"Welcome, Mr Salvatore, Miss Nichols, to the New York Academy for the Gifted."
Maya looked around with curiosity as Professor Aradia, Headmistress of the Academy, began to give her and Damon a tour of the school. The school wasn't actually located within the city of New York, but just outside of it, protected by wards and spells. the two of them had arrived at the school just a few minutes ago, via a portkey that Damon had been sent. They had landed just inside the school gates, where Professor Aradia, a statuesque woman who appeared to be in her early thirties, had been waiting to greet them.
A wide gravel path led from the gates to the front of the school which had the look of a large stately manor. The air was filled with the scent of flowers and herbs from the gardens that bordered the path, the buzzing of bees and the sounds of birdsong provided a background music to Professor Aradia's speech.
"Here at the New York Academy for the Gifted, we foster inclusiveness and growth among students and teachers from diverse backgrounds. We accept wixen, channelers, fey, werewolves, shapeshifters, even vampires as students, we don't discriminate against anyone, regardless of their supernatural background."
The diversity of the Academy's student body didn't surprise Maya, it had been mentioned in the glossy brochure that had been sent to Damon for them to look at. Maya personally thought it would be awesome to study with students from such varied backgrounds, as much as she'd loved Hogwarts, she couldn't deny the prejudice that had been present there. It had made Maya uncomfortable, not just for the way some purebloods had looked down on muggleborns and half-bloods, but for the clear disregard they held muggles in, even Ron and his family hadn't been immune to that. Maya might hate the Dursley's, but it wasn't because they were muggles, it was because they were horrible people. A school that encouraged inclusiveness sounded like a very good thing to Maya.
"We have a mixture of day students and boarders, and, as you can see, some of our boarders remain at the school year-round."
She gestured to a mixed group of students who were sitting on wooden benches under a shady tree, chatting and laughing. They wore casual clothes of different styles and colours, some with hats, scarves, or jewellery. Maya wasn't sure if that was because the Academy didn't have a uniform, or because it was technically the summer holidays. Maya wondered what they were talking about, feeling an instant pang of longing for the friends she had left behind. She didn't question why anyone would choose to remain at the school all the time though, if she had been given the offer to remain at Hogwarts during the summer, she would have jumped at it.
"For those who do attend as day students, we arrange timed portkeys to get them to and from the school each day," Professor Aradia explained. "We also have the option for our students to do a mixture, attending some weeks as day students, and boarding on others. You stated that your preference would be for Miss Nichols to attend as a day student, right?"
She looked at Damon with a friendly smile.
Damon nodded his head a few times.
"Yes, Maya's already been through a lot, and I don't think that sending her off to a boarding school for months at a time would be beneficial for her. That's why we chose to look here for Maya's schooling needs, rather than Ilvermony, or the Salem Witches Institute."
Damon had sat down with Maya yesterday to discuss several things with her, including her future education. Maggie had been there as well, to, as she'd put it, 'offer her support to both of them'. Maya hadn't minded Maggie's presence, she was warming up to the older vampire, who had told Maya about her career in psychiatry and her years of experience working in New York's magical hospital. Maggie hadn't pushed Maya to talk about anything, but had explained in a careful and thoughtful manner, that she had experience working with kids who'd been in the similar situations to Maya and because of that she'd been able to offer Damon some helpful advice.
Maya still wasn't sure about some of the stuff they'd talked about. But Damon had explained about the school in New York that Ragnuk had mentioned, and Maggie had stressed that a day school would probably be better for Maya in the long run. Maya herself hadn't had any strong preference, Hogwarts being a boarding school had been good, because it had enabled her to get away from the Dursleys for nine months. She'd only been with Damon for a few days, but so far, he hadn't raised a hand to her once, as long as that didn't change then Maya wouldn't need the escape boarding school offered. Her biggest personal criteria had been continuing to learn magic and this Academy offered that and more.
"Both fine establishments, in their own way, but without, perhaps, the depth and breadth of knowledge that we can offer Miss Nichols here. We don't just teach our students how to use their abilities, we prefer to give them everything they need to succeed in life, including what some might consider to be mundane subjects. In your introductory letter, you mentioned that Miss Nichols has completed a year of study at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in Britain?"
"Yes, and before that Maya attended a muggle infant and primary school in England."
"Another fine institution Hogwarts, a bit restricted by the politics of magical Britain though."
"Maya enjoyed it, didn't you." Damon replied diplomatically.
Maya nodded in response to Damon's question, offering Professor Aradia a small smile, before her gaze was caught by something else; in the distance she could just make out what looked like a quidditch pitch. Professor Aradia followed her gaze, to see what had caught Maya's attention.
"Ah yes, Quidditch, that's part of our sports programme. At the Academy, we value sports and physical education as an integral part of our curriculum. All students are required to attend two hours of physical education classes per week unless they have a medical exemption from a qualified doctor. We also encourage our students to participate in at least one extracurricular of the more physical variety, we offer a wide range of both magical and mundane sports. You can choose from Quidditch, Quodpot, soccer, basketball, American football, baseball, hockey, rugby, and many more. Our students have access to state-of-the-art sporting facilities, both indoor and outdoor. We have a swimming pool, a gymnasium, dance and martial arts studios, a running track, and an equestrian centre with a variety of equine creatures."
