“First years! Over here!” I saw a tall, brown hair man with cat ears and tail was standing on the end of the pier.

The three of us grabbed our bags and walked over to him along with other people our age. I was surprised to see that the werecat was covered in multiple small cats.

“Welcome dear First years, to Emerald Prep! I am your history and mythology professor, Professor Manx. Please organize yourselves by the last name starting with As and ending with Zs.”

Because my last name is Snowpelt, I was at the back of the line while Joy and Bram were towards the middle. I noticed that there were a lot more students coming here than I first thought. I wonder how many students go here because all the older kids were walking past us.

“Now, we must wait until the other years move first due to the fact you haven’t gotten your hall.”

What he said confused me. This school must be big if each student gets their hall.

“In this school, there are three student halls.” Oh, I should have realized that he meant that. “Airy Mind for the great thinkers, Fiery Body for the great warriors, and Watery Spirit for the great healers. Always remember that there are different types of warriors, thinkers, and healers so sometimes your path might surprise you. I am the head of Mind hall, so come to me anytime if you get the Mind hall.”

He started to walk up to the path of the largest building. I was looking around while wondering what hall I would get. I am not that smart so I did not think that I would get the Mind hall. I am not strong at all and I hate fighting so I cannot get Body hall. I do not heal people, so I know it is not Spirit. Then I thought that I might not get any at all, if that does happen, I could be kicked out before even starting school.

The path was long but it was great exercise after being stuck on that boat for so long. He stopped us as soon as we reached the entryway of the school. The school had large towers that reminded me of the pictures of mountains. The style of the building made me think more of a fortress than a school. Now that I got closer, I could tell that the school had an earthy feel all around it. It had a mixture of black and green in the stones around it except on the archway. It had three stones that were blue, red, and grey looked like they were almost glowing.

“Now each of you will be given a potion that will make you glow one of three colors; Blue, Red, or Grey. As soon as we enter the main hall then it will be dinnertime in the dining hall. The potion will look into your heart and see the path best for you. Then you sit at the table of your hall even if friends and family are in the other halls.”

“Charm, Remus!” He glowed blue, “Spirit Hall!”

I saw the guy that tried to throw me overboard.

“Dusk, Edward!” I was shocked when he glowed grey, “Mind Hall!”

To me, he seems more like a brute than a thinker. However, I have learned that people can have many layers that are hidden behind a mask. My legs started to fall asleep when he reached the Fs.

“Harker, Bram!” He took the potion and glowed red, “Body Hall!”

I have seen him fight; he uses his shadow magic to move faster than the eye could catch. In his whole life, he only lost one fight and it was when he fights his blood lust.

“Lute, Sol!” I watched as he turned grey, “Mind Hall!”

I started to zone out, as I never realize until now that there were so many children who were my age.

“Phoenix, Kira!” She glowed red, “Body Hall.”

I would say that Phoenix is an odd name, but I have no say with that because my last name is Snowpelt.

“Ravenwing, Joy!”

My ears perched up when I heard her name. Then, I realized that Bram, Bruce, and Lewis are the only ones with normal last names. I saw her drink, walk up, and then she started to glow red. She saw me looking at her and she gave me thumbs up.

“Body Hall!”

I can see that she is fit to be a warrior. She helped me out of fights many times after we first met. She is a protector even though she will never admit it. I could not believe how many people have the last name starting with R. I was shocked at how common some of the R names were and I could tell that they were not all related to all even with the same name.

By the time it took to get close to me, there were 14 Minds, 8 Bodys, and 11 Spirits. So many first-year students and there were still some more students that needed to be sorted.

“Siren, Melody!” She glowed blue, “Spirit Hall!”

“Snowpelt, Ash!”

I walked up to Mr. Manx and he handed me the potion. It tasted like sour milk, and then I walked towards the main hall.

“Body Hall!”

I looked down and saw that I was glowing red. I walked over to where Bram and Joy were standing with their red glows. I was still in semi-shock because I could never see myself as a warrior.

“Lady Luck is on our side! We are staying together for four years!” Bram said while hugging the two of us.

I think he might have bruised my ribs due to his vampire strength. I did not pay attention to the rest of the students as they walked up as well.

“I know everyone has been waiting, so here it is! Dinner!” Mr. Manx opened the doors and we walked into the dining hall.

“Ugh, I can still taste the potion; I hope that it doesn’t ruin my appetite,” I said as we looked around the room.

“I doubt anything can ruin your appetite for long,” Bram said and I smacked his arm.

“You have a good point,” I told him as Joy rolled her eyes.

