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RAVENHURST 1ST YEAR CHAPTER ONE: ORIENTATION


Ravenhurst ST

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As the morning sun peeked through the curtains of the open window and fell on the face of Jane Jennifer James, known to her friends as 3J. Her eyes blinked at the offending light as she struggled out of the darkness of sleep. “Who ordered bright and sunny it's the weekend for Pete's sake.” she complained as she rubbed her eyes and wipe her pillow drool from her cheek.

3J rolled out of bed in her boy boxers and a long t-shirt her usual sleeping attire. She reached for her glasses and her hand brushed something that shouldn't have been there. She snatched her glasses up and put them on and saw a small off-white envelope leaning against the night lamp, her name neatly written in blue ink in a hand she did not recognize.

She grabbed the envelop and tore it open an took out the single crisp sheet of paper folded inside. A letter from Ravenhurst!

 

All across America young men and women or boys and girls woke to letters just like the one 3J received. The letter bore simple instructions on where to go and what time to be there, where they would be transported away to their new school. Really anyone familiar with the Harry Potter stories would find the instructions a bit of a let down. There was no train station with odd invisible platforms, no secret places to go to buy a long list of exotic magical things they would need for the coming school year. . The instructions told them to just dress casual bring only the things they would normally carry with the on a trip to the mall or the park. And then the instructions told them where to be

In 3J's case she was told to be in the woman's fourth dressing room at the local Target store between 12:45 and 1:10 pm this very afternoon. Everyone received something similar, go to a bathroom at a MacDonald's, or the balcony at a theater, one student was told to be at the foot of a great old pine tree she was familiar with on her running path.

And at the appointed time they did, most of them any way and when the arrived each one stepped into, up to, or through, the designated destination and found themselves elsewhere.

The arrivals were staggered with the upper classes arriving first and the first years last. As each new student arrived via teleportation spell they were greeted by a 5th year and shown to the orientation hall. As they entered the long hall with a podium at the far end in front of a huge window over looking the grounds they were handed a color coded tag with their first name printed in magic marker on it.

It didn't take long for each small group to find others with the same color tags and even less time to realize that the tags were also done up by gender.

And that is how at 1:30PM on September 3rd, while everyone else in the hall was grouped according to gender and wearing name tags of vibrant attractive colors, four girls named, Jane, Kaitlin, Safyre and Siobhan found themselves  grouped with a boy with the unusual name of Jillian, and wearing name tags of the ugliest deep brown and green any of them had ever seen.

 

Spoiler

Welcome to Ravenhurst. The room  you are in looks like it could hold three time the number of students as are in it. the other kids are of various ages and races and genders . the five of you are the only group with a mixed gender. There are no adults in the room the closest thing being a couple of older 5th year students one boy one girl who handed out the tags. Safyre recognizes one of the other kids across the hall way, her cousin Greg wearing a royal purple name tag. Warren was the last kid to be handed a tag and the girl that gave it to him had a very odd look on her face as she handed it to him

 

 

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Kaitlin looked around with undisguised, somewhat self-conscious interest. She'd never been out of Wyoming before. She hadn't thought her first time out of state would happen by walking through a tree. Since learning magic was real just a little over a year ago, that might have been the coolest thing she'd experienced so far. She just hoped her dad would be okay without her while she was attending Hogwarts.

So far, Ravenhurst looked less like Hogwarts and more like an exclusive, expensive private boarding school. There wasn't even a Sorting Hat, just tags with their names written on them in plain marker. Two of the girls she was grouped with looked like their belonged here - she didn't know much about fashion, but their clothing looked expensive. She couldn't help but be self-conscious about the baggy, worn fatigues and patched, loose grey sweater she was wearing that hid her very well muscled build behind shapeless bulk. She felt out of place in the refined atmosphere of the magical academy.

Kaitlin slung the overstuffed rucksack from her shoulder with surprising ease, letting it sit by her feet. She pulled the drab, threadbare US Army Ranger cap from her head and redid her short pony-tail of black and blond hair - it had pulled loose as she had ran for the old pine tree the letter from Ravenhurst had directed her to. She put her cap back on, carefully pulling her pony-tail through the hole at the back.

She offered the girls (and one boy?) she was grouped with a friendly, if uncertain, smile. "This place is bigger than I thought it would be. Who'd have thought there would be so many student sorcerors the world doesn't know about, eh? I guess we're sharing a homeroom or dorm or bunk or whatever. Hi, I'm Kaitlin Vandussen, but most people back home call me 'Kat', if you like."

Kaitlin gave the 'boy' a doubtful look, looked around at all the other groups, strictly assigned by gender, then glanced at the tag in his hand. "You're Jillian? Are you really a boy or is this some sort of magic or East Coast Liberal thing?"

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"What?"  Warren said as he snatched the name tag from the girl who gave him the looked at him oddly.  Without another remark he took the name tag and cast it aside.  Warren was not into this whole gimmick.  Name tags were people who might actually care who the people around them were.  He didn't, this place was already a joke.

Warren wandered around the large room, looking for where exactly he was expected to be.  His iron toed boots hit heavy upon the floor.  He was in a simple pair of faded denim pants, an old Metallica t-shirt and an old bomber jacket that looked faded with many miles behind it.  People gave him a strange glares as he wandered the room, it was obvious he didn't seem to belong here, perhaps robbing a liquor store in some low income neighborhood perhaps, but certainly not at Ravenhurst.

