"Oh honey, and look at this one. This one here," said Jane Murray to her husband. Mrs. Jane Murray, formerly Jane Dawson before her marriage, was a bright eyed, beautiful woman hailing from a small town in Illinois. She had astonishing green eyes, very blonde hair, and a perplexingly beautiful smile that made every boy she ever met swoon. She came from a large family; the sort of very large family that would regularly meet on holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas to throw the sort of lavish parties most would envy an invitation to.


"Oh wow, that is really old," said James, Jane's husband, who was looking over her shoulder after returning to the room. James had brown hair, blue eyes, and was physically quite typical and boring, with no outstanding features except for his rather large glasses. He seemed somewhat dull compared to most people, as if he had lived a somewhat lackluster life.

"I must have been..." Jane pondered aloud, "Yes, it must have been my senior year in high school. Yes, that's it. My junior year was when I had to walk with a crutch because of my ankle, so I couldn't have been on the cheerleading team that particular year, obviously."


Back in Jane's high school days, she was very popular. She had friendships high and low, all throughout the school and the town. She went to parties every night of the week, set the latest fashion trends for the entire student body, and belonged to a nearly obscene amount of extracurricular clubs within the school. Jane also played on the volleyball, tennis, soccer, basketball, and water polo teams, along with her participation in theater, cheerleading, choir, and orchestra.


And Jane didn't let all this popularity, nor these commitments and talent affect her schooling. She excelled in her education, getting A's in all her classes every year of her life (including pre-school). She graduated with top marks in all her classes in her senior year of high school, as valedictorian, and was offered full scholarships from the most prestigious universities throughout the world.


James returned to his office briefly to turn off a light as Jane continued to flip through the photo-album that she had found on a bookshelf in her and her husband's bedroom, where it had been forgotten many years ago. "Oh, and this one too!" she said, pointing ecstatically at the next picture. It was a picture of her at her graduation party. She had a glass that used to contain punch in her hand, the original contents which had been ejected from the glass and landed upon an unsuspecting bystander when Jane attempted to raise her arms victoriously in the air for the picture.


After her graduation, Jane's parents threw the largest graduation party that her town had ever seen for Jane and all her classmates. The entire town was invited, and nearly everyone showed up in attendance. The mood was very celebratory, and there was dancing, eating, singing, and congratulation all around. Jane was the star of it all. She got up on stage and sang with the band, she danced in the center of the dance floor amidst avid onlookers, and had a very fun time.


"I remember it so well. It was really a glorious night."

"Isn't that when you made the announcement?" asked James.

Jane pondered to herself for a moment, "Yes, that was the very night."

The odd thing was, even after her graduation, as her graduation party was in full motion, she had yet, to this point, announced where she would be attending college after the summer vacation. Many rumours had already been spread saying Stanford, or Yale, or Notre Dame. Eventually, the whole crowd was buzzing with interest, and in their enthusiasm, pronounced together, "Speech! Speech!" After short deliberation on Jane's part, she calmed the masses to give her speech.

"I am so glad you all came to this wonderful graduation party for our entire class. And I know why you want me to give a speech, you all are wondering what my next educational decision is. Where am I going to go to college?" The room was silent, everyone holding their breath in anticipation. "I have decided to attend the Micheal Green Institute of Theatre and Drama in Los Angeles!"


"It was odd," Jane said to James while looking at more pictures from the party, "Nobody reacted like I expected they would when I gave my speech. I thought it was nice."


The truth was, after her announcement, the crowd was aghast. This girl had the world laid out before her; she could be a doctor, or lawyer, or politician, and she wanted to go into acting? But sure enough, three months later, Jane Dawson was attending the Micheal Green Institute of Theatre and Drama in Los Angeles, California.


Any sort of prestige one might envision of this academy is surely misplaced. It was a run down theatre on the dodgy side of town. Her parents offered to purchase her a high class apartment, but she declined, opting instead for a run down apartment on the same dodgy side of the city. "My parents never liked that apartment," Jane said to James, still flipping through pictures.


"Your parents never seemed keen for you to be in Los Angeles in the first place, from all the stories you used to tell me of them," James said. He kissed her cheek, "But just think, you would have never met me."


Nobody could understand why Jane would ever think of going into theatre and running away to Los Angeles, but in truth, she simply wanted to get out, explore the world, and find her soulmate. She found him in a shady coffee shop, which she had hurried to for a quick latte before her next class session. After getting her coffee, a man stole her purse right off her arm. In a fit of surprise, she slung her coffee to the side, the hot contents landed directly in the lap of a one James Murray. It was love at first site.


"I felt so terrible though, honey," Jane confessed. "It looked like it hurt so much."

"It did," James confessed in return, sitting next to his wife on the couch. "But I'm far from complaining."

Back then, James Murray was a student from California, studying architecture at the University of Los Angeles. He wasn't terribly notable, nor was he particularly acclaimed for anything. But once Jane had decided, her mind was set. They dated through his college career, and soon after, married. They decided to return to Illinois, and found a nice home in a suburb near Chicago.

"And look, here's when we moved in!" Jane said, turning the pages. "And here are pictures from that year we won both best Halloween and Christmas decorations."

Jane and James had a beautiful, typically American, two story house at the end of a wonderful, circular cul-de-sac called Mayflower Drive, in the suburb known as Trail Lake. 3015 Mayflower Drive read the address as the picture showed the happy couple smiling at the camera. The Murrays quickly made a name for themselves throughout the community as good, productive neighbours, and they were entertaining anyone who would be willing to drop by for dinner.

"Oh, what's this?" Jane asked aloud. The picture showed the community gathered in front of a house, three people as the subjects of the picture. One woman on the right, Jane on the left, looking somewhat bitter, and in the middle, an older woman with a happy, dreamy, humbled smile on her face. This was a picture of one of the many contests held in Jane and James' neighbourhood. And it was Jane and James' strong participation in neighbourhood activities and their outgoing, caring attitude, which by chance, led them to the winner of that particular contest, Ms. Susie Yates.

Ms. Susie Yates was a dreamy, vague, older woman, in her mid-sixties. The Murray's lived directly in the middle of the circle of the cul-de-sac on Mayflower Drive, facing its exit. Directly across from the Murrays, looking down Mayflower Drive and the cul-de-sac, at the intersection with the main road, was Ms. Yates' house. She was very odd, and none of the other neighbours in the community knew much about her, partially because they never really had the chance to have an in-depth conversation with her, but partially because they didn't want to.

"Speak of the devil, there's Ms. Yates now," Jane said, glancing out the window. Ms. Yates was walking around their cul-de-sac on one of her evening walks.

Ms. Yates would most often stay indoors. In fact, the only times she was seen outside of her house was when she took her morning and evening walks throughout the neighbourhood, when someone invited her over to dinner (which was usually rare), and when she took to sitting on her front porch.

Somehow though, Ms. Yates maintained a beautiful garden - one which had won the award for best garden in Trail Lake 5-years running, until she sent a notice to the judging committee, asking to take her garden out of the running. How she earned this wonderful garden in the first place, is a complete mystery. Ms. Yates was was never seen gardening, and nobody had ever seen hired gardeners working at her house. A highly competitive gardener in the neighbourhood even so much as staked out Ms. Yates' house at nighttime, thinking that gardeners would do their work covertly in the night, but there was no such luck.

"We haven't been over there for awhile now. Should we ask her over to dinner sometime?" asked James.

"No. If she wants guests," Jane said contemptuously, "She would ask for them."

Though Ms. Yates spent most of her time indoors, she was far from a shut-in, hiding from society. On the contrary, she relished the opportunity to entertain guests, quickly making pots of tea and serving them homemade cookies or bread, whichever she was in the mood for. She was a nice woman, but very peculiar. All her furniture, including bookcases, chairs, the television, even her bed, was covered in an odd type of plastic wrap. Her carpet was covered by towels, and whenever guests came, she would remove them all, and put them in the wash. Her walls seemed to be painted different every time a different guest came to visit. She had pictures and photographs hung throughout her home, but for some reason they looked odd. It was the sort of odd that nobody could put their finger on, just odd. Visitors always had the spooky feeling that the photographs and paintings of people were watching them.

"Has her family arrived yet?" Jane asked.

"I don't believe so," James answered, somewhat curious himself.

On two occasions throughout the year, Mrs. Yates accepted no guests: several weeks before Christmas until a week or so after New Years, and on certain weeks during the summer. These occasions were always punctuated by the arrival of a 4-door 1978 Ford Fiesta. Nobody knew the owners of this car. Furthermore, nobody had ever seen the car physically arrive or leave. Many neighbours had attempted to see the car arrive or leave, but to date, after countless attempts, nobody has succeeded. One moment the car was there, and the next it was gone, or vice versa. But the vehicle was always accompanied by either the arrival or departure of a family of four, who nobody knew. When asked, Ms. Yates would always admit they were, "Family from out of town."


Finally, to add to the quirkiness, Ms. Yates had some sort of fascinating attraction for owls. Not attraction to owls, but rather, attraction for owls; owls were very much drawn to her and her house. This was probably her oddest quirk, for almost daily, if one were to look in the direction of her house, one would see an owl, usually in broad daylight. Some of these owls even traveled directly to her when she would sit on her porch, and then promptly fly away. Unlike her other curiosities, this one had no explanation, though some in the community theorized that she used to be some sort of professional bird trainer.

The Murrays made friends with Ms. Yates, with the hopes of finding out more about her and her quirky ways. But there was no figuring her out. Ms. Yates worked like clockwork, and there was no strategy that the Murrays were able to devise to leak any information out of her, or understand her strange habits.

In the meantime, the Murrays lived a very happy life with their new budding family. They eventually had three daughters. But they have kept their ties with Ms. Yates consistent, in hopes of possibly understand more about her.

"Oh, and here are the beautiful baby pictures of Jayne! And here of Leah!"

"Oh, and there's the news clipping!" James said, as Jane continued flipping through the pages, "I didn't think you would have kept it." Jane grunted quietly at the sight of it.

There were a few years that were very notable in regards to Ms. Yates. Both James and Jane remembered them vividly. Jane was pregnant with her first daughter when there was a great deal of commotion over at the Yates house. Ms. Yates disappeared for a very long period of time. The regular owls would arrive at her house, stay there for a short time, as if hoping she would return, and then leave looking annoyed and dejected. She no longer would have her morning or evening walk, was never home when people attempted to visit, and her family never came to visit her (though somehow her garden remained perfect). This continued for nearly two years.

Then, as mysteriously as she had left, she returned. She was seen on her walks throughout the neighborhood again, but she seemed very nervous. She was scared senseless any time a neighbour caught her off her guard, and was very fidgety.

Then, two years after the strange woman's hiatus, she had finished her morning walk and returned to her house when the most shocking thing Trail Lake had ever seen took place.

Owls. Ms. Yates was known for her attraction of owls, but this day was on an entirely different level. First there were three owls, all of which arrived at the same time in the morning, perching on her fence, hooting merrily at passer-bys. Then two more, perching on her roof. Four more, then three more, one more, then six more... Two, two, once even twelve at once! Within the period of an hour, over 47 owls had collected around the house. It made public news on television and in the newspaper. When reporters asked how all these owls came about to perch around her house, Ms. Yates was quoted as saying, "Today is just a very good day. It's good news to hear that some of the troubles of the world will never trouble us again."

The Murrays have given up their attempts to understand Ms. Yates, though they remain good neighbours.

"Oh, look at Leah in that adorable little dress!" Jane said, pointing at the photograph.

The Murrays, more than any of their other accomplishments, were most proud of their children. Their first daughter was named Jayne, now fifteen years old, aspiring singer, highly successful in school, and a profoundly talented gymnast.

Their third daughter was named Leah, who was prestigious throughout the community for her skill at piano at the mere age of nine. She followed in her eldest sister in her aptitude for school, and she dreamed of being in a beauty pageant. The Murrays would boast and display their children's talents as shining beacons of greatness to the community. They pampered their daughters Jayne and Leah with the best of the best, and made sure they were always happy.

They also had another daughter, their second born. She was a good girl. But Jayne and Leah were so talented and loved by all their neighbours.

Their second daughter was eleven now, and her name was Sadie. Sadie Murray.

"Oh why did we develop so many of these?" Jane complained, flipping through baby pictures of Sadie.

Sadie Murray was an interesting child to be sure. She was unlike both of her sisters. She was not very popular, only having a few casual friends that didn't truly extend beyond school. She only participated in soccer, and though she was good, she wasn't spectacular by any means. She had no other real talent besides the doodles she would draw. She had a fascination with drawing, and felt she could really express herself. Sadie's mother, in particular, thought it was a monumental waste of time.

Sadie was not particularly good with her school work. She studied well, and participated in class, but was never more than "just average" as her mother would always say.

"You need to work harder on your studies," lectured Jane to Sadie, "look at your sister Jayne. Straight A's. Absolutely perfect in every sense of the word. It's astounding! And it has her on the fast lane to success. You should model yourself after her, Sadie Murray."

But all of Jane's lectures with Sadie didn't seem to be effective. Sadie's grades remained average. So Jane found her happiness in her other daughters. Jayne and Leah were perfect, and earned Jane's attention, while Sadie was falling behind. Though Leah liked to play with Sadie sometimes, she would generally use Sadie as a scapegoat when a vase broke, or something naughty happened. Jayne openly disliked Sadie, and often teamed up with her friends to pick on Sadie, which usually involved saying nasty things behind her back.

Beyond these inconveniences, though, Sadie was fairly content. She found no need to be terribly attached to her parents, because usually, her mother would never give her any time of day. Though her dad seemed to like her, her father was always busy at work, and they didn't have many chances to see each other. Her sisters usually passed her in the hall as if she was not there at all. Sadie, most of the time, felt completely invisible to just about everyone, and she was quite alright with that.

"Oh, and there's Sadie when she entered in the spelling bee," James said. Jane grunted again.

Sadie liked being invisible because she was allowed a lot of time to think and be by herself. She learned how to have fun immersing herself in her drawings and reading books. Her mind was very open to ideas, thoughts, and feelings. Strange, silly, funny images swirled in and out of her head like a fast flowing river. It inspired wondrous characters for her drawings, and she was never bored.

But in her thinking, Sadie had pondered one subject over and over again. Her life seemed very normal. Very ordinary. She felt as if she were missing something, some very important detail that she couldn't quite place her finger on. She felt out of place in the world she lived in, like she didn't belong there, and should leave in a spaceship to go live with people who might be able to understand her better on some other planet. Alas, these were more of Sadie's wandering imaginations.

Sadie's eleventh birthday, on New Years Day, went off without notice. No cake, no celebration. In fact, Sadie's way of proclaiming to herself that she had now turned eleven was to sit on her favorite spot on the roof. She watched as some silly kids shot off fireworks from the nearby playground. She drew some kids who were running around a big cake that said, 'Happy Birthday Sadie!' as the eleven candles she drew into the cake all shot fireworks. She felt so happy when she finished it, though she also had never felt more alone.


But Sadie was content with her life of obscurity, anonymity, and invisibility. She figured that she would remain living this way for the rest of her life if she needed to. But of course, even with her wild imagination, she couldn't begin to dream up what was going to happen this year on July 17th.

It all started with a bit of loud shouting.

"Mommy! Mommy! Is it time yet?! Is it time yet?!"



Why must she shout so loud so early? Sadie thought, waking up to the sight of her alarm clock, which read 6:37 AM. She groaned unhappily at the time, hoping that it would somehow tell her that she could slip off back to sleep.



Sadly, Sadie's little sister, Leah, opened the door. Sadie knew there was no hope of sleeping now. Leah took a bounding leap onto a trunk at the foot of Sadie's bed, and another upon the bed. Sadie curled into a ball under the covers as Leah hopped back and forth to either side of the bed yelling, "Time to wake up, Sadie! Time to wake up, Sadie!"



Leah bounced back to the floor, and quickly tugged all of Sadie's covers off the bed. "Leah, no. It's too early," Sadie mumbled.



"It's sister's big day though, silly sister! Big day, big day!" Making an effort to use as little energy as possible, Sadie sat up in bed. Leah was holding Sadie's sheet over her head and running around the room, using it in a manner that suggests she thought it was a cape. "Mommy says days like this don't happen everyday! It's time to wake up!"



"No it's not Leah, give me my sheet."



"Wee!" cries Leah with obvious relish now that she knew she was disobeying the rules.



"Give it back! And get out of my room!"



"You'll never catch me!" Leah darts out the room, the sheet trailing behind. Sadie pulls herself out of her bed, closes her door, and falls back in. Why she isn't used to this by now is beyond her. Events like this transpire nearly on a daily basis. But it's the weekend, Saturday in fact; she deserved a little peace and quiet.



She wasn't sure what was worse, the fact that she was so rudely awoken at such an early hour or the fact that she knew Leah would now be parading around her older sister's room. She knew Jayne wouldn't be pleased, because she liked her sleep, and she was horrible when she was in angry.



Sadie hoped that events for later in the day would put things in a positive light for Jayne, and she won't dwell on being woken up early. Jayne had a big performance today. She was the leading gymnast in the gymnastics team at her high school, and she wanted to uphold her nearly perfect record as lead gymnast.



"No use in this, I guess," Sadie says to her bedpost. She had tried to stare at it, hoping that the fact it was so boring it would bore her back to sleep. Instead, she got up, stretched, adjusted her shirt, and went over the mirror. She brushed her hair while yawning a few times, then gave herself a good look over. Something felt different about her as she looked upon herself. Her dirty blonde seemed lighter and prettier than normal as it ran past her shoulders now. She had been letting grow out over the summer, and it was just about the right length. Her eyes were gleaming blue as always, but seemed more clear and vibrant today. Everything about her seemed different today. She seemed to be glowing.



Sadie saw this as a fluke though, or if not a fluke, simply her imagination. She had to face facts; there was nothing terribly fascinating about her and there probably wouldn't ever be. She was average, she was ordinary, and she should become content with that.



The door opened, and peering in was the half asleep, half angry face of Jayne, Sadie's older sister. Normally she would be wearing significant amounts of make-up, but clearly it was too early in the morning for the beautification process to begin. She looked as if she was hit by a car, with most of her long, beautiful brown hair pointing out at odd angles. "Do you have any earthly idea what time it is?" she says with overt distaste, as if she shouldn't be asking this question in the first place.



"Yeah, too early," Sadie says, more testily than she intended to.



"Exactly, and do you know what today is?"



"The day of your performance."



"Exactly." Jayne had a love for the word exactly. She enjoyed the fact that she knew more than another person, and would tend to push them around with it, given the opportunity. She saw Sadie as easy prey. "And if you didn't know, this is a critical performance that secures me the advanced position in my gymnastics team," she emphasized particular words in a very pompous manner, as if she was showing evidence for how much greater she actually was. She also had the tendency to use more complicated words than normally necessary to show she was more intelligent, although she didn't always know what the words meant. "So that means I should be well rested. My fatigue, otherwise, would be my downfall," she said, stuttering as she realized she didn't use the right word. "So you need to keep more control over Leah."



"I'm sorry Jayne, she burst in and woke me up too. I would've stopped her if I could." This was true. Jayne was rude to her, and Leah was intolerably immature, but she loved them both because they were family. She cared about them, even if they didn't return the favor, which made her feel bad on a regular basis.



"I don't want you to think of what you could do," obviously bothered by the response Sadie issued, "I want to see results. Don't let it happen again. Today has to be perfect." She gives Sadie a snooty look before slamming the door shut.



Sadie was shocked to have gotten as much attention as she had from either of her sisters. Neither of them, on a normal occasion, would be bothered to even look in her general direction unless they really needed to. It was a fact that Sadie had unfortunately had to deal with for much of her 11 years she had spent in her house.



The fact was that her sisters, both younger and older, saw themselves as above Sadie. Jayne was 15 years old, very popular, and very talented both in her classes and hobbies. She was a straight A student for longer than Sadie cared to remember, and was taking all Advanced Placement classes, even though it was only her first year in high school. She was already getting recommendations from college's that wanted to see her attending their universities in the future. She was an amazing gymnast and an even better singer. She had more friends than she really knew what to do with, and she flaunted them often for everyone who had any interest. And the boys - all the high school boys, and still many of the middle school boys (who she wanted nothing to do with) liked her. She was very attractive, and would often invite the boys she liked home, and into her room, where she would lock the door.



Then there was Leah, her younger sister. She was one of the most adorable little girls Sadie had ever seen. If all adorable little girls were like Leah, Sadie seriously hoped that Leah was the last "most adorable little girl" she would ever have to meet. Leah was very spoiled by her parents; she always had the best new doll with matching dollhouse, the most beautiful new dress, and essentially, anything else she may have wanted at the time. She was very rebellious, and cute though she was, had the tendency to parade around doing as she pleased, with little or no punishment falling upon her. She was too cute for anyone to punish her, and she knew the sort of power she had at her disposal, and used it to proficiently to seek out her desires.



And in-between a beautiful, talented, awe-inspiring elder sister, and her equally beautiful, adorable, little princess sister, resided Sadie. Sadie was not ugly by any means, but certainly not the most pretty girl she had ever met. She was not as perfect as her other sisters were. She wasn't as talented either. She enjoyed school, but was only mediocre at it, despite her efforts. She had no particular talents that were very notable, except for an interest in drawing and her love for playing on the soccer team. She had a few friends, but she didn't spend too much time with them outside of school, and if she were to be put on a scale of popularity, she'd lean toward the more unpopular side. Thus, Sadie had resigned to the fact that she wasn't as beautiful, talented, or generally as interesting as her other sister.



Sadie sat at her desk and pulled out a journal with hearts, stars, and other doodles completely littering the cover, and turned to the next empty page. This was her journal. It was her diary, of sort, except she would make doodles and drawings instead of writing to herself (though she would leave occasional notes as well). She was a good artist, though she wouldn't have considered herself very highly, for anytime she attempted to show anyone besides her friends, she was quickly returned to her place as less-than one of her sisters.



It was far too early for Sadie to have any interest doing anything that involved thought, but drawing was natural for her. She decided today to draw Leah as a superhero, after how she was running around with the sheet. She came out with a nice drawing faster than she thought she would, and then looked around for more inspiration.



This is when Sadie would climb out her window, and up to her roof, as she did today. Most of the surface of her roof was quite steep and slanted with its shingles, but there was a particular section above Jayne's room that was very flat and safe to relax on. Jayne found it first, and during summer would often be seen with her girl friends sun bathing in their swimming suits. But in the early morning before the sun would rise, and once the weather became more chilly, Jayne would stop relaxing there, and Sadie would commandeer the spot.



Sadie climbed out of her window, and swung herself around until she fit her feet in a squares of a nearby lattice. She continued up to the roof, keeping careful balance with her pen and pencil behind either ear, and balancing with her journal as she scaled the steep bit of roof above her room. Stumbling down the incline until she came to a rest on the flat section of roof, she then opened the small chest that Jayne convinced her parents to bolt to the roof. Inside were several beach towels and pillow for laying around with. Sadie spread out her favorite towel, one with a big hot air balloon, and happily laid down.



This is a ritual Sadie had kept for a good three years. Her parents were worried at first, but quickly turned their attention back to either Jayne or Leah. Sadie enjoyed it up on the roof when nobody else was around. It was calming and comforting in a lonely sort of way. She was always being put into her place by everyone she knew, just Jayne's sister, or Leah's sister. Here though, she was free. She was Sadie. Or at least, she was that girl who was on the roof. Either way pleased her; drawing on the roof offered her one bit of uniqueness that she felt nobody else had.



The weather today was moody. The sun was just beginning to come over the horizon, even though there was plenty of light to see well, there was a puffy overcast which dulled all the other colors out with a gray-ish tint. Perfect weather for today, Sadie thought, No day when I have to go to another one of Jayne's dumb performances is a good one.



But what to draw today? She had lots of inspiration for Leah the Sheeted Superhero, but with the dull colors surrounding her, nothing looked attractive enough.



And then inspiration came in the form of an older woman, Ms. Yates, from down the street. Due to her family being one of the most popular in the entire community in her town of Trail Lake, Sadie had been introduced to many people, especially her neighbors. But Ms. Yates, by far, was the most curious, interesting, and entertaining.



Sadie didn't know much about Ms. Yates, even though she and her family would visit Ms. Yates at her house for dinner several times throughout the year. She knew that Ms. Yates had a beautiful garden, which all the other people in town were very jealous of, and that she was always known for being incredibly quirky. Every morning, Ms. Yates would take a long stroll through the neighborhood. And every morning that Sadie was awake early enough, she would tend to draw a picture of Ms. Yates.



Ms. Yates' quirkiness came out very much apparent in the way she looked, and even moreso in the way that she dressed. She was old, but not very old - Sadie guessed older than 50, but couldn't be sure. She had brown hair that was quickly graying, and was only a little taller than she, Sadie, was. She always dressed in dresses with strange floral patterns on them, always a different color and design. She had an assortment of hats, which Sadie was under the impression was a collection endless in number, as Ms. Yates could be spotted with a different hat on every day. Today, she sported a very tall, pointy hat with a ball on top, which extended outwards like a sombrero, but less stiff, and more floppy, with bright orange with green stars, which almost matched her orange-green-yellow floral patterned dress. Ms. Yates trotted along as she usually did, down Sadie's street, Mayflower Drive, around the cul-de-sac circle, and back toward her house, which directly at the other end of Mayflower Drive, where it turned into an intersection to the main road.



Sadie drew Ms. Yates older than she actually was, because it helped for the strange vision she had of Ms. Yates in her mind. She outlined her body quickly as best as she could from her distance before Ms. Yates continued her walk in the other direction. Afterwards, Sadie continued the drawing, giving Ms. Yates a dress of fire, with a matching pointy hat. She then put her on a runway, and she was modeling the latest fashion of fire-dresses at a high class fashion show, with photographers flashing cameras with awe. Ms. Yates tipped her hat to the crowd, sending embers falling off the platform, while in the background, a previous model was retreating after her dress had caught fire.



When she finished, Sadie glanced at her watch. It was 7:30 already! She was shocked she had occupied herself for so long. She decided it was time to head back into the house.



Sadie hung onto the roof upside down, her hair hanging below her head swaying in the breeze, so she could peer into Jayne's bedroom. Jayne had a balcony connected to her room, where she set up a ladder to easily get on the flat part of roof directly above her room. It was much more convenient than straddling the house to get in and out of Sadie's window. But Jayne had a strict "Nobody Is Allowed In My Room" policy, that would earn her a tattling sister, and punishment of extra chores issued from her parents. Unfortunately, Jayne was occupying the room, making an unsuccessful attempt to pull her skinny jeans on over her gymnast leotard while talking on the phone and watching herself in the mirror.



Reluctantly, Sadie again scaled the steep roof, swung round to her window, and re-entered the house as gracefully as she could muster. She put her journal back in her desk and pens out where she could find them later, and got dressed. Unfortunately, she would be dressing in her "Sunday best," even though it was Saturday. Her mother knew this was a big deal, and would be wanting the family to look their best. Sadie's favorite dress was still in the laundry, so she decided she'd wear a white button up shirt with her nicest pair of black slacks.



Soon after she prepared for the day, a knock came to the door. "Are you decent?" said an overtly tired, but polite voice.



"Yes Dad."



Sadie's father came into the room. He was a very nice, slightly plump man, though you could tell he jogged a lot to work the weight off because of his strong looking legs. He wore big glasses, and had the beginnings of a receding hairline, though if someone were to tell him so, he would never admit it. He was very typical as far as most dad's went, and in Sadie's opinion, somewhat on the dull side. He tended to drone when he spoke, and was cautious about his wording, though this was because of being married to Sadie's mother for so long.



"Mother says dinner is ready... I mean breakfast... and - oh, is that the best?" he says wearily after analyzing her attire.



"All my good dresses are dirty."



"Mom won't like it, you know?" He says with a warning.



"I know, but it should be fine. It is dressy after all."



"Can't argue with you, darling." He began to drone as he usually did, "But just so you know, we're going to be meeting with the family beforehand for a bite to eat."



Sadie had been critically analyzing her clothes, preparing for the tirade of criticisms her mom would undoubtedly release upon her soon enough. But this comment took her completely off guard, and she spun around immediately, "What? You're kidding."



"Nope." He scratched his head in a hopeless sort of manner, "I frankly would care less for a big gathering today, but you know your mother."



"Where? When?"



"First at the Fire-Grilled Steakhouse. Most of the family will be there, but there will also be all the kids, and they serve hamburgers and other things they'd be more likely to eat." The topic seemed to be depressing him as he thought more about it, because his droning increased, "Then after the performance, we're going to be at some fancy restaurant which your aunt suggested."



"No!" This was appalling news to Sadie. It was bad enough that they were turning this event into a family gathering. But not only were they doing it twice, they were going to be there. "I don't want to go! That's not right."



"Unfortunately, that's just the way it is, Sadie," her father said reluctantly, "I don't know what else I can tell you."



"You can tell me I don't have to go!" Sadie pleaded. She simply could not be forced into this, "Just say I can stay here for the rest of the day. Say I'm sick! Or... or..."



Her dad gave a long sigh, "You know I can't do that." Sadie's mind was blank, and somehow carried herself over to her bed. She sat down, picking a nice section of wall to stare at. Her father came to her side and sat down with her, "Look, I promise it won't be so bad." Sadie gave a pessimistic laugh, "Okay, it will be bad," her father continued with a slight laugh in return, "But not that bad. Just a couple dinners, and we'll be back home in no time."



"I still don't want to go."



"I know you don't. I don't much myself. But it's for your sister, and the dinners are for your mother." Sadie sighed apathetically to this, so her father pleaded, "What can I do to help?"



Sadie couldn't think of anything short of being poisoned. "I'll..." he babbled for an excuse, "I'll let you take your journal."



The proposition wasn't entirely repulsive to Sadie. Normally, when they went to family gatherings at restaurants, and especially to either of her sister's events, her mother forbid her from bringing her journal. 'You need to concentrate!' she would say, 'Have pride of your sister!'



"How would you convince Mom, though?" she asked, half disbelieving he could do it.



"You let me figure that out. All I want you to do is come with us, but also be happy. Smile, and don't completely drown out everything that's going on. Deal?"



"Deal." Sadie didn't need to be asked twice. This was a rare opportunity, "Thanks Dad," she said, giving him a hug.



"That's better. Now you go downstairs. Mom has made breakfast."



He gets up very zombie-like and shuffles down the hall toward Leah's room, no doubt to get her under control and to the breakfast table. Hopefully, Sadie thought, he had some sort of tranquilizers handy. She ran back to her desk, pulled her journal, pen, and pencil back out, and tossed them in her bag that she usually used for school, which had been laying abandoned in her closet for weeks since the summer started. Slinging the bag over her shoulder, she made her way downstairs, where she knew the fun would begin.



At the bottom of the stairs, Sadie nearly collided with Jayne, who was vigorously text messaging someone, unaware her jeans had been put on backwards. She completely ignored Sadie as she bounded up the stairs. Sadie took her usual seat at the dining room table.



Her mother appeared from the kitchen, performing an amazing balancing act of holding a large plate of pancakes (which appeared quite hot) in her right hand, somewhat juggling it due to its temperature, while somehow carrying a plate of bacon and eggs as well as a pitcher of milk in her other hand. Sadie was convinced the plate of bacon and eggs was less being balance, and more being held by an invisible string her mother rigged to follow her from the ceiling.



Sadie's mother had very short, light blonde hair, a clear complexion, bright blue eyes, and a tremendously huge smile that sometimes concerned those who weren't accustomed to it. She was always as chipper as she was this morning, which was something of an annoyance more than anything. She always walked as if she had spent several days choreographing her movements, and therefore, everything she did, including the awkward plate carrying maneuver that professionals at a carnival wouldn't dare attempt, looked very graceful.



She took a great deal of time and effort to perfectly place each plate in a designated position, and angle, on the table, again as if it had been prior choreographed by the movie director that was somewhere off stage. Her mother was attempting to gain a characteristic that the entire house pronounced to the entire neighborhood, well, every room except for the girls' bedrooms. Everything was perfect, and everything was in its proper place.



Sadie knew that she shouldn't reach for her breakfast, even though she was quite hungry. It would upset the delicate balance that her mother was attempting to find on the dining room table. She was spinning the milk pitcher so that it would catch the perfect amount of light, often backing up slightly to get a better view from a different angle.



Finally, everything seemed to be in perfect order by her mother's standards. Her mother had yet to even notice Sadie was sitting at the table until now, "Oh, goodmorning, Sadie." For some reason, completely unknown to Sadie, her mother would elongate certain words she said to put extra emphasis on them. It wasn't something that happened on occasion, it was a repetitive habit that her mother didn't seem to be aware of any longer. She seemed delighted by the presence of Sadie, which was highly unusual, but it was probably because Sadie was the first to the perfectly organized breakfast table.



"Morning," Sadie mumbled irrelevantly as she reached for a pancake with the accordingly placed fork. The theory of her mother's unique moment of happiness with Sadie furthered itself after Sadie had spoken. It was almost as if her mother suddenly realized who she, Sadie, was, and was almost shocked. Her mother then looked down disapprovingly at Sadie, obviously judging her clothing.



"My, my," she said, touching the material of Sadie's shirt as if testing it to make sure it wasn't an illusion, "Is this it?"



"My favorite dress is in the laundry," Sadie said irrelevantly again. Eventually, her mother would turn her attention to one of her sisters whenever they arrived.



"Well you have other dresses, Sadie Murray, and I believe you should go up those stairs this instant and change into one of them."



"They don't look good on me. I didn't even pick them out, you did."



This disgruntled her mother more, "And who better to decide for their own child, but her own mother? Now up the stairs, young lady."



"It'll be fine, Jane," her father said to Sadie's defense, hobbling down the stairs, "It is dressy, after all."



"She could do better than that though, James. You know what I said that I read in the magazine about parenting. We should be firm with our decisions, and both parents should back each other."



Her mother gazed back down at Sadie, then noticing the messenger bag slung across the back of the chair, "And you certainly aren't brining that thing with you."



"Oh, she is going to," he replied, almost reluctantly, "I said I'd let her."



"James!" she said with much detest, "It's not appropriate!"



"It's just her journal. After lunch and dinner, we'll be sitting around for well over an hour; it will give her something to do."



"She should be visiting with her family who are ever so excited to see her!" Sadie's mother stressed, "And you know my opinion on that sort of thing. It's a waste of time, James."



"They're just drawings," James said, giving Sadie's mother a comforting hug, "And she enjoys drawing them. Don't worry, dear, Sadie's only a child still, and she has her priorities in line as it is."



Sadie's mother began to continue her rant, still quite adamant to the idea, before Jayne had returned, dragging a hyperactive Leah by the wrist, down to the breakfast table. It was unable to distinguish whether Leah was excited, simply hyper, or had overdosed on espresso. "Pancakes again?" Jayne said reluctantly.



"Pancakes!" Leah said with a squeal, quickly seating herself.



"Good morning my darlings!" Their mother's mood had instantly changed from adamant to positively amiable. Sadie's father gave a tactfully hidden and approving nod before taking his seat at the table. One point Sadie, zero mom, Sadie thought to herself with a sense of victory in her chest.



Jayne took her seat opposite of Sadie, to the left of their father. "Now, eat up Jayne. I want you to be absolutely ready for the competition. I want to see a lovely new trophy on our cabinet in the den."



