The weather was dark and cold - which was unexpected since it was the first day of school. Everybody thought that the sunny weather would stay for the rest of the day, however it seems like the sky had proved them wrong.

A small line of children were waiting by a large set of doors outside, chattering while keeping the volume of their voice to a whisper and playing with their fingers to relieve some nervousness.

They were already wearing their respective uniforms of the prestigious Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Though, they still haven't been sorted in their respective houses.

The robes were colored cranberry red with blue trimmings on the edges of the robes. They were fastened with a Gordian Knot pin. Underneath the robes, the students wore a white polo-shirt with a red necktie and a dark blue blazer.

While male student wore dark blue slacks, female students wore dark blue skirts that went down to their knees with black knee-length socks and black school shoes.

Among these line of children stood a lone eleven year old girl, who was frowning and playing with her small fingers as she awaited for a professor to come and tell them that they are ready for the sorting.

"Hey," A boy called out to the nervous girl, causing her to raise her head and bring her attention to him. "Are you nervous?"

"Well, I think most of us are." She said with a small smile as she scanned the rest of her school mates. "I haven't been in a magic school or have done magic before so I think I'm more nervous than everyone else."

"Oh, are your parents no-maj?" He asked, causing the girl to tilt her head to the side in confusion.

"No-maj?"

"Ah, they're people who don't have any magic in them." He replied, smiling at the girl before leaning on a wall that was right next to them. "My mom is a no-maj but my father is a wizard. He attended Ilvermorny too when he was younger."

"That's great." The girl said before going back on nervously playing with her fingers as she began to look on the stone floors of the large school. "My parents aren't no-maj. It's just that I don't know much about magic, especially since no one taught me how to do it before."

"Huh? What do you mean by that?" At this point, it was the boy's turn to be confused.

"Ah, I'm sorry if it sounds too confusing." The girl apologized with a small laugh. "Um, I grew up here in America for the most part but I was born in England. I don't know much about my parents but my brother always used to tell me stories about how they were a wonderful witch and a wizard."

"So, you live with your brother right now? Is he also a wizard?" The boy asked, making the girl nod in response as a saddened expression made its way into her face.

"I used to live with my siblings but... they're not here anymore." She mumbled sadly. Recollection of memories flashed through her mind and tears almost threatened to spill out of her eyes.

The boy, who noticed how her expression changed in a second, decided to no longer pry into her life. "Hey, my name is Timothy Leaver. Call me Tim." He introduced himself and extended his hand out for the girl to shake. "What's your name?"

"Ah, I'm sorry... I didn't even introduce myself..." She apologized briefly and shook the boy's hand, looking back up at him with a weak smile. "My name is..."

As the girl introduced herself, the boy's eyes twinkled and grinned. "That's a nice name!" He said.

"You have a nice name too, Tim." She said with a small giggle. It was at this moment that a teacher finally walked up to the students and told them to follow her, the chatterings of the first year students halting.

The students followed the teacher in silence as they didn't want to anger her. She looked like she didn't like children very much with her strict and stern vibes that they've been getting from her.

"She's scary." Tim muttered next to the girl, who only smiled and nodded in response and didn't say anything else.

The students arrived at a very large entrance hall. The ceiling was grand and wide - stone arches were placed in each side of the ceilings, which were connected to the walls of the hall. Banners of each Ilvermorny houses that had each creatures represent them were hung neatly from the ceiling. Along the walls were large windows that almost reached up to the ceiling that gave the hall the brightness that it got from outside.

Among the walls also had two circular balconies from each side of the wall and they were packed with students that observed the sorting of the first year students with an excited grin on their faces.

Though, since it was dark outside, the hall was also kind of dark which gave it a gloomy atmosphere. Large candles were hung in the walls as well, illuminating some parts of the hall with warm orange light.

At the other end of the hall was a large wall of statues of the four creatures of each Ilvermorny houses, only they were carved with such care and professionalism that almost everyone gawked at how well-made they were.

In front of the statues was a large symbol of the Gordian Knot on the floor.

"What house do you want to be in?" Tim asked the girl beside him, who only look at him with a thoughtful look.

"Um, I'm not really sure." She nervously answered.

"I'd want to be in Wampus like my father, but I think I'll also do well in Thunderbird!" He said excitedly as his eyes twinkled in amazement at the large statues at the end of the entrance hall. The girl could only commend his excitement and lack of nervousness at the moment as she had no idea what the houses were and how she was going to be sorted.

"Er, do you mind telling me what the houses are so I'll know what house I'd want to get in?" She asked Tim, who nodded at her and brought up four fingers.

"Sure! There's Horned Serpent, Thunderbird, Wampus, and Pukwudgie!" He excitedly told the girl as she was slowly trying to process the newfound information.

