Chapter Three
Dusk was beginning to set in over the train as it slowed down into New Hogsmeade Station. Squinting against the setting sun, Laurie thought she could make out the silhouette of an enormous castle that must be the Salem Witches' Institute, but she wasn't completely sure until Scott and Sarah practically fell over themselves, jumping at the window to get a glance at it. Erick rolled hid eyes at them. "You'd think they'd never seen it before," he chuckled good-naturedly, and Laurie was glad that she hadn't gotten too over-excited upon seeing the castle. With Gruffles cradled in her hands and a promise that her things would be safely placed in her dormitory, Laurie followed her new friends off the train to where about sixty students her age had gathered. A large black man was holding up a lantern and smiling amicably at them.
"Hello, First Years!" he exclaimed in a delighted voice. "My name is Eli Rock, but you can just call me Eli. I'm the game warden at the Salem Witches' Institute. One of my duties is to escort First Years through New Hogsmeade and into the Banquet Hall in time to be sorted into their houses. Every year, we try to do it different, to keep things interesting. So, if you'll follow me, we'll get started!"
Excitedly, the crowd of First Years followed Eli to where an enormous wagon stood, filled to overflowing with hay. In the front were horses at least the size of elephants, if not larger. They all greeted the students by bowing and tossing their manes, while Eli gave each student a hoist to the top of the hay pile. Once they were all settled and holding on tight, the horses started trotting merrily. The lights of New Hogsmeade soon came into view, as did the people. Everyone in the town had come out to the main street to see the First Years pass by. They all waved and cheered, throwing streamers and balloons into the air, until the entire September sky was awash with color. The wagon was going too fast for Laurie to properly read the names of the stores, but not too fast for her to miss the delight on the townspeople's faces at the sight of these new students. All too soon, the hayride was over and the new students were escorted into an enormous banquet hall, lit with candle, and decorated in red, green, yellow and blue. Four long tables stretched from a platform on one end, atop which there was also a long table. All of the other students watched with immense interest as the First Years entered and shuffled to the front of the hall. When the talking had quieted down a bit, a tiny woman with gray hair knotted into a bun under a pointed hat stepped down to where the First Years were. She stood barely a head taller than most of them.
"Welcome to the Salem Witches' Institute!" she exclaimed, and the entire hall erupted into cheers. "I believe our headmistress has some announcements for both new and returning students? Headmistress Frankincense?"
Laurie saw for the first time the woman who had sent her the letter of acceptance to Salem. She was tall and elegant with a long black braid reaching down her back. Though her hair and face shone with youth, her sapphire eyes conveyed wisdom far beyond what many of the other professors seemed to possess. She stood, conveying elegance and commanding respect. Laurie liked her immediately.
"First of all, I would like to say welcome to all of the new students here at the Salem Witches' Institute," Headmistress Frankincense spoke in a voice that carried loudly and clearly throughout the entire hall, though she did not shout. "A warning to those of you who have not heard this before. We are situated very close to the Muggle town of Salem. Therefore, I would advise that anything largely dangerous or noticeable as magical be kept under wraps. We have a new Head Boy and Head Girl this year. They are Bartholomew O'Malley and Elisabeth LeStrange. Show them as much respect as you would show any of us. We also have a new teacher: Professor Cleo Starlite. She will be teaching Divination this year. And now, let the sorting begin!"
There was a murmur of applause, especially at the table decked in blue. Laurie guessed that table to be the table used by Wave House. She looked appreciatively at the banners that hung over each table. Over Wave's table hung a banner of a dolphin, leaping free through the air. Next to it was a table decked in gold, whose banners depicted a proud eagle, and beside the golden table was a green table, with banners of a wolf. On the far end was a table all in red with a dragon on its banner. Laurie was so immersed in this that she almost forgot about the sorting, until the first student was called up to be sorted. The girl had long, dark hair and big brown eyes. She looked nervous as Professor Dragona waved a wand around her head, muttering an incantation. Almost immediately, the girl seemed to glow bright blue, and the Wave table erupted in applause. After a few more people were sorted into their respective houses, Professor Dragona called out, "Erick deBaron!" Immediately, Laurie snapped to attention, as did several other First Years. Erick walked up to where Professor Dragona stood, and she waved her wand and did the incantation. Moments later, the air around Erick glowed blue and Wave House erupted into tumultuous applause. Laurie knew then that she wanted nothing more than to be in Wave House.
