A light rain introduced Evergreen to his second day at Ilvermorny. He had spent much of his time the previous night perfecting his levitation charm and had successfully lit his wand a few times. The first time, he had nearly blinded himself and it took him a good five minutes to be able to see again completely. He also had done all the required homework for his history class. It was a simple paper where they discussed some of the reasons why wizards had left Europe for the New World, and some of the challenges that faced them as they settled.

It was the first night in a long time where he woke up having no recollection of any odd dreams. Typically, he woke up in a cold sweat, yelling, or with some lingering image in his mind. This was not a typical day. He showered and dressed quickly and got down to the Nest before Link had even gotten out of bed. He got out his copies of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Beginning Alchemy and thumbed through them, reading about some of the tamer beasts and less complex potions, as he assumed that was where they would start that day.

Link came down the stairs after a few minutes and nearly tackled Evergreen from behind.

"I thought you'd up and left the Nest, nerd."

Evergreen laughed at this.

"I had t-to, well… you know."

They both laughed as they left the Nest and headed down to breakfast. On the way, Link was telling Evergreen about a girl in their year that he thought was super cute. Her name was Diva Rash, and she was a Chinese American girl in their year. Although he thought Diva was cute too, Evergreen was new to the realization that he liked girls and didn't really know how to contribute to the conversation, so he just decided to let Link talk. His diction was sharp, yet fast, his voice strong and clear. Evergreen would have envied his friend, but he knew that Link and the others liked him just the way he was, stutter and all. Once in the commons, they took their seats.

Breakfast was the same lavish affair as it was every time, though today there was Eggs Benedict as well. Evergreen didn't find this addition too exciting, as he preferred his eggs scrambled anyway.

After breakfast, Evergreen was so excited for his 9 AM flying class, that he almost ran from the commons to the meadow just outside of the school, where they had attended the club fair on their first day. The courtyard was a hop, skip, and a leap away from the Quodpot and Quidditch stadiums the school owned and operated. He was so excited for this class that he left Link at the table while he was still eating.

On his way though, he was stopped by a large crowd of students gathered in a back hallway at the base of one of the first-floor staircases. The students were gathered in a roundish room with moving portraits on all sides, whose inhabitants all seemed quite agitated at what was going on within the crowd. Evergreen had a funny feeling about the situation, uncharacteristically pushing his way forward. When he did so, he was met by a bizarre sight.

There was a tall, blond, Slavic-looking student in the middle of the circle of students with his wand held aloft and a huge grin on his face. Evergreen remembered seeing him at their sorting. He couldn't, however, remember his name or anything else. Hanging upside down with him was Diva Rash, the girl that Link was telling him about. Her wand was sticking out of her bag that had since fallen to the floor, just out of reach. Her glasses had also fallen from her face and were broken on the floor as well. Her skirt was hanging down in the most unflattering manner and she was trying to hold the hem of it up but was unsuccessful. He saw her tanned thighs all the way up. It was the first time that Evergreen had seen a girl in her underwear. He froze and didn't know what to do other than stare, as many others seemed to do in the crowd.

In just a moment, Evergreen's eyes flicked down to Diva's face which was red and streaked with angry and embarrassed tears. Suddenly, he was filled with a sense of righteous fury. He pushed his way to the front of the crowd and approached the blond boy.

"Hey!" he yelled with a clarity and voracity that came out of nowhere, "Why is no one doing anything?" He looked around at the crowd, no one really responded to that.

"Calm down, kid." the other boy replied, "I'm just trying to find out how different mudbloods are to us."

With that, the boy flicked his wand slightly and Diva's shirt started lifting, exposing her belly which appeared to have never seen sunlight. At this, she let out a scream.

Evergreen was overcome with fury and pointed his own wand at the blond boy.

"If you're not going to put her down, I'll put you down. STUPEFY!"

The end of Evergreen's wand exploded in an intense blast of scarlet light. The blond boy took the full weight of the spell to his chest which threw him backward and bounced the back of his head against the floor, being effectively knocked out cold. The chandelier violently shook, and all of the portraits were knocked off-kilter.

Evergreen was also thrown back, knocking down a bunch of the onlooking students. Looking up, he saw Diva had landed somewhat gracefully but then he heard a very unwelcome voice.

"What do you know?" the voice of Swab Capital said, "Dueling in the corridor? Quandary, Rash, follow me, now!"

"B-but—" Evergreen attempted, his former fire effectively extinguished.

"I'm not going to hear it. You'll probably be tossed out of Ilvermorny for this. I hope I can watch MACUSA break your wand."

How was this fair? He did a good deed and will have to be punished for it? He wondered if his wand would really be taken away. He wondered how he'd be able to fight his mom's enemies without it. Plus, why did Swab want to punish Diva? She was the victim here!