He finally settled to a halt, getting a few looks from those around him.  No one actually said anything to him, oh no, most were to stuck up and snooty to risk a confrontation with a guy who was probably carry a knife or a gun... or what ever the street people were using to kill each other with these days.

At some point this whole thing would start, and he hoped they'd hurry.

"Yes," Warren replied with an overdose of snark in his voice.  It was deep, confident and carried the tone many women would have found attractive.  His voice matched his frame, broad shouldered, tough, and rugged. "I'm a guy."

The girl from the door approached swiftly and in a heartbeat was standing right next to him. She was holding the name tag out to him again.  He noticed the Jillian had been scratched through with an X (but was still clearly readable) Warren had been scribbled below it.

"Not a good first impression, Warren. Word of caution, first impressions are very important here as are second and third and so on." She points across the hall to 4 girls.

"No, it's not," he remarked,  "You can't even get my name right."

Without another word she turned and walked back toward the door.  He gave Kaitlin a look and held up his new name tag, letting his new name speak for itself.

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Siobhan looked at the latter resting against the small, crystal clocked on her nightstand and picked it up. With a sigh and opened the envelope and withdrew the crisp, piece of paper within. While kids across the country were likely receiving similar letters with enthusiasm, Siobhan was rather down. This didn't just means she was leaving her family for some boarding school, like some might think. No, she knew full well what it was, and in a way dreaded even reading the letter.

It was a rather short letter, after all. Maybe they decided with withdraw their offer, or maybe there was some clerical error and she did not have to go or something. If the only magic she ever did did in her life was saving her horse, then she was okay with that. Well.. not really. Siobhan knew that if she had helped Aidan, then she could help many others with this magic. She knew she was being selfish, but for a moment she allowed herself to be.

She unfolded the paper, looked it over with her blue eyes and sighed. She was instructed to go to the Botanical Gardens and be  seated on a very specific bench at a very specific time time today. Maybe she was meeting with some faculty to discuss things before school began? She knew she was grasping at straws and just not wanting to accept the inevitable.

Siobhan pulled herself from her bed and walked about the enormous house, mostly to say goodbye to the staff. Most of them she had know virtually all of her life, and in the absence of her parents off at parties, business trips, conventions and so on, they were like a family to her. Thy watched her grow up and blossom into the young woman she is now, and may have had more than a slight part in it. They were sad to see her go, several of them choking back tears themselves, something which she usually failed to do.

And, of course, she went and said goodbye to Aidan, promising to send for him as soon as she could. The horse almost seemed to understand and nuzzled her tenderly as she pet his head tearfully. It was hard for her to pull away, but she finally did retreated into the house, trying he best to compose herself. It was a long, uphill battle though.

With her parents off one some business trip, her brother away for his first year of college, and her sister in school, she tearfully wrote each of them a note, leaving them on their beds, and got ready herself, making sure to call a car service first. She could have had the driver take her to the garden, but she did not want it to seen any more unusual than it already was.

Even though the letter said to bring what you would on a normal day, Siobahn could not help herself and once she was dressed she selected one of her larger bags, neatly folding and placing within and few of her favorite pieces of clothing and keepsakes. She slung the bag over her shoulder, looked in the mirror and pulled off a bracelet, setting it on the dresser before she made her wait out to the waiting car.

That was this morning.

Now she stood in a large hall full of groups of students who were clearly broken up by gender, except for there own. Regardless, she was bound to make the best of this. She smiled warmly and waved to the others in their little group.

"Hi Kaitlin. Hi everybody. I'm, Siobhan Berrigan." she said, introducing herself.

"I know it looks like 'Cee-oh-ban'," she said as she pointed at her name tag, "but it's pronounced 'Shi-vaun'. It's Irish." she said with a shrug a smile.

Siobhan then looked to Warren, a warm smile still on her lips.

"You know, if you look at yourself and see a Jillian, then that's great! Or even Jillian today and Thomas tomorrow or whatever. Gender can be fluid thing for some. You do you, and don't give a damn about what others might think. That takes a certain courage and self-esteem that not many have. Bravo." she said in full sincerity.

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This happened a lot.  Warren was an attractive young man, and although he didn't take much care to keep him clothes in top form, he always took the time make sure he was well groomed.  It was only a matter of time before one of the rich girls here approached him wanting to talk so they could get back at daddy for not buying them a gold plated pony for their sweet sixteen.  Must be nice... he thought to himself.  Having come up from nothing and still living a life thievery and hustling to get buy, Warren felt seriously out of place.  Still, he'd managed to pinch a few marks since he arrived.  Not like they'd miss the cash.

The burdens beautiful people have to shoulder was obviously lost on this poor rich girl.  He decided to let her down easy.  The cold shoulder was always a safe bet.

"Me do...?"  His shoulder length hair covered half of a face that told the story of a guy not interested in talking to people.  "My name, is Warren.  And gender is not fluid.  You got a chub?  You're a male.  If you're sporting a vag?  You're a female.  It's simple, really."  He thumbed towards Kaitlin.  "She prefers to be called 'Kat', it doesn't make her a cat."

