[IC] Salem Witches' Institute [Harry Potter]

[Apokalipse]

August 27, 2015
A light breeze, smelling of salt and saline fish, carried over the shoddy bus stop and into the nostrils of the vast amount of occupants. Sunbeams radiated onto the earth, burning the bodies of Floridian citizens as they choked on the humidity of the state. Women and men roamed the streets, dressed casually and formally and oddly and normally – some even wore purple and black robes, how queer they must seem to the unmagical passing through. Kids, dressed alike in weird robes and normal clothing, milled around the shelter, laughing and talking to each other as well as preserving the few moments of technology that they have left. Of course, there were the few teenagers that sat alone, pondering the outside world that surrounded them. Aella Strand was one such student.

She sat alone, licking the slowly melting ice cream in her hand. A vanilla droplet races down the cone, slipping over her fingers like a never ending snake and coating her pale, freckled skin with sugary heaven that will later transform into a sticky hell. Of course, it was her duty to lick her fingers clean and then the cone and then devour the traitorous treat before it could contaminate her body once more. Aella gobbled it down, glancing at the serene palm trees that stood sideways and up ways and down ways and weird ways. The brunette – or was she blonde? dirty blonde? at times no one could tell – glanced at the simple black watch adorning her bony wrist and watching as 8:59 flickered to 9:00. She stood up immediately and, as if someone had banged a war drum, the students began clambering for first stop in the makeshift line by the curb. Aella rushed, her sneaker-covered feet thumping on the concrete as she skidded to the front.

As if called by the battle, an old Peugeot swerved around the corner, flying into the other lane and slid dangerously to a stop in front of the line of Salem Witches’ Institute students. Aella felt the hot air burst across her cheeks and the gasoline aroma force its way into her nose. The window of the Peregrine rolled until it was fully in front of her before the obscure glass shift downwards until the wrinkled face of Mercury could be seen. Mercury absent-mindedly pressed the window button, not noticing that it was all the way down, as she complained with Pluto next to her.

“And I say we listen to rock!” Mercury shouted, her thin lips quivering as Pluto shouted something unintelligible back.

“Ahem.” Aella coughed politely, leaning down so she could peer into the car.

“Because jazz music is shit!” Mercury cried, slamming her fist against the radio, changing it to a country channel rather than the rock channel she wanted.

“Excuse me.” Aella murmured this time, but her voice was once more drowned out by the elderly women. “Excuse me!”

“What!” Mercury scowled, turning to Aella before shredding a piece of paper from a slot and sticking it into Aella’s palm. Aella dutifully took the paper and climbed into the back of the car.

Aella hunched over onto her knees as she struggled to move in the seatless car, opening the furred hatch. It was with relief that she was able to stretch her legs and descend the stairs. Her bags had been tagged with her room number and magically transported into her room already. Luckily for Aella, she was higher up on the floors considering that today was the last day of travel – so when they stopped that night at the Institute she wouldn’t have to climb so many stairs. Aella made her way to the 37th floor, the tenth room, and promptly flopped onto the bed. Her precious ratties, which had been delivered just like her bags, bruxed their teeth together happily at the sight of her and Aella wiggled her finger between the bars, the rats licking her fingers with joy. The Good girl flicked the intercom on and listened to the entertaining old ladies arguing over Burger King fries as she sighed and closed her eyes for a brief moment.

With a tired sigh, Aella made her way to the bowels of the Peregrine Hotel and into the hangout area designated for the students to mingle. She grabbed a drink from the bar, inhaling deeply as she anxiously glanced around the room.

[GoddessSophia]

August 27, 2015

Being the last day of traveling; Emily was starting to feel a little bit anxious but mostly excited about going back to Salem Institute. For some reason, she always felt like that each year when going back. She didn't know why she felt anxious; as far as she knew there was no reason to be. Going back with her friends was definitely a good thing. Maybe she was just anxious about what kind of new students there were going to come this year. She had been at the Peregrine Hotel for about 2 days now, her friends and fellow students from the Institute were slowly getting picked up over the travels across the states. The young Witch checked her phone a few times expecting to see a message from one of her friends; Echo seemed to be the first to text or call her during these travels. So far, the girls hadn't seen each other just yet.
Setting her phone back in her pocket; Emily felt her dog Piper brush up against her legs letting out a slight whine. Emily bent down picking up the Bischon, petting Piper for a few moments as Emily walked over to her bedroom window and just gazed at the views passing by for a few moments.