She was hardly paying attention; so desperate was her desire to get into Wave House, that it startled her when Sarah left her side to be sorted. She, too, ended up in Wave House, as did Scott immediately after. Another two or three people were sorted, and then it was Laurie's turn. She felt the hall hush as she stepped up to the platform; she expected it was thanks to her late reputation. Smiling shyly at Professor Dragona, she asked, "What do I do?"
"Just stand there and let me do all the work," Professor Dragona answered, smiling and turning Laurie so that she faced the entire hall. One hand on Laurie's shoulder and the other using the wand, Professor Dragona murmured, "Tremor, gale, lava, sea: In which house shall this girl be?" Laurie once again felt her desperate desire to be in Wave House, and for a moment, all seemed silent. She closed her eyes, desperately wishing or praying that she would get sorted into Wave House. A sudden applause startled her to open her eyes, and when she did, she felt a tremor of delight. The applause was coming from the Wave House table. Grinning broadly, she walked down and took a seat next to Sarah.
Laurie didn't pay much attention after that, only enough to know that Julia Serpentine was placed in Flame House and the last First Year to be sorted, a redhead named Jolene Willow, found her way into Wave House. With some dismay, Laurie noted that Derek was sitting at the Wind table, but he caught her eye and gave her a merry wink and thumbs up. She knew that he was happy for her. Then, Headmistress Frankincense stood again.
"One last announcement and then we shall feast. I would like to remind you all of the point system, instituted by Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in England. While you are here, your house is your family. Your successes, triumphs and Quidditch wins will earn you points. Your failures and any misdemeanors will lose you points. Whichever house has the most points at the end of the year will win the house cup. And now," she paused, a twinkle in her eyes, "let the feast begin!"
As the words left her mouth, plates and bowls of scrumptious food appeared on the tables. There was an enormous bowl of salad that only required you to speak the name of your favorite dressing, and then say, "stop!" in order to dress it. Pork roasts, whole chickens and a platter of barbecue wings made up the main course, with side dishes such as mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, corn on the cob and a roast vegetable mix. To drink, the students could choose from pumpkin juice, butterbeer or whatever else their heart desired. Sarah and Scott had full, frosty glasses of pumpkin juice, while Erick opted for a butterbeer. Laurie, unable to decide, asked for both and was delighted to see a mug of each appear in front of her. As she was about to take a sip of butterbeer, however, Sarah cried, "Look out!" Laurie leaned back just in time to see what appeared to be a ghost "surf" down the table.
"Gnarly, dudes! Some real shredders today!" the ghost exclaimed, once he'd reached the end of the table. He was grinning wildly. "Hey, welcome to Salem, dudes and dudettes! I'm your house ghost, Lance!" Laurie could not help but be reminded of a cheesy eighties film she'd watched once, as Lance winked at all the girls, under his salt-ridden mop of what seemed to be blonde hair. She could see other ghosts appearing at the other tables, too. At the table right beside Wave, a terrified ghost skydived from the ceiling and crashed into someone's pudding. At the far end of the hall, a ghost who was apparently a pyromaniac was throwing ghost bombs into everyone's laps, which exploded into delicious candy corns. A Third Year at the Quake table screamed when a dirt bike came crashing down on her plate, followed by its rider. Laurie was enchanted.
The night had only just begun, however. With a clap of Headmistress Frankincense' hands, the main courses were cleared away to make room for cakes, candies and ice creams of various flavors. The students dug in as their houses' respective professors began passing out term schedules. The house professor for Wave was a woman who looked Native American, to say the least. Her face was care-worn and her hair was long and white. Feathers were braided into it, and she looked at Erick with recognition as she handed him his term schedule. Next, she turned to Laurie, who was sitting across from Erick.
