Fractured

Uagadou School of Magic

'Don't tell the teacher,' Sara said, reaching out imploringly to Danai. 'I'm fine, really, just a bit anxious.'

'Same,' the other chorused. They grinned at each other, shakily.

'Welcome, first-years,' the woman said, her voice magically magnified across the space they were huddled into. 'Bring your bags with you as you follow me, there will be a place for you to put them and they'll be taken to your rooms. You don't have to carry them far!'

There was a loud scraping and shuffling as they all picked up their luggage and nervously followed the woman. A short distance ahead they saw a conveyor-belt that seemed to defy gravity as it rose up into the ceiling. She showed them where to place their bags on the belt, and each one was swept upwards.

Once everyone had deposited their luggage, she took them up a stone staircase.

It opened onto a circular common room. Everyone shuffled in, a few children sinking into the comfortable sofas. Light streamed in through giant sunroofs in the ceiling. Books and board games were stacked on shelves, filling the walls. The teacher went to stand with a group of adults, all smiling welcomingly at the children.

'Welcome, everyone,' she said. 'My name is Professor Kasumba, and I am your Head of Year. Behind me are my fellow teachers, who will also be looking after you. We all live on this floor with you, as well as being your teachers. This is the shared common room, and as you can see, there are doors that lead to the dormitories,' she gestured at the eight doors that led off from the common room. 'Boys cannot go through the doors into the girls corridors, and vice versa.'

'How do we know which is which?' A boy asked, raising his hand nervously.

'Good question,' she said, smiling. 'The girls doors are patterned with constellations, and the boys have a sun, you see?'

They all peered at the nearest door, nodding as they agreed.

'We tried not to make it too gender-stereotypical. On each gender's side there are a variety of additional common rooms and study areas. The staff rooms are spread out throughout as well. The dormitories are not accessible during the school day, unless it is absolutely necessary. If you find yourself feeling unwell or in need of assistance after school hours, come and find one of us. We're usually in the common rooms, or in our own rooms. Are there any questions?'

'How many to a room?' One of the girls asked.

'Five. Any other questions? No? Ok, girls to my left, boys to my right. When you see your name, go and stand with that member of staff.'

They split up, Rose looking panicked as Scorpius and Albus walked away from her. Danai patted her arm and tugged her to the other side of the room. The teachers all spread out, and a list of thirty names appeared in gold above each of their heads.

Sara spotted her name, along with Rose and Danai. They went over to the young teacher, who smiled cheerily at them. She was dressed in a stylish trouser-suit, with bright flowers dotted throughout her dark afro.

'Hi everyone,' she said, smiling at the group of thirty, nervous girls. 'I'm Professor Aifa, and my room is the nearest one to all of yours, so if you need anything in the night I'm the first person to try. Come on, I'll show you all to your rooms.

She led them through the furthest door, and they walked through a few corridors that seemed to stretch outwards away from the common room.

'Your corridor is along the outer edge of the mountain,' Professor Aifa explained. 'So your windows open to the actual outdoors. The other rooms just have magicked ones. It feels like a bit of a maze to start with, but you'll get the hang of it.'

She stopped outside a door that had her name etched into it. The corridor to the right glowed with a magical barrier. They could see a group of boys on the other side, crowding around another teacher. Opposite Professor Aifa's room was an open door. Rose peeked inside and saw another, smaller common room.

'Ok, as you can see you can't go right, which means your rooms are all to the left. Your names are on the doors, and your bags are inside. Meet me back here in an hour, and I'll take you all down to lunch.'

The girls hesitantly headed down the corridor, spreading out as they looked for their names.

'Look, there's our names!' Danai exclaimed, pointing to a room a few doors down from the professor's.

The other two girls in their room had already gone inside. The room was bigger than it seemed, with a large window filling the back wall. The five beds were cabin-style, looking like bunk beds but with a desk and shelves underneath instead of a bottom bunk. A small wardrobe stood at the end of each bed.

Their bags were piled inside the door. One of the girls was perched on a desk chair under one of the beds. She had pale skin and green eyes, her brown hair falling in soft curls over her shoulders. Her large eyes reminded Rose of her Uncle Harry.

'Hi,' Danai said, extending her hand to the girl. 'I'm Danai, nice to meet you.'

'I'm Yasmine,' she said, smiling shyly as she shook Danai's hand.

'I'm Zola,' the other girl said, stepping out of a side room. 'We actually have an en-suite bathroom, that's pretty cool!'

Zola was small and stocky, with skin so dark it was almost black. Her hair was tied in bantu-knots, and her dark eyes twinkled.

'Hi,' Rose said, waving awkwardly. 'I'm Rose, and this is Sara.'

Rose strolled over to the window, and looked out onto rolling fields of farmland. In the distance, she could see the hut village they had driven past. A length of string was pulled across the window, presumably for them to hang their moonstones on at night.

'Where's everyone from?' Danai asked. 'I'm from Zimbabwe.'

'Tunisia,' Yasmine said.

'Togo,' replied Sara.

'South Africa,' Zola said. 'What about you, Rose?'

'Uh, I'm from England, actually.'

'Wow, and I thought I travelled far to catch the bus!' Zola laughed. 'How come you're here and not at that other school, um, Pig...something...?'

'Hogwarts,' Rose corrected, grinning. 'My mum's an ambassador, so me, my brother, and my cousin are all attending this school for the year.'

'That's pretty cool,' Zola said, nodding. 'How come your cousin came too? Or does he live with you guys?'

'Nah, he doesn't. Well, he spends enough time with us that he may as well! Both our families came over. His Dad is an auror, so he's come to learn wandless magic. That's not something we do a lot of in Europe, and it could be really useful. My Dad is a healer, and he's heard a load of good things about tribal healing, so that's what he'll be focusing on.'

'How long are you all here for?' Danai asked.

'Just for a year. We'll be heading home and going to Hogwarts at the end of the school year.'

'That's so weird that you guys are reliant on wands,' Danai said, shaking her head. 'I'd heard that was the case, but I didn't really think it was true!'

'Yeah, I dunno,' Rose shrugged. 'Cultural differences are a funny thing!'

'I think it's time for us to go,' Yasmine said quietly, pointing at the clock above their door.

The girls nodded nervously and headed back out into the corridor.