After a few minutes, Emily set Piper down on the hotel-room bed. Piper seemed to lay there happily, licking her paws clean. She then curled up into a little ball, deciding to go to sleep.

Emily just shook her head smiling at her dog, who seemed to love sleeping, snuggles and having fun more than anything else. Moving over to the bathroom; Emily turned on the cold water and splashed her face. It felt rather refreshing and seemed to wipe away the anxiety. Looking at herself in the mirror, she fixed her brown hair into a slightly messy and care-free bun. Not really bothered with making her hair fancy and beautiful at the moment. Emily then made her way out of her hotel room. Closing the door behind her carefully and silently leaving Piper asleep on the bed.
Soon enough, she found herself in the hang-out area for all students. She saw Aella at the bar and she smiled over at her-giving her a gentle wave. The two girls were on friendly terms; helping each other out when necessary. But Emily didn't really know Aella that well outside of the classroom-Despite spending some time together outside of education and classes. But it was not really that often, both of the girls had different friends and people they spent more time with. Wondering over to the bar, Emily took a glass of orange juice since she was feeling bit thirsty and a bag of crisps. As she was snacking on her crisps, Emily took out her phone from her pocket and flipped through her friend's list. Landing on Echo first:

To: Echo
From: Emily
'Where are you girly? I hope you're alright, as I haven't seen you yet. If you're here, meet me by the bar. Em x'

Hitting send, Emily leaned against the bar stool she was sitting on. Listening to the music that was playing in the background humming to herself for a few moments. Before she took a few moments to scan the room; seeing which students she knew and which she didn't.

[Kingfisher]

Hestia Wintergerald

August 27, 2015

Despite being on her 6th year, the warm softness of the silky beds at the Peregrine Hotel still hadn’t worn off on Hestia Wintergerald. Letting out a slightly squeaky yawn, the larger girl heaved herself out from beneath the covers, plodding over to the bathroom with sleep-haze still thick in her eyes.

Her morning routine from that point onwards was a fairly standard combination of washing, drying, and dressing, whilst thoughts of the year ahead danced about in her mind. A glimmer of hot nervousness still lapped at her skin, but all-in-all Salem had begun to feel more like a home to her than Columbia ever had. She had good friends, and solid academic scores, even if she did spend a few too many of her evenings passed out in a flower bed with a bottle of Butterbeer clutched limply in one hand.

Don’t dwell on the past she scolded herself, inwardly No good ever comes of it .

Hestia took a large amount of pride in her appearance, and by the time she emerged from her room she looked very much presentable in a frilly black top and burgundy leggings, with her golden curls bewitched to a state of movie-star-level glamour. Her make-up was applied with over-zealous precision, in an attempt to create a veil between her uncaring exterior and the self-conscious little girl who hid inside of her.

Hestia made her way down to the hangout area with her head held high, and just the right amount of sass flowing through her long strides, her hips swaying back and forth with each step. The young woman felt bold and just abit cocky as she moved through the throng of students, flaunting the pristine appearance she had worked so hard on.

Hestia pulled up a stool at the bar, which creaked abit beneath her generous frame, before scooping up a glass of milk. Her friends were always laying into her for the amount of milk she drank, but it was a childhood habit that she’d never quite been able to shake. Not that she wanted to, to be quite honest.

Without realising, Hestia had managed to seat herself fairly near to Aella Strand, whose tell-tale shoulder-length blonde hair helped distinguish her from the rest of the crowd.

“Oh, hey there!” the young woman chirped in her thick southern drawl, a warm smile gracing her lips “How’ve ya been?”

[Undine]

.

[Random Kitty]

---

August 26th, 2015

“Mom,” the voice resonated against the concrete of the alleyway. “You promised we wouldn’t be late this year.”

“Cass, it was unplanned but when the minister of…”

She was cut off in a moment, “it’s always someone, Mom, a Prince, the Minister, whatever.” Cassandre pouted a bit as they walked down the dingy alley where she could see the light as it opened into the city. Nobody seemed to pay them any mind as they rushed off to work or school or from one place to another. People always seemed to be doing that, rushing to and fro. And Cassandre was no different, picking up pace. “I was supposed to be picked up three days ago, you know I like seeing everyone before school starts.”

