Morning came softly to the Thunderbird tower.
Light crept in through the tall window before any alarm sounded, pale gold filtering through the trees and laying gentle stripes across the stone floor. The forest below was alive with sound, distant birds and the hush of wind moving through branches. Fila woke slowly, not startled, just aware of being somewhere new. For a moment she lay still, listening, letting the room settle into focus around her.
June was already awake, sitting cross legged on her bed while braiding her hair with quick practiced movements. Calla stirred a few seconds later, groaning quietly as she rolled onto her back and squinted toward the window.
"Please tell me we have at least ten more minutes," Calla muttered.
June laughed. "We do. I checked. But the showers are about to become a battlefield."
That got them all moving.
And after a warm shower she put on her uniform, a black skirt with white shirt and a dark red vest, and over it of course the dark blue robe with the thunderbird emblem.
Together they made their way to the dinner hall for breakfast.
Fila tried looking for Theo but didn't see him, so she assumed he woke up later than her.
She looked over the variety in breakfast and settled for scrambled eggs with mushrooms and bacon. Simple but also the best for a good start to the day.
As Fila, June and calla ate, she could hear some commotion at the entrance. They all stopped eating and looked towards the sounds.
"You should watch where your going Bird boy!" someone shouted.
'what kind of insult is that' Fila thought.
As she chewed on the piece of bacon she saw it, the center of commotion, "Theo" she said without thinking. She stood up without thinking and walked with fast steps towards him. The other girls looked at each other fast and followed close behind.
Fila arrived first, a circle of students had been formed around the two arguing. Theo stood near the center, shoulders squared, his expression sharp but controlled. Opposite him was an older boy wearing a Wampus emblem, taller and broader, his stance aggressive in the casual way of someone used to being obeyed.
"I said watch where you are going," the boy repeated, sneering slightly. "You Thunderbirds think the hallways belong to you."
Theo scoffed. "You ran into me. Maybe try looking up from your own reflection once in a while."
A few students murmured. Someone laughed quietly. The tension thickened.
Fila stepped forward before she could think better of it.
"That is enough," she said, her voice clear and steady.
The circle shifted, surprised. The older boy turned toward her, clearly annoyed at the interruption. His eyes flicked to the Thunderbird emblem on her robe, then to her face.
"And you are," he began.
"Not involved," Fila replied calmly. "Which is exactly why this should stop now. It is the first morning of classes. Do you really want this to be what people remember."
For a moment, it looked like he might snap back. Then another voice cut in.
"Stand down, Mason."
A prefect stepped forward, her badge catching the light. She was older, composed, and very clearly not in the mood for nonsense.
"Mornings are busy enough without this," she said flatly. "Move along. Both of you."
Mason muttered something under his breath but took a step back. The circle loosened as students lost interest, drifting away in pairs and small groups. Theo exhaled slowly, running a hand through his hair.
Fila turned to him. "Are you alright."
He nodded, then grinned faintly. "Yeah. Thanks. I was about two seconds away from saying something much worse."
June and Calla finally reached them, June folding her arms. "So this is how you start your mornings."
Theo scratched his neck in response to getting scolded by the girls.
But he collected himself. "Anyway thank you, and I wanted to introduce these two." He turned to two boys behind him. "this is Elliot and Miles, my roommates and our classmates." He said while motioning towards the two.
Elliot has pale skin, light blond hair that he constantly pushes out of his eyes, and gray eyes. He has a quiet, serious expression most of the time.
Miles has tan skin, short dark hair, and a strong build. He smiles easily and often looks relaxed, even in new situations.
Fila looked over the two and smiled. "Nice to meet you two, join us in breakfast." But then she remembered to introduce herself. "And I'm Fila, and this is Calla and June" she said with a smile.
The six of them sat together eating breakfast while chatting along about the day.
Fila had a little panic attack when confronting the other student before but swiftly calmed down with her breathing method. But she did feel her heart almost jumped out of her chest at that point.
