Hall A, Room 2 finally came into view. Rebecca and Isabelle approached the door and Rebecca knocked.
"Come in." said a high pitched voice.
Rebecca opened the door and the Warren sisters walked into the office. At the desk sat a thin woman with shoulder length brown hair. She looked up from her papers and smiled at them.
"Well hello there. Are you here for citizenship?"
"We got a letter about immigration. Rebecca and Isabelle Warren?" Rebecca said.
The woman went to a file cabinet and flicked through a few papers before finding what she was looking for. She returned to her desk. Rebecca and Isabelle approached the it while the woman started scribbling down something. She pushed a paper to both girls.
"You'll need to sign these to become enrolled in Ilvermorny and to be placed in citizenship."
Isabelle went to pick up a quill that was sitting on the desk, buy Rebecca grabbed her wrist. "Hold on. Let's read through it first." Isabelle nodded and put the quill back down.
"Surely, it's simple paperwork." The woman said with her same cheesy smile.
"I want to know what my name means on this paper." Rebecca said sharply. "With all due respect, I don't know you and I don't trust you."
The smile didn't fade off of the woman's face. Instead she said sweetly, "I'm so sorry, dear. I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Macey Graves, Secretary of The Immigration Office. This paper just makes sure-"
Rebecca stopped listening to her and began to read the paper. Isabelle was watching with content before she decided to start reading.
This document states that I am temporarily allowed to live in the United States of America as a refugee under the laws of the Magical Congress of The United States.
As a refugee I also grant MACUSA officials to search me for any and all reasons if I pose a threat of any kind to citizens both magic and non-magic beings.
In exchange, I will be protected from other countries at war, allowed to live freely, and also attend school and/or work in the US.
As an underage magical being, I must not use magic of any kind outside of school until the age of 17. Should I fail to meet these rules, MACUSA may revoke my participation in school and even revoke partial citizenship as well as sent back to the country upon which I arrived from.
Any laws broken MACUSA may revoke partial citizenship as well as sent back to the country upon which I arrived from.
Rebecca looked up and said, "Partial citizenship? Refugee?"
"You see young lady, we cannot grant you proper citizenship in a matter of days. Not to mention, you two just arrived from a country at war. It makes many MACUSA officials uneasy. We formed this document to ensure you can still be here but for the sake of national security, we may need to send you back if you pose as a threat to any of us."
Rebecca hated the entire document. She was expecting to be treated as a citizen. It was what her father had arranged.
"This isn't what I want. I don't want someone to send me or my sister back to a war because we look suspicious." She pointed at a line. "We can be sent back for any or all reasons. That's not a fair deal."
Macey Graves sat quietly, letting Rebecca make all of her points. Isabelle spoke, however. "Becky, it's not a problem. We're both good people. They just want to keep their friends safe, like you keeping me safe."
Rebecca closed her eyes. Isabelle made a valid point, but it sounded like MACUSA didn't really want the Warrens here and they would try to stop it from happening if they could. They were supposed to become citizens and now something changed. Rebecca didn't like it. She opened her eyes and looked to Macey Graves. "What happens if we don't sign?"
Graves' smile finally faded, "Well, you two will be going back to Britain. We would make arrangements to have you put back on a no-maj plane."
"A what plane?" Rebecca asked.
"I believe your people call them muggles?" Graves said quizzically. "Now, will you two please sign so I can give you what you need for school?"
Isabelle grabbed the quill again and scribbled her name on her document. She handed the quill to Rebecca. Now she had no choice but to sign it since her sister just did. Rebecca reluctantly signed her name and pushed the quill and paper to Graves. "I want a copy for both of us."
"Of course." Graves said with her smile back.
After signing their own copies, Rebecca and Isabelle started for the door when Graves stopped them. "Here. Take this slip to the Education Department and get your school supplies."
Rebecca and Isabelle received directions to the Education Department (Floor 5, Hall C, Rooms 2-5) and headed there immediately. On the way, it had struck Rebecca that she and Isabelle arrived to the US with no wizard money and that they would be unable to buy their supplies. It was no secret that the Warrens were wealthy, but the war had made things difficult to acquire their funds. With being on the run, it was not possible to show up in Gringotts bank to make a withdrawal.
Rebecca was going to explain all of this to Isabelle, but she kept on about how much she was looking forward to attending Ilvermorny.
