Life at Ilvermorny started right away the morning after the Quidditch match. Jacob woke up to the clock that hung on their dormitory wall, which chimed 8:00. Getting up, he walked down to the bottom of the tower and took care of his morning routine. He then walked back up to his dormitory and got dressed. He tied his blue and yellow tie around his neck, put on his blue and cranberry robes, clasped them under his neck with the golden Gordian Knot, pinned his Thunderbird badge to his chest, and began to pack for the day.

Jacob had brought a small day bag with him, which he began to slide his books and supplies into. He put Chadwick's Charms (Vol 1), The Standard Book of Spells (Gr. 1), and all the others into his bag. He slid his smooth wand into his robes and put his dragon-skin gloves into his back pocket, with parchment, ink quill, and ink into a separate pocket in his bag. The door to their door opened with a creak as Jacob, Alan, Antonio, and Felix walked down the spiral staircase that led to the Common Room.

This morning, the ceiling was of the blue sky outside, with a few clouds passing by. Surprisingly, the fireplace was still burning, which all of them found to be strange, considering how the Common Room was kind of cold that morning. Exiting the bottom of the tower through the map of North America, all four of them walked to the Feast Hall. Some of them were nervous that they were going to get lost, but Alan remembered the most from the tour of the castle that the Head Boy of Thunderbird house gave them. They managed to make it to the Feast Hall right as breakfast was being served.

Sitting down at the table, they began to drink orange juice or pumpkin juice (which was really good). Also, plates of bacon and French toast appeared in front of them, which they ate with gusto. About fifteen minutes before breakfast would end and classes would begin, they received their schedules from the head of their house, Professor Fey. Professor Fey was old, tall, and skinny. Even though she was coming up on the age of fifty, she looked great for her age. She wore a circlet around her head and long flowing robes that reached down to the floor. She was also the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. She was passing out schedules to her students while Jacob, Felix, Antonio and Alan were deep in conversation about what their first day would be like.

"Obviously… Potions will be Potions" Felix asserted. "But what about Charms? Or Defense Against the Dark Arts?" he wondered.

"Personally, I'm excited for Flying lessons" Jacob insisted. "I would love to ride a broomstick"

"What about Charms?" Alan nagged. "According to Chadwick's Charms (Vol. 1), we can do a lot of cool things with charms!" This was when Professor Fey walked up right behind them.

"Why aren't you all excited for my class?" she asked with a smile. A couple of them jumped, not expecting her to be there, so she laughed.

"Here you all go. Your schedules for the day!" she told them as she handed them all yellow pieces of paper. Looking at them, they saw their schedule for the day.

9:00-9:45: Breakfast and Mail, Feast Hall (Look at schedule in Common Room for daily menus)

10:00-11:15: Defense Against the Dark Arts, Room 394, Sayre Hall (w/Horned Serpents)

11:30-12:45: Potions, Lowest Level, Potions Tower (w/Pukwudgies)

(Tuesdays and Thursdays: Charms, Room 123, Sayre Hall, (w/Pukwudgies))

12:45-1:30: Lunch, Feast Hall

1:45-3:00: Herbology, Greenhouse Glade (w/Horned Serpents)

(Tuesdays and Thursdays: History of Magic, Room 471, Western Wing, (w/Horned Serpents)

3:15-4:30: Astronomy, Astronomy Tower, Second Level, (w/Pukwudgies)

4:45-5:30: Flying Lessons, Courtyard, (w/Wampus Cats)

5:30-6:15: Break

6:15-7:00: Dinner, Feast Hall

7:00-10:30: Free-time

10:45: Lights Out

(No Classes on the Weekends)

NOTE: Pay attention to announcements in Common Room for Quidditch Games, which will fill in during Free-time, which is universal for all students.

Considering how it was a Monday, all of them headed off to Defense Against the Dark Arts. It was held in a nice classroom off of Sayre Hall, the hall directly to the left of the Sorting Hall, right behind the Front Wall. They had a view of a garden built right behind the Front Wall, with the sun was peeking over it. The bells from the nearby Bell Tower rang out loudly as class began.

Professor Fey was nice to all the students, but still very effective in her teaching skills. She began with wand-work as per the school standards. She explained that the biggest asset to defending yourself was the Protego charm, otherwise known as the "Shield Charm". At the end of class, she even had the class attempt to cast that charm, which only a couple of them managed, Alan and Felix included.

