A/N: I kinda flew through this one because I don't know but I'm still thinking about possibly making some edits to it, we'll see. I've put thought into how the school is laid out and what I picture it to look like in general and hopefully you'll see that in upcoming chapters. Again, if you like it leave a favorite and a review and I'll love you forever. Enjoy!
Chapter 4
The Roar of the Beast
The vision Ben saw before him was breathtaking. The wooded mountaintop he saw now adorned a collection of silver towers that seemed to interconnect all throughout the mountain's peak, as if they were an extension of the night sky. Further down the face of the mountain he could see the faint glimmer of the Quodpot pitch with lights dotting a trail that led up the mountain towards the rest of the school. As they drew closer to the immense collection of shimmering lights, the car seemed to be moving directly toward a towering gate that sat in front of a stadium-like building and a tall, rectangular hall with two twin spires perched on top of it.
The students sat in awe, dumbfounded and at a loss for words. "Oh wow… wow…" Jessica continued to whisper.
Jack, unsurprisingly, broke the silence again. "I'm not positive here and don't take my word for it, but I feel like that might be Ilvermorny up ahead."
"Yeah?" Ben feigned a look of confusion. "How d'you figure?"
Jack began to laugh. "Lucky guess? I could be wrong you never know," he pointed. "That could easily just be the kingdom of some really weird No-Maj cult living out in the middle of nowhere. It sounds about as far-fetched as a wizarding school if you really stop to think about it."
"Well, I doubt it's anything involving a cult." Shivani remarked.
Jack turned to her. "Yeah? Why's that?"
"Because the gate says Ilvermorny right there…?"
"Oh. Sweet!"
The car slowed to a stop and the doors flew open. The group stayed in Alphabetical order in front of the gate and moments later Billings emerged from behind.
"AY LISTEN UP," he bellowed, scaring the wits out of most of the first years that were unaware of his arrival. "Follow me into the gate and take a right. That's it y'all, keep moving. You kids are a lot smarter than last year's class. Took 'bout a half hour just to get them to walk in line from the gate to the ceremony hall."
"Ceremony hall?" Asked a large brunette girl.
"Yeah, that's where we headed, right there." Billings pointed towards the stadium-like building. "You guys will get sorted in front of the rest of the school in there."
Ben's heart sank. The whole school? In that place? He gawked at the massive hall. Oh god what if we really do have to fight in there? For as big of a kid as Ben was for his age, he was used to getting beaten in wrestling matches. He grew up with the McKenna family as one of the younger relatives and so, naturally, his older cousins and even his sisters would like to mess with him and push his buttons.
But this was different. That was fist fighting. This was magic. I am not ready for this.
They reached the entrance to the ceremony hall and Ben turned to face Jessica. She must've notice his apprehension because she looked absolutely terrified. He figured he should say something but he wasn't sure what.
"Hey, it's alright. It's a school after all, not a gladiator arena." She looked pale and he felt that only made it worse. "Look, what's the worst that could happen? It's not like it makes much difference what house you're placed in. At the end of the day, the only real difference it makes is which hall you'll be sleeping in."
She gave a weak smile. "I know. The whole sorting ceremony is freaky to me. I just want to get this over with so I can eat something. Preferably while I don't feel like puking my guts out from nervousness,"
Ben snickered. The thought of a cooked meal after the ceremony momentarily comforted him. "I haven't anything all day I am so ready for this. Is it like a buffet or is-"
"Ladies and gentleman!" Ben turned around and looked at portly man with bright blue dress robes. "First, I want to tell all of you congratulations! Welcome to Ilvermorny Academy of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"
Ben was caught off guard by the man. He was enthusiastic and loud to a point where it almost forces everyone else to be the same way. Ben wasn't sure he had ever met somebody this aggressively friendly.
"I am your Headmaster, Professor Scott Charles Wheeler, and I am so glad that you all have given us teachers the opportunity to prepare you guys for the wizarding world and provide you with the experience that is Ilvermorny. Who's excited?" He pointed across the line of students and laughed heartily. All of the first years begun to cheer and Ben couldn't help joining in as well. Sure, it was corny but Professor Wheeler acted so excited that he'd feel guilty not reciprocating the enthusiasm.
"Woo! Alright, time to get down to business. As soon as we walk in those doors you will await for our Deputy Headmistress, Professor Mays," he pointed at a petite black woman with a wide smile, "to call your name. You will then step into the center platform on top of the school crest and you will be sorted by our four totems. Wampus, Thunderbird, Horned Serpent, or Pukwudgie. Once chosen, you will be escorted to the student section of your house and wait for everyone to be sorted. After all that is done, your house members will escort you to the dining hall where you will enjoy our first meal of the year which, I'm telling ya, is something I'd be real excited about if I were you. Now, let's begin your journey!"