He looked down at his phone, a smart phone that looked way out of his price range.  The app was constantly scanning for wireless networks and keeping appraised of various firewalls.  It updated him that he'd added 109 new songs to his music library and some fool was actually using the Samsung Pay app... he'd learned to crack that code not long after they introduced it.  He wouldn't take much, just enough to cover the utilities this month, 'Dad' sure as hell wasn't gonna pay them...

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Safyre had known she was accepted at Ravenhurst long before her father called her into his study to present her with the letter. Like most of the more influential families, the Starrs had people working for the school who would pass things like that on. She'd have heard about it from her dad weeks ago. It wouldn't have been fun.

As it was, Victor Starr had stood up as she'd entered, impeccably dressed in his Italian suit and his always-manicured hair. He insisted on always being the best dressed, the best groomed one in the room, even with his family. He'd held up the envelope and tapped it on the desk edge, then beckoned Safyre over and let it fall into her hand.

"Congratulations," he'd said with a nod of approval. "It's no less than I'd expect, but..."

She heard the unspoken words as if they'd been shouted. ...but you have never lived up to expectations.

The paper of the envelope was thick and heavy...more like parchment than modern paper. Safyre didn't open it. She knew what they said from the ones her siblings had read before her.

"I have a gift for you," Victor went on, lifting a little jewelry box from his desk and holding it out. "It was this or a new car." He grinned at that. A little humor.

Safyre took the box and opened it. Within was a necklace with a jade pendant, worked in arcane sigils of Eastern sorcery. She frowned just a little.

"Try it on."

She lifted it out and leaned over to flip her long blonde hair out of the way so she could fit the necklace easily around her throat and clasp it around the back. When the jade slipped under her blouse and lay against her fair skin, she felt the power in it.

"A focus," she said, looking up to meet her father's eyes.

He nodded. "Just a basic one. The kind any student might use, if they're from a family with access to such things."

Safyre fished the pendant out and stared at it. She'd refuse a 'crutch,' and he knew it...but a normal focus...well...that was just a tool. Like a mundane pocketknife would be for a magic-blind person. Wasn't it?

No. It wasn't.

She felt it. The amulet's power was something else too. Not just a lens for magic, but some kind of glamour too? Safyre glanced back at Victor.

"What else is it doing?"

His face was a complicated emotion for a moment. Pride that she'd sensed it, but a little irritated that it might be a problem. "It sends out a little magic aura around its wearer. Indistinguishable from..."

Safyre was already reaching around to try to take it off when Victor took hold of her arms and...gently, but firmly...stopped her. "...from someone with more magic."

"No," she gritted.

"Yes," he replied, just as grimly. The smile was gone now. "Listen to me. Appearances matter. You don't want magic help, you want to build your own strength, fine. I can respect that. But you won't do it at the expense of your family. Do you understand?"

She slowly relented, letting him guide her arms back to her sides.

"Everyone is different, when and how they develop their true talent," Victor said. "I have every faith that you will blossom. This is a temporary measure. We are a family of power and prestige, and that means every little thing about us sets tongues wagging. And they will keep wagging long after your...problem...goes away. Rumors will circulate. Idle gossip. But it will all come back to you and your brothers and sisters. Their children. Your children. We must at all times show the world that the power of the Starr family is unassailable. Am I clear?"

Safyre took a deep breath. "Yes."

He peered into her eyes. "You'll wear it? At all times?"

"...yes."

Now Victor's smile returned, fatherly and calm, washing away that moment of iciness. "I am proud of you, Safyre. I've seen how you fight. When you come into your strength, you will truly be worthy of our name."

Once again, Safyre heard the unsaid. Right now, you're not.

"Thank you," she said, her voice slightly choked.

Still smiling, still acting as if he'd paid her a grand compliment, Victor motioned towards the door. "Right. Go on then...don't be late for your first day."

She had plenty of time, given that she'd entirely lost her appetite for breakfast, but Safyre didn't let that stop her from hurrying out.

=========

At Ravenhurst she'd taken her name tag and discretely turned it over when the harpies weren't watching so that the name didn't show. If someone wanted to know who she was, they could ask. And even the idea of name tags was kind of idiotic when one considered how names worked, and what gave them power. Most of the cretins of the school wouldn't know that yet, but it was a bit startling that the faculty didn't seem to either. Maybe they were testing people. Well...test passed. Again.

Her group seemed to have three girls and two boys. But then one of the boys started talking, and Safyre realized belatedly that the glob of muscle there was a girl. And then that girl had the gall to go after the boy who was clearly a boy, and intimate that he was crossdressed or something. It was so brilliant a troll that Safyre would have admired it, if it hadn't so obviously been the result of stupidity rather than an honest effort to be funny.

She was rescued from that by the bleach-blonde who seemed like the 'cheerleader' and prattled on about 'being you' and just pissing the boy off even more.

Had she been put in with the Aspergers somehow?

And the boy himself. Not bad looking if you were into the whole 'I have no self esteem' thing. He'd be a great match for some poor girl who 'really thought she could change him.' That'd work out great too, Safyre was sure. No way you'd wind up with thirteen kids magicking up diapers and formula while working three jobs because he left you and dodged child support. Awesome catch!

