“Welcome to the Salem Witches’ Institute, everyone!” a short, stumpy witch greeted the Hogwarts students as they arrived. “I hope your journey here has been a smooth one so far!”

She shook Professor Persnickety’s hand and grinned eagerly.

[img align=left]http://i.imgur.com/tcPDpI7.png[/img]“Thank you very much for helping us out, Penelope. Hopefully we will be out of your hair before you know it,” Professor Appoline Persnickety said to her.

“Not at all! You are all welcome to stay as long as you need. I know your journey has been a long one.”

“Thank you, Penelope.” Professor Persnickety turned her her students. “Everyone! Please take this time to change into your school uniforms and use the facilities if needed. Shortly, we will be making use of the institute’s floo network to travel the rest of the way to Ilvermorny. I know you are tired, but this leg of the journey will be a short one.”

The students had just arrived by ship in Salem, Massachusetts. The ship had been enchanted in a similar fashion to the Knight Bus: faster than should be allowed and invisible to muggles if need be. The ship had appeared a few miles before coming into view of the shore and slowed to match the speed of muggle ships. Unfortunately, their final destination was not located on the coast. The Salem Witches’ Institute had been kind enough to allow them to use their fireplaces to travel from the coast to Mount Greylock: the home of Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

The students of The Alexandrian Academy for the Arcane Arts were arriving in similar fashion. However, they were to use a set of fireplaces in the wizarding pub nearby.

“Once you are ready, please line up in front of one of these three fireplaces,” Persnickety said loud enough for everyone to hear as she motioned the three fireplaces on the left of the entrance hall they stood in. “I will be going through the floo network first to greet our host, but Penelope here, Professor Mathers, and Mr. Caswell will be here to assist everyone going through the fireplaces. Bathrooms are located through the doors on the right, if anyone has need of them.”

[img align=right]http://i.imgur.com/HWAVhkE.png?1[/img]Carlisle Caswell straightened importantly, and Professor Mathers had a look of annoyance on her face. Penelope was positively beaming. The three of them moved over toward the fireplaces to wait. Professor Persnickety dismissed the students to ready themselves and headed over to the three of them to talk as they waited.

Only the three teachers had made the journey with their students. The rest of the Hogwarts staff would be remaining behind.

[img align=left]https://i.imgur.com/3B75nXq.png[/img]River Alcott came out of the fireplace with a dazed look on her face. It had been a long trip. Part of the teen was very nervous, another part was very excited. The normally peppy girl was feeling shy. She dusted off her golden robes and fixed her light green sash indicating she was Practiced. Her hair was a range of colours in the pale pinks, teals and blondes. Her green eye scanned the room and she headed for the Great Hall. She was hungry and she hoped to chat with other students to ease her nerves.

[img align=right]https://sapi.subeta.net/shared/267888.png[/img] Millie was exhausted and hungry from her trip. She was still in shock she had been chosen to make the trip to Ilvermorny. She went and changed into her robes and used the toilet before returning to the fireplaces. She was looking forward to finally arriving and seeing her aunts and cousins, who worked at and attended Ilvermorny, respectfully.

When she finished changing, she approached the fireplaces and took some floo powder from Professor Caswell and calmly said, "Ilvermorny" and she was quickly taken to the fireplaces in Ilvermorny. She was quickly directed to the Entrance Hall where she was given a warm welcome by the Ilvermorny students. As she made her way to the left to find her dormitory when she heard her named yelled, "Amelia! Amelia!" She looked around and saw her eldest cousin, Cassie running towards her. She embraced her in a big hug. "We're so happy you're here! You'll have to tell us all about your trip!" "I will as soon as I'm settled. Where are Jackie, Lauren and your moms?" Millie asked. "They are around here somewhere. Go find your dorm and we'll talk more in a little bit when they reappear" Millie nodded and gave her cousin another hug.

Millie found the form room and choose the bed farthest from the door. She pulled her wand from her back pocket and tapped the nameplate and her name appeared with her luggage. She smiled and sat on her bed for a moment to gather her senses and waited for some others to find their way into the dorm.

Teresa arrived through the fireplace and dust herself off, she hated floo powder but had no other choice. She looked around the area and was not amused by the amount of students arriving, yet she nods to the headmaster Fontaine and proceed to the hall where she found drinks and food. She was hungry but thought it would be rude to just eat when she just step inside so she looked around wondering if she could make friends with students from the others schools.

Terry sighs, she wasn't a very likable person, or at least she thought so so she decided better to head to the bedroom, the last bed was taken so she chose the next one in order to have some space to read, she hoped. With her wand she touched the nameplate and her things got there fast. "Wicked." She decided to head back and get a snack since her stomach was rumbling, maybe there she will meet someone worth meeting.

[img align=left]https://sapi.subeta.net/shared/172169.png[/img] Lenore had arrived at the Salem Witch's Institute excited but anxious. The trip hadn't afforded her much time to herself and that always set her on edge. The moment Professor Persnickety mentioned the bathrooms, Lenore all but ran to them.

