was wearing a light blue Detroit Lions shirt.

"That's Sherman. He's my salamander." Calvin pulled the tiny creature out of his hair. "He has a cage, but I always feel bad putting him in it, and he seems to like hanging out on top of my head, so I let him stay up there most of the time." Sherman scrambled up his arm until he was perched on Calvin's shoulder. "Did you get a pet? I know it's optional."

"Nah, maybe if they offered something a little more normal. What kind of person has an owl for a pet? Or a Raven? Even a salamander is a little bit weird, no offense."

Calvin chuckled lightly. "None taken. I mean, I kind of have to agree, it's all pretty strange," Everything about the wizarding world seemed… medieval. He had been shocked to learn that quills, ink, and parchment paper were on the school supplies list.

"When did you learn about magic?" asked Jerome.

"Maybe a week ago when they sent somebody to go get school supplies with me and tell me I was a wizard. My dad just about fainted when he found out, which is understandable, I guess, but to me it was awesome. I've always wanted to escape getting a boring job one day, and this is a great chance to do that. Plus, it will be nice being able to do magic. I've been wanting to do that for ages. When did you find out you were a wizard?"

"Three days ago. My parents were… surprised, to say the least. I was supposed to go to this expensive private school this fall, but those plans are pretty much out the window. I'm still having trouble trying to process everything, though. Can you believe that there's this entire secret society of people who can do magic living right underneath our noses?"

Calvin shook his head.

"It's absolutely insane," Jerome continued. "You'd think a No-Maj would have found out by now." He sat silently for a moment, in thought, and then gestured towards Calvin's book. "What'cha reading?"

"Charms theory for beginners. I'm a little worried I'm gonna be behind everybody else, so I bought some extra books with some leftover scholarship money when I got to go shopping. Hopefully the library is big, too, because I don't know if these books are gonna be enough. I mean, most of the other students have lived with magic their whole lives, and I've known about it for only a few days. I figure a little bit of catch up can't hurt, right? I already finished the Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook."

"The entire Defense Against the Dark Arts Textbook?"

Calvin nodded.

Jerome blinked, sitting back in his seat. "Wow. I didn't even think that we might be behind. You're not supposed to use magic before school, right?"

Calvin frowned. "I mean, I guess so, but that won't prevent people from learning the theory behind magic, right? There's probably some sort of wizarding elementary school, or tutor, or something. And even if there isn't, these other kids have been living a life with magic for years."

"I guess I could have been trying to catch up earlier. Some of these subjects are crazy. Magical Creature Care? Xylomancy? Runes?"

"You'll be fine." Calvin reassured him. "It's probably not a game changer or anything. Personally, I'm a little bit disappointed you can't take Xylomancy as a first year. Telling the future with twigs? That's probably the coolest thing ever. " He sighed contentedly. "Anyways, the person that took me shopping said we'd get our wands after we got sorted into houses. Do you have any clue how sorting works?"

"I wish I did. I asked my shopping guide about it. She was so secretive. Said I'd find out when I got to Ilvermorny."

"Dang." Calvin lamented. He slumped a little.

"It sounds like it's all supposed to be a surprise for us first years," Jerome remarked.

"That doesn't stop it from sucking though," Calvin added, scowling.

"I know how it happens," piped in a voice from behind them, interrupting their conversation. Calvin and Jerome whipped their heads around to see who had just talked. "My brother told me," said a girl their age with long, black hair and glasses. "He said we step in front of four statues, and we go to the house of whichever statue reacts to us. He said it's a very sacred moment and your sorting influences the rest of your life. He's in house Pukwudgie." She said proudly.

Calvin stared at her. "Have you been listening to us the whole time?"

"What? No, I just… I wasn't purposefully trying to eavesdrop." She said forcefully. "To be fair, you guys are kind of loud."

"Fair enough," Calvin said. "What's your name?"

"I'm Melissa. Melissa Donahue. I've never met a First-Gen before."

"Nice to meet you, Melissa. I'm Calvin and this is Jerome."

"Nice to meet you too."

"I don't know if this is nosy or anything," Calvin started, "But I kinda want to know. Did you grow up as… you know, a wizard?"

"Umm, yeah."

"What was it like? What kind of stuff did you do?"

"What do you want to know specifically?"

Calvin shrugged. "Pretty much everything, to be honest. What do you guys use for transportation? Why do wizards wear those weird robes? How does magic work?"

"Well, to answer your first question we use brooms, floo, portkeys and apparition for transportation mainly. Occasionally we use busses like this, but that's only for large numbers of people. For your second question… I don't really know. I've seen super old pictures and we wore the same outfits, so I'd guess part of it is tradition. And for your third question, I have absolutely no clue."