They were led by Swab up through several hallways until they reached a great black door with red handles. In golden lettering, the plate there on read:

EDGAR VINCENT ROMULUS

WASHINGTON-FROST

HEADMASTER

Swab grabbed the door's massive knocker and gave it a firm pull. A sound resembling a great bell was heard in the hallway. From within, they heard a voice bid them entry. The door opened by itself, and they did as told.

The headmaster's office was colossal. It had three stories, as far as Evergreen could see, with books, trinkets, and moving portraits on all sides. There were also little things Evergreen thought might be fireflies flitting about in the huge space. In the center of the room was an imposing table made of dark stone with a chair made up of the purest maple wood, carved with the most breathtaking detail. Sitting in that chair was the headmaster, dressed in another matching pointed hat and flowing robe in a neon blue color.

"To what do I owe the pleasure?" Headmaster Washington-Frost asked no one specifically.

"These two were involved in a duel in the northern corridors. They left behind a long line of destruction and got other students hurt."

Evergreen gritted his teeth. The lying scum! No one had gotten hurt other than the guy who had started it all.

"Then Mr. Swab, please do me a favor and check on those other students. I can handle these two." Headmaster Washington-Frost replied with a grimace.

Swab tried to come up with some kind of an excuse but seemed flustered by the headmaster. He muttered something under his breath and quickly left the office. At this, Headmaster Washington-Frost conjured two squishy chairs out of thin air and gestured for the two students to sit. They did so.

"Mr. Quandary, it is my understanding that you cast one of the strongest stunning spells ever produced by an underage American wizard."

So, the old wizard wasn't going to punish Evergreen? That was a relief. He guessed that Swab was just trying to scare him. Well, it worked, he thought. Considering that he felt entirely justified in his actions, plus he had a feeling that he couldn't lie to this man even if he wanted to, he figured he would answer directly.

"I'm not sure, sir." He began. "I g-guess it was p-pretty strong."

"Can you tell me what happened in your own words?"

"Yes sir. I was just leaving the commons, on my way to my f-first c-class." He took a deep breath as his heart was beating quite fast and it would only increase his stutter inevitably.

"Take all the time you need." was all the headmaster said.

He tried again and his stutter seemed to have gotten worse. He blushed deeply with great embarrassment. He tried breathing again to calm himself.

Seemingly coming to his rescue, Diva spoke up.

"This boy Denyen found out I came from a No-Maj family and wanted to make an example of me. He humiliated me and would have taken it further if Evergreen here didn't step in and throw that spell Denyen's way."

"Is this true?"

"Yes sir." Evergreen responded meekly.

"I do want to impress upon you the seriousness of what has transpired today, Mr. Quandary. It is okay to be mad, but it is never okay to be mean."

"So, you're s-saying, I should have l-let that creep h-have his way with her?" Evergreen exclaimed.

"Not at all. I am never one to punish those who are victims of circumstance. However, I don't want you making a habit of vigilantism if you can help it."

Headmaster Washington-Frost's chocolate brown face lit up and he gently took both children by the hand. He smiled gently and looked directly at the two of them.

"I can promise you that Mr. Flax will be punished severely for this infraction and will be put on notice. He will be placed under wand restriction and will be suspended pending expulsion. I need to speak first to the portraits in that wing and to Mr. Flax and his head of house. I understand that you two have your first flying lesson that starts- " he checked a pocket watch kept in his sleeve, "-two minutes ago. If you'd like to be excused from the day's classes, then you may. In fact, I encourage it, and will send messages to your teachers and will send a pukwudgie to collect your work."

The old wizard breathed out sharply and turned again to face Diva. Briefly taking her broken glasses and instantaneously returning them repaired.

"This is a very serious matter, Ms. Rash. This was an act of sexual assault, and I will see to it that the proper punishments are given. There is no place at Ilvermorny for such an act and I am quite sorry that you had to endure it. Your head of house, as is required of all the heads of house, has a certificate in counseling, so if you feel the need to process anything, Professor Woods would be your best option here on campus."

"No sir. I want to go to class." Evergreen whispered.

"Me too. I don't want to look beaten, but I think I may need to talk to Woods' later." Diva said.

"Easily arranged. And that's Professor Woods, if you please. Thank you both for your honesty. I am sorry again, to both of you but, with your permission, I'll send you to class by portkey."

Neither Evergreen, nor Diva knew what that meant, and the headmaster seemed to sense this. He explained that portkeys were enchanted objects that could take you to another location. Like a teleportation device, Evergreen considered. At any rate, they agreed to take the portkey, which looked like a small saucer.

Once Evergreen touched it, he felt a sensation like he was being pushed through a tube that was barely big enough for him. Plus, there was an intense pulling sensation in his upper abdomen. When all those sensations stopped, they looked around to find themselves outside surrounded by other young Thunderbirds all holding a broom.