"I'm Professor Rhea Tournaline. I'll be your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, hopefully as long as you're here!" she laughed merrily. "Other schools don't have much luck with keeping Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers, but I've been here since before your father first came here, Laurie, and I intend to stay a good spell longer!" Laurie smiled at Professor Tournaline, who handed her a blue sheet of parchment-the schedule. Once Professor Tournaline had gone, Laurie, Sarah, Scott and Erick bent over the schedule, to see how they'd lucked out in classes.
"Defense Against the Dark Arts at 9:30!" Sarah cried. "And with Flame! We're doomed!"
"Don't worry, Sarah. Rhea's a good teacher. She's a member of the Iroquois Nation, and she's good friends with my grandmother. She won't let the Flames get out of control. My sister-Hannah-says she's a great teacher," Erick reassured Sarah, but Laurie was a bit confused.
"What's so bad about having a class with Flame?" she asked no one in particular. Scott rolled his eyes.
"Ever since this school was founded, there's been a fierce rivalry between Flame and Wave Houses. See, each of the houses represents something different. Flame represents total power and Wave represents total love. You can't have both. At least that's how my dad explained it," he answered. "You can bet that if anyone makes trouble for us this year, it'll be someone from Flame."
"Well, that and the fact that water always cancels out fire. None of the other elements of the other houses cancel each other out," said the first girl sorted into Wave. "Air can't cancel out earth and earth can't cancel out flame. Air feeds and cancels out flame and water is sometimes in air. Water and earth combine on many occasions. None of the other houses cancel each other out."
Laurie and her friends blinked at this new girl. She grinned toothily at them. "I'm Kristie Boone. From Connecticut. My dad's a Muggle and my mother's a witch.that's becoming the norm nowadays. What are your names?"
They were all taken aback at Kristie's friendliness, but Laurie managed to speak up first. "I'm Laurie Lacewing, and I'm from Water Mill, New York," she introduced herself, hesitant to add any further details. That seemed to be enough for Kristie who excitedly began chatting with someone else, who had accidentally knocked over her third mug of butterbeer. Laurie and her friends looked at each other, trying hard not to laugh, then found themselves on the way to Wave House for the first time ever.
The walk was a quick one, through glamorous corridors and past huge stained glass windows. In five short minutes, the excited first years, led by their prefect, Reagan Waters, arrived at an enormous portrait of a mermaid who looked suspiciously like a much younger Headmistress Frankincense. She waved her tail fins and smiled at Reagan. "What's the password?" she asked.
"'Poseidon's trident,'" Reagan answered as if she knew it better than her own name. Momentarily, they were all inside the common room of Wave House. Various pets had found places to lounge on the furniture, all in different shades of blue. Gruffles grinned at Laurie from his place on a periwinkle armchair. He'd found a feline friend, the color of leaves in autumn, and had wrapped his tail possessively around hers. Laurie found this so amusing that she had to bite her tongue not to laugh while Reagan went over the rules.
"This is the common room for Wave House. You can study here, play games, hang out or do whatever you want. First Year Boys' bedroom is up the left set of stairs. First Year Girls' bedroom is up the right set of stairs. Curfew for First Years will be eleven o'clock on weeknights and twelve-thirty on weekends. I am your house's prefect, which means that." Reagan was saying, when Laurie heard something that seemed to come from deep inside of her. A dark and sinister voice was whispering something, though she was not sure what. Whatever the voice was trying to whisper, it continued whispering, until Laurie could clearly understand what was being said.
"Latem Disastrum!" the voice hissed. "Latem Disastrum! Latem Disastrum!" Then it stopped and Laurie, and the rest of the room, heard a horrific scream of pain and fear. Her heart started pounding in her chest as if she'd run a marathon. Reagan interrupted her speech for a moment, considering what had just happened, and was about to continue, when Professor Tournaline flew in through the portrait. She looked a bit frazzled and frightened.
"Sorry to interrupt your speech, Reagan. I know how badly you wanted to give that speech, but," she paused, letting the giggles die down, "it is imperative that these students go to bed immediately. Once they are safely in bed, please come to the headmistress' office, and all will be explained there." She looked at the First Years, who had taken on a definite collective feeling of fear. "I'm sorry I can't tell you what this is about right now. Perhaps Headmistress Frankincense will explain it tomorrow. In the meantime, get to bed, and hurry!"