"Really?" Calvin asked. "Is it the kind of thing you learn in school, or does nobody know?"

Melissa shrugged.

"Dang." Calvin said. He'd been wanting to know how magic worked and what separated a wizard from a No-Maj. "Do you have any questions, Jerome?"

"...I dunno. Um, do you guys have any sports or anything?"

Melissa's eyes brightened. "Let me tell you about a game called Quodpot…"

Surprisingly, Calvin and Jerome were not nearly as enamored with Quodpot as Melissa was.

"I don't understand what's so brilliant about it!" Complained Jerome. "It's just an exploding ball! Why is a game like this so popular?"

"The Quodpot ball is the best part!" Argued Melissa. "Just imagine yourself racing on a broomstick. The ball in your hand could explode at any minute, and there's only one person between you and the basket. That feeling is indescribable. It's the best game ever, and it's not even close."

Calvin shrugged. "It's fine, sure, but I was expecting something more… fun from wizards, I guess."

"It's plenty of fun!"

"Forget I said anything. It's probably just not my kind of thing. Does anybody teach us how to fly on these brooms, or are we just expected to know how? Nobody ever taught me. I wouldn't ride, probably, but how is one supposed to learn?"

"Well, Ilvermorny has flying lessons, but they're generally only taken by First-gens and are optional."

"Are there other broom sports at Ilvermorny?" Jerome asked.

"I guess they have Quidditch, but my brother says they never get enough people to actually make a team. Pretty much everybody plays Quodpot, but there are a few other clubs here and there as well. Gobstones, dueling. Personally, I can't see why anybody would want to play anything other than Quodpot, but that's just me."

Their discussion continued for hours after that as Melissa did her best to get the two First-Gens updated on everything there was to know about the wizarding world, from goblins to garden gnomes. Her information was super valuable for two kids still new to magic, and the boys traded information about the wizarding world for information about the mundane one, which Melissa found to be very backward.

Eventually they arrived at their destination, which was Mount Greylock. A massive, towering peak in northwest Massachusetts, it was one of the most impressive things Calvin had ever seen. Perched at the top was the magnificent stone castle that was Ilvermorny, and he couldn't help but stand completely silently in awe and amazement. It was truly a testament to the luxury of magic that wizarding schools were gigantic and towering castles straight out of Arthurian legend.

"How do people miss that?" muttered Jerome as the students piled out of the bus. "You'd think No-Majs everywhere would spot a huge castle like that on top of a mountain. Isn't this place a state park?"

"Magic, if I had to guess," whispered Calvin, but even he was skeptical about how a building that large could be concealed from the majority of the world. That must've taken some powerful magic. Maybe there were men in black type wizards who erased memories.

No, that seemed illogical.

Calvin noticed all of the other students turning their attention to a woman standing near the front of the bus. She was tall, and wearing a fancy set of robes. It looked like she was the person who was supposed to receive the class.

"Alright, students. Line up, single file. I'm Professor Bridgewater, and I teach Potions at Ilvermorny." She started, "I want everybody to follow me, now, and I'll explain how we're going to get to the top of the mountain once everybody is inside the visitor center. This way. Hurry along, now."

The first years dutifully followed the professor into the visitor center which was surprisingly completely empty, which would've been surprising if it wasn't a Monday and if there wasn't a sign on the door that said the park was closed for the day. Calvin guessed that was by design of the school administrators so a flying bus carrying about fifty eleven year olds in funny clothes wasn't spotted.

The first years all lined up in front of the grand fireplace in the middle of the building and awaited instruction from the teacher once they got into the large main room of the visitor center. Once everybody was in, the woman who identified herself as Professor Bridgewater pulled a small pouch from her pocket.

"I need all of you to listen carefully and closely. I'm only going to say this once, and this is extremely important." she put a small amount of dust from the pouch into the palm of her hand and threw it into the fireplace, which lit up a brilliant emerald green in response. "For those of you who are unfamiliar with what we are about to do, the dust I threw into the fireplace is called Floo Powder. Each of you needs to walk into this fireplace. Before you do so, you need to yell out: 'Ilvermorny School Main Entrance!' loud and clear. It's important that you clearly state that you want to go to the main entrance, as we don't want anybody getting lost. This may be a strange experience for some of you, and it may be an uncomfortable experience at first, but it is important to stay calm and still when in the Floo. It's very dangerous if misused."

A first year raised her hand. "Why couldn't we just fly the bus to the top of the mountain?"