Wow, the only sport Hogwarts offered was Quidditch, and even that had been limited to the house teams, which was a very small fraction of the student population. If that was what the Academy offered in the way of sports and physical activities, Maya wondered what sort of range they offered in other categories, like magic. Damon seemed as impressed as her, he caught her eyes and raised an eyebrow, Maya grinned back at him, nodding enthusiastically, they'd only seen a little bit of the Academy so far, but she was really liking it. Professor Aradia caught sight of their exchange and smiled at them both.
"Shall we move the tour inside?"
Maya's eyes sparkled as she nodded eagerly, the more she saw and heard, the more positive she felt about the Academy.
"Please." Damon responded with a grin and a nod of his own.
Professor Aradia lead them inside the large manor house which contained many of the classrooms as well as the dormitories.
The inside blended the old and the new in a harmonious way; rich wooden panelling on the walls contrasted with sleek metal frames and glass panels. Paintings and photographs adorned the walls, some moving, some still, creating a sense of history and magic. They were spaced out nicely, giving each piece its own spotlight, unlike the crowded walls of Hogwarts. There were no suits of armour or statuary lining the hall, only elegant furniture, and potted plants. The Academy was much brighter than Hogwarts, too; large windows let in natural light during the day, while electric lights lined the ceiling ready to provide illumination during the night. Maya felt another surge of excitement and curiosity as they entered the Academy.
They began walking through the school, Professor Aradia explaining more about the course of studies they offered as they did so.
"As I mentioned earlier, we like to teach our students from a broad curriculum that covers all their needs. English, Maths, Science, History, and Ethics are compulsory for all students, after that we branch out, personalising each programme of study so that it fits the needs of each student. For wixen, lessons in Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, Herbology, and Astronomy are also compulsory for the first five years of study. For students in your age group, Miss Nichols, we also offer lessons, in Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, and Magizoology, but these are optional."
"What about Defence Against the Dark Arts?"
From the list Professor Aradia had given, the compulsory magical courses sounded pretty similar to what Hogwarts offered, with one glaring exception.
"We call it Martial Magics here, Miss Nichols." Professor Aradia replied with a smile. "For younger years like yourself we teach the spells you would learn in Defence Against the Dark Arts in the Transfiguration and Charms classes. Students aged fourteen and above may choose to begin studying Dueling, and students aged sixteen and above who have passed their SATs with a satisfactory score have the option of studying the Martial Magics course. Other electives offered to older students are Spell-crafting, Warding, Healing, Alchemy, and Sorcery. I will of course provide you and your guardian with the full list of courses that we offer, there are some, such as Divination, that you will need to prove you have an aptitude for before you will be allowed to take them."
"Outside of classes on magic what else do you offer?" Damon asked.
"We offer the same as what you'd find in any other institution of this calibre. We have courses in Geography, Languages, Philosophy, Law, Classical studies, Theology, Cultural Studies, Art, Music, Drama. Some courses are open to all of our students, and some are tailored for our older years. We believe that all of our students should have the opportunity to further their learning if they choose to do so. The programme we offer here is designed to ensure that. Our graduates have gone on to attend some of the most prestigious institutes of higher learning in the world; MIT, Caltech, Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Oxford, Cambridge, Nalanda, The Magisterium, Atlantia, Al Ghamid".
University wasn't something Maya had ever considered. When she'd lived with the Dursley's her thoughts on the future had tended to go from, not believing she had one, to getting a job and getting out as soon as she legally could. University had never even featured as a possibility. Then Hogwarts had happened, magic and university didn't relate in her mind, so she'd once again dismissed it. Plus, all those narrow escapes from death had once again left her wondering if she even had a future. This was supposed to be a new start for her though, and with new starts came new opportunities.
"Sounds like you have quite the comprehensive curriculum."
The Headmistress smiled at Damon.
"We like to think so, and as I mentioned before, we will tailor a programme of studies to fit the individual needs of each student. Should you decide you want to attend the Academy Miss Nichols, we will require you to take some tests so that we can assess what level you are at with your studies and help guide you to the lessons that are a good match for your abilities."
Maya bit her lip, bobbing her head slightly. The best that could be said about her end of year tests at Hogwarts was that she hadn't failed any of them, Hermione, Luna, and Draco, had helped her a lot with studying for them. But she'd spent the majority of the week they were taking the tests terrified that Voldemort was going to burst out of the shadows at any moment and kill her, which had probably affected her performance quite a bit. She'd got Acceptable's in everything except DADA, in which she'd scored an Exceeds Expectations. The thought of taking more tests didn't feel her with joy, Hermione was the only person Maya knew that actually liked tests, but she thought she might do okay. Especially since she was no longer spending every moment of every day, worrying she was going to be brutally murdered.
Professor Aradia gave her a gentle smile and continued with the tour, by showing them one of the classrooms in the Geography department.