It hardly mattered, though, what was done was done even though this wasn’t the best way to start her year. She shouldn’t have expected anything else, though. It was like this all the time. Her mother’s career, Cassandre taking a back seat to it. Sure, the travel was fun, the new places, new people. But she wanted some stability, a place to anchor her like when she spent time with her father. That had its own set of issues but the trip into the city didn’t usually take too long.

Then they arrived, only a couple minutes ahead of schedule and sat in an uncomfortable silence. The warm wind off the sea brought the crisp smell of salt, a few pigeons flew above keeping a healthy distance from Agatha. For her part she just walked dutifully next to Cassandre immune to the mother/daughter drama that played out above.

The older of the two had the typical blonde hair showing off her extensive Veela heritage on both sides of her family. She was poised and beautiful in a stunning pant suit. Unlike her mother, Cassandre didn’t have the blonde hair. That isn’t to say that she shouldn’t, but long ago she’d decided to find that middle point between her parents. To represent her Mohawk heritage as well as her French and Veela. Both were compelling, both had people looking at them as they walked by, often taking more than was socially acceptable. Both had the same look in their eyes. Pain. Not physical, not even purely emotional. It was this sort of existential distress that happened every time Cassandre went to school. That feeling that they both knew they loved each other but were far too different to express it. That feeling of relief knowing that they could go back to their respective lives. Maybe, some day, they would find a balance. Once it wasn’t the relationship between a mother and the daughter she was expected to care for but was one between adults. Today was not that day.

As the heard the car and a few other students waiting in this small state capital came into vision. All younger it seemed, and most she didn’t recognize at all. Her eyes damp, blurred from the pseudo tears. Hugging her mother tight they both said “Sorry, I love you,” almost in unison. It was a practiced ritual, one they had done a dozen times before. Both of them with wet eyes, with the words. They meant it, every word, but it also felt like they had to say it to remind themselves more than each other. It was such a different goodbye than her father’s. That was all smiles and hugs. She was definitely Daddy’s girl.

All packed up in the hotel, the luggage followed along as she crawled in. She didn’t head to a room, she was still emotional and would only end up crying into a pillow. She needed to find her friends. Wearing tight black jeans, black stompy boots, a Social DIstortions tee and a puffy vest with some fake fur fringe at top. She wore little makeup, but didn’t really seem to need it. Not that there weren’t times she went all out, but now she was very much dressed down. Spikey earrings including bars had been status quo when she was in punk garb, but the nose and lip piercings were new for this year.

Her eyes lit up through the salty watery glare and Cassandre wiped off her tears. Agatha followed, jumping up on the stool next to Emily once she saw they were talking. Then came the squee, and the rush over to hug them both. “Hey.” She also managed to wave and smile at Hestia but didn’t want to disturb.

[Joshua Tamashii]

Amelia Averyonna

Amelia woke up with a start when the sound of people entering the Peregrine. The young girl listened as feet moved everywhere, some of the footsteps stopping somewhere above her, some in the rooms next to hers or somewhere else on the floor, and yet others on the floors below hers. Amelia herself was in room 608 and she hoped she would be the only one to remain in the room, but she had quickly figured out that the car/hotel only had seventy rooms in total but she still hoped. She didn't want to share a room and possibly have to 'talk' to some stranger. She already had enough problems as it was.

With thoughts like there running through her head, Amelia tried to go back to sleep but failed miserably. Groaning, she got out and changed into her favorite white dress before opening her door and checking the hallway. The coast was clear as most of the newcomers had gotten to their rooms and gone to bed or further down. Moving quietly down the hall, Amelia made her way down to the bottom level. To her dismay, there was a decent crowd down there and that made her incredibly nervous. Moving along the walls of the room, she made her way towards one of the few empty sofas and taking a seat, pulling her knees to her chest as she watched everyone.

The world of magic truly fascinated her. She watched as some of the students cast some minor spells with their wands, causing sparks or flashes of light to occur. Others were playing Wizard's Chess and she could help but be fascinated by how the pieces moved on their own and occasionally flinch at the brutality they displayed when they fought each other. There was also a game that looked a bit like marbles but the stone squirted liquid at players, so she made a point to avoid that. Yet another game involved cards that exploded and caused her to jump every time they did. She watched as some chased after chocolate frogs they had accidently let loose. the first time she had seen the candy, she thought it was a real frog until she saw a student eat it and saw that the inside was hollow.