Mrs. Bridgewater pursed her lips. "Ilvermorny is protected by an advanced and powerful set of wards designed specifically to prevent intrusions from the sky. Normally, this keeps out dark wizards and other criminals and keeps students and staff safe, but in this case it keeps out the bus as well and forces us to enter the school through a preapproved floo point. Does that make sense?"

The first year nodded.

Calvin hesitated. He was a little nervous about just blindly walking into a fire that would transport him to the castle. He liked to think that he had been pretty understanding regarding the safety of magic throughout the day, (He had ridden on a flying magical bus, for crying out loud!) but walking into a fire, magical or not, just didn't seem like a great idea to him at the moment. He didn't like fire. Not one bit. Carefully, he pulled Sherman the salamander out of his hair and tucked him in his pocket to keep him safe. The last thing he wanted to do was lose the little guy in this thing. He turned around to Melissa, who was standing behind him. "Have you done this before? Is it dangerous? Are there any side effects?"

"I wouldn't exactly call it dangerous, but it is pretty disorienting your first couple times. Not anywhere near as bad as a portkey or apparition. I'd say the closest thing to the feeling you get is being seasick. You might get a little dizzy, but it won't be much worse."

The line had already started moving and was advancing quickly. There were only four people ahead of him now.

"Ilvermorny School Main Entrance!"

Make that three. Calvin started rocking on his heels slightly, trying unsuccessfully to think about anything other than fire. Fire just made him think about his mom, which was not something he didn't want to relive.

"Ilvermorny School Main Entrance!" Two more students ahead of him. He cursed the fact that he was near the beginning of the line. Maybe if he had more time…

"Ilvermorny School Main Entrance!"

That was a stupid thought. No use worrying about it anymore. He'd just have to suck it up and get it over with. Hopefully this thing was quick. In and out.

"Main entrance!" Jerome stepped into the fireplace, disappearing in the flames.

Alright. Now or never. He took a deep breath. "Main entrance!" Calvin stepped into the fireplace, with a battered old suitcase in tow and salamander hiding in his pocket.

Everything around him turned emerald green, and for a second there he floated in the eternal void with nothing but fireplaces as far as the eye could see.

And then, he shot forward. He felt like he was flying at 100 miles per hour in every direction at once, and then getting compressed and stretched out all at the same time. Fireplaces of all shapes and sizes whizzed past his line of vision, and there was a constant sense of being lost, as if you had no clue which direction you were going in. He gripped onto his suitcase handle until his knuckles turned white and began to grit his teeth.

Calvin officially hated floo travel.

It was the single most nauseating experience he had ever been through, but it was over almost as quickly as it had started. Almost. He sensed himself approaching a fireplace, and squeezed his eyes shut tightly as he shot forward towards it. As he exited the floo system, Calvin shot out of the fireplace like a cannon, stumbling and flailing blindly. He crashed into a boy with sandy blond hair standing a little bit away from the fireplace who had been talking to some friends. They collapsed, limbs entangled.

"Watch it, buddy!" snapped the boy he had slammed into. He pushed himself off of Calvin and stood over him. He turned to his friends. "It's always easy to spot the mudbloods, isn't it? They tend to bumble around a little bit more than the rest of us when we do stuff like this." He turned his attention to Calvin, who was still laying on the floor. "You better watch yourself. If you do anything else like that to me I'll make your life living hell. I'm capable of making that happen."

Calvin's face reddened with embarrassment as he heard the laughter around him. He didn't know what a mudblood was, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to know. And what was with that threat? All he'd done was accidentally bump into the guy. It wasn't like he'd punched him or anything…

He slowly got up and brushed himself off, making a conscious effort to carry himself with as much dignity as possible. He spotted Jerome and made his way towards him, trying to forget about the embarrassment that had just occurred.

"I'm never doing that again. Ever. That was so disorienting."

His friend laughed. "C'mon, it wasn't that bad. I'm sure you'll get used to it eventually."

Calvin rolled his eyes. "Riiight," he checked his pocket. Good, Sherman was alive and well. His pet salamander was already climbing back to his perch on top of his head. He also still had his suitcase. He supposed he'd do it again if he had to, but only if it was absolutely necessary.

Melissa walked by behind them at that moment. "How'd it go?"

"Somebody had a rough time," said Jerome. "You should've seen him come out of the fireplace," Calvin groaned, and Melissa began to laugh.

"You'll get the hang of it," she reassured him.

"I'm sure I will," he responded.