The rest of breakfast passed easily, the earlier tension fading into something almost ordinary. Theo talked too much, mostly to cover the fact that he had nearly gotten himself into trouble before the first class of the year. Miles listened with an amused smile, occasionally adding a comment that made Calla laugh, while Elliot stayed quieter, answering when spoken to but clearly taking everything in. June kept the conversation grounded, asking practical questions about schedules and classroom locations.
Fila listened more than she spoke. Her breathing had evened out, her pulse settling back into something manageable, but the echo of that moment still lingered in her chest. She focused on the warmth of the food, the low noise of the hall, the way the benches creaked when someone shifted their weight. It helped. It always did.
When the plates cleared themselves away and the great hall began to empty, a bell rang through the air. Not loud, but deep and resonant, the sound carrying effortlessly through stone and wood alike.
"That would be our cue," June said, standing and smoothing her skirt.
Theo glanced at his schedule, then groaned. "First class is Charms."
They moved together through the corridors, the castle alive now with motion. Students hurried past in clusters, talking over each other, laughing, occasionally stopping short when they realized they were going the wrong way. Professors appeared at intersections like fixed points in the chaos, calmly redirecting traffic with a word or a gesture.
Fila walked slightly behind the others, letting them lead. She liked watching the school wake up around her. Sunlight streamed through tall windows, catching dust motes that shimmered briefly before settling again. The walls were lined with moving carvings, scenes of storms and birds and open skies that seemed to shift when she was not looking directly at them.
They reached the classroom just as the door opened.
Inside, rows of desks curved gently toward a central teaching space. Shelves lined the walls, stacked with books that hummed softly with contained magic. At the front stood a tall man with dark hair streaked faintly with gray, his robes simple and neatly pressed. He looked up as the students filed in, sharp eyes taking in the room with practiced ease.
"Good morning," he said, his voice calm but carrying. "Welcome to Charm, my name is Professor Elias Thorne." He began as he wrote his name on the board.
"Charms," he said, letting the word settle. "Often underestimated. Often rushed. And very often the reason someone ends up in the infirmary their first year."
A few students shifted. Someone near the back let out a nervous laugh.
"Charms is not about power," Thorne continued, pacing slowly along the front of the room. "It is about control, intent, and understanding the difference between wanting something to happen and knowing why it should happen." His sharp gaze swept over the desks, lingering just a moment longer on anyone who looked too confident. "If you treat it like wand waving and luck, you will fail. If you treat it like conversation with magic, you will do just fine."
Fila straightened slightly in her seat.
"Today will be simple," Thorne said. "No spells yet. First years are always eager to jump ahead. We will not." A few groans followed, quickly silenced by a raised eyebrow. "Instead, you will learn how this classroom listens to you."
He tapped the floor once with his wand.
The lights dimmed subtly, not dark, just softer, like clouds passing over the sun. The hum Fila had noticed earlier grew clearer now, a low vibration in the air that made the fine hairs on her arms lift.
"This room is enchanted to respond to focus," Thorne explained. "Not emotion. Not volume. Focus. I want you to close your eyes."
Chairs creaked as students obeyed, some reluctantly.
"Do not cast anything," he said calmly. "Just breathe. Feel where you are. Feel the magic already here."
Fila closed her eyes and did exactly that.
The room unfolded around her senses. The stone beneath her feet. The shelves heavy with spells and study. The quiet presence of other students, each like a small point of warmth. And beneath it all, a steady current of magic, patient and waiting.
"Now," Thorne said softly, "raise your wand. Do nothing else."
Fila lifted hers, her grip loose but sure.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then, faintly, the air around her wand tip shimmered, barely visible, like heat above stone. She did not push it. She did not shape it. She simply noticed it.
"Good," Thorne said, and Fila had the strange feeling he was speaking directly to her, though she knew he was addressing the room. "That is awareness. That is where all good magic begins."
When he told them to open their eyes, the lights brightened again. A few students looked startled. Others looked confused. Theo leaned sideways in his chair, eyebrows raised.
"That was it," he whispered.
Fila smiled faintly to herself.