The students didn't need to be asked twice. Collecting their various pets, they hurried up to their bedrooms. The girls' bedroom was enormous, holding seven canopied beds, dressed in royal blue. Everyone's trunk had been placed at the foot of her bed, with new school robes and pajamas laid out for them. Laurie and the other girls changed into their pajamas, talking in hushed tones about what they thought had happened.
"Maybe the headmistress fell and threw out a hip or something," said a big black girl named Ella George. "Maybe that's what the scream was."
"I don't think the headmistress can scream that loud," Laurie commented. "And anyway, I think it has something to do with that spell someone was saying."
"What spell?" the blonde-haired Heather Morgan asked, blinking long lashes at Laurie.
"That 'Latem Disastrum' thing," Laurie answered. "Didn't you guys hear it?"
The girls all shook their heads no, and seemed to be lost in thought until Kristie spoke up. "That doesn't sound like a good spell. It sounds positively evil. Disastrum. It has something to do with separation from the stars. I wonder if someone was trying to separate the school from the stars. Maybe Professor Starlite. She seems weird like that," she stated, and then paused again. "But I don't know for sure."
"Well, whatever it was, it was definitely evil," Ella commented, pulling on her silky blue pajama bottoms. "And I don't think we should be talking about it anymore."
"What else is there to talk about?" Sarah asked. "The weather?"
"Or how about that cute new boy with the long black hair? Does anyone know his name?" Jolene asked, trying in vain to pull her curly red hair back in a ponytail. Sarah looked annoyed.
"Don't bother with him. He's just Erick," she muttered.
" 'Just Erick?' What do you mean by that?" Jolene had a cute Southern drawl that made every word sound equally important.
"Oh, nothing. Scott and I have just known him all our lives, that's all. He's not worth your trouble." Sarah pulled the clips out of her blonde hair, and let it swing in front of her face, pointlessly. "He's got too many sisters to want to be around girls who want to talk about relationships or anything like that. It's all his sisters talk about. It's horrible. You'd think that was the most important thing in the world."
Jolene looked as if she was about to object to Sarah's statement, then thought better of it. The room was silent for a minute, then Ella spoke up again. "I think we should all get to bed. Professor Tournaline'll have our necks if she hears us up talking," she stated, and no one bothered to argue. Laurie finished changing into her pajamas and sat down on the edge of the bed to put on a headband, when she heard a squeaky holler come from Gruffles, who had just jumped to the windowsill.
"Lookit!" he cried, pointing out the window. Laurie looked and gasped.
"Oh my gosh! Guys, c'mere!" she exclaimed. The girls crowded around the window, and Gruffles snuggled into Laurie's arms to keep from being pushed out of the window. What they saw made all of the girls gasp. There were no stars in the sky. The moon glowed a dusky, dusty red, but it gave off little light. Everything was dark and frightening.
"Disastrum!" Kristie murmured, and Laurie was about to comment, when all of a sudden, a wail of anguish and pain echoed from almost right below their window. The girls all jumped back in terror and flew to their respective beds, staring at the window. Gruffles buried his head in Laurie's arm, and all was silent for a moment. Sarah finally spoke up.
"What on earth was that thing?" she whispered, but none of the other girls knew. Suddenly, a hush came over them, as they heard the voice of Professor Tournaline immediately outside their door. She was, evidently, talking to Reagan.
"This hasn't happened for ages. Not since before I was here at Salem," Professor Tournaline was saying. "We lost eighteen that year, and almost lost a student."
"What stopped it, Professor?" Reagan exclaimed.
"We finally caught the person doing it. But I'm afraid it won't be as easy this time. Last time the killings happened far away from civilization, where only a few wizards or witches lived. But here at the school.it could take ages to go through every being that could cast the Disastrum spell here. We may lose all of them."
"That would be terrible!"
"Indeed. Well, it sounds like these girls are asleep. They missed it, then."
"That's good, at least."
"It is. Now go to bed, Reagan. I've got to go inform Headmistress Frankincense. We've lost a Pegasus."