There were four tables; one was full of adults at the front of the room. The other three had the three colors painted on them and they were full of talking students. The three of us saw Florence and Nova at the Red table, so we walked over to them. They both were wearing black blazers with red fire on it; except Flo had an ‘II’ and Nova had an ‘IV’ inside the flame. I was shocked that they made jackets with wing holes in them for the werebirds. I guess they made different versions of the uniforms for all of the different werebeasts.

“Welcome to the Body hall! I cannot believe that all three of you got here! I hope that our rooms could be close enough so we can always talk!” She started blabbing until Nova stuffed a piece of bread in her mouth.

“What she means is that she’s happy that you’re over here and it is time to eat.”

“My favorite words of the day,” I said as I started grabbing food to fill my plate.

“Nova, how come no one told us about the different halls before today?” Bram asked. “How long do the glows last?” He held up his red arm as he continued.

“Because we are not supposed to, that way everyone could make their own choices instead of following their friend’s path. The luck that you three manage to stay together is incredible. I mean look at Viktor and Alex, they are in different halls, and they are nearly inseparable. Oh, the glow goes away by the time we wake up in the morning.”

A tall pale woman with red eyes came over to where we were sitting.

“Hello, which one of you is the vampire, Bram Harker?”

Bram raised his hand while we all pointed at him.

“My name is Professor Luna Bloodmoon; you are going to be required to see me every morning right before dawn.”

“Uh, okay.”

“Good, well here is your first meal.” she gave him a large glass of blood then walked away.

“I guess no one told her that I can stand the sun and eat human food.”

“You’re an oddball even among the oddballs,” I told him in between bites. “Congratulations.”

He patted me on my head then reached over to grab a slice of red velvet cake.

“Hey Nova, who are the teachers here?” I asked.

“You met Manx, and then there is Professor Bloodmoon, and Professor Crystal,” Flo told me.

I noticed that she had a sort of dreamy look when she said ‘Manx’.

“My dad is one of the Magic teachers here.” Bram pitched in. “He was offered to teach because of his skill.”

“The other magic teacher is Professor Sage; he is also the head of the Spirit Hall.”

“So, who is the head of the Body Hall?”

“My dad, who is also the P. E teacher,” Nova sighed, “it makes it so hard to get in trouble.”

“Just keep hanging out with Florence, she attracts trouble,” I told him.

She growled at me then I growled back at her.

“Then we have a substitute this year for English, Professor Jones.”

Halfway into the great dinner, people were walking in between the tables, handing out jackets.

“All first years, please give me your shirt size,” a guy said.

“Small,” Joy and Bram said together.

“Medium,” I told him and everyone I knew gave me a look, “What? Small clothing makes me itch!”

I prefer clothes that are slightly larger than I am because it makes it easier for me to grow fur. Also, I can hide my hands inside long sleeve shirts and smack Bram with the sleeves. The guy handed us the jackets and then we put it on. Each one of the jackets had a red flame with an ‘I’ inside of it.

“What does this symbol mean?”

“The red flame is the symbol of the Body hall and the symbol inside means that you are a first-year.”

Before he could explain more, someone stood up at the head table. She was a redheaded werefox that was originally sitting in the middle.

“Welcome and welcome back to Emerald Prep! I am Headmistress Elena Foxglove! I am saddened to inform everyone that the English Professor, Mrs. Michaelis, will not be teaching this year due to having a new bundle of joy. She will return next year to teach and we currently have Professor Jones taking her place for this year. Remember that this is a place of learning and that it has many rules. One of the most important is that during wintertime; do not go near the forest! So far, we have had no deaths for three years in a row, great job students! Also, I do not care if you do not like someone for what they are, do not cause trouble. I hope that everyone will have a great year learning new things, but now it is time to rest and relax.”

‘No deaths for three years, is that something of shock here?’ I thought as she finished her speech.

Everyone grabbed their bags and we went down a path towards the west, I was amazed at the stonework on the walls. I followed into a common room that had a giant window facing west. There were a bunch of comfortable chairs and tables; it looked like a perfect place to rest or study. Then, I saw two smaller hallways facing away from each other.

Nova’s father stood in the center of the study room waiting for us. I remember when I first met him when I was very little; I thought he was a vampire with his pale skin and red eyes.

“Welcome to the Body Hall! I am Professor White, please do not try to sneak off at night because I am a light sleeper and I like my rest! Girls to the left and Guys to the right! Remember, I am always watching you.”

“Pervert!” Nova yelled out.

“Boy! Do you want detention on the first day of school again? Just because you are my son doesn’t mean I can’t punish you! It just means that it will be fun.”

Nova was snickering the whole time as we walked down the right hallway. All of the doors had notes on them and people were looking at them as we passed them by.

“Uh Nova, do you know where mine and Ash’s room are?”

He stopped in front of one of the last rooms in the hall. There was a small note on the door, but before I could see it, Nova ripped it off. He quickly looked at it before crumbling it up.