Safyre turned around to try to find people worth talking to, hoping that if she just ignored this bunch, they'd go away.

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Safyre turned and was brought up short. There was a man standing there older with a bushy grey beard and wearing glasses. He was dressed casual and had his hands in his pockets. Safyre saw his eyes glance down at her chest and squint behind the glasses.

The Dean.jpg

"You ashamed of your name Miss Starr?" He reached out and plucked the tag off her shirt and turned it around and handed it back to her. "We give you these for a reason, please wear it properly."

Then he sniffed and walked past her toward the podium in front of the windows. The other students fell silent as he passed. While he wasn't an imposing figure, there was a aura of, well, power, coming off of him.

Once behind it her cleared d his throat the doors at the back of the room shut with a resounding bang which startled everyone. The bearded guy frowned at them.

"Please be seated," he said, sounding bored.

He watched as everyone found their seats.

"I am Dean Chambers, welcome to Ravenhurst.

As you have already noticed, there are a wide range of ages and genders represented here. This is not a school like any of you have attended in the past. Regardless of age and you accomplishments in Academia out there, here all first years are group together and study together. We teach you the proper way to do magic so you don't kill yourselves or anyone else by blundering a spell somewhere down the road.

The cards you have been given are your study group assignments. these are the fellow students you will do group studies and projects with. The assignments were carefully chosen by studying entrance exam's and background as well as observation since you were first selected to attend this establishment.

Some of you," his eyes rove and linger on several students, including Safyre, "have a background in sorcery. I expect that that will either help or hinder you in the term. First year is the second hardest year you will have at Ravenhurst. you will be asked to do things you think are impossible. We will teach you that nothing is impossible. You will be asked to do things which will scare you to death. But a true sorcerer has nothing to fear."

He goes on in that almost bored voice for another thirty minutes going over mundane things such as dorm assignments (by group, the dorms are coed but sleeping quarters are segregated), dress requirements, food, and weekends. Then he pauses.

"Alright that enough from me, a fifth year will come and collect your group and show your to your dorm assignment and give you a tour of the campus. Good luck and study hard."

The dean steps around the podium and walks out as a group of fifth years come in and go to join various color coded kids and lead them out of the hall. The girl who handed out the cards comes and stands by the Brown green group.

"Hi, i didn't introduce myself earlier, I'm Maria (she pronounces it as Mariah, which is odd to everyone but Sioban)," pointing to a crisp white name tag made of what looks like ivory on her shirt with her name engraved on it. "I've been assigned as your group mentor. If you will follow me the Dean would like to see all of you in his office." She smiles broadly, none of you are sure if she is making fun of you or if she's just a happy person.

Maria.jpg

Maria leads the 4 girls and 1 boy through several hallways to and office which looks like it could be any office on a fancy boarding school on television.

"The Dean will be right with you" Says Maria in a sing song way and with an even bigger smile as she backs out of the room pulling the doors shut.

Spoiler

you may resume posting

 

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Warren leaned against the wall, refusing to take a seat.  Old habits would be dying today, and where he was from you didn't sit down in a strange environment, you leaned with a foot on the wall ready to move if you needed to move.  He didn't pay much attention to the ladies around him, fiddling with his phone and for the most part keeping to his own.

He looked up to find them all giving him a glare as if this session had something to do with him and his crappy attitude.  "What?"  He asked with the same annoyed look on his face and that word that seemed like the only one in his vocabulary he used with any measure of proficiency.  "Don't look at me.  I didn't do anything."

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They hadn't been told to sit, so Safyre wasn't sitting. She'd had a lot of experience dealing with men who had utter power over her, and one of the first things she'd learned was not to assume she knew what they wanted in advance.

She glanced over at Warren briefly, then shook her head.

"They wouldn't call us all in if it was about something you did," Safyre said dismissively. "Everyone just relax."

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The short dumpy redhead with the glasses just stood by the door clutching her oversized bohemian bag as if it contained the crown jewels.

3J hadn't said more than four words since Maria had handed her the name tag. These kids are all better than me prettier, probably have money well at least the girls. She had thought that the one who said to call her Kat had been chubby like she was but then she got a better look at her neck which had muscle not flab and her wrists also not chubby with fat.

What had caused her to be grouped with  These are obviously better people there must have been a mistake. Why did I even come here I should have stayed in bed.

3J never realized that she was mumbling.

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They hadn't been told not to sit, so Kaitlin plopped herself down in one of the chairs, placing her rucksack under her feet, her hands resting easily on her thighs. Leaning from her chair, she looked around the fancy office. The mayor back home probably didn't even have as nice an office. She cocked her head questioningly at the snotty girl.

"I am relaxed," Kaitlin claimed without much conviction, "Only... there are a lot of people here. The Dean probably meets every first year here, so he can at least match names to faces. He already seemed to know you, Safyre."

To her, the orientation hall had seemed to hold as many people as her entire town of Dubois, Wyoming. Back home, practically everyone had known everyone. She didn't see why it would be different at a what was essentially a private boarding school. Though even with her limited experience, Ravenhurst seemed even more cliquish than home.