Dusk was beginning to set in over the train as it slowed down into New Hogsmeade Station. Squinting against the setting sun, Laurie thought she could make out the silhouette of an enormous castle that must be the Salem Witches' Institute, but she wasn't completely sure until Scott and Sarah practically fell over themselves, jumping at the window to get a glance at it. Erick rolled hid eyes at them. "You'd think they'd never seen it before," he chuckled good-naturedly, and Laurie was glad that she hadn't gotten too over-excited upon seeing the castle. With Gruffles cradled in her hands and a promise that her things would be safely placed in her dormitory, Laurie followed her new friends off the train to where about sixty students her age had gathered. A large black man was holding up a lantern and smiling amicably at them.
"Hello, First Years!" he exclaimed in a delighted voice. "My name is Eli Rock, but you can just call me Eli. I'm the game warden at the Salem Witches' Institute. One of my duties is to escort First Years through New Hogsmeade and into the Banquet Hall in time to be sorted into their houses. Every year, we try to do it different, to keep things interesting. So, if you'll follow me, we'll get started!"
Excitedly, the crowd of First Years followed Eli to where an enormous wagon stood, filled to overflowing with hay. In the front were horses at least the size of elephants, if not larger. They all greeted the students by bowing and tossing their manes, while Eli gave each student a hoist to the top of the hay pile. Once they were all settled and holding on tight, the horses started trotting merrily. The lights of New Hogsmeade soon came into view, as did the people. Everyone in the town had come out to the main street to see the First Years pass by. They all waved and cheered, throwing streamers and balloons into the air, until the entire September sky was awash with color. The wagon was going too fast for Laurie to properly read the names of the stores, but not too fast for her to miss the delight on the townspeople's faces at the sight of these new students. All too soon, the hayride was over and the new students were escorted into an enormous banquet hall, lit with candle, and decorated in red, green, yellow and blue. Four long tables stretched from a platform on one end, atop which there was also a long table. All of the other students watched with immense interest as the First Years entered and shuffled to the front of the hall. When the talking had quieted down a bit, a tiny woman with gray hair knotted into a bun under a pointed hat stepped down to where the First Years were. She stood barely a head taller than most of them.
"Welcome to the Salem Witches' Institute!" she exclaimed, and the entire hall erupted into cheers. "I believe our headmistress has some announcements for both new and returning students? Headmistress Frankincense?"
Laurie saw for the first time the woman who had sent her the letter of acceptance to Salem. She was tall and elegant with a long black braid reaching down her back. Though her hair and face shone with youth, her sapphire eyes conveyed wisdom far beyond what many of the other professors seemed to possess. She stood, conveying elegance and commanding respect. Laurie liked her immediately.
"First of all, I would like to say welcome to all of the new students here at the Salem Witches' Institute," Headmistress Frankincense spoke in a voice that carried loudly and clearly throughout the entire hall, though she did not shout. "A warning to those of you who have not heard this before. We are situated very close to the Muggle town of Salem. Therefore, I would advise that anything largely dangerous or noticeable as magical be kept under wraps. We have a new Head Boy and Head Girl this year. They are Bartholomew O'Malley and Elisabeth LeStrange. Show them as much respect as you would show any of us. We also have a new teacher: Professor Cleo Starlite. She will be teaching Divination this year. And now, let the sorting begin!"
There was a murmur of applause, especially at the table decked in blue. Laurie guessed that table to be the table used by Wave House. She looked appreciatively at the banners that hung over each table. Over Wave's table hung a banner of a dolphin, leaping free through the air. Next to it was a table decked in gold, whose banners depicted a proud eagle, and beside the golden table was a green table, with banners of a wolf. On the far end was a table all in red with a dragon on its banner. Laurie was so immersed in this that she almost forgot about the sorting, until the first student was called up to be sorted. The girl had long, dark hair and big brown eyes. She looked nervous as Professor Dragona waved a wand around her head, muttering an incantation. Almost immediately, the girl seemed to glow bright blue, and the Wave table erupted in applause. After a few more people were sorted into their respective houses, Professor Dragona called out, "Erick deBaron!" Immediately, Laurie snapped to attention, as did several other First Years. Erick walked up to where Professor Dragona stood, and she waved her wand and did the incantation. Moments later, the air around Erick glowed blue and Wave House erupted into tumultuous applause. Laurie knew then that she wanted nothing more than to be in Wave House.