"Yeah, I'll like, need all my energy for it," Jayne says sarcastically, though her mother was completely oblivious to it. Jayne spoke of the future competition as if it weren't contest at all, and more of an inconvenient chore she had to put up with. This was almost a fact though - Jayne was probably the best gymnast in Trail Lake. Leah was imitating gymnast moves in her seat instead of eating her breakfast, and Sadie daydreamed of drawing a scene with the Sheeted Superhero conquering a breakfast table, with all the people who were eating there covered in syrup.









Midday quickly rolled around, and soon enough, they had arrived at the Steakhouse. Sadie's Mom had reserved a table in the back, and only a few people had arrived before them. Thankfully, they weren't here yet. Hopefully they had changed their mind about attending.



They were Sadie's Aunt Glenda, and Aunt Glenda's daughters Dana and Diane. Aunt Glenda was Sadie's mother's sister, who inherited the same drive for perfection, but was less successful at it. Thus, she was a mean woman, who's husband divorced her for fairly obvious reasons. She loved to argue, and would never take no for an answer; she was very opinionated, and attempted to ensure that she was always correct.



While everyone else casually seemed to ignore Sadie, Aunt Glenda took great enjoyment in shining a spotlight directly on her. She would put Sadie down, taunt her, and insult her for a pompous sort of humor. Her daughters though, Sadie's cousins, were a different matter entirely.



Diane was the eldest, and nastiest. Though Aunt Glenda was quite tall, Diane had grown less upwards, and more outwards. She wasn't fat - saying such would be rude - but she was definitely plump, or at least big-boned, and had on more than one occasion been advised to take it easy on the hamburgers at McDonaley's. She had not heeded these warnings. Her exterior matched her interior quite appropriately, she was mean and nasty, and took great care to push and boss Sadie around whenever they had the unfortunate circumstances to meet.



Dana was Diane's little sister, but more over, her crony. She was tiny, though plump as well, but still quite young. She wasn't good at bossing anyone around yet, but she did her best at helping her older sister.



Sadie had a small salad for lunch. More family and friends of Sadie's mother eventually arrived, and she greeted them appropriately as they came, and then launching into enthusiastic conversation, and wouldn't get too bothered by the fact Sadie was drowning their conversations out. Sadie took great relish when they went to busy public spaces like this; she enjoyed them a lot, because it gave her plenty of subjects to draw.



Sadie preferred drawing people over objects. She liked that fact that humans were just a combination of objects. They had a combination of clothes, carried an assortment of objects on their person from purses, to watches, to bracelets, were made of many objects such as skin, and skeletons. People captured a lot for Sadie, and it came through in her doodles. She would gaze at people who weren't paying attention, and would use them as her subjects. She would draw them as she saw them: If it was a man eating a late breakfast alone at a table, he'd be a grumpy old looking man with bushy eyebrows and a lumpy nose when Sadie finished. She drew couples, waiters, waitresses, cooks, and random people walking just outside the building. There was no limit to how her imagination would translate any given person.



After a while though, when everyone had finished their food, and conversation began dwindling, it was time to depart. Thankfully, Aunt Glenda, Diane, and Dana were no-shows to their lunch, which boasted favorably for conditions throughout the rest of the day. Slowly, everyone paid for their meals, made their way to their cars, and began traveling to where Jayne's event was being held.

The Mysterious Vanishing Turkey











The gymnasium that Jayne's event was being held at was not the school gymnasium as usual. This was a city-wide event, and it was being hosted at a large, downtown gymnasium built for just such the occasion. It was a large building with a huge floor where they had set up all the equipment the contestants would need for all of the events. A long panel of judges, all lined up on a portable table, stretched near a large balancing beam. The stadium seating allowed the audience to sit anywhere in the ring around stadium style seats, except directly behind the judges.





When they arrived, there were other contestants already on the floor, getting warmed up and taking practice jumps. Jayne immediately went toward the changing rooms, ignoring her mother's petitions of good luck. The rest of the group traveled up to the seats. They still constituted quite a large party of family and friends, over 20 people, some of which Sadie knew, and some of which she didn't. They took up six seats in three and a half rows so they could all still talk and discuss with each other without shouting all across a single file of chairs.





Unfortunately, since it was Jayne's performance, Sadie, Leah, along with their mother and father, were all in the the front-most row. They were waiting for the beginning of the show when Sadie took her journal out again. She was going to draw a particularly grumpy looking judge who was plump with circular glasses when her mom forced the journal back down into her bag.





"Sadie Murray, I should think you won't be pulling that thing out now of all times," nagged her mother with a surly smile, "This is your sister's big day. She's going to need all the support we can give her."





"But they haven't even started yet. I was going to put it away once they did." Sadie was being entirely honest; Sadie might not like the way Jayne treated her, but Jayne is still is her sister, and deserved her support.





"You shouldn't be rude to your sister!" snaps her mother quietly. "Here, you can say hello to Aunt Glenda. I see them just coming through the doorway." She raises her voice to a holler, "Glenda! Over here!"





It felt like the walls around Sadie were crumbling, bearing down on top of her, and she was destined for certain doom. Not them! Sadie had thought they were going to pass up the event, but they had just arrived late. Aunt Glenda, with a bothered smile, and her rotund body that almost resembled a weather balloon in the particular dress she wore, hobbled through the seats to them and gave Sadie's mom a wide hug. Loudly, she said, "Oh Jane, so good to see you!"





"I agree, we need to spend more time together. And look at the little darlings!" It was always a bad sign when Sadie's mother put emphasis on an entire sentence. Sure enough, Diane and Dana were trotting right behind Aunt Glenda, equally as plump as their mother, and with devilish smiles on their faces.





"Hello Aunt Jane," Diane said, baring all her teeth in a smile very reminiscent to a shark. "Hello Sadie."





"Well go on Sadie, say hello," her mother says, poking her in the back. Sadie greeted them. "And how is school Diane? Dana?" Sadie's mother continued.





Dana cowered behind behind Diane. Dana was very shy in large groups of people. Diane, on the other hand, relished the opportunity to be asked the question, "It's great Aunt Jane! I have A's in almost all my classes!"





"Almost?" Sadie's mom asks, as if confused she had chosen the wrong word for the sentence.





"Had a bit of a poor time in P.E.," said Aunt Glenda in polite defense. Big surprise, thought Sadie to herself as Aunt Glenda continued, "But we've hired a special trainer to help with her bodily attributes, so it shouldn't be a problem any more. Isn't that right Snookiekins."





"Very right, mother," she said, faking a smile, though it could be seen that she took the physical trainer as a direct insult. Diane looked right at Sadie and cracked her knuckles.





Thankfully, Aunt Glenda wanted to talk to Sadie's mother further. She moved between her mother and Leah, talking very quickly about nearly anything that seemed to come to her mind. Sadie could probably have gotten away with drawing in her journal, but she decided she would rather not take the chance and sat patiently, watching people enter the room and the judges sit very self-consciously at their table.





After a short time, all the contestants came out. All of Sadie's party except herself, Leah, and her father yelled at the top of their lungs once they saw Jayne among the contestants parading to the middle of the floor. The events began soon after, with gymnasts flipping and flying through the air with grace and ease. It was horribly boring for Sadie, but any time she wouldn't cheer, her mother would send a nasty elbow to her ribs, so she was forced to stay attentive.





Jayne's best performance was on the bar that the gymnasts had to swing on. Jayne was exceedingly confident for her performance on the bar prior to this competition. She didn't practice it at all because of her confidence. She had to wait her turn after several other participants went, who were all average in their performances. On Jayne's attempt, she did some extraordinary flips and had a spotless landing, which was very classic of her. The judges awarded with a tremendously good score. Next was the vault, where she did a death defying flip that earned her a near perfect score from all of the judges.





Throughout the entire show, when Jayne wasn't performing, Sadie could see Diane and Dana glowering at her out of the corner of her eye. Sadie felt really uncomfortable there, and wanted to get away, but figured that she would get into trouble, and resigned to remaining in place.





Jayne went on once more and scored a fair score with her performance of floor gymnastics, but next was Jayne's real worry. For the last three weeks straight, she had been compulsively worried about her act for the balance beam. She always had an issue with keeping her equilibrium whenever she transfered from a frontwards flip into a backwards flip, and though she had never fallen from the beam, she had many close calls.





Each contestant was taking their turns on the beam, Jayne looking particularly nervous as she sat impatiently in deep thought with the remaining contestants. Sadie decided to chance a direct look toward Diane and Dana. Dana was making a nasty face, while Diane was using her finger like a knife on her throat. Sadie couldn't take this further, she needed a break.





Though her mother disapproved, she made room for Sadie to squeeze through the aisle of seats, and Sadie made her way toward the restrooms. Sadie didn't actually have any need to go, she simply needed to put some distance between her, Diane, and Dana. To humor her mother though, she went into the restroom. There were two nervous gymnasts discussing their scores with each other while washing their hands. Sadie decided to wash her own hands just to make a point that she had been in the restroom, and returned to the stadium.





There was still another two contestants before Jayne was to perform. Jayne looked almost terrified with nervousness, though only Sadie could see it. Jayne remained outwardly confident, but whenever she was nervous, she would twirl her hair in her fingers. She was twirling her hair quite quickly at the moment.





“What’s wrong Shady Sadie? Didn’t want to stay around and play with us?”





Sadie froze. It was Diane and Dana. Diane continued to taunt Sadie, toddling toward her. “You shouldn’t run away from us like that, it’s not nice,” she said smirking. Dana hid behind her, but smirked as well.





“I wasn’t trying to run away. I had to use the restroom,” Sadie lied.





“Oh, I’m sure,” she says, cracking her knuckles. With a quick walk, Sadie turned on her heels and returned to the restroom. The gymnasts were gone now, and Diane and Dana followed her in. She was trapped. She made for one of the stalls so she could try to lock herself in, but Diane grabbed her by the shoulder and pushed her away.





Sadie turned to run for the door, but Dana was waiting there. She may have been younger and shorter, but was not pushover. When Sadie tried to push her aside she held her ground until Diane grabbed Sadie by the shirt and pulled her backwards so hard that Sadie fell to the ground. She quickly got to her feet, but was pushed in the chest. Sadie stumbled backwards until she banged into a metal fixture, which slashed through her slacks and cut her leg.





Her thigh stung terribly and she let out a whimper of pain as she backed into the wall between two sinks. The girls were laughing menacingly at her. "Oh, poor Sadie's hurt. I think she's going to cry," Diane cackles.





"And she tore her pretty little pants," Dana says, now much bolder after Sadie was stuck in a corner.





"Just back off you two! That's enough!" Sadie pleaded, but they weren't listening. They closed in on her so she wouldn't be able to get away.





Diane cracks her knuckles once again, "You know, those pants look nasty with that huge hole. Maybe we should take them and throw them in the trash." She lets out a huge laugh, which Dana didn't understand, staring at her looking quite oblivious. Diane slapped Dana on the head, "We steal her pants and leave her here in her underwear so people can laugh at her, idiot!"





"Oh!" Dana spouts with newfound knowledge. "Perfect sis! That's hilarious."





Sadie was shaking, starting to cry. They are bluffing, she thought. They couldn't possibly want to do that, could they?





Dana reached for Sadie's waist, but Sadie pushed Dana back. Diane quickly shoved Sadie straight into the wall with a bang and grabbed her belt, starting to undo it. Sadie tried to wrestle free, but Dana grabbed both her arms, holding them behind her back. She tried to writhe free of Dana's grip, but couldn't escape. They're actually going to do it. How can this be happening?! She was crying openly now, and was angry and terrified at the same time as she struggled against the two girls, but she was no match.





She felt the last of her belt slipping free from her beltloops. Both girls howled with laughter. This was it. She closed her eyes, tears streaming down her face, ready for the worst.





And then, just as Diane gave a tug at Sadie's pants, something happened. Diane stopped, frozen on the spot. Dana still held Sadie tightly, but there was no movement coming from Diane at all. Diane let out a nasty cough of shock, and Sadie heard her now removed belt clack against the tiled floor. She heard Diane gasp in shock and almost horror, and Dana let go of Sadie's arms. Instinctively, eyes still closed, Sadie ran straight back to the nearest wall, pressing her back to it. There was some sort of ominous silence in the room except for the frightful hiccuping gasps Diane was making.





Sadie slowly opened her eyes, peering through tears.





Diane had her back against a stall directly opposite of where Sadie was, Dana looking at Diane in horror. And ghastly it was indeed. Very slowly, to Sadie's complete disbelief, Diane's hair was growing. It was almost hard to notice as the tips of her hair, which originally almost ran to her shoulders, slowly began to extend. But in seconds, her hair had grown past her shoulder, and seconds more to her chest. It was lengthening in back and front, and in moments her face was covered entirely.





Diane began flailing around in complete shock, accidentally slapping Dana in the the face and knocking her to the floor. Diane walked around like a zombie, completely blind, and in her confusion, slipped on Sadie's belt and fell on her back to the floor.





"What's going on?" Diane demanded, attempting to get up with her ever-growing hair. Sadie didn't need to see anymore, she grabbed her belt from the floor, struggling to put it back on as she pushed her way straight out of the restroom.





She was still crying as she reentered the main room, attracting attention from bystanders, but she didn't care. She ran straight back to her seats to tell her dad, he would listen and believe her. As she came to her aisle of seats, the people sitting in her way saw her distress and made it easier for her to pass. Sadie's father stood up and looked worried, while her mom stood as well looking annoyed.





"What's wrong honey?" her father asked concerned.





"Diane and Dana were messing with me in the restroom!" she yelled, choking back tears.





"Sadie Murray, how dare you rip your pants like that!" her mother yells angrily, "And do you have any idea that your sister is about to go on?"





Sadie didn't listen, speaking to her father again, "They were pushing me around and trying to hurt me."





"Preposterous!" Aunt Glenda shouted, "My daughters would never do such a thing!"





"Glenda, please, be quiet," Sadie's father defended.





"Are you suggesting that your daughter is telling the truth?"





"Maybe she is," he continued. "I just don't think you should make such brash accusations."





Sadie's mother had been fuming silently until now, "I don't want to hear anything of this!" she yelled at Sadie's father.





Sadie's father attempted to say something, "Honey, I..."





"Don't 'honey, I,' to me James. You can't defend Sadie when she lies."





"I'm not lying! They were trying to hurt me!"





"Be quiet!"





Suddenly, the room tensed. Sadie spun around to see Jayne poised for her stunt on the balance beam, still looking nervous. Sadie still had tears pouring down her face, and was still furious at what her aunt and mother had just said. She wanted to pray that Jayne was able to perform perfectly, but her thoughts were colliding with one another. She was distressed, furious, and terrified all at once. She couldn't think.





Jayne moved, instantly launching into a incredible, death defying series of flips down the balance beam. The whole room looked in awe. Jayne came out of a flip on her feet, and went into an unbelievable backflip, soaring high into the air above the beam.





Sadie had only barely blinked her eyes, and the world seemed to stop dead still. For an inconceivably short second, nobody moved, nobody breathed, and Jayne hung mid-backflip in the air. And somewhere in that mere second, with a nearly inaudible popping noise that one may have thought was bubblegum, the balance beam was no longer there.





Jayne missed her landing, over-spinning in her flip, and hit the floor squarely on her rear with a loud thud. And in the time it took Sadie to blink and register what she had just seen in her mind, the balance beam was back where it originally had been.





Sadie thought she must have been losing her mind. She could almost swear that the balance beam had just vanished out of thin air. She was worried she was going crazy.





But in the next few seconds, the whole audience registered. The crowd gave a startling gasp. But this gasp was for the realization that Jayne had just missed her jump; half a second later, the crowd gasped again flabbergasted. The room held its breath, fearing that if they exhaled, something equally strange would happen. Many people rubbed their eyes in disbelief, not entirely sure they had seen exactly what had happened





Jayne sat on the floor, holding her bottom in pain, completely confused. The judges at the table were staring with their mouths hanging wide open. Sadie's family was dumbfounded, exchanging looks between each other and Jayne. Sadie's mother was staring and crying. And the fat head of hair that had recently walked up from the restrooms was asking everyone what had just happened.














"Honorable mention! Foolish judges, Jane," Glenda spouted, a large piece of lettuce in her mouth, "To say that Jayne missed her jump! Absurd! It was clear this was some sort of conspiracy, Jane. Oh!" with a sudden epiphany, "Someone played a trick with the lights! It was clear that something happened then. Everyone saw what happened!"








Tensions had calmed somewhat after the unbelievable events at the gymnastics performance. The car ride to the fancy restaurant that Aunt Glenda had picked out was unbearable. Nobody spoke a single word. But after Aunt Glenda suggested Jayne's failure was an accident, or a conspiracy theory, the mood lightened. Aunt Glenda was preaching to the entire table about her theories, while Sadie's mother agreed with it all, and listed people who might be to blame.





Sadie's father had been attempting to comfort Jayne, but he had since given up. Jayne hadn't ceased crying since she had fallen, even when she went up to the stage to receive her badge for honorable mention. She was now dressed in a pretty black dinner dress, but was bawling into napkins, which were ending up in the plate of cordon bleu that she refused to eat. Dana and Leah were both making braids out of Diane's hair which stretched down her chair and to the floor. To keep the hair out of her eyes, they tied off all her new bangs into a pony tail, which they directed to the back of her head. Diane looked stunned, almost petrified by the experience, and refused to look at Sadie.





The fact that Jayne had fallen and lost had completely pushed Diane's hair growth problem, and Sadie's accusations of being bullied, completely aside. Both her mother and Aunt Glenda had almost seemed to have forgotten with all the commotion. When the other guests at the table asked about Diane's hair, Aunt Glenda answered for Diane, "Hormones! I tell you, they put them in all of our food these days! Dreadful, I knew something tasted funny in that sheep the other day. You know they'll be having a lawsuit from me in short order!"





Sadie had mixed feelings. She felt horrible for Jayne, and tried to console her in the car, but Jayne kept crying and ignored her. But besides Jayne's loss, Sadie had never been happier. She had no idea what happened to Diane, but did know it was the most hilarious thing she had seen in her life. Diane would never threaten her like that again, and Dana was almost thankful for what Sadie had done now that she was having so much fun.





Sadie's father looked across the table at her, obviously stressed, but forced a smile. Sadie motioned with her eyes at Diane, who had attempted to shift in her chair, only to learn that her hair was under one of the chair legs, and pulled it with a yelp. Her father couldn't help but laugh, and Sadie beamed before laughing with him.





"How's your cut?" he asked.





"Much better, it barely hurts. But I think some blood might have gotten on my pants."





"Lucky you picked black, eh? Won't have to worry about a nasty red stain," he kidded. "I tell you what, run off to the restroom and wash the cut again to keep it clean. I'll let your mother know if she asks."





Sadie was glad to get away from the boring table. She had finished dinner nearly half an hour ago, and she thought she could do with a stretch. She went across the restaurant into the restrooms. They were very luxurious, as far as restrooms were concerned. She did her business, washed her hands, face, and dabbed the cut with a wet paper cloth before leaving.





Along the way back to the table, she stopped to watch a jazz band that was playing an upbeat tune for the people who were eating. They were really into their music, having lots of fun, especially the saxophonist, who had just entered a solo and was moving his whole body to the beat and the notes that he played. She really wanted to draw them, and decided that she would later before she went to bed.





Sadie returned to the table while Aunt Glenda was being particularly boisterous, insisting the waiter pour a significantly larger amount of wine into her glass, "Don't be afraid, darling! More, more; I'll need more after tonight," she says, motioning to Diane, which issues several absent minded laughs.





She continued on her previous train of thought once the waiter poured a ample supply of wine, "Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, Jane, I mean, you can't always hope for everything to be perfect. It's just not natural for someone to have the best of everything. And you have two wonderful daughters, who are so talented and so beautiful. It's only natural to have a runt in the family."





Sadie's mood dropped from her and hit the ground like glass, shattering in all directions. A runt?! Sadie's dad coughed uncomfortably, but nothing could stop Aunt Glenda now.





"But honestly, Jane," continued Aunt Glenda unabated, "You couldn't be more proud of what you've been given. Jayne is a beautiful young lady, and the most talented young gymnast I've seen in years - there, there darling," she says as Jayne stops crying momentarily, "And Leah is absolutely beautiful, and a darling little girl, and oh so talented for her age. Things like Sadie just happen."





Some people who hadn't really been listening Aunt Glenda's rant laughed again absent minded, but the remainder of the table shifted their gaze to Sadie. She had pushed her chair back very noisily on the hardwood floor, standing up aghast at what she just heard.





"Things like me just happen?" she demanded angrily.





"Glenda, please..." Sadie's father said defensively, "Let's just change the topic."





"You know, James, you can't always go around ignoring the issues like this. Lying, trouble making, poor performance in school, no notable talents..." Sadie's father attempted to argue what Aunt Glenda was saying, but she continued before he could find the words. "You have to face the fact that Sadie here is a bit, well... sub-par."





"Shut up! You shut up!" Sadie yelled, tears swelling in her eyes once again.





"Aggression? Dear lord, this girl really is a case, Jane, my dear. You shouldn't blame yourself. Everyone makes mistakes."





"Makes mistakes?! I'm just a mistake?!" Sadie was so angry and so devastated that she could no longer think straight.





"Of course, my dear. I mean it's some... somewhat..." Aunt Glenda stuttered, shifting her gaze, "Somewhat obvious..."





Sadie was furious. This was disgusting. How could anyone, even someone as despicable as Aunt Glenda, say such vile, cruel, ruthless things?





But she soon realized people were no longer staring at her. They were staring at the middle of the table. Slowly, Sadie shifted her gaze, following the eyes of everyone else at the table. And there it was.





Originally, in the middle of the table, was a large cooked turkey that Aunt Glenda ordered but never got around to eating, sitting pristinely on a beautiful silver platter. But it was no longer on the platter, for the turkey was hovering in the air just above the table. As if on strings, the turkey flew there, completely suspended. The table shifted their view between Sadie and the turkey several times.





Sadie stared at the turkey. This wasn't like when Diane's hair started miraculously growing. It wasn't like when Jayne's balancing beam disappeared for a moment. The turkey was hanging in the air, and everybody watched. And just like that, with a small pop, it disappeared into nothingness.

The car ride home was unbearable. Sadie wasn't sure what was worse: being forced into such close quarters with her family, or the all encompassing silence that deafened the entire interior of the vehicle.

After the duel fiascoes at the gymnasium, everyone's reactions were very strange and vague. But after the events at the dinner table, their reactions were abrupt and defined. Sadie's father was driving. He had, on several occasions throughout the car ride, attempted to say something comforting to Sadie. Unfortunately, he couldn't so much as stutter without being completely lost for words, and seemed to be in a deep, dreamlike daze as he focused on driving.

Jayne was now fuming at Sadie. Before dinner, she had been upset about losing the competition, and wouldn't speak of it because she simply had no idea what had happened during her flip. Now that she had seen Sadie staring angrily at the turkey, and the turkey's abrupt disappearance immediately afterward, she blamed Sadie for tampering with the balance beam on purpose. She hadn't detailed this information out loud though. She simply said, "I hate you!" quite loudly, directly in front of Sadie's face. The disappearing turkey was quite exciting to Leah, and she begged Sadie to make the car disappear.

Sadie's mother, on the other hand, had descended so far from her usually comfortable position as a perfect, happy mother into a degree of anger that Sadie had never seen before. Her mother was seething with rage, and refused to even look in Sadie's general direction. Sadie's mother had not so much as spoken a word since the turkey vanished. Once the silence at the dinner table had lasted long enough, she simply stood from her seat, and walked to the car.

Sadie was in the middle seat in the back of the car, between her sisters. There she whimpered, forcing herself not to break down and cry, fearing that another strange phenomenon might take place once more. She had no idea what had been causing these strange events. But she had slowly begun to realize that whatever these unexplainable happenings were, they were connected to her and how erratic her emotions were at the time. She attempted to bottle everything inside herself, but she didn't think she was doing a very effective job.

When they had returned home, and Sadie's father parked in the driveway, he turned the car off, and the entire family sat there in complete silence. But after a mere moment, Jayne threw open her door, climbed out, and slammed it shut behind her. She stomped toward the front door of their house. Leah followed her sister's suit, and skipped behind her sister a few moments later. Though still bewildered, somewhat reluctantly, Sadie's father got out as well. Sadie was trying desperately not to cry when her mother turned in her chair and looked Sadie straight in the eyes. Her glare was piercing, and hurt Sadie in the same way a knife would. Her mother left the car, and attempted to gain composure as she entered the house. Sadie wanted to stay in the car for the rest of her life, but decided she could at least change out of her ripped slacks. She left the car and entered the house.

When she entered and shut the front door, she could hear her father and mother arguing in hushed voices in the kitchen, while Jayne's voice could be heard upstairs, no doubt on her phone in her room. Leah had sat down in the living room and was watching a cartoon. Sadie couldn't think straight, but nevertheless proceeded to her room, shutting the door behind her. She took off her slacks, went into the adjacent bathroom which she shared with Leah, and put a large band-aid with medicine on the cut before returning to her room to slip on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

Sadie couldn't draw her mind away from the events that had unfolded. They kept replaying in her head, as if to taunt her. She decided she could do good in drowning them out by drawing. She tried to think really hard on the jazz band she had seen earlier, trying to gain some inspiration before taking the journal out of her backpack. It seemed like so long ago when she had seen them having so much fun making music. It seemed almost irrelevant now.

But she realized she was dwelling on her problems, and it didn't matter if she had inspiration or not. If she started drawing, she could put her problems aside for a little while and not think, which is what she needed most now. But before she could even open her backpack, her door opened. Sadie's mother was crossing the threshold of the door frame, while her father hung back in the hallway. This couldn't be good.

"Sadie, we're..." her mother stuttered, clearly trying to come to terms with whatever she was about to say. "Your father and I, I mean to say... Well, we've decided that tomorrow, we're going to take you to see a doctor."

What was this about, Sadie wondered. "A doctor?"

"Yes, a doctor. A special doctor. One that can help with your problems."

"I don't have problems!" Sadie said louder than she meant to. Jayne stopped talking in the other room.

"Sadie, we have to be honest with each other; all of us, including you. You have a problem that you really need to deal with, and..."

"I said I don't have a problem!" Sadie said, tears flowing freely again. Her mother shivered with worry now that Sadie was crying again, possibly for fear of another insane phenomena taking place.

"Yes, you do," her mother said, shaking her head with newfound resolve. "We've all seen it: your father, Leah, Jayne, and I. We just haven't addressed it as appropriately as we should have, it seems." She turned away from Sadie only for a moment, and Sadie saw her mother wipe a slight tear from her eye.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Sadie demanded, feeling betrayed by her father, who merely stood and watched from the hallway. Why would he join up and agree with something so absurd? How could he just stand there by the stairs, staring at his feet, letting this happen?

"Sadie, darling," Sadie's mother said. She wasn't emphasizing any of her words, which meant she was very serious, "You are so quiet. You never talk to either me or your father."

"I talk to dad all the time! Whenever he's not at work, which is almost all the time. And all you do is criticize me every chance you get!"

"You don't get along with Jayne. She always complains that you're rude to her."

"She hates me! She picks on me all the time! Her and her friends."

"And you don't pick on poor little Leah?"

"I don't! I try to treat her nice, but she ends up acting like a little brat!" Sadie could hardly believe some of the things she was saying. She loved her family. All of this sounded like curse words to her, yet it all held truth. Her hands were in fists, quivering with anger.

"LISTEN TO ME!" her mother nearly screamed. The force of her yell pushed both Sadie and her father, who was still in the hallway, backwards. Sadie bumped into her nightstand, knocking over several markers and pencils, and her father had to grab the railing of the stairs to ensure he didn't collapse down the staircase. "You have been bottling up all of the problems that you cause with your sisters, as well as your poor performance in school, and the..." she stuttered, " the avalanche of your inadequacies... for much too long. And now your bursting at the seams with uncontrollable... well, uncontrollable something! You will be going to stay with some doctors for the next few weeks at a special hospital where they'll fix this problem."

"I said I don't have a problem!" Sadie yelled.

"This decision is final, and I will not be talked out of it by my own child. I expect you to be up by seven tomorrow morning. We will be leaving then. Pack your travel bag with clothes. Goodnight." Her mother quickly retreated, clearly crying under her breath, and sought refuge in her own bedroom. Sadie's father stood frozen in place with a hopeless expression on his face. In Sadie's anger, she strode toward him, took her door, and slammed it shut with all the force she could muster. The bang of the door sounded like a canon.

This is intolerable, she thought. Sending me to a doctor? Sure, maybe everything that happened today was weird, but those were terrible accusations. I can't just stand around idly after what I heard, right? I have to do something... right?

Sadie decided that she wouldn't stay idly, waiting for the morning when she would be taken to some doctor. She ran to her closet, pulled out a couple shirts and pants, stuffed them into her backpack, and slung it around her shoulder. She went straight to her window; she was going to leave. She climbed out of the window and swung herself onto the lattice, hardly giving it a second thought. Slowly, she made her way down to the ground, where she took off running.

She ran for a good four blocks in the warm summer night before slowing down to a walk. The air was pleasant with a breeze that rustled through her hair and the darkened trees. All the houses around her flickered with their porch lights on, people watching TV within their living rooms.

Sadie continued for several more blocks until she came to the local playground in her neighborhood. She didn't know what she was doing, or where she was going, but wherever it was, it was better than waiting in that house to be shipped off to some hospital like a package. The playground had one large play area, with a swing-set several feet away that was disconnected from the main structure. There was only one light, which only half illuminated the entire playground.

This was one of Sadie's most favorite places to be when she wanted to leave the house. She usually would come here in the daytime when Jayne and her friends would pester her, and would watch children play while would drawing them from the swings. But she had never been here by nighttime. She sat down on a swing, holding her bag to her chest. She was still crying, and it made her feel embarrassed, even though nobody was around to watch. But she couldn't stop, no matter how hard she willed to. How could her mother say such cruel things? And how could her father just stand back helplessly?

Sadie sat and cried on the swing for a little while. She wasn't sure how long she had been there, and without a watch, she lost track of time. She could tell it was getting much later though, as many of the houses that she could see were turning out their lights. Her crying had calmed, and she started to pull out some kleenex from her bag.

At that moment she had the strangest sensation that she was being watched. Somehow, in the mere moment she looked down into her bag, a figure had appeared before her. It scared her so much that she yelped, dropped her bag entirely, and fell backwards off the swing. She landed on the ground, flat on her back. As quick as she could, she scrambled up hastily, trying to put distance between her and the figure, which remained in the shadows cast by the light of the playground.

"Oh dear, I'm sorry to have startled you," said the intimidating shadowy person. But the person spoke in a very friendly tone.

"Who are you?" Sadie said, but she need not to have asked, because she knew by the voice. Out of the shadows came the nice, humble woman to match the voice. It was Ms. Yates, the odd lady from down the street, no doubt on one of her strange walks. She was dressed in a different dress than the one she wore this morning, now colored blue, pink, and purple.

"Just me, my dear, Patsy Yates." Though they had never had a one-on-one conversation alone before, Sadie had known who Ms. Yates was for her whole life. Ms. Yates and Sadie's parents had known each other since Sadie's parents had moved into Trail Lake. Her mother had always thought Ms. Yates was very odd, and at one point, had a strong obsession in trying to better understand Ms. Yates' quirky habits and utter, unexplainable uniqueness, to no avail.

"And you're the Murray's daughter, yes? Sadie Murray, I believe?" Ms. Yates said.

Sadie was almost shocked someone actually knew who she was. "Yes, it's me," Sadie replied.

"Which brings me to the question, why is a young girl like yourself sitting around in a dark playground at this hour?"

Sadie didn't want to answer the question truthfully. How could she bring herself to tell one of her neighbors that she had just ran away from home? But she couldn't very well hide the tears that were reforming in her eyes.

"Oh my, bad night then?" asked Ms. Yates, as if she had read Sadie's mind. "Have you left your home for the night?"

Sadie gave her a questioning look. How could Ms. Yates possibly know that she had ran away? Had her parents seen old woman, and sent Ms. Yates to fetch her?

"Well don't look at me like that," Ms. Yates said, chuckling as if she had been told a joke, "It isn't like there are many reasons for an eleven year old girl to be sitting in a park, crying, now are there?"

Sadie couldn't help but to laugh, wiping the tears from her eyes. "True," she replied. If her parents had seen Ms. Yates and told her, no doubt her mother would have asked Ms. Yates to promptly drag Sadie home by the ear.

"Well now, the next question is, do you have anywhere to go?" asked Ms. Yates.

"No, nowhere."

"That will never do. I'll make you a deal. If you help do some cleaning with me around my house, I'll let you stay over."

This was a strange offer. Ms. Yates and Sadie hardly knew each other on a personal basis, and she was willing to offer her room in her house? It was also somewhat intimidating. She didn't believe Ms. Yates would harm her, but who knew what weird things happened behind that front door when no other guests were around?

But seeing as she had nowhere else to go, Sadie said, "Okay, deal." She wiped the last remaining tears from her eyes and smiled.

"Wonderful!" Ms. Yates said excitedly. When did Ms. Yates pick up my backpack and put it on the swing? Sadie thought, as Ms. Yates handed the bag to her. Maybe I just didn't notice. "Now, I must mention, before we go," Ms. Yates continued, "That tonight, some of my family members are dropping by, as they always do, to stay a for several days during the summer."

"Oh no! I'm really sorry, Ms. Yates. I don't want to be in the way. I can just... find somewhere else to stay."

"Nonsense dear, we've already made our deal. Besides, my son has a daughter who turned eleven just last week, as well as a young boy who is only a few years older. It'll be like a big slumber party," Ms. Yates said, apparently relishing the thought of a slumber party. "We just have to clean the house quickly. I took my walk tonight somewhat later than usual, and they will be here promptly at 9:30, so we'll need the house ship shape by then."

They ambled down the roads, bathed in streetlights, until they returned once again to Mayflower Drive, and crossed the garden of Ms. Yates door, into her house, which was unlocked.

The house looked as familiar as it ever did to Sadie. The walls in Ms. Yates house were always painted over in different colors for every visitor that entered. People from the neighborhood thought it was some sort of long running prank that Ms. Yates was playing. The walls, at present, were a delightful daisy yellow. There were, for no readily apparent reason, towels littered about the floor, almost like a carpet. Finally, all the furniture in Ms. Yates' house was covered in a strange plastic that seemed very much like seran wrap.

"Alright, let's see," Ms. Yates said, thinking aloud, "Please go turn on the oven for me, I'll tidy up in here."

"You sure you wouldn't rather me help in here first?" Sadie asked, looking at all the towels. It would probably take quite a while to gather them up.

"No, no, I always have something for my family to eat when they get here. Oven first, I'll take care of this."

Sadie did as she was told, entered the kitchen, and turned the oven on with a beep. From the living room, she heard a loud fwooping sound, followed quickly the sound water makes when it goes down the drain. Completely bewildered, she returned to the living room to find that all the towels were now in a neat pile on the couch and most of the seran wrap in a pile on the floor, Ms. Yates removing the last of plastic from a grandfather clock. "If you don't mind putting this in the trash bin now."

Sadie returned to the kitchen and dumped the seran wrap in the trash bin. When she returned to the living room, Ms. Yates was re-arranging books that were on the shelf. Then, Sadie heard a loud, clunking, metal sound outside. "That would be them," Ms. Yates said.