After that was Potions. The Potions tower was close to Sayre Hall and the smallest tower the castle had. Each level was dedicated to whatever year in Potions you were in, with the bottom level for first-years (and Jacob's year) and the top level for seventh-years. Jacob and his friends reached their classroom early. The bottom level had various tables strewn about the room, with cauldrons and burners assorted about. A large cabinet to hold all the potion ingredients and spare books was against the wall. The class was taught by Professor Yew, an old, crabby witch who was very into potions. Even though Ilvermorny's curriculum was very "wand-intensive", Potions was the only class that had no wandwork in it. Antonio managed to make his cauldron explode (somehow), which Professor Yew said was due to his lack of enthusiasm.

After that was Lunch. Jacob, Alan, and the others walked to Lunch from the Potions tower and began to eat sandwiches and more. They all talked about how classes went (while Antonio's eyebrows were still singed), but a girl sat down next to Jacob, much to his surprise.

"Hi!" she said enthusiastically. She was a red-head, with long hair tied up in a pony-tail. She was cute, in Jacob's opinion.

"Hey there!" he exclaimed. "What's up?"

"Not much, what about you?" she sighed. In all secrecy, she was totally enamored by Jacob.

"Nothing really" he replied. "What's your name?" he smiled.

"Jessica" she laughed. "Yours?"

"Jacob!" he said, really enjoying how this conversation was going. By the color of her tie, which was also blue and yellow, she was in Thunderbird house.

"Well, Jacob, what do you think of all this?" she inquired. "Pretty cool, right?" Just then however, the bell rang for them all to go to their next class.

Next up was Herbology. The Thunderbirds walked out of the castle's front doors with the Wampus Cats to the Greenhouse Glade. It was a large open space among the fir trees that held all the greenhouses. The teacher for Herbology was named Professor Bligg, a middle-aged man who was probably a teenage heart-throb for Witch Weekly, with his perfect white teeth, and old-fashioned farmer like clothes, he could've easily passed in one of those Canada Dry commercials where somehow some unsuspecting ladies pulled out a man from the cooler where Canada Dry was sitting.

"Good afternoon class" he droned as he walked in the greenhouse.

"Good afternoon Professor Bligg" they responded back.

"Today we're going to start off Herbology with Incendio and Lumos Solem, important spells needed in Herbology. First of all, pull out your wands…" he continued.

They then learned the basics for those spells which they had to master by the next class period. After that, they moved onto very simple plants, like all the others in the greenhouse. They first handled the Bouncing Bulb, then Puffapods, and finally Spiky Bushes. As they left the greenhouse, some more happier than others, Jessica ran up to Jacob, Alan, and the other guys of Thunderbird house's new students.

"Hey Jacob" she said smiling. She hung her arms around Alan and Felix as she inserted herself into their conversation. Smiling at each other, the guys left Jacob and Jessica to talk to each other.

Jessica was eighteen, just like Jacob, but a few months older. She was from Boston, Massachusetts, with two older brothers and a nice dog.

"I've heard there was a bunch of different wizarding dogs" she thought. "Like the Teakettler, the Axe-Handle Hound, and the Crup!" Jessica walked close to Jacob, so much so that he could feel her body heat. "Personally, I think the Crup's strange tail is a little odd, but maybe that doesn't mean much, considering how I think a dog shaped like an axe is cuter!" she laughed. She had a lot of energy, but wasn't anything like the popular girls at Jacob's high school back in Minnesota. She then asked Jacob about himself and was a surprisingly good listener.

"Well, I'm from Minneapolis, Minnesota. It's a suburb of the Twin Cities. I live with my mom and dad, but I was going to the University of Minnesota in the fall" he said, among other things about himself. Right as they reached the base of the Astronomy tower, they realized that they had a lot in common, like their love of Doctor Who and of both Marvel and DC comics. After that, Jacob immediately wanted to ask her on a date… but he had no idea how to do that. This was cut short as they walked up the staircase to their classroom for Astronomy.

