The Abominations | Ilvermorny

Chapter 6

We just got off the bus and it starts raining as if my day couldn't get any worse. And to top it off, like an idiot, I packed my rain jacket in the bottom of my trunk. Great.

I look over to Kate who has her head tilted up towards the sky, letting the drops of rain run down her face. She is the only one who doesn't seem to care that us, and all our stuff, would be soaked in a matter of seconds.

"We should hurry." Emil says as the rain started to come down harder. 

Poor Julian. The wet sidewalks makes it difficult for him to crutch down the road. He keeps slipping and sliding across the pavement. I wish there was something we could do. Sam is already carrying his trunk, and the rest of us have our own to worry about. 

I glance back to check on my trunk, and I see the rainwater is making the paint bubble. Maybe when I get to school I can scrape the top layer off, or maybe there's a spell that will help. There probably is one out there. 

Even though it is raining fairly hard, it didn't stop the Seattleite No-Majs from pushing past us in hoards. To be fair, we were on a fairly busy road. The buildings were short and styled to look like ones you'd typically find at a pier. This road is famous apparently, mother told us a while ago that an insanely popular coffee shop started next to the checkpoint. I guess only weirdly dressed no-majs go there because from what I'm seeing, lots of them are wearing strange hats, old clothes, and carrying old leather bags. As we get closer and closer to the checkpoint it gets harder to move thru the crowds with all of our large trunks. 

Fortunately, I see other kids with the same problem. 

The checkpoint isn't much. It's basically just a narrow green door that no-majs stand in front of when the weather gets bad. Only wizards can go inside, if a no-maj were to try, it'd just look like a storage closet.  

I see Emil search thru the crowd to make sure the entire Jojo-Renshaw clan is still here. He nods to himself and waves us over to follow him to the door. He's definitely the most responsible out of all of us. Julian, Sam, and I walk in a cluster around him as we push thru the crowd to get to the door. I could tell that No-Majs are irritated with us, we do take up a lot of space. 

We make it to the door only to realize that Kate wasn't with us. 

"Kate!" Emil calls into a large group of people.

"There she is!" Sam says, pointing out onto the road. 

Crusty decided to waste all of our time by standing in the middle of the road, just being rained on. I guess I don't understand what it's like for her, always needing water and feeling uncomfortable and what not, but we need to go. 

Emil sighs. "Olive, take Julian and Sam inside and get in line." 

I nod. 

Sam reaches over me and pulls the door open, almost hitting Julian with it in the process. He had to lean back on his arm crutches to dodge it, but because of the wet floor, he slipped. Luckily he caught himself on a cement beam before having a face full of pavement. 

In that moment I realized something: Emil gave me the hard job. 

Past the green door is a long staircase made of old dark wood that looks like it could colapse under your feet. The way down is poorly lit, and the ceiling is fairly low. And now I'm here stuck with Julian and Sam. I hate Emil. 

Sam crouches awkwardly and turns around, then he grabs one trunk in each hand and starts going down backward. He has never done that before, it looks incredibly dangerous, should I say something? My eyes meet with Julian's, he looks just as confused as I am. 

I have to help Julian so I'm not dealing with Sam. Let's just hope he doesn't fall. 

Julian and I made it downstairs, well, with help from Emil and Kate about a third of the way down. Thankfully, Sam didn't fall either.

We all met at the bottom of the stairs in a cold, dark, hallway. It's long, poorly lit, and smelled of mold and feet. The walls are made of a dark grey colored brick and the floor had the same water damaged wood as the stairs. It must have been built around the same time as the school. 

Down the hallway there's dark silhouettes of other students. They too have their trunks and bags and other school supplies. I notice that the group in front of us had an owl. It looks to be light brown, and it sat calmly in its cage. Mama never let any of us bring a pet to school, she said it was ridiculous and that we would neglect it. She was probably right in Sam's case, but the rest of us could handle it. 

We hear the hustle and bustle from the street again as more wizards open the green door at the top of the stairs. There isn't really any room for us to stand around, or time for that matter, so we walk as a group down the hall. 

My favorite part about traveling to school isn't visiting Seattle, or the bus (obviously), its watching Sam squish into a vanishing cabinet. 

At the end of the long hallway is a room with five vanishing cabinets, four with each house logo and one without. This is where you say goodbye to your parents and line up accordingly. First years go to the blank cabinet, and the rest of us go to our designated cabinet. 

The cabinets look really warn. I remember my first time traveling to school I was scared of the cabinet breaking. I thought I'd be trapped in there forever. My parents assured me it was fine, but it definitely didn't help that my early years were spent in small, enclosed places. 

Without speaking, each of us went to our lines. Emil to Thunderbird, Kate to Horned Serpent, Julian and Sam to Pukwudgie, and myself to Wampus. 

I recognized a couple of people from my house, but none of my good friends come through Seattle like I do. I see Milo Castelli, a guy in my year from Portland, who also happens to be one of my best friend's roommates. When out of uniform he dresses like the No-Majs I saw around the coffee shop. His family is Italian, and he's really smart. I remember when he was sorted, both the Horned Serpent statue and the Wampus one wanted him. He obviously chose Wampus. 

I guess he saw me looking at him because he turned and waved. I smile and wave back. I'm not a fan of his hair now, I guess he's letting it grow out. It's almost to his shoulders. 

Ow? 

Some second-year kid just bumped their trunk into my ankles. Great. I wish they separated us, sometimes the younger ones bother me. 

Jeez, I sound like Kate.

I can't believe I'm starting the fifth year already. It's crazy. 

I turn to see Sam trying to cram himself into the Pukwudgie cabinet. He's sitting in the cabinet backward, trying to inch himself in. He brings his knees to his chin, but his feet would obviously prevent the cabinet from shutting. 

"Put your back on the left side, and scoot in." Julian suggests. 

"I can't fit that way." Sam huffs as he sat aimlessly in the cabinet. 

Even though Pukwudies are kind and helpful, I can see that they are getting annoyed with my poor, clueless brother. 

Sam somehow ended up on his back in the fetal position with his head in between his knees. Julian just looks at him and sighs, then closes the main door, then the one below where Sam's trunk is. After a few seconds, Julian reopens the door and Sam was gone. 

Hopefully, he made it there in one piece.  

I hear someone clear their throat behind me, oh... it's my turn. 

I drag my trunk up to the wampus cabinet, open the bottom half and slide it in. After shutting that door I climb into the main part with ease. It's times like this I'm thankful I'm not Sam or Julian. I pull the old rope handle on the inside to shut the door behind me. 

It's dark and cold. 

I hate this part. 

 "Harmonia Nectere Passus" I whisper.