"As you can see our classrooms are all state of the art, and fully equipped to meet the needs of our students. We have a low student to teacher ratio of eight to one, and our class sizes vary from seven to ten students, never going beyond that limit. We find smaller class sizes enable us to give our students the individual attention and support they need."
Maya bit her lip and thought back to the classes at Hogwarts, where they'd been combined with one of the other houses for lessons, and before that at infant and primary school in Little Whinging where the classes had all had at least thirty students in. The only teachers she could remember being able to maintain complete control other their classes were Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape, both of whom had been incredibly intimidating and hadn't hesitated to discipline anyone for even the tiniest amount of misbehaviour. The teachers in Little Whinging had definitely struggled to provide individual support where it was needed, too busy with the class as a whole to worry about individuals, they'd definitely missed or ignored the bullying Maya as well as others had endured. Smaller classes sounded like a good thing in Maya's opinion.
"Outside of lessons we offer a range of extracurricular's, we have academic and hobby clubs, community service activities, and many others. We encourage our students to participate in extracurricular activities and we offer as many clubs and activities as we can to ensure there is something to fit everyone."
Maya knew Hogwarts had some clubs, outside of Quidditch, Neville went to Herbology club and Luna and Draco had both gone to charms club. Maya had been too busy with the insane Quidditch training schedule that Oliver had enforced, as well as her classes, homework, and narrowly avoiding death every so often, to even think about attending any of the other clubs, and the teachers certainly hadn't gone out of their way to encourage it. Except Professor McGonagall, but that had just been Quidditch, and had had more to do with her wanting to beat Slytherin than anything else. Maya had been too cautious of the punishment she might be given instead, to refuse to join the team, it had turned out okay because Maya loved Quidditch, but it might have been nice to try out some of the other clubs.
"Parents and guardians are invited to watch the games, we have our own intermural competitions for all the sports and competitive clubs that we offer, and we organise competitions against local schools for our more mundane sports and clubs, and against Ilvermony and the Salem Institute for our Quidditch, Quodpot, Wizard's Chess, Gobstones, and duelling teams."
Wow! That sounded like a lot. Hogwarts Quidditch matches had been the best, the whole school usually turning out to watch, Maya wasn't sure if parents were invited to watch as well though. She was definite that they hadn't offered any of those other things, although Maya didn't think there were any other magical schools in Britain for them to compete against.
"We also invite them to attend our program of events that we put on throughout the year. Performances from our music, theatre, and dance departments, our art department also has a regular display of our students' work. We like to encourage parents and guardians, to take an active role in their children's learning, which is why we have three open days a year and regular conferences with teachers."
Maya wasn't sure about music, theatre, or dance, but art sounded cool, she'd always enjoyed the art sessions at the primary school in Little Whinging. It was the one thing she was allowed to do better at than Dudley, even if Petunia and Vernon had often passed off her work as his to their guests. It might be nice to take actual lessons in art, she just hoped she was good enough. The open days and teacher conferences sounded good as well, Hogwarts hadn't had anything like that, not that the Dursley's would have wanted to come if they had. Damon might though, maybe. Maya would be happy if he did, but she would understand if he didn't, it wasn't like she was his actual kid or anything.
"Everything you've shown us so far looks really great. What do you think Maya?"
Maya couldn't stop smiling, this place was amazing, the only thing that would make it better was if all her friends from Hogwarts could transfer as well.
"I like it."
"I'm glad to hear it, Miss Nichols. Shall we continue?"
Maya and Damon gave her matching nods and grins.
"Wonderful, this way then, shall we?"
By the end of the tour, Maya was almost bouncing off the walls in excitement at the thought of studying at the Academy. Professor Aradia had shown them the library, which Maya thought was at least ten times the size of the one at Hogwarts. The planetarium which was the perfect blend of magic and muggle technology, allowing students to study astronomy without attending classes at midnight. As well as the sports facilities, theatre, science labs, ritual rooms, music rooms, student lounges, art studios, medical centre, and the dormitories.
Maya was now absolutely convinced that following Narcissa and Ragnuk's plan was the best thing she could have done. Even if Damon didn't turn out to be a good guardian, the opportunity to attend the New York Academy for the Gifted would more than make up for it. Professor Aradia smiled down at Maya.
"Well Miss Nichols, you have heard and seen what my school has to offer. Is this somewhere that you would like to study?"
May looked at Damon a little unsurely, he just grinned back at her.
"It's up to you, kiddo. If you like the Academy and want to study, here say so, if you don't, say that as well and we'll look for somewhere else."
"No!"
Maya flushed at her outburst, she hadn't meant to shout at Damon, but the thought of looking at other schools when she could go to the Academy, filled her with dread. Damon didn't seem bothered by her yelling at him, he just smiled and waited for her to speak. If she'd shouted at Vernon, Petunia, or Dudley like that, she'd have been on the floor trying to protect herself from any further blows by now.
"I want to go. Here… I want to go here, please."
Damon looked at Professor Aradia who was smiling even more broadly.
"Wonderful, we'll be very happy to have you as a student Miss Nichols."