The land rover splashed through a puddle as it drove up the muddy lane, wood land on both side of it.
"Mum, when will we get there?" 16 year old Lucy Flame pestered, as she looked out of the window, her chin resting on her hand.
There was a pause as Sara Flame turned the heating up a notch, then replied: "We'll get there when we get there." Lucy, not thinking this was a proper answer, sighed and fiddled with her tie. Today was her first day at FireWing Hall, her auntie's boarding school. Lucy had been quite nervous about this, but once explained, she felt better because one of the family will be there. She had never met her aunty, and thought this would be the perfect opportunity to meet her. She was dressed in a dark purple jumper, purple and white tie, a black skirt, purple and white socks and a navy blue blazer, with the FireWing Hall badge presented proudly on both shirt and blazer. Lucy looked up at the sky. It was cloudy and dark. Rain. Great. In this month alone they had up to "9" inches of rain, and according to the news; it had not rained like that for centuries!
Soon enough, 10 minutes later, the heavens opened. Sara clicked on the windscreen wipers and turned down another twisty road. Immediately the scenery became formal. The car pulled up to a pair of gold gates. Lucy opened the window and stuck her head out to get a better view.
"Lucy, come in, you'll get soaked!" Her mother exclaimed, as she pushed the button of the intercom. "Hello, Lucy Flame for year 1." She let go of the button and the intercom buzzed for a few seconds then slowly, the gates opened. The land rover resumed speed and Lucy clambered back in. There was a rumble as the wheels went over gravel and instead of woodland and wild shrubbery, a neatly cut lawn took its place. Lucy took her place by the window again. All she could see was a formal garden as far as the eye could see. Scattered all over the place were wild flowers, hedges that were cut into shapes, fountains, garden ornaments and amongst everything was FireWing Hall itself. It was a grand old house with red ivy growing up the wall around the front entrance. The car stopped in front of it. Lots of boys and girls with the same uniform as Lucy, had their blazers over their heads from the rain. They gathered by the door anxious to get into the warm and dry building. Suddenly Lucy felt like someone had punched her in the stomach. There were so many people! Sara got out and opened Lucy's door. She reluctantly got out of the car and grabbed her purple rucksack, (appropriate to match the colour of the uniform)which contained all her belongings. Her mother went round to the boot and hauled Lucy's suitcase out and dropped it, which made a grating sound against the gravel. By now, the pupils in purple, had all fell silent and turned around to inspect Lucy. She blushed as she felt 50 pairs of eyes follow her everywhere. She clung onto Sara as they walked up to the door, trying to ignore them. Sara pushed open the door and they walked into FireWing Hall. There was a long corridor in front of them, with photographs on the walls of the pupils. Lucy could hear a hubbub of chatter, as more children walked about the Academy. They all knew where to go, unlike her who didn't know where go start. Her mother led her down the corridor until it widened up to a circular room. A lady was at a round table and piped up when she saw them. She was wearing a white top with a yellow cardigan, her long, brown hair streaming down on top of it. She had a black skirt, (which she straightened out neatly for the Flames) black tights, and black high heels, (which were way too high for her, as she has to hobble around in them.)
"Good morning! I'm Sara Flame, and this is my daughter Lucy." Sara introduced. The woman let her smile slip for a moment, letting her gaze wander away from the Flames. She quickly regained herself in a heartbeat. "l'm Mrs Florence Ceridwen, the deputy head. " She said, clearing her throat. "Come this way."
"Bye." Sara kissed Lucy on the cheek. "Write to me, OK?"
"K. Love you."
"Love you too." Sara handed over the suitcase to Mrs Ceridwen
and waved goodbye as she walked away. Lucy waved back and then followed Mrs Ceridwen into a smaller room filled with other new students. They were all sitting down, chatting to each other.
"OK Emily, this is the last one," Mrs Ceridwen said to the lady who stood at the front and guided Lucy to a empty green chair. Lucy guessed that she was her aunty. She was an old woman with her white hair in a bun. She had brown eyes and glasses with a chain around her neck. Her lips were pursed and she wore black and white formal clothes. Lucy's gaze fell on the other children. All of them at least new one other person. Lucy in general, was quite a shy being, so she just pulled her sleeves over her hands and sat back.
"Good morning, children," Aunt FireWing said blankly over the hubbub of noise. They immediately stopped talking and listened to what their new headmistress had to say.
"My name is Mrs FireWing and I am the headmistress of FireWing Hall, Academy of Magic," she continued. Magic?! That's the first I've heard of that! Lucy thought. "I am going to tell you your teacher, then, you are to follow them to your first lesson." Mrs FireWing hobbled over to a grey school chair and picked up several pieces of paper. She straightened them into a neat pile and cleared her throat.
"In Mr Aspinall's class are, Sophie Pond, Eve Wright, Tom Smithson..." Lucy let her voice fade, until she was just another background sound. She pondered about the way Mrs Ceridwen had acted. Her body language had looked like the Flames had done something bad. Something was going on.
"...and Lucy Flame will be in Mrs Donovan's class." Aunt FireWing finished. "Right, before you go off, the staff have put your belongings in your dormitory and your teacher will show you it later. Now you are are dismissed." And with that she was gone. In a click of a finger.