The line of students applauded him and entered the Ceremony Hall. Ben entered the hall and peered into the long foyer that was decorated with portraits of past great American wizards that wished the students good luck. The line stopped and he, like all the other students in the line, were craning their heads above each other in the effort to get a better view of what was beyond the hallway. Their hopes were dashed, however, by a black curtain that was draped across the threshold into the arena.
"Welcome back students!" He could hear Professor Mays announce to the upperclassmen beyond the veil. "I'd like to have the honor of saying that we are elated to have you back and we wish you luck in the year ahead of you. As you all know, the sorting ceremony is about to be underway and we ask that you all remain silent when the first years are in the process of being chosen. Let's not make them any more nervous than I'm sure they already are."
"Like that will make a difference" Ben grumbled to himself.
"Once a student is picked, however, you all can go as crazy as your hearts desire." She laughed along with the upperclassmen. "Without further ado, let's begin. Andrews, Austin. Come on out!"
Ben watched as the serious blonde boy walked past the curtain and then… Silence.
Suddenly, an eruption of cheers came from a specific part of the arena and Ben could hear Professor Mays cheer. "Wampus! Congratulations! Next up we have Ballard, Christina."
A short blonde made her way past. Ben glanced over at Billings and caught him smirking. The whole air of secrecy and the lack of an explanation to the students must have been intentional because Billings seemed to be enjoying the sight of all the students freaking out.
A moment passed. Then, Ben hears Professor Mays call to Christina Ballard. "You get to choose, honey. Will you be a Serpent or a Wampus?"
Ben cocked his head back in confusion. Choosing? I thought we were chosen? He scanned the rest of the students and could tell they were confused as well.
Another roar from the stands. "Horned Serpent it is! Excellent choice! Next we have Barone, Matthew!"
Ben watched as the line begun to shrink at a steady pace. Occasionally, there would be stifled cheering for certain houses when the student was apparently given the option to choose a house. "Earley, Jonas?" A thin boy with very long dark hair stepped forward. "Thunderbird!" Professor Mays exclaimed. The line continued to thin and after a Kerstin Liu was placed in Pukwudgie and a Colin Mack was placed in Horned Serpent, Ben listened intently for the next student. "McKenna, Kelsey?" His cousin strolled past the curtain and barely any time passed before the hall was filled with the sounds of screeching upperclassmen. "Wampus! Congrats Kelsey!"
Ben grinned. Shocker. He swore the crowd seemed to be a little extra raucous for Kelsey and he thought he faintly heard the distinct screams of his sisters over the crowd.
Minutes passed and more students had their fates determined. Eventually, Ben's cable car group was in the front. Shivani Pillai was deemed a Thunderbird while Erica Polk, the lanky blonde, was called into Horned Serpent. Jack Powell skipped past the curtain and was deemed a Wampus after some time. Then Shane Ramsey, a tall kid with dark bags under his eyes, was placed in Thunderbird and Ben braced himself.
"Reilly, Benjamin?"
Shit shit shit shit Ben repeated to himself in his mind. He stepped past the curtain and walked into the arena. The stands were split into four student sections around him and above that were the teachers looming over them. In front of each stand were four intricate stone statues of each house mascot, all placed in front of their corresponding house stands. The Wampus was perched on top of a boulder in a proud stance, the Pukwudgie seemed to stare at Ben while it held a bow it carried by its side, the Thunderbird was perched on a pedestal with its wings folded, and the Horned Serpent was coiled around with its head perked up, displaying a clear jewel in the center of its head. He forced himself to stand tall in the center and look as confident as he can.
Dead silence. Then, the Wampus statue let out a mighty roar and he braced himself for the cheers, but instead the room broke out into whispers. He turned around, confused, and noticed the Thunderbird was flapping its wings in his direction. He faced the other statues to see the Pukwudgie had his arrow notched and aimed upwards and the Horned Serpent's jewel was now glowing a vibrant purple. He now gazed at Professor Mays, desperately hoping for any sort of clarification or instruction.
"Oh, ahem," she cleared her throat. "Well, this is certainly interesting. Have your pick Mr. Reilly!" She nodded at Ben.
He had always told Kelsey and Charlie he wished he could just pick a house himself and be done with it. Yet now the opportunity has come and he just stood there in shock. Should he be in Thunderbird with Marie? Or join Jenny and his cousins in Wampus? Or go his own way and join Pukwudgie or even Horned Serpent? It boggled his mind and the whispers grew louder. He had to make his decision.