She looked down as her stomach grumbled in hunger. She didn't have the money to buy any food on the ride to the school and she had finished the last of her food halfway through the day before. She had only made it last that long by eating it sparingly when she truly felt the need for it. Now without food or money for more, she had to hope that she could make it through the rest of the trip without passing out or dying of starvation.

[Phillirino]

Troy Franklin

A dark cloud could almost certainly be felt radiating out of the fourth room on floor forty. The absolute despair of a young man faced with a neigh impossible task, one which would certainly be a tale told throughout the future annals of the Peregrine, was palpable. How did a boy of only eleven years manage to completely demolish a room in a mere day. Even with magic to repair the shattered mirror or broken shower head, it would still be quite the labor to get everything back in order after Troy Franklin, a name more befitting a hurricane than a child, had stayed in this room.

Troy himself was acting unperturbed by the terrible state he had left his temporary residence in and though certainly attempting to deny the trouble he would most certainly find himself in before much longer, he was occupying his time searching through one of the many piles of clothes strewn about the room. True to that point, Troy finally found -something- suitable to wear.

With the towel around his waist now discarded flippantly to some far flung corner of the room he slowly hobbled himself back towards the bed. After seating himself it was not all that much of a hassle to cloth himself in proper undergarments and his Quentin Kowalski, chaser for the American National Quidditch Team, jersey. There was only a minor hassle in getting his jeans on, his 'bad' foot just didn't feel like co-operating today it seemed.

After sliding on some socks and tying up his shoes he was once again struck at the sight, What does the sole even do?. True enough, his club-foot was tilted at some odd ninety degree angle from his leg leaving the side of the shoe to take the brunt of the impact as he walked. Troy gathered his cane up in his right hand before lifting himself from his bed and looking around the room. He can't help but mutter to himself while kicking some of his clothes closer to his bag, "I'm in so much trouble..." I still have time to deal with it! I can... uh.. deal with it later.

With half muttered assurances the boy mentally prepared himself for the journey he was about to embark on. Everyone else goes to the lounge on the ground floor, I should too! Plus I have to eat right? Forty floors isn't that much in the big picture. The common tapping of his cane was quite muted upon the carpeted floor of the Peregrine as he made his way down the hall of floor forty back in the direction of the grand staircase.

The long 'walk' down the staircase really took their toll on Troy, his normal youthful vigor not quite enough for forty flights of stairs. Often times older students would glance sidelong at the young boy taking each step slowly and with a deathly grip on the railing. Though many of their faces expressed concern in his plight, most passed on down the stairs in silence and the few that offered him assistance were quickly waved off by the stubborn boy. Kids near his own age were often worse, bumping into him and running up and down the stairs like hooligans as he tried to pass.

Despite the minor hurdles in his trek and with only a single stop on floor twelve to catch his breath, Troy managed to make it to the lounge. The loud sounds of laughter and merriment met him far before he managed to see into the lounge itself and did little to prepare him for the sight itself. With it being the last night of the Peregrine's nation wide trip the lounge was more a party then a simple place to chill with friends

Wading his way through the sea of bodies Troy made his way to the bar, the only place he could find with 'staff', and attempted to get their attention, "Do you know where I can find some food?"

[GoddessSophia]

27th August 2015

As Emily was snacking on her cheese and onion flavored crisps; she glanced at her phone seeing the text from Echo. Her smile was bright, as she was excited to see her friend once again. She heard a familiar voice near her-glancing to her side she saw Hestia had joined Aella. Emily gave Hestia a soft smile and a wave from her spot; but didn't want to interrupt her and Aella. Brushing a hand through her some lose brown locks, she pushed a few lose strands away from her eyes. Hearing someone behind her, made Emily jump but it wasn't young before the young half blood giggled.
"Echo!" her arms flew around her best friend's neck, capturing her in a tight hug giving her a squeeze. Emily was beyond excited and happy to be back with one of her best friends. She was beaming brightly, her eyes sparkling as she looked at her friend. "I missed you. How was your summer? Anything new with you?" Emily practically bombarded Echo with questions, from her excitement-The typical Emily and Echo moment. It happened every year. Embracing Echo once again, Emily gave her an extra squeeze.

As the young Witches spoke, catching up after the long summer apart. Emily thought she heard a little meow and glanced to the side where she saw Agatha perched up on the chair. Her expression lit up once more. Where there was Agatha...Cassandre was not far behind.