Inside Lenore took a moment to breathe and then reached for her bag. She began pulling out face cleanser, toner, moisturizer, and a large variety of makeup. Realizing that she had far too many objects to fit on the sink, she pulled out her wand and tapped each item to make it hover at elbow height off to the side. "Finally" she whispered wearily to herself. The slow precise process of preparing herself for an outing always calmed her nerves. She looked at her reflection in the mirror above the sink. Her blonde hair was still just as she had placed it that morning, pulled back with bangs spilling carefully to one side. The hairspray she had picked up in Diagon Alley was worth every sickle. Her bright gray eyes and pale complexion definitely needed some work though. Hanging her cloak with it's green trim to indicate Hogwart's Slytherin house on a hook, she picked up the cleanser and started in.

Faye was standing at the top of the stairs near the back of the throng of students welcoming the visitors to Ilvermorny. She was very excited, but due to her shy nature she did not shout and jump around like many of her classmates. She smiled in what she hoped was a welcoming manner, and observed the kids as they came up the stairs. She felt something brush against her legs, and stooped down to pick up her bengal cat, Prince. He had come to see what all the commotion was. Faye scratched him behind the ears while she watched the students file into their dormitories or into the Great Hall.

Eventually, her stomach gave out a great grumble and she decided she would nip into the Great Hall for some dinner. Maybe she'd meet some students from one of the other schools while she was eating!

River curiously tired several foods as her pet monkey wound his way down her arm from the hiding place of her neck. She handed the little monkey some food from her satchel. "Here Max," she said to her pet. The monkey took the food and ate with a quiet little monkey trills.

( I think you're the only one in the Great Hall with me )

Faye noticed a girl from Alexandrian Academy in the Great Hall with a pet monkey. She had seen monkeys at muggle zoos before, but had never been near one. Curious, she made her way over to the student and shyly walked up to her and said "Hi, I'm Faye. I like your monkey." Prince, her cat, was following her and sat down next to her feet and meowed at the girl.

"Hi Faye," she said, "My name's River. Nice to meet you. Aww, thank you. This is Max he's a Cottontop Tamarin Monkey. He's really sweet, won't get any bigger either. Only weighs about a pound. Is that your kitty? He's pretty. I wanted a cat but I have two ducklings. They're already in the dorm I think. Max would go in the crate." She smiled and took a breath since she was a feeling like she was rambling. "What's your school like?"

"Nice to meet you River and Max! Can I pet him? This is Prince, my Bengal. He's basically always following at my feet. Oh gosh, ducklings? I'll have to make sure Prince doesn't get in to your dorm!" Ilvermorny is great! The classes are interesting, and the grounds are awesome! There are lots of wooded areas for exploring, and being on top of a mountain is pretty fun! I've heard it is similar to Hogwarts! What about Alexandrian Academy? It sounds like a pretty exotic place to learn magic!"

[img align=left]https://sapi.subeta.net/shared/271331.png[/img] Ivy cheered and held up a welcome banner from the bottom of the main staircase. She smiled shyly at some of the passing students from Hogwarts and Alexandrian Academy who caught her eye. Once all the visitors had ascended the stairs, Ivy put her banner on top of a pile of them on a side table. She was excited and nervous about all of the new people in the castle for the Triwizard Tournament.

Rashidi (Ra) stepped out of the fireplace and looked around at this new school. He thought it was impressive that the school changed it's size depending on what was needed. As he thought about whether to go to the dorms his stomach gave a growl so he entered the Great Hall.

He saw River () talking with a student from Ilvermorny () but didn't join them right away. He was hungry and decided to taste some new foods.

Brandon Calder stood near the entrance to the Great Hall at Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He adjusted his clothing and then shook his blond head. He needed to stop that. He wasn’t some girl or a dandy to be worrying about his looks. Still he wanted to present a neater first impression than his typical windblown hair and torn jeans or muddy boots. He was one of the older students who the headmaster expected to set an example for the younger ones of what a proper host should be…not act like a wild savage on a broom or be absent because he was off exploring the mountain again. Even though he was nervous, Bran was looking forward to meeting the students from the other schools. Lynnie, his pesky little sister, had teased him that he just wanted to check out the girls, but that was only partly true. It would be fun to get to know people from other countries and share their similarities as well as differences.

Stationed on the stairs with some of her fellow students, twelve year old Lynnette Calder absently twirled her for now pink hair as she waited for a look at the arriving visitors. She sighed as some of the others began whooping and cheering, waving signs they had made, or hanging over the rails to get a first look. Lynnie stood quietly, half wishing she could just go curl up with a book. But the other part of her, the part that had read all she could about Hogwarts and Alexandrian Academy was eager to meet the guest students and see if they were anything like what she had imagined. The idea of learning new things from new people was a pull that the young witch from Horned Serpent couldn’t resist. Her blue eyes scanned the students shyly starting to make their way up the stairs leading to the Great Hall where some of the older students, like her brother Bran, waited along with the food. To Lynnie’s mind leaving boys with Bran’s appetite so near the food wasn’t smart, but Headmaster Fontaine hadn’t asked her opinion and seemed to trust his students. The girl caught sight of an older girl ascending the stairs and Lynnie smiled at her hair. It was a pastel rainbow and so very pretty! Judging by the robes, she had to be from the Alexandrian Academy. She watched quietly as the girl made her way past and entered the Great Hall.