He mustered up the last of his courage and stepped towards Wampus to a deafening cheer from the student section. The statue had reared up on its hind legs and roared once again but Ben could hardly hear it over the sheer noise of the students. He could see his sister and cousins frantically jumping around and he felt a sense of relief. He could even see Jack Powell in the stands dancing around and waving his arms around like a lunatic. As he made his way up to the stands he could see Marie in the Thunderbird stands playfully sticking her tongue out at her little brother. Other Wampus classmates patted his back and shook him in excitement as he found his seat was saved by his ecstatic family members.
"That was awesome!" Charlie yelled. "How did all four pick you?"
"I'm sure it happens occasionally, right?"
"No, it doesn't," his sister remarked. "The last time that happened was the President Seraphina Picquery, and that was like 100 years ago!"
His brow furrowed. "Wait, what? How can I belong in all four houses? Earlier I thought maybe I didn't really make a good fit for any of them."
"Maybe that's why they all picked you," Kelsey laughed. "Must've been a pity vote."
He gave her a crooked smile. "Shut up, you just wish they all picked you too."
"Nah, I got my house so I'm happy. Wait, look," She pointed at the center. "Jessica is going next."
Jessica Renner shuffled forward and stood in the center, waiting for whatever it was she was supposed to do next. Ben was expecting the jewel on the Serpent's head to glow which, to his surprise, did not. Instead, the Thunderbird flapped its wings at her while the Pukwudgie shifted its aim to the sky.
"Ah, another student with a choice!" Professor Mays gestured to the student sections. "Would you like to be sorted into Thunderbird or Pukwudgie?"
Jessica had stood there, her face filled with discomfort. Ben could tell she just wanted to be off of that center crest, and fast. She looked back and forth between the two totems for a painfully long time. Finally, she took a step towards the overjoyed Pukwudgie section. As she made her way up the stands, she caught Ben's eye and gave him a sad smile. He was a little bummed that she wasn't going to join him in Wampus, but in a sign of good faith he gave her a wide grin and a thumbs up.
The ceremony continued and there were three more Wampus members, three more Thunderbirds, and one other Pukwudgie. After the commotion in the student sections had died down, Headmaster Wheeler addressed the students.
"What an incredible turnout! Good to see you champs all found the best fitting house!" He glanced towards Ben. "And I'm sure that you will find lasting friendships within your houses. After all, they will be your new families during the school years. So get comfortable!" He applauded his students. "Now I ask that you all accompany me to the dining hall! Let's roll!"
Ben, Charlie, Kelsey, and Jenny exited the ceremony hall along with the rest of his new Housemates. They walked along a cobblestone path illuminated by small balls of light that were lined along the sides of the paths. His sister pointed at the building with the twin spires next to the Ceremony Hall. "That's the library. You probably won't have to spend a ton of time there this year since most of the information first years need is in your textbooks. But still, you should make an effort to check it out at some point soon. It'd make Ma happy."
"Yeah, totally," Ben lied. He had no intention of spending his free time in a library when he didn't need to.
They took a right on the path and came to the entrance of a set of castles, a very wide silver building that Ben assumed was the dining hall and a tower next to it that touched the clouds.
Charlie seemed to notice Ben's interest in pointed towards to tower. "That's one of the academic wings. Every few floors is dedicated to a certain subject. That building is where the Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms, and Divination classes are taught. The top floor," he pointed to the clouds, "is where Professor Wheeler's office is. Not like he's ever in there, anyway."
"Why not?" Kelsey asked.
"I mean look at him. Does he look like the kind of guy to sit in his office?" Charlie scoffed. "He's usually on the grounds high fiving everyone and calling them 'killas'."
Ben laughed. He liked having Professor Wheeler as a Headmaster, even if he was over the top.
Ben and Kelsey were blown away by the dining hall. The tables were arranged into a square perimeter, nearly enclosing a round table in the middle that was designated for the staff. Above the tables were floating chandeliers that were illuminated by flames of each house color: a vibrant red for Wampus, a shocking blue for Thunderbird, a pale green for Pukwudgie, and a light purple for Horned Serpent. The ceiling was decorated with an intricate mural of different historical figures that bustled about, reenacting famous moments in Wizarding history. The grandiose of it all was a little too much for Ben and they both agreed that it would take some time getting used to it.
However, what really caught Ben's eye was the food, or lack thereof. "This is a joke, right? If this isn't a joke I'll have to eat somebody here," he moaned. His eyes searched for the entrances and when the food might arrive to them. Then, in a blink of an eye, it was all there.