Glancing over her shoulder; she saw Cassandre rushing over to her and Echo. Embracing her other best friend, and member of the choir trio. " Cass!" she let out a happy squeal. "Hey, you." she smiled whilst giving her a soft squeeze. "When did you get the nose and lip piercing done? It looks good on you." Emily commented as she had noticed her friend had new piercing's done. It actually suited her well, despite the fact it may have been painful and that Emily was not really a big fan piercing of the tongue, nose as it didn't suit some people in her opinion. But for Cassandre, it seemed to express her image and that 'Rock/Punk Diva' that her best friend was.

As Emily pulled back slightly, to converse with both of the girls she couldn't help but notice that Cassandre's eyes looked bit red. Like she had been crying and she sighed softly. "Is it your mum again?" she questioned softly, she squeezed her arm softly. Even though her friend was late, she could guess why. Cassandre's mother, had a reputation for making her daughter late, every single year. This year was no different and Emily felt sorry for Cass. "I am sorry." Emily told Cass softly, as she wrapped her arms around her in another hug. "You finally made it. That's all that matters. I am sure we'll have a great year ahead of us." Emily commented, smiling as she tried to make Cassandre feel a bit better.

[Undine]

.

[Random Kitty]

---

August 26th, 2015

Hugs were good. Very good, in fact. It always managed to make all the inevitable annoyance at her mother's inability to, well, mother fade away. It had always been that way. It had always been summers that seemed so much more fun when Cass was a child but now that she was a young adult it just seemed irresponsible. When a girl wants a bit of advice it shouldn't consist of 'carpe diem' while, possibly, noticing the cute date and giving her daughter a knowing grin. She didn't need to say those again, there had been many a night that the three of them had been up talking about life and family and everything else. And that connection was nice to have back.

Kissing Emily's cheeks in gratitude of the second hug Cass's sniffles started to clear. "Hey, thanks," but she had only really heard sound, not what was said. When Echo added to the group hug she struggled to do the same but worked out at one cheek. At least she’d managed to regain her composure. She really shouldn't let herself get so worked up. It wasn't worth her time. Next year she was an adult and could be her own person. She didn't need to deal with her mother on the same level. Putting it in the past. This was the last summer, and it was the last year here. She needed to embrace that completely and not miss out because of stupid things like this. Her friends were always more of a rock than her family.

Finally, she was herself again and her attention completely on her friends. Another solid squeeze, "really thank you," Cass whispered. Touching her nose against Emily’s and giggling. Definitely back to her normal self. “Oh, these. Well, my nose was in Prague. Drunken dare, but I kind of like it.” Running her finger over the multi-colored titanium. It seemed to change a bit in the light as it reflected in different ways. She had changed to that style a while ago in her ears and everything now matched. “The lip, was just something I’ve been thinking of doing, you know, match the tongue,” she liked all of her pieces. But it was as though she was doing everything she could to not be as Veela as she was. Or maybe it was doing everything she could to distance herself from her mother.

Talking about other topics, especially things that weren’t terribly relevant to her current issues, Cass was ready to talk about it. “Yeah, it was my mom, I swear. This time it was the Minister of Magic in India. I know I should just leave her but, you know it really sucks when you have to be the parent. Or feel like you do, I just wanted to be dropped off for the last time.” Unlike her dearest friend, Cass had absolutely no problem with apparition. In fact, she was quite adept, it was actually one of her best areas. When you can’t fly, it’s good to learn another way to travel. “But it is what is it, right? I mean, I can’t do anything about my mother. But this year is going to be awesome. I should worry about my NEWTs not my momchild.” That was a term she’d invented a few years ago with their help. Yeah, now it sounded silly but they were young and it had stuck.

“So, what have you two been up to, I know I haven’t been available with all the travelling.” Her goal was to keep doing that part, though. She wanted to get some music out, an album, and make a real go of it. Maybe that would be part of this year, too. “Oh,” she got excited, “I’ve been thinking about the band and I started writing songs this summer. I want to try to get some real gigs this year if you’re game.” It was one of her true loves in life, music. She was loathe to admit that she and her mother were, in some ways, almost identical. At least where music was concerned. A part of her knew why her mother was like she was with shows. She could easily become the same way.

[Prints Avoid]

Dorado Schmitz

"Doradooo!"