"I wonder what sort of animals we will cover in our Care of Magical Creatures class?" Isabelle asked excitedly.
"Probably the same ones as I did in third year." Rebecca said. 'I wouldn't get your hopes up too much. I bet every school teaches the same course."
"No way. Every country has their own creatures." Isabelle said.
"Good point. You're the animal expert though, so of course you're right." Rebecca said.
Isabelle smiled. They finally arrived at the Education Department. They walked in and was greeted by an old fellow.
"Ah. Miss Graves said I would be expecting guests today.' He was a cheerful old man with round glasses. Unlike the Graves witch, this man seemed more genuine and less fake.
"Come in. Come in. I got to get you two signed up for this school year. Now, as I understand it..." He peered down at a paper he found. "... yes. Yes, Rebecca Warren graduated fourth year at Hogwarts. Barely passed all classes, but exceeded very well in Charms. Isabelle Warren, graduated third year with good markings all around. Best in Care of Magical Creatures."
He paused for a moment. In fact, the pause was so long, Rebecca wasn't sure if he was expecting for her to reply with something. She began to open her mouth to speak, but the old man finally decided to talk. "Well, this all looks good. You'll just need to sign here saying you would like to attend the school. Refugees are eligible to be exempted from Ilvermorny but I recommend you go."
As much as Rebecca would love to not go, she knew she needed to, plus, Isabelle wasn't going to turn it down and by default, Rebecca wasn't going to either.
"Um... we have a problem." Rebecca said awkwardly.
"Oh? What's that?" The old man asked curiously.
"We don't exactly have money for the books and supplies." Rebecca said. Isabelle looked st her sister, then to the old man.
"Don't worry about it. Every child that attends Ilvermorny receives free books for the school year as well as supplies, so as long as they turn them back in at the end of the year. Once you select your classes, you will receive your necessary items upon arrival to the school."
The old man paused then said, as though he almost forgot, "This is all made possible by the Saturn Society of course."
After a few minutes, Rebecca and Isabelle were now signed up for classes. They both had the same classes, though at different levels. Rebecca would enter Ilvermorny at fifth year while Isabelle would go to fourth as they would had if they were still at Hogwarts.
The classes were generally the same for Ilvermorny. They had the usual Charms, Potions, Defense Against The Dark Arts, Transfiguration, and Herbology. Care of Magical Creatures was called Magizoology. Rebecca didn't understand the difference. History of Magic was simply US History of Magic. Depending on which year you were in, you would focus on a different country or period of time. Isabelle had Canadian History of Magic.
There was also a Culinary Arts In Magic class that focused on preparing and cooking food with the use of magic. And finally, there was No-Maj Studies. Rebecca was still trying to adjust to the American saying of muggle.
After sign ups, Rebecca and Isabelle were free to leave MACUSA finally. They headed back out the way they came. Rebecca glanced at the clock above them. They had been in the building for two hours. She hoped Kate was still around.
As they walked out of the door, Rebecca and Isabelle searched for Kate. They found her across the street sitting at a bench. She was on her phone talking to it.
"Yes. Things are fine. In fact, here they come. Do you want to speak to them?"
Rebecca and Isabelle approached Kate. Overhearing the words she said, Rebecca asked, "Is that my dad?"
Kate handed the phone to Rebecca. She looked at it awkwardly, but mimicked the same way Kate held it. "Hello?" She asked cautiously.
"Hey Rebecca."
"Dad? Is that you? Listen, we had a problem with MACUSA. They wouldn't give us citizenship. They made us refugees."
There was a pause before Anthony said, "Okay. That's fine. As long as you're allowed to be there, that's fine."
"But they said if we're even suspicious, they would send us back." Rebecca said.
"Well, it seems you and your sister will have to be careful. I don't know why they changed their decision, but you must remain there. You two cannot come back. Not until Mathias is taken care of."
Rebecca nodded as if her dad could see her understanding.
"You'll be fine." Anthony said. "Let me speak with Isabelle. I don't have much time"
Rebecca said goodbye and handed Isabelle the phone, who seemed to handle it like a natural.
Rebecca sat down next to Kate and waited for the phone call to end. When it did, Isabelle pressed on the front of the phone and handed it to Kate. "He said he loves us very much."
Kate put the phone in her pocket and said, "Alright. Let's head home."