Mrs. Bridgewater walked past them, counting heads. "Fifty-four... Fifty-Five… Fifty-Six... Good heavens! All of the students are accounted for. This is the first time everybody's gotten to the destination correctly in years!" She sighed with relief. "Most of the time a First-Gen or two manages to screw it up…" she murmured under her breath. Calvin assumed that she hadn't meant for anybody to hear her comment, but apparently he had good hearing. "All of you students go straight down that corridor now. A little bit down the hall you'll see a man with some parchment that has all of your names on it. You'll all need to be lined up in alphabetical order so you can be sorted. Oh, and leave your luggage here, it will be sent to your dorms once you are sorted."

Calvin put Sherman back in his cage and left him with his luggage. A slight thrill went through him as he followed the other students down the long hallway. He was excited! This was his chance to finally take his first step on his way to learning magic. His whole life, all of those times he had accidentally teleported from one room to another, all of those times he'd summoned a toy into his hands or made objects float. All of those times he'd been sure was just hallucinations… He'd be learning to do all of that on command now! To be completely honest, this was shaping up to be the best day of his life!

The students reached the end of the hallway where a large pair of double doors stood ominously. A rather short man in long, flowing robes sporting a curly, lengthy beard stood next to the doors, peering at the list and muttering to himself. He looked up and smiled warmly, showing off a set of crooked and yellowing teeth. "Why hello first years! I'm Professor Winston. I'm almost done double checking this list. I'll be with you shortly." He continued inspecting the parchment and wrapped up shortly thereafter, clearing his voice. "Hem hem! I'm going to announce your names, and you will form a single file line based off of the order in which your names are read. Ames, Sarah… Brabham, Derek…"

The first years shuffled slowly in order to line up, and Calvin stood right behind Melissa near the front. Jerome was the last person in line.

"In a few moments we will begin the sorting ceremony. Here at Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry students are divided into four houses. House Horned Serpent favors scholars, House Wampus favors Warriors, House Thunderbird favors adventurers, and House Pukwudgie favors healers. It is very crucial that you understand the importance of this ceremony. For better or worse, the sorting affects your entire time at school, and likely your time afterwards as well. Needless to say, this will be incredibly important, so you must do exactly what I say. When it is your turn to be sorted, you are to stand in front of statues of one of the house mascots and one of them will choose you. Stand on the Gordian knot in the center, and stay silent during the sorting. When your sorting is complete, you may go get your wand. Only one student is allowed in the sorting room at a time, so some of you might be waiting a while."

"House of healers? I'd rather lose my magic than get put in the house of healers…" muttered the boy behind Calvin.

Jeez. That sounded extreme. To be completely honest, he'd be fine in any house. That being said…

"House Thunderbird sounds like fun," Calvin whispered to Melissa. "I'd love to be an adventurer."

The doors slowly slid open, with stone grinding on stone loudly, and the first girl in line walked tentatively into the next room.

"SARAH AMES!" boomed a large voice, and the doors closed behind her as she walked through.

It took a few minutes for the doors to reopen, and when they did the next kid stepped up, accompanied by another introduction. The remaining two kids in front of Melissa stepped through the door in due time, and pretty soon it was her turn to get sorted.

"Good luck," said Calvin.

"Thanks," she replied, giving him a thumbs up as she stepped into the large sorting room.

"MELISSA DONAHUE!"

The doors slid shut behind her.

Calvin stood still for the next several minutes, waiting patiently. When the two doors slid open, he stepped into a gigantic circular room somewhat nervously but also with an air of calm at the same time.

"CALVIN EDGLEY!" The doors slid shut and closed him off from the rest of the year. Calvin took in his surroundings. Directly in front of him were four large wooden statues. The two on his left, Horned Serpent and Thunderbird, were easy to identify. The statues on his right were a little more difficult. One of them looked somewhat similar to a cat, and the other one… he wasn't exactly sure. It didn't look like anything he'd seen before. A balcony above him scaled the upper perimeter of the room, and it looked like the entire Ilvermorny student body stood up there. There was a second balcony, slightly higher up that was square. This one was occupied by teachers. Everybody was watching him, weren't they?

"STEP INTO THE CENTER OF THE ROOM!"

Calvin nodded silently and made his way towards the middle, noticing the symbol directly in the middle on the marble floor. It looked like a bunch of tangled up string. The Gordian knot, wasn't it? He stepped on the symbol.

Nothing happened at first. The statues stayed statues. The room was eerily quiet and for a moment Calvin wondered if anything would happen at all.

And then everything happened at once.

The crystal on the forehead of the snake began to glow a blinding light. The Thunderbird beat its wings, creating a gust of wind. The statue resembling a cat let out a deafening roar right afterwards, and the final statue raised it's arrow and pointed it right at Calvin's head. What? What was happening? Did he do something wrong? He felt like he'd done something wrong. He put his hand over his ears as the cat thing's roar got louder and louder. He had to squint to be able to see through the Serpent's gemstone that was shining so brightly, and had to brace himself to not get knocked over by the beating of the Thunderbird's wings. It seemed like the only statue not trying to actively destroy him was the one with the arrow. The Pukwidgie.