Sadie looked out the front windows to see Ms. Yates' family arrive. But before she could register had what happened, a white Ford Fiesta came to a sudden halt in front of the house, screeching its tires. She had not even seen the car enter her field of vision. It was as if it appeared almost out of thin air. She figured she was very tired. I must be hallucinating, she thought, and decided not to mention it.

Sadie could see Ms. Yates' family approaching the house, and in moments the door burst open, and a boy came through the door. He had short, light brown hair and light freckles across his nose. He had to be around 15 years old. "Hey Grand... ma," he said, stuttering halfway through his sentence as he saw Sadie standing in the living room. He looked between his grandmother and his family, who were just now entered through the door, and was staring almost worriedly at Sadie, as if she were a wild animal that was libel to attack.

"Hello everyone, come in, come in," Ms. Yates said, ushering everyone into the room, as they all staring in the same manner. "I'd like to introduce you all to Ms. Sadie Murray. She lives just down the street with one of my neighbors. She has had a bad night, so I offered to let her stay over for a couple days."

There were four people in total, a mother and father, and their son and daughter. The father had light brown hair like the boy. He had a charming face, though he looked confused at the moment, and was quite tall. He was dressed in a white button up shirt with a tie that wasn't tied correctly, some slacks with the belt on backwards, as well as some dress shoes and two different colored pairs of socks, neither black. The woman, his wife, who also had light brown hair and beautiful green eyes, was somewhat plump, and looked absolutely delighted at the site of Sadie. The young girl was about Sadie's age, and had the same family oriented light brown hair, though significantly less freckles than her brother. She was about the same height, and seemed as if she wanted to ask a question, but couldn't find the words. She stood somewhat behind her mother with the same look as her father.

"You..." the father said, searching for words, "I - well - um - well, hello there, Sadie." The man somewhat awkwardly stepped toward Sadie and shook her hand.

"Sadie," Ms. Yates introduced, "this is my son, Daniel. This is his wife Lindsay, and their son and daughter, Tristan and Kelsey."

"Nice to meet you, Sadie," Lindsay Yates said, also shaking Sadie's hand, though much more confidently than her husband. Tristan nodded and Kelsey waved somewhat bashfully.

"Mother, could I speak with you real quick?" Daniel Yates said, eying Sadie warily, "In the kitchen?"

"Why of course," Ms. Yates said as they departed into the next room. Sadie felt awkward, for a silence gripped the room. The brother and sister exchanged looks of curiosity and confusion while their mother seemed to take Sadie in. "Well lets not make a mockery of all this furniture. Sit down all," Mrs. Yates said jovially. "Oh, Tristan, if you don't mind, could you begin unloading the the autoveekle?" Sadie thought she meant autovehicle, but wasn't sure why someone as old as Mrs. Yates could not pronounce the word. Tristan nodded and left the room while Lindsay Yates sat down merrily on the couch, motioning for her daughter to sit down as well.

"So you live nearby then, Sadie?" Mrs. Yates asked, as she continued to inspect Sadie.

"Yes, just down the street. Well, sort of." Do I technically still live in my house now that I ran away? she thought. Another silence gripped the room uncomfortably, though Sadie could hear Mr. Yates talking in a low mumble to his mother in the next room. She tried to listen.

"...Mnd I dom think mts mright to imite a Muggle omer mow."

Ms. Yates spoke much louder than her son did, "It won't be any trouble, I assure you Daniel. You mustn't worry yourself."

Now Mr. Yates spoke so quietly he was completely inaudible. But Ms. Yates replied as loudly as ever, "I promise, son, not more than a few days. Please, she has nowhere to go right now."

Mr. Yates mumbled something further before they returned to the room. "I'm sorry I didn't have anything ready. The house looks dreadful," Ms. Yates said, following Mr. Yates into the room. Sadie glanced around, and thought the house looked exponentially clean, especially considering several minutes ago it had been littered with towels and plastic. "But," continued Ms. Yates, "I'll fix the bedrooms right up for you, and there are some cookies that will be done very soon," she said to a happy reply from everyone in the room except Mr. Yates, who seemed to be thinking difficultly about something.

"Did I hear grandma say cookies?" said Tristan, who returned lugging several bags, one of which was a terribly large trunk. He stumbled along as he went before his father went to help him.

"Yes," replied his mother, "But only a few tonight. It's late, we need to get to bed soon."

"Why mom? It's summer! We could use some time to relax before school starts."

"Speak for yourself," said Kelsey, "You've been going for five years already. This is my first year in school. The end of summer can't come soon enough!"

Sadie thought this was a weird comment. Kelsey must have been her age, yet she had never been to school? And her brother had been there only five years? Logically speaking, Tristan should be in high school, no doubt with a crush on Jayne. The comment phased no one else, as Tristan continued, "Yeah, you're excited now. It wears off in three weeks once the homework really gets piled on."

"Oh, don't listen to this silly boy," their father said, ruffling Tristan's already untidy hair, "The professors aren't that tough there. School should be simple."

"Like Kelsey said, 'speak for yourself.' You didn't have to deal with Professor Wynter in your days at school. Let me tell you, he's no walk in the park."

"Was that the teacher that gave you the A?" asked his mother.

"Yes, and I barely scraped by with one too. If I did any worse, I would have gotten a B." Sadie thought that Tristan was either a workaholic, or just very strange, though she couldn't decide which. Sadie almost always made B's in her classes and was content with such, because it was a good average and better than a C.

"Oh, I met him," said his mother, "Out on the avenue in Old York, in one of the shops. Definitely not the most friendly person I've met."

Mr. Yates resumed his part of the discussion, "But I'll have you know that Professor Wynter isn't the only bad professor in the world. Every school has one, and you just have to learn to deal with them."

"Whatever you say, Dad," replied Tristan, "But I swear that you'll be complaining right after school starts, Kelsey."

"I won't!" the young girl said defensively and with vigor. "I'll love it more than you can imagine! It'll be great, and I'll be able to meet a lot of new people. You're just nervous because you have to take your aunts this year." Sadie raised her eyebrows in curiosity, but didn't question the strange terminology; she was too busy trying to deduce exactly what sort of school they were talking about.

"As he should be," their grandmother said. She had left the room while they were in conversation and had fetched the tea, giving everyone, including Sadie, a cup. "Aunts are no pushover."

"I'll do fine. Wynter's class is the only one I'll have to worry about. That and maybe Professor Millan's class. But I should be all set for the others. I'm glad I tried studying with the all of those Noctowls I met last year."

"All of those what?" Sadie asked. She could hardly believe she said the question aloud, but she just couldn't contain her curiosity. The whole room seemed to suddenly be allergic to something, and everyone coughed several times.

Tristan and his father quickly shuffled up the stairs, taking their luggage with them. Ms. Yates replied first, "Just a silly group of friends Tristan knows. They named themselves that, for who knows what reason." She gave a big smile.

Sadie nodded. Now she felt like she could be part of the conversation, having one question answered successfully, and decided to ask another. "And what school were you talking about?"

Again, Kelsey seemed as if she were about to answer, but refrained from saying anything. Her mother spoke instead, "Oh, why it is the Salem... School... of Boys and Girls! Yes, that's it. I don't suppose you've ever heard of it though."

"No, I haven't. Is it small?"

"Not really small," Kelsey replied, "But not - um - very well known."

"Yes, that's right," her mother continued, "It's a boarding school for children in Massachusetts."

"Wow, I've never known anyone who goes to a boarding school," Sadie said, "It must be interesting."

"It is interesting," said Tristan, who returned to the room, speaking much more confidently than before, "But it's more because of the subjects than the fact that it's a boarding school." For some reason his father, who was right behind him, shushed him after he said this.

"They teach special skills for the children," their mother assured. "It's a private education, and it's very useful."

"That's amazing," Sadie said, trying to imagine what it would be like to live at a school far away from home and her stupid family.

"Yes, yes. And you go to a Mug - I mean, regular school?" their mother asked, suddenly coughing again.

A mug? How strange to ask about a cup instead of a school. "Yeah, just a public school. Nothing really special."

"That's perfect!" yelled Tristan louder than he probably intended to. "Would it be alright if I asked you some questions about your school?"

"Now Tristan..." his father warned, implying something that Sadie wasn't picking up on. But Tristan had already grabbed a piece of paper and pencil from a table and sat in front of Sadie, "It's homework dad! This is a huge opportunity, and I could get a great aunt in my Mug - I mean, my class."

Now Tristan said mug! They must have some odd fascination with cups, Sadie thought. "Oh... alright," Tristan's father said, almost disapprovingly, "But be careful will you?"

"What did you want to ask?" Sadie queried.

"I wanted to ask you some questions about what your school and life is like. It's for my Mug..." he stopped mid-sentence again when his dad coughed, "My social studies class, I mean. We're supposed to find out stuff about people who don't go to a special school like mine. Would it be alright if I asked you some qusetions about it?"

This was almost thrilling to Sadie. She never normally received this much attention from anyone. "Sure, I'll tell you some." Ms. Yates sat down in a chair, and sipped her tea, while Mrs. Lindsay Yates leaned closer to Sadie. Sadie even heard Kelsey mumble "This will be cool," under her breath. Sadie surely didn't know what was so interesting about herself, but she wasn't about to complain.

Tristan launched into a long series of questions, and scribbled down as much of Sadie's answers as he could. But he apparently had so many questions that he would often stop Sadie short to ask new questions, his mother pushing him whenever he interrupted Sadie. But Sadie was happy to tell. She told all about the kids in her school, and the classes she took, as well as how things were living with her family. Sometimes, Tristan would ask weird questions, like, "What is a microwave, honestly?" or "I've heard of these things called 'compact discs.' Can you tell me more about them?" and of course, "Have you ever heard of something called a dish washer? Maybe I'm saying that wrong..." which made Sadie burst out in laughter.

The whole family listened to Sadie's answers with great enthusiasm, and for some reason, made ooh and ahh noises to very simple answers. But before long, Sadie had begun to yawn every other minute. "Wow, look at the time," Mrs. Yates finally said, looking at the grandfather clock. "You children need to get to bed."

"But mom! We were just getting started!" Tristan whined, even though it had been well over an hour.

"Well, like your grandmother said, Sadie's going to be staying here for a few days. I'm sure she wouldn't mind you asking her some questions once in awhile in that time. But now it's time to sleep."

"Unfortunately," Ms. Yates said to Kelsey, "seeing as your father and mother will be in their usual room, and if I remember correctly, it's Tristan's turn to get the spare bedroom, you may have to find room to share here with Sadie. Unless Tristan is willing to share of course."

"I don't want to share a room with a boy, Grandma!" Kelsey replied, "Besides, I think I'd rather be in here with Sadie." This made Sadie blush; someone actually wanted to be with her, over their own brother no less. "If that's alright, of course?" Kelsey asked her.

"More than alright!" Sadie exclaimed.

"Wonderful!" Ms. Yates said with equal enthusiasm, "Daniel, dear, there's a large folding mattress in the closet in my bedroom. If you could lay that out on the floor here for them, that would be perfect."

While everyone got prepared for bed, Ms. Yates showed Sadie around the house, particularly where everything was upstairs. By the time they had returned, Mr. Yates had already cleared all the furniture and laid out the mattress. Sadie thought he had done this quite fast, but figured she was just tired and was losing track of time.

Then, the lights in the house went out and everyone retreated to their beds. The house was silent except for the slow tick of the grandfather clock. Sadie and Kelsey whispered to each other so they wouldn't wake the others while they shared the folding bed. They talked for what seemed like hours. Kelsey told more about herself since she had already heard so much about Sadie. Sadie learned that Kelsey was a little like herself, for Kelsey didn't have many friends either since she had not yet begun attending her strange boarding school.

As time passed by, they both were laughing giddily because of how tired they were. They decided it was reluctantly time to go to bed. Saying goodnight to each other, they closed their eyes and became silent. Sadie thought, just before she slipped off into sleep, about how happy she was. She had almost forgotten the events that took place that day. She didn't need to worry about turkeys, nor balance beams, nor angry mothers. No evil doctors or crying sisters. She had met people who actually cared about what she did and had to say. It felt like heaven.



The next morning, everyone except for Sadie and Kelsey awoke early. In fact, the girls probably would have slept much later, had a small black kitten not dived directly atop the mattress, landing on both of them, and waking them both with startled screams. "It's my cat, Gatsby," Kelsey later explained. "He always goes crazy in the mornings."

Kelsey's family and Sadie then had a wonderful breakfast. As Sadie thought about things, she realized there was nothing particularly astounding about the food at the breakfast. It was the fact that they all sat around the dining room table to eat it. Everyone talked, told jokes, and laughed together. Sadie's family rarely ate together. The only reason they had the previous day was in celebration of Jayne's competition that day. Eating together with the Yates was a refreshing change.

Throughout the day, Kelsey and Sadie relaxed, and Sadie had never been happier doing so. They had to dodge Tristan, who was constantly spitting out all sorts of odd questions at Sadie. When Sadie admitted that she enjoyed drawing, Kelsey asked Sadie to draw her, to which she gladly obliged. It was convenient for Tristan as well, since he could ask Sadie as many questions as he needed to while she drew. She drew it as well as she could, and when she finished, showed the drawing to Kelsey. "Wow, Sadie! It looks just like me! And it's weird how it stays still." Sadie didn't understand Kelsey's statement, but she had learned that the Yates were just a bit strange. They simply had an interesting way of talking, and she took no notice.

The Yates also had a lot of weird words which they threw in randomly during conversation. Sadie overheard Lindsay Yates mention that a "knarl" was wrecking her neighbors garden. On another occasion, when Daniel Yates was helping his mother prepare food for lunch, he asked if she had any "jerryberry" handy. Finally, the oddest word was when Sadie learned Kelsey had never played soccer. She asked if they had a soccer ball anywhere, and Kelsey redirected the question to Tristan.

"The only ball I have is an empty quod, and I..." after saying this, he became very frightened for a moment, and then explained, "The ball is empty - you wouldn't be able to use it. Don't ask me." He hurried away immediately afterward. Kelsey said she didn't know what he was talking was about, so what a quod was remained lost with Tristan.

They ended up spending the rest of the evening indoors, as Kelsey asked Sadie to draw anything she could find that was interesting, whether it was just a lamp, or her parents in the kitchen. Sadie never had received this much attention at once, especially focused on her drawing, and she was invigorated. What was more, nobody in the family ever touched the TV that sat in the living room throughout the entire night. In Sadie's family, her sisters always crowded around the TV and watched endless shows as they came on. Sometimes they didn't even watch the show; they would just sit there as if in a trance. Whenever the Yates had nothing to do, they would either read, clean, or talk; talking was the most frequently chosen option. And though Sadie and Kelsey sat around the house as Sadie drew, the time flew by. In no time, it was already as late as the night before, and they went to bed.

The next day was as joyful as the last. Mr. Yates, who had seemed somewhat uncomfortable with Sadie when they first arrived, was now speaking with her all the time about ordinary things. "I just really don't understand anything about these lightbulbs. They're a complete mystery to me." It took all the effort Sadie could muster not to laugh at the odd combintions of clothes Mr. Yates wore. Today, he was dressed in a Hawaiian shirt and overalls, which were on backwards, though he took no notice.

After lunch, Sadie took Kelsey to the playground, and then around the neighborhood, where they began to explore. They would peer into backyards, and Kelsey would sometimes ask what something like the water mattress in some person's swimming pool was for, or why all the houses had ears. "They're not ears!" Sadie explained, "They're satellite dishes, and they pick up channels on TV. Though your family doesn't watch much TV, so it makes sense you wouldn't know."

After yet another long day, the family had dinner, and another wonderfully long talk with each other, and went to bed. As Sadie and Kelsey laid on their mattress in the living room, playing with Gatsby, Sadie said, "This has been great. The last two days have been the best of my life."

"I know!" Kelsey whispered, "I never do anything really interesting. It's worse in the summer, cause Tristan is around and bugging me all the time. But this year has been so different. I've barely been able to keep myself from going crazy knowing that I finally get to go to school."

"It sounds like it's going to be a really great place. And you get to go somewhere away from your family, to a place with lots of people your age where you can have fun. That's exciting! Not that you need to leave your family. They're so much fun."

"Thanks. My family's alright. I guess spend so much time around them I don't notice anymore."

"They're a huge difference from my family. My family... well, they almost act as if they don't care about me."

"What do you mean?" Kelsey asked, sitting up.

"Well, they just treat me bad. I mean, not real bad. My dad is great, but he's always working, and I don't get to see him as often as I'd like. My mom's just real mean though. I mean, they take care of me and stuff... But my sisters both pick on me all the time, and my mother is always arguing about something. And when they aren't doing that, they just ignore me. Sometimes I feel like I'm invisible, and that they don't care about me at all."

"They care," Kelsey said confidently. "You can't tell, and they don't show it, but they care. My dad said this to me once, 'Those who love you, who really truly love you, will do anything for you if they know they have to.' I bet you anything that if something really bad happened, they'd do something about it."

Sadie thought about what Kelsey had just said. The whole time they spent outside today, not once did she see anyone looking for her. She ran away from home - why weren't they out searching for her? "But I ran away. Isn't that bad enough?"

"Maybe not. Maybe they need a bigger kick than that to get going. You never said why you ran away, by the way. Why did you?"

Sadie didn't know what to say. How would she tell her new friend that two days before, she had somehow managed to make a turkey float in the air, and then disappear out of sight? How would she explain that after her cousin tried to play a prank on her, that somehow, she was responsible for making her cousin's hair grow out of control? How could Sadie even start to tell how she ruined her sister's gymnastics performance by making the balancing beam disappear?

"Some weird things happened that night... That's all."

"Well, tell me about them. I can handle weird things, Sadie, and I'm curious."

"No, it's really stupid. You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

To this, Kelsey sat straight up and pulled Sadie into a sitting position too. Kelsey looked at Sadie with a kind smile, and Sadie could tell that Kelsey was being honest, without being demanding. "Honestly, I want to know. What happened?"

"Well... Okay..." Sadie decided that if anyone would understand, it would be Kelsey. She told the whole story, from beginning to end. As she expected though, from the moment she mentioned her cousin's hair growing, Kelsey's eyes popped out, and she kept saying "No way!" under her breath at every impossible thing that happened.

"And so I was standing there, mad at my aunt, crying in front of everybody, and the turkey lifted off the table all by itself. And it just... floated there for a minute, and then completely disappeared. Then my mom said later that she was going to send me some place where some doctors would 'fix my problem.' And I ran away. See, I know it's stupid. You don't believe me."

Kelsey sat there staring in disbelief. Sadie knew this would happen from the beginning. She probably freaked Kelsey out now; Kelsey probably wanted to run away from her and tell everyone in the house how crazy Sadie was.

"Sadie..." Kelsey said slowly. "I - well - I haven't exactly been honest with you."

"I know, it's weird... I..." Sadie mumbled, trying to hide her embarrassment. But Kelsey stopped her short.

"No, listen," Kelsey interrupted. "Watch."

The moonlight was streaming into the room as Kelsey stood up and walked across the room to her traveling bag. She dug in it for a moment, and returned with a strange looking cylinder piece of wood.

"What's..." Sadie started to ask, but Kelsey shushed her. Kelsey turned on the lamp. Looking around, Kelsey took a plastic cup that someone had been drinking out of earlier, and placed it in the middle of the glass coffee table which had been moved to make room for the bed they slept on. Sadie tried to ask another question, but was shushed quickly.

Kelsey pointed the stick at the cup and seemed to be concentrating very hard. Then, she waved her stick like a conductor's baton, first down, then in a small circle, and back down again, while she said "Wingardium Leviosa."

They stared at the at the cup. Nothing happened. Sadie tried once more to ask a question, but got shushed a third time, "Hold on," Kelsey said, "I'm just not good at it. Give me a second." She concentrated again, moved her stick in the same manner, and said again, "Wingardium Leviosa."

Sadie's mouth hit the floor with shock. Slowly, subtly, the cup began shaking, as if they were in an earthquake. Then it moved slightly on the spot. Finally, with a bit of effort, as Kelsey raised her stick, the cup began to rise into the air. It floated there until Kelsey lost her concentration on the cup, and it fell back to the table on its side.

It was one in the morning now, but Sadie and Kelsey were still awake. The lamp was on and shined its light throughout the room as Sadie sat on the couch. Kelsey was sitting across from her, on the table where the cup lay, still on its side.


Sadie must have been dreaming. She could have sworn that Kelsey had made that cup float in mid-air! But that was not possible. There was no way someone could have made something float - it simply wasn't possible. But for the last hour and a half, Kelsey had been trying to explain her actions to Sadie.


"No, none of this makes sense. How is it possible?" Sadie exclaimed.


"You just have to realize I'm telling the truth, Sadie," Kelsey firmly explained. "It's magic."


"But that's just silly. Magic is in fairy tales, and books, and in the movies. It can't be... it can't be real."


"It is real, you saw it for yourself. I'm a witch, Sadie. My entire family is a wizarding family. We all have magical powers, and we can use them to cast spells."


"With that stick? That wand?" Sadie said, pointing at the strange piece of wood that Kelsey had used to force the cup to levitate, which Kelsey held in her lap. Kelsey's wand was a light brown hue and seemed to be quite thick and sturdy. It was no longer in length than a ruler, and though Sadie knew she shouldn't fear this wand, it still gave her the creeps.


"Yes, the wands let us use our magic. We're wizards, Sadie! And witches! This isn't fake; I wouldn't lie to you."


"But I just can't believe it," Sadie confessed. "How is it that I've never seen anyone with magic? If there are more of you, like you said, where are they all?"


Kelsey had told a whole story that sounded like a fairy tale in itself. She told Sadie that there were wizards all around the world, who lived among ordinary people, simply out of their eyeshot. These wizards and witches knew all sorts of magic, and could use it for anything they needed: from cooking, to cleaning, to healing illnesses, and everything in between. Wizards had apparently been around for thousands of years, but they remained hidden so they didn't terrify ordinary people with their powers. As Kelsey had explained, not everybody could use magic.


"Wizards and witches are just like us, Sadie. You didn't know we were wizards until I told you."


"I noticed you and your family were really weird, yeah."


"But you wouldn't have known I was a witch if I didn't explain it to you. Admit it, you wouldn't ever have believed me if I just said 'Oh, by the way, everyone in my family is a wizard and witch, and we can use magic,' would you have?"


Sadie thought about this seriously. Despite the quirkiness of Kelsey's family, she would never have guessed they could be wizards. Unique, yes. Strange, maybe. But magical would have been on the last of Sadie's guesses. "No... probably not. But why did you tell me? Why did you show me if it's this big secret?"


"Because you were being honest with me. And I believed you. And because you used magic, Sadie."


"But how? I'm not a wizard. Wouldn't someone have told me so I would have known all this stuff?"


"You definitely would have known if you were in a wizarding family. There's no sense in wizards hiding their powers from each other. You've got to be full-Muggle, I bet."


"Muggle? You've used that word several times now," Sadie asked as Kelsey yawned. Sadie struggled to keep up with all these strange things Kelsey told her, remembering to pinch herself to make sure she hadn't started to dream.


"People who aren't wizards, and don't normally use magic. Muggles don't know about us, and frankly, most of us wizards don't know anything about Muggles either. But, the fact is, once in awhile, a Muggle can use magic, and they can perform magical spells. You used a Vanishing Spell on the turkey, and the balancing beam, not to mention the Levitating Spell on the turkey. And I don't even know what you did to your cousin, but it was definitely something magical."


"But how though?" demanded Sadie, "I don't have a wand. I wasn't concentrating at all, and it just happened. I didn't know what I was doing - I didn't even know magic was real."


"That's normal for kids like us. You have to learn how to use magic, and it's pretty tough. Most kids our age don't know how to use it, so it just kinda comes out sometimes. Like a sixth sense almost. It's uncontrollable and second nature until you're taught how to use it. Emotions can affect your magic though, and you were really mad and sad when all those things happened."


"But why hasn't anyone told me about this?" Sadie queried, still finding all this information hard to believe.


"Because you were surrounded by Muggles. And even if you did know a wizard or witch, like my grandma, they didn't know you were magical. I was taking a huge risk showing you magic, and telling you all this, actually..."


"What do you mean? What risk?"


"I..." Kelsey started somewhat bashfully, "I could have gotten in trouble with the Administration and the ICW."

Sadie gave Kelsey a very blank expression that she felt was appropriate, which showed Kelsey needed to explain more. Kelsey took a minute to collect herself, taking a deep breath, as Sadie tapped her foot incessantly. Finally, Kelsey continued.


"Well... you see, there are magical people all over the world, and they're organized by magical governments, which do all these political things. I don't know much about them specifically, but generally they let wizards know what they can and can't do. My mom used to work for the United Sorcerer's Administration, which is in charge of things in the United States, and my dad works with them now, so what I know I've learned from them.


"But one of the big rules laid out by this group called the International Confederation of Wizards, is that we can't tell Muggles about magic, or the wizarding world."


"Then why did you tell me?" Sadie asked somewhat loudly and very accusatory. Sadie couldn't bear the thought of Kelsey getting in trouble over her.


"I don't know, I just didn't feel like I should lie to you. And you told me about how you accidentally used magic, so I knew you were a witch, without a doubt. They say it's illegal for wizards to reveal their magic to Muggles, or use it around Muggles. But Muggles can't use magic like you! You're almost in-between the law."


"But how will you know if you disobeyed it? Since I'm in-between, like you said."


"Well, I've been telling you for almost two hours now about the wizarding world, and showed you magic before that. They would have reacted by now. I remember when Tristan learned a hex when he was younger from some boy a long time ago. He used it on someone who was being mean when we were here at my grandma's house. Within ten minutes, the Administration knocked on the door and issued us this huge fine."


Sadie could not contain a quiet gasp at the thought of scary officials showing up on the doorstep. She almost turned to look out the window just in case, but contained herself. "But that's different. Hexes are dangerous spells that can hurt people. Mine was harmless, and technically, you're a witch, so it shouldn't matter. I think if it were illegal, they would have shown up by now. But this is amazing!"

"What is?" asked Sadie. This was so much information, it was hard for her to take it all in.


"You might be coming to school with me!"


"To that boarding school?"


"Yeah! Hold on, just a second." Kelsey returned to her bag of things, dug as she did previously for her wand, and this time, pulled out an envelope. Kelsey sat next to Sadie, took the letter out, and handed it to her. It was very official looking parchments, with ornate handwriting. Sadie read it in the lamplight.




The Salem Institute
of Magical Learning

________________________________________

Dean: Pravus Bojovnic


(United Sorcerer's Administration, Former Junior-Executive;
International Confed. of Wizards, US Ambassador)

________________________________________





Dear Ms. Yates,

The Salem Institute of Magical Learning is proud to welcome, Kelsey Yates, as a prospective student to our fine magical academy. If Kelsey Yates wishes to enroll and attend The Salem Institute of Magical Learning, she is required to send a reply to this letter, via owl, to The Salem Institute of Magical Learning Enrollment Office by no later than July 31. Any owl arriving after 12:00 A.M., August 1, is considered late, and enrollment is null and void to the prospective student.

The fall semester begins on September 1. All necessary materials (uniforms, books, equipment, etc.) for 1st-year students may be found in the enclosed list that accompanies this letter.

Congratulations,


Pravus Bojovnic
Dean






"The Salem Institute for Magical Learning," Sadie murmured quietly to herself. The letter seemed very official, and after all Sadie had seen tonight, she was willing to believe it was real.


"Yeah, Salem or SI for short. But imagine that! If you've been accepted, and just haven't gotten your letter yet, we'd be going together! We might even be put in the same house together." Kelsey finished, almost lost in her thoughts.


"Or you may never see each other again," said a voice at the edge of the room that made both Sadie and Kelsey's hearts jump. It was Kelsey's grandmother.


"What do you mean, Grandma?" Kelsey asked, trying to sound innocent.


"You don't have to try and hide it. I heard everything. And I knew, Sadie, that you were a witch."


Kelsey was fearful for a moment, but she instantly became confused, along with Sadie, due to this comment. "How?"


"I found Sadie on the swing set in the playground," Ms. Yates explained, coming closer to the girls. "Normally, I would have just been concerned. But I was a bit more concerned, considering the fact that the swing next to her was swinging itself around."



"But it's all true then? This isn't some sort of strange dream?" Sadie asked, searching for confirmation. She still hardly believed what she had heard, yet somehow, it all seemed to make more sense. This couldn't be some strange practical joke. Everything seemed real - everything felt real.


"It is real, Sadie, and you are a witch. I am not going to guarantee that you will be accepted to Kelsey's school, though, and I must impress upon both of you exactly how serious this situation is. Kelsey, you should not have confessed what you did to Sadie, no matter how much you trusted her, and no matter that you knew she was a Muggle-born witch."

Kelsey tried to say something, but her grandmother stopped her. "And Sadie, I must warn you. You are a witch, and you do have magical blood in you. But I must advise you to tell nobody of this, lest you face dire consequences. Understand?"


Sadie nodded.


"Also, I unfortunately can not let you stay another night."

Neither Kelsey or Sadie took this news well. They attempted to argue, but Ms. Yates stopped once more.

"I have kept you here too long, and though I dare say your stay has been enjoyable, this is not your home. Your family misses you. I have spoken with your parents and said you had been staying here for the past two nights, that you're safe, and you will return home promptly tomorrow morning."

"They don't miss me!" Sadie asserted testily. "They just want to send me to some hospital to fix my 'problems.'"

"Be that as it may, I can't force them not to. They're your parents, and their decision is what matters."

"I guess... Will I ever be able to see you all again?" she asked Kelsey.


"You would be crazy to think we wouldn't!" Kelsey replied somewhat loudly, "I come here almost every year around now and Christmas!"


"And the rest of us would be delighted to see you again," Ms. Yates said. "But, it is quite late, and we'll be needing an early start tomorrow as well, Kelsey. So I suggest you get some sleep."

Ms. Yates left them, and returned to her room. Sadie and Kelsey spoke only for a bit longer, mostly reminiscing their weekend. Kelsey told Sadie that when she was at school, she would send Sadie letters, and they could keep in contact until she returned for winter break.

But eventually, they turned out the light, and as they lay there, Sadie thought to herself. She had a new best friend, one who had shown her so much just in one night. But what was more, Kelsey trusted her enough to get into serious trouble. Sadie had never experienced trust like that before. Like the shadows of the tree that was on the wall, she drifted as if she were in the breeze until she fell into a deep sleep.





The morning after Sadie learned so much she had never known, the fateful day had come. Sadie was to rejoin her family after two days of being away. It was far too short by her standards, but she realized how kind it was for Ms. Yates to let her stay, especially while her family was over.


Sadie stayed for breakfast in the morning. Kelsey's grandmother had told everyone that Sadie had guessed that they were wizards, and told them about her experience with magic the two days prior. A stress that had been gripping Mr. Yates instantly vanished, and he began talking more normally and less inhibited. Lindsay Yates was also much more conversational now that she could resume what Sadie could only assume was regular discussion of all things magical, none of which Sadie could interpret.


After breakfast, it was time for Sadie to depart. She reluctantly grabbed her bag, and sadly prepared to leave. But the Yates weren't about to let her leave feeling sour; they all said their goodbyes at great length, about how happy they were to have met her, and how they couldn't wait to meet her again. Tristan spat out one last question, while Sadie and Kelsey exchanged a large hug. Then, Sadie stepped out and strode past the very beautiful garden of Ms. Yates' home. After she had walked a ways down the street, she turned back to see the Yates all waving at her. Sadie hated to leave their company, but couldn't have been happier to have met such amazing people.


Strangely enough, when she had walked the length of Mayflower Drive, she saw that her family was standing on the porch awaiting her arrival, though both her sisters stood more reluctantly, as Leah bounced around in place and Jayne texted on her cell phone.


As soon as Sadie came close enough, her father met her with a hug. "We were so worried, Sadie. Please don't do that to us again."


"I won't, Dad." She felt glad they had missed her, or at least noticed she was gone, though her mother still looked apprehensive.

"Let's go on inside, shall we?" Sadie's dad said, motioning everyone indoors.


The family slowly made their way inside the house. As soon as they returned, both Leah and Jayne went straight into the living room to the TV that was already on, awaiting them. Her mother, however, had stopped in the entryway, and was whispering to her father.


She was loud enough so that Sadie overheard, "You must tell her, James."


"Jane, honey. We can't do that."


"She must go, James. We have to agree if we are to be good parents."


Sadie didn't need to be told what they were speaking of. She knew her mother was talking about the hospital. Sadie's temper instantly rose to a boil as she openly yelled at her mother. "Is this some kind of joke? I've taken five steps into the house and you want me out?"


"It must be done. You must go in for treatment," her mother replied with a somewhat wavering confidence. Sadie's mother shook her head and coughed, and Sadie knew her mother was trying not to cry.


But this was no less insulting. "You're insane!" Sadie yelled. Sadie's father attempted to calm her, but Sadie knew that wasn't about to happen. She had to speak up for herself. "I just ran away from home! Don't you get it?"


"You are flawed, Sadie. And they can fix that."


"How am I flawed? You're flawed!"


"And now you make accusations to your own mother?" she said, shaking her head disappointedly.


"Better than accusing your own daughter of being flawed! You're flawed. I'm flawed. My dad, my sisters, this whole town, this whole world; everyone's flawed, Mom! Nobody can be ever be perfect, no matter what you could possibly think perfect is."


"I AM PERFECT!" her mother yelled with an ear piercing scream. The room went silent, except for the TV chattering in the background. Jayne and Leah had both been watching the argument, Leah now whimpering with tears after her mother's scream. Sadie had never seen her father so shocked, and she herself was knocked backwards by her mother's rage. From the floor, Sadie watched as her mother stared directly into her eyes and continued.


"I AM PERFECT! I AM PERFECT! I have a perfect life, and a perfect family. A perfect husband, a perfect home, a perfect neighborhood, and two very perfect children! But you... You are the one innocent, careless little smudge that won't come off. You were never right, you were never normal, and never perfect! I tried, I truly did, but you remained average, ordinary, and... unperfect. You will never be perfect, you will never amount to anything, and - OH MY - GAHHHHH!"


Leah and Jayne screamed in unison while Sadie and her father ducked for cover in panic. Completely at random, a large, brown barn owl flew straight through the still open front door. It clearly didn't anticipate Sadie's mother to be just within the house, and it collided into the back of her head. It quickly beginning to flap its wings vigorously in defense as Sadie's mother attempted to slap the owl in a confused frenzy. Her mother eventually hopped aside, pressing her back as firmly to the wall as it would allow, and the owl hovered in the entryway flapping its wings still wildly. It gave a quick look around the room, and upon seeing Sadie, kindly tossed a letter that it had been carrying in its talons right into her hand before it soared into the dining room and landed calmly on a chair.


The room, if possible, was even more silent than after Sadie's mother's scream. Everyone stared at Sadie and the letter, her mother looking particularly furious. Her mother opened her mouth as if she was going to scream a scream that could shatter windows.


But her scream was one of panic as soon as she heard the woman who had appeared behind her through the front door say, "Good morning. I believe you are the Murray family?"


"AHHHHH!" screamed Sadie's mother.


"That is not the greeting I usually receive, but I dare say I have gotten similar responses recently," confessed the woman politely, though somewhat annoyed. She was dressed in a long, navy blue robe, and wore a matching pointed had. The robe had a shield that was embroidered on the left side of her chest. The woman had very small square-shaped glasses pushed up close to her eyes. Her brown hair was tied up and hidden beneath her pointy hat, making her look very uptight.


