In his eleven years of experience, Brendan knew that if you were dreading something it would seem to come sooner, and if you were looking forward to something it would stretch out the time that you were waiting indefinitely, especially during the last few hours. However, he was actually eager to learn about magic but also nervous. He was Muggle-born after all. Suppose he didn't fare well at Nehyr? Somehow these two reasons canceled each other out and the week went by like any other week.
However, sometime the system plays tricks on you. Sometimes things that you're nervous about decide that it would be more satisfying to watch the time drag out one minute at a time, watching the knot in your stomach grow until it takes an hour to untangle your digestive system. This is what Brendan felt the morning of August 19th. Losing in a combat against loss of sleep, he had rose nearly as early as 7:00(oh, the humanity!) The worst part was that nothing took his mind off it. I bet the don't have TVs at Nehyr he thought to himself, but didn't even bother turning on the tube. They won't have computers either. Better tell my e-mail contacts that I won't be available for the next ten months. He e-mailed his Internet freinds(and phoned his school ones), saying that he was going to a boarding school(it was technically true), but didn't surf the Internet despite his instincts to check his favorite sites one last time.
Finally, after a good two hours, his parents were up(although obviously they wanted to roll over and go back to sleep for another six hours) along with Brendan's little sister Emily, all three soullessly chewing on their cereal. Will they have cereal at Nehyr? Brendan asked himself, trying to amuse himself because one of his first attempts to shorten the wait was having peanut butter on toast(did they have that at Nehyr?) Sure, he had tried reading Magic Throughout the Ages, but it was really designed for those who were raised as wizards. He had, however, just finished reading through A Guide to Spells, Volume 1 and was going to start on Curses and Creatures.
"Well..." Brendan's father said reluctantly. "I guess it's time to go. Where were those directions?" Brendan meekly handed his father the scroll he had been given. "Hmm...Nurcius's Pizza Nebula...I think I've seen a place near the edges of town of that name."
"I'll get the phone book." Brendan offered.
"No, this is fine." Brendan's dad said, holding up his hand. "I remember where it is. Trust me."
* * *
Mental Note Brendan thought to himself. There's a lot of stuff "near the edges of town." They had been driving for almost half an hour and they were still lost in the endless mazes of small stores and townhouses. "Oh, yield a little faith!" his dad would retort every time he was told that maybe they should have used the phone book instead of trusting him.
"Why can't Brendan just use his magic wand to get to Nehirie." six-year-old Emily Spryn suggested, bouncing around in her seat.
"Number one, I don't know any spells." Brendan sighed, laying back in his seat. "Number two, I can't use magic or else I'd get in trouble. Number three, you can't do anything you want just because you have a wand. And number four, it's NEHYR!"
"Brendan, please be patient with your sister" Brendan and Emily's mom said, massaging her temples. "She's only six, she still watched cartoons and can't pronounce big words like-THERE IT IS!"
"I can say that!" Emily protested, but was thrown right by the car's veer. They were now in the parking lot of a typical pizza parlor, but it was closed. Brendan eyes darted around hopefully, and he soon saw it resting on the parlor wall:a sign saying "NURCIUS'S PIZZA NEBULA:CLOSED FOR RENOVATIONS." There were no signs of construction that were seen through the windows, though. Brendan's mom hugged him until Brendan could escape and run up to the door.
He breathed in and first tried to open the door-it was locked. Finally, he breathed in and pulled out his wand(the only thing not stuffed away) and tapped lightly on the door handle. He jumped back, startled, as the door swang open, but quickly ducked inside. As soon as he had done so, the door slammed shut behind him. A chill went up his spine.
"Ah, you're one of the Muggle-born first years." A voice said. A small teenager walked out. "Isn't it great? All of the magic and such?"
"I guess." Brendan said uncertainly.
