The sorting was completed not long after Evergreen's. No one else had had all four statues react to them. The most they saw besides that was two. Evergreen took his place with the other Thunderbirds and took in their congratulations. Kristoff Jerrod, one of the older underclassmen, immediately got Evergreen's attention even before he sat down.
"Quandary," the dark-haired, broad-shouldered 14-year-old began. "You were chosen by all four! That hasn't happened for like 30 years!"
"Really?" Evergreen stammered. "What d-does that m-mean?"
"It means that the professors are going to be watching you closely. According to rumor, the last person to be chosen by all four produced some of the most unbelievable magic anyone has ever seen."
Evergreen was stunned. So, he had big shoes to fill and a lot of potential to face. He had always been a good student, having had all A's and B's for as far back as he could remember. Something told him though, that he would need more than good grades to accomplish everything that a four-statue student was capable of. Sure, he'd need to be an adventurer, but he would also need to be a scholar, a healer, and… perhaps even a warrior. He had always been more of a lover than a fighter, so he realized that he likely would have a long road ahead of him.
They were all seated at their tables and the statues were all whisked away into the Ilvermorny Annex, the massive room from whence they had come, where his housemates told him that the statues would spend the year. Andie and Glade were both Thunderbirds as well. Both Link and Evergreen began to loudly complain to no one in particular about their hunger, asking why they were seated before empty plates, bowls, and platters. Kristoff told them to be patient, with a sly smile.
"Good evening and happiest of days!"
A deep, raspy, but good-humored voice called above the student chatter. All looked up to the head of the commons where Headmaster Washington-Frost was standing. All the idle chit-chat died away immediately when he raised his hands and, in a moment, conjured a burning sigil just above his head that burst. Suddenly all of the candles and torches in the commons changed in hue from their natural, fiery orange to the white light of sunshine. The room was instantaneously made much brighter and clearer, vision was heightened, and the headmaster held all the students' rapt attention.
"Welcome to another year at Ilvermorny, the greatest school of magic in the world! I am your headmaster, Edgar Vincent Romulus Washington-Frost, and because I know you are all quite eager to taste the cooking of the best elves in America, we'll keep all the announcements until after dinner. So, without further ado, Bon Appetit!"
In one swift motion, he reached for his wand and slashed it through the air. Immediately following this action, the platters upon each of the four, long tables began to swiftly fill with food, as if from out of nowhere. A platter near Evergreen's seat suddenly held steak and mashed potatoes, one situated to the side began to fill with bacon cheeseburgers, and he looked on in wonder as he saw all manner of delicious food appear atop the platters along the table before his very eyes. There was fried chicken and collard greens, multiple types of chili with cornbread, meatloaf, Philly cheese steak sandwiches, abundant varieties of salads ranging from southwest chicken, to spicy Asian, to taco, to a classic Caesar. There were even more foods that he couldn't name, and just as many pitchers of delicious and fragrant drinks. To drink, he saw a pitcher of ice-cold sarsaparilla, spring water, apple cider, egg cream, root beer, and even more drinks further down the table that he couldn't see.
Evergreen hadn't even known how hungry he was until he saw the spread that had suddenly appeared before him. He just had to try a little bit of everything. As he helped himself to a piece of fried chicken and a serving of vegetarian chili, an odd, ethereal figure appeared. She was young, maybe in her 20's, wearing a pilgrim dress, but her hair was exposed and down. She was also completely transparent ー presumably, a ghost. Andie jumped about a mile when she saw her, and even Evergreen, despite his earlier bravado, was a little startled.
"Welcome to Ilvermorny!" she said in a voice that sounded like she was speaking from the inside of a well.
"Miss Masterson!" Kristoff called to the young ghost.
"Kristoff Jarrod, I assume." she crooned, not even looking at him.
"That's Sarah Masterson." Link whispered. "She's also known as the Solitary Separatist because her views were so drastic when she was alive that her own people burned her alive."
"What terrible luck."
"You're telling me."
Evergreen noticed other ghosts filtering in. Some floated down from the ceiling, others emerged from beneath the floor. Others listlessly phased in and out of the walls. He thought to himself that, if he were dead, he'd probably like to spend time with lots of living people too. It made sense that the ghosts gathered nearby.
It was a wonderful feast, and, at a certain point, Evergreen noticed with a start that all of the bowls and platters were clear and sparkly clean. A moment later, all the platters and things began to fill with all manner of desserts. There were huge blocks of ice cream, apple, cherry, and peach pies, a few different kinds of cakes, cream puffs (not the fighting ones, Evergreen noticed), cheesecakes, a dozen different kinds of cookies, brownies, a few puddings, and some of the prettiest Jell-O molds that Evergreen had ever seen. He had so many questions. Did wizards eat like this every day? Why weren't there more fat people here? How well paid were wizard and witch dentists?