The voice cut through his thoughts, interrupting the surreal nonsense of his dreams. It sounds familiar but not quite right. It was someone forcing a deep voice into a higher pitch?

"Dorado! We need you, golden boy! Come show us what terrible people we all are!"

Dor groaned, recognizing Evan's voice at last. It was too early. He should not need to get up right now. No, he actually didn't need to get up right now. "Go away Evan... I've got one day of sleeping in left and I don't wanna waste it." Without opening his eyes, he turned away from the voice, pulling a blanket over his head. He heard a low chuckle and mutter. The next thing he knew, there was bright flash and a pop. His blankets flew across the small room, and he was thrown to the floor. The blinds rocketed upwards and Dor was left on the floor, facing the ceiling with sunlight streaming in through the window onto his face. He groaned once more as Evan burst into laughter, wand gripped in one hand, his other hand clutching his stomach. His guffaws were interrupted by a loud belch, which only made him resume laughing even more forcefully.

Dor sighed, then rubbed his eyes as he stood up off the floor. "You better hope-" Dor's own speech was interrupted by a burp of his own, which of course set Evan off again. He had a tendency to have overly long and exaggerated fits of laughter. Dor couldn't help but laugh himself. "Damn, how much of that stuff did we have?" The previous day had marked the pickup of the final returning member of Good's Quidditch team, and so they had put together a Quidditch pong tournament. A combination of the Muggle game of beer pong and Quidditch, it was immensely complicated and a lot of fun. Of course all members of the Quidditch team were respectful, well-behaving, rule-abiding students, and even if they did manage to get any beer they'd never make it available to the younger members of the team. Instead, they used a non-alcoholic but fun substitute chosen by the previous year's winner. It had made for an uproarious night. Of course they'd had so much of that unholy combination that Dor expected the effects to linger most of the day.

Evan was a friend of Dor's in Good and his teammate. Short and stocky, the seventh year made for an excellent Beater. He was a Muggleborn wizard, but had grasped American wizard culture faster than anyone else Dor had ever met. The two had instantly hit it off when Evan helped Dor find a classroom in his first year, finding they had many common interests. When Dor got on the Quidditch team it only solidified their friendship.

"Anyway, we just picked up Florida," Evan said once they had both stopped laughing. "Tomb's already getting filled up... There'll probably be food soon. It's the last day and night with our own rooms. Don't let it go to waaaste." He sang with a knowing smile. The boy gave a him a wink then slipped out the door, presumably headed down to the tomb.

Dor was left in his room, and in the sudden quiet he could make out the sounds of the Pegerine and the people in it. He could vaguely make out the muffled voices of Mercury and Pluto coming out of a speaker a few rooms over. He stretched his arms once more. Despite his earlier protests, now that he was awake he was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to get back to sleep if he tried. A small burp escaped his lips as he got up and shuffled into the bathroom.

A short time later, Dor made his way down the stairs. He wore a pair of jean and a light button up shirt. Rather than deal with the mess that was his hair he'd put on his lucky hat, bearing the logo of the Tucson Dust Devils. He couldn't deny his hair could use a trim, much like his father had said. Still, after having cut nearly all of it off at the beginning of the summer, it was nice to have it back.

Dor strolled into the room and made his way to the bar, waving and nodding at various acquaintances. Strangely, Evan was nowhere to be found. Probably up to one of his tricks... Dor didn't talk to anyone for too long as he was honestly just trying to get something at the bar that might mitigate the burping. He explained his situation to the bartender. She rolled her eyes and turned around to pour him some tea out of what looked like a red thermos muttering about stupid kids and their games. Thanking her, Dor turned on his stool to face the room. He took a sip of the drink and found it sickeningly sweet. His attention was drawn to the trio of girls also at the bar next to him. It seemed Cassandre was upset about something so he did his best to awkwardly ignore the group while he finished his drink.

Unfortunately, as he'd learned over the years, it was nearly impossible to ignore Cassandre. So naturally, he kept glancing over at the three Tituba girls. He had just finished his drink and handed the cup to the bartender when it seemed they'd put aside personal issues.

"Well I'm glad to see the three of you made it back safely this year," he said, leaning over across the empty bar stools between them. "I hope that means another year of tunes that move the body and lyrics that leave the teachers speechless." A small laugh escaped his lips. "Should be a fun year, huh?" he asked as he moved one seat closer. Leaning that far was pretty uncomfortable. Looking at Echo, he added, "Especially when Good takes the Quidditch Cup."