She was hardly paying attention; so desperate was her desire to get into Wave House, that it startled her when Sarah left her side to be sorted. She, too, ended up in Wave House, as did Scott immediately after. Another two or three people were sorted, and then it was Laurie's turn. She felt the hall hush as she stepped up to the platform; she expected it was thanks to her late reputation. Smiling shyly at Professor Dragona, she asked, "What do I do?"
"Just stand there and let me do all the work," Professor Dragona answered, smiling and turning Laurie so that she faced the entire hall. One hand on Laurie's shoulder and the other using the wand, Professor Dragona murmured, "Tremor, gale, lava, sea: In which house shall this girl be?" Laurie once again felt her desperate desire to be in Wave House, and for a moment, all seemed silent. She closed her eyes, desperately wishing or praying that she would get sorted into Wave House. A sudden applause startled her to open her eyes, and when she did, she felt a tremor of delight. The applause was coming from the Wave House table. Grinning broadly, she walked down and took a seat next to Sarah.
Laurie didn't pay much attention after that, only enough to know that Julia Serpentine was placed in Flame House and the last First Year to be sorted, a redhead named Jolene Willow, found her way into Wave House. With some dismay, Laurie noted that Derek was sitting at the Wind table, but he caught her eye and gave her a merry wink and thumbs up. She knew that he was happy for her. Then, Headmistress Frankincense stood again.
"One last announcement and then we shall feast. I would like to remind you all of the point system, instituted by Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in England. While you are here, your house is your family. Your successes, triumphs and Quidditch wins will earn you points. Your failures and any misdemeanors will lose you points. Whichever house has the most points at the end of the year will win the house cup. And now," she paused, a twinkle in her eyes, "let the feast begin!"
As the words left her mouth, plates and bowls of scrumptious food appeared on the tables. There was an enormous bowl of salad that only required you to speak the name of your favorite dressing, and then say, "stop!" in order to dress it. Pork roasts, whole chickens and a platter of barbecue wings made up the main course, with side dishes such as mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, corn on the cob and a roast vegetable mix. To drink, the students could choose from pumpkin juice, butterbeer or whatever else their heart desired. Sarah and Scott had full, frosty glasses of pumpkin juice, while Erick opted for a butterbeer. Laurie, unable to decide, asked for both and was delighted to see a mug of each appear in front of her. As she was about to take a sip of butterbeer, however, Sarah cried, "Look out!" Laurie leaned back just in time to see what appeared to be a ghost "surf" down the table.
"Gnarly, dudes! Some real shredders today!" the ghost exclaimed, once he'd reached the end of the table. He was grinning wildly. "Hey, welcome to Salem, dudes and dudettes! I'm your house ghost, Lance!" Laurie could not help but be reminded of a cheesy eighties film she'd watched once, as Lance winked at all the girls, under his salt-ridden mop of what seemed to be blonde hair. She could see other ghosts appearing at the other tables, too. At the table right beside Wave, a terrified ghost skydived from the ceiling and crashed into someone's pudding. At the far end of the hall, a ghost who was apparently a pyromaniac was throwing ghost bombs into everyone's laps, which exploded into delicious candy corns. A Third Year at the Quake table screamed when a dirt bike came crashing down on her plate, followed by its rider. Laurie was enchanted.
The night had only just begun, however. With a clap of Headmistress Frankincense' hands, the main courses were cleared away to make room for cakes, candies and ice creams of various flavors. The students dug in as their houses' respective professors began passing out term schedules. The house professor for Wave was a woman who looked Native American, to say the least. Her face was care-worn and her hair was long and white. Feathers were braided into it, and she looked at Erick with recognition as she handed him his term schedule. Next, she turned to Laurie, who was sitting across from Erick.