"My, you look dreadful, madam. Are you alright?" the woman asked Sadie's mother. After the skirmish with the owl, Sadie's mother's pristinely orchestrated hairstyle was left wild, hair pointing in all directions, and her clothes were covered in feathers. "You could probably do with a hair brushing or two. No matter." The woman pulled a stick out of her pocket, which Sadie recognized as a wand. "Planto Somes."

With a wave of her wand, a gust of wind blew out of the witch's wand that somehow returned Sadie's mother's hair and clothes back to normal.


"Now, where were we?" she asked to herself, looking about the room. She then saw Sadie on the floor, "Ah, there you are. No need to sit on the floor now."

Sadie got to her feet. "Now, normally," the strange lady stated to the whole room, "I explain myself beforehand, then incorporate the reading of the letter your daughter now has in her possession. But seeing how this went poorly on the last three occasions in a row, I think I'll let her read the letter first, and then allow time to clear up any confusion."


Everyone was completely confused and dumbfounded, but somehow all nodded their heads in approval. This couldn't be happening, thought Sadie. Could this be what she thought it was? On the front, there was the same shield that was on the woman's robe. Inside the shield was with a large S near the bottom, with two wands above it in the shape of a roof. Under the design, the envelope read in red ink:




Ms. Sadie J. Murray
3000 Mayflower Drive
3015 Mayflower Drive
Trail Lake, Illinois


She quickly turned the envelope around. It was sealed with red wax, showing the same coat of arms. She quickly broke the seal and opened the letter. She held her breath briefly, not ready to believe whatever the letter may have said. She read aloud.




The Salem Institute
of Magical Learning

________________________________________

Dean: Pravus Bojovnic

(United Sorcerer's Administration, Former Junior-Executive;
International Confed. of Wizards, US Ambassador)

________________________________________



Dear Ms. Murray,

The Salem Institute of Magical Learning is proud to welcome, Sadie Murray, as a prospective student to our fine magical academy. If Sadie Murray wishes to enroll and attend The Salem Institute of Magical Learning, she is required to send a reply to this letter, via owl, to The Salem Institute of Magical Learning Enrollment Office by no later than July 31. Any owl arriving after 12:00 A.M., August 1, is considered late, and enrollment is null and void to the prospective student.

The fall semester begins on September 1. All necessary materials (uniforms, books, equipment) for 1st-year students may be found in the enclosed list that accompanies this letter, as well as directions to the train that transports all students to the Salem Institute on September 1.

Because you, Sadie Murray, and your family are of non-magical, or Muggle, heritage, to mediate through any misunderstanding, confusion, or further issues, this letter will be accompanied by a member of our staff, Professor Hannelore Ellicott, soon thereafter its arrival.

Congratulations,

Pravus Bojovnic
Dean




It took all the effort in Sadie not to scream with excitement.


"Is this some sort of joke?" Sadie's mother asked, somewhat taken back and offended.


"I'm afraid not, madam," explained the woman. "I, as the letter stated, am Professor Ellicott, and I'm here to answer any questions you may have about our academy. First, I'd like..."

"Magic?!" Sadie's mother hollered wildly, still completely bewildered.

"Yes, magic, madam. On second thought, it might be best that we all sit down," Professor said as she nonchalantly made her way into the Murray's living room. She sat down on a chair which was across from one of the two couches. She looked remorsefully at the TV before she flicked her wand at it - it turned off immediately. Everyone, including Sadie's sisters gathered in the living room. Sadie sat nearer to Professor Ellicott, expecting that if her mother was to attempt to murder her, she should be as near to a witch as possible.


"Would you like a drink, Ms. Murray? Mr. Murray?" Professor Ellicott asked. With a wave of her wand, two glasses of some sort of liquid, Sadie assumed alcohol, appeared out of thin air. Another point of the wand sent the glasses gracefully floating over to her parents.


Sadie's father took the glass suspiciously, sniffed its contents, and then drank it. He seemed to enjoy it. Sadie's mother took the glass and looked at it unhappily before putting it down. "Magic?!" she hollered again in the same loud half-scream.


"Yes, as you said before, magic. Now, this is the essential point you must come to understand before we can make any sort of headway in this conversation. I am a witch, and your daughter, though Muggle-born, is a witch as well."

Sadie beamed to hear someone so official looking say this aloud, but her mother quickly shot her an angrily confused glance, so Sadie hid her happiness.


"And what is this word you keep using?" Sadie's dad asked, almost amused, "Muggle?"


"Yes, Muggle, or someone who is not a witch or wizard, with no magical powers. You all are Muggles, whereas I, and your daughter here, are witches, or wizards, if you prefer a broader term."

"And what do you mean by this... magic," Sadie's mother asked angrily.

Over the next hour and a half, the Murray family sat and listened to Professor Ellicott. Sadie's father asked all of the questions while Sadie's mother remained silent. They all attempted to digest the information Professor Ellicot was giving them. Thankfully, Sadie had heard the same basic explanation the night previous from Kelsey, so she already understood much of what was being discussed. Professor Ellicot spoke about the magical government in the United States, the United Sorcerer's Administration, and many of its laws, as well as how a magical quill had written Sadie's name down eleven years ago preparing to accept Sadie to the Salem Institute, though she went over all this information so quickly, even Sadie had difficulty following what was said.


As Sadie's parents slowly began to gain an understanding, Professor Ellicott changed her discussion.


"Now, Sadie has been accepted to The Salem Institute. This is a very prestigious honor that your average Muggle is not allowed. Essentially, it is her decision whether she wishes to attend or not. But seeing as you are her parents, you have a deciding factor as well. Dean Bojovnic, and the enrollment committee at the school are awaiting Ms. Murray's reply letter that either confirms or rejects her enrollment, preferably as soon as possible.


"Herein lies the moment where you, as a family, must come to the decision whether Ms. Murray will attend or not."


Sadie's mother had become much more intrigued over the past hour and a half, as Professor Ellicott had continued to use words such as prestigious, esteemed, and respected.

"You said it would cost?" she asked the professor.


"Yes, only for the supplies she will need annually. There is no tuition, and transportation to and from the school, and of course the schooling itself, is free of charge. Though be aware, acceptance is a serious commitment. She will be expected to complete at least her first five years at Salem, as well as be highly encouraged to continue her education for the remaining two years."


Sadie's mother thought to herself for a moment. "Hmm... And how will this affect her college career?"


"Excuse me, madam?"


"Well, will this, 'Salem Institute' give her a fair recommendation that would allow her entry into a fine academic institution, such as Yale?"


There was a long pause as Professor Ellicott put her hands to her face. "I believe you were not paying attention when I was describing the details of the Statute of Secrecy. Not only will this not guarantee her a place in a 'fine Muggle academic institution,' I wouldn't see why she would bother going to one after her education at the Salem Institute."


Sadie's mother gave an impertinent huff, but Sadie's father sat forward in his seat. "Sadie, do you really want to go?" His wife looked at him almost in shock.


"Yes!" Sadie insisted.


"Then, Jane, I think we should let her go."


"Are you joking? To some eccentric old school we know nothing about? You actually believe this strange woman?"


"Considering she's made a couple glasses of whiskey appear out of nowhere, I'm going to have to say yes, honey."


Sadie's mother tried desperately to argue, finally prattling, "She won't be going," without further deliberation.


"You can't do that."


This was exactly what Sadie was thinking, but she had not said these words. Her sister, Jayne said them. "It's her decision, mom. Let her, like, think for herself."


Their mother was taken aback. Sadie was too; she assumed her sister would remain neutral, but Jayne was staring strongly and approvingly toward her. Sadie's mother deliberated in her own mind further, until finally, in a very small voice, she mumbled, "Fine."

Sadie was so excited she jumped straight out of the chair to hug her mother and father.


"Very well," said the professor, seeming to be somewhat impatient. She politely coughed aloud, and within moments, the owl that had collided with Sadie's mother flew from the dining room, where it had been hooting. Professor Ellicott scribbled something on a piece of paper, tied it to the owl's leg, and patted it kindly on its back. The owl took flight and sailed out the door.


"Now, normally it would be my job to direct you to Orthogon Avenue, an area that caters to wizards, where Ms. Murray could purchase her necessary supplies. But I recently learned before dropping by that your young daughter has recently made friends with a wizarding family. Ms. Kelsey Yate's family?"

The entire family looked between Professor Ellicott and Sadie, as Sadie nodded in confirmation.


"Yes, well, Ms. Murray, it seems the Yates have kindly offered to take you with their family to Orthogon Avenue. You and your family. If that's alright with you, of course."


"That's perfect!" Sadie replied happily.


"Well then, I shall take my leave. It was very," she paused to search for a word, "nice to meet you all. I have a few more letters to deliver. I shall see you at school, Ms. Murray."

She began to walk toward the entryway before turning and saying, "Oh, and do tell Mr. Tristan Yates that I have recently been informed that he will be quodpot captain this year. If you don't mind relaying the message that I expect him to be ready to beat those blasted wolves this year."


Sadie confirmed that she would tell Tristan, even though she didn't have the slightest idea what any of the message meant. Professor Ellicott took four more steps away from the house before taking a short turn on the spot, and disappeared entirely into thin air, only leaving a small cloud of white smoke. Everyone seemed to be silently thinking about the events that had just taken place while Sadie went to her backpack, which she set down in the hallway, to prepare and walk back to Ms. Yates' house, until a knock came to the still open door. Kelsey was in the doorway.

"I told you!"


Sadie rushed to her and gave her a great hug. Kelsey no longer had to be a temporary friend, they were going to school together. In a flash of speed, Kelsey and the Yates' Ford Fiesta came to an abrupt halt in front of Sadie's house. Sadie could distinctly see everyone but Kelsey's grandmother in the car, waving happily, and motioning for them to come.


"Are your parents ready?" Kelsey asked, looking quizzically toward them as they were still firmly placed in the living room. Leah quickly rushed to the doorway, ready to figure out what all this magic business was all about, "HI! I'm Leah!"


"Nice to meet you, Leah," Kelsey said happily. Leah's courage inspired Jayne, then her father, and lastly their mother to all join. They locked the house up and came to the car.


"It might be a tight fit, but I think we'll manage," mentioned Mr. Yates from inside. Kelsey opened the backseat and hopped in, Sadie quick at her heels.


One thing Sadie noticed as she stepped into the car was that it was suspiciously larger than it appeared outside. The car was surely a tiny Ford Fiesta, but inside it felt like a Hummer.

"Engorgement Charm," Mr. Yates commented. "Performed by the Administration as a special favor for Lindsay. It's quite nice actually. They even had a Hastening Charm put onto it as well, and those are usually so expensive to license.

"Hello there!" he chimed as Sadie's family crawled awkwardly into the large interior of the small car. "You must be the rest of the Murrays. Pleasure to meet you."

He shook his father and mothers hands, introducing himself, his wife, and children.


"Now buckle up tight, if you don't mind."


"Where are we going?" Sadie's mother asked.


"Orthogon Avenue, Ms. Murray."


"Yes, and where exactly is that?"


"Where else would anything as interesting as Orthogon Avenue be?" asked Tristan rhetorically. "New York City."
"I've never heard of this 'Orthogon Avenue,' you speak of." Tristan snorted comedically as Sadie's mother continued. "And I suppose we won't be doing our shopping there, until tomorrow," she persisted testily as if she had a resoundingly good point to prove. "It's a good twelve hour drive from here, if you weren't aware. We won't get there 'til nightfall."

"Then you'll be fantastically surprised," Mr. Yates hummed, starting the car. "That we'll be there in two or three hours, the way this lovely car drives. Hold tight."


Sadie's mom was about to ask a question, but instead yelled some babbled jargon of a word very loudly. As soon as Mr. Yates had pushed down on the accelerator, the car lurched forward and began careening down the streets at an impossibly fast speed. Sadie couldn't comprehend how quickly they left Mayflower Drive, and though she could see nothing but the blurred images of suburbia rushing past the windows, she was quite sure she had left her entire town several minutes ago. Her theory proved admirable, as downtown Chicago appeared before them within a few moments, as they went sailing down the roads toward it.


They were navigating through neighborhood streets still, and turning right and left quickly. All of the Yates sat calmly in their seats while Sadie and her family were lurched side to side with each individual turn like a sick rollercoaster ride. But moments later, they came to a highway, wound up the on ramp, and were sailing around the downtown quite smoothly on the open highway road.


Once Sadie gave up trying to keep her bearings in the fast moving car, she asked Kelsey, "So what is at Orthogon Avenue?"


"Oh gosh, everything. It's a pair of streets that meet, which are shaped like a T, and they have all sorts of wizard shops packed over every square inch of the place. But enough about that, because we'll be there all day. How did it go with the whole explaining thing?"


"It went well," Sadie admitted. "I understood most everything."


"Which professor explained everything this year?" Tristan asked.


"Professor Ellicott."


"Oh... I'm sorry," he mumbled, almost as if he were disgusted with a laugh.


"Don't be rude, Tristan!" Ms. Yates said. "Professor Ellicott is a very good teacher. Taught both your father and I as well. I'm willing to bet money she's the best charms teacher the school has ever had."


"Don't listen to them, she's a piece of work," Tristan explained to Sadie, earning a finger pointed to him by his mother. "Nice woman, but she's definitely not kind when it comes to the work she gives out. She's so demanding."


"Well, maybe you should concentrate more on her class and homework rather than Quodpot," his mother insisted.


"Good luck convincing him of that," Mr. Yates laughed. "It's in his blood. I was the Bouncer after all, ever since they let me bring a broom. Only natural that he's such a good Pitcher."


"Oh yeah," Sadie interjected. "The professor asked me to tell you something, Tristan. Something about that Quodpot thing. She said you were captain this year, and..."

Sadie couldn't finish her sentence, because in an instant, Tristan reached across Kelsey, grabbing Sadie by the shoulders and shaking her, yelling, "You're kidding!"


"No I'm not! That's what she said, honest."


The whole car cheered, except for the Murrays, who were quite confused. "My son, captain!" Mr. Yates boasted proudly.


For the rest of the shockingly short trip, the Yates showered Tristan with compliments, and questions about what he thought and was planning to do now that he was a Quodpot captain, whatever Quodpot might be, though Sadie learned from their discussion that it was some sort of sport involving brooms.


For the entire length of car ride, Sadie's family was completely silent. Sadie thought that they hadn't really understood the magical world as much as Sadie did when she learned. She realized she had her doubts at first, but after the things she had done by accident, and meeting Kelsey, it was almost as if she had learned the definition of a word she had been using all along. It all made sense to Sadie.


As Mr. Yates had said, within about two hours and past several blurred cities and towns later, the countryside slowly began to disappear, until it was gone entirely, replaced by dense communities and the infrastructure of a huge city. They slowly began entering the gigantic metropolis that was New York City. Huge skyscrapers began to whiz past in every direction as they wound through the streets to wherever their destination was. Sadie could see the millions of blurs of people all around on the sidewalks.



"Do they not notice?" Sadie asked.


Mrs. Yates giggled before asking, "Well, did you ever notice any wizards before now?"


"No, I didn't."


She laughed again, "There you go then. We wizards take our credit for hiding, yes, but it's astonishing how little Muggles seem to notice us."


"But how can you drive this fast? And how do you hide things."


"The driving is just a good bit of concentration. But - oh, I forget - didn't you have to learn this for your final last year Tristan?"


"Yes," he replied, "it's a theory that was created by Albert Nicklesworth, who participated in the International Confederation of Wizards when they were trying to outline the Statute of Wizarding Secrecy. How do I know all this?" he asked himself.


"I didn't understand any of that," beckoned Sadie.


"Oh... um, well, basically, this guy named Albert Nicklesworth who was this Mugosociologist - I mean scientist - was trying to study how best to go about avoiding Muggles. And he came up with this thing called the Obviously Oblivious theory. It basically says that if wizards hide themselves by putting distance between Muggles, they stand out more, and that wizards should instead hide right next to Muggles. The closer you are to danger, the farther you are from harm, so we blend in with Muggle society in places they won't look because nothing secret would be stupid enough to hide there."


Mr. Yates chimed in, "Also Muggles have this long history of not being able to see things properly that they don't understand. They see this car sailing down the street, but they don't at the same time. They can't comprehend it, and don't try to figure it out because they think they were crazy for seeing it in the first place."


With a sudden lurch, the entire car came to an immediate stop. They were in the valet parking section of the entrance to a very sophisticated looking building. There were gold letters above the luxurious doorway that read Whitney Plaza Hotel. A valet who had previously been enjoying himself was suddenly completely perplexed at the appearance of the car. He shook his head and rubbed his eyes, confusedly approaching the car as all nine people left the vehicle. "Yes, if you don't mind," Mr. Yates told the valet, "I'd like you to park the car in section O."

The boy looked confused still. "Sir, section O is the farthest away from street level."
"Yes, yes, I know. But it is what I'd like, if you don't mind."

The boy shrugged, walked back to the podium which had a ticket machine on it. He took a ticket from it and handed it to Mr. Yates before getting into the vehicle. The ticket had a large O stamped on it. The car started, and Sadie assumed the boy was going to have a right fright when the car began flying at obscene speed. But the car struggled to a sputtering start before it slowly puttered away. The Yates led the way into the hotel.

The Whitney Plaza Hotel was very glamourous. Everything was in shades of gold, and the people talking in the lobby did so in a very pompous manner. While many made their way busily across the floor, others leered conceitedly at their peers as they prepared the gossip they would no doubt be telling others later. Everyone was dressed in very high-class clothing, and seemed to "humph" in every other sentence. Sadie and her family continued following the Yates, and made their way into the restaurant and bar connected to the lobby, which was equally luxurious. In fact, the room contained even more "humphing" people who conversed snootily over lunch.

The Yates and Murrays proceeded to the bar, where a portly old man with a thick gray mustache, bald head, and glasses stood cleaning a glass. Mr. Yates flashed the barman the parking ticket with the O and said, "Juniper berries."

"Oh yes, yes, of course. I'm sure you know the entrance, farthest stall from the door..." The barman continued wiping the glass.

Mrs. Yates laughed to herself, and then knocked on the bar. "Hello Arnold."

"Mrs. Yates! I didn't even realize it was you. Especially with this gaggle of guests you have with you! And you must be Mr. Yates."

The barman and Mr. Yates exchanged a handshake. "That would be me. This is all interesting, really, Mr. Longview. This is the first time I've taken the front door to Orthogon Avenue. But as you mentioned, we have guests," Mr. Yates conferred as he motioned to Sadie.

"It's their first time," explained Mrs. Yates. She patted Sadie on the shoulder as she spoke. "Our daughter's friend just got accepted to Salem."

"Oh, very good! Congratulations," said Mr. Longview with a broad smile. "And Kelsey Yates! You've grown so much since I last saw you. You and your brother ready for the school year?"

"Definitely, Mr. Longview!" Kelsey cheered.

"It's so exciting," Mrs. Yates continued. " Our daughter's first year, and we just learned that Tristan will be captain of the Steda Quodpot team this year."

"Oh my! High honor to have, son," Mr. Longview said praisingly. Tristan beamed as Mr. Longview continued. "I was fortunate to be named captain in my fifth year too. Don't be too hard on Horribilis in the games, or you'll be hearing from me," laughed Mr. Longview.

"Can't promise that, Mr. Longview. But the team to beat for the last four years since I started going to Salem has been Lupa. They've held the school cup for the last eight years running."

"Oh my, that will never do. Be sure to take that title away from them for me."

The Yates said their goodbyes to Mr. Longview before proceeding to an adjacent hallway. It was extremely cramped in the small space with both Sadie and Kelsey's family squeezing through, not to mention the hotel patrons attempting to file through as well. At the end of the hallway was a men's and women's restroom.

"Alright, you heard Mr. Longview," Mr. Yates instructed. "Farthest stall from the door, one tap on the toilet, two taps on the door, and then flush. Mr. Murray, if you wouldn't mind following me."


Mr. Yates, Sadie's father, and Tristan made their way into the restroom, while Sadie followed Mrs. Yates, Kelsey, Jayne, Leah, and her mother into the women's restroom. Sophisticated women were primping themselves in the mirrors as everyone filed past to the restroom stall farthest from the door. Mrs. Yates signaled to the girls that they should wait for the people still in the room to leave before they continued. After a few more desperate attempts at powdering their noses, the women made their way out of the restroom huffily.

Mrs. Yates opened the door to the stall farthest from the door. It was a very average looking toilet stall, as far as toilet stalls went, though things like the flusher and toilet paper dispenser were plated gold. Mrs. Yates pulled out her wand, tapped the toilet once, tapped the door twice, and then flushed the toilet. The toilet water slowly went down as it should. Then, without warning, the solid wall to the right of the toilet moved in on itself, opening like a doorway.

"Come now. Can't linger about here, can we?" Mrs. Yates said, and the group passed through.

Everyone filed through the newly opened hole in the wall into another restroom, which looked completely identical to the original. They came out of the stall and proceeded through the exit. The hallway they entered was as it appeared in the hotel before, and they rejoined the men, who exited their own restroom. After a short walk down the hallway, they came into a very large, spacious room.

The room was the lobby of a hotel, and was ornately decorated in the same way that the previous hotel was. But the people were entirely different. Everyone wore long flowing robes, and many wore tall, pointy hats. Sadie felt very out of place in her jeans and t-shirt, but saw several others were dressed the same way, especially those around her age and in their teens. They passed through the lobby, which bustled with busy families until they made their way out the front door.

Sadie could hardly believe her eyes. They were standing out on an enormous street that stretched to a large building that towered above the rest ahead of them, about ten stories high. The smaller buildings that lined the street like walls, with no gaps in between, were each about five stories tall and were each made of completely different styles of brick. They resembled miniature replicas of the skyscrapers of Manhattan. In fact, the street where she stood seemed to be something of an over-sized alley in between the buildings of New York City. Sadie could see the tips of the city's skyscrapers stretching upward all around this street and its small, cramped buildings.

The street itself, which was bustling with people, was also made of brick, and the sound of the clacking could be heard from everyone's shoes as they trotted along. There were trees in a neat line through middle of the street where Sadie could see people resting and talking around park benches.

"Welcome," Mr. Yates announced, "to Orthogon Avenue."

This place put Sadie's wildest dreams to shame. There were shops everywhere, selling everything one could imagine. There was a shop that sold all sorts of telescopes. Another shop had a sign above the doorway that said Perry's Potions and Apothecary - Serving New England for 400 Years. Two young boys tipped over a giant metal cauldron in front of a store, and would have gotten away if they hadn't tripped over their robes, and were now being berated by a plump woman who had grabbed them by the ears.

"This is unbelievable," Sadie's father mumbled.

"Now," Mr. Yates began in a very matter-of-fact manner, "first, Sadie, you will need to open up a bank account at Gringotts Bank. We need to go there anyway to pick up some money for all the supplies. Your parents will need to come, as they'll need to convert your Muggle money into wizard money."

"Wizard money?" asked Sadie's mother angrily, warily eying a nearby pet shop, where a large lizard in a cage outside was hissing at her.

"Yes," Mrs. Yates explained. "We have a different monetary system than Muggles. Muggles have dollars and cents, and we have Knuts, Sickles, and Galleons. It's somewhere around ten dollars for one galleon, I believe, but I heard that the value of the dollar is going down, so you might want to convert as much as you can now."

Sadie made her way with her and Kelsey's family down the bustling street until they came to a triangular area where the street they were on, High Street, met with another street, Low Street. The roads did in fact form a large T here, as Low Street ran perpendicular to High Street. At the end of Low Street was a large white building with large letters in gold that Sadie could read from where she stood, Gringotts Bank. The party continued to shift their way through the throng of people toward this building.

Sadie's neck was on a swivel, looking from left to right as fast as she could to take everything in. They passed a shop with brooms in the window display, and a girl with her mother who had just exited the shop who was begging her mother to fly it. Another shop had women posing in the window display in robes that were low cut on top and short at the bottom, coming to above the knees of the model, and looked very reminiscent of low cut tops and short skirts in the Muggle world. Sadie saw a runway inside where women were modeling different robes that were very similar to those in the window, as many young girls flocked around the runway admiring them.

"How obscene!" said several older witches gathered around the outside of the shop. "These robes are so revealing, we might as well not dress our children at all, and send them into public naked."

A shop named Filk!, to Sadie's right, sold vinyl records and what appeared to be phonographs. Two teen boys argued in front of the shop. "C'mon, The Weird Sisters and Romilda and the Chocolate Cauldrons are bands you have to listen to!" bragged the first.

The other replied, "Yeah, if you're into that British stuff. You're the one who has to catch up on Oliver Boyd with the Remembralls and Harry with the Potters." Back on the left side of the street was a crowded restaurant called The Cloud Pine which was serving delicious looking meals that flooded the street with a beautiful aroma.

Eventually they neared the end of Low Street when Sadie noticed a particularly large alleyway that led behind several buildings to the right. "What's over there?"

"Oh, best not worry about that," Mr. Yates said unhappily. "That leads to Walpurgis Circle. Not a very nice place to be."

"Only the nastiest wizards start up shops there," Tristan mentioned.

"Now, I'm not going to say that anyone in Walpurgis Circle is bad, Tristan. It's just a... refined taste, I suppose."

"If you say so, dad," Kelsey mumbled. "You didn't get lost there when you were a kid. I still remember when that man tried to give me that cursed necklace."

Mrs. Yates ignored Kelsey's memory and said, "This is odd. I've never seen a line outside of Gringotts before."

Before them was a line of fifteen people waiting to enter, each being checked by someone near the front entrance who was dressed in a very official robe. He waved around some sort of tool near the peoples' bodies before letting them pass. Sadie and Kelsey's family queued up and waited for their turn.

When they got closer, Mr. Yates recognized the person who was scanning people. "Mr. Verbinsky! Hello!" The man waved in return and motioned that they would talk when they reached the front of the line.

"Arthur Verbinsky," Mr. Yates fondly greeted, giving the man a firm handshake after a few minutes. "Haven't seen you in ages. How've you been?"

Mr. Verbinsky looked quite tired, but happy. "Been good. Can't complain, right?"

"Why is there such a line at Gringotts of all places?" Mrs. Yates asked after giving Mr. Verbinsky a hug.

"Nasty business, Lindsay," he said as he continued to scan their entire group. "Someone was attacked right on the steps of Gringotts last night." This sent a shudder of fear into the whole group, and Sadie's mom looked more ruffled than ever. "No accident either. As far as we can tell someone used the killing curse."

"Good lord! People casting the killing curse right on Low Street?" Mr. Yates proclaimed.

"Yep, very disturbing stuff," Mr. Verbinsky continued as he waved the strange silver rectangle in his hand around Sadie. "The Administration hasn't identified the victim yet, but they think it was petty robbery gone awry. Rumors say the victim and the assailant had a scuffle when the man was being mugged, and the victim resisted, naturally. And well, you can guess the rest."

"But to use the killing curse. It's a wonder they haven't caught the fiend already, especially in such a busy area."

"They aren't reporting it in the Morning Magus at all," the tired guard said, finishing his scan of Tristan and turning to face them. "They don't want to start worrying everybody now that people are coming for their school supplies; it would be bad for business."

"Too true," Mr. Yates concurred.

"Well, despite this terrible circumstance, I do hope to see you around sometime," Mrs. Yates petitioned to Mr. Verbinsky. "If your not to busy at the Administration sometime soon, feel free to drop by for dinner."

"Will do Mrs. Yates. You all have a nice day, and stay safe."

The Murrays and Yates entered Gringotts Bank. It was one large room with a ring-around desk, people bustling from wall to wall of the room. And there were...

"What on EARTH is that?!" Sadie's mother cried.

She was speaking about a short person, about three feet tall, that hobbled past her. It had straggly hair, long fingers, long feet with dress shoes, a small, tailored suit, and a pointy, crooked nose. It growled angrily at her and shuffled on its way.

"Calm down, Mrs. Murray, just a goblin," Mr. Yates explained. "Best bankers and craftsmen you'll ever meet. You'll be wanting that desk over there," he said, pointing to a big boned goblin who was weighing dollar bills on a scale with a large bar of gold. "Lindsay, do you mind making sure things go smoothly for them while I take out some money for the kids?"

The room stretched at least ten stories high, and the floor was made of a beautiful marble. There were large statues of apparently famous goblins circling the walls near the ceilings. Everything seemed to gleam and shine as they walked across the floor to the desk. The goblin that helped them seemed grumpier than the one that Sadie's mother had hollered at, so it was decided Mr. Murray should handle the money conversions and open the bank account while Mrs. Murray waited outside.

Leah was wholly fascinated with everything that was taking place, and while waiting for the money to be processed into wizard money, struck up a conversation with a woman goblin who was as tall as she was. Jayne wasn't completely repulsed by the goblins, but she didn't enjoy them much either. She ended up staying very close to Kelsey and Sadie, waiting hopelessly to get a signal on her cell phone, which seemed to not be working. If a goblin came too close, she would grab onto Sadie's arm for protection.

Sadie's father contributed a large amount of money to her new bank account. Once this was sorted, newly converted wizard money was taken back out of the account for shopping. Sadie now carried a large bag full of gold, silver, and copper coins.

Everyone proceeded back outside to the sunlight of Orthogon Avenue. Mrs. Yates attempted to orchestrate. "Alright everyone, I believe we should get your books first, then uniforms, since they're on the other side of High Street, and..."

Mr. Yates chimed in, "Lindsay, why don't the kids do their shopping at their leisure?"

"Because they're kids! And..."

"And they know what supplies they need, and know that their school things are more important than other desires," he focused a stern look on Tristan who had been trying to eye the store filled with brooms. "It'll teach them a lesson in responsibility, because if they're thrifty, they'll have some money to spend for themselves."

"But what about Kelsey? She's only eleven. And Sadie? She's just a Muggle - no offense, dear - but she's never been here before."

"You've escorted Kelsey around every year for the past five years, Lindsay. I'm pretty sure she has the hang of things. And considering how quickly these two are becoming friends, I doubt Sadie would dare separate from Kelsey." Sadie beamed at the vote of confidence, and Kelsey put her arm around Sadie in hopes of looking more convincingly independent.

"Oh, alright!" Mrs. Yates finally agreed, "But only if I get to decide on this evening's plans. Everyone is to meet up at The Cloud Pine at 5:15 for dinner. No later!"

"In the mean time," Mr. Yates directed to Sadie's mother and father, "how about you and your daughters come with us back at Whitney Inn? We can have a nice lunch and chat there."

"Mommy! I want to go with Sadie!" Leah said, almost shouting. This was something Sadie had almost expected. The entire day, Leah had been happy and respectful to her, instead of rude and bratty like normal. Leah was clearly enjoying the wizarding world. Her mother looked blank, possibly from the rush of things she had been learning about throughout the day.

Sadie's father spoke in her stead, "As long as Sadie is alright with it."

Leah quickly hopped back and forth on her toes saying please as many times as she could fit in one breath to Sadie. Sadie asked Kelsey if it was alright, to which Kelsey said yes. No sooner had Sadie allowed Leah to follow them, Leah latched her hand to Sadie's. With a few goodbyes, the family and the kids parted ways.

"Finally, a chance not to have to follow mom around shopping all day," remarked Kelsey. "Where are you off to, Tristan?"

"Over to Windsurfing Nation. If I have any hopes of being a decent Quodpot captain, I'll desperately need to have a good broom. I'm hoping one of the older Nimbus models isn't too pricey anymore." He rushed along.

"So where should we go first?" Sadie asked Kelsey, "You're the expert on this."

"Well I say uniforms first. Always takes awhile, and I'll be happy to get it out of the way."

"Oh, so are we going to that store I saw with the runway?"

"You mean Haute Couture?" Kelsey said longingly. "I wish. They're really expensive, but they carry the most fashionable robes around. Beautiful designs and colors, not to mention the length. It's like wearing a skirt and is so comfortable. But that's not 'uniform regulation.' In fact, they forbid it at Salem. 'Too revealing.' I swear, adult wizards need to get a life and a fashion sense. Haven't you read your list of rules and supplies yet?"

"No, I've been busy all morning! I completely forgot," Sadie said, pulling out her letter, which had been in her backpack.





The Salem Institute
Of Magical Learning
_________________________________
Supplies and Dress code



School Uniform - All students are required to have minimum of:

Three button-up white collared shirts for boys; blouses for girls.
Two sweaters (blue).
Three khaki pants for boys; khaki skirts for girls.
Two Omnicolour ties for both boys and girls.
Two Omnicolour scarves
---Please say "whipper snapper" to clothing store proprietor when purchasing for ties and scarves.
Three pairs of white socks.

Three plain work robes (blue).
One (blue) wizard hat for day wear.
One winter cloak (blue with gold fastening).
---Note: Additional Omnicolour robes/hats/cloaks are allowed as long as they comply with the dress code.



Course Books
First year students require:
The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk
American Dream: Magic In the United States by William Plymouth Rock
The Night Starts Here by Madryn Star
Transfiguration for Beginners by Minerva McGonagall
Down and Dirty: Beginner's Herbology by Anthony Plant
Remedial Remedies by Sean Serum
Magical Defense and Application by Hu Deni


Other Materials:

1 Administration Approved Wand
1 Cauldron (size 2) - Recommended style: pewter.
1 First year potions kit
1 Telescope
1 Scale

Students may bring one pet: owl/raven/cat.
For other pets, please send a letter to the school with a description of the animal for permission.


Dress Code:
A) Students are required to wear school robes during school days until the end of classes.
B) Students are required to wear basic uniform Monday - Friday.
C) Clothes must be tucked in, neat, respectable, and maintained.
D) Girls: Skirts are to be KNEE LENGTH.
---Please note: All Haute Cotoure clothing is strictly prohibited.
E) Hats are required for special occasions, but optional for daily wear.
F) Saturday and Sunday, free dress is appropriate.
G) When wearing a robe, all students MUST WEAR SOMETHING UNDERNEATH.





"What strange books," Sadie said, rereading the list over once more.

"You think that's something, wait 'til we get to Noble Books. But first, we go in here."

They entered a shop called The New Black, which was filled with all sorts of robes for men, women, and children. They weren't as short and scandalous as the other robes, but were robes all the same. Several tailors were taking measurements and fitting robes for children in a mirrored area.

"Welcome, welcome!" said a woman who strutted up to them. She looked overtly confident, and her head kept wandering to the mirrors as if she needed to check her outfit. She looked somewhat self-consciously down at herself as if there were something wrong with the way she looked, but was obviously trying very hard not to do so. "My name is Ms. Mandell, and this is my shop. And I suppose you're here for your uniforms?"

"Yes ma'am," Kelsey affirmed politely. "Oh, and whipper snappers, for the both of us."

"Well, thank heavens someone has read the deal Salem is giving."

"Why do we have to say that?" asked Sadie.

"Those dumb ol' Omnicolour ties and scarves," Ms. Mandell complained quite derisively, scowling at a scarf on a nearby rack. "The only people that those mass-produced Omnicolour Clothes haven't put out of business is us, and that's only because Salem requires normal uniforms. We've even been getting students from Champlain Conservatory this year..."

Sadie felt particularly confused, and Ms. Mandell seemed to notice, because she walked straight to a rack of uniforms, and picked up an almost black looking robe, and an almost black and almost white looking scarf. It was hard to say why they were almost black, but they were distinctly not black, nor gray. "Salem, Noctowl," Ms. Mandell said aloud to the articles of clothing. No sooner did she utter these words, the robe instantly changed to a emerald green, while the striped scarf turned gold and green.