[Crimmy]

Lü Ziya

Imagine, for a second, that you have magic. It's probably something you've done a lot of course, whether it was as during your childhood when you had yet to be crushed by cynicism and still aspired to be special or as part of a fantastic daydream to avoid the neverending drudgery that is the modern capitalist consumerist culture. So it would be simple then, for you to place yourself in another world, in another time, where you are not, in fact, an average fellow who is literate in English, but instead Lü Ziya, a fifteen-year old Chinese-American magician from Nevada and wannabe communist politician who was engaging in what one would call a nap upon a couch within the Peregrine Hotel's student hangout area, biding his time for their eventual arrival at the Salem Institute for his fifth year of glorious education.

What the Peregrine Hotel and Salem are, of course, need no explanation.

...

After all, you have already read this far down the page, have you not?

...

And so, lying down upon a red velvet couch, back against the material, was Lü Ziya, his hat and mask both fixed upon his head properly, obscuring his facial appearance quite significantly. In fact, it would be difficult to even note whether he was asleep or not, had it not been for the slow rise and fall of his chest, a rhythm that signalled that he was very deep within the hands of Morpheus.

[Apokalipse]

Night, August 27, 2015

Hestia Wintergerald, a beautiful blonde Tituba and resident mother hen. Aella smiled politely, straightening her back and turning towards the girl. Distantly, Aella wondered why Hestia would talk to her and not someone else, but she tried to seem welcoming.

“Hey,” Aella said, rubbing her hands onto her pants, wiping away the perspiration, “I’ve been great. What about you? How was your summer?”

There was an itch in the back of her mind to look at her watch – an itch grown from boredom, but Aella stayed her eyes, afraid that Hestia would believe she’s bored with her. But she had restless eyes and they darted around the room, breathing in the occupants. A gaggle of girls were situated near her, gossiping about a celebrity of sorts, and Echo was waving to her as well. Shyly, Aella twiddled the tips of her fingers towards her, hoping to appear nonchalant rather than nervous. After all, Aella was nervous. Soon, they would be arriving at Salem Witches’ Institute and classes would begin – what if she was in a class where she didn’t know anyone? Also, she was a bit afraid she’ll say something in the next five minutes to make Hestia uncomfortable somehow. It always happened.

“I’m sorry, Hestia. I have to go, I’m not feeling too well.” Aella muttered, slipping off the seat and racing away.

Her feet ate up the stairs, the slapping sound of her sneakers sounding like a broken record and a swirl of sweat slithered down her cheek. Aella concentrated hard on the placement of her feet, slipping and falling multiple times but re-gathering herself before anybody saw. Thirty-seven floors she had to climb – she should have stayed in her room in the first place. Her stomach gurgled with gross acid, a physical manifestation of her anxiety. At a point, her foot missed a step and her hand stung as it slammed into the dirty stair to stop her head from being concussed. There, on the twenty-ninth floor Aella rested, her body splayed upon the stairs and her heart beating a thousand a second. Her cheeks felt cold and dead and her lungs ached like they were being pierced by her ribs having expanded so much. Her mind swirled and she felt not-there, as if it was all a dream.

After five minutes or so, and a couple of stares from passersby, Aella climbed the rest of the way to her room and spent the rest of the day listening to Mercury and Pluto.

“I’m telling you! That dumb slut stole my husband!” Pluto shouted, her sentence punctuated by a snooty sound.

“Ha!” Mercury cackled, “Stole him? You practically gave him to her!”

“I did not!”

And it continued on and on until Aella’s mind was almost cradled into the beginning wisps of sleep. Then her head slammed against the headboard. Sighing, Aella struggled to her feet, rubbing her head and yawning as she affectionately patted her ratties’ cages.

“Soon, babies, soon.” She whispered, shuffling into her uniform skirt and lazily stuffing her arms into her red cardigan over a dotted white button-up.

Her legs burned as she carried herself up the stairs, being jarred back and forth against the wave of students as they clambered out of the car. Finally, Aella stepped out into the fresh pine air and smelled the sweet smell of incense. The beautiful red building looked brand new, like it always did, and Aella wrapped her arms around herself as she moved towards the dining hall.

Welcome back, the building seemed to whisper as she entered the doors.