002: Speak Chinese?
Of course, Antares was filled with anticipation over the coming of international schools. It was a hot topic in the dining hall that evening, even at Dee's table, which was considered the "nerd" table. (And for good reason, too.)
"You've heard of Hogwarts, right?" Tobias said, sliding into his seat last.
"Maybe," Edward said. He grabbed a chicken leg from a plate in the middle of the table. "And maybe not."
"I have," said David Berry, who was just joining their group. "It was in Wizards Weekly, Harry Potter just started his first year there."
"Potter," Charles said, giggling slightly. "That's a funny name. Potter…"
"Do you even know who Harry Potter is?" Andrew said, turning to him. "The Boy-Who-Lived? Are you kidding me?"
"He's Muggle-born, remember?" Alistair said.
"Well, you're Muggle-born, too, but you know who he is."
Alistair looked down at his food in a way that suggested otherwise.
"Are you kid – " Andrew started, then shook his head. "Never mind. Hey, Dave, what's the Canadian school called?"
"Mirabeille," David replied.
"Dude, that's a girl's name," Tobias said, laughing.
"I still wonder about the moose…" Andrew reminisced.
"Do NOT start with the moose again," Dee said. "What about potatoes?"
"Potatoes come from IDAHO, not CANADA," Edward said matter-of-factly, getting another chicken leg.
"HA, you called yourself a – " Andrew started, but then Tobias cut in, saying, "When do the other schools get here? It'll be awesome with them around."
"I don't know," David said. "Mrs. Celente hasn't said yet. But they should be here soon…"
It turned out that "soon" wasn't for three weeks. The entire school got more and more restless as they waited for the other schools to come. On Friday of the first week, posters were plastered all over the school walls, giving the names and countries of all the schools coming.
"Holy crap," Dee said, scanning the list after school with her friends. "Look at them all…"
"Yay!" Andrew shouted, clapping his hands. "There's Canada!"
"They have Japan, too!" said Iz. "Maybe they'll bring manga! Original Japanese manga!"
"I want to see the Spanish people," Edward said. "They might have nachos!"
Everyone turned and stared at him.
"What? I like nachos…"
On the second week, they were told more details. Only about sixty students from each school could come. The headmasters and headmistresses of each school would choose them.
"Dee! Iz!" Dave said the day they were given the information. "You know what Dumbledore's up to. Is he bringing Harry Potter?"
"I don't know," Dee hissed. She clamped her hand over Iz's mouth before he could say anything. "Don't talk about that, you know you're not supposed to…"
On the third week, just before they came, Mrs. Celente told them that the international schools would be arriving on the night of the First Dance.
"We would like you to show courtesy to our foreign guests," she said, beaming at them all as she made her speech at the front of the cafeteria. "Make sure you are representing our school and our country of the United States of America in the best way possible…"
She went on to talk about "bonding between countries" and "world peace" and all that cheesy stuff. The students either laid their heads down and caught up on sleep or began their own discussions about W.A.W.I.
"What kind of competition do you think it is?" Tobias asked.
"A banjo-playing contest!" Andrew said.
"Banjo?" they all repeated.
"Yes, banjo! Wouldn't that be awesome?"
"…Not really…"
"Okay, then, a moose back riding competition."
Everyone shrugged.
Mrs. Celente cleared her throat. "Well… details about where the guests will be staying. There are already two people in a dorm in Antares. When the other schools arrive, roommates from a school will be put with roommates from Antares. The lists will be posted after this dinner."
Dave dropped his jaw. "Dude, maybe we'll get a room with Harry Potter!"
"So?" Tobias said. "I just hope I get someone who isn't stupid…"
"And who likes Stargate SG-1, right?" Dee sighed.
"Duh!" Tobias loved that Muggle show. It was amazing that anyone could obsess so much over something like that.
The group ate their food so fast it was as if they'd inhaled it. Then they clambered out to the notice board in the lobby with all the other students. Sure enough, the lists were posted there.
"Me and Tobias got Michael Dice and Nick Hawk," Andrew said, scrutinizing the tiny print on the paper. "Hey – they're from CANADA!"
While he went whooping down the halls, Charles and Dave stepped up to the list. "We have…" Charles began, "Aengus Finney and Gilroy Keegan, they're from Ireland…"
"I thought Ireland was the same as Britain," Edward said.
"No," Iz said, scratching his chin, "Ireland is to Britain like Canada is to America… I think…"
"So some little geeky kid in Hogwarts is hoping the Irish school will bring a moose?" Dee asked.
"Maybe…"
Edward and his roommate, DJ Adams, looked at who they would be sharing their dorm with. "Hai Chang and Kun Ying?" DJ said.
"But I don't know Chinese…" Edward whined.
Alistair and Mick Soukup (his roommate) looked at their roommates. "Demyan Kovl and Gerasim Martinovich. Russian."
"Russia, the land of – " Charles began, then stopped. "Wait, what's in Russia?"
"Snow," Edward replied. "And big fat furry hats."
Dee looked for her name and her roommate's name, Candace Soleire. She crossed over to their foreign dorm buddies' names. "I have Lavender Brown and Hermione Granger." (She pronounced Hermione "her-MEE-ouhn".)
"Hermione?" Charles laughed. (He pronounced it the same way.)
"Aengus is funny, too," Dave said. "Sounds like the steak."
"Where are Hermione and Lavender from?" Iz asked.
"Um… Britain. Hey, maybe they know Harry Potter," Dee said.
"I doubt it – holy shit!" Iz shouted.
"What, what, what, what, what, WHAT?" they all cried, even kids they didn't talk to.
"I got Harry Potter!"
"Nu-uh!"
"No shit, look, see, right there!" Iz slammed his finger against the list. Everyone closed in on the notice board, trying to get a closer look. "Islan Alexander and Paul Solis, Antares, America, with Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley, Hogwarts, Great Britain!"
Everyone gasped and began to talk all at once.
"Iz! Iz!" Dave said, grabbing him by the collar of his robes, "you gotta get me an autograph! No, you gotta let me come over to your dorm to see him!"
"Get off me and I'll think about it," Iz said, grimacing. Dave quickly let go of him. At that moment, they heard yelling, and Andrew came zooming down the hall still screaming about the Canadian kids.
"Has he been going around doing that the whole time?" Edward said.
Dee reached out and grabbed Andrew by the back of his robes as he whizzed by. Andrew snapped back like a rubber band and halted.
"What? I'm celebrating!"
"Iz got Harry Potter in his dorm!" Tobias said.
Andrew straightened himself up, standing taller than usual, but still shorter than all of them. "Well, my roommates are better, they're bringing a moose!"
He turned away and went yelling down the halls again.
"I shouldn't have given him the rest of that six-pack of Mountain Dew," Charles said.