"I have never seen something so beautiful in my life." The sheer variety of the food was enough to make Ben pass out. Every type of meal he could think of was made available to him. Charlie was grabbing a rack of ribs, Jessica was serving herself pasta, and Jack was slapping slices of french toast onto his already stacked plate. Ben stopped at a number of different meals, mostly favoring the seafood that had blackened fish like his dad used to make, and went to town.
After stuffing himself to a point of no return, Ben decided to head back with Charlie and get situated in his dorm. "You'll like the rooms," Charlie assured him. "It's set up so that your dorm is two bedrooms with a common room we call a "mod" in the middle. Each bedroom has three students each."
"Do we pick our roommates?"
"Nah, not your first year. They pick them for you and I'm pretty sure it's random."
Ben hoped his roommates were alright. He was quite a messy person as a whole and he probably wouldn't hit it off too well with his roommates if they were neat-freaks. They headed down a wide path until they reached a massive hall at the end of the walkway. The castle had a low-roofed building that was in between two huge towers that matched with each other. The grand towers appeared weirdly unstable to Ben and he immediately realized why. The towers were built off the edge of a cliff that dropped a solid 40 feet or so.
Ben nodded his head towards the edge of the cliff. "So are we at the edge of the campus or-"
"What? Nah, that's Broken Neck Bluff. That's what all the students call it, at least. It cuts through a good chunk of the campus and is kind of annoying, actually. Anytime you have to get up or down the cliff you need to go to Hall of Ascension."
"The huh?"
"Hall of Ascension." Charlie simply repeated. "Or if you were in Thunderbird or Pukwudgie you could cut through their halls, I suppose."
Ben's eyebrows furrowed. "I'm so confused."
"Of course you are, that's why I'm here. I'll explain it better tomorrow but right now let's get to the dorms and get some sleep. Here," he aimed his wand at the wooden doors. "We are the body."
The doors swung open and Ben stared with curiosity. "Oh, right." Nate stowed away his wand. "Our wands are registered to our own houses and dorms. It's kind of like a keycard but instead of swiping you point your wand and say 'we are the body' and you're in. Simple as that."
The common room had a red and silver decor with a low ceiling and four fireplaces. Couches and lounge chairs were sprawled across the room, along with a few tables. It had a very homey feel to it and Ben could tell that he'd be more likely to end up goofing off in the common room with his peers then it would be for him to be able to actually focus on his studies. "Hey, right here," Charlie called out to him. "This bulletin says you're the third floor in room 9."
He made his way into the boy's tower and followed the spiral staircase to the third floor. He travelled around the circular hallway until he found a boy outside of his door.
"What's up, bud," Ben approached the boy. He was short and chunky, with bushy blonde hair and a baby face. "You lost?"
"No, this is my room! It won't let me in even though I've done the password four times. Watch." The boy smacks his wand against the door. "I am the body!" He screeched. The door remained firmly in place.
Ben couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah, it's probably never gonna work if you keep saying the wrong password." He lifted his wand. "We are the body."
The door slid open. "Huh? Oh… I heard somebody use it when they let me in the common room but I must have forgotten it. So you live here too?"
Ben brushed his hair out of his face. "Yeah, I do. My names Ben Reilly."
"I'm Eddy Hale. Wait…" The boy's eyes widened. "Wait, are you the one that got picked by all four totems? I saw you pick Wampus! Why'd you pick us?"
Ben shrugged. "Oh, most of my family was and is currently in Wampus so it only made sense."
"I get you. Let's see who our roommate is."
The two of them entered their room to find the third roommate hastily tossing his robes out of his trunk next to his bed.
"Hey! Roomie!" Eddy called out.
The boy turned around and gave a wicked grin.
"Jack!"
"Hiya Ben!" Jack Powell waved. "I looked at the bulletin and saw you were my roommate. I'm guessing you're Eddy?"
"Yeah, that's me," Eddy opened his drawers. "Look at this they take your bags up and they give you these pins that look like the crest we had to stand on during the sorting."
Ben turned the pin over in his hand. It was red and he remembered Marie telling him that the pins were all in the color of the house that a student was in. "Yeah, I've heard about these. Gordian Knots, I think."
He continue to twirl the pin around in his fingers. He was so tired he hadn't noticed the others were talking about the feast and tucked himself into bed.
Jack tossed a pillow at Ben. "Going to bed already? You haven't unpacked yet."
"I know but I couldn't even if I tried. I don't have the energy"
Jack shrugged. "Suit yourself."
Ben put out the lamp by his bed and fell asleep immediately and comfortably with the knowledge that he had chosen the right home.