The room descended into chaos, but it didn't last long until the source of the big, booming voice -who Calvin had just identified as the person sitting front and center on the balcony- decided to speak.

"SILENCE!"

Just like that, all of the talking died down, and the man in the balcony spoke once more, although this time it was much quieter. It seemed like people listened to this guy. Was he the headmaster? He was middle aged, with his head shaved bald and a mustache. He was super far away, but Calvin still sensed an incredibly intimidating aura from the man. His eyes bore directly into Calvin, and he couldn't help but feel vulnerable. That sense of vulnerability went away when he noticed the look of surprise and calculation on the Headmaster's face. He looked a bit worried. "Mr. Edgley, you are the recipient of a great honor. Very rarely is a single person chosen by more than one house, much less four. In fact, I don't believe it has ever happened in the history of the school. You have a decision to make. You can choose between any of the four houses as your home for the next seven years of your education, although I must advise that you choose wisely and take your time."

Calvin thought for a moment, thousands of thoughts whirring through his head at the same time. He ran through each of the houses in his mind. As much as he hated to admit it, he didn't think of himself as a healer. In fact, he was slightly surprised that he had been chosen by the Pukwudgie statue, but perhaps it had seen something in him. Nevertheless, Calvin wasn't sure if it was the right fit for him, so House Pukwudgie was out. He thought about House Wampus, house of warriors. No, that one was out as well. He'd never go out of his way to get into a fight without a really good reason. That left Horned Serpent and Thunderbird, both of which seemed like good fits. He yearned for adventure, and the promise of learning magic at Ilvermorny certainly fueled the desire he had to adventure in this new world. That being said, he'd gotten a newfound sense of academic responsibility when he'd gotten his Ilvermorny invitation. Perhaps that was the right fit.

This was hard. He couldn't stop thinking about what Professor Winston had said regarding the importance of the sorting ceremony.

Something about house Thunderbird called to him more than house Horned Serpent did. He'd felt it a little tug in his gut when he learned about the four houses, and he felt it again, right now as he stared at the statue. Ok. It was decided then.

"Thunderbird," he said somewhat quietly, and he was met with a chorus of cheers from the Thunderbird section of the balcony who had still managed to hear him. Another pair of doors slid open directly in front of him, and he walked through it quickly. He knew what was happening next. He was getting a wand. He grinned and followed a small corridor into another room, this one much smaller than the one for sorting. There was a woman standing at a large front desk, and behind her sat rows upon rows of what Calvin could've sworn were shoeboxes. Calvin spotted Melissa on her way out of the room, brand new wand in hand.

"Hey!" She greeted him. "What house did you get sorted into?"

"Thunderbird. How bout you?"

"Same. I wasn't sure if that's where I was gonna go at first, because my brother was a Pukwudgie, but my sorting was fairly straightforward. I guess it doesn't matter what house your family is in. I'm pretty happy with it, though. How did yours go? Any complications? Apparently Robert Candor's sorting dragged on a little long."

"It was… er, kinda complicated, but in a good way, I think. Maybe. I'll tell you later, though. I wanna get my wand first."

"Ok, sounds good." Melissa walked off to join the rest of the Thunderbirds.

"Mr. Edgley, if you'd come over here."

Calvin walked over to the counter, where the wand expert had already stacked up about five boxes. She opened up the top box and handed the wand to Calvin. "Try this one out. Just give it a little flick."

Calvin obliged and got no results. He tried all of the other wands on the counter and still nothing happened.

"Hmmm, this may be a little difficult. Hold on one second." She ran behind the shelves and returned with three more boxes. "One of these should work."

Calvin tried the first one and got a few sparks. The second wand yielded similar results. The third wand, however, gave very different results. It shot off a group of sparks and almost caught the woman's clothes on fire.

"Very peculiar," she muttered after shrieking and flailing around for a few minutes. "15 and ¾ inches, ash, and a yeti fur core. Good for dueling. The wand chooses the wizard, as the old wandmaker's saying goes. It will be interesting to see the things you and this wand accomplish together. Very interesting. You'd best be going now."

