Here There Be W(B)itches

Here There Be W(B)itches (CHAPTER 1)

Katya always found it hard to wake up early. Especially when she was home, in Saint Petersburg. She never complained about her family, nor her country, quite the opposite actually. Many girls from school could often catch her saying Russian catchphrases. But even in September, the sun could hardly be seen peeking from the curtains in her room. If it were sunny outside, she would wake up. But the cloudy morning in her sleepy head usually meant it's either too cold or too early for her to wake up. This was the third time alarm from her cellphone echoed in her room. And of course, she let it ring, not bothering to wake up. She packed everything she needed for school yesterday and she was even responsible enough to buy books for the new classes and a new pot since she ruined the previous one by the end of 5th grade. She would probably sleep in if it weren't for her mother who stormed in her room at the same time when Katya reached for her phone only to hit the "snooze" button.

"What are you doing in bed, Yekaterina?", her mother asked, crossing her arms, "Sasha is going to be here any minute to pick you up and...and...just look at you!"

Katya usually shut herself off whenever her mom was making a fuss.

She calmly sat up, yawning, "I'm going, look, I'm awake"

Katya really loved her mother but sometimes her caring attitude was too much. So what if she is not ready yet? It's not like she's going to put too much make up anyway.

It all got messed up when one of the students, Joanne, from the original school published a series of books about her schoolmate. It got popular and kids all over the world were waiting for their Hogwarts letters, bought fake wands and wanted to attend Hogwarts. Of course no one knew it was a real story but witchcraft got really famous and it was almost impossible for Hogwarts to be kept a secret. Even worse, it threatened all other famous witchcraft schools. Then movies came along and video games...every school of witchcraft and wizardry was known. So, they decided to make an international gateway for all the witches who wanted a proper education and of course, they kept it even more hidden than all of the previous schools. It was located somewhere in America and no one but the headmistress Rupaul and some major professors knew where it was. They sealed it away, hidden from the eyes of muggles and they made a gateway for witches in every country that would teleport them exactly to the school. The rumors are that it's located in the same spot as Ilvermorny but no one knew for sure.

Katya didn't like that part since she couldn't use her phone there. They could only write old-fashioned letters. She actually read so much about the school of witchcraft and wizardry in Russia- Koldovstoretz. It was also closed because of this Joanne. Being a nationalist, she wanted to attend it. It was her dream since she was just a little girl.Just the thought of playing quidditch flying on trees instead of brooms got her hyped. Katya walked to the mirror just to see if she looks too terrible to meet up with Sasha. Turns out her dark bags under the eyes weren't as bad as she thought they were. After all, she secretly liked them.Her phone buzzed twice and she glanced at it. It wasn't Sasha was it? She was still in a long shirt with "SAD GOTH" written on it and she doesn't even know where in the closet was her uniform!Luckily it wasn't Sasha, it was her best friend Trixie.

TrixieI hope you're awake, you know the gateway closes today and you need to be on time right? Can't wait to see you <3 

Katya grinned happily. Trixie was the cutest girl in the school. With her long curly blonde hair and the heavy make up all professors criticized her for.

KatyaDon't worry, my mum woke me up, I won't be late <3
She wasn't used to sending heart emojis but for some reason it felt right to send it back. After the last message, she put her phone back on the nightstand and got back to searching for her uniform. It was a plain uniform and it was something Katya would never wear outside her school. And as she suspected, it was on the bottom of her already messy closet. Putting it on, the whole summer flashed before her eyes. She wished she stayed in Wisconsin with Trixie, they would probably have more things in common than Katya's old friends. Or she could have stayed with Ginger. Everything seemed more fun than spending the summer with old friends, mostly because she couldn't really talk about her school. She used to spend summer with Sasha, since she was also a Russian witch but last year Sasha graduated and spent one whole year preparing herself for her new job as a professor at school. It wasn't so easy to become a professor at New Hogwarts but since professor Tyra tried to poison most of the professors, it was only right to send her to Azkaban and pick a new teacher. It was all too confusing to Katya who realised she'll never look at Sasha as an authority figure. Now all dressed up, she proudly put on her Gryffindor tie on and glanced at herself in the mirror yet again. She should've been a slytherin. Maybe the sorting hat is too old to sort her in the right house or maybe it was just too nice to grant Katya's subconscious wishes. They cherished it so much since it was one of the rare things they saved and also Headmistress RuPaul thought it was smart to keep the original Hogwarts houses and uniforms since it could be considered as "cosplay" to the muggles.