I
Every End Is A New Beginning
It is yet another peaceful day in the town of Glastonbury. It's sunny, there's no cloud in sight, the streets are empty and the sidewalks are occasionally travelled by two or three people, either chatting or enjoying a relaxing walk and some fresh air. The silence is momentarily broken by a bus arriving in the station a few minutes late. Out comes a tall, pale-skinned, cheerful boy, skinny with fluffy, brown hair and hazel eyes. He carries his luggage in both hands and is also handy with a backpack. He sets his belongings down and takes in a deep breath, soaking it all in.
"Haah…! I'm finally here!" he says, letting out a sigh of relief as he looks around. He uses his hand to reach behind him into his backpack. He unzips it and pulls out a map. He examines it briefly, picks up his luggage and begins walking in the direction the map says it's right.
He walks until the sidewalk he's on gradually fades into gravel. He crosses a bridge over a river, no one is in sight. Eventually, he reaches the Glastonbury Tor, still the same looking structure, retaken even more so than before by nature. He peeks inside, and surely enough, he sees the ley line before his very own eyes. He, however, came prepared with a broom and made sure to leave anything containing sodium back at home to avoid any mishaps. He slowly puts the broom between his legs and recites the words he probably practised the most.
"Tia… Freyre." His heart fluttered for a moment, but soon he took flight. He lets out a relieved sigh and quickly works out a way to hold all of his luggage comfortably as he flies into the ley line, anticipating his destination eagerly. And so, he arrives…
Luna Nova… The prestigious magical academy, situated on St. Michael's Alignment in West England, is praised to be the best source of learning everything about magic. Despite its exceptionally talented student body, impressive academic records and professional staff, the school falls behind on finance and gets a consistently lower number of students to enrol each year as the need of magic is outweighed by present day technology. This has led Luna Nova to accept more and more students from all around the world, regardless of whether they have a magical inheritance or not. Although they had a small surge in popularity recently and have engaged quite a bit with the people of Blytonbury in unprecedented ways, the number of students enrolling at Luna Nova has increased briefly before stagnating again. However, that brief moment of re-recognition has granted the academy some breathing room, giving them time to try to figure out a way to recover and try to appeal more to the current generation.
He makes his way through the main gate, gazing at the grandiose building in front of him. The architecture is reminiscent of that of the British, with a little more shine and prestige, and centuries upon centuries of history hidden throughout its walls. New Moon Tower stands tall in the background of Luna Nova, taller than any other structure around. A beacon of emanating energy, unmissable to anyone. The school itself is surrounded by a dense forest. The nature around it is beautiful, breathtaking, taking the definition of sublime to an entirely different spectrum. Whether it is the sheer excitement of finally being here, or the realisation that it is even better than he could ever have imagined, he can't help but feel like he had finally reached the place he truly belonged to, the place he had always dreamed of being a part of. A couple professors greet him at the entrance with a friendly smile before leading him inside the academy towards the auditorium where the entrance ceremony is held. It is held during the weekend in order to help new students familiarise themselves with the academy before starting their courses. They continue walking in the picturesque arched hallways. He walks behind the teachers, partially hiding himself. At the entrance ceremony, every student in Luna Nova is present. He gets a few odd looks from the others, but the ceremony eventually ends and he makes his way towards the headmistress's office. Nine stone statutes, each of them representing nine distinct witch hats reminiscent of the Nine Olde Witches, surround her desk.
"Greetings, young man… Welcome to Luna Nova Magical Academy! My name is Miranda Holbrooke, I am the headmistress." She spoke in a soft yet enthusiastic manner. Her weathered voice and demeanour made her seem like a generic, friendly elderly woman, but being so lively, even at above the age of 150, is worthy of everyone's respect and admiration.
"Since it is Saturday, why don't we take the time today to show you around the academy, the various rooms, get you familiarised with the schedules, the subjects, the rules, and then we will go to the student guidance room to help you pick your optional subjects. How does that sound?" He pauses for a moment before timidly answering: "Y-yes! Sounds good…"
They begin touring the school, the headmistress pointing out the different rooms and chatting along with him to get to know each other better. They visit the cafeteria, a big open space able to fit all the students in the academy, the library, a maze of bookshelves filled with a seemingly unending amount of books, the student dorms, each room holding three students put into 'teams' of usually three - more of a way to keep track of them and share responsibility for each other rather than a team competing in a competition, almost like a buddy system and a sure-fire way of establishing student interactions and sociability, as well as friendships - the courtyard, a vast space with green grass and an often serene area, the auditorium, where all students and teachers gather at the beginning of the school year, the classrooms, large rooms filled with desks able to fit a large quantity of students and many, many other rooms. So many, by the end of it he began zoning out. The tour concludes with them entering the student guidance room. Headmistress Miranda Holbrooke sits down at the desk and turns to look at him.
"Alrighty. Now, before we can assign you your schedule, please choose at least two of the optional subjects on this list, but please note that choosing five will make you eligible for a scholarship." She hands him a paper listing all of the optional subjects the school has to offer. He examines all of them for a long time, trying to decide which ones he should take.
"Hmm… I want… Metamorphosis… Ooh, Magic Prophecy! Umm… C-could I maybe add other subjects later on?" he says, speaking in a soft voice.
"Of course! Besides, I am sure you would want to hear and learn about what the other students are taking as well. And, since you will be spending a lot of time together, perhaps you would want to try some of the subjects your roommates are taking."
"R-right… Roommates…" he says feeling a little shy. He never had roommates before, but that's not what made him feel so timid. It was the other aspect…
"No need to feel embarrassed! You may be the first boy to be a student at Luna Nova, but you will certainly not be the only one soon!" she spoke reassuringly. "Besides, I am sure you will make lots of friends!"
Finally being here, his anticipation and excitement slowly turn into anxiety as everything sinks in and his initial rush of adrenaline dissipates. But, despite the predicament he's in, Luna Nova is full of students from all around the world, with different backgrounds, cultures, and he knows that his shaky beginning will soon flourish into the life he had always dreamed of. And the very fact that the beginning of his story is so unconventional, is the reason why he's so hopeful and cheerful, but with a hint of uncertainty still lingering somewhere deep within his heart.
With his luggage in hand, he walks alongside the headmistress towards the dorm he has been assigned to. "Don't worry. I have hand-picked your team myself. You are going to be four in total, which may seem like an advantage over the others – and it probably will be in some cases – but the students you are going to be paired up with are a little… different, to say the least. Kind of like you!" The headmistress pauses for a moment before turning her head to him and continuing. "It's okay. You will see, everything is going to be fine! Better than fine! They are actually a lovely bunch! Just be yourself!" They finally find themselves standing outside the door to his dormitory. The headmistress glances at him, gesturing to open it. He takes a deep breath before leaning forward and opening the door.
Inside the dorm are three beds in total – one of them is a bunk bed – there's a long wooden desk in the middle, cluttered with all sorts of different things such as cards, trinkets, books, flasks and mushrooms. There are three wooden chairs, a wardrobe off to the side of the bunk bed, a couple posters on the wall, a door leading to a bathroom on the left side of the room, a large window in the middle of the wall parallel to the door, still on that wall are two lanterns hanging near both corners and then there are three distinct girls sitting on the aforementioned beds, their attention turned towards the door opening and the boy that just entered.
…
"Hi! I'm Andrew."