003: Not the Unicorn…
On September 26th, the day the foreign students would be arriving, the school was even more abuzz than on previous days. In Defense Against the Dark Arts that morning, Mr. Hayes had intercepted more notes and told more kids to be quiet than he ever had in his life.
Andrew's Mountain Dew high seemed to have worn off. After having their usual wand fight in which Mr. Hayes yelled at them to knock it off, he and Tobias discussed their Canadian roommates.
"Stargate airs earlier in Canada, doesn't it?" Tobias asked.
"I dunno, I don't watch it much… My parents aren't Muggles, we don't have a TV…"
"Well, if you wanted to find that out you'd go on the forums…"
"What's a 'forum'?"
They were all interested in Iz and Paul's roommates. In fact, the whole school was. People that they didn't know at all came up to them, talked them up, and then asked them about Harry Potter. In fact, one day Vallecaea Colbern came to talk to Iz in the cafeteria.
Vallecaea, or "Valle", was the biggest prep in school. She was a member of the Aldebaran class, one of the seven classes at Antares. As most people who weren't popular themselves knew, most kids with the high social status were put in Aldebaran. And, therefore, Aldebaran kids were snooty and obnoxious.
Valle always had an entourage of wannabes and her boyfriend-of-the-week with her wherever she went. She never talked to anyone in a lower position than her socially, unless some benefit to her was involved. So, naturally the "nerds" were surprised when even she came to talk to Iz.
"Hi, Islan," she said, striding up to Iz, hand on her hip.
Iz, Dee, Edward, Tobias, Andrew, Charles, Dave, and Alistair all glared warily at her. Andrew was pulling his wand out and starting to say, "Let's turn her into a duck!" when Dee clamped a hand over his mouth.
Iz looked away from her as if he could care less. "Hey."
"So, what's the deal with your roommate from Britain? Heard he was something special." Her cronies all gathered around her and watched.
"Yeah."
Valle looked irritated by his one-word responses. "Wasn't it… Harry Potter?"
"Yeah."
Valle clasped her hands in front of her and looked up innocently. "Sooo… think you can arrange for me to talk with him? You know, his dad and my mom used to be friends back, like, forever ago, and that kind of stuff…"
"Maybe."
Valle seemed to take this as a "yes". She beamed at him. "Thank you, Izzy!" Then she skipped off with the other preps.
"I have a perfect shot now…" Andrew said, pointing the wand.
"Don't," Dave said.
"Well, if you don't want a duck, what about a turtle?"
"No, a cockroach!" Edward said.
"What about a platypus?" Tobias said, looking off into the distance.
Dee was about to say something, when she noticed the headmistress walking up onto the speaking platform at the front of the cafeteria.
"Hey, guys, Mrs. Celente's going to say something," she said to them.
"Excuse me," Mrs. Celente called. Everyone in the cafeteria quickly stopped talking and looking up at her, eager for more information on W.A.W.I. "The First Dance will be held here in the cafeteria starting at seven o'clock. We'll have music, of course, and snacks and mini-games. The foreign students will arrive at six. They will move their things into their dormitories, which they are sharing with all of you, and then you shall all come down to the dance. I just wanted to inform you all of that, especially the first graders who have not been here for past dances. Thank you."
She stepped down from the platform and the conversations began again. They didn't have too long to talk; lunch was over soon and they went to their afternoon classes. No one was really paying attention during any of them.
They were restless in the lobby during the afternoon break, and then when finally came around to five o'clock, they were back in the cafeteria for dinner.
It had changed dramatically; magical sparks, all shades of red, white, yellow, green, purple, orange, and blue, the class colors, were spiraling around the room. Shining gold stars were printed on indigo banners on the walls. Every time a table was emptied during the hour, it was taken to be put in a storage closet. Instead, a very long table with a gold tablecloth reaching down to the floor was pushed against a wall and piled with massive bowls of punch and plates of crackers and cookies and other foods.
"Ooh, look, shiny!" Andrew said as a blue sparks flew past him. He reached out and tried to grab it, but it glided away before he could catch it.