Evergreen voiced a few of his questions to Link as they both chewed on a chocolate chip cookie apiece. All he received were a couple of noncommittal responses like "I don't know", "Maybe?" and "What's a dentist?" He found the latter to be rather concerning, but he kept his concern to himself.
When all had finished with their dessert, Headmaster Washington-Frost rose to stand before them once more. His face broke out into the biggest smile Evergreen had seen, which nearly seemed to make the old man's eyes disappear beneath his wrinkles.
"Now that you are all quite full and satisfied, I have a few things to bring to your attention before you get too drowsy. To begin, the waterfall located on the south end of the mountain is off-limits without a teacher present. Also, there is a magic line in the forest that marks the outer edges of the wards put on school grounds. Please stay away from the edge, if you wish not to be made into tomorrow's lunch for some unknown beast. Curfew for students in grades six, seven, and eight is 10:00 pm on school nights, and 12:00 am for upperclassmen. Please heed your house heads and don't wander about alone."
After dinner, Evergreen was feeling extremely drowsy. It was like Thanksgiving: he had eaten until he was stuffed and idly wondered whether someone might be willing to roll him into bed. From the train ride that had taken over eight hours, to the heaping helpings of everything he had had, he was just about ready to pass out. All the Thunderbirds filed out, the sixth graders following a curvy sophomore girl with black hair and a sophomore boy with sandy hair and large forearms out of the commons and up a number of flights of stairs. Their dorm was located on the 13th floor on the top of the north tower, which happened to be just a short walk from Professor Woods' classroom and office, they were told. Apparently, the flights often moved by themselves. A good thing too. Evergreen hated the idea of walking all that way himself.
When they got to the corridor where the dorm's entrance would be found, there was a large portrait blocking the way. It was of a knight in shining armor. He had blazing red hair, a very well-kept beard, and a long, shining sword.
"Good evening, King Arthur." the sandy-haired sophomore boy said.
"Good evening, adventurer. Have you a password?" the portrait asked.
"I have. Morgana." came the response.
The portrait swung outward revealing a passageway that everyone continued to file into. It wasn't a very long passageway, but it opened into a massive, cozy room with a huge floor-to-ceiling window on one side and a comfortable sitting room and a fireplace there on the other. There were also two staircases on the opposite wall that led up to a landing that stretched around the circumference of the room, and from the landing, there were two other staircases going opposite directions, leading up and out of sight.
Evergreen noticed a color theme in the room that matched their uniforms: navy, cranberry, and gold. There were also intricate designs painted and carved into the walls that looked like a large thicket of branches woven together, making the room feel very much like a giant nest. There was also another stained-glass window through which moonlight spilled into the exact center of the room. In that moonlit center, there was a large mural that appeared to have been stained right into the carpet, of a massive, golden Thunderbird. Like all wizarding images, this one moved. It flapped its wings, its feathers giving off a sheen and its eyes twinkling when anyone came close.
"Sixth graders, welcome to the Nest." Began the raven-haired sophomore girl. "This is where many do homework, play games, or just hang out. My name is Victoria Snow, one of three girl prefects for Thunderbird house. Girls, your rooms are up the stairs to the right, boys to the left. Never under any circumstances are you to go up the opposite stairs. Such is grounds for detention, no matter how much you may like the person who invited you." She finished off her statement with a challenging look around the room.
"Say there's no one else around and the girl that invites me is super pretty?" Link asked with a humorous expression.
Evergreen's face burned from secondhand embarrassment, despite knowing that Link had been joking.
"You're far too young to be asking about such hypotheticals." she said sternly to the taller 11-year-old.
"Just be certain she's an 11 out of 10 before going up there. Anything less isn't worth the detention." A tall, dark-haired student whispered to Link and Evergreen as he passed by with a beautiful middle eastern looking girl under his arm.
Evergreen and Link both laughed at this answer, which made Victoria glare at them, and the older boy, with daggers in her eyes. This made Link want to laugh louder, but Evergreen kept him from doing so. The last thing Evergreen wanted was to be labeled a troublemaker on day one in a new place. And he'd be damned if his first wizarding friend got himself into a world of trouble on a regular basis.
"Graham, go back to the Horned Serpent Burrow and I don't want to see you again till morning!" Victoria snapped, causing the older boy to kiss his lovely, middle eastern companion and depart guffawing.