Calvin was pretty sure she made the exact same cryptic remark about everybody's wands, but he didn't really care. He made his way towards the stairs marked for the Thunderbird section of the balcony, fidgeting with his wand in his hand. It looked just like an ordinary stick, but he could feel an innate sense of power emanating from it. It wasn't particularly strong, but it was definitely present in a way that let Calvin feel the magic around it, if only slightly. When he got to the top of the stairs, he noticed Melissa standing at the edge of the balcony and gave her a wave to let her know he was on his way over. Calvin tried to squeeze through a pair of students, but he was blocked off, and they were deep in conversation.

"What do you wanna bet that firstie is in the paper tomorrow?"

"Pfft. You and I both know that's gonna happen. It's not even a fair bet! They always make a huge deal whenever something like this happens. I swear, every time somebody gets chosen by multiple statues they act like they're destined to become the next President of MACUSA or something."

"To be fair, 3 out of the last 5 people to get chosen by multiple statues did become president. Even the ones who didn't went on to be successful. Besides, he didn't get chosen by just two statues, he got chosen by four. Honestly, I feel bad for him. Imagine all of the pressure he's going to receive now."

"Man, you always gotta slip random facts into conversations."

"It's a gift…"

Calvin gulped. He walked around the students after an opening appeared, and he made his way to the edge of the balcony by Melissa just in time to see Kate Franklin become the newest member of House Pukwudgie.

"So," began Melissa as he walked over. "I overheard some students about your sorting. Do you have any idea how rare it is to get selected by all four houses? I've never heard of it happening before. It's generally a once in a generation event when someone gets chosen by two houses, but I don't know if anybody's even been chosen by three!"

Calvin just stood silently for a moment. "Yeah, I know. I guess it's kind of cool." He forced a smile. He couldn't stop thinking about what those other kids had said.

"Kind of? Just kind of? You made Ilvermorny history on your first day. Most of us would be lucky to do something like that at all, and you did it on your first day. I'd say that was a little bit more than just kind of cool."

Calvin shrugged. "You have a point. But if I'm gonna be honest I'm a little bit worried. I overheard some older kids talking. I think there's gonna be a lot of pressure on me to do well and be the President of something called MACUSA. And I'm gonna be in the paper tomorrow, apparently. I'm worried. What if I don't live up to those expectations? What if I just fail?"

"I didn't even think about that," Melissa admitted. "To be completely honest, I have no idea. Try not to think about any of that. Just focus on what's important to you, not what anybody else expects you to do."

Nigel Johnson walked up to be sorted. Melissa noticed Calvin wince.

"What?"

"I may have had a bad interaction with that guy."

"What happened?"

"Well, I crashed into him after I came out of the floo, and he got kinda pissed. He said something to his friends along the lines of: 'It's always easy to spot the mudbloods, isn't it? And then he threatened me, I think."' He gave her a serious look when he saw she looked upset. "What does mudblood even mean? Is it bad?"

Melissa frowned. "It's a slur. He basically insulted your lineage. You know, because you're a First-gen. It's not something that's socially acceptable to say, especially for something as minor as crashing into someone. Apparently Nigel didn't get the memo. That guy's always been a complete moron."

"Wow, there's a slur for people like me?"

She nodded.

Calvin's brow furrowed. "I don't know how to feel about that. Wait, do you already know Nigel?"

"Yeah," she admitted. "He's a total jerk, but it's not entirely his fault. His parents are a couple of elitists and they taught him to act the exact same. And nobody says anything about his family because his dad is a high ranking government official. The entire family is a pain to be around, but I have to go to way too many parties with that kid."

The pair continued to watch their classmates get sorted, making sure to cheer along with the rest of the Thunderbirds everytime a new student joined their house. They both cheered extra loud when Jerome got chosen by the Thunderbird statue. He met up with them after getting his wand, and right after that all of the students began to exit the large circular room. Calvin tapped an older student on the shoulder.

"Where are we going?"

"We're headed towards the mess hall for the opening night feast. You'll be able to find your way down there if you follow the crowds. It's not very far."

Calvin nodded and the three of them made their way towards the mess hall. His stomach grumbled. He was hungry.

When they got to the mess hall, Calvin, Jerome and Melissa found some seats at an empty circular table. Students were already chattering away, and the sounds of conversation filled the room. The mess hall was gigantic, with about fifty smaller circular tables with chairs throughout the area and an incredibly long rectangular one in the back of the mess hall. Seated at the long table were the teachers, Calvin presumed, as he recognized Professor Bridgewater amongst them and had seen the rest sitting in the upper balcony during the sorting ceremony. Their plates, while empty at first, filled up with platters upon platters of food as soon as once they sat down. Calvin didn't want to wait any longer, and he noticed those around him digging in as well, so he began to eat. The food was, in his humble opinion, the best thing he'd ever had, and it wasn't long before he started to get seconds. Jerome and Melissa followed his lead shortly after him.