Kaitlin raised her brows in surprise at the redhead's comment and the boy's agreement. She blushed slightly, regretting her earlier comment about his name and gender. "Um, sorry 'bout before, Warren. I've just never been someplace even remotely like this. But why would you, either of you, want to miss out on even seeing the place?" she asked them in genuine interest. "I mean, I was kinda hoping for something more like Hogwarts - do you think Rowling might have gone to the British Ravenhurst? - but maybe we'll get to see the real magic after orientation?"

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Kaitlin narrowed unusual amber eyes at Safyre. The bitch wanted to her to ask. And then probably wouldn't even give her a straight answer even. She refused to give her the satisfaction. Kaitlin folded her arms, her sweater pulling tight across her shoulders and biceps, and stayed silent, contenting herself with an expectant tilt to her head.

They better not have some sort of time travel magic just so some over-achiever or rich kid can take extra classes and have all the time their need to do homework, because that is just so much bullshit.

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"Oh, Jesus," Warren rolled his eyes.  "It's a book, nerd, wizards aren't real.  Magic isn't real.  This place is a joke.  These people are crazy."  He pointed a finger at Safyre.  "And if this candy coated cunt here is some indication of what we all have to look forward to... fuck.  This.  Place.  This is bullshit, they sent me a letter, not the other way around.  They're not doing me any favors."

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Is that how you got in, you uppity, condescending bitch? Kaitlin thought while taking not entirely concealed delight in Warren calling Safyre out on her attitude. Then she blinked at him, hearing what he had first said.

"Wait! You don't think magic is real? Then how did you even get here, because I stepped through a bloody tree in the mountains of Wyoming and came out here in Vermont." Kaitlin paused, and because for all her lack of experience and Warren's doubts, this was a magic academy, added, "The pine tree wasn't really bleeding, well not anything other than sap, anyway."

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Siobhan sighed as things degerated.

"Everybody needs to calm down, drop the attitudes and bitchiness. We will ne spending a lot of time together, so we may as well get along."

She then turns to Safyre.

"You might know more about magic and stuff than we do, but you do not need to be a nitch about it. Our success ot failure tjis first year is likely going to be very intertwined. It is in all our best intrests to get along."

Siobhan then look to Warren with a sligjt frown.

"I'm sorry if I assumed wrong and offended you. I truly did not.mean to. I was just trying ro be supportive, but I was wrong about things. I truly am sorry. I hope you can forgive me."

Siobhan dhit Kat and 3J a smile. 

"I am new to all of this too, so we are in the same boat and I am rowing, it seems. So I am learning along with you."

Her brow furrows slightly and her demeanour becoms more firm.

"And that is a foul word, Warren. I'd thank you to stop using it. No lady likes to be called a 'See You Next Tuesday', or realky hear it. It is vulgar, so please stop using it. Thank you."

 

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"Siobhan, it's supposed to be vulgar, that's the idea.  My language depends on her, you don't like hear me say mean things, get her to quit being such a c-" He pursed his lips, apparently under all the bravado and posturing there a something resembling a decent young man.  It wasn't Siobhan's fault so being mad at her too wasn't going to alleviate the problem.  He sighed, attempting to calm himself, and looked to Safyre.  "Look, just quit being a bitch, okay.  Consider for a moment what Dumbledork said out there.  Your grades depend on us, so the last thing you want to do is piss us off, because frankly, I'm sporting a 'D' average all my life, wrecking your academic career will be like a drop in a bucket and the amount of winks I catch tonight will still be in the forty range."

"And no," He said calmly to Kaitlin.  "I don't believe in magic.  There's plenty of things out there that could have made you think you stepped into a tree and walked out somewhere else.  Trust me, I know some dealers..."

"Anyway, don't worry about the name thing, Irish, it's all good."  The ladies were already full tilt at this point.  He wasn't paying them any mind, hell if this was a school then if one of them killed the other the rest would get an 'A' for the semester... at least he hopped that's ho it'd work.  It'd be his first 'A' ever.  Besides, he'd sowed his seed of chaos, nothing got women going faster than the 'C' word.  It was almost too easy.

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A side door no one had noticed opened and the Dean stepped in he was looking down reading some papers he was holding. He stopped and took his glasses of staring at the kids in his office. Just then the door behind 3J opened and Maria stuck her head in "It's on the desk sir." She pointed and ducked back out closing the door.

The Dean stared on a for a few seconds before crossing to his desk and picking up a small blue marble that was lying in the center of the blotter.

"Please everyone sit down. Miss Starr, it's unusual for us to host members from separate branches of a family at the same time. I assume your cousin Gregory being here won't case problems." He looks at her questioningly, but doesnt wait for an answer. "Good. Also you might want to refrain for angering people you don't know anything about while you are here. For instance Miss James here is very good at cursing her enemies, and I am not talking about your run of the mill hexing cantrips. I am talking about full blown gypsy curses you know the kind than can kill or ruin your life. Is'nt that right Miss James."

The redhead was a whiter shade of pale all of the sudden.

"Alright I can see that there are going to be problems with you five. I don't like problems but things are what they are. If you wish to be sorcerers then you have to get through your first year here together. Now normally this is where the grouchy old school official would tell you that either all of you make it or none of you do. Try and build that team camaraderie thing.

But that's not how it works here. Your grades don't depend on each other you pass or fail on your own merits. That is assuming that all of you do want to pass."

He ends that sentence with his eyes on Warren.