So apparently other houses can visit the Nest and one can visit other house common areas? Interesting.
Pretty soon, Evergreen, Link, and a few others filed up the stairs to the dorm rooms. Their dorm room was completely round. The ceiling was 10 feet tall and there were eight four-poster twin-sized beds all an equal distance from each other. In the center, there was a mural on the ground very much like that in the center of the Nest, only smaller.
The boys found their roommates were already there. They were identical twins. They had copper complexions, long noses, chiseled jaws, and a long, black ponytail apiece, held together by a large leather strap with an identical symbol. One was wearing a red strap, the other yellow. They were also wearing curious necklaces, each of which held a glowing golden feather and a red horn. They were both in the process of drawing glowing symbols at the foot of two of the beds with some kind of glowing chalk. Evergreen wondered if the chalk was enchanted.
"Hau, friends. Hello." The one wearing the red in his hair called. The two of them both stopped what they were doing and turned to face the other boys.
"Hey to you too." Link said.
"So, we'll be roommates this year?" The one in yellow asked.
"This year and every year, unless someone dies or gets expelled." The one in red replied with a smirk.
"I like your feathers." Evergreen told them.
"They symbolize honor, advancement, and balance. It is considered a great honor to learn wand work and use it in our tribe. The horn was taken from the horned serpent which is the sworn enemy of the golden Thunderbird." The one in red replied, lightly touching his feather.
"We really like your funny rabbit," said the other boy. "He reminds me of Rabbit Boy, a great hero."
"Who is this, Rabbit Boy?" Seta piped up.
Everyone stopped. Evergreen looked on warily, Link gazed on in shock and the twins smiled hesitantly at the bunny as if it were a very possible thing to be communicating with a mammal that had large incisors and huge, floppy feet. Seta hobbled over to the twins and looked up at them with a curious gaze.
"He was a great hero in our sister tribe's history. He was human but was born and raised amongst rabbits. Soon enough, the rabbits told him that he needed to go amongst his own people. His people soon killed him because they were tricked by the wicked Iktomi into thinking he was an enemy."
The boys circled the rabbit with concerned looks on their faces, but after a moment, they shared a few words in their language. They visibly relaxed and continued their story.
"However, he came back to life even more powerful than before thanks to the power of the sun. We like to believe it was the result of his intimate connection with nature." The twin in red proclaimed. "I am Tokala Summerhill and this is my brother, Maza Blaska Summerhill. We come from the White River coven of witchcraft found on the shores of the great river. You'd probably call it the Missouri."
"It's a pleasure," said Seta. "I am Seta of Bunnybury. My father was the captain of the guard for all the days of his life."
"He can talk?" Link asked Evergreen, pointing to Seta.
"You would be surprised who could talk if you truly stopped to listen." Seta quipped, to which Tokala and Maza Blaska nodded, reverently.
"Some talking beasts are tricksters and shapeshifters," Tokala continued, "But telltale signs are the incomplete transformations or dark symbols located on the face and eyes of the beasts."
"Like, for example, if this bunny was Iktomi the trickster, the symbol of the spider would be on his face and clothing." Maza Blaska replied, briefly circling Seta.
"That is all quite fascinating." Evergreen exclaimed. "I'm Evergreen, this is my f-friend Link, and you have all met my f-familiar, Seta. It's probably b-best that not t-too many people know he can t-talk."
The four boys and the bunny spent much of that night talking and getting to know one another. The twins showed the others a lot of wandless magic they had learned in the tribe and showed them how they had been warding their beds with family sigils. Apparently, every magical family had a sigil that they used, upon which all of their other sigil and rune work was based. The Summerhill twins did not yet have their wands, but were to receive them during the next day's wand ceremony. Most of the magical First People's kids practiced wandless magic growing up, so they hadn't had any need for a wand at home until they were old enough for school.
Pretty soon, Link introduced the other boys to a variety of wizard games including exploding snap, a card game where the cards would blow up when laid down incorrectly. He also taught them wizard's chess, which was played with pieces that moved by themselves and battled one another, as well as wizard skittles, where one used a variety of disks to smash into tiny pins ー kind of like bowling, Evergreen thought.
They played and joked and told stories for hours, and none of them was even aware of the time when they all finally settled into bed and drifted off to sleep. Despite the thrill of the train, the stress of the misadventure of the hot air balloon, and the excitement of the four-statue sorting, Evergreen slept the soundest that he had in a while. He even had a lovely dream where he was looking into the face of a beautiful woman dressed in a diamond-studded dress, who had a thick mane of curly red hair.