"According to my father, the Horned Serpent represents the mind of the witch or wizard so it likes to take in scholars or really studious students in its house. My father wanted to be in Horned Serpent but Wampus chose him so..."

"Speaking of Wampus, it represents the body of the witch or wizard so you have to be kinda tough and strong to be in this house. It favours warriors the most. I can tell why father ended up being in Wampus instead." He explained and laughed shortly.

"Thunderbird represents the soul of the witch or wizard, so I think you should be pretty outgoing or like to explore new things if you want to be chosen for this house."

"Lastly, Pukwudgie represents the heart of the witch or wizard. I've never really heard of a Pukwudgie going evil or use dark magic before, and they're really nice people! They like to help people a lot and just really fun to be around with in general."

As Tim's explanation ended, the girl felt overwhelmed by this sudden amount of information that went in her brain. Though, she could remember some of the things like Tim said about the houses.

Horned Serpent liked smart people, Wampus liked brave people, Thunderbird like adventurous people, and Pukwudgie liked nice people.

Well, as basic as it was, the girl understood how the houses were because of this.

"I see... Thank you, Tim." She thanked the boy before bringing their attention towards the teacher.

The teacher told the first year students to make their lines straight and clean, with no students breaking their line before they start the sorting.

"Stand on the Gordian Knot and wait for the statues' reaction. If a statue reacts to you, go to the side and claim your house badge from our house Prefects over there." She said and gestured towards the four Prefects that stood on the side of the room with a stern look on their face.

Well, almost all four of them. The Pukwudgie prefect was the only one who was smiling.

"First student, go in front." She said, looking at a first yeat student who nervously walked up to the center of the Gordian Knot and stood there for a few seconds.

The voices of the students stopped at this as they observed the sorting intently.

Shortly after, the crystal on the head of the Horned Serpent's statue glowed. Some students in the balcony clapped at this as the first sorted student smiled and walked over to the side to the Horned Serpent prefect, who congratulated them and pinned the house badge on their uniform.

This continued on for a while, the same routine of the sorting playing out in everyone's eyes in the entrance hall. Many students were sorted into Thunderbird and very few were sorted to Pukwudgie and Horned Serpent. Only the Wampus seemed to have gained a considerable amount of new students.

Finally, it was Tim's turn. The girl briefly reassured him before he walked off, earning a smile of gratitude from a boy. He stood on the center of the Gordian Knot, nervously but he didn't dare show it on his face as he wanted to show that he was strong enough to be a Wampus.

After a few seconds, the Thunderbird statue beated its wings. Causing Tim to frown slightly but grinned a few seconds after as he ran to the side and to the Thunderbird prefect, who grinned back at him and pinned his badge. The Thunderbird students who were watching the sorting cheered happily, which greatly annoyed Horned Serpent students.

It was the girl's turn. As she walked towards the center of the Gordian Knot, she felt intimidated by the way the statues looked at her, almost as if they were looking right at her soul. She felt so small.

A gulp went down her throat and she thought that what if none of the statues reacted to her even after a few minutes have passed? What if it was all a big misunderstanding and she wasn't actually a witch?

Her fears disappeared once the Pukwudgie statue raised its arrow upwards, making the girl smile and sigh in relief. The Pukwudgie students who watched the sorting clapped at their new housemate as she skipped happily to the side and to the Pukwudgie prefect.

"Welcome to Pukwudgie!" The prefect grinned at her. The girl grinned back and bowed respectfully at her senior, thanking her before spotting Tim and walking over to him.

The boy noticed her approaching him and he smiled. "Congratulations on getting into Pukwudgie. I knew you'd be sorted in that house." He said with a laugh.

"Thank you. But what about you? Are you okay with being in Thunderbird?" She asked, worried at her new friend might feel sad that he didn't get in the house that he wanted to be in.

"Well, I'm somewhat disappointed but I'm fine with being in Thunderbird! I should've expected to be in this house, to be honest." He replied and scratched his head, causing the girl to giggle.

"You do seem like the adventurous type, Tim." She said.

"I'll take that as a compliment." He said with a laugh before he heard some Thunderbirds calling for his attention a few feet away. Tim looked behind him and nodded at the group of newly-sorted Thunderbirds with a thumbs up.

"Hey, I'll be going over to the Thunderbirds. I feel like they need something from the first years." He said when he turned around to face the girl.

"Ah, it's alright. I'll just wait here until the sorting's done." She said as she waved her hand in dismissal. "I'll see you later, Tim."

Tim nodded at the girl before grinning and turning around to walk at the group of Thunderbirds who were waiting for him.

"I'll see you later, Rosewood!"