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"I'll carry my own weight, thank-you very much." Kaitlin muttered, glowering at Safyre. Crude or no, she thought Warren had pegged her right. She-Ra?! She didn't own a dress, did have a stupid headdress-thing, and unlike the cartoon, she actually had muscle, muscle hard earned even if she has used magic to help her earn it.

Kaitlin knew one of the main reasons she was here. She wanted to learn, she wanted to help her dad, make him into the man he used to be instead of the man wallowing in self-pity and drunkeness. So far, medicine couldn't fix his injury. Once, when he had been drunk and she had helped get him into bed, he had claimed he'd been curse when he had been deployed in Iraq. If doctors couldn't fix him, maybe magic could.

When Dean Chambers had mentioned 3J's facility with hexes and curses, Kaitlin couldn't help but lean away from her a bit, thoughts of her father in head. But she set her jaw stubbornly when the Dean revealed their grades depended strictly on their own effort and merit. She hadn't relied on anyone back home to help her, she wouldn't here either. She'd power through and persevere. Never give up, never surrender.

Plus, there really was magic in the world. Knowing that, how could she not want to see more of it, to experience more of it?

"I want to learn, Dean Chambers, to go as far as I can."

To go as far as I need to go...

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The Dean sort of absentmindedly nods "Alright then, we had a bad storm which damaged the Dormitory Wing and we have had to shut a good portion off for repairs, which has put us in a bit of a pickle. This group of first years  a bit larger than normal so we can't squeeze your group into the building but we do have a small Summer house that we use when when have long term visitors. It's on the grounds and is actually quite nice. The five of you and two chaperones will be staying there at least until the dorms that were damaged a have been rendered safe and repaired.

Maria will show you where it's at and then give you a tour of the grounds. Hope it's not too inconvenient. "

He looks at the marble he had been rolling around while talking then looks back at the kids. "Is there anything else?"

 

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Warren listened as well he could.  None of this was making any sense, especially the assumptions being made by the Dean.  He had to admit, it was a nice place filled with nice rich people who already had the likeability of cactus enema.  He couldn't say this Dean guy was any better.  Most schools would have frowned upon one student harming another and this guy was talking about the chubby girl killing or ruining people live like he had no moral compass on the matter.

Yep.  Cult.

"So that's it," He looked at the name plate on Dean Chamber's desk to refresh his memory.  "Now we just trot off to a summer home where your babysitters make sure I'm not trying to cop a feel in the middle of the night?  I appreciate the invitation, and would love to say I 'walked through a tree', but I hopped a Gray Hound, and not long from now my dad's gonna be waking up from a barbiturates and bourbon bender.  It's been a fun a road trip, but really, we all know I can afford a school like this."

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Safyre, who wasn't quite standing at military attention but wasn't far off from it, simply shook her head once.

"Nothing from me."

The others could wallow in their insecurities...that was officially not her problem anymore. The Dean, for all his efforts to passive-aggressively dress her down, had given her the only piece of information she really needed from him. She wasn't going to have to carry them after all. The opening week of school was going to be retardedly busy for her, so that revelation brought nothing but relief.

She turned to look at Maria, wondering if there was any chance her own tour could start immediately.

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The Dean gives a wan smile at Safyre's remarks then takes his glasses back off, "Maria, would you please take the young ladies and show them the house. I'll have Matthew bring Warren up later.

Maria ushers everyone out and give warren a smirk as she closes the door.

The Dean and Warren watch each other over the desk until The Dean broke the silence.

"I'm curious Warren, why did you bother coming here if you didn't believe or didn't want to at least try.

But then I really shouldn't ask that sort of question. It's not my job to convince you to stay, so you can leave if you wish and you wont have to worry about bus fare we will see that you get home safe."

He slips the glasses back on.

"That is if you think you can live with knowing.

Knowing what you could have been. Knowing that you threw it all away because you couldn't get past this false sense of bravado you have built up to keep yourself safe.

Very few boys and girls come through the gates here. Very few meet the requirements of this and our sister school. But you only get that invitation once.

Oh I'm sure you will make do out in the world. Who knows you have done well so far you could end up a talented magician, able to make small useful magic and tricks to fool the masses.

Or you might fall in with the wrong crowd. With your attitude i can see you seeking out a coven but also with your attitude I don't see you lasting long.

No, As much as I hate to see potential wasted, it is probably best for you to leave now, before you really get a taste of what you will be leaving behind.

I'll just have Matthew take take of getting you unregistered."

He picks up the phone and punches a button. "Yes, Rhonda, would you please find Matthew Scott and send him in please?"

 

*************

Maria shows them out across the grounds to a gorgeous two story summer house situated on a small lake on the property. she produces keys and passes them around.

"Bedrooms are upstairs if the jackass leaves  or gets kicked out you can each have a room, if he shows up though two of you will have to share. Also if he doesn't show it will just be us girls and we will have tons and tons of fun.

Kitchen is through here we will have to drive into town and do some shopping if you want to do your cooking here or you can just eat in the cafeteria with the rest of the students."

She takes them throughout house showing them the rooms and the large patio out back which extends out onto the lake. there is also a boathouse with a  couple of small sail boats.

Gazing out across the lake there are a couple of small heavily wooded islands and all the way across the lake is edged by thick forest.