Their classroom was spacy, with the ceiling above them being the underside of the floor above them. Their teacher sat behind a small desk that seemed out of place in what seemed like a floor of the tower used for storage. They all situated themselves at large desks and began to look at the charts hung up on the walls around them. Some were of the night sky, others were maps of the various planets in the solar system. Their teacher was an African American woman, both tall and skinny. Her name was Professor Spade, who was as cold as the planets and moons she taught, but sometimes as warm as the Sun. Her homework consisted of memorizing the movements of planets and the names of their moons. The Pukwudgies found this a little hard to deal with at first, but they got used to it.

Next was Flying lessons with the Wampus Cats. This class was taught by the acting referee for Ilvermorny, Mr. Featherin. He was nice, old, and wore glasses that seemed like they've spent all their time on his face pushed up onto his nose. His hair was pushed back all the time, almost as if he spent all his time flying on his Firebolt broomstick. The Thunderbirds were amazing on broomsticks, all getting recommended to practice more and try for the Quidditch team. The Horned Serpents were interested in the logistics behind all this, but all Mr. Featherin cared about was making sure they all knew "Up" from "Down"

That was the last lesson of the day. They went to dinner in the Feast Hall, which had lots of ham and potatoes, with some iced tea on the side (for Felix). Right as they sat down, they saw the headline of The New York Ghost.

FAMOUS WANDMAKER GOES MISSING

Two months ago, the famous wandmaker Milten Elmeran was last seen at the Wizarding Mall of America, in Bloomington, Minnesota. Mr. Elmeran was the only remaining member of the Elmeran family, the last ones who saw him were Mary Eversol and Jacob Johnson. Nothing seemed to be wrong, according to Mary Eversol, so it is suspected that he became missing unwillingly. His shop was found with the door forcefully broken down and the place ransacked. Anyone who has any knowledge of Mr. Elmeran, please contact MACUSA, as a manhunt for him will be going on shortly to find him.

Jacob stared down at the paper, dumbstruck.

"What's wrong Jacob?" Alan asked.

"Mr. Elmeran… sold me my wand" Jacob muttered. He sat down, realizing that one of the people responsible for helping him enter the wizarding world. Even though it felt like a small part of his life, he valued that. His wand became one of the most valued possessions he had, next to his cross necklace, which he'd been wearing since day one.

"He sold me mine too!" Alan exclaimed. "What on earth happened to him?!"

"I'm sure they'll find him soon" Jessica assured them, who got her wand at a maker in Margaret Jones Alley, Boston's hub for all things Magical!

"I sure hope so" Jacob sighed. He turned over the page and read the opposite side, which wasn't much better.

SECOND SALEMERS HOLD DEMONSTRATION IN ADAMS, MASSACHUSSETS

Recently, the group calling themselves The Second Salemers held a demonstration in Adams, Massachussets. Throughout the demonstration, the leaders kept referring to Mount Greylock, the location of Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The witches and wizards present at the demonstration from MACUSA assured the New York Ghost that there was nothing to worry about, considering how the No-Maj population present mostly thought of the demonstration as "crazy people at it again". Still, this hasn't prevented the magical community of North America, and now South America, from being concerned. MACUSA reassured everyone that they will be sending officials to Ilvermorny shortly to help the school stay hidden and defended.

"That doesn't sound good" Antonio said. "Do you really think these idiots will find this place?" he asked.

"I hope not!" Felix exclaimed. "That would spell chaos for the entire world"

UPCOMING CHAPTER: A GIANT PROBLEM

Magical Creature Profile, The Cactus Cat:

The Cactus Cat is native to New Mexico and the northern borders of the Mexican state of Sonora. It spends its days searching for cacti in order to drain some of the juice from the cactus to lap up with its prickly tongue. Once the proper incisions are made at the base of the cactus, the Cactus Cat climbs up to the top of the cactus and sits there in the sun. It is impervious to the cactus's sharp barbs due to its immensely tough hide. Should it need to sire its young, it cuts into the hollow insides of the cactus and sires its kittens inside the cactus, where an excess of juice exists to sustain its young. As the large razors blades on the kittens' front legs develop, they may begin to puncture the outer layer of the cactus, signifying the maturity of the kittens inside. The Cactus Cat's prickly fur can sometimes be sheared to be used in potions, which only now occurs in Sonora and is banned in New Mexico (see the previous entry for the reason why).