Professor Thorne nodded once, clearly satisfied. "Homework will be reading only. Chapter one. You will write one page on what you felt, not what you think you were supposed to feel. There is a difference."
He waved his hand toward the door. "You may go."
As the class filed out, Theo caught up to Fila easily. "Okay," he said, lowering his voice. "I thought Charms would be boring. That was not boring."
"No," Fila agreed quietly. "It was not."
She now understood some of the things that Elsbeth had taught her, magic was all around. Not just coming out from your wand, but in the ground, in the stone of a house. She could use that magic to help her cast and use magic better. She did it quickly as they were walking, she felt the stone below her feet react with each new step, the painting with moving portraits even the small lanterns in the roof.
As she walked with the group she felt someone watching them, she turned and saw the same boy from this morning standing and just glaring at them.
'Mason was his name I think' she thought, but as she turned into a new hallway, she let it go. She didn't need them to start something right now. But he was a bit of a strange guy, why would a third year start something for a trivial reason like that on the first day, attention maybe.
They checked their schedules near a window where sunlight spilled across the stone floor. Next was History, then Transfiguration after lunch. A full day. A long one.
The first lesson before lunch History of magical America was a pure torture chamber for Fila and most of the other. No one really cared and most were just fighting to stay awake after 10 minutes.
The relief when the classroom door finally opened was immediate and collective. Chairs scraped back far too loudly, books were shoved into bags with little care, and the quiet dignity the professor had tried to maintain vanished the second the bell rang.
"That," Calla said as they spilled into the corridor, "was painful."
"I learned exactly one thing," Theo added, rubbing his eyes. "Benches in that room are not designed for human spines."
June sighed. "History matters."
"Yes," Miles agreed easily. "But maybe not delivered like a bedtime story."
Fila did not argue. She liked history in theory. Stories of the past mattered. But the slow monotone, the endless dates, the way the room itself seemed determined to lull everyone into stillness had been almost unbearable. She had spent most of the lesson focusing on her breathing and the faint hum of magic in the walls just to stay present.
The dinner hall never looked more welcoming.
They found a long table near the windows, sunlight pouring in as plates filled themselves almost immediately. Warm bread, soup that smelled like herbs and onions, roasted vegetables, and thick slices of meat appeared in generous portions. The noise level rose fast, laughter bouncing off the high ceiling as students shook off the morning.
Fila took a few slow bites, letting the warmth settle her. The tightness in her chest from earlier had faded, replaced by a pleasant heaviness that came from being tired and fed rather than overwhelmed.
Theo was looking around the hall, and so did Miles and Elliot.
With a suspicious look, Fila and the other girls also glared at them.
"What are you guys planning now boys, it's the first day and you are already starting things." Calla said to the boys.
Once they heard her they all turned and looked towards the girls sitting and giving them death glares.
Theo smiled. "nothing, we aren't doing anything." He said not so convincingly.
June raised an eyebrow. "That smile says otherwise."
Miles lifted both hands in surrender. "We were just looking."
"At what," Calla pressed.
The three boys looked at each other, contemplating if they should say anything.
"just, the other houses." Miles said.
'Fat lie' Fila thought but let the topic go sensing they weren't going to tell.
Instead, she kept eating her Stew which warmed her body each bite. It was heavenly, big meat chunks mixed with potatoes and carrot, with herbs making it smell and teste amazing.
After the dinner she decided to swiftly return to the dorm room to relax a little. The schedule had a pretty long lunchbreak perfect for doing some studying or as Fila did, sleep.
The Thunderbird tower was quieter in the early afternoon, the rush of students thinning as most scattered across classrooms or lingered outside in the late summer sun. When Fila reached her dorm room, the space felt gently still, light spilling in through the wide window and settling across the beds and shelves. June was not there, likely already reviewing notes somewhere, and Calla had left a jacket draped over her chair as proof she would be back. Fila slipped off her robe, folded it neatly, and sat on her bed for a moment, letting the silence wrap around her.
