“This time first years get the third floor, for seven years of learning you will sleep here. Students must leave the castle during the winter and summer holidays.” Abigail introduced Luca to a heptagonal six-person bedroom decorated in a mix of light brown, black, and white. Entrance wall had metal boxes built in labeled ‘Garbage’, and ‘Laundry’, for obvious purposes, six other walls had the same sort of windows as in Vilemyr Inn, perspective as if the room was above the castle, a big bed with curtains, desk with a shelf over it, and a wardrobe. Middle of the room was empty, creating a spacious interior. Luca wondered if this time he will get to live here for a while, or if fate will have him change location soon yet again. He chose a bed at random out of five, one already occupied by an unpacking slowly boy that turned briefly to greet Luca with a nod. Luca could see his robes coloured bronze on their rims, and he looked at himself carefully, finding a Wampus logo and imperceptibly changed clothes too. It must have happened as he entered the house, impossible not to notice earlier otherwise.
“I was supposed to give you a brief castle tour, you know, going to the dining hall first and the main staircase. Classrooms for first years, eagle nest. Also talk about the history of Ilvermorny, founded in sixteen twenty-seven...” Abigail explained herself, as she watched Luca open his briefcase and take out the books.
“I know, no need for that. I will follow others, no problem, right?” he interrupted her, pointing his thumb at his colleague.
“Dormitories are assigned to same class, no problem… But… Can I escort you? Em… To hold hands? How does it feel, ghost contact? And you have a clue as to why can you do it?” Abigail had difficulty asking considering Luca’s reaction, but she had to get to the bottom of the matter. It was too important, maybe a change for the entire afterlife community. Luca looked at her sternly, very repulsed by the idea. After all, he can’t benefit in any way, and who knows if casually touching ghosts has adverse effects.
“Don’t touch me. It feels freezing for a second, then my skin warms up beyond average temperature. As to why… Look at my wand, I was assigned to all four houses too, have a lot of magic power… That’s the reason.” Luca took out his wand, kitten on his neck purred and put out one of his paws curiously, the tentacle in its eyes similar to a toy. Luca lifted it for the kitten to sniff up close. It’s head tilted cutely, the kitten bit one of the suction cups on it. To Luca’s surprise, it squirted water into the kitten’s mouth driving it to shrink back and almost sliding on Luca’s back.
Abigail laughed despite her complicated thinking mood, were there no other wizards with a lot of power? Never heard they could interact with ghosts, while alive she was also plenty capable, called a prodigy, won awards, but that didn’t make her perform miracles, did it? And what is up with this ‘wand’? Which clown made it?
“Sorry, is that all? Your appearance is an enormous event for us, ghosts. Can you reconsider some more, I will speak on the ghost council to convey the information.” she asked cautiously.
“I can only guess, if you come up with a way to test or want to touch me, give me something in return. I’m worried it isn’t safe for me to have a ghost sticking nearby.” Luca explained his conditions, Abigail brightened up, yes, who would want to have a ghost haunting them, he doesn’t dislike her specifically.
“Right, sorry again. I’m going to the council, dinner will be served after sorting ends, no-maj ice-cream truck music signals the beginning of all meals in the castle, they give out food for an hour after. Breakfast at eight am, lunch one pm, dinner six pm!” Abigail spoke fast and floated away, thinking what of value she had to pay him for holding hands or more.
As they talked, one more student entered the dormitory, shortly after she left, there were four boys in the dormitory. By the time Luca finished taking everything out of the briefcase, the last roommate arrived. He looked around, went to an empty bed next to Luca’s to put down his luggage, and loudly gathered everyone together for a round of presentations.
He introduced himself first as Winnetou Intschu, a member of the Mescalero tribe of Apaches, he had long, flowing down to his chest, straight black hair, prevented to cover his sight by a bronze leather strapping headband decorated with red and white threads, face only half a star worse than Luca’s in symmetry, cleanliness and coordination of features, healthy almond-bronze skin, and bronze eyes. Anything else hidden under the robe, but Luca was certain he trained physically.
Luca went next, revealing his no-maj background. Neighbour from the other side disclosed his name as Nathaniel Harrington, he had short red hair and small eyes, shifting them constantly from place to place, his legs changing the balance wobbling from side to side. He might be hyperactive or have ADHD, thought Luca immediately.
Next one was an Asian boy, named Junfeng Hou, black hair cut almost bald, glasses, and a thin nose set him apart. After him came an afro-american boy with a bleached curly hairdo, his ears pierced by small steel cones, necklace of steel balls surrounded his neck. He stood steadily with his arms folded in the front, named Tolkien Gutni.
Last one was the first to arrive, Bennet Gaiers, an average-looking boy with bronze hair, inconspicuous among his diverse or giant colleagues.
The group of six started chatting and comparing their new wands, Luca obviously took the trophy in having the finest, unparalleled even, one. Topic came to his cat’s name, Luca decided to postpone it, consider Bryce and Miranda’s opinions, only choosing a couple of nicest sounding ones to remember for later. Kitten’s gender got researched thoroughly, it was a male. Time passed as the boys got to know each other superficially, discussed their spellcasting knowledge, and the upcoming first lesson during which they will have an opportunity to shoot a charm out of their sticks. Many hours later, as they run out of topics for the moment, the feast-summoning jingle rang throughout the castle signifying the end of the sorting ceremony.