"I'm Professor Rhea Tournaline. I'll be your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, hopefully as long as you're here!" she laughed merrily. "Other schools don't have much luck with keeping Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers, but I've been here since before your father first came here, Laurie, and I intend to stay a good spell longer!" Laurie smiled at Professor Tournaline, who handed her a blue sheet of parchment-the schedule. Once Professor Tournaline had gone, Laurie, Sarah, Scott and Erick bent over the schedule, to see how they'd lucked out in classes.
"Defense Against the Dark Arts at 9:30!" Sarah cried. "And with Flame! We're doomed!"
"Don't worry, Sarah. Rhea's a good teacher. She's a member of the Iroquois Nation, and she's good friends with my grandmother. She won't let the Flames get out of control. My sister-Hannah-says she's a great teacher," Erick reassured Sarah, but Laurie was a bit confused.
"What's so bad about having a class with Flame?" she asked no one in particular. Scott rolled his eyes.
"Ever since this school was founded, there's been a fierce rivalry between Flame and Wave Houses. See, each of the houses represents something different. Flame represents total power and Wave represents total love. You can't have both. At least that's how my dad explained it," he answered. "You can bet that if anyone makes trouble for us this year, it'll be someone from Flame."
"Well, that and the fact that water always cancels out fire. None of the other elements of the other houses cancel each other out," said the first girl sorted into Wave. "Air can't cancel out earth and earth can't cancel out flame. Air feeds and cancels out flame and water is sometimes in air. Water and earth combine on many occasions. None of the other houses cancel each other out."
Laurie and her friends blinked at this new girl. She grinned toothily at them. "I'm Kristie Boone. From Connecticut. My dad's a Muggle and my mother's a witch.that's becoming the norm nowadays. What are your names?"
They were all taken aback at Kristie's friendliness, but Laurie managed to speak up first. "I'm Laurie Lacewing, and I'm from Water Mill, New York," she introduced herself, hesitant to add any further details. That seemed to be enough for Kristie who excitedly began chatting with someone else, who had accidentally knocked over her third mug of butterbeer. Laurie and her friends looked at each other, trying hard not to laugh, then found themselves on the way to Wave House for the first time ever.
The walk was a quick one, through glamorous corridors and past huge stained glass windows. In five short minutes, the excited first years, led by their prefect, Reagan Waters, arrived at an enormous portrait of a mermaid who looked suspiciously like a much younger Headmistress Frankincense. She waved her tail fins and smiled at Reagan. "What's the password?" she asked.
"'Poseidon's trident,'" Reagan answered as if she knew it better than her own name. Momentarily, they were all inside the common room of Wave House. Various pets had found places to lounge on the furniture, all in different shades of blue. Gruffles grinned at Laurie from his place on a periwinkle armchair. He'd found a feline friend, the color of leaves in autumn, and had wrapped his tail possessively around hers. Laurie found this so amusing that she had to bite her tongue not to laugh while Reagan went over the rules.
"This is the common room for Wave House. You can study here, play games, hang out or do whatever you want. First Year Boys' bedroom is up the left set of stairs. First Year Girls' bedroom is up the right set of stairs. Curfew for First Years will be eleven o'clock on weeknights and twelve-thirty on weekends. I am your house's prefect, which means that." Reagan was saying, when Laurie heard something that seemed to come from deep inside of her. A dark and sinister voice was whispering something, though she was not sure what. Whatever the voice was trying to whisper, it continued whispering, until Laurie could clearly understand what was being said.
"Latem Disastrum!" the voice hissed. "Latem Disastrum! Latem Disastrum!" Then it stopped and Laurie, and the rest of the room, heard a horrific scream of pain and fear. Her heart started pounding in her chest as if she'd run a marathon. Reagan interrupted her speech for a moment, considering what had just happened, and was about to continue, when Professor Tournaline flew in through the portrait. She looked a bit frazzled and frightened.
"Sorry to interrupt your speech, Reagan. I know how badly you wanted to give that speech, but," she paused, letting the giggles die down, "it is imperative that these students go to bed immediately. Once they are safely in bed, please come to the headmistress' office, and all will be explained there." She looked at the First Years, who had taken on a definite collective feeling of fear. "I'm sorry I can't tell you what this is about right now. Perhaps Headmistress Frankincense will explain it tomorrow. In the meantime, get to bed, and hurry!"