"I love magic," said Jerome as he helped himself to another bowl of pudding. "I've never had anything that's tasted this good in my whole life."

"I second that," said Calvin. "I can't believe what I've missed out on all this time." He looked to Melissa. "Is wizard food always this good? Or is this a special occasion?"

Her mouth was full, so she nodded in confirmation.

"Hmm," Calvin mused. I suppose if you have magic you can make anything taste better because it's all a lot easier to make.

All of the talk in the mess hall died down suddenly when the man sitting at the front of the table stood up and cleared his throat, ready to speak. He was the person who had intervened during Calvin's sorting. The headmaster, presumably. He held up his wand, and it lit up at the tip a bit. He pressed the wand against his neck and it amplified his voice, if only slightly. Kind of like a microphone.

"Hello, students. I trust you all had a magnificent summer and I hope you are all ready for the new school year. For those of you who are new, I am Mr. Sagan, the Headmaster here at Ilvermorny Shool of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I only have a few words and then I will let you continue eating and return to your common rooms before curfew. First, I would like to introduce our newest Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Daphne Greengrass. She will be replacing Professor Spindly, who retired last spring." A young woman in her twenties stood up and waved. Mr. Sagan continued. "This is her first year as a teacher, but I assure you she is one of the most qualified Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers we've had in a while. Second on the things I must address tonight, I would like to give a very warm welcome to our new first years. Your schedules should show up in your dorms tomorrow morning. If you need any help, even for something as simple as finding the location of a class, I'd advise you find a Student Assistant. You'll be able to locate them from the badge on their robes. If you find yourself needing a little more help, feel free to ask a teacher. For some of you older students, I'd advise you to continue to pay attention to your studies. I know it is easy to slack off, especially for seventh years, but you mustn't go down that path. Let's see… two more things. Tryouts for various clubs and sports will start on September 14th and end on the 21st. This includes Quodpot, Dueling Team, Gobstones, and Young Arithmancers, among others. More details about those will be posted on the common room information board, or you can gather pamphlets from the teacher leaders of these specific clubs. The final thing is regarding a change in the disciplinary direction of our school. This is the first year where we are experimenting with the absence of house points. The house points system is not very effective and doesn't promote inter house behavior, and we have had major problems with that in previous years. That does not mean that we are to stop giving detentions, however, and they will likely be even more frequent, so you all should remain on your best behavior."

An uproar started after the Headmaster's last comment, but Mr. Sagan waved at them to be quiet.

"I think that's about it, and I hope you all have a tremendous school year."

He sat down after that and a lot of students left the mess hall, many of them chatting somewhat angrily. Apparently some kids were into the house points system. Who knew.

Calvin noticed an older Thunderbird student trying to gather up first years to lead to the common room.

"Let's follow him," Calvin said, and his two friends trailed behind him as he made his way to the growing cluster of first years.

"...It may be hard in the beginning, but you'll start to get the hang of navigating the castle," the older student was saying to the first years. He adjusted the Student Assistant badge on his front. "I'm Marcus, by the way. Let's get going now, I think we have everyone…" his eyes darted over to Calvin, Melissa and Jerome and stayed on Calvin just long enough for it to be slightly uncomfortable.

Marcus led the students down the corridors. Calvin was perplexed by some of the things he saw. Talking paintings, suits of armor that moved on their own, gargoyles that towered menacingly on top of pillars that sneered at him. It was a lot to take in. He was also pretty sure he saw a winged horse flying around the grounds when he peeked through one of the windows and it made him wonder if it would be crazy to think a dragon may be somewhere on the grounds. Maybe in the woods behind the castle that he had spotted? It had only been a day, but Calvin had slowly learned to suspend his disbelief even when he saw some of the more surprising aspects of magic. One thing Calvin was not a fan of was the eyes of other students that seemed to follow him throughout the hallways. They made him shudder. Hopefully the novelty of his sorting would wear off and people would stop staring at him after a few days, but deep down, Calvin knew he wouldn't be that lucky. Melissa had said this was historic. He didn't think people would forget about that so easily.

If he was gonna be honest, he was a bit mad. It seemed like expectations for him would be high. What if he didn't meet them?

When the group reached the entrance to the common room, located on the third floor by the higher level classes, Marcus stopped and held out his hand next to a small, sleek slab of marble on the wall.