"That's amazing!" Sadie exclaimed.

"I grant, inventing a special color-change charm to put on their clothes for visual appeal is quite ingenious, but I must speak for myself. We only get ten percent of the profits from Omnicolour brands we sell in the shop. Salem pays us full price to sell you the Omnicolour accessories because it would be all you kids get anyway.

"Alas, I digress. Let's get you two fitted," Ms. Mandell said finally, leading them to the back of the shop.

The store remained bustling with customers as Kelsey and Sadie got measured while Leah hid behind racks of robes, scaring any unfortunate browsing customer. Kelsey bought the required clothing, along with an Omnicolour robe, advising Sadie to do the same.

"Tristan says that the house pride at school is a big deal, and wearing our colors on our robes is like waving a flag, so everyone gets at least one."

After they were finished purchasing all their clothes, they took their numerous filled bags full of uniforms and robes, and proceeded awkwardly to Coney Island Cauldrons, which sold cauldrons made of all sorts of materials. Some cauldrons were stacked so high atop each other they were in danger of falling like a giant tree.

Neither Sadie nor Kelsey knew the difference between styles, except that the copper, silver, and gold cauldrons were obscenely priced. The store clerk said that it was all for the better potion, but they decided they would manage with basic pewter cauldrons. They were chased out of the store soon after when Leah dove into a large cauldron with a spell that made it stir itself, which quickly attempted to cook Leah. It was a relief to get the the cauldrons; though they were quite heavy, they no longer had to carry their big bags full of clothes, and tossed them in the cauldrons.

Next was Noble Books, which turned out to be near large building Sadie had first seen from the other side of High Street. The inside of the store was tremendous inside, as the interior ran upwards with nearly thirty thick wooden bookshelves, which stretched upward toward the roof.

All the books Sadie and Kelsey would need were set up right next to the front desk, which made buying them significantly easier. But instead of rushing along, they meandered around the shop, looking at all the different books on the shelves, which were stacked tightly together and up the entire ten stories of the building. The only way to see what other books on display on the shelf was to go upstairs. Sadie found The Magical Sketchbook, which she knew she wouldn't regret buying, along with The Splendid History of Salem Institute, which she thought might be useful, and added them to her other school books, quills (because wizards didn't use pens or pencils), and bottles of ink.

Next was the shop Sadie, Kelsey, and Leah visited was Etc. Etc., a shop completely full of stuff. Stuff was the most explanatory word one would contrive from entering the store; Etc. Etc. didn't seem to market in anything in particular, but in fact sold just about everything imaginable in heaping piles which were scattered throughout the store. Sadie and Kelsey found their potion kits, scales, and telescopes, all for reasonable prices, though it took them nearly 45 minutes to sift through all the random curiosities all throughout the store. Leah took to playing hide-and-seek, which didn't make matters easier.

Back on the street, Kelsey nearly had a fit when she forgot that Sadie didn't have a pet. "You've got to have one! I have Gatsby, of course, and I share an owl with Tristan. But you, you need an owl, for sure."

"What would I want an owl for though?"

"They're really useful! It's how wizards communicate - we send owls back and forth with messages." This explained to Sadie why Kelsey's grandmother was always seen with owls flying by her house.

Kelsey continued, "You can't hope to send a message from school, cause it's not exactly like the Muggle postman is going to drop by and take your mail. That and they're so cute!" Kelsey finished, pointing at a kitten that was pawing the glass in the Playful Pet Adoption Shoppe.

The room inside the shop was bright yellow with comfortable looking cages, containing all sorts of animals, such as kittens, puppies, lizards, owls, birds, and some strange creatures Sadie had never seen before. Leah charged instantly to a strange pink puff-like creature, and began cuddling with it, while Kelsey pet the cats.

Sadie was busy browsing the owls, which were lined in their cages on the wall, when she noticed one in the corner of the store. While the other owls hooted happily as if talking to each other, this one sat quietly in the corner. Sadie called over the clerk, "What's with the owl in the corner over there?"

"Oh, a strange, and sadly unfortunate mistake," the kind woman said somewhat sadly. "It's a tawny owl. Usually they're only found overseas, and you see next to none here in the United States. It somehow got sent here with a shipment of other animals. Nobody knows where it came from originally, and it's been passed around for quite some time now."

Sadie got a closer look at the quiet owl. It was a light brown color, and somewhat stocky, but considerably smaller than any of the other owls. It leered at her curiously, but then started scratching its wing, apparently bored.

"It's not very sociable," the clerk commented. "In fact, it's bitten a few customers. I think it had a poor owner previously, and I'm sure all the moving around didn't help. It's also a runt." Sadie cringed when she heard the clerk say this. "Young for sure, but it's smaller than most any owl at its age. I suppose since nobody seems to want it, and I don't like the concept of passing it around the world, we'll just put it down. You'd probably like the other ones more, dear."

But Sadie took the cage with both hands. The tawny owl flapped its wings and hooted angrily and loudly, attracting a lot of attention. As customers began looking at Sadie and the owl, it stopped having a fit, almost as if it were embarrassed. "I like it," Sadie said.

"Are you sure, dear? The others are much more... friendly," the clerk said as the tawny owl took a strong bite into Sadie's finger.

Sadie stuck her finger in her mouth and spoke again, "I'm sure. I like him, and I think I'll name him Timber."

"If you say so. That'll be 6 Galleons and 12 Sickles... and I'll give you some bandages too," the clerk said as the owl gave Sadie another nasty bite. Timber wasn't happy after Sadie moved his cage from its spot on the shelf, and was flapping madly, but calmed down once they reached the busy street.

"Wow, I didn't realize it had taken so long," Kelsey mentioned, looking at a large clock that stood at the intersection of High and Low Street. "It's almost five already. Just enough time for you to get your wand."

"Right," Sadie affirmed, "and where do we go for that?"

"The only place to get a wand is Warren's Wizard Wands, at least, the only place that's decent here. There's one shop in Walpurgis Circle..." Kelsey seemed to dwell on a memory before shaking her head. "But yeah, Mr. Warren is the best wandsmith in the United States, or at least that's what everyone seems to think." They approached one of the buildings directly on the corner of the intersection of Low and High Street with a tattered, old sign hanging above the door.

They entered the dirty shop, which was in severe need of being aired out. It was quite dark except for what light filtered in through the dirty front windows. There was just as much dust on the floor except for a long cleaned streak where previous wizards had passed, wiping the dirt that was there away like a broom with their robes. The walls were lined high with shelves to the ceilings, all filled with hundreds of stacks of small boxes. The front desk had several pictures showing a family waving, because as Kelsey explained earlier, all wizard pictures move. Next to the picture was a nameplate that said, Mr. William Weartherby Warren - Wandsmith.

Besides the picture and the fact that the door to the shop was unlocked, Sadie assumed the shop was closed and in dire need or repair. But before Sadie could look around further, there came a loud bang accompanied by a great white flash of light down a hallway that also contained many more boxes. The bang was followed quickly by a heavy thud and a moan.

"Well, I said be patient, didn't I?" said the voice of an elderly man.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Warren. He's just really excited is all," said a second man from somewhere down the hallway.

"Not to worry, Mr. Shaw. I remember you were very much the same when you were getting your first wand. I should have expected as much," laughed the old man. "Come back to the sitting room and you can have a rest before we try again, calmer I do hope."

A man and woman who seemed to be the same age as Sadie's parents, and stocky boy about Kelsey and Sadie's age, came out of the hallway from behind the desk. They proceeded to a large couch covered in dust near the front window. The boy had a large lump on the back of his head, and his mother was fussing with him that he needed to learn to be more patient, much against the boys pleas.

"Honest, ma'. If I knew it was gonna explode, I wouldn't have touched the crazy thing."

An old man came from the same hallway in a wheelchair. He had very light, white hair that was very untidy, coke bottle glasses, and a charming face. "Well, well, Ms. Yates. Twelve-inch pine with dragon heartstring. Nice, thick, and powerful. Hasn't been giving you trouble now, has it?"

"No sir, Mr. Warren," Kelsey said, pulling her wand out of her pocket. "I'm just here with my friend who's getting her first wand."

"I do say though, Ms. Yates, do be careful," said Mr. Warren. "I always thought that one was a bit rebellious. But a friend! New opportunities! What is your name, young lady?" Sadie told him. as Leah clung to her arm as if she were worried. "Ms. Murray, yes, yes... Muggle, correct?"

"Yes!" Sadie replied, almost alarmed, "How did you know?"

"One of the true skills in being a wandsmith is being a people person," Mr. Warren said, driving his wheelchair around the front desk to Sadie and Kelsey. And when you've seen as many people, and made as many wands, as I have, you get a knack for prediction.

"The wand makes the wizard, or witch, Ms. Murray. Wands are very powerful magical tools that you'll no doubt find more about at Salem. But I can assure you somewhere in this shop is a wand that has been waiting for you since before you were born." Mr. Warren rolled directly in front of Sadie and pulled some measuring tape out of his robe. "Please extend your wand arm - oh yes, Muggle - almost forgot - your writing hand."

Sadie did as she was told, and Mr. Warren set himself to measuring her. Length of the whole arm, length of the upper and lower, individual finger size, distance between chest and arm, along with a long series of further measurements that seemed somewhat irrelevant, like forehead width and foot length. After the long series of awkward measurements that she felt she already received at the tailors, he directed them back to one of the hallways, which had wands in their boxes to every corner of the shop. Mr. Warren took his own wand out, flicked it, and made box poke out farther than its companions on the third tall shelf up. "If you wouldn't mind climbing up there and testing that wand out."

Sadie climbed the ladder, removed the box which was labeled Ebony, 13 1/2", brittle, phoenix feather.

"Now, please give the wand a flick," Mr. Warren asked.

She flicked the wand, but nothing at all happened. "No, no, then please put it away and come back down. Another, another. This one here, on the first level," Mr. Warren directed, handing her a box; Yew, 14 3/4", bendy, unicorn hair. Sadie gave it a flick, to which the wand suddenly erupted with a violent stream of water. The force of the water was so strong that the wand sailed out of her hand and banged into a stack of wand boxes, throwing them everywhere.

"Definitely not! More to choose from though," Mr. Warren said calmly.

It seemed that after 30 minutes they were still trying out wands. Most did nothing when Sadie flicked them, though some began to glow, but quickly died back down to normal. She was directed to what seemed like endless amounts of wands, all different combinations of lengths, woods, and items within the wand, that when Sadie asked, were called the wand cores. "The wands aren't magical in themselves. They're just sticks. But combining special wood with magical items give the wands their magical power," Mr. Warren explained.

Sadie didn't know what to think of this, though she was getting worried that finding a wand might take all day. One wand issued a huge beam of light which caused an explosion that sent wands in every direction, and Sadie clinging for her life to the ladder. The boy in the front of the shop, who was watching eagerly said, "See, Ma'! It's not just me!"

Another wand began to produce billowing black smoke, "My dear... you really should put that one away," Mr. Warren advised, though Sadie didn't need to be told twice.

She found the next wand far up near the roof of the shop. Cherry, 10 3/4", two unicorn hairs. Frustrated that she had to climb the ladder so high to reach this spot, she took the wand reluctantly. But she felt an odd, warm, soothing sensation flow through her entire body from her hand, like curling up in a warm blanket on a cold night. She gave the wand a wave, and it began to issue tiny bright gold sparks like a firework. "Wow..." she said to herself, mesmerized by the lights coming from the wand.

"Yes! Very well done! Didn't take long at all. Do come down."

When she reached the floor, Mr. Warren took her wrist with the wand still in hand and studied the wand up close. "I see, I see... Interesting."

"What is interesting, sir?" Sadie asked.

"Many wands correspond to different magical cores. This wand chose two hairs of a single unicorn rather than just one hair. It was very unorthodox to create, but you can't deny fate. This is a very unique wand, and very trustworthy as well." He continued to mumble to himself before he eventually had Sadie pay eleven Galleons for the wand.



After Sadie had her wand, she, Kelsey, and Leah made their way down to the Whitney Inn, the wizard version of the same Muggle hotel, at the end of High Street. They asked the hotel attendant if their parents had gotten rooms, and were directed to a room with two beds in Sadie and Kelsey's names. They deposited their things, and Sadie fed Timber a mouse, which he adamantly refused to eat. After briefly organizing their things, they made their way back down Low Street to the crowded Cloud Pine restaurant, where the Yates, Sadie's parents, and Jayne were waiting. All but Tristan sat at a table, talking and waiting.

"He wanted to go back to look at Quodpot things," Mrs. Yates sighed, shaking her head. "This is exactly why I prefer to come here only once a year with you kids." Tristan eventually returned with his pride and joy, a beautiful looking broom, which he propped up against the chair so everyone could admire it.

They were given menus with a large assortment of meals. Sadie received her first chance to use her wand. Because there were no waiters, the wizard ordering the meal had to touch the wand to what sort of food he or she wanted on the menu. The meal then without delay appeared cooked to perfection in front of them on the table. Sadie had to order for her whole family, which her mother was especially unhappy about.

Sadie's family was very quiet throughout dinner. Only her father was speaking, as he asked all sorts of questions to Mr. Yates, if he was fortunate enough to squeeze them in-between Sadie's infinite firing of different questions.

"So where is the Salem Institute?" Sadie's dad asked.

"It's hard to say exactly, because they use a lot of different charms on the school. Nobody knows exactly where it is. But by the name, you could guess it's somewhere near Salem, Massachusetts."

"How does someone not know where a place is if they're going there?" Sadie asked.

Mrs. Yates chimed in, "Well, this is getting into magic, which I know you won't understand very well, but I'll try and explain. There is something called an Unplottable Charm. It makes anything that has the charm impossible to be marked on a map. So you could never show someone how to get there exactly. They also have all sorts of different Muggle-repellant Charms."

"What do those do?"

"Depends on the particular charm. Most of them just hide things from Muggles in the open. Muggles tend to be somewhat dumb when it comes to magic - no offense intended," she added courteously after a grunt from Sadie's mother, who was slowly learning vocabulary words.

"But say there were a wizard shop in a Muggle town," Mrs. Yates continued. "To a wizard, it would appear as it is, because we comprehend magic and its true nature. Muggles would see a run down shop that needs to be bought up but isn't for sale. They don't notice because they aren't looking properly.

"The school also has more complex spells as well," she admitted. "For instance, I know for a fact that the grounds at Salem have a memory lapse Muggle repelling charm. If a Muggle found themselves strolling up the road to the school, once they enter the range of the charm, they would come to a sudden realization that they're supposed to be doing something else."

"You know," Sadie's dad mentioned, "there is this place deep in the park near our home where I have the strange feeling I've always left my keys in the front door."

"Good example, Mr. Murray. There is a Whomping Willow in that part of the park," Mr. Yates said.

"What is a Whomping Willow?" Sadie's father asked.

"They are a type of big willow tree that - well - whomps anything getting too close. Very territorial and dangerous. So we put a Muggle-repelling charm in that area."

"Who do you mean by we?" Sadie asked. She was very enthralled and curious in everything she was being told.

"I work for the United Sorcerer's Administration - wizard government in the US, ma'am," Mr. Yates mentioned as Sadie's mother gave him a puzzled look. "I work for the House of Magical Environment; Junior Representative of the Botany Division, though I'm hoping to get promoted soon."

"You will with all the good work you've been doing lately," mentioned Mrs. Yates. "You're in a good position for promotion."

"My wife used to work in the Administration before she had Kelsey. Afterwards, she decided to devote her time being full-time mother instead." Mr. and Mrs. Yates looked at each other smiling. "She used to be Junior Undersecretary, which is a very renowned position, and was quite the philanthropist, when she worked in the House of Magical Creatures. She was able to get better laws passed for goblins and centaur so they would have more representation in the magical community." Jayne struggled to contain a cough after hearing the word goblin again.

"How come I've never heard about all this government business?" Sadie's mom asked.

"Well you're a Muggle, of course." Mr. Yates said, winking, which made Sadie laugh.

"Well I think this magic business is ignorant, and I still don't think Sadie should be running away to a school full of kids to study nothing. And I'm not about to be involved in any of this." Inside, this made Sadie mad, but her mother knew nothing. Not even her mom being rude and self-absorbed could mess up a day this good. Sadie's father was about to console her mother before Mr. Yates spoke again.

"You say that now, but you'll change your mind in a year, I assure you. And if you really don't want involvement, it'll be no problem if we took Sadie with us to Union Station when that time comes around for the girls to leave for school. For now, since we're finished with dinner, let's head back to the Whitney Inn, shall we?"

Sadie's family and the Yates paid for their meals, and made their way back down both Low and High Streets to Whitney Inn. Sadie convinced her mother that it would be okay to share a room Kelsey, and that they weren't going to summon demons using their witchcraft, which her mother had incessantly tried to insist they would. Her mother may not understand how the wizarding world worked, but Sadie did.

Sadie could never have imagined something so perfect. Everything was interesting, and everything seemed to have some sort of unknown meaning behind it. The thoughts and dreams of attending the Salem Institute of Magical Learning and what it would be like to learn more was enough to drift her silently and quickly to sleep that night.

The next morning, the Murrays and the Yateses awoke at ten o'clock, had breakfast, helped Tristan, Kelsey, and Sadie gather all their newly bought school things, and prepared to leave Orthogon Avenue. Mr. Yates had awoken earlier in the morning, explaining later, "I received an important owl from the Administration, and since I was in Orthogon Avenue, I volunteered to help." He returned in time for breakfast with two huge trunks for all of Sadie and Kelsey's uniforms and supplies.

Sadie had a hunch that the trunks themselves were magical; even when she put all of the things she had purchased the day before within the trunk, she still had plenty of room to spare. But packing all her things in one big trunk didn't make transporting the goliath of a suitcase any easier.

"Normally, we wouldn't take the car here," Tristan said, obviously quite bothered that he was forced into manual labor by technicality. "Not only is it ten times as fast, we also don't have to worry about dragging these things around."

The most awkward part for Sadie was carrying the trunks from the wizard restroom of the Whitney Inn on the of Orthogon Avenue side into the Muggle side of the Whitney Plaza Hotel restroom. Sadie tried as hard as she could not to be embarrassed trying to squeeze the huge trunk through the bathroom stall door while a pompous woman, who had previously been applying lipstick, now stared at Sadie in confusion. This made Sadie confident her face was as red as the woman's lipstick when she finally got the trunk through and marched out of the restroom, Timber hooting furiously from his cage in Sadie's other hand. Their awkward parade through the lobby of the hotel wasn't much better; Sadie could have sworn a security guard wanted to throw them out, but was too confused to figure out on what grounds to do so.

The same valet boy from the day before was working, and Mr. Yates handed him their parking ticket. Sadie almost felt sorry that they kept exposing the poor boy to such oddity, but eventually he brought the Ford Fiesta from the garage. Sadie could only imagine what the valet thought as they somehow easily fit the three tremendous trunks into the rear of the car, as nine people comfortably into the interior, not to mention when the rickety thing blew away down the street at an insurmountable speed.

"So where exactly do you live?" Sadie asked Kelsey after they had seen the last signs of Manhattan fading quickly into the distance, the adults talking amongst themselves while Tristan scribbled Quodpot strategies in a notebook.

"A place called the South Ridge, in Michigan. One of the larger wizard neighbourhoods in the country."

"They have wizard neighbourhoods?" Sadie exclaimed. She imagined a suburbia with witches and wizards wandering everywhere, objects floating through the air, and strange things happening at every corner.

"Yeah, wizards just tend to want to be around each other. Living around Muggles is pretty weird. My family only knows so much about Muggles because my mom's an advocate for them. She really believes in Muggle rights, and thinks that we wizards should blend in with their society." This launched Kelsey's mother on to the topic of Muggle and magical cooperation between the adults.

"It's nothing special really though," Kelsey continued. "Just a country town that's shared with Muggles. The community applied to the Admin. once to become an actual town, but the Admin. denied the request. But since the town is pretty spread out and small, we can act more normal around each other. Well, normal for wizards, anyway."

"Are there a lot of wizard communities?" Sadie queried.

"Tons here in America," Tristan said, tapping his quill on the paper, which made the plays that he had drawn go into motion. "Never anywhere big. Always country towns, but there are several communities all across the states, usually where most of the wizards come from. There are wizard villages, where only wizards live, completely separate from Muggles. A lot of my friends live in an all-wizard village in Texas, and another large village in Montana. There are a few smaller ones in Alaska and Washington too, I think."

"You never hear much about those, since they're all-wizard towns," chimed in Mr. Yates while driving. "The ones that get publicity are the wizarding communities, since they're so much closer to Muggles. More chance to get in trouble, I suppose. South Ridge in Michigan, a couple in California and Colorado... there are plenty of wizard communities. There are many more in the New England area. That's the oldest wizarding region in the United States."

The world was streaking past the car windows at unfathomable speed. Sadie had a mounting unhappiness growing in her. It was only the twenty-first of July. Term at Salem, or so the letter read, didn't begin until September first. Saide was going to have to sit around and wait for over a month before she'd have any exposure to the wizarding world again. She looked down at Tristan's Quodpot journal of strategies, but quickly realized it was magical, which only made her feel worse.

As if she could read minds, Kelsey said, "Don't worry Sadie. I know you like this kind of life. Don't worry - summer is only a month longer."

"One month too long," Sadie admitted.

"I feel the same way, don't you worry."

"But you are a witch. You're around magic all the time. You aren't stuck in a house all day with nothing to do," Sadie lamented.

"You're right, my mom's always making me do chores!" Kelsey whined with a sarcastically loud sigh. Sadie couldn't help but laugh. "Really Sadie, it's not that great for me. I only know a couple spells, and even then, I'm not supposed to use them - it's illegal."

"Oh yeah... I almost forgot that you weren't allowed," Sadie mentioned. Maybe it wasn't much better for Kelsey, she thought to herself.

"But I'll write you all summer, and you can see if Timber will figure out how to deliver messages." To this remark, Timber, who seemed quite uncomfortable spending the car ride on the floor in his cage, hooted angrily. "That way we can still talk while we're waiting for school. Then, in one month," Kelsey held up a single symbolic finger, "we'll be at Salem! I can't wait for term to start!" she cheered.

"Speaking of which, Kelsey," Mrs. Yates mentioned to Kelsey, dropping her previous conversation, "you're grounded until the start of term."

"What?! Why?!" Kelsey hollered, taken aback.

"You used magic and showed it to a Muggle! It's illegal!"

"Grandma told you about that, huh?" Kelsey murmured guiltily.

"Yes, and just because you slipped passed the Administration doesn't mean you're going to get by me."

"Crap," groaned Kelsey, as Sadie choked back a laugh as Kelsey's mother told Kelsey to watch her language. Maybe the month won't be so bad.



Once they returned to Trail Lake, at the end of Mayflower Circle, the Yateses let the Murrays off at their house. Jayne was returned to her personal heaven of cell phone reception, but not before a strict lecture from both Mr. and Mrs. Yates about keeping the wizard world a secret. They warned her that the Administration had all sorts of punishments for tattle tells, and Mr. Yates turned Sadie's messenger bag into a live pig to scare Jayne into keeping quiet before reverting it. The act was very effective.


Leah didn't want to leave, but after the Yateses all exchanged hugs with her and Sadie, they got back into their car. Sadie thought that she would wait outside to watch the Yateses rickety car drive away down the street. But she forgot how fast the car moved, and in the time it took to blink, the car squealed its tires and was gone.





Truth be told, just as Kelsey had said, the rest of Sadie's summer wasn't so bad. The worst part was when her parents removed her from her Muggle elementary school. This wasn't very difficult at all though; Sadie was supposed to be transferring from her elementary school into a sixth grade middle school, so it was not too difficult to say that she was going to school in a different town.

In the meantime, Sadie had been trying to get Timber to trust her. She continued to feed him regularly, though he never seemed happy. He made a particular effort to hoot loudly when Sadie was asleep. Eventually, she let him out of his cage on a couple of occasions. But he took to flying around the room crazily, and eventually started taking things in his talons and throwing them around the room, usually toward Sadie's head.

Slowly over the course of the month, after letting him out of his cage more often, and trying to pet him, he stopped pecking and scratching Sadie as often. One night, Sadie let Timber out of her window, and he flew away into the night. She was worried he might not come back, but the next morning he returned, placing a dead and bloody rat in her hand, apparently as a gift.

The entire time Sadie spent at home, Kelsey wrote her letters, which were delivered by a brown owl with a very white, flat face that looked as if it had ran into a wall at some point. The message would be attached to its leg each time by some string. Kelsey said in her letters that its name was Harold. Once in a while, Harold would try to take one of Timber's mice after a long flight, and they began to scuffle until Sadie broke it up, earning herself many scratches.

Harold would always wait for Sadie to write a reply to Kelsey's letters until Sadie finally worked up the nerve to let Timber try to transport one. He made the trip successfully, and Kelsey wrote an excited reply. By this time, Harold and Timber had become more friendly, and would escort each other to transport the replies back and forth, though they still would fight over mice.

Kelsey continued to apologize in every letter for not having anything interesting to say. Her mother had charmed the doors that lead out of the house to stay locked all the time, and Kelsey couldn't open them without using a counterspell.

I found the counterspell in that book we have for school, The Standard Book of Spells. But when I tried to use, it I melted the doorknob, which only got me in more trouble. Sadie couldn't help but laugh as Kelsey kept getting herself into more trouble being so eager to practice, mostly because Sadie, herself, could sympathize.

Kelsey also found out why she didn't get in trouble with the Administration.

My mom told me that they use a special enchantment that can detect underage magic anywhere. They put it on all wizards when they're born. You weren't born in any sort of wizarding family, so the enchantment didn't affect you, which is why they didn't detect you. I didn't get caught because they can detect where the spell was cast, but not who it was cast by. Since it was my grandma's house, and we all can use magic, they would be clueless as to who actually cast it. Then my mother mentioned that since you actually are a witch, you didn't apply to the law as being a Muggle, and I didn't break the Statute of Secrecy. I wish that would get me ungrounded though. Where's the justice?

All this talk about spells and magic convinced Sadie to delve into her books, which took up a lot of her time. She had been drawing a lot in her new magical sketchbook, but she knew that there was a trick to it, and thought she might be able to find a spell that would make the drawing move like the package it came in said it could. But there were so many spells, charms, hexes, jinxes, and enchantments in the Standard Book Of Spells that she eventually gave up. She thought it was probably for the best, since casting any sort of spell was technically illegal.

Sadie had been receiving an unusual amount of attention from her family since the trip to Orthogon and the visit of the witch, Professor Ellicot. Leah constantly followed Sadie, attempting to catch a glimpse of a spell. Jayne would still ignore her, but would do so in a way that showed she acknowledged her existence. Sadie figured that Jayne just didn't want to get turned into a pig. Sadie and her dad spent a lot of time together, since he knew she would be leaving for such a long time. The only person who refused to pay Sadie any attention was her mother, who had begun so vehemently ignoring her it was almost frightening. She cooked meals for only four people now, and even once locked Sadie's bedroom window when she knew Sadie was on the roof.

When she had a chance, which was more often than not, Sadie would walk down Mayflower Drive to Ms. Yates' house and join her in cooking a meal or just talking. She felt a lot more attached to Ms. Yates after the whole experience she had in becoming a witch, and saw her almost as a grandmother to herself as well as Kelsey. She had a lot of fun making meals when Ms. Yates used her magic.

All in all, it seemed like a mere fortnight before Sadie glanced at the calendar in her room that showed only one day before the Yates arrived at her home to take her to the Salem Institute of Magical Learning.




Sadie woke up very early the morning she was due to depart to Salem. She got dressed immediately, and when she saw herself in the mirror, she looked like she was glowing, as she was that fateful day in July. She had never remembered a time when she had ever been as happy as she felt this morning. She returned to her trunk, filled to the brim with clothes and school supplies, and found her letter to pore over the third page of parchment from Salem as she had been doing earnestly for weeks.






The Salem Institute
of Magical Learning
_______________________________________
Transportation



All students are required to report to the nearest national train station, as posted, at the appropriated times for their respective area of the country (all information seen below). They will board the school-operated train, The Salem Express, at Gate 7, as appropriately marked on the ticket that accompanies this letter. Ticket officials at the train stations will be Institute officials, and will be announcing for a train to Salem, Massachusetts. All times listed are final, and if the student does not arrive by the indicated time, the train WILL leave without them.


Pacific Northwest - King Street Station, Seattle, WA (8:00 A.M.)
Pacific Southwest - Union Station, Los Angeles, CA (10:00 A.M.)
Gulf Coast - Union Station, Dallas, TX (12:00 P.M.)
Great Lakes - Union Station, Chicago, IL (2:00 P.M.)
Atlantic - Grand Central Station, New York City, NY (4:00 P.M.)
New England - South Station, Boston, MA (6:00 P.M.)


The train is expected to arrive in Pride's Crossing Station in the town of Gallows Hill by 7:00 P.M. Students will then be escorted by carriage to The Salem Institute of Magical Learning. (You may want to italicize the letter, depending on what you have done in the past)







Waiting until two in the afternoon seemed to be appallingly cruel torture; why couldn't the train arrive sooner, Sadie wondered. But Sadie was more than willing to be patient. Her wildest dream was to leave from that train station, and she would be there, beaming, boarding that train with her best friend. She could ask for nothing more.

Her mother's building animosity for Sadie had mounted into a crescendo of derision. She refused to even make breakfast today. But besides her mother's unscrupulous anger for the day's events, the rest of Sadie's family seemed unusually happy. Leah didn't bother Sadie at all, instead following in Sadie's wake admiringly. Her father had cooked a delicious breakfast instead, and Jayne joined, carrying conversation with Sadie, though Sadie was sure she could hear some of her mother in Jayne's tone at times.

It was a wonderful day, and as a testament to her last day at home before proceeding to Salem, Sadie decided she would climb the roof once more and draw. She drew the cul-de-sac, every house in its place, from the sky, looking down diagonally. She put special emphasis on Kelsey's grandmother's house. During her work, Ms. Yates herself continued her tradition of morning walks, and waved at Sadie happily from the street. Sadie added Ms. Yates to her picture, no longer as the quirky old lady from down the road, but as a wonderful, happy woman, waving merrily.

Slowly but surely, the hours passed, only mounting Sadie's excitement. She could hardly keep still, and kept herself busy by playing catch with Leah in the backyard, who continued to ask her to throw the ball with magic.

A pitiful sounding car horn issued a honk from the front of the house. It could be none other than the Ford Fiesta and the Yates! Sadie caught Leah's pitch, raced to her, giving her a huge hug, and carried her a short way to the back door. She put Leah down and broke into a run toward the front door, where her father had just let Mr. Yates and Kelsey in. Kelsey stood next to her father, waving and smiling broadly, obviously with the same excitement that Sadie felt.

Sadie began to make a full run toward the staircase to get her luggage before Mr. Yates stopped her. "Oh, no need - stay Sadie. There's no rush. We have an hour and Tristan is getting some of his Quodpot supplies from my mother's house. I'll get your things." Mr. Yates gave a flick of his wand.

Before Sadie could question what Mr. Yates was doing, she saw that her luggage was flying down the staircase, with Timber accompanying it, screeching angrily after being woken from a nap. For a moment she thought, in a fit of excitement, Leah ran upstairs and pushed Sadie's things down the stairs to help get her trunk to the car. But in fact, the luggage was drifting through the air magically. It came to the bottom of the staircase, turned the corned toward the front door, and landed calmly on the ground. Timber seemed to realize whatever threat there was had dissipated, and closed his eyes again, while Kelsey laughed, apparently quite used to this.

They hauled the luggage out to the car where Kelsey's mother was shifting Tristan and Kelsey's trunks in the rear of the car for more room. Sadie's family, even her mother, though quite adamantly, followed into the front yard. Leah begged for Mr. Yates to make the luggage fly to the car.

"But we wouldn't want your neighbours to see that now, would we?" he kidded with a smile. After much coaxing, they finally forced Sadie's trunk in, along with Tristan's new supplies, including a large carrying case that looked as if it was made for a guitar.

Sadie turned to face her family, who all stood to wish her farewell. She gave Leah a hug first. "You be good. Don't get into too much trouble." Then she exchanged an even larger hug with her father.

"I should say the same to you," he said happily. "I love you, Sadie. I'm so proud."

Jayne seemed reluctant when Sadie approached her, but Sadie gave her full hug all the same. Sadie couldn't remember the last time that she and Jayne hugged, but after a moment, Jayne returned the hug.

All that was left was her mother, who was refusing to even look toward Sadie. She stood rooted to the spot as if showing her contempt for the situation would make Sadie change her mind. Exactly because of her mother's attitude, Sadie gave her the biggest hug out of her whole family. She could barely suppress a laugh as she felt her seething, angry mother in her arms, who only gave her a slight pat on the back.

And with a few final last-minute goodbyes, Kelsey, Sadie, and the rest of the Yates entered the small magical car. They gave one final wave before the car started, and with a bang, blasted down the street at full speed, leaving Mayflower Drive instantly behind.

They were flying through crazily through the neighborhood streets, a back and forth like a ship in choppy waters. Kelsey squealed giddily, "I can't wait! I can't wait!"

"I'm telling you, you'll be regretting your words by the day after tomorrow," warned Tristan. "First week of homework isn't going to be a pushover."

"Hush, Tristan," defended Ms. Yates. "It'll be glorious, Kelsey. I promise."

"Believe me, Tristan couldn't dampen my hopes if he tried!" she said, sticking out her tongue at him. "When does the train leave again?"

"Two o'clock, exactly," Sadie recited almost instinctively, bouncing impatiently in her seat.

"How are you feeling, Sadie?" Mr. Yates asked.

"I can't wait! I really can't wait."

"That's the spirit. You'll get the full experience, I tell you. It's one thing for a wizard to go to Salem, but I can only imagine how amazing it is for a muggle going to Salem."

The car wove back and forth through the neighbourhoods, no doubt slowly making its way toward downtown Chicago and Union Station. After her two rides in the car, Sadie had already formed a casualness to the crazy, disorienting ride, and sat calmly and still in her seat like the other Yates. The blurred suburbs began to dissipate, being replaced by more urbanized buildings, until what seemed like mere minutes later they had passed into the downtown. Only a moment longer were they moving; they suddenly screeched to a stop discreetly parked in a parking garage near the station.

Sadie placed Timber's cage atop her trunk, and guiding the cart her luggage sat on, followed the Yates, who helped Kelsey keep her cat, Gatsby, calm as he ran back and forth in side his cage excitedly. They entered Union Station through the main entrance, proceeding directly toward the trains.

"Okay, everyone get their tickets out and ready," Mr. Yates advised.

"How is it that Muggles don't end up on this train too?" Sadie asked.

"Simplicity. The train is one way to Salem, and you need a special ticket to get on."

"But wouldn't it be really easy for a Muggle to board the train by accident."

"Not really. Come on, Sadie, whether you're a Muggle or a wizard, this is America. Hardly anybody rides the trains anymore. Muggles take them only when they have to now, they see them as inefficient. But we wizards think they're quite useful." True to his word, there weren't a tremendous lot of people making their way to the trains that were resting in the station. They followed a set of stairs down to platform seven.

Sitting on the rails, was a huge steam engine that looked like it had been transported through time. The engine itself was painted with blue and red, and lined with silver and gold, with a nameplate on front with white writing appropriately read THE SALEM EXPRESS.