"And at Nehyr you get to learn how to use it! Of course, you can't use it outside of school until you graduate. Ho boy, I remember this one first year...over the summer he got really mad at his cousin, you see, and cast a bunch of jinxes. The poor boy was terrified...of course, the Ministry of Magic put Memory Charms on everybody, but the first-year was still expelled...oh, am I rambling again?" Brendan nodded. "Well, sorry about that. "Anyway, follow me."
The attendant latched open the counter, and Brendan walked through timidly. He could now see that there was a set of stairs behind the counter. "C'mon down." the attendant invited, and Brendan followed him down the stairs. The stairs lead to a wall with a circular keyhole. The attendant flipped out what must have been a mahogany wand with a gold trim around the center. He inserted the wand into the hole until the gold trim disappeared, then pulled the wand back out. The wall slid away to reveal a long hallway. As soon as Brendan and the attendant stepped into the hallway, the wall slid back into place behind them.
They continued down the hallway until they reached another wall with a hole, where the attendant inserted his wand into. The wall once again slid away, this time to reveal a much broader set of stairs. "Well, this is the stop." Brendan nodded and climbed up the stairs as the attendant turned back to "unlock" the wall.
Brendan's mouth gaped open when he reached the top of the stairs. There must have been hundreds of people, all gathered on either side of the train tracks that ran down the middle. Children from the ages of ten to eighteen were all clustered near the train tracks, most wearing normal-whoops, he meant Muggle-clothes. However, what must have been there parents gathered farther away, smiling and wearing coloured robes. Brendan could feel that the place was underground. All of the students were carrying luggage like Brendan. Brendan fit right in there as he leaned against the rail, looking for any trains to come down the tracks.
"C'mere and get them! Just printed last year! Nehyr's two hundred year history explained in exactly 1001 pages by great historian Kira Dem! Only a Galleon a book!" Although a 1001 page book wouldn't normally be on Brendan's shopping list, he dug out a gold coin from last week and handed it to the man who was selling "A History of Nehyr." Brendan received a copy of the book in return and plopped down on a bench to start reading it.
Foreword
Wizarding schools have been around for many years, from the famous
European Hogwarts to the under construction Brazilian Deregon. The
first wizarding schools were those located in Europe:the English Hogwarts,
the French Bauxbatons and the (location unknown) Durmstrang. Soon
after the Egyptian Carnifor was opened, but it was not until a century
later that Australia and Japan copied the trend with the Korpea and Arinas
schools. The next wizarding school, after much delay, was the Chinese
Shuincta.
Despite these developments, the western world still had no public
magical education. Most wizards in North or South America were taught
by their parents, except for those who were wealthy enough to afford private
tutors. Because of the facts that knowledge handed down slowly loses
truth and that parents were too busy with their jobs to teach much, magical
education was slowly becoming poorer and poorer in the Americas...that
is, until five young adults in the late 1700s decided to build an American
wizarding school.
Brendan read the first few chapters about how five teenagers had came up with the idea to build an American wizarding school, but faced many difficulties getting materials from the government. He had just gotten up to the point where Elizabeth Garan had finally made a speech to convince the current Ministry of Magic to give them the resources when he heard a loud steam whistle blow. Brendan looked up to see a train rushing down the train tracks. Then, it gradually began to slow down until it stopped right in front of the crowds of people eagerly waiting for it, or so it seemed.
Like magic(which it probably was, Brendan had to stop using that saying), the railings vanished and the gaps between the cement and the train shortened into a single inch. The kids streamed through the open doors onto the train. Brendan allowed himself to be swept up in the torrent. The train had many cars, and most of the kids seemed to be chatting with friends while finding a spot. Brendan just walked around until he found a pair of empty seats and sat in the window one, and resumed reading A History of Nehyr, but he had only been reading a minute when a female voice boomed throughout the train. It didn't come over speakers or anything, it was just a loud female voice as if a giant was speaking.