Some of the staff was busied at the wall behind the speaking platform, hanging large banners showing the mascots of each class. There was Aldebaran's bright yellow bird, and now the white unicorn, representing Arcturus, Dee and Iz's class, was being put up.
"Oh, no! They're putting it up!" Iz whined.
"It's not that bad, it's just a unicorn," Dee said.
"How would you know, you're a girl!" Iz complained.
"Capella's mascot is worse," Dee contested, pointing at the blue banner with a dolphin.
Next came the banner with a panther against a mass of purple, for Eri. Alistair was a member of Eri. Then there was Pollux, represented by a red dragon. Edward was in Pollux, and the rest of them were in Tau Ceti, whose banner was of an orange tiger. There was also Sadr, with a lion against a field of green.
"I wish we had a – " Andrew started, but then Tobias cut him off.
"Don't say moose."
"Awwww…"
It wasn't long and Mrs. Celente was ushering them into the lobby. She separated them into their classes, and then cleared a spot in front of the wide entrance. Dee and Iz stood among the members of Arcturus, all with white armbands. Everyone in the lobby was murmuring quietly.
Soon the doors opened. Dee jumped. Mr. Jeremiah Perkins, the head of Arcturus class and the Transfiguration teacher, came marching in. "Mrs. Celente," he said, "they're here."
The students were quiet, but they raised their heads above the crowd and stood on tiptoe trying to get a better look. Mr. Perkins stepped aside, the doors still wide open. There was a second's pause, and then a tall wizard in green robes came in. For a moment, they wondered where the other kids were. Then, a huge throng of green-robed students, all with black hair and equally wondering looks, came walking in.
"Hola, Senor Rayes!" Mrs. Celente said, stepping forward to shake the hand of the wizard at the front of the group. He smiled and said a few words in Spanish.
"Students, this is Senor Rayes, the headmaster of Saturnino Academy, the Mexican school."
"Hola," a few kids said. Senor Rayes turned and said something to his students. Afterwards, the Mexican wizards and witches dispersed and went to find their roommates at Antares, who had numbers pinned on their robes corresponding to the foreign students' own pins.
Next came the Canadian school. Mrs. Celente introduced their headmaster, Albert Anatole, and then the Canadian students went to their roommates also.
Over in the Tau Ceti group, Dee and Iz saw Tobias shaking hands with a dark-haired Canadian kid, who they presumed was Nick Hawk, and the one behind him, Michael Dice. Andrew stepped forward eagerly and asked, audibly enough that several people could hear him, "Hi, did you happen to bring a moose?"
After the North American schools came South American ones from Brazil and Chile. Then there were kids from Ghana and South Africa, Saudi Arabia, India, Korea, Japan, and then from China. Two Chinese boys approached Edward and DJ at the Pollux group.
"Konnichiwa," Edward said slowly and exaggeratedly. "I am – Edward – Smith."
"Yeah, we know," said one of the Chinese kids. "And, uh, 'konnichiwa' is Japanese, not Chinese." He had a definite Chinese accent, but he could speak English fine. Edward looked surprised and relieved at the same time.
"Right, I knew that," Edward said quickly.
After that came Australia and the European schools, including ones from Italy, Greece, Spain, Bulgaria, Germany, France, and also Russia and Ireland. Alistair and Mick greeted Demyan and Gerasim. Gilroy and Aengus met Charles and Dave.
Then, as if it were meant to be a huge finale, Hogwarts of Great Britain was the last school to be introduced. The headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, acknowledged Dee and Iz with a slight nod before Candace appeared at Dee's side, just in time for Hermione and Lavender.
"Hi," Lavender said, shaking hands with Candace and grinning. Candace grinned politely. Dee and Hermione shook hands quickly.
Then, Dee saw out of the corner of her eye, Harry Potter. She didn't need to ask him his name to know him. Who did? She recognized him from the newspapers immediately. He walked over to Iz and shook hands with him. The redheaded kid with Harry began talking with Paul.
"Ah, well," said Mrs. Celente. "Let's all go up to our rooms! Antares students, please lead the way for your new roommates."
Yeah, I know, short and with not as much randomness, but I wanted to get it posted. Next chapter will be better!