Many Muggles who were making their way down to the platform were suddenly checking their purses and glancing at their watches. No doubt they were under the effect of some spell, and were returning somewhere else. Other Muggles who didn't seem to be affected by the spell simply didn't look in the direction of the train, as if it wasn't actually there. The wizards in the crowd, on the other hand, were wishing children away, and guiding them up to the train. Sadie could easily spot those who were true wizards in the crowd, because they had attempted to dress in Muggle clothes, with poor results.

"Now boarding, now boarding. Ten minutes left," announced a man checking kids' tickets.

"Oh, I can barely bear it!" Mrs. Yates proclaimed, now latching herself to both Tristan and Kelsey. "Both of you off to Salem. What am I going to do?" Her hug seemed to be suffocating both of them.

"I'm sure you'll find something, mom," Kelsey said, gasping for breath.

"Lindsay, if you don't let them go eventually, they won't be gone after all," Mr. Yates said.

"Yeah, you'd hate to murder Kelsey before she even got on the train for her first year, wouldn't you?" Tristan gasped, uselessly attempting to wave to someone farther down the platform.

"Fine, fine, get on the train then," Mrs. Yates chuckled, finally letting go of her children. Tristan hurriedly hugged his father, said goodbye, and ran to catch up to a boy who was waiting for him at one of the entrances to the train.

"Oh, Sadie!" Without further warning, Sadie found herself now crushed under the overpowering strength of Mrs. Yates' love. She felt a great desire to compare Mrs. Yates to a mother bear. "I do hope your first year is wonderful, and not too confusing."

"It'll be great, promise!" Sadie said, struggling to free herself from the vice grip hug. Mrs. Yates finally let go, leaving Sadie choking feebly for air. She appreciated the affection, but had never realized love was so painful.

After a few last second goodbyes, Sadie and Kelsey pulled their trunks after them as they boarded the now steaming train, which was slowly coming to life like a bear after the winter. The train had velvety red carpet with gold leading down the small hallway, cramped full of students.

"Let's get a compartment before they all fill up, so we can wave goodbye," Kelsey mentioned, making a move toward the centre of the train car.

Room after room was filled to capacity with students, but near the middle of the train car, they found a cabin with only one girl inside, and opened the door as the train slowly lurched to life and began to move.

Kelsey spoke to the lone girl in the car, "Hey, mind if we sit in here with you?"

The girl looked them over briefly, quickly moving her eyes behind them as if looking for someone else. "Yeah, sure."

Squeezing their trunks through the small doorway, Sadie and Kelsey closed the door after them, Kelsey rushing to the window and waving to her parents. Sadie joined her as the girl reopened a book she was reading.

Slowly but surely, with a few boisterous whistles, the train chugged to a start, and began gliding down the tracks, past all the waving families. In only moments, they had left the station and had begun their journey to The Salem Institute. The scenery of Chicago began to pass by in the view of the window after leaving the station. A voice emitted from somewhere in the air, resonating down the hall, "Now leaving Chicago; next stop in Grand Central Station, New York City. Brace for Speeding Charm."

With a second lurch, the train began speeding extremely fast down the tracks. The city streamed past the windows in a blur. The speed of the train reminded Sadie vividly of the Yates' Ford Fiesta.

Kelsey and Sadie had taken their seats opposite of the girl. Sadie got her first good look at their cabin companion. The girl had long, jet black hair that ran past her shoulders, and powerful, light blue eyes, just like Sadie. Her complexion was light, and on all accounts, she was stunningly beautiful. Even though Sadie knew the girl was her age, it made Jayne look nowhere near as pretty by comparison. The girl was already wearing robes, but they were clearly Haute Couture, because they were significantly shorter than any of Sadie's robes.

The girl apparently read as far as she wished in her books, and dog-eared the top of the page she was on before closing the book. "Hello then, my name is Grace. Grace Slick. And you are?"

"I'm Sadie."

"And I'm Kelsey," Kelsey replied, mouth wide open, "And I love your robes."

"Oh, these?" Grace said, picking up the ends of her robe and running it through her fingers. "Just something I threw on."

"Wow, I wish I could 'just throw on' something like that."

"Yeah. It's a refined taste, I guess," Grace said, looking unamused. Something in Grace's voice bothered Sadie. It almost seemed by the tone as if Grace wasn't at all interested in them, and was even bragging a bit, as if she were better than them. But Sadie didn't want to reserve judgment toward Grace since they only just met, and shrugged the thought off.

"Wait, Slick? Your last name is Slick?" Kelsey asked after a brief silence. "You don't mean like Hieronymus Slick, do you?"

"The same. He's my uncle. My father is Ulysses Slick," Grace replied with a proud smirk.

"I knew you looked familiar! Your uncle and dad are both really famous in the Administration. My dad works for both of them."

"Yeah, it's the sort of thing you get used to," Grace said, looking at her nails. "And who are you again?" She asked, as if she had never been told.

"Kelsey Yates. My dad's Daniel Yates. He works in the House of..."

"Yes, yes, that's fascinating," Grace quickly interjected, pulling out her wand. She pointed it at some of her things across from her, above Sadie and Kelsey's heads on a shelf.

"Wingardium Leviosa." The girls watched as Grace maneuvered her wand around. She aimed it at her bag, and something was clearly moving around inside.

"This shouldn't be so frustrating!" Grace said annoyed. She took a quick breath and repeated the spell slower. "Wingardium Leviosa." After a moment, a strange box lifted its way out of the bag, and floated down into Grace's lap.

"Wow, you're really good at that," Sadie said.

"I am a Slick, of course. I should be up to par. But any decent wizard would be, right?"

Kelsey somewhat blushed; Sadie remembered the haphazard levitating spell Kelsey had used on the cup.

"Don't mind if I listen to some music, do you?" Grace asked. But didn't wait for an answer, putting on a large pair of headphones. The box had a small vinyl record on it, and with the tap of Grace's wand, it began revolving, and Grace leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes.




The countryside sailed past the windows as Kelsey and Sadie enjoyed the train ride. After a few hours, the train arrived at platform seven in Grand Central Station. They watched as new students boarded the train, waving goodbye to their families. While Grace dozed, slowly nodding her head to the unheard beat of her music, and the train once again lurched into motion, Sadie finally decided to ask Kelsey what Quodpot was.

"I keep forgetting how much you don't know. Well, Quodpot is this wizards game. The players fly above a field on brooms, and the idea is, they have to sink this ball called a Quod into a large cauldron, called the pot, that's floating on the other side of the field."

"That's amazing! It must be crazy to fly on brooms like that, much less play a game," Sadie said, trying to imagine what it could possibly be like.

"The flying is nothing. I've already flown once," Kelsey explained. "It was a little difficult at first though, but easy to get the hang of. The real tough part was that Tristan kept knocking me off."

Sadie couldn't help but gasp.

"Yeah, Quodpot's rough, and Tristan forgets that sometimes. Anyway, the hard part about Quodpot is making the goal. You have to get past all of the players on the other team who try and snatch the Quod from you, and land the shot."

"It sounds like almost like a couple Muggle sports. Like basketball and football."

"Maybe, but I bet the Quod in those games doesn't explode."

"What?!" Sadie exclaimed, shocked. She noticed that Grace had opened her eyes briefly, and she felt self-conscious.

"Yeah, at random times during the game, the Quod will explode. The whole deal is the pot at the end of the field has this liquid that stops the blasting curse on the Quod. Anyone holding the Quod - well obviously, they get blown up - and a new Quod is brought out."

"That's terrible!"

"I know, right? I hate it. Really exciting to watch, honestly, but it's just so violent. There's always someone falling off a broom and breaking a bone. And don't even get me started on the explosions... I much prefer Quidditch."

"Quidditch? What's that?"

But before Kelsey could answer, the door to the cabin opened. A boy peered in through the doorway, "Has anyone seen a purse?"

Sadie and Kelsey were bewildered. Grace, who apparently heard the question, took off her headphones, "What in the world are you talking about? A purse?"

"Mmhmm, a purse," the boy repeated awkwardly. He was looking out the window of the cabin as he spoke, as if he were addressing the scenery and not the girls.

"And who exactly are you?" Graced asked.

"Oh, um..." The boy suddenly seemed to have become aware that there were people addressing him, and looked embarrassed, even bashful, as he blushed on the spot. "My names Max..." he barely muttered, if possible, turning a brighter shade of red. He had short black hair, and thick, black rimmed glasses in front of his brown eyes. He was already in his uniform, along with his navy blue hat, but lacked his matching uniform robe.

"And why in the world are you looking for a purse?" Grace questioned.

The boys face instantly returned to normal. It seemed the introduction was the most embarrassing part for him, "These two boys came into my cabin while I was reading my book, The Splendid History of Salem Institute. They were very silly; they threw my book on other seat and said they needed my wand.

"It must have been some sort of game," Max continued. "I let them know that my mom had told me to always keep my wand with me, so I couldn't lend it to them. Then one of them said, 'You better watch out or I'm going to give you a purse, four-eyes.' It was a bit rude to say four-eyes, but they wanted to give me a purse! I think they're hiding it, like a scavenger hunt."

"Are you... What?" Grace mumbled, completely confused, though Sadie thought that Grace was understanding this better than she or Kelsey was.

Two boys approached from behind the boy, "For the sixth time you idiot, I said curse! Not purse!" exclaimed the first, slurring his words angrily. Both of the new boys looked nearly identical, with very short brown hair and dark eyebrows. The only visible difference was that one was slightly taller than the other. They both looked quite annoyed.

"Yeah! We'll do it too - we're not scared!" said the second boy. "You'll have to see a nurse before we even get to Salem."

"Oh, you meant nurse?" asked Max. "Here I've been looking for a purse. You should have said you were hurt. Has anyone seen a nurse?" Max called down the hallway. He quickly bustled away from the doorway.

"Andres! Alexandre!" Grace called to the two boys. "It's about time! I've been waiting here all day for you two."

"Like you didn't know we lived in Old York," said the taller boy. "Don't try and be a show off Grace, it's not going to work."

"Shut up, Andres. I can do what I want," she said, pointing her wand. For some reason, Andre and Alexandre alike both shuddered, seemingly afraid of Grace.

"Who are these girls?" Alexandre asked.

Sadie was about to introduce herself when Grace spoke first, "Just two new acquaintances of mine. Kelsey Yates, her father works for mine. And, Sadie you said? What's your last name?"

"Murray," Sadie confirmed.

"Strange, never heard of it. Anyway, I'm sure we'll see each other again," Grace said to Sadie and Kelsey. "I'm off with these two raving lunatics, the Quints."

She pointed her wand to her bag, and Andres picked it up for her. "Maybe we'll even be sorted into the same house together. Be rooting for Lupa; that's obviously where I'm going. You two should join the only real house," she touted with a proud smile.

With a swish of her hair, Grace Slick proceeded out of the room, Andres and Alexandre in hot pursuit with her trunk in their hands.

"That's wild," Kelsey said.

"What is?"

"Grace Slick. Her father and uncle are really high up in the Administration. And she's friends with the Quint brothers. They're both really famous in the wizarding world."

"Why them?" Sadie asked.

"They're one of the oldest pureblood families in the United States."

"Pureblood?"

"All wizard family, basically. There are Muggle wizards, obviously," Kelsey mentioned, pointing to Sadie, "And half-bloods, which are half Muggle and half wizard. But pureblood families like mine and Grace's are families that have no Muggle heritage. It's kinda complicated. But there aren't many purebloods anymore, and the families that are left are really old, and respected."

"And the Quints are especially old, then?"

"Very, very old! They're somehow related to the DeJarlais family, which is the oldest in the United States. I can hardly believe that I'm going to school with people as famous as the Quints and Grace Slick though."

"They sound important," Sadie said, but she wasn't sure she meant it. Grace seemed kind of rude when they rode with her in the cabin, and the Quint brothers were picking on that boy, Max.

Just as she thought about Max, he returned, sliding the door open once more. "Ever find the nurse?" Kelsey asked.

"No, but I believe those two boys wanted to hear a verse from a song. That makes much more sense, because they didn't look hurt at all. Oh, and a nice man up the hall told me that we should get our robes on. We're almost to Gallows Hill. You both should probably get your robes on as well."

Straightening his glasses, Max blushed again awkwardly, closed the door, and stumbled down the hallway out of sight. Sadie and Kelsey couldn't help but laugh. They had already met some interesting characters, and they hadn't even reached the school. As night fell across the country side, and they passed through Boston, Sadie and Kelsey dawned their school uniforms and robes, waiting for the train to pull into the final station.

With a last few triumphant coughs of steam, the great monster that was the Salem Express came to a calming stop. Students could be heard throughout the corridor of the train leaving their cabins, heading toward the exits as adults on the platform began directing students.

"Let's get going," Kelsey suggested.

The two girls filtered into the busy hallway and made their way off of the train. The platform was bustling with students heading in all direction. Sadie only saw a brief glimpse of Tristan amongst the mass of strangers before he disappeared with his friends.

"Alright now, all y'all first years! C'mon over here," said a very tall man dressed in torn and dirty robes, along with a cowboy hat and cowboy boots. He was shaven, but had small nicks and cuts across his face, as if he had shaved in a hurry.

As the first years began to gather around the tall man, he spoke to them with a very heavy Texan accent. "That's right, y'all, get on over here. Now, can all y'all hear me? My name is Austin Miller, but y'all can call me Austin. I'm the gatekeeper for this here school," he said, motioning to something obviously unseen in the distance.

"But, tonight, I get the sweet treat of showing y'all around our neighbouring town before leadin' y'all up to Salem. If y'all just follow me right quick; that's right, this way."

While the older students filed away to a dirt road leading away from the small train station, toward a nearby forest, the first years made their way after the tall Texan wizard. He led them for a short walk down a paved road, which eventually led to a very small town. The village itself looked as if it had remained unchanged since the 1800s, with small, modest houses neatly arranged on a cobblestone road. The lights of each small building and house gleamed through their windows. Sadie couldn't shake the feeling that this town was somewhat eerie in the dark.

"Alright, so this is Gallows Hill, kids. It's the only all-wizardin' town still around in the New England area." At this point, Austin seemed to be struggling to remember facts about the town.

"Um, well, yeah - right! So this town has no contact with any Muggles at all, so you ain't going to have to worry 'bout hidin' when you're here. And you'll no doubt find yourself here later in the year..."

A hand raised above the crowd. Everyone focused their gaze on the face of Max, who looked very pale in the light from the street lanterns. He suddenly became very embarrassed, his face turning bright red, even in the dim light. Austin seemed confused as to why anyone would raise their hand. "Yeah? What's that?"

"I read in The Splendid History of Salem Institute that around 150 years ago, Salem established the tradition of letting their students come to Gallows Hill for Halloween and again after Thanksgiving. Is this what you mean when you say we'll find ourselves here?"

Austin didn't seem to have expected any of the students to know this, nor comment on it, but seemed to relish the chance to not have to explain information he didn't know. "That's right, son. But for the record, to the rest of you, those are the only two occasions y'all will be let down here. First years gotta stay on the grounds..."

"- while students who have reached their third year may enter town on appropriated days, with permission," Max interjected, finishing the gatekeeper's sentence.

"Well, aren't you a bright one?" Austin said, making Max smile widely while several other kids shook their heads with impatience. "That's right, kids. So no comin' down here for a few more years. At least not without your professors."

The group was lead to the centre of town, which had a town hall standing before a large circular area, with a large fountain directly in the middle. There were many small shops around the circle. Austin continued to show the students the different buildings that were prominent in Gallows Hill, letting Max explain them in more detail to anyone who cared to listen.

"And that's the town centre," Max commented as the group clopped down the cobblestone street. "It was burned down in 1763 in the Goblin Rebellion of Gorblinton when Avek the Atrocious attacked the Gallows Hill wizards in riot instigated by to slavery restrictions put on goblins." Sadie simply took to looking around the dark town, imagining what it would be like to live in an all wizarding town.

Eventually, the group made their way from the town centre toward the outskirts of the small town. A dirt road led away from the town in the direction of the forest. But once the group had reached the road, some couldn't help but gasp in horror.

"C'mon now, don't be so startled. They're just ghosts," Austin said as several carriages drove up to the students, each pulled by a pair of translucent horses. They billowed a ghostly sort of cloud around their bodies, and made very little noise as they moved, except for the occasional ghostly neigh.

"Hop on in now. This is how y'all'll be gettin' to the school. Get on, get on."

The kids slowly, somewhat warily, boarded the carriages. Sadie and Kelsey boarded one with a girl and boy who were talking vigorously about ghosts. "Yeah, my sister told me all about them. Each of the children of the founders of Salem died, and came back to haunt the school," the girl commented.

"I knew that," replied the boy, "My dad told me about it. But I didn't think they would have ghost horses. That's just creepy."

Once the students finished boarding the carriages, the tall Texan guide hopped into the leading carriage, and the class of first years was off. The air behind the ghost horses felt bitterly cold, and their neighs into the night seemed to echo as if they were in a long, lonely tunnel. The ghost-drawn carriages pulled them down a long lane that led slowly uphill through the dark forest. The only light came from magical lanterns that floated along with the carriages, as well as a few streams of moonlight desperately making its way through the thick canopy of trees.

But as the lane rose further up the long incline, the woods began to thin out until the carriages came into a huge clearing where the hill flattened out. Ahead of them, was a large brick wall, with an impressively large gateway which seemed at their distance to be made of wrought iron. The wall was easily 20 feet tall, and as Sadie's carriage neared the gate, she saw that the entryway was made of a strange metal that gleamed green-ish in the moonlight. On either side of the gate, at the top of the wall, were two statues of witches, both on brooms, pointed upwards toward the sky.

The gates opened on their own, and every student peered out of their carriages to see the school. The vast building stretched across a huge expanse that was the campus grounds. There were two small buildings on the right and left, both about five stories tall, connected to a tremendous eight story building that stood at the end of a long grass lawn. The building itself was made of red-brick with a nearly black roof. Sadie could hardly take her eyes off it, struck with awe.

To the left, the land began to slope slowly down toward a lake and what looked like a small stadium. Beyond this, all one could see was the forest which surrounded the entire clearing of the campus.

The small road stretched to the far side of the lawn, where a sidewalk that stretched the length of the long lawn resided. "Alright, everybody out," Austin commanded.

After all the students had exited their carriages, and the ghostly beings that hauled the ghost-horses walked on, driving their carriages away. The students were led down the long pathway, which ran down the middle of the great grass lawn. This pathway connected with another in the middle, where a small sitting area situated around a fountain stood. The fountain showed a witch waving her wand artistically, with water shooting out of the tip. They continued until they finally came to the main structure's tremendously large front doors made of dark wood.

A golden plaque next to the door read:

The Salem Institute of Magical Learning
Circa 1641

Austin pushed the mammoth doors open, the interior of the entrance hall stood gloriously before the students. The floors were also made of dark wood, and were very pristine. An amazingly beautiful chandelier with many candles hung from the ceiling, glimmering gold. Ahead, two large staircases lead upward to the left and right into hallways. Directly ahead were two equally large, particularly ornate wooden doors. Behind these doors, Sadie could hear the voices of what sounded like well over two hundred people talking. Standing in front of these doors was a witch, awaiting the new students with her hands folded. Sadie recognized her as Professor Ellicott.

"Thank you, Austin. I'll see you after the sorting."

"M'pleasure, ma'am," Austin replied, tipping his cowboy hat. He made his way down a nearby hallway to the right of the large doors as Professor Ellicott greeted the students.

"Now, it is good to meet you all, and to welcome you to The Salem Institute of Magical Learning. My name is Professor Ellicott, and I am the assistant dean of The Salem Institute. We are about to have our annual Commencement Feast here in the Central Hall. But first, you will need to be sorted into your houses.

"Your houses are imperative to your stay here at Salem," confided Professor Ellicott, attempting to look at as many students as she could. "Your house will be your home away from home for the remainder of your school career at Salem. You will sleep in your house's dormitory and take classes with your housemates. You will also be competing against your rivaling houses for school points. The house with the most points at the end of the year will receive the Salem House Cup, and the school will celebrate in your honour. Good deeds earn you points, while poor decisions will negate your house points," she warned sternly.

"Now, each house is named after the founders of The Salem Institute. They are: Horribilis, Lupa, Noctowl, and Steda," Professor Ellicott listed proudly. "Each house is very much renowned for producing some of the finest wizards and witches this country has ever seen, and you should feel proud to be a part of your house. The dean still needs to give a few announcements, so I will return for you when it is time to proceed." Professor Ellicott took her leave through the same hallway as Austin.

A quiet lingered over the crowd of soon-to-be sorted students before they burst into discussion.

"How are we sorted into our houses?" Sadie asked Kelsey.

"I'm not sure - nobody has ever told me. Maybe they ask us questions or something."

"There was this book I read, over the summer," said the boy who had been listning facts all night, Max. "It was called Hogwarts, A History, and it said that the school had a talking hat which sorted the students."

A boy spoke up from the back of the congregation, "Well, my cousin who lives in France told me about their school. They sort using a crystal ball that turns different colours!"

"That's stupid," said a different boy. "Maybe we have to duel for it!"

"You don't know how to duel," retorted the familiar voice of Andres Quint. "Don't even pretend to boast."

A boy with very light blonde hair stepped to the front of the group and said loudly, "Alright, I want to know who is going to be in Lupa with me. Let's see who the real wizards are." The boy looked slightly older than Sadie, and had piercing blue eyes, along with a cocky smile.

"There's another person who has been boasting about that house - Lupa," Sadie whispered to Kelsey as the boy gave a brief rant. "What's the big deal about that house?"

"Tristan told me about that group. He said that only those who are pureblood ever seem to get into Lupa, though there have been a few exceptions apparently."

"But the people there seem really bossy..." Suddenly, Sadie gasped with a horrible realization. "What if you get sorted into Lupa?! And what if I get sorted into a different house?"

"I don't think I will. My whole family has been sorted into Steda. Families have a tendency to go to the same houses." Kelsey paused for a moment, looking at the group they were standing with somewhere around forty students, all around the same age. "At least I hope that's true."

"That's right, you Quints will get in, easy," the nasty sounding boy continued from the front of the students. "Slick! I thought you came here last year! You better come up here with me and my new friends," he said, motioning to the Quints, a couple girls, and another boy that joined him.

"What would your father say if he heard you got into Horribilis or something?" the boy taunted.

"Don't insult me. I'd rather leave the school if I wasn't sorted into Lupa," Grace said proudly, stepping in front of the other students to the front.

"Exactly! That's the spirit," the boy said with a mean smile. "Oh, look who it is! Yates. Definitely not Lupa material." Kelsey scowled at the boy as he continued, "And Ring! Whatever house would accept trash like you?" Another girl with dark red hair looked particular hurt by the insult.

"That's rude! Shut up!" piped a boy behind Sadie. He seemed familiar to Sadie somehow, though she didn't know how. She then realized it was the same boy who had been in the wand shop on Orthogon Avenue when she bought her own wand.


"I don't recognize you," the mean boy quipped, walking straight to the boy from the wand shop, approaching so close that he was only a few inches from his face. "You don't look nervous like some of these other fools, though. Obviously you're not a Muggle. Must be a half-blood. Filth."

"I said shut up!" The boy from the wand shop gave the mean boy a push to the chest.

"What is this?! Do you even know who I am?"

"Haven't got a clue! Who do you think you are, brat?"

"I'll have you know I am Tyler DeJarlais!"

There was a murmur of shock and awe through the students as Tyler basked in the glory of his family's reputation. But moments later, he continued, "And how dare a mere half-blood insult me. Pathetic. I would curse you without blinking an eye."

"I'd like to see you try!" Both boys pulled back the sleeves of their robes. Sadie saw them both reaching toward their pockets, where she knew they must be keeping their wands. But in that instant, a swift hand caught Tyler by the ear, and began pulling him away, inciting several laughs from the students. Professor Ellicott had returned.

"Mr. DeJarlais, I have enough problems to deal with having your brother for advanced charms, I don't need you causing trouble before you've even been sorted. Form a line everyone. We'll be proceeding in."


The kids filed into a line. Sadie was right behind a girl with very long brown hair, and Kelsey was right behind her. The line slowly entered the Central Hall. It was a glorious site to see. Thousands of candles floated back and forth across the hall, bouncing off of each other like bumper cars. Above the candles was the moon and star filled night sky, though, Sadie didn't see this through windows. It looked as if the night sky was indoors, right where the high ceiling was.

Students sat congregated at four long tables placed throughout the room, and the first year students walked directly through the middle of the four, up toward another table perpendicular to the students' tables. Several adults sat smiling at the table, a particularly plump man with a mustache sitting in the middle. Sadie took this to be the dean.

The line stopped just in front of the raised section that the teacher's table was set on. In front of them was a small stool with two boxes stacked on it. To the stool's right, Professor Ellicott stood, and to its left, a strange, stubby man with rough, pale skin and thick, dark brown hair. The short man wore what looked like a formal robe, though it was spotted and frayed, and looked as if some moths had found there way to it. He had a large nose and very thick boots, and appeared very out of place amongst the other wizards. He stood looking at his shoes, but seemed to be calm.

"Welcome, students. The sorting ceremony will now begin. I would like to introduce Salem's guest who conducts our sorting ceremony, Sir Isaak Klein, direct decedent of Sir Kuno Klein, whose family has dedicated themselves to the Salem Institute since its inception. Sir Klein, if you would please."

Everyone silently looked toward the front of the room, patiently waiting for something to happen. Sadie had no idea what was to follow next, but was almost certain it involved this small man in the old robe giving a speech. But Sir Klein did nothing except stand in place, inspecting his feet. Professor Ellicott began to fidget impatiently, whispering something inaudible. As Sadie looked more closely, she saw the man was sleeping where he stood, his eyes completely closed.

Professor Ellicott politely coughed, "Sir Klein, if you would please..." She then rapped the heel of her shoe on the wood. The man stirred quickly, and realized where he was, coughing out of embarrassment and scratching the back of his head as several students throughout the hall laughed.




"Greetings, first years!" the short man said in a gruff but proud voice. "Welcome, to The Salem Institute of Magical Learning. As Professor Ellicott said, I am Sir Isaak Armin Petrus Wolfgang Volker Klein. And it is a pleasure to welcome you all to this fine school."

Sadie noticed, just for a second, that Sir Klein glanced down at his hand. "Salem is well known throughout the land - as well as the world - to be a school traditions. Traditions of... of excellence! Traditions of expression and ingenuity - of progression, and..." he glanced at his hand again, "And pride! Yes, pride!"

Sir Klein glanced at his hand quickly again before continuing, "But this prestigious school has one proud tradition. The tradition of inviting wonderful new faces to this bastion of education. But Salem does not condone solidarity. Salem is a beacon of community, where we can come together in love and friendship.

"In the beginning, the founders created the four houses of Salem, each unique - each which took students under their wing. These houses only made the bonds of friendship between students stronger, but certainly spurred some healthy competition." A quiet smatter of applause and whistles came from a few students who still sat at their tables.

"It was Harvey Horribilis, who created the House Horribilis: a house for the noble and brave. Horribilis students are known for their loyalty to their neighbours, as well as the great amount of respect they wish to earn. Noel Noctowl founded House Noctowl. Noel Noctowl valued intelligence and creativity, and invited only those with the smartest of minds, and most creative at heart.

"It was Licia Lupa, who said only proper wizards could should learn the fine arts of magics. She formed the House of Lupa accepted only the most prestigious individuals, as well as those who were most eager to succeed in everything they did. Finally, Sigmond Steda formed the House of Steda, where all were accepted to learn. Steda believed in pride, courage, and equality, and the diverse students whom he took under his wing expressed these qualities admirably.

And here we are, over four hundred years later, recruiting another batch of students under the same four houses..." Another quick glance at the hand, "Traditions! Traditions, my new friends, are what this school is all about. And I hope you will be proud and honour the house you are sorted into."



After a brief pause, the whole hall applauded Sir Klein for his speech. He bowed happily, wiping sweat off his forehead and sighing with relief. Professor Ellicott stepped up to the stool and took both, whispering just loud enough for Sadie to hear, "I quite liked this year's speech." Sir Klein gave another polite bow as Professor Ellicott took out her wand, and waved it at the boxes on the stool. The wooden boxes began floating beside her as she removed and unfolded a piece of parchment she had in her pocket. She turned to speak to the room.

"You will now be presented with your class rings and sorted into your houses. Your class rings represent the house you are sorted into, and you should wear them with pride. Now, as I call your name, please step forward to the stool. Acworth, Thomas."

A grumpy looking boy strutted up to the stool and sat down. Sir Klein quickly dug in his robe pocket, brandishing a large contraption. They resembled binoculars, but looked as if they were made of two small telescopes connected together. Sir Klein strapped the invention on his head like goggles, and began to inspect Thomas Acworth, who looked very worried. But after a short moment, Sir Klein inched the contraption off his eyes, turned to the crowd, and chirped "LUPA!"

The table farthest to the right rose in celebration, whistling and cheering loudly. Professor Ellicott took Thomas' left hand, and slid the ring carefully onto his ring finger. In an instant, the ring shifted its shape to fit Thomas' finger exactly, and turned from a solid gold into the colours of black and red. Professor Ellicott motioned for him to continue onto the his new table, and the boy strutted proudly to the Lupa table as the cheering died down.

"Ali, Amna."

A young Arabic girl with dark hair, who was wearing a short headscarf under her wizard hat, worriedly approached the front of room and sat down,. Once again, Sir Klein dawned his contraption and began looking the student over. This time though, he spoke aloud in deliberation rather than confirmation.

"I see, I see. Good heart, but also very, very smart. Good qualities, and very open minded. But also very honest... Interesting... I say... STEDA!"

The farthest left table opened up in applause, and after she was given her ring, Amna hastily joined them, much to her relief.

"Brooks, Maximilian."

Sadie had been interested in Max, since she had seen him on the train as well as in town. Max hadn't been concentrating properly, and somewhat yelped when his name was called. He awkwardly bumbled to the front, almost tripping over his robes, causing several students to laugh. Once he sat down, Sir Klein began to inspect him with the strange goggles, while Max attempted to inspect the goggles every bit as avidly.

"Oh my, my," said Sir Klein. "Very smart, very liberal, very independent. You are a free thinker, my lad. But I see a strong heart and a strong sense of courage. A very difficult decision... You are very much like water - always flowing - always ready to change."

"I am quite thirsty," Max said, causing an uproar of laughter. Professor Ellicott signaled for silence.

"I was right," Sir Klein continued. "Very liberal. Far too liberal to be a steed. I say... NOCTOWL!"

The table immediately right of Sadie shouted in congratulation as Max bounced merrily to his new house, though he forgot to receive his ring, forcing him to run back for it, only inciting more laughter.

Back in the crowd, Sadie was tense; the suspense was horrible. Why did she have to have a last name starting with M? In the middle, as always. But then she thought of Kelsey, who would probably be last. "Bogue, Jennifer," went to Steda, "Chan, Tiffany" to Noctowl, and as predicted, "DeJarlais, Tyler," went to Lupa to a larger applause than any other student.

"Denson, Andrew," was the first to join Horribilis, at the table to Sadie's immediate left. But she was fretting. To be judged like that in front of everyone. It seemed so embarrassing. And what if Sir Klein was indecisive on where to put her, as he was for so many others? What if she just sat up there all night? What if he simply said, 'I can't decide! This girl, she is no witch. Get her out of my sight...'

"Murray, Sadie."

Sadie jerked back to reality and was instantly terrified. With a comforting nudge on the back from Kelsey, Sadie walked up to the stool and sat down. Professor Ellicott gave her a smile and a nod before Sir Klein stepped before her and began fiddling with his telescope-like goggles.

"I see... Interesting, very interesting. Very fair, very just. Very open and welcoming. Very respectful. You are a good friend to have, Ms. Murray. But where to put you? Where?"

Her worst fears were coming true! Sir Klein was murmuring on. She could hear people whispering somewhere in the crowd. Nobody had taken this long. "You have a lot of courage, but will you use your bravery to get ahead? Will you be cunning? Would you do anything for success, Sadie Murray? Maybe Lupa would be good..."

"Not Lupa!" Sadie whispered. She thought about the mean kids who wanted to be in Lupa; Tyler, Andres, and Alexandre. And Grace, even though she seemed nice at first; something seemed mean about her - pretentious even. Sadie couldn't imagine being in their house.

"Not Lupa?" Sir Klein said loudly. "You would prefer pride to success? You would sacrifice reward for punishment? Only one place for you... STEDA!"

Overwhelming relief flooded through Sadie. Sir Klein removed his goggles to gave Sadie a broad smile as Professor Ellicott took her left hand and slipped the class ring on her finger. The ring was cold to the touch. But no sooner had it slid down her finger, the ring shrunk instantly around Sadie's finger until it fit perfectly. It then changed into a bright silver white was nearly white and a shade of blue, and showed a beautiful horse engraved into the ring.

Professor Ellicott nodded, and Sadie quickly ran to the Steda table, which cheered loudly and jubilantly for her. Nobody had cheered for her before, and she enjoyed it. Tristan motioned to her and made space on the bench for her to sit.

"What do you know! We meet again. You're an honourary steed now!"

"Steed?" Sadie asked, quickly forced to clap as "Pantaleo, Joey" joined Steda as well.

"Yeah, each house is represented by colors and an animal. It's symbolic to the house." More clapping as "Parikh, Nakin," a skinny Indian boy with glasses, joined Steda. Tristan continued, "Steda's symbol is a horse, and our house colours are blue and white. Horribilis is a bear, and their colours are purple and silver."

On cue, "Pharis, Mary-Kate" joined Horribilis. "Noctowl is an owl, and their colours are green and gold. And... oh, great. The Quints."

Sadie turned to the front. Alexandre Quint had just sat on the stool. Sir Klein hardly glanced at Alexandre before he cried, "LUPA!" Alexandre rushed to the Lupa table after receiving his ring, straight to where Tyler DeJarlais sat.

Andres Quint was next, but Sir Klein hardly lowered his goggles when he said, "Another Quint. Too easy. LUPA!"

"And Lupa," Tristan continued, this time more derisively. "They're a wolf; red and black. Evil, they are. There are a lot of nasty wizards who have been made in Lupa." ("Ring, Mallory.") "They say that Lupa wizards have strong values and are very smart," ("NOCTOWL!") "But I think they get sorted by being rotten cheaters too."

"Doesn't sound like a good group," Sadie admitted, clapping as the red haired girl who she saw in the hallway made her way to the Noctowl table.

"Shaw, Timothy."

The boy from the wand shop stepped forward, and sat down on the stool. He was whispering just loud enough to hear, "Mighty, fearless, daring..."

"Well, let's just see..." Sir Klein dawned his goggles and laughed laughed, "Daring, maybe, but hardly mighty or fearless. You have potential, but I know what to do with you. You're STEDA!"

The whole table cheered as Timothy sat somewhat reluctantly at the table. "This sucks... I don't belong here," Timothy said, looking at the Horribilis table longingly.

Tristan spoke to him, "Don't worry, kid. Those Horribilis are just a bunch of cocky show-offs. You'll like Steda! We know how to party!"

"But my dad was in Horribilis..." he mumbled quietly, shaking his head with disappointment, and looking back to the stool.

"Slick, Grace," Professor Ellicott announced.

Grace proudly went to the stool. But as Sir Klein began to look Grace over, he only thought silently.

Murmurs began growing again through the hall as Grace, who had expected a quick induction into Lupa, was now doing everything in her power to prevent from scowling the man behind the goggles. "What's this about? Hurry up!" Grace hissed. "This should be obvious! What's wrong?"