The students didn't need to be asked twice. Collecting their various pets, they hurried up to their bedrooms. The girls' bedroom was enormous, holding seven canopied beds, dressed in royal blue. Everyone's trunk had been placed at the foot of her bed, with new school robes and pajamas laid out for them. Laurie and the other girls changed into their pajamas, talking in hushed tones about what they thought had happened.
"Maybe the headmistress fell and threw out a hip or something," said a big black girl named Ella George. "Maybe that's what the scream was."
"I don't think the headmistress can scream that loud," Laurie commented. "And anyway, I think it has something to do with that spell someone was saying."
"What spell?" the blonde-haired Heather Morgan asked, blinking long lashes at Laurie.
"That 'Latem Disastrum' thing," Laurie answered. "Didn't you guys hear it?"
The girls all shook their heads no, and seemed to be lost in thought until Kristie spoke up. "That doesn't sound like a good spell. It sounds positively evil. Disastrum. It has something to do with separation from the stars. I wonder if someone was trying to separate the school from the stars. Maybe Professor Starlite. She seems weird like that," she stated, and then paused again. "But I don't know for sure."
"Well, whatever it was, it was definitely evil," Ella commented, pulling on her silky blue pajama bottoms. "And I don't think we should be talking about it anymore."
"What else is there to talk about?" Sarah asked. "The weather?"
"Or how about that cute new boy with the long black hair? Does anyone know his name?" Jolene asked, trying in vain to pull her curly red hair back in a ponytail. Sarah looked annoyed.
"Don't bother with him. He's just Erick," she muttered.
" 'Just Erick?' What do you mean by that?" Jolene had a cute Southern drawl that made every word sound equally important.
"Oh, nothing. Scott and I have just known him all our lives, that's all. He's not worth your trouble." Sarah pulled the clips out of her blonde hair, and let it swing in front of her face, pointlessly. "He's got too many sisters to want to be around girls who want to talk about relationships or anything like that. It's all his sisters talk about. It's horrible. You'd think that was the most important thing in the world."
Jolene looked as if she was about to object to Sarah's statement, then thought better of it. The room was silent for a minute, then Ella spoke up again. "I think we should all get to bed. Professor Tournaline'll have our necks if she hears us up talking," she stated, and no one bothered to argue. Laurie finished changing into her pajamas and sat down on the edge of the bed to put on a headband, when she heard a squeaky holler come from Gruffles, who had just jumped to the windowsill.
"Lookit!" he cried, pointing out the window. Laurie looked and gasped.
"Oh my gosh! Guys, c'mere!" she exclaimed. The girls crowded around the window, and Gruffles snuggled into Laurie's arms to keep from being pushed out of the window. What they saw made all of the girls gasp. There were no stars in the sky. The moon glowed a dusky, dusty red, but it gave off little light. Everything was dark and frightening.
"Disastrum!" Kristie murmured, and Laurie was about to comment, when all of a sudden, a wail of anguish and pain echoed from almost right below their window. The girls all jumped back in terror and flew to their respective beds, staring at the window. Gruffles buried his head in Laurie's arm, and all was silent for a moment. Sarah finally spoke up.
"What on earth was that thing?" she whispered, but none of the other girls knew. Suddenly, a hush came over them, as they heard the voice of Professor Tournaline immediately outside their door. She was, evidently, talking to Reagan.
"This hasn't happened for ages. Not since before I was here at Salem," Professor Tournaline was saying. "We lost eighteen that year, and almost lost a student."
"What stopped it, Professor?" Reagan exclaimed.
"We finally caught the person doing it. But I'm afraid it won't be as easy this time. Last time the killings happened far away from civilization, where only a few wizards or witches lived. But here at the school.it could take ages to go through every being that could cast the Disastrum spell here. We may lose all of them."
"That would be terrible!"
"Indeed. Well, it sounds like these girls are asleep. They missed it, then."
"That's good, at least."
"It is. Now go to bed, Reagan. I've got to go inform Headmistress Frankincense. We've lost a Pegasus."