 

 

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Warren's mind spun around a thousand possibilities in just a few moments.  He hated this guy, why wouldn't he?  The Dean was an authority figure and thus far in his brief life he didn't have much luck with those types.  At juvenile detention centers and foster homes he'd seen that young adults like him, who were mostly innocent and victims of circumstance, were treated like they were nothing more than an inconvenience to society and the very social workers who were hired to look out for their well being.  Yet here he was standing in a school three states away form home with nothing more than a piss poor excuse about 'taking a road trip' when all he was doing was running away from his life for a few days.  A drug addled alcoholic father and a life of thievery and prison time was all that waited for him back home.  As much as he hated to admit it, this old dude was right.

Warren was a genius and he knew it, he didn't buy into this whole magic thing, covens, wizards it all seemed like a joke to him.  There wasn't much to go home to... and he'd never live it down if he spoiled the opportunity to find out what all these crazies were really up to.  "Wait," he said, almost to quiet for the Dean to hear him.

"We both know I have nothing to go home to."  He started.  "So, cut the crap.  I don't play well with others, and you'd lived my life you wouldn't either.  I don't owe you explanations, you're a stranger to me.  I'm not going to stand in this room and treat you like you're doing me some sort of favor.  Don't forget, you called me.  Not the other way around."

"I'll give this place a shot, no reason not to, I guess aside from the people."  He leaned into the desk met the Dean's eyes.  "And in the future, if you wanna talk, we'll talk, but don't ever make my decisions for me."

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Holding her rucksack in one hand instead of slinging it over her shoulder, Kaitlin accepted the key from Maria and glanced at it curiously before pocketing it. Then she looked around the grounds. The Summer House was nicer than the bungalow she shared with her dad back home, but it reminded her a bit of it, it being on its own on the edge of the forest.

No mountains nearby though. Kaitlin hoped she could find someplace for active, intensive climbing, but until then, she supposed she could add some daily swimming in the lake... until it got too cold anyway. She did like the idea of bunking in a detached house instead of a dorm. It would be easier to sneak out for a run before her fellow students woke up and she had to answer questions.

"This is nice," Kaitlin agreed good naturedly, but Maria caught Kaitlin's sidelong glance toward Safyre, suggesting it would be nice until the bitch gave Fun the death of a thousand snarks. There is no way I'm sharing a room with her. I'll share with Warren first, even if I have to break his hands after he tries to cop a feel.

She was pleased at finding out they had their own kitchen was even more delighted by the grill set-up they had out on the back patio. It wasn't like she was a master chef or anything, but she did enough cooking and grilling back home, stews and BBQ mostly. Kaitlin's grin faded at the mention of driving into town to buy stuff for cooking. Chewing on her bottom lip self-consciously on her lower lip made her look even younger than her fifteen years.

"Um, I don't want to be that girl, but do we get a stipend or something for food? I don't have much money," Kaitlin asked Maria self-consciously, who she guessed would be one of their chaperones. If they didn't, she would be eating in the cafeteria, unless that cost extra too. Then she'd need to find a job, if that was even allowed when going to a fancy boarding school. There must be something she could do on campus to make ends meet. "Or is there hunting allowed anywhere nearby? Fishing even?"

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Hunting? Fishing?

Safyre suppressed a shudder at the thought of eating some probably-diseased animal from a forest. On the other hand, it would keep one of her 'roomies' out of the house for a while, and she didn't have to be the one eating the stuff.

And she had to admit, Muscles was right. It was nice. It reminded her of the guest house near the vacation place over at Tahoe. Miles better than the one in Florida or New Mexico. Far enough from the dorms not to have to deal with the casual BS of parties and friends popping by all the time. As long as the other girls...and maybe the guy if he didn't get tossed out on his ass...weren't overly loud or obnoxious, she might be able to get some real work done here.

She'd probably need to get her own fridge though. One of those little box-like dorm fridges would be fine. She'd probably be eating breakfasts and lunches on campus with her planned courseload.

Safyre glanced back at Maria. "Who's the other chaparone? Do we need two if Warren doesn't show?"

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"Oh! It's like the staff residence at my family's estate outside of Paris." Siobhan mused. 

"I'll see about hiring us a private chef for us. They'll do their own shopping though, if that's okay?" she asked, not wanting to overstep her bounds with the people she just met.

"We can go to town to buy what we like though. I mean, if we want. That or we put together a list and hire a personal shopper or something and have it delivered, but the trip might be fun." she suggested.

"Hmm.. I wonder what the nearest car service is.." Siobhan thought aloud, pulling out her phone.

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Kaitlin glanced over a thick shoulder and just stared in abject dumbfoundary at Siobhan. What the girl was talking about was so far beyond her experience that Kaitlin found the idea of that level of wealth more strange than the fact that magic was real and that she could work it herself. The only private chefs in Dubois where the ones who worked at the local restaurants and saloons and cafés and Patty Laramie who ran the bakery.

And anyone who had someone do their shopping for them if they weren't handicapped or lacking a vehicle would be openly mocked or silently judged. Every teenager in Dubois could drive, even if they didn't technically have their license. She'd been driving for almost two years, and didn't even have trouble seeing over the dashboard anymore.