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Luca followed the rest of the boys led by Winnetou, holding the sleepy kitten in his arms. After crossing several absurdly similar corridors, the group reached an open door of the dining hall. Seven long tables, six occupied with listless upperclassmen half-laying on them sloppily, one discernibly more energetic at least partially because of people sorted sooner for first years, topped off by a long teaching staff table on a step-up. Stained glass on the wall behind the adults depicted a variety of scenes, a woman holding a black cat, a snake swimming in a river, a loving bird feeding its hatchlings, a Pukwudgie fighting a creature similar to a bigfoot in a downwind, bleeding profusely. The middle of it occupied a giant, lush tree with a golden ‘Ilvermorny’ caption on a ribbon under its roots, glowing green light over the hall. It made the entire room shine in greens, like putting on tainted glasses.
“Come here!” sitting at the beginning of the table Bryce waved to a coming Luca enthusiastically, the group of roommates split. Luca sat down on a seat Bryce reserved for him, looking curiously at the teaching staff table. Blonde woman he overheard being called Juno presented the headmaster with a long parchment and spoke into his ear rapidly waving it, much to his visible dismay, rest of the staff mostly hid their heads in their arms and tried to close their eyes for a minute before the opening banquet.
“How’s Horned Serpent dorm? Mine is filled with cats, everything is fluffy.” Luca rose his kitten up to show it off, imagining a terrarium full of snakes in Bryce’s house.
“Books, wall full of graduates' notes, infinite coffee barrel to drink when you study. Not luxurious, quite nice and peaceful.” Bryce commented on his environment, interrupted by a flock of noisy girls passing them.
“Look, our chosen one!” one of the girls exclaimed and shoved herself on the other side of Luca, she turned out to be a grinning Miranda.
“Chosen what?” Bryce asked puzzled, Miranda reaching out to pet the kitten with one finger.
“She means that all four statues lit up as I went to be sorted, had to pick Wampus otherwise that crazy geezer Fontaine might expel me on the spot, or worse.” explained Luca, bumping Miranda’s shoulder to protect it from harassment.
“That slays! Current minister of magic started his wizarding career like you.” Bryce got amazed, having spent half a year bored in his room in Iverstead without communicating with anyone amassed his trivia lore.
“Speech, speech!” a shout attracted everyone’s attention, the headmaster stood up with help from his assistant that also held a parchment in from of him.
“End of speech, bring the food!” he shouted again, then sat down and ignored her muted complaints completely. In the blink of an eye, tables buckled down under the weight of wooden trays, plates, and goblets containing the finest delicacies wizards working in the kitchen could come up with. About half of the platters were filled with chicken cooked a hundred different ways, rest occupied by apple pies, chocolate cookies, tacos, and hamburgers.
“I knew we will get chicken…” Luca muttered, as he took a wing and picked its meat apart to feed the kitten small pieces. Rest of the hall plunged into a feeding frenzy, starved for far too long. Miranda on his left didn’t bother using her plate and took a whole tray of stacked hamburgers to her face. Initial hunger satisfied, a disturbance in the form of approximately a hundred ghosts phasing through the ceiling to descend, formed a row above first years’ table, Abigail leading them. She quickly came to Luca under the sight of the entire hall.
“Rise your hand aside, nobody that wasn’t there when it happened believes us. Some stubborn fossils have to feel for themselves, I fought hard to make them obey the arrangement of touching your hand briefly and going away.” slumped and apologetic Abigail pointed at the first ghost. Luca had no choice being put on a spot, he handed the kitten to Bryce and turned around to lift his arm. Procession of ghosts hitting a high-five on him drew a widespread discussion, vice-headmaster Fontaine made his way to them, clapping his hands in approval.
“Good theatre, nice acting everyone. It really creates an impression that you can hit him, is it Henry’s idea? Where are you, ancient stooge?” his eyes kept looking for his ghost friend in the crowd.
“This isn’t some stupid stunt, let me explain…” a fat ghost wrapped in bandages like a mummy came out of the line. After speaking to him, Fontaine pulled his beard for a while, observing Luca’s palm. He decided to leave it alone for now, before a convened immediate discussion with the rest of the staff and the second ghost council. He wasn’t some expert on specter matters, so the opinions of more people were urgently needed.
“You are very interesting indeed Mr. Granger. What’s the name of your cat?” he stood aside guarding the scene, nearby students silent since the aura of chill and gloom radiated from the ghost gathering.
“Not yet decided, he’s a male.” Luca replied shortly, subconsciously slightly rejecting to take in another pet after Razor’s sad end.
“Let me choose, exchanged for an A on Transfiguration courses. Hm, Lion, Tiger, Zen, Hopscotch, Blackie… Make it Ringo, has a nice ring-o to it.” he settled on a pretty good name. The procession of wraiths ended, and they returned up to continue arguing, Abigail the last to leave sent Luca a wry smile.
“Amazeballs…” sighed Miranda with a worshipping look, she had a prime seat to read the expressions of the passing ghosts and Luca’s poker face maintained through touching the danse macabre.
“Well put. Eat slowly, don’t join the deceased choking on a bone.” Fontaine left, the table erupted in the same excitement as the rest of the hall. Thousands of students stood on their benches or tables to get a better view of Luca, positive news that they at least didn’t swarm him like a celebrity to sign autographs.
“That's the guy from the sorting, right?”, “He can touch ghosts! Have you ever heard of it?”, “Freak, better stay away from him.”, “He’s from our house! Can he punch the Grim Reaper into a coma when it comes for him?” Luca became a hot topic of discussion on the first day of his wizarding career. Distressed, he could only flee the hall and go to bed to avoid questions from his new friends. Falling asleep later, the boy thought he felt more tired than after a hellish all-night run with Pablo, fueled by a liter of an unpalatable stamina-restoring potion.