Aza Sterlings

[03] Nickerfoxes

NICKERFOXES

They reached the top of a long, spiral staircase. Aza scanned her ner surroundings and saw floating doors on the walls before her. Students were bustling in and out of the doors, walking in midair as if an invisible staircase is there. Different colored wizard robes were displayed in the colors of blue, red and green. Aza watched the grand portraits of various animals, each seemed to be representing a specific group. A vicious navy blue hound with it's teeth bared. A stunning emerald green eagle with its wings open.. And a giant  velvety red fox with golden eyes.

That fox..

"Come now, dear. I'll show you to your dormitory." She followed her aunt's lead and swished her wand up in the air, murmuring: Foxtrot. Immediately, a certain door came swooping down in front of them. Aza's eyes widened when the door automatically opened and admitted them in. Behind the fancy curtains that concealed it, she finally saw what was inside.

It was a large circular room that had a burning fireplace and another set of staircase on either sides.

Aza saw a few students sitting on the couches. Some were making out in a corner and others were just bullying each other. They all stopped for a moment and stared at them---at her. The sixteen-year-old suddenly felt a little embarrassed and struggled to keep a straight face.

But in a far corner, a certain blonde haired boy paid no attention to them and continued to concentrate on the brunette walking pass him. He smirked, swished out his wand and muttered, "Aeriabovilium!"

Aza watched as a surge of wind came from nowhere and blew the girls' skirt upwards. People stared laughing and wolf-whistles can be heard. The girl, red in the face, glared at the blonde boy while trying to cover up her baby pink undergarments.

Aunt Ruella cleared her throat and,

"Riveria Aeriabovilium!"

And just as that, the surge of wind came blowing onto the blonde's shocked face. His hair sprawled in all directions, sticking out at every side. There was a long silence before the laughter reverberated throughout the air, this time even more boisterous. The blonde boy cursed under his breath and fled off to one of the staircases.

Aunt Ruella composed herself and everyone eyed her as she spoke.

"Now that there aren't any more interferances, I would like you to meet your new dormitory, Aza. This is the Nickerfoxes House of Evil. This is your common room, and these are your housemates." Aunt Ruella gestured to the bunch. She smiled wearily at them and noticed the red badges on their robes' chest. Nickerfoxes House of Evil? But before Aza could ask her aunt about that, she already saw her walking out of the door. She panicked.

"A-Aunt Ruella--?"

"Your HA will approach you later this afternoon, dear. Lincoln will guide you to your designated room. I'll see you in the morning! Oh, and these---" Aunt Ruella flicked her wand at her luggage and made it fly upstairs. She winked at Aza and left her to her housemates.

Soon enough, she was pulled to the couch. A dozen curious eyes were digging hers.

Finally, a blonde girl asked, "You mean, you're Professor Vines' niece?" Aza nodded hesitantly. To be frank, she wasn't used to other people calling her aunt 'professor'. The blonde smiled widely at her and outstretched her hand.

"My name's Natalina Croshet.. You know, a half-blood.. My mom's a Minic, my dad's a pure blood.. It's nice to finally meet you."

Aza shook Natalina's hand and listened to her blabber about things. Well, she might as well listen to her if she wanted to blend in.

"This is the Nickerfoxes House of Evil. The most troublesome house of Liondalle! I am so happy you were storted here! Isn't it amazing? Oh, I remember the moment I stepped foot on the grounds, Beau immediately flung me off my feet with his wand  and spun me in the air while a Tigle kept rummaging in my magical suitcase for a Bobber cookie. " She laughed at the end and pointed at a grizzly haired boy who Aza thinks is Beau.

"Nat, don't you think Aza needs some rest? It's been a long journey from the earth-dwellers world."

She turned around and saw a tall man who had jet black hair standing before her. Natalina rolled her eyes, "Lincoln! You're no fun."

Aza was grateful for the distraction and abruptly got up, waving good bye to a noisy Natalina and followed the man up the right stairs. When they reached the third floor, he spun around and smiled kindly at Aza. He was quite a handsome young man if you'd ask her.

"I'm Lincoln Walter, House prefect. This is your bedroom. You and two other girls are sharing a room. Don't worry about the boys.. We charmed the stairs to tickle their feet if they ever attempt to sneak in this place. Their dorm's the one up on the left staircase."

Aza nodded her head, "thank you." But before she could even open the door to her room, she felt a sheering pain on her right arm. Lincoln calmed her down and explained,

"That's natural. Check the tattoo."

"T-The what?--"

But the prefect, who looked a couple of years older than her, pointed the spot where the pain emerged. Aza cautiously lifted her shirt and gasped when she saw a red tattoo in the shape of a fox on her upper right arm. Dina is going to kill me for having a tattoo! She stared at it for a minute and realized it wasn't painful anymore. Earlier, it had felt like it was burning a hole through her very skin.

"You belong in Nickerfoxes now, Sterlings. The moment you stepped through the door and entered the common room, you were already branded by the Fox. That tattoo is a friendly reminder of your House loyalty. Everyone in Nickerfoxes has it."

Aza saw the passion in Lincoln's eyes and for a moment, she thought he would tell her more. Much to her dismay, he only nodded, told her to tidy her things and left. Aza sighed, pushing her room's door opened. There, she saw three large beds. All a canopy and silky curtains that decorated the room. There was a window and what looked like a small study table. She roamed her eyes and found her luggage on the bed near the window. She walked towards it and found a new set of wizarding robes with the crest badge of her House.

On her bedside table, she saw several magic books and read their titles as: Magical Herbs and their Unlikely Uses by Ernie Wobble, Basic Charms and Jinxes II by Renold Butterfield, Potions and Everything a Witch Should Know by Ginger Eriks, and History of the MidWorld and What Lies Beyond by Fenrock Williams.

A black shoulder bag was left on her bed, which contained numbers of quills, ink bottles and parchments. At the very bottom of the bag, there was a note from her Aunt Ruella:

I've already got you everything that you need, dear. I'll visit you later in the evening to discuss about your wand order. Hope you enjoy your stay! -Professor R.V.

Aza Sterlings took in a deep breath and gazed out the glass window. Just in time, she saw an owl flying out to the horizon. She then noticed the extraordinary sight in the night sky. There were not only one, but two moons. Both bigger than one should usually seem from a distance. One was in pinkish white color and the other was of faded yellow. They should brighter. The vast emptiness around them seem a tad bit darker. And when Aza looked down, she saw dancing fireflies shooting from all directions, encircling the castle.

Aza closed her eyes and let her mind absorb everything..

***