"This right here is your key into the common room. If you place your palm on the marble, your magical signature will be cross checked with your record in the Ilvermorny registry. If the registry detects you as a Thunderbird, you're in." He pressed his hand against it to demonstrate, and the doors slid open. The first years oohed and aahed appropriately, and then they flooded into the common room. It was not overly fancy but still possessed a homey feeling. It almost reminded Calvin of a log cabin, what with the fireplace, wooden walls, and the large couch in the middle. It even looked like there was a study corner. There were two flights of stairs on the far wall, one to the left and one to the right. Marcus pointed to the stairs. "Boys, go up the stairs on the left and head down to the first year dorms. Girls, take the stairs on the right and do the same. Lights out in thirty minutes!"

Calvin and Jerome waved goodbye to Melissa and made their way towards their common room with the other four boys. Calvin realized he didn't know any of their names yet and hadn't even really interacted with them aside from a few waves here or there. He decided to make a formal introduction in the morning, as it appeared that everyone was growing more and more tired by the second, himself included. Today had been draining. The long bus ride, the floo, the sorting, and then dinner.

The dorm had bunk beds, and Calvin and Jerome immediately decided to share one. A quick game of Rock Paper Scissors decided that Jerome would get the top bunk. Calvin gathered all of his luggage, including Sherman's cage, and set it beside his bunk. He brushed his teeth and then changed, making his way under the covers and falling asleep shortly afterwards, grateful to finally get some rest.

Location: Unspeakable North American headquarters, somewhere in upstate New York.

Date: September 2nd, 2002

Time: Unknown, possibly late

Unspeakable 84-C leaned back in his chair lazily, taking a sip out of his coffee mug. He yawned. Graveyard shifts were unbearable. Nothing interesting ever seemed to happen when he was on duty watching the Alert Hub. And why should it? The interesting things only happened in his department when the world was ending or something. The only alarms that had gone off while he was on duty were accidental. In fact, there were times when he wondered why the emergency prediction branch of the unspeakables even had two members on duty at a time given how rarely anything ever happened here. To him, it seemed like a waste of the organization's resources, but it wasn't exactly the kind of thing you tell your boss.

He glanced over at his partner, who was dozing away to his right. Unspeakable 17-W had only joined a few months ago, and so she still was relatively inexperienced. Fresh out of the academy.

Naturally, she'd been dumped in the most monotonous department of all, as was what happened to most of the new recruits. Poor kid. She probably wasn't doomed like he was, though. Eventually she'd move on like most of the people in this department and would be promoted to something a little bit more interesting after a couple of months. Everybody got a better gig eventually.

Well, everybody except him, that was.

Unspeakable 84-C rubbed his eyes and looked for his wand so he could cast a quick Tempus spell. How much time did he have left in this Merlin damned shift, anyways? He took a sip from his coffee and groaned.

His search for his wand was interrupted by the sound of an alarm coming from the far left side of the Alert Hub. He did a spit take and dropped his mug, scrambling down towards the end of the Alert Hub frantically. He had to blink a couple of times when he noticed that not one, but two alarm lights were going off.

The third light in the alarm section labeled Ilvermorny was wailing loudly and flashing a bright red light.

The eighth light in the alarm section labeled Prophecies was flashing bright blue. It was also completely silent.

Unspeakable 84-C ran down to where his partner was sleeping. Somehow she hadn't woken up in the commotion. He shook her awake frantically.

"Wha-who… Is the shift already over?" She asked confusedly, squinting so she wouldn't hurt her eyes against the light.

Unspeakable 84-C just shook his head. 17-W just looked at him confusedly for a moment, but that confusion turned into realization when she noticed the two alarms going off on the other side of the Alert Hub.

"Oh, shit."

84-C nodded. "Do you have the book?"

17-W checked her robe pockets. "I-uh, yeah," she pulled it out. Which alarms is it?"

84-C racked his brain. "Third one in the Ilvermorny section. And, um, the eighth one in the Prophecies one. And the Ilvermorny one was red and the prophecies one was blue. And… Oh! The Ilvermorny one was making noise, but the prophecies one was silent."

17-W nodded as she flipped through the pages. Her expression became horrified as she landed on one of the pages. She handed the book to 84-C so he could read it.

"Shit," he muttered. "I've never seen such a specific alarm combination described in the book like that. I thought it was maybe a fluke, but… this is serious. As in, probably the most serious thing to ever happen to this branch."

"So you think the alarms are connected?"

"Without a doubt. A combination like that does not show up coincidentally. We need to tell somebody. This probably has enough clearance to go straight to Unspeakable 1-M, in fact."

"Alright. Do we tell him in the morning?"

"No. We tell him right away. This is way too important to wait. Grab your things. We're going straight to the head Unspeakable…"

Last second author's note: I'm putting a poll up on my profile about whether I could keep each book of this series in one entry or separate it. Be sure to vote if you can.