The FATS of Salem Witches' Institute

Disclaimer: Do you really think that we own it? We're flattered. But, unfortunately, you are dead-wrong. We own quite a bit of it though, so you're not dead-wrong, I guess. We got the school name from JKR. We got the school houses and the lower/upper school thing and some of the other school related things from the SWI RPG website. The characters and the story are all ours, as are some of the school-related things. Ex. We added boys in to make it more interesting. ^_^

Enjoy!

The FATS of SWI

Chapter One

Ara

Her hands were shaking uncontrollably. She had thought that she was getting better, but as soon as she saw the gold chain, her twitching started again. She leapt behind the corner of the hallway, her heart beating fast, amber eyes darting right and left.

With a whoosh, a fox crept silently from where she had been standing. The tail twitched as the fox caught sight of the dangling gold chain....

Sophie

She wandered around the unfamiliar hallways aimlessly. She was muttering to herself. Gotta find Professor Cho. Didn't understand the class today. New school, so confusing. Help me! The unmistakable patter of footsteps and the light chatter of a friendly conversation could be heard from down the corridor. Suddenly, she collapsed into a shuddering pile of gray fur, hiding behind a striped tail. Students walked by, paying no heed to the tiny quivering raccoon. The creature quickly scurried off still chattering to itself....

Tira

Ha! Tanner won't be able to catch me, now! She flew down the hallways, breathless, her wings beating faster than her own heart beat. Tanner may be able to beat me in fights, but I'll always out fly him! Falcons so totally own hawks! Her adrenaline pumping, she flew through empty corridors, but stopped short when she saw her older sister, Jessica. Jessica would kill Tira and her twin if she found out that they had transformed. Tira quickly rounded a corner, leading away from her sister.

Fiona

She smiled as she walked down the hallways, thinking about how lucky she was. Wes could have just as easily been the mean kind of older brother who ignored his little sister, but he didn't. He was so nice to her. He told his friends to be nice to her and he told her that if anyone was mean to her, he'd beat them up. She was walking back from the upper school where her brother's dorm was. She was in the lower school, because she was a year one. She felt warm and fuzzy on the inside. She was in a new school. A place where she could tell that she would make great friends and learn a lot. She was excited. Then, she caught a glimpse of blond hair and recognized the bearer right away. Elana was her brother's girlfriend. She had gotten into Salem because she was rich and her family had been going there for years. She normally scoffed at scholarship students. The only reason she went out with Wes was because he was good looking. Fiona hated Elana. The warm, fuzzy feeling vanished immediately. Elana matched Fiona's feelings exactly. The only thing Fiona could think to do was to transform. She slunk into the shadows, her body morphing into its wolf shape.

***

The fourth floor of the lower school was very empty. A girl had been murdered on that floor about 100 years ago, so there were no classes held in the rooms on that floor. All students avoided that floor unless they had to pass through it when going from the third to the fifth floor or vise versa.

During the first couple of weeks of school, most year ones did not know about the cursed fourth floor. Later, they found out, one way or another (usually, the older students would tell them ghost stories to scare them... even though all the students there had seen ghosts before...) and would avoid the fourth floor like all the other students. But, if you were a year one and you were running, or hiding, from someone and you knew that the fourth floor was practically empty, it was a good place to go.

Each floor in the lower school has the same basic configuration. The corridors are in a grid-like pattern with class rooms scattered at intervals. In the very center of the floor, there is a big intersection that all hall ways lead to, eventually. At this point in time, four animals were running straight towards the intersection from different directions.

A fox was running at it from the back of the school.

A raccoon was running at it from the front of the school.

A peregrine falcon was flying at it from one side of the school.

A wolf was running at it from the other side of the school.

All four animals reached the intersection at the same time, each blocking the way for the others' exit.

Tira

Wow! Other animals at school! Are they real, or are they animagii, like me? It's hard to tell. Wait, that raccoon has blue eyes. She's definitely an animagus. The wolf has grey-ish, blue-ish eyes. She might be real... but she's wearing a gold chain around her neck. She's an animagus, too. And the fox just doesn't seem like a real fox... But they're all girls. Definitely.

Fiona

Other animagii? How cool!

Ara

That wolf is wearing a really pretty chain! I wants it!

Sophie

Yay! New friends!

***

The four animals stood looking at each other for a few minutes, each watching the others closely. The falcon had landed. Suddenly, the raccoon went over to the wolf and hugged her around the neck. The wolf looked surprised, then a bit annoyed. The falcon kind of just watched the whole scene play out, while the fox tried to sneak away.

The wolf noticed that the fox was trying to sneak away and blocked its path. The fox got angry and she started to fight with the wolf. The poor raccoon was still clinging helplessly to the wolf's neck. The falcon watched with amusement.

Then, since the falcon was dramatic and self-centered, she started to get angry when the other three, well really two, animals continued to fight and ignore her. She spread her wings out and squawked at the others. They continued to ignore her, so she jumped into the fray and began fighting with the other two, as well.

Finally the raccoon detached itself from the wolf and was able to break away from the brawl. She transformed back into her human self, which caught the others' attention.

When the other three animals looked up, they saw a petite girl with her red-gold, wavy hair tucked into a braid. She had rectangular glasses perched on her delicate nose, but her piercing blue eyes were still visible beneath the purple, thick-rimmed, glasses. When they looked at her cloak, they saw the Deor House badge.

"Now, let's all change back now." The girl's voice was soft, yet firm. It was very kind, yet it showed that she meant business. "I don't know if you guys know me, but I'm Sophie. I'm in Deor House, year one. I know that you all are animagii, so change back. And I know that you can understand me because I understand humans when I'm in my raccoon form." She glared at the three.

The wolf rolled its eyes and untangled itself from the other two. When she had transformed back, the others saw that she was a tall, thin girl with sharp features. Her dark brown hair was extremely straight and sleek. She had blue-grey eyes and she was wearing a Freond House badge.

"Hi. I'm Fiona. I'm in Freond House, year one. Nice to meet you, Sophie." She had a pretty voice. From the way she talked and held herself, the others could tell that she was mature for her age.

The falcon was the next to transform back. Her human form was a girl of average height. She had extremely light blond hair that looked almost white. It was layered and a bit spiky. Her green eyes observed the others mischievously. The other girls saw the Hold House badge on her cloak and recognized her as one of the twins in their year.

"My name is Tira," she said in a melodious voice. "I'm in Hold House, year one, as well. Nice to meet you all."

They all looked expectantly at the fox. However, she made no move of transforming back.

"Oh come on! Just change back! You know about us," Fiona snapped impatiently.

The fox finally gave in. When she was a human, the other girls saw a tall, thin, angular girl. Her black hair had streaks of purple in it and her amber eyes were defiant. Her cloak showed the Andgit House badge.

"Fine, fine, fine," she said after prompting from the others. "I'm Ara. I'm in Andgit House, year one." She gave them a look that said 'Are you happy?'

They all eyed each other warily. Sophie was the first to break the awkward silence.

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm really glad to have found other animagii." She smiled warmly at the others. They smiled hesitantly back at her. Another awkward silence ensued. "Well, I'm not gonna lie. This is pretty awkward." The others all had to agree with Sophie on that one.

With one final look around, Sophie started laughing. It took a while for the others to join in, but eventually, they were all rolling on the ground, laughing together. Even Ara was laughing with the others.