"Your future is cloudy," Sir Klein mused slowly. "Very brave, and a lot of courage. A lot of pride as well... Seems almost like a Steda."

"What a joke! My whole family has been in Lupa. I'm destined!"

"Hmm... Time shall tell where loyalties lie. But I suppose I say... LUPA!"

Grace shoved her finger through her class ring quickly, and once it was secure, hastily walked to the Lupa table. Sadie saw Grace glare directly at her, as if Sadie had betrayed Grace's trust by sharing their cabin room on the train earlier. She only leered until Tyler approached her, patting her on the back.

Keith Troitter joined Steda, Adrian Wright to Horribilis, but it wasn't until Kelsey, the very last student, stepped up. Sadie crossed her fingers, begging that Kelsey would get Steda.

"Another child in the Yates family! Strong family, strong heart, of course... STEDA!"

The entire table cheered as Kelsey took her seat next to Sadie, giving her a big hug. "Were you crossing your fingers?" she asked.

"Only as tight as I could!" Sadie exclaimed. Sadie was around magic everywhere, she was Sorted into a great house, along with her best friend. How could things possibly get better?

As the cheering and talking subsided, the room's attention turned to the man in the centre of the faculty table, the dean, who stood up. "Usually, I say a few words after the Sorting. But I'm quite famished. Shall we?"

Instantly, all four tables filled with huge plates full of all sorts of food. Ham, turkey, salads, sheep, duck, rice; any sort of meal that one could imagine for dinner appeared before the students. Everyone reached for food to shove on their plate. Every time they took a serving, new serving appeared in the empty space. For an hour and a half, everyone ate delicious meals to their heart's content, and talked merrily with their housemates.

When everyone began to eat their fill, the plump man with the mustache stood once again, coming around the table to pace in front of the students as he spoke. "Well, I hope you all are having a merry good evening. For those of you who are new, I am the dean of The Salem Institute, Pravus Bojovnic. I have a few start-of-term announcements for you all," he said with a broad smile as he placed his hands on his round belly.

"Firstly, as I am forced to remind you every year, entry into The Dark Woods, behind the lake, is forbidden. Bear to mind you should not risk expulsion for entering there, because it is high chance you won't leave the forest without losing a limb." There is a few worried mumbles as Dean Bojovnic continued.

"Secondly, again, as always, there is to be no magic in-between classes. We have a no tolerance policy for it, and though our local disciplinary, Mr. Oak is not here at the moment, I assure you that any sneaky spell-casting will not go unpunished.

"Third: Quodpot and Quidditch trials will be held on the second week of term. And I'm excited to announce this year, we have finally gained permission from the Administration to allow first year students to try out for both sports!" There was a murmur of excitement that spread throughout the entire hall. "The only condition is that the prospective first year must have passed his or her flying test before applying for a position on a team. I realize first years are not allowed to bring their own brooms, but Salem fortunately has a large stock of spare brooms for anyone wanting to try.

"And finally..." Dean Bojovnic said in what almost seemed to be an unhappy tone. "As you may realize, classes are scheduled to begin on September second. But seeing as tomorrow is a Sunday, there will be no classes until this coming Monday, September third." The hall burst out in a cheer for their extra day of summer.

"Now, if you please," Dean Bojovnic told the students, "meet your prefects, first years. They will escort you, along with everyone else, to their house dormitories for a well deserved good night's sleep."

With a great chattering, the students left their tables and began to make their way out of the Central Hall. The prefects for Steda were a black boy with wild hair and a broad smile, named Marcus, and a short, strict girl with light red hair and freckles named Stacy.

"Alright, Steda, follow us! We're heading to the dormitory right now. Let's go."

The prefects led the new students of Steda led out of the Central Hall and up the staircase to the right, followed by Horribilis. The following room, after a short hallway was a large chamber to house an extensive staircase. The grand stairway wound its way the entire way up the chamber. All sorts of pictures were hung on every space of the wall, some of people, some of animals, but all moving. Some paintings even walked into other paintings to talk merrily with their neighbours. Many of the pictures near the stairs waved and introduced themselves to the first years.

The Horribilis students found the floor they were searching for on the fifth, while the group of Stedas climbed higher until they came to the seventh floor. "Alright, keep up. Follow us," Stacy kept insisting while Marcus struck up a conversation with Tristan about Quodpot statistics.

Once on the seventh floor, they entered a long corridor, leaving the stair chamber. The hallway was lined with navy blue wallpaper, with a long velvety red rug covering the dark wood floor. The hallways came to a corner, which rounded into a dead end down another short hall which met three seemingly unused classrooms. But Stacy had stopped at a small, plain door situated very near to the corner of the hallway.

"This is the door to the Steda common room. You must pass two tests to enter, the first being most important so please pay attention, first years," Stacy explained sternly. "This door is not a normal door. This is a Mexican Puerta Gota, otherwise known as a Man-Eating Door."

"That's stupid," Timothy proclaimed, "I've never heard of that."

"Well, hearing that a first year hasn't heard of a Mexican Puerta Gota isn't very surprising," Stacy hissed. "Now pay attention. Marcus, please."

Marcus stepped forward and took the door by the handle, trying to open it. It didn't appear that the knob had moved at all. But a second later, somehow, the door wiggled with its frame. The frame and door silently separated from the wall. Marcus jumped quickly out of the way as the door slammed to the ground with a tremendous bang. The first years gasped in terror, while the older Stedas laughed. The door slowly rose back to its original place on the wall.

Stacy continued with her explanation, "There are a herd of Puerta Gota in the school that roam around freely. So be sure you know what door you're trying to open..."

"They roam?!" Timothy shouted, still in shock. But Stacy ignored him and continued.

"This particular Puerta Gota leads to the Steda common room, and it will not move. If you tell it the password, it will let you pass through. Just keep in mind that the Puerta Gota is a living creature, and if you give it a reason to attack you, it will."


Marcus now spoke, "The password for now is sunlight. You must speak it clearly to the door. And if it doesn't open, just knock first. It was probably sleeping."

Marcus stepped back in front of the door, and spoke to it. "Sunlight," he said staring straight at the door. Everyone heard the door unlock, and Marcus opened the door like normal.

The room through the Puerta Gota was more or less an empty broom closet with a large painting of grassy cliff side with a lone tree barely clinging to the remaining cliff. "Come on now," Stacy said, leading the way. "Marcus, please close the Puerta Gota when everyone's through."

As if it were entirely commonplace, Stacy climbed into the frame of the picture, actually becoming part of the painting itself. She walked to the side of the cliff and said, "Well, don't just stand there. Let's go!"

The older Stedas ushered the bewildered first years into the painting. Once within the painting, they were standing on the cliff, which looked over a very choppy ocean with jagged rocks at the bottom.

"The second test is making it to the actual door of the common room. It's right over there. See it?"

The sky in the painting was that of a storm cloud, and it looked like it would be raining soon. But vaguely in the distance, Sadie could make out a cloud-coloured shape that appeared to be a door, hanging in mid air, as part of the cloud itself. Stacy explained, "The cliff is fake, and you can't fall. You just have to brave and cross it. Follow me, everyone."

Stacy walked straight toward the edge of the cliff. Sadie was sure she would fall right off, and that would be the end of Stacy. But shockingly, Stacy walked along smoothly in mid-air, right off the cliff. She proceeded to the cloud-coloured door, which she opened, revealing a room now hanging in the cloudy sky. Nobody wanted to cross the threshold of the cliff, assuming that it was some sort of trick.

But Timothy, who seemed to have grown impatient, made a dash toward the cliff. He closed his eyes as he charged to the edge. As he came to the edge however, he opened his eyes, and in a panic, slipped and fell. Some people screamed, but miraculously, he landed in mid-air with a heavy thud on a hard floor. He felt it for a few seconds before saying, "Oh... it's not real."

After Timothy tested the cliff side and proved it was a fake, all the Stedas moved into the Steda common room. The walls were a brilliant blue with a mural of horses stretching over two walls. There was a large contraption that looked like a mix between phonograph and a jukebox in the corner of the room near some bookcases, vinyl records strewn on the floor and in stacks near it. Large, fluffy sofas and chairs, which were dazzlingly white to contrast the blue carpet and walls, were placed throughout the room. A large fireplace stood against one wall, with the portrait of a proud looking man hanging above.

Marcus now spoke to the first years as everyone else poured into the room, some heading up a staircase centred at the far wall, while others found seats to talk.

"Alright, this is the common room. We all chill here, and we sleep upstairs, in the dorms. The first level up the stairs is for underclassmen, and the second for upper classmen. You kids get room number three. And all of your luggage has already been transported from the train to your bedrooms, so don't worry about it. So... I hope everyone gets settled alright. As for me, I'm off to a party. Have fun!"

"Marcus! It's only the first day!" Stacy said. "How have you even had time to organize a party?"

"We haven't organized it," Marcus replied, "But who needs to?" He whistled, and several older Stedas followed him back out of the door.

Tired but excited, both Sadie and Kelsey made their way with the other first years to the bedrooms. Boys went up the stairs to the right, and girls went to the left. Room three was was a large room that contained six large beds, each with an armoire and nightstand. They also had one of the strange music contraptions under the large window that looked out upon an amazing view of the lake.

Sadie and Kelsey were sharing the room with the other four girls that had been sorted with them: Amna Ali, an Arabic half-blood girl from the South Ridge, like Kelsey, though they hadn't met until now; Amanda Murphy, a full-blooded witch who had blonde hair and was from the all-wizard town, Tarrant, Texas; a Muggleborn named Melissa Whittaker, from Colorado; and another Muggleborn named Jennifer Bogue, from Pennsylvania.

The girls got to know each other for several hours, while many more Steda played music loudly from downstairs. Sadie was happy to learn that both Melissa and Jennifer were Muggle too, and she didn't feel as out of touch with the Muggle world as she thought she would. On the other hand, Kelsey quickly made friends with Amanda and Amna. Kelsey was shocked when she and Amanda realized that Amanda's father worked in the same department as Kelsey's father.

"Have you felt these beds?!" Melissa exclaimed eventually. "They heat and cool themselves until they feel just right!"

"Who's that?" Sadie asked Amanda, who had put a large poster of a very handsome man with very styled hair and a lavender robe. He kept kept spinning to face the girls, pointing his finger, smiling very widely, and winking.

"Only the most handsome man around!" Amanda gushed, blushing at her poster. "Hollywood Sandoval. He hosts this really funny talk show on the Wizarding Wireless. He's also wrote a lot of fiction books about a wizard forced to live with Muggles, called The Chronicles of Bart. I have the whole series."

"Does he always twist around like that? It looks like he'll hurt his back," Melissa mentioned jokingly.

"His hair has always scared me," Amna said, "I always felt like it would walk off his head and attack someone if they got too close.

"Same here," Kelsey agreed. "It's like it's too perfect."

"Whatever. You know he's gorgeous! What is that Jennifer?"

Jennifer was putting pictures of her family on her nightstand, "Just some photos from my parent's anniversary."

"But they're not moving! Was the camera broken or something?"

"Muggle photos don't move, Jen," Sadie told her with a giggle.

"Weird! Don't they get bored?"

Amna eventually put on her favourite album by a band called The Nifflers. The girls dawned their pajamas and continued to discuss every number of topics, from what spells they already learned, to what their families were like, and everything in between. A heated debate was started when Melissa and Jennifer tried to convince Kelsey and Amanda that Muggle candy was better than wizard candy. Amna acted as a translator for both sides, explaining whatever one party may not have known, while Sadie laughed at their confusion while playing with Kelsey's cat, Gatsby.

But eventually, the girls' lack of energy took hold of them. They slipped beneath their blankets and turned out the lights. The moonlight entering the blue Steda dorm made everything glow, and to Sadie, she felt as if even the air she was breathing now was magical. She knew this day was the best of her life, and she could only imagine how the first week at Salem would be.






Sadie was at a desk, and she was writing fitfully. Her heart was racing as she scribbled the letters down sloppily on the piece of parchment. The letter read, "He lost it... All went wrong... Will fix it... Be there soon..." Sadie spilled her ink on her signature, and the puddle made it illegible. She knew it wouldn't matter. He would understand. Just as Sadie was going to address the envelope and give it to the owl at her window...

Gatsby meowed loudly for attention and woke her from her dream. How strange, she thought to herself, and simply passed on back to sleep.

In the morning, Sadie woke up to the distant chattering of people. Refreshed, she felt as if she had slept for a year's worth of time. Her dorm room, with her sleeping roommates, and the campus she knew she now resided in filled Sadie with energy. She was excited beyond measure to get out and see more of the school on their day off.

Kelsey was still passed out in her bed, clutching her sheets as Gatsby slept next to her head. Sadie put on a jeans and t-shirt, but decided to wear one of her robes as well. She wanted to seem as if she knew more about magic than she did, and thought the robe would help convey that.

She proceeded out of her bedroom and made her way down the short hallway to the circular staircase that led downstairs. Sadie almost ran into a girl who was hustling up the steps with a wizard hat in hand as she ran to the upper dorms. Sadie then saw Timothy Shaw bumbling up the steps in his pajamas after the girl, clearly chasing her. He was about halfway up to the girl's underclassmen rooms when without warning, the entire staircase slipped away beneath both Timothy and Sadie, becoming a smooth chute, almost like a slide. Sadie fell backwards on her rear and began sliding uncontrollably downhill. She came to a stop at the bottom of the smoothed staircase by colliding with Timothy, who had slid down before her.

Dazed and confused, Sadie stood back and glanced toward the staircase, which quickly returned to normal with a loud grounding noise.

"Sorry! I didn't know that would happen," Timothy said.

"I'm not even sure what happened in the first place," Sadie admitted.

"Some older girl stole my hat!" he whined, loudly enough so the culprit who ran up the stairs could hear. He took another dash up the stairs, but seconds later, they smoothed out again and he came sliding back down. His hat came after him and landed in his face as someone upstairs laughed. "What was that anyway?" Timothy asked, picking himself back up as the magical staircase corrected itself.

"Don't feel bad," said a tired boy who was also in his pajamas, coming from the boys bedroom. Sadie recognized the skinny Indian boy from the Sorting Ceremony, but without his glasses, he looked quite different. "Some girl did that to me too. Apparently they do it to first years because the girls' staircase doesn't let boys up to their rooms."

"That's not right! The girl came right into ours."

The older girl returned down the staircase, "Well you don't expect the school to let gross boys into the girls' bedrooms do you? It's not polite for boys to be there."

"So how come girls get to come into ours?"

"Well girls are more trustworthy. Duh!" she laughed, walking past Sadie and the boys, taunting Timothy with a poke.

Sadie laughed as well as she followed the older girl into the common room. Only a few people were awake, reading silently on the couches. Sadie heard the older girl laugh loudly, and Timothy shout. She guessed that Timothy had his hat stolen again. Accordingly, Sadie heard the loud noise of the stairs sliding into a chute, but also the loud scream of a familiar voice. When Sadie looked back, she saw that Kelsey had tumbled down with Timothy this time. She ran away from the stairs as if they were going to attack her, and saw Sadie.

"Did you see that?! The stairs turned into a slide!"

"I know the feeling. I'll tell you about it in a minute, but let's go."

"Go where?" Kelsey asked, rubbing her eyes with a heavy yawn. Kelsey was so sleepy that she wore her robe backwards, but Sadie didn't have the heart to tell her yet.

"I want to go explore the school!" Sadie said excitedly. "We have the whole day to check it out."

"Good idea. Maybe we can get some breakfast too - I'm starving."

They made their way out of the common room, crossing the cliff painting and passing through the Puerta Gota, and into the corridor. Retracing their steps from the night before, they returned to the large stairway room. The morning's sunlight revealed a large skylight built into the roof, which shined a steady beam of light down the entire chamber, creating glares in the finely polished wooden staircase and railings.

Down to the first floor they went, returning to the foyer they had entered the building in last night. From there, they entered the Central Hall, which was steadily filling with people seeking breakfast. As soon as Sadie and Kelsey took their place at the Steda table, the morning's cooking appeared before them on plates. Sadie was happy to see that most of the people entering the Central Hall were wearing either their uniforms, their school robes, or clothes Muggle clothes.

When she asked Kelsey if most people wore Muggle clothes, Kelsey almost choked the eggs she had taken with a laugh. "Yeah. Well, Muggle-ish. They're clothes that look like Muggle clothes, made by wizards. Only kids wear them though. Adults don't like them much. But adults are always more traditional, right?"

Nearly all the students had entered the hall, and a great clattering of forks and knives could be heard echoing through the large room. Sadie was able to take her first good look around the room without all the decorations from the night before. The large windows on all sides on the room near the ceiling brought just enough light into the hall, revealing all the ancient woods the floor, tables, doors, and walls were constructed with, in all magnificent hues of brown.

Sadie had just finished eating a piece of bacon when she saw the spectacle that began to take place above the tables. Owls were entering the hall, coming from every window, and began flying and hooting madly near the ceiling. They flew around in circles until they spotted their masters, and flew down to deliver mail to them.

Kelsey's owl, Harold, which she shared with Tristan, perched himself near the pancakes and let Kelsey take a letter off its leg. It then flew across the room to a sleepy looking Tristan, who had just entered the Hall. "Who is it?" Sadie asked.

"Just mom," Kelsey said while reading, after quickly tearing open the letter. "She says hi to you, and hopes you're having a good time."

"As if that wasn't obvious!" Sadie replied as they both laughed. But quickly, they diverted their attention to the far end of the table Steda, where Professor Ellicott had stood tapping her glass of milk with a knife to gather attention.

"Good morning, students. I'm sorry to have not introduced myself to you first-years properly last night, but I was a bit busy. I am the Steda head of house, as well as your Charms professor here at Salem. Now, I realize you have a free day today, but I thought it would be prudent to give you your schedules anyways. Maybe if you're responsible, you will search out your classrooms before getting lost tomorrow. I will say right now that everyone in my class is expected on time - no exceptions."

"She would be telling that to our group. Look," Kelsey mentioned once she received one of the schedules being passed out. "Charms, first period tomorrow with Noctowl. Then Potions with Lupa, and - ew - two hours of US History of Magic."

"What's this? On Tuesday and Thursday, first period? D.A.D.A.?" Sadie asked.

"Defense Against the Dark Arts. It's totally going to be the best class! You get to learn the real interesting spells, and all the strange things out in the world, and how to protect yourself."

Sadie perused the page with increasing anticipation, "Gosh, I really can't wait!"

After breakfast, Kelsey and Sadie quickly learned that exploring the building wasn't for the faint of heart. The building was far larger than either of them anticipated it would be, and was very easy to get lost in. As if the size wasn't daunting enough, some doors led to nothing at all, while occasional hallways would round in a complete circle for no reason. Kelsey barely saved a Horribilis girl who didn't know the classroom she thought she was entering was actually a Man-Eating Door.

They found several classrooms such as the History of Magic room in the Eastern building on the third floor, and would use these landmarks to help them not get lost. But this didn't aid them as well as they would have hoped; while looking for the Astronomy Room in the west building, they got lost for two hours, convinced a hallway was playing some sort of trick on them.

After their exploration of the building, they spent the rest of the day chatting with their housemates on The Lawn, the most popular place to relax on the entire campus. Sadie was beginning to recognize the faces of her peers. Max Brooks, the know-it-all boy in Noctowl had taken to reading books in a tree on the east side of The Lawn, still in his pajamas at noon. Grace Slick carried a bold conversation about flying a broom to anyone who would listen from a bench near the fountain in the centre of The Lawn, the Quints right behind her at all times, though Tyler DeJarlais was nowhere to be seen. Melissa and Timothy were playing with a magical frisbee that flew wildly in the air, making it more difficult to catch.

Sadie also witnessed her first game of Quodpot being played. Tristan had organized a game with a few of his friends, and they played under the supervision of the referee and flying instructor, Professor Zephyra, a strong looking woman with short brown hair and broad shoulders. As Kelsey had explained, Quodpot was very exciting, and Sadie and Kelsey convinced Professor Zephyra, to tell them more while they watched.

"There's a whole history to tell about the game, though I can't tell it right now. I should focus on the players. Well, obviously the goal is take the Quod, sink it into the pot. You have eleven players on each team. The bouncers, they hang back by the pot and keep the pitchers - the ones who take the Quod to the pot - at bay. Always five pitchers, and they can only score a goal by batting the Quod to the pot with their broom. Then you have the bouncers - five of them - who try and fetch the Quod, and either pass it to a pitcher, or if they have a lot of bravado, take it to the pot themselves. And of course the sweeper there, defending the goal - though he can only use his broom to block shots."

"And they can just tackle like that?" Sadie asked, as a player recieved a full-body tackle, nearly knocking him off his broom.

"If they hold the ball for seven seconds. But that's part of the appeal. Very dangerous, but people like the daring and nerves in the people who play it."

BOOM!

The Quod suddenly exploded in one of the bouncers hands, mid throw, sending him flying to the ground, and several player near him nearly off their own brooms. Professor Zephyra brandished her wand, gave it a wave, and the boy's fall instantly slowed until he came to a graceful landing a few feet from his broom. After giving his head a shake, and checking his broom, he grabbed a spare Quod that was set out on the field, hopped back on his broom, and rejoined the game.

"Normally they're disqualified after the Quod explodes,' Professor Zephyra mentioned, inspecting her dark wand. "But I suppose I'll let him keep at it."




After a full day of exploring and enjoyment, Kelsey and Sadie returned to the Steda common room after dinner. Another house party was being held, and students stayed up late blaring loud music by bands named Why Airplanes Fly and Maggiacomo and The Whomping Willows. The first year girls returned to their dorm room early, and after talking for only a bit, went to sleep for a full night's rest.

The students awoke on Monday and knew it was time. The first day of classes were upon them. Everyone who bought a Omnicolour robe relished in their first chance to really show off their house pride to the school. As Sadie dawned her Omnicolour robe, it's almost-gray colour immediately shifted to blue and white - Steda's colours.

"This is amazing! You're right Kelsey, it is like wearing a flag," Sadie mentioned, still astonished, as they ate breakfast.


After breakfast at eight, the bell of the clock that resided in the large steeple at the top of the school chimed nine o'clock, and classes had begun. Sadie quickly learned just how complicated magic was when she attended her first class, Charms, that morning with Professor Ellicott.

"Charms are the essential skills you all must have if you want to have even a basic life as a wizard. This is why I personally believe it is the most important subject taught in this school," Professor Ellicott lectured to the class. They didn't learn any spells, but instead, learned wand movements.

"Wand movement is a language in itself," Professor Ellicot announced as kids waved their wands strangely and seemingly without reason, "And if you do not produce the proper motion correctly, your spell will not project. Now continue to practice; I would like to see you all performing the Levitating Charm by Wednesday."

Sadie was convinced she wasn't waving her wand right at all, but thankfully didn't feel alone. Melissa, Jennifer, and even Amanda weren't sure if they were correct either. Even though Sadie was a Muggle, being from a wizard family didn't put many people far ahead. Though the class was embarrassing for Steda, as two Noctowls managed to correctly cast the Levitating Charm ahead of schedule, including an Indian boy with long black bangs named Karu Mishra, and Max Brooks, who lifted Professor's Ellicott's hat off her head while he was also reading out of a large Charms book.

"Sorry, Professor! I guess I studied read too far ahead in the book. Let me put that back," he called from his seat, putting it comfortably back on Professor Ellicott's head.

It took twenty minutes for Sadie and Kelsey to find their Potions classroom on the second floor of the east building when they were separated from the rest of the Steda students. But when they finally arrived, they found their housemates along with the Lupa first years in the hall.

"Looks like Murray and Yates are setting a record for tardiness," Grace said when they arrived.

"Shut up, Grace. Why aren't you all in class?" Kelsey asked Keith Troitter, another Steda. He simply pointed to a note taped to the door.

Potions is canceled until further notice.
Busy bees have busy lives.
Please read chapters one through twelve by Friday of next week.
-Professor C-

"Who is the wacko teaching potions anyway?" Andres Quint demanded to nobody in particular. "Professor C? Who do they think they are?"

"They haven't been at school at all week," Nakin said. "They're a new teacher too. Nobody knows who it is."

"Stupid. What a waste of my time," Alex Quint barked at the classroom door. "Let's get out of here before we catch a Muggle germ from them or something. Tyler already left anyway."

Both classes dispersed, and happily had time to relax throughout mid-day before lunch began at noon. Many people gossiped about their professors, as well as rummaged through their backpacks, looking over their notes or poring through textbooks.

History of Magic was horribly boring. It was taught by Professor Fitzgerald. He was a nice teacher with a strong jawline and light brown hair, who tried to crack jokes to keep his students interested. But his lectures on US wizarding history were terribly dull. He seemed to have bored himself with his own lectures, starting to drone after 30 minutes. The Horribilis students took it worse than Steda, most falling asleep as if Professor Fitzgerald's droning was a Sleeping Charm, which Sadie could not remember the wand motion to.

Tuesday brought newfound entertainment with Defense Against the Dark Arts. Sadie had heard the same prediction of the excitement this class should offer from nearly all of the first years in Steda. The room on the second floor of the western building was packed with eager students, all sitting in their desks, situated in stadium seating. They spoke excitedly until suddenly and without warning, the doors flung open with great force as their new Professor entered the room.

He had very dark brown hair, which was of medium length, and seemed messy and out of order. He flicked his wand behind him, which magically slammed the door shut. With an air of severity, he marched to the front of the room. He looked the class over, every pupil completely silenced by his entrance. He nodded, and smiled a smile so stern and small, it was difficult to notice he had smirked at all unless you had been watching closely.

"I am Professor Wynter," he spoke in a low, gruff voice. "You may call me Mister Wynter if you choose, but only if you are so lacking in intellect that professor proves to be one too many syllables to utter. This is Defense Against the Dark Arts. This class will show you, over the years, exactly how to protect yourself from the sort of magic in the world that seeks to harm you."

Andres Quint seemed comfortable, even with the strict teacher who was lecturing away, and was waving his wand and sneering at Cole Simpson, one of Sadie's Steda housemates. "I think he's mocking the wand movement to a curse." Kelsey whispered under her breath so she wouldn't be heard by Professor Wynter.

"...that being said," the Professor continued, "I will not tolerate anyone who chooses to use any of the spells they learn in here against anyone, especially their fellow classmates. Offensive magic is a serious skill to learn, and must be respected, and until you are training in Offense With the Dark Arts, which I assure you does not exist, I do not want to see any overshot hexes or experimental jinxes cast without my explicit permission."

Andres flamboyantly waved his wand for the mock final wave when in a split second, Professor Wynter acted. Professor Wynter skillfully waved his wand so fast Sadie couldn't follow the movements, casting three spells, one after the other. "EXPELLIARMUS! DESCENDO! PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!"

In a matter of two seconds, a quick bang and a red beam of light issued from Professor Wynter's wand. Andres' wand shot out of his hand toward Professor Wynter, both of Andres' hands slammed upon his desk, and his entire body, except for his eyes, seemed to freeze in place.

"And I must confide in you," Professor Wynter began once more, "that your reputation - whether inside or outside this school - will not be a factor in my teaching to you. So don't even try to use that as an excuse. Ten points deducted from Lupa."

"You're the Lupa head of house, Professor Wynter!" Alexandre yelled, staring with horror at his brother who sat frozen next to him on the long desk. "You can't do that! I..."

"Silencio!" cried Professor Wynter with another wave of his wand, and Alexandre fell silent, mouth still moving, but no voice emitting.

"Ten more points from Lupa. Your house is of no concern to me. Well then, class, since the Quint brothers have made your first class so eventful, I expect a four foot-long essay on the spells I have used on them, their effects, and their counterspells on my desk at the beginning of class on Thursday, no exceptions." With a whisper and a wave of his wand, Professor Wynter restored the Quints to normal and continued with his lecture.


Their next class, Herbology, took place outdoors in the greenhouses, behind the school building on the north side. Professor Horne required them to learn the qualities of Mageroyal, a flower that looked almost like a rose, and where in the world it was native to, which forced the Steda and Horribilis to scribble out answer notes as fast as their quills could write.

Two hours of Transfiguration followed after lunch on Tuesdays and Thursdays with Noctowl. Professor Millan was a very old woman who was head of house for Noctowl, and had apparently been teaching at Salem for nearly 70 years. Though she taught them profoundly amazing things, she slowly puttered along with her lessons, teaching nearly half an hour longer than the two hour period.

"Now, class... I'd like you to try turning these toothpicks into... Into matches..." she said. Professor Millan didn't go into enough detail for the highly complicated Transfiguration spells, and the students flipped randomly throughout their Transfiguration textbooks looking for the proper spell techniques. Kelsey did the spell correctly, but by sheer luck and accident, her second attempt yielding a mix between a toothpick and piece of cotton. Max Brooks succeeded on his third try, earning Noctowl twenty points. It wasn't until Thursday that the first Steda, Nakin Parikh, was able to perform the Transfiguration correctly, earning a few points in his success.

Every Tuesday night from 10:30 to midnight, Professor Brendon Reynolds, who was also the head of house for Horribilis, taught them Astronomy from the roof above the Steda common room, on the eighth floor. Astronomy was the least magical of all the subjects the students were taking at Salem. Thankfully, Professor Reynolds knew this, and didn't assign them much work for the following week. He was very nice, but unfortunately his class was fairly boring.




Notices had been posted on the bulletin board in the common room since Monday detailing that flying classes for all first years would be held after lunch in the stadium field, and would begin on Friday.

"That sucks. I don't want to learn to fly a broom with everyone hanging around watching," Kelsey commented aloud while many of the first years gathered around the notice. "I can barely stand two classes with Grace and the Quints laughing at everyone, much less three."

Thursday of the first week, the first years were huddled into a group of chairs under a window that looked out toward the stadium and down the hill to the west, which glimmered orange in the setting sun. Sadie, Kelsey, Amna, and Timothy had claimed this spot collectively, mostly due to the loud volume coming from the audiophone, which was the magical record player. They also wanted to put some distance from the Quodpot team after the scare on Wednesday when they learned Tristan and his fifth year friends were playing with a live Quod in the common room.

This evening though, the rest of their classmates joined to work on an essay about briarthorns for Herbology. Nankin was the only one studying a thorny yellow flower that lay on a table while everyone else discussed flying class.

"At least we don't actually fly with Lupa," Cole Simpson, with his blond hair and many freckles said. "We're supposed to practice with Noctowl. They may be smart, but I doubt even Mallory Ring will be able to be fly well."

"What does it take to fly? I've never even tried," Sadie asked.

"Natural skill and practice," explained Kelsey, who was the only Steda with any real broom experience. "You just have to try it and get used to it."

"My dad tried teaching me when I was a kid," Amna chimed in. "It's a lot like riding a bike; you just have to keep riding until you get it right. But I was using training wings... I'm worried that I'll be bad on a real broom."

"But it's not something you can learn in a book," Timothy said, looking sternly at Nakin, who quickly feigned great interest in the briarthorn. Those Steda who were more bookish, particular Amanda, Jennifer, and Keith, had been following in the wake of Nakin, the smartest of the first year Stedas, for advice. But unlike every other subject, Nakin was at a loss. He found a book in the school library called Knowing and Loving Your Broom, but unfortunately, except for the first short chapter which offered basic advice for flying, the book mostly detailed broom maintenance. The others had begged for Nakin's continued recital of the minuscule amount of advice.

Timothy continued, "You've just got to go for it. You can't be afraid of falling either."

"If it's anything like a bike, it shouldn't be so bad for me," Sadie admitted, "I learned that pretty easily."

Sadie wasn't worried about flying like everyone else was. She had realized that since there was so much she didn't know and needed to learn in this new world she entered, the best tactic for any sort of activity she would undertake was to wing it, and hope for the best.

"Whatever, as long as that Brooks doesn't fly before I do, I'm happy." Nakin complained.

"You mean Max Brooks? In Noctowl?" Amna asked.

"Aw, still jealous that he's top of the entire class, Nakin?" Melissa laughed.

"You better believe it!" Nakin exclaimed, "He said himself he barely studies. Says he read everything already. And I believe it too; I always just see him in that tree on the lawn reading Muggle books. Yet he performs every spell we learn right, and knows every answer to any question. It's not fair!"

"At least you're best in Steda," Kelsey commented as Nakin finished his essay. "I'm horrible in D.A.D.A. because Wynter scares the crap out of me... I'm barely keeping up in Transfig... And that's without Potion classes," she added, prodding the briarthorn with her quill, as if hoping it would stand up and help her write her essay.



Friday began gloomy, with gray clouds completely overcast across the sky as worry mounted for those first years still not yet confident about flying. But by one o'clock, the sun filled the Salem grounds with its warmth as a breeze flowed past the students that made their way to the stadium.

The field of the stadium was large and oval, with raised stands all around to accommodate all the students who would watch games. Big banners were strung out under some of the stands, one for each house. Several cracked Quodpots were on the ground next to the Quidditch goals.

Professor Zephyra awaited their arrival, some 25-odd brooms laid neatly in two separate columns on the ground before her. "Welcome, everyone, to your first flying lesson. The goal of these classes are to teach you the skills to start flying normally - and properly - on your own. You are required to pass your flying test, which will begin this time next week, carrying on until Halloween. But first, we'll train you up. Steda gets this row of brooms, Noctowl to those. The rest of you please sit, watch, and pay attention."

The Stedas and Noctowls approached whichever broom they chose, Sadie choosing one next to Kelsey and a boy with short brown hair and dark eyebrows named Joey Panteleo.

Professor Zephyra continued, "Now, the most rudimentary skill to using a broom is taking and mounting them. First, you all must take your brooms. To take your broom, hold your hand above your broom and say, 'up.' Let's give it a go."

Students began saying "up" to their brooms. Nakin's and Max's brooms shot upward immediately into their hands on their first tries, followed by Kelsey on her third call. "Good, good," Professor Zyphra commented, "With feeling, Mr. Jang, try again."

After ten attempts, Sadie's broom finally flew into her hand. She found it was quite easy once she had said it with confidence, and was glad she did better than some of the others. Jennifer's broom sat still for over eight minutes before she convinced it to her hand, while several Noctowls simply made their brooms roll around on the ground uselessly as some of the Lupa students snickered from where they sat.

Once everyone finally had their brooms in their hands, Professor Zephyra continued her lesson. "Very good! Now, as you may know, brooms have a magical personality. They can feel your actions, and may sometimes respond positively or negatively depending on your actions. You must treat them well, and show them - at all times - that you are their superior. You must do so with respect. Don't kick your brooms, don't manhandle them, and treat them as you would treat your pet.

"Now everyone mount their brooms from the left. That's good. Now I want you all to try to kick off from the ground, very lightly, pull back on your broom to rise a few feet, and hover in place for a few moments. Then come back down by pushing your broom forward. Let's give it a go."

Sadie remembered briefly how she had once been a witch for Halloween. Then, she had a broom with her as well. When she prodded Jayne with her broom, she would hop away in an awkward run, pretending she was flying away in her escape. Sadie guessed she had to make for the same sort of hop.

Nervous but excited, she made a hop. She almost felt silly jumping as she did in front of her classmates. But after about two seconds, she realized her feet never touched the ground again. To her surprise, she found herself rising about two feet off the ground, all the others gawking at her.

Okay... lift up she said... Sadie thought to herself, and pulled back slightly on the broom. In only a second, she rose vertically until she was nearly eight feet in the air; she hadn't expected to get it right on her first try. In fact, Sadie was the only one that had done it properly, as others hopped feebly on the ground. Sadie beamed, so happy she almost forgot to balance, wobbling on her broom.