"HELLO, STUDENTS OF NEHYR AND WELCOME TO THE YEAR OF 2005-2006. THIS TRAIN WILL REMAIN AT REST FOR TWO MORE HOURS, AFTER WHICH TIME WE WILL BE TRAVELING TO NEHYR. FOR PROTECTION, THE LOCATION OF NEHYR SHALL NOT BE REVEALED. AT THIS POINT I SHALL NOT REVIEW MANY RULES, I LEAVE THAT JOB TO MR. DERIFER. HOWEVER, I REMIND YOU TO CHECK THE CLOCKS SO YOU KNOW WHEN TO CHANGE INTO YOUR ROBES, AND PETS SHOULD BE KEPT IN CAGES FOR THE DURATION OF THE TRIP. SNACK CARTS SHALL TRAVEL DOWN THE TRAIN REGULARLY, AS WELL AS ONE FOR LUNCH. FEEL FREE TO SOCIALIZE WITH ANY OF YOUR FELLOW STUDENTS, BUT PLEASE DON'T GET INTO ANY FIGHTS." The announcement stopped and discussion around Brendan resumed.
Brendan resumed reading his book for another hour. He dimly noticed somebody sit down to him about the same time as he read despite Nehyr's progress, an argument would soon halt the school's building for months. But that person soon became very noticeable. "Hi!" the person, who was a female, said quickly and energetically. "Whoareyou?"
"Uh...I'm Brendan." Brendan said. The girl was about Brendan's size and age, and had blond hair with deep blue eyes.
"I'mPenny." the girl, Penny, said in the same tone as before. "Youlooknervous. AreyouaMudblood?"
"Mudblood?" Brendan asked, once again wishing he knew more about the wizarding world. There were things you could learn off of books, and things you had to experience. Wizarding language obviously fit into the second group.
"Ohsorry, mymomsaysthatIshouldn'tsayMudblood'causeit'srude." Brendan hadn't finished making out what Penny had said before she continued. "Butallitmeansisthatyou'renotapurebredwizardlikeme. Idon'tthinkithasanyeffectonmagicalability, though." Penny appeared to wait until Brendan had finished translating her quick talk in his head. "Isupposeit'sprofanethough, likeYou-Know-Who'sname."
"No, I don't know who's name." Brendan said after a moment.
"Wellmaybeyoudon'tknow, wejustcallhimyouknowwhobecausewedon'twanttosayhisname. You'llgetusedtoit."
"Who's name?" Brendan persisteded.
"Thelatedarklord!" Penny hissed. Brendan nodded and decided not to talk to Penny, but before he could go back to reading A History of Nehyr Penny's eyes caught the book. "You'reafirstyearlikemeright?" Brendan, who was getting used to Penny's way of talking, nodded. "Haveyougottothepartwiththehousesyet?" Brendan shook his head.
"Wellinthatcaseyouwon'tgettoitbytheSortingsoIguessit'suptometotellyou." Penny beamed.
Brendan shook his head vigorously, not wanting to have to make out any more. "I...like to find stuff out by myself." Penny nodded and sat back. Brendan continued reading his book. He had actually gotten about a third of the way through it(amazingly, Penny hadn't interrupted him) when the loud voice started talking again.
"THE TRAIN WILL NOW DEPART. LUNCH CARTS WILL COME AROUND SHORTLY." Almost immediately, the train started shaking. Brendan clutched his armrests in case the entire train burst apart right there and then. However, soon the movement appeared to be channeled into shooting forward. Brendan was flattened until he felt like he was part of the back of the seat. He managed to move his head sideways to see a blur of blue, white and green flying past his window. The train began to slow down to a reasonable speed and suddenly it felt like they weren't moving. The scenery(which had now materialized into a grassy area, there was nothing to show exactly where they were) still rolled by, but the train appeared to be standing still. In his mind Brendan compared this to the Earth rotating on it's axis.
The scenery didn't change during the next few minutes, but Brendan's attention was drawn away from the window by a metal cart coming down the aisle with a boy a few years older than Brendan pulling it. The cart was the kind that had stuff in it, not on it. The cart stopped at Brendan's row. "What would you like for lunch?" the boy operating the cart said.