She lay back and closed her eyes, not fully intending to sleep, but her body disagreed. The warmth from lunch, the steady pace of the morning, and the constant low hum of magic she was still learning to filter out pulled her under quickly. When she woke again, it was to the sound of distant bells and footsteps echoing up the tower. For a brief, disorienting second she forgot where she was.
She checked the time and sat up fast, smoothing her hair and pulling her robe back on. Transfiguration was next, and she had heard enough whispered warnings to know it was not a class to arrive late to, especially not on the first day. By the time she rejoined the others in the corridor, Theo was already there, bouncing lightly on his heels in that restless way of his, with Miles leaning against the wall and Elliot reading something from a small book he closed the moment he noticed her.
Transfiguration was held in a tall, circular classroom near the center of the school, where the walls were bare stone and the ceiling rose high enough to make voices echo if someone was careless. The desks were heavier than in Charms, carved from dark wood and marked faintly with old scratches and symbols.
At the center stood the professor for this class. Professor Merrick.
Professor Merrick is tall and slender, with sharp posture and deliberate movements. Her hair is silver blond, worn in a tight braid that falls neatly down her back. She favors deep indigo robes with clean lines and minimal ornamentation. Her eyes are pale gray and intensely focused, giving the impression that she is always evaluating, even when silent.
"Welcome to the first transfiguration lesson of this term and of your school career." She started, her voice was sharp. "I am professor Merrick." She did a short introduction to herself. And then started talking about what this class was.
"Transfiguration requires care and attention. It is not about rushing or showing off, and it will not work properly if you try." Her gaze moved steadily across the classroom, making several students straighten without quite knowing why. "If you are hoping for quick, dramatic results, you may be disappointed. But if you are willing to be patient and practice, you will learn magic that is both useful and dependable."
She walk a bit forward and asked some questions to the students, "Do any of you have experience in this already?" she said and looked out over the students. Most didn't raise their hands since most have never practiced this before. but there were some who raised their hands, including Fila.
Her friends beside her looked confused. The girls didn't seem that confused since they had seen her flower magic in their dorm room before. but the boys hadn't seen her cast any magic.
The professor scanned the raised hands and pointed her hand towards her.
"Ophelia, tell me. What are some things you have transfigured?" she asked, she sounded calm and caring like she was really interested and not just annoyed.
Fila thought for a bit. "I mostly make things into flowers" she said quickly. It was a little embarrassing saying it to everyone in the classroom.
Professor Merrick paused for a moment, her gaze resting on Fila with quiet interest rather than scrutiny.
"Flowers," she repeated, as if considering the idea from a different angle. "That is a fairly common place to begin, though not as simple as people assume."
A few heads turned. Nothing dramatic, just mild curiosity.
"And why flowers," she asked, her tone even, almost conversational.
Fila hesitated only briefly. "They change easily," she said. "And they feel… familiar. Like they want to grow into something else."
Professor Merrick nodded once. "That makes sense. Transfiguration works best when you understand the nature of what you are changing. Flowers respond well to careful intent." She glanced around the room. "It is not about forcing an object to obey you. It is about guiding it."
Theo leaned back in his chair, clearly impressed, while Miles gave Fila a small approving smile. Elliot just watched, thoughtful.
"For today," Merrick continued, "we will keep things simple. No wand work yet. First years tend to rush, and Transfiguration does not reward impatience." A few students shifted, but no one complained. "Instead, you will observe and imagine. That is where this branch of magic begins."
She moved a plain wooden block onto the front desk. "By the end of the year, this will not look impressive to you. But right now, it is enough."
The lesson flowed quietly from there. Professor Merrick spoke clearly, explaining concepts without rushing, letting questions form naturally rather than demanding answers. The room felt focused, not tense. Heavy desks, cool stone, and steady voices grounded everything.
By the time the bell rang, Fila felt pleasantly tired, the way she did after concentrating for a long time. As they packed up, Theo nudged her lightly.
"Flowers," he said. "That tracks."
She smiled, soft and a little amused. "Does it."
"Yeah," he said. "Feels like your thing."
Fila laughed quietly as the both walked the hallway back the coomonroom. She couldn't argue with that, she liked flower.