Kelsey began to hover, but lowered back to the ground before trying again, this time successfully. Max had risen as well, spinning clockwise in a circle why petting his broom's handle. Others, such as Nakin, Amna, and over three-fourths of the Noctowls, though Tiffany Chan, Raven Fox, and Alaa Jasim did it splendidly. Sadie almost didn't want to stop hovering, for it felt very natural to her, but slowly lowered back to the ground.

"Excellent, excellent. Five points for everyone in the air! And ten points to Ms. Murray for being the first in the air. Very good, very good Ms. Murray, Mr. Brooks, and Ms. Chan." Professor Zephyra announced happily.

Jae Jang, a Korean boy with very slanted eyes in Noctowl, had been struggling ever since they had to pick up their brooms. He had yet to do more than hop up and down with his broom between his legs, and was becoming increasingly frustrated. Many of the Horribilis and Lupas were laughing at him, and imitating his feeble hops. Not paying attention, he kicked off particularly hard while scowling at Tyler DeJarlais.

In a speedy instant, Jae Jang was sent hurtling into the air. Professor Zephyra didn't have time to react. Jae went wildly back flipping upward before falling backwards off his broom. Everyone screamed as he fell over fifteen feet, landing straight on his left shoulder with a loud, gut-wrenching crack.

Those in the air clung to their brooms in shock, trying desperately to concentrate so they didn't fall as well. Jae's arm was bent sickeningly out of shape. Professor Zephyra took control of the situation, "Everyone stand back, and please get out of the air! I need to take Mr. Jang to infirmary immediately. Everyone stay on the ground! Mobilicorpus."

With an upward wave of her wand, the groaning and crying body of Jae lifted slowly off the ground, and he now laid floating in mid-air. Professor Zephyra moved his body with hers using her wand, walking quickly in the direction of the school. The Noctowls and Stedas grimaced at each other, and the Horribilis kids looked very distraught and nervous. But as expected, the Lupas laughed, pretending to cry loudly.

"What a loser!" Tyler scoffed. "Did you see that? Dropped like a rock!"

"Shut up! Shut up!" exploded Timothy, turning red in the face with anger, "Do you punks never shut up?!"

"Better watch your mouth, Shaw!" Andres said sneering.

"Yeah, or you'll be hollering in pain out of it," Alexandre added. Both boys were reaching for their wands.

"No, he's right!" argued Kelsey, dashing her broom aside. "Ever since the first day, you jerks are always laughing at anyone and everyone you can find! You think you're so great. But I haven't seen you try flying. You might be no better than he was!"

"Who wouldn't be better than that stupid Muggle?" retorted Tyler. Timothy raced at Tyler and the Quints, but Cole and Keith grabbed him by the arms, holding him back while muttering insults at the Quints as they smiled cruelly. Even Kelsey made a rush for them, but was kept back by Amna and Jennifer.

"Better watch who you're picking fights with, Shaw," Tyler said with a sarcastic yawn.

"Yeah, you might get a curse shot your way," hissed Andres as the Lupas howled with laughter.

"But Andres," said a quiet, distracted voice, chiming in, "You don't know any curses." It was Max, who was still among his Noctowl housemates, looking curiously at the bristles of his broom.

"What did you say, you freaking nerd?!" Andres protested, very offended.

Max looked toward Andres curiously now, pushing his glasses closer to his eyes while explaining in a very matter-of-fact manner, "I saw you pretending to curse Andrew Denson from Horribilis the other day by the restrooms. I don't know what curse you were attempting to imitate, but it looked very silly."

The Noctowls scattered as Andres dashed at Max, grabbing him by the collar of his robe, and pointed a wand at Max's throat. Many Horribilis protested loudly, and tried to stop each other from physically jumping at the Lupas to start a fight. Max was not terrified at all. In fact, he looked a little curious about what was happening.

"Oh, are you going to do it again?" he asked with a smile.

"Why I oughtta..."

"You wouldn't dare!" Sadie yelled. She couldn't stand still a moment longer and watch this happen. There was nobody who wasn't already holding back to stop Sadie. She drew her wand, aiming it at Andres. She couldn't remember the two jinxes she had only begun to study in Defense Against the Dark Arts, but it didn't matter to her.

"Now let him go, or else!" she said confidently.

"Both of you shut up." Grace stepped out of the group of Lupas, strutting between Sadie and Andres. "If we all go waving around our wands around, we're going to get expelled. Don't be stupid. Quint, put four-eyes down." Andres growled in Max's face before letting him go. Both Andres and Sadie lowered their wands.

"There's got to be a better way of settling this," Grace continued, "Steda thinks us fine Lupas have committed a wrong, and we need to settle this without violence. Something just between us."

"What do you mean by that?" Kelsey demanded.

"Why - silly Yates - a game. Something with odds, where we can see who actually is the loser. And the losing house will do something really embarrassing as a mark of shame. And I know just what to do. A race."

"A race?" Timothy asked, finally freeing himself and watching Alex Quint out of the corner of his eye.

"Sure. We each pick our best flier, and race once around the pitch. But, what should the terms be..." she murmured.

"My mom has some Tonpyon Perfume!" Sarah Hansen, a Horribilis student said. "The loser will have to wear that for a day!" Several people cringed and laughed, while others shrugged. "It's a perfume made in Africa from these gross fruits. It smells terrible, but is collectible, and worth a lot of money. My mom has a huge phial full. The loser can wear some of it for a day."

"Perfect! Then it's settled. A race around the field," Grace said, now turning to Sadie. "And since Murray the Muggle was such a good flier I think she should do it. Right here, right now. You and me." Grace smirked smugly.

Whatever confidence Sadie had instantly disappeared. She had only flown in place for a moment; she didn't know the first thing about flying. She couldn't do this at all. She imagined quickly the race in her head. She saw herself crashing straight into the ground. Her body quivered with fear, and she felt like soon her teeth would be chattering.

This is when she heard herself mutter, "You're on!" She could hardly believe she said the words, and grabbed her mouth as if to take the words and shove them back down her throat.

"Then it's settled," Grace said pompously. She approached the nearest broom and said strongly, "Up!" The broom instantly rose to her hand.

"Sadie! Are you crazy?!" Kelsey hollered, attempting to do so quietly, spinning Sadie around to face her. "You've never been on a broom in your life until today! And you're challenging Grace, the girl who's been bragging about flying all week long?"

"I didn't mean to say it! What should I do?"

"Race her, Sadie!" Amna asserted, "You were the first in the air out of all of us. Even before Kelsey. If anyone could race her and stand a chance, it would be you."

"Alexandre, Andres, run up to the school," Grace directed. "Stall Professor Zephyra. Say a Quod blew up or something, just keep her away. Now!" Both Quints obeyed her command, and raced toward the school building.

"Ready, Murray?" she said, swinging her body over the right side of the broom confidently. She gripped the neck very tightly, and with a kick to the ground, twisted it upwards, and sailed over 15 feet in the air. She hovered waiting for Sadie.

Everyone stared at Sadie, waiting to see what she'd do. She could do this, and if she lost, well that's too bad. She wasn't going to let Grace get away with this laughing. If Sadie was going to lose, she wouldn't lose without leaving the ground. Sadie mounted her broom and kicked off, rising slowly until she reached Grace's height.

Below them, Tyler fetched a broom, kicked off, and rose to their height. "Alright, from this goal post all the way around the field. Ready?"

The students below began cheering, many for Sadie, while the Lupas hollered for Grace. The girls stared eye to eye before looking ahead of them. Sadie's hands felt slick with sweat, and she hoped she wouldn't slip off her broom. Grace looked like she was strangling her broom, sneering at Sadie. They both nodded, ready to launch forward. Tyler began to count, "Three... two... one..."

On one, Grace shifted her body to the left. She put her leg on Sadie's shin, and pushed off it. Grace leaned forward and launched quickly ahead. "Go!" Tyler shouted laughing as many students below protested. Sadie winced at the pain in her ankle, but quickly shook her head, shaking her hair in front of her face. In a second, she imitated Grace, leaned forward, and off she went.

Grace was well ahead of Sadie, but Sadie felt the entire broom responding to her movements. She shifted it side to side, learning that she could turn. 'This IS like a bike!' she thought. 'It just uses your mind instead of pedals. Sadie leaned a little more forward, and thought about going faster. Sure enough, her speed increased. She felt completely in control, and began pursuing Grace.

Sadie gained on Grace halfway down the stadium, flying past the purple Horribilis banner. Grace saw Sadie had caught up, and looked frightened. She slowed down, leaned over, and gave a kick to Sadie's broom. Sadie hugged the broom to keep from losing control, while Grace almost lost balance herself. They both quickly regained composure and raced forward, quickly around the bend and the far goal posts.

They had nearly cleared half of the field. Grace hollered, "You can't win, Murray! You can't!" She then swerved in on Sadie, ramming Sadie with the entire weight of her body. Sadie went into a barrel roll to the side. She lost her footing on the broom and held on with both hands, dangling below the still floating broom. Grace slowed to turn around and look at what she had done, laughing.

But suddenly, Grace's broom jerked for no readily apparent reason. It continued to jerk back and forth, then side to side, threatening to throw her off like a horse at the rodeo. Sadie thought as hard as she could, I want to get back on the broom... I want back on the broom! She felt her broom start to descend, and realized she was either lowering the broom, or it was trying to help her. As it fell downward slightly, she lifted her body, managing to wrap her right leg back around the broom. Without even straightening her broom, she shot forward.

Grace had reclaimed some control over her broom now, but it was wobbling dangerously from side to side as she tried to continue to coax it to fly forward. Sadie quickly caught up. They both descended close to the ground, moving quickly toward where the students were standing as a human finish line.

Grace once again moved in on Sadie, ramming Sadie with the full force of her tackle. But Sadie held firm, pushing forward very far on the broom. Grace did the same, pulling just ahead of Sadie as they neared the kids who had spread out, making room for the girls to pass.

But without any warning. Grace's broom came to a complete stop, jerked backwards, then instantaneously forward very violently. The broom bucked Grace completely off, sending her into a complete front flip. She landed hard on her feet, her inertia sending her face first into the ground. Sadie sailed past the crowd of students, putting her feet on the ground, coming to an awkward running stop.

The crowd of students cheered at the top of their lungs, the Stedas running to Sadie. Before she knew what was happening, she had dropped her broom, and had been hoisted above the shoulders of Timothy Shaw and Keith Troitter, everyone cheering and screaming. Grace picked herself off the ground, her red and black Omnicolour robe with a large rip down the side, a bruise across her forehead, and her hair completely out of order. She looked baffled.

Grace raced directly at the group of Stedas that surrounded Sadie. They all instantly faced Grace, putting Sadie down and keeping her safely behind them.

"We're racing again!" Grace demanded.

"No way!" Kelsey fired back, "Sadie won fair and square!"

"My broom bucked me! She must have jinxed it when I wasn't looking!"

"After you tackled me," Sadie replied, moving from the back of the group toward Grace, "I should have jinxed it. But like you said, I'm 'Murray the Muggle.' I don't know any jinxes to jinx you with! Remember?"

"Oh yeah? Well unless you can explain why my broom threw me off, then we're going again, you cheater!"

Before anyone could argue, the quiet voice that had incited this entire confrontation spoke. "It's obvious, really." Everyone toward Max Brooks.

"What in the wizarding world are you talking about, four-eyes?" Grace yelled, completely confused.

"You mounted your broom from the right. Brooms don't like that; it's disrespectful to them. And you were quite rough with it. I'm pretty sure it simply became frustrated with you. I thought it was quite obvious, but I suppose it wasn't."

Grace screamed, turned on her heels, and started marching up toward the school. Horribilis, Noctowl, and especially Steda, all cheered for Sadie's triumph, causing such a scene that, when Professor Zephyra finally returned, she was left completely bewildered and speechless as to what all this celebration was all about.

"That's her?"

"You sure she's the one ?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Who is that? I've never seen her."

"A first year. She's Sadie Murray."

Two bold signs followed Sadie into the Central Hall on Monday morning. The first sign was her fast-growing popularity throughout the Salem grounds, heard in curious murmurs and whispers throughout the Hall. Naturally, every first year (except the Lupas) boasted and bragged about how Sadie Murray, the Muggle-born who had never been on a broom before in her life, beat the famous Grace Slick in a race. The news spread through the school like wildfire, and it would have been startling if someone on the campus didn't know.

The second sign was Grace, who reluctantly entered the Central Hall that morning. It took about five seconds before the truth hit every single student in the hall: Grace Slick STUNK. As agreed, Grace lost, and had to wear Tonpyon Perfume on the following Monday. Sarah Hansen had sent an owl to her mother saying that her class was having a show and tell of rare objects, and on Sunday, an owl arrived with the perfume phial. It was a murky brown liquid in a beautifully made glass phial with a sprayer equipped on top.

"You'll only need one spritz," Sarah informed Grace. "It's very potent."

Potent indeed, the smell that exuded from Grace was so strong and so foul that students who were eating breakfast quickly became sick to their stomachs. It smelled like a dead skunk, mixed with curdled milk, rotten eggs, and the smell from a zoo. The smell was so atrocious, most of the students left the Central Hall to their first classes without breakfast.

"Grace is going to smell like that for over a week," Kelsey said from behind her hands, which she had cupped over her mouth and nose. "It doesn't matter what you do, that stuff doesn't wash out. My great-grandmother wore that perfume all the time. She would spray it on herself once a day, every day, for as long as I can remember. The cemetery where she's buried has never smelled the same since."

"Wow, I didn't think about it until now, but we'll be sharing classes with her," Sadie noted, now losing inspiration to finish her bacon.

"Thankfully not until tomorrow. The potions teacher hasn't made their grand appearance yet. I wonder where they could be?"

Sadie got a particularly strong waft of Grace's perfume and choked before she spoke again, "Amna, what is that you're reading?"

Amna put down a large newspaper that she was perusing, "The Morning Magus. Wizard newspaper."

"Can I see it?"

"Sure..." she mumbled with a hacking cough, "J-Just give it to m-me in Ch-Charms. I'm about to d-die." Amna quickly collected her bag, trying not to choke on the smell, and beat a hasty retreat from the table. Sadie put her nose in her robe as she looked at the front page of The Morning Magus. In the centre, there was a large moving picture of a man in an Administration robe waving in a negative manner toward the camera. She read the article.





Old York Crime Spree

Two murders on Orthogon Avenue; Administration Officials Attacked


Administration officials have shut down the south side of Low Street on Orthogon Avenue, along with Gringotts Bank, when two bodies were discovered murdered in the streets Sunday morning.

At 6:32 on Sunday morning, Mrs. Erica March, who was seeking to make a deposit at Gringotts Bank, located the body of a man who has not yet been identified by the Administration. "I always like to get out to Orthogon Avenue before it gets too crowded. But I dropped my bag when I saw the man lying still on the ground, as white as snow, and as cold as ice," Mrs. March says. "Well naturally I contacted the Administration immediately."

Administration officials have confirmed that the first victim was killed by the Killing Curse. This is following a similar attack in the same location only three weeks ago. Department of Magical Law Enforcement officials searched Orthogon Avenue for further clues, only to find a second body, reported to be Mr. Sergio Perez, citizen of Gallows Hill, Massachusetts.

"Mr. Perez's body was located underneath the tree in Walpurgis Circle, in Orthogon Avenue. We have recently confirmed that the deceased did not pass away due to magical causes, and was in fact said to have been stabbed by the unknown assailant," says Fredrick Pullman, Senior-Executive of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement at a press briefing on High Street.

Earlier the same night, Magical Law Enforcement officials were attacked in a separate event in Old York during a routine warranted investigation. The suspect and assailant was Mr. Francis Randall, local business owner, who was apparently under the influence of the Imperius Curse.

"It was just a typical patrol," says Detective Angel of the Old York Magical Law Enforcement. "We had a warrant for the arrest of Mr. Randall for not paying his fines for illegally tampering with a Muggle object. When we arrived, he seemed kind and understanding, and even invited us in for a drink while we were to read him his rights."

Mr. Randall then produced his wand, stunning two detectives before Detective Angel stunned Randall. "I was lucky to not be hurt, and am glad that no further harm was done," says Detective Angel. Randall was later diagnosed with the Imperius Curse, and is now receiving treatment at the Mantel Hospital For Magical Maladies. (More on Page 12...)




Sadie jumped with a start when someone tapped her on the shoulder. Turning around, she saw an ugly man with a huge wart on his nose. He was hunched over, and had yellow, rotten teeth. "May I speak to you, Ms. Murray?"

"Who are you?"

"Gary Oak, Disciplinarian of the Salem Institute. This way, Ms. Murray."

Sadie told Kelsey they would meet again in class, and followed the hobbling Gary Oak out of the Central Hall. He lead her into the foyer, and down a side hallway that branched off from the foyer. He stopped halfway down the hallway and began pacing before her, leaving Sadie wondering what this was all about.

"I know what you did," Mr. Oak said very nonchalantly.

Sadie had to admit she was very confused. "Excuse me, sir?"

"I heard the little story about your little race on the broom. You see, Ms. Murray, I've worked at Salem for a long time, and I like to pick out those students who are most likely to cause me the most amount of trouble early on. That way I can deal with them in the most appropriate manner. I've already picked out the Quint brothers, but I believe I should add you to that list. Should I, Ms. Murray?"

Mr. Oak leered at Sadie ominously, bringing his face very close to hers. "Do you know what I do to kids like you?" he threatened menacingly.

Sadie gulped, "No."

"We have extensive chambers in the basement of this facility. Dark chambers, where we hang miscreants by their legs until they learn their lesson! Do I need to hang you by your legs, Ms. Murray?"

Sadie shook her head, terrified.

"That's the idea. Now run along to class, without getting in trouble, eh?"

Sadie told Kelsey what had happened when they met for Charms. "Oh, he's just an old fart. Mr. Oak can't do that to anyone. He's not allowed. No parent in their right mind would allow it."

"You don't know my mom too well then," Sadie quipped. "She'd probably start to get a better opinion of the wizarding world if she knew that's how I was punished."

Kelsey tried to hold back a loud laugh as best she could. "Anyway, he's just trying to scare you into being good. Don't let it bother you... Oh, uh, Wingardium Leviosa."

A pillow that Melissa, who stood across the room, was holding flew lightly out of her hands, but fell softly onto the ground in between her and Kelsey. Today in Charms, they were practicing their Levitating Charms further. They practiced with pillows, which Professor Ellicot thought would be safe to use so nobody would be hurt and nothing would break. Most of the Noctowls seemed to have mastered the spell, and performed it perfectly, while Timothy proved horrible at it, once accidentally levitating Melissa's hairbrush from her pocket.

"Wingardium Leviosa," Sadie cast, and for the first time, all class successfully guided her pillow in a straight line to Amna who stood waiting across the room.

"It was all just really scary," Sadie continued to Kelsey. "If there's anyone at this school I want to stay away from, I'm betting it should be him."

Defense Against the Dark Arts was dreadful to share with Lupa, since Grace made the room unbearably smelly. This prevented Sadie from learning how to efficiently parry incoming spells, which they attempted to learn in class when they weren't burying their heads in their robes for clean air. She lost Steda ten points after coughing mid-parry, getting hit full-force by Professor Wynter's Tickling Charm, which he refused to use the counterspell on before giving her a long-winded lecture about paying attention.

But later that day, rumours began to spread around the school. Word had it that the new Potions professor was finally on their way to the Salem Institute. A buzz of intrigue wound its way from the common rooms to the classrooms as theories about the new professor abounded.

"Hold on..." Kelsey whispered to Sadie as they sat in US History of Magic.

Professor Fitzgerald asked his question to the class a second time. "Come now, nobody knows? What was the most important event in US wizarding history to happen during the 17th century? Mr. Wright, do you know? Mr. Simpson, haven't you done your reading? Ms. Ali? Ms. Murray? Don't remember? Surely someone must have read chapter seven the whole way through... Didn't it have something to do with... V.V.?"

"Vanek! Vikenti Vanek!" proclaimed Nakin, who was hastily flipping through his notes as Timothy napped beside him.

"Right, right, Mr. Parikh. But what did this so-called Vanek do that was ever-so relevant to the culture of our government's history?"

"He took over the Administration in a revolt," Nakin proudly answered with an almost pretentious grin.

"Exactly right, Mr. Parikh. In fact, Vikenti Vanek, one of the most ruthless wizards and nastiest dictators around, revealed himself for the second time to the wizarding world in 1685. And by 1687, Vanek rose to power when he took over the government in a political upheaval, replacing it with the infamous new political power, The Magistrate...."

As Professor Fitzgerald continued with his long-winded lecture, Kelsey and Sadie resumed their conversation about the new professor.

"Anyway, like I was saying," Kelsey picked up from where she left off, "Tristan told me that Rachel something - I think she's the beater for the Horribilis Quidditch team - said that the new Professor was apparently from California, and they've won tons of awards for something."

"Really?" Sadie asked bewildered. "I had heard at lunch that from an older girl, Diane Houston, that the professor was this recluse from the Rocky Mountains. And then there was Amy Paige, the sixth year, who said that it's going to be a professor who's transferring from that school Professor Fitzgerald was talking about a week or two ago."

"You mean that school Hogwarts?" Kelsey replied. "But that's stupid. Hogwarts isn't in California."

"I know! That's why I was really confused."

"What are you two whispering about?" asked Jennifer, from behind them, while Joey Pantaleo scribbled notes in a daze next to her.

"The new Potions professor," Kelsey explained. "We've heard so many things about them, and we don't even know if they're actually coming."

"Same here," she said as she moved her hand through her long brown hair. "I've heard a lot. Mary-Kate Pharis from Horribilis is sure that whoever the professor might be is famous. She heard that they used to be a professional Muggle body-builder... whatever that is. Amandeep Khela said the professor is a werewolf, but I think that's just stupid. And to top it off, you know Karu Mishra, from Noctowl? His sister, Vrinda, is saying she knows whoever it is personally."

Sadie sighed and glanced at the chalkboard to assure she wasn't missing any important dates. There were far too many rumours, and she wasn't sure which to believe, because she didn't know how quirky any teacher could possibly get. Though Sadie and Kelsey didn't have classes with some of the other professors at Salem, they had seen them in the Great Hall and around the campus.

Of course, there was Professor Reynolds, the Astronomy professor, who was never seen on campus until after sunset. He wouldn't even join the other professors for breakfast or lunch, and always seemed full of energy during his lessons at ten o'clock. Then there was Professor Hazlewood, teacher for a class called Care for Magical Creatures, who looked like the female version of Mr. Miller without the cowboy hat and boots, and was always covered in mud. There was a middle-eastern man who taught a class all about Muggles, named Professor Ahmadi, who was very popular with the older students; a quirky man with long hair, Professor Vreeland, who taught Foreign Magic; and a pair of black haired twins, Professors Tegan and Allegra Hartley, though nobody could distinguish between the two, who taught two strange classes called Divination and Arithmancy.

"Why don't you girls just wait until the professor gets here?" Joey interjected. "I'm completely confused, and I don't even care who the professor is."

"Well where's the fun in waiting?" Jessica replied, sticking out her tongue.

"Ms. Bogue, Murray, and Yates," Professor Fitzgerald called out to the girls. "Please save the gossip for the common room. Three points from Steda." The girls moaned , and Joey laughed at them until Professor Fitzgerald took another point from Steda for him joining in with the girls.

That Thursday, during dinner, rumours spread from some fourth years in Horribilis saying they saw someone entering the building in an overly extravagant stretch-carriage. They suggested it might be the Potions teacher finally arriving. Sure enough, Friday morning, Dean Bojovnic, who looked very stressed for some unknown reason, announced that all Potion classes would resume their regular schedules.

"I wonder who it's going to be," Melissa and Sadie discussed while waiting in the Potions Room for the professor to arrive later that Friday. "I hope she's not strict. We already have enough work as it is."

"Ugh, hopefully she'll have a anti-stink potion or something," Cole complained from the table in front of them, glaring toward Grace on the other side of the room. "I can still smell that perfume." Though the smell of the Tonpyon Perfume had died down significantly as the week progressed, it still lingered wherever Grace was, always sitting angrily and silently, talking to no one.

The class heard a pleasant humming floating down the hallway, and all turned toward the door. It was clearly a woman, and judging by the voice, she sounded young. Through the door, a witch entered, fumbling through a very large, stylish, and expensive purse, which coincidentally forced her to look away from the class. The suspense built as she crossed to the front of the room.

When she plaintively placed her bag on the table and turned to the class, a delightful smile across her face, an immense silence filled the room.

"NO WAY!" Kelsey hollered in harmony with Deborah MacLeod of Lupa.

A dainty lady with a huge smile stood beaming at the class. She had reading glasses dangling on a necklace, and very extravagantly curled blonde hair. She wore a very low cut, short, and extremely fashionable pink robe that cut off above her knee, which matched her large purse, as well as her equally pink high heeled shoes. Her lips gleamed with a bright red lipstick, and many golden bangles adorned her wrists, as well as several jeweled rings on her fingers.

"Yes way!" she replied happily to the class. "Hello!" she took a long pause before speaking again in the same way a cook lets their food simmer.

"Hello, my young pupils. I am so glad to be the latest professor to receive the privilege to teach here at The Salem Institute. I sincerely hope you'll excuse my absence in the past few weeks. Busy bees have busy lives. I..."

"You're Kallie Couture!" Kelsey exclaimed, still in complete shock.

A new murmur filled the room. Even from those who were new to the wizarding world had heard of certain wizard celebrities. And at least every girl in the room, whether Muggle or wizard, knew Kallie Couture was the fashion designer known for the robes she sold for Haute Couture, the high end fashion boutique on Orthogon Avenue. She spoke with an almost disturbingly happy tone that made Sadie's mother look as if she had been faking all along.

"Yes, ma'am! You are correct! Oh, how I am so glad to already be known by my students. I am, for those who are still not aware, Kallie Couture. Oh, but of course, you must call me Professor Couture now. Must be official, mustn't we?"

She waved her hands around at the room, or at nothing in particular, for it was hard to tell which. "As you may very well know," she continued. "not only am I famous for my lovely designs of dresses and robes in the fashion industry, I am also very famous for my two autobiographies, as well as my active modeling career."

She took a deep breath of happiness and beamed at the class. "Well, you children will be the first to know that I am entering the realm of the culinary arts. That's correct, yes, I have taken my skills into the kitchen, and have recently acquired a lovely restaurant in my hometown of Crystal Peak, Washington.

"Then, all of a sudden, I learn that Salem needs a Potions teacher. Well, making food, brewing potions, it's all sticking ingredients in a pot and cooking them! Why not volunteer my well-sought services where they're needed? And here I am."

Many of the students, particularly the girls, were shifting between shock and awe of their new Potions teacher. Most of the boys couldn't concentrate out of boredom, and didn't know what all the fuss was about. "She's just some lady who is really weird," Keith Troitter mumbled as Professor Couture yammered about more of her personal life. "I don't see what the big deal is."

"Clearly you don't know anything about fashion," Amanda replied before returning her gaze dreamily to their new teacher.

Sadie wasn't sure she liked Kallie Couture as a Potions professor. The first potion she asked them to brew, which would apparently cure bronchitis, garnered different results from nearly everyone in the class. Sadie's group with Kelsey, Amna, and Timothy earned Steda ten points for their potion, even though they had not added Tissle Leaf, which they couldn't locate in the supply cabinet and were convinced didn't exist. The smell of burnt marshmallow filled the room when Keith, Joey, and Amanda's potion turned completely black, billowing an ugly gray smoke.

"No, my dears, the directions called for you to brew it for twenty minutes, stirring it every fifth minute counter-clockwise six times. Five points from Steda... though... if you add some Giddylip I'll give you the points back. If you let it brew when you leave class, it'll make a facial cream that does wonders for the skin."

Surprisingly, Sadie's group was the second best in the class, only rivaled by Grace's group. Whether Grace was naturally talented at Potions, as she seemed to be in most of the subjects she studied, or if she was cheating somehow, her group with Tamara Lemoine, Danni Furlong, and made a potion that sent red steam puffing into the air. "Perfect! A perfect potion. What's your name dear?"

"Grace Slick," she gloated, with a proud smile.

"Oh, I'll be expecting good things from you," Professor Couture complimented, sniffing. "Hmm... something smells like... old cheese."

The worst group was the Quints with Tyler DeJarlais. Tyler felt he was too good to do the work, and sat back as the Quints, who were horrible at Potions, fussed over what to add and how to stir. When Tyler realized there were only a few minutes before they had to present a sample of their potion, he threw some strange black rock from the materials cabinet in their potion, making it turn a violent orange before exploding in every direction. The potion smelled delicious, but burned anything it touched. The Quints and Tyler's Omnicolour robes had disintegrated right off their bodies, and they were all quickly losing their uniforms.

"I don't even know what you did!' Professor Couture grumbled, scrubbing fretfully at people's robes who had been splattered with a rag which was burning just as fast, "But it was very silly of you! Now go to the infirmary in case it tries to eat your skin or something, preferably before you're naked."

Thankfully, Sadie's group wasn't assigned any homework, and were able to focus on their other assignments. All in all, as the weeks of school passed by, all of the students found less and less time to play, and were forced to the grindstone to complete their steady stream of work. Professor Wynter had them writing essays for every single class, even on the weekends, forcing students to pore through books for the cited information they needed on counter-curses and how jinxes and hexes are different. There were always new Astronomy constellations to learn, as well as plants for Herbology, and if Sadie had to try to transfigure her quill into a different type of feather one more time, she thought she was going to go crazy.

September progressed into October with rain and a cold wind. The leaves of the trees quickly began to change colours as if they wanted to take an early holiday to escape the oncoming winter. Charms was only becoming more difficult with an endless fusillade of new spells to learn and master. Professor Millan proved to be more than just a slowly aging woman, and though her directions in class were very ambiguous, the class members found they were actually learning something as their transfigurations slowly became more skilled.

The school was buzzing with excitement by mid-October, as the Quodpot and Quidditch season had started. Though the first of either game would not begin until November, teams had been recruited by all the houses, and were practicing nearly every night. It was perfectly normal to hear two or three loud explosions from the field consistently after school hours whenever a Quodpot team was on the field.

Two first years in Steda were accepted to the Quidditch team. Keith Troitter and Joey Pantaleo, though neither were terribly good players, were now going to be doing their best to fly on the ratty old school brooms.

"Joey is a reserve, though," Keith mentioned to Sadie one day while on his way to the Stadium, "I was accepted to the starting team! My broom isn't worth its weight, but I don't care much about Quidditch anyway. I just want the flying experience so I can join the Quodpot team."

"Why didn't you just sign up for Quodpot this year?" Sadie asked him.

"Tristan says the team only accepts kids in their third year and up. They say it's a hazard to put younger kids on the team because of the explosions. And apparently it's not a hazard for Tristan and Sean to be tossing live Quods around the common room. Pff!"

"How do the houses win the Quidditch and Quodpot cups anyway? Everyone's been talking about them," Sadie questioned.

"Quidditch has a building score system. The team with the most points collected through all of their games by the end of the season wins. But for Quodpot, they have a huge tournament at the end of the year, and the best two teams of the season duke it out for the cup."

Though Sadie knew she would never play Quodpot if someone paid her a million Galleons, she enjoyed watching it being played by others. If she had free time after classes, when she wasn't huddled up with the others in the common room working on a tricky Potions assignment, or reviewing a goblin slave revolt in the library for History of Magic, she would sit in the stands and watch the teams practice. She hadn't forgotten about her love of drawing, and now drew the Quodpot matches. She finally learned how to enchant her drawing tablet from Professor Ellicott, and now drew full motion drawings that would act like comics, except with live action.

This year's Lupas were becoming slightly out of hand. The first years, along with the lower and upper classmen in every house except Lupa agreed that this year's Lupas were wilder than anyone could remember. Lupas were supposed to love a good joke, as well as being notoriously sneaky about pulling their tricks off on others, as well as being very smart, only rivaled by Noctowl students. But Andres and Alexandre were exceptions to the rule, preferring brute force when their minds failed them. Grace Slick, Tamara Lemoine, and Danni Furlong became a gang of sneaks in the halls. Danni was particularly good at spellcasting, and people had to be careful they didn't insult her or the others, in case Danni would hex them.

The Quints trailed after Grace as if she were their queen. She ordered them to do pranks she didn't want to get caught in the act performing. When they weren't stalking after Grace, they paraded with Tyler DeJarlais, who touted his fame to everyone, and attempted to follow his older brother, Daryl, around the grounds to little avail, as Daryl seemed to find numerous ways to ditch his younger brother.

Ever since the race between Grace and Sadie, they continued a campaign of bitter rivalry. Grace was very eager to get revenge, and she tried to jinx Sadie in passing through the hallway, as well as frequently sabotaging Sadie's potions during class when she wasn't looking. Sadie's group always performed on an even scale with Grace's group, which made them each rival to one another.

One particular confrontation garnered half the school's attention. Sadie's group had just completed a particularly difficult potion with astounding ease (thanks to Amna, who was always found studying with Nakin and Joey in the library), and were making their way to the Central Hall for lunch. Grace got angry and tried to curse Sadie in the back.

"Locomotor Mortis!" Grace yelled, waving her wand.

Sadie didn't have time to draw her wand, and did the only thing she could think of doing, which was to half-trip, falling to the floor in a duck. The curse sailed past Melissa, Kelsey, and Timothy, nearly hit the bystanders crowding the hall, and went straight to a mirror at the end of the hall. It ricocheted back over Sadie's head, and hit Grace in the shoulder. Her legs instantly came together, and she was knocked backwards into the Quints and Tamara, making them look like falling dominoes. Grace received a week's worth of detention from Professor Munroe, professor for Ancient Runes, who saw the entire scene.

The Steda upperclassmen brought Sadie to the front of the common room that night during their weekly Friday night party, and applauded her. "Three cheers to Sadie, for teaching that little brat Slick that we Steda won't fight back, and we'll still win!" Marcus cheered to the entire room. Stacy was bothered as usual during the parties, and returned to a book she was reading, while Kelsey laughed at Sadie, who was turning so red with the attention, she would soon match Lupa's house colors.

The upperclassmen, who held the parties in the common room constantly, never usually included first years, so the girls usually had their own miniature parties in their dorm room. But that night Sadie, Amna, Timothy, and Kelsey were allowed to join. Tristan, who was particularly glad Sadie had gotten Slick in trouble, offered her a drink called Butterbeer.

"It tastes amazing, I promise," he assured. Of course, Tristan was right, and Sadie loved it immediately. It tasted like a buttery kind of cream soda, with a twist that Sadie couldn't pick out that made her feel very warm.

"Is this stuff... alcoholic?" Amna asked suspiciously, swirling the light golden liquid in her cup.

"Only a little," Kelsey commented. "Kids aren't supposed to drink it before ten years old. But there's not enough alcohol to get you drunk. Well, maybe a little drunk if you drink a ton..." she admitted, watching Timothy who looked a bit woozy and was dancing awkwardly with some second years. "But only if you've never had any before. Tristan says it's so sweet that you're more likely to get sick to your stomach before you ever started feeling drunk."

The four stayed up late as the party drew onward, finally returning to their dorms well after midnight. The warm, soothing feeling the Butterbeer had given them a sleepiness that could not be kept at bay, and they soon went to bed.