The professor was explaining the importance of safety while flying to the students there and only briefly glanced over as Evergreen and Diva appeared and the saucer popped off into nothingness. He was swinging his own broom with much drama and to Evergreen, the man kind of reminded him of Dad. He was basically a guy in his 40's who was in decent shape and seemed thirsty for some sort of sports match.

"Now, if you haven't already, please make your way to one of the school brooms on the ground and place your hand above it while saying "UP". This is important. The broom needs to follow you if you expect to use it at all." he said.

Following the instruction, Evergreen made his way to one of the brooms on the ground. It was old, tarnished, and wiry. It kind of reminded him of the magician's broom in Disney's Fantasia. He half expected it to suddenly multiply, grab large buckets of water and splash him with gusto. He almost let out a laugh at the image, the stress of the past hour beginning to ebb away. The moment the command left his lips, the broom shot up into his open hand. Wow. It was startling, but also quite cool.

He looked over at Diva, who had to say "up!" three times before the broom followed her direction. Link was already levitating on his own school broom, with some argument from their teacher, and he floated over to them.

"Hey Evergreen," Diva managed, before Link was in earshot, "Thanks for saving me. I didn't know what I was going to do. Do you think you could teach me that spell you used?"

"No p-problem Diva. We c-can practice the spell and maybe I won't blow up the room next t-time." his eyes briefly flicked down toward Diva's skirt and his face burned with embarrassment, both first and secondhand.

She smiled warmly and knowingly at him, and Evergreen knew that their friendship was probably cemented from that moment on. Her little nose was crinkled beneath the weight of her little, black glasses, now repaired good as new. Link then arrived at their spot on the grass, landed with a thump and put his arm around Evergreen.

"Hey there, firecracker." He said, "Word is you blew up a room in the school."

"I'm a-afraid that has b-been very exaggerated." Evergreen countered with a smile "I j-just helped Diva out of a b-bind. Diva, this is Link, my b-best friend here."

"Any friend of Evergreen's is a person worth talking to." she replied.

Link's face lit up and he and Diva started lightly chatting before the voice of their teacher, Coach Frost, overpowered each and every side conversation. He mentioned that many of the students may already know how to fly, but that the first few days were beginning only. He instructed them to mount their brooms and to kick down whilst pulling up with the broom to get into the air. Evergreen did as instructed and he slipped off his broom, landing on his back for the second time today. He had never been very sports-inclined or even very coordinated in general. After laughing at his friend, Link helped him up and showed him some pointers. Eventually, Evergreen was in the air, only about three feet from the ground, but in the air, nonetheless. He decided to ask Coach Frost if he could join the sixth-grade racing team. Maybe a little bit of exercise would be good for him. Dad had wanted him to get involved in sports anyway.

Both Link and Evergreen decided to join the sixth-grade racing team, but Diva didn't. She muttered something about not having to do anymore flying than she absolutely had to. On the way to their alchemy class, Evergreen asked Diva about Denyen, the blond boy Evergreen had spelled. She didn't know, but according to Glade, who shared the class with them, he was some kind of 'pureblood' bigot. There weren't many wizard blood purists left, but there still were a few, as hate was the sort of thing that must be unlearned and not just ignored and passed off as bad behavior, or 'boys being boys'. The words of Miss Agatha from the previous day came back to them. Prejudices were still prevalent. Things may be better, but they weren't yet perfect. Evergreen knew in the No-Maj world that racism was still prevalent. With some consideration, he realized that Anti-No-Maj sentiment was similar to racism and must be some of the most prevalent prejudice in the magical world. One could not, after all, choose the color of their skin, who their parents were, into which circumstances they were born, or any of that. To hate someone because their DNA was different was unacceptable no matter what. Looking at Diva with new, more sensitive eyes, Evergreen realized that she was kind of like him, likely quite powerful, only a little lost. She was also even cuter up close. No wonder Link had thought she was something special.

They and the rest of the sixth grade Thunderbirds made their way to the west wing of the school, up on the second floor. Evergreen realized that there had been Wampus students walking with them who had also been in their flying class. He looked over to see Denyen talking to Beatrice excitedly. She acted like she couldn't hear him. Evergreen would have thought it was funny if he didn't know that Beatrice was kind of that way with everybody, as far as he could tell.

The alchemy classroom was likely the coolest classroom Evergreen had seen so far. There were weird plants lining the perimeter, tables set up that looked kind of like those portable barbeque pits, with four chairs per table. There were brightly colored liquids in vials on what resembled a bookcase behind the teacher's table. There was also a generally pleasant scent permeating the air, that all the students noticed. The walls were bright and translucent, made of a quartz-like material showing the reddish rock of the castle wall beneath it.