"Uh...do you have any cheeseburgers?" Brendan asked weakly.
"Cheeseburgers?" the boy echoed. "They're a popular Muggle food, right?" Brendan nodded. "Well, we should have some..." From his cloak, the boy produced an oak wand about the size of Brendan's and rapped it on the lid of the cart several times. "Cheeseburger." Almost instantly, a fresh and delicious-looking cheeseburger appeared on the top of the lid. "Here's your...what was it again...cheeseburger." The boy handed it to Brendan.
The boy continued down the aisle, and Brendan removed the pickles from the cheeseburger before devouring it. "IsthatwhatMugglefoodlookslike?" Penny asked, and Brendan had to readjust his mind to get used to Penny's speaking before he nodded. Penny didn't follow up on the subject, but just continued slurping the soup she had ordered.
After Brendan had finished his cheeseburger, he continued reading his book(if he worked at it, maybe he could prove Penny wrong!) But his attention was only focused on his book until the snack cart came around half an hour later. Brendan anxiously ordered a lemon-lime drink, but was baffled as to what the other snacks tasted like. Chocolate Frog, Berty Bott's Every Flavour Jellybeans, Licorice Wands, , , the list went on and on. "I'll have the jellybeans, please."
"Ifyouinsist." Penny said, giving Brendan a glance that read "you just made a collosally bad decision." "I'llhaveaChocolateFrog." The boy leaned closer to Penny, trying to make out what he had heard. "ChocolateFrog!" Penny yelled, making the older boy jump back, toss her a packaged Chocolate Frog, and turned to the next person.
Brendan opened up his package of jellybeans and fingered one out. It was brown, and Brendan wondered what the flavour was and stuck it in his mouth. "Sppptspps!"he cried, spitting the jellybean onto the floor. Penny giggled. "It tastes like manure!" Brendan exclaimed.
"That'sbecauseitismanure-flavoured." Penny laughed.
"Who had the idea to make manure-flavoured jellybeans?" Brendan asked, spitting the last remains of the brown jellybean out of his mouth. Penny decided not to talk for once and simply rapped on the jellybean package with a smile. A Risk with Every Mouthful Brendan read. He quickly vowed revenge against whoever had dreamed up these horrors and ate another jellybean. Mmm, grape pop he thought.
The rest of the train ride was uneventful. About an hour later, the snack cart came back up the aisle and Brendan picked a Chocolate Frog, which actually tasted like chocolate and came with a cool Merwin card(although he found the wizard moving around the picture creepy.) There was one point where a boy about Brendan's age but of a nerdier stature came down the hall, collecting garbage and muttering something about punishment lightly. Four hours had passed since the train had departed.
"Youshouldgetchangednow." Penny said energetically before dashing towards the back of the cart. Brendan reluctantly followed her to the change rooms and pulled out his black robes. Black robes, black shoes, black hat Brendan thought to himself. What is it wizards have against light colours? His robes were all stiff and uncomfortable, but he was able to survive in them for half an hour before the train gradually began to slow down.
He looked outside the train window. The sun was shining brightly, so Brendan could easily see the ominous gray castle in the distance. The castle was surrounded by asphalt and grass, and had five small towers behind it. The train slowed to a standstill and Brendan saw a stadium about the size of one used for football, but he guessed they used it for something much different. Finally, the voice boomed for a third time.
"I WELCOME YOU ALL TO NEHYR SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY.
FIRST YEARS SHOULD IMMEDIATELY FOLLOW PROFESSOR DARNITH FOR THE SORTING.
ALL OTHER STUDENTS SHOULD PROCEED IMMEDIATELY TO THE AUDITORIUM FOR THE
START-OF-YEAR FEAST. THANK YOU AND HAVE A GOOD YEAR AT NEHYR."
Students flooded off the train the same way they had entered it.
Once again, Brendan allowed himself to be caught up in the flood, at least
until he was outside of the train and heard a woman shouting "First years
over here! First years!"