Bran flashed a smile as students began to enter. He saw a familiar face among the young ladies going into the hall and gave Faye () a wink. The two new girls ( ) sparked his interest. Lynnie would love their hair, Bran thought to himself. Then again, he liked it too. He went over and said, “Hello, ladies. Welcome to Ilvermorny. My name’s Brandon, but you can call me Bran like most people do.”

“Sure,” River said, “he loves attention.” She handed Faye some of her monkey pellet mix. “This’ll get him over and probably crawling on you.” She smiled at the cat. “Hi Prince. Yeah their names are Tut and Kiya. I put a muggle repelling charm on them but that probably doesn’t work for cats. I’ve never been to Hogwarts. Dad went there though. I’m actually British, but Dad’s a curse breaker. A4 is nice. Bit hot, cos you know desert and all. There’s a lot of palm trees and sand…”

River spotted Ra getting food. It was nice to have a familiar face in the crowd.

“Hi Bran,” River said brightly, “Nice to meet you. I’m River from Alexandria’s. This is my pet Max the monkey.” She pointed to her little monkey now exploring Faye’s shoulder.

Faye reached out and rubbed the top of Max's head with two fingers. She giggled a little, he was too cute! She took the offered pellets, and fed a couple to him. Faye loved animals, so this was very exciting to be able to get so close to a monkey! Max climbed onto her shoulders and his head peeked out between her locks of pale hair. "Oooh a curse breaker? That sounds like an exciting job!"

Faye noticed Bran enter the Great Hall. He winked at her, and she smiled back at him. When he wandered over to their little group and introduced himself she said, "Hi Bran." Faye knew that he spent quite a bit of time exploring the mountain, so she asked "Found anything worthwhile in your exploring lately?"

River loved how Faye interacted with Max. "Yes, he loves it," her eyes flickered with sadness, but she smiled anyway.

“Nice to meet you too, River (). That’s a pretty name,” Bran said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a monkey in real life before. It’s neat that you have one for a pet.” He watched the little creature crawl around on Faye.

Smiling at Faye’s question, Bran answered, “I found a hawk’s nest a few days ago. It’s pretty high up, but I could show you it you’d like.” ()

Faye noticed a flicker of emotion cross River's face. She frowned slightly, but dropped the expression quickly so as not to draw attention. "I wonder what that is all about," she thought to herself.

"Oh, yes! That would be fun. Maybe we could go later this week. I've been wanting to take my broom out for a spin."

Faye looked at River, "Do you fly?"

[img align=left]https://sapi.subeta.net/shared/172169.png[/img] Lenore finally finishes with her makeup and stands back to look at her reflection.

"Not bad" she says with a cheery smile. Her lips pucker a bit as she looks at her eyes which she's never been too fond of. "Oh well" Opening her bag, she begins plucking her products from the air and stuffing them back inside. Afterward, she pulls her cloak back on, performs a quick dust-removing charm, and walks back into the Salem hall.

The queue for the fireplaces has died down a bit and within a few minutes she's saying "Ilvermorny" and whooshing through the flames. As she steps out into the lower level room at Ilvermorny she casts the dust-remover again, wondering why she even bothered doing it before now. Shrugging her shoulders, she follows the instructions and heads up the left staircase from the main hall to find her dormitory. Quickly choosing a bed in a corner (the two farthest were already taken) she plops down her bag and heads back downstairs.

There are so many students, mostly in shades of blue and cranberry, that the noise levels are high. Lenore notices that while some students are busy showing off or loudly introducing themselves to everyone in range of a handshake, others seem to be almost hiding. She figures it will take a while for everyone to settle. Gosh, she hates crowds. So many emotions plugging up intelligent thought.

Shaking her head she makes her way to the Great Hall and picks a seat near some platters of pie and jugs of apple cider. Dessert just sounded right to start with today. She flicks her hair out of her eyes and looks around as she takes a bite of pie filled with some sort of berry she doesn't recognize. There a several Hogwarts students that she can see as well as a spattering of those from 4A. Mostly the crowd is from Ilvermorny, including a blonde boy () who seemed to be already chatting up a couple of girls.

"Thank you Bran," she said, "I've always liked it. It took awhile to find Max. I wanted a pet that was a good friend. Max knows some sign language too. He goes everywhere with me. You explore too huh?" She'd not wanted to but in, but finding bird nest interested her. "I love birds."

River nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, I've got both my broom and my magic carpet with me! I love flying so much."

River saw a girl looking around and waved at her to join them, hoping the others wouldn't mind.