Evergreen, Link, and Diva sat around one table, and Maggie soon joined them. Her dark brown hair was up in a messy bun, and she had her wand conspicuously stuck into her hair. She chatted away in her cool, raspy timbre and told some funny stories. This was great for Diva and Evergreen, as it was one more thing to take their minds off of the incident from earlier. Evergreen was still struggling with the fact that Swab had tried to get him thrown out just because Evergreen had had the guts to stand up to a bully. Maggie really was so much like her mom. Professor Habitatio was smart, witty, and skilled in taking charge. She and Maggie were certainly people to look up to.

When the back door of the classroom opened, two people stood in the doorway: a shorter man with shaggy, dishwater blond hair and a dark purple robe, and a tall woman with short black hair and horn-rimmed glasses. They were roughly Dad's age and were sharing a touch that suggested familiarity, maybe even intimacy. The man promptly vanished after a moment. Evergreen was flabbergasted. He had never seen a human being completely vanish before. The short-haired witch made her way to the desk just before the colorful bookcase of potions and raised her hand.

"Welcome Thunderbirds and Wampuses." she said in a slightly nasally voice. "I am Raina Killian, professor of potions and alchemy. For your information, I am a descendent of Nicholas Flamel, who is arguably the greatest alchemist of the age. It is his words and works that we will learn from."

She looked around at the students before her. She was imposing. She was tall and skeletally thin, with a sharp chin and cheekbones. She kept her wand at her waist in a black leather holster like Evergreen's brown one. Evergreen thought again that it was a handy idea and was grateful for Seta's generous gift. He knew who Nicholas Flamel was from his summer reading. He was the only known creator and owner of a philosopher's stone. It could turn any metal into gold, and, if mixed into a potion and ingested, could grant immortality. It was one of the few ways to achieve such longevity without getting terribly cursed. Because of his philosopher's stone, Flamel was nearly 680 years old, apparently. It was a mystery how he was still alive though, considering his philosopher's stone had apparently been destroyed back in 1992 in Great Britain. Perhaps he had another that no one spoke about. Who was to say? With a flourish of her wandless hand, the professor's name appeared on the blackboard: "Professor Killian".

Because of the delicate nature of this magical art, Professor Killian let them know that they wouldn't really be making any potions during the first month. First, they were to become familiar with each of the common plants and animal byproducts that were used in potions, including boomslang skin, batwings, and a few things Evergreen was familiar with, including honey, lavender, and thyme. Many of his classmates amongst the Thunderbirds and Wampuses expressed dissatisfaction with not yet brewing potions, but this was arguably the most dangerous magical art. When you could make a potion to change someone's mood and behavior, another to make their hair or skin change color, and another yet to make a vampire no longer thirsty for human blood, it was probably best to take such things slow.

They spent an hour and a half reading on the properties of certain ingredients and some of the effects of using certain substitutions. Substitutions, however, were not recommended and were only to be used under the direct guidance of a professional potioneer. They also learned that there were multiple names for the same things sometimes; aconite, monkshood, and wolfsbane were all the same plant, for example. Plus, the string of hearts didn't have actual meaty hearts anywhere. The leaves were just shaped like classic cartoon hearts.

Later that day, they had Creature Care with Professor Paxton Fangholder. He was a super round-looking man with olive skin and a small goatee. He was nice enough, only rather gruff with people who asked what he deemed 'dumb questions'. Evergreen did his best to not ask any questions at all after that comment. Their first Creature Care class was outside in a canopy of trees in front of the school. Evergreen found it especially fascinating when they discussed the difference between a beast and a being. Beings were capable of communicating and coexisting with witches and wizards, while beasts were pretty much anything else, except for some exceptions pertaining to creatures that were never born and would thus never die.

Professor Fangholder informed the class that he would first show them some small creatures, and then they would work their way up from there. There was a being and a beast he had brought with him, to help them remember the difference between the two categories. First up was a being, a common house elf named Wally who was very polite. The beast was a small, greenish pixie that was kept in a cage, because, as Professor Fangholder assured them, it would destroy anything it could if loose. Evergreen looked at the wild eyes of the pixie with amusement.

At midnight, they had astronomy. They tracked Mars' location and even observed its surface through their enchanted telescopes. Evergreen let out a gasp when he saw the two little Mars Exploration Rovers that had been sent out about three years before. He thought he saw aliens, and their professor, Pollux Whitmore, let him know that wizards had thus far been unsuccessful in determining if Mars had life, so he guaranteed that Evergreen had not seen anything living there.

Evergreen finally got to bed at around 1:30 in the morning and fell asleep almost as soon as he returned to their dorm room. It was a long day full of drama and a lot of information, but he was glad that all was well. For that moment it was, anyway.