"You can get a chef or whatever if you want, and if they'll let you bring someone - a.. uh, 'Muggle', I guess - to Hogwarts," Kaitlin said to Siobhan, a bit of challenge in her tone, "but I can do my own cooking, thank-you very much."

I just might not be able to afford to buy anything to cook, is all... Maybe the cafeteria has student workers?

She knew she and her dad didn't have much - their pick-up was old, the single story house little more than a log cabin. They hadn't had cable and the hot water always ran out too quick, - but she had never felt as poor as she did right now. She turned back and braced her arms on the railing surrounding the patio and looked over the modest lake with hooded amber eyes.

It sounded like Siobhan - or her family, at least - had more than one home, at least one overseas and even her on site servants lived in a nicer house than she did. Kaitlin how no idea what it would be like to have people to do everything for you. She been helping her dad, taking care of him often enough since her mother died. Would it be freeing or limiting?

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There was a knock on the door and it immediately opened and a boy about 17 or 18 poked his head in, "You called for me Dean?"

"Yes, Matthew, This is Warren the boy I was telling you about he's with the brown group," the boy's eyes widened, either with acknowledgment or surprise hard to tell but he nodded as the Dean went on,"we are finished here would you mind showing him where the lake house is and help him get settled”

“Certainly sir!” The boy comes the rest of the way in he is short about 5' 5” and soft and pudgy, wearing un-hip clothes and thick lens glasses, in fact to warren he looks a lot like the male version of the chubby girl who does the gypsy curses thing in his group, except with blond hair instead of red.

“Hi I'm Matthew, looks like we are going to be roomies with all the girls.” He smiles broadly looking a bit frog like and grabs Warrens bag and tosses it easily over his shoulder, “Come along then, it's a bit of a walk.”


 

*********

“Oh no no, “ said Maria hurridly, “You can't bring normal people here, that's against the rules, you could get us all expelled.”

 

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"I wasn't suggesting you, or anybody, couldn't cook. I just though that it would be one less thing to worry about so we could focus on our studies. I didn't mean to offend anybody and I am truly sorry if I did." SIobhan said as she looked at the others.

"It was just an idea.." she said, her voice trailing off into a small sigh.

"Please excuse me." she said, excusing herself from the others, her mood clearly a bit down.

Siobhan walked over and out onto the dock where she took a seat, looking out across the water, trying to just take in the scenic view and push out the poor first impression she felt she had made.

'You never get a second chance to make a first impression.' her parents had always told her... drilled into her is more like it, she recalled as she noticed a small bird chirping. She smiled faintly at the bird.

"Why hello there." she said, extending a lone finger which the bird immediately flew over to and perched. 

"My name is Siobhan. It's a pleasure to meet you." she said, lightly petting the bird with a singer finger of her other hand.

"Oh! You brought friends." she commented with her smile slowly returning as she felt a squirrel climb up her arm to sit on her shoulder while several fish swam about the end of the dock.

It was always easier with animals. She had always liked them and they had always seemed to return it in kind. They never had pretentiousness (aside from some cats), and were always more upfront about their feelings, saving the guessing games so common with interpersonal relationships. 

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Squirrel." she added, petting the squirrel's head lightly with the same finger as it sat up on her shoulder.

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The squirrel twisted and looked back toward the house, Siobhan looked as well and saw Kaitlin leaning on the rail watching them. Suddenly Siobhan felt a cold poke on her leg, she looked down and saw a second squirrel with something in it's hands.

The little beasts reached up to her as if wanting her to take what it was holding.

Kaitlin observed the rich girl and the animals and wondered what kind of magic the girl was using to showoff with. She sighed and stood straight and something made her look across the lake at the woods. A chill ran down her spine she could swear that something was looking back.

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"Oh! A Present? And here I don't have anything for you." Siobahn said with a frown.

"I will bring you some really great nuts or berries or something when we get back from town." she promised as she reached down and gingerly took the offered item from the squirrel with her thumb and forefinger, bringing it up to take a look at it.

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On 5/15/2017 at 5:32 PM, Safyre Starr said:

Safyre glanced back at Maria. "Who's the other chaperone? Do we need two if Warren doesn't show?"

Siobhan looked crestfallen at Maria's comment about no cooks and that made Maria feel bad. She almost went after the girl but Safyre had asked a question as well. "No, not if Warren gets expelled but if he does stay my brother Matthew will be the other chaperone."

As if on que the front door opened and in walked Warren with a short chubby guy carrying Warren's bag.

 

The squirrl on Siobhan's should jumped off and both scampered away along the lake shore. Siobhan looked at what the squirrel had given her and held it up in front of her face.

It was a seed. A large seed like a pumpkin seed but fatter and blue green in color.

A seed like she had never seen before.

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Safyre nodded, a little disappointed but not terribly surprised to see that Warren was all (or mostly) big talk. In that case...probably best to stake out a room while the rest of the crew were re-enacting Disney movies.

She did a quick check of the cabin's bedrooms and on picking one she went in and put her backpack on a bed. That was good as gold, no take-backsies.

Without thinking about it, her right hand drifted up to clutch her pendant. It was nice to have a moment to herself, especially if Warren being here meant she would have a roomie. Maybe a little exploring was in order. There had to be some spot near the house she could make her own.

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