CHAPTER 2 YOORA SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY
The March 1st I've been waiting for has arrived. There was chaos in my house from 6 am when my mother anxiously woke us up one by one. We were allowed to wear free clothes and change into uniforms on the cruise (I still wonder how the small and fragile looking cruise could accommodate forty times seven students). But Jungsook eonni and I chose to wear this beautiful uniform from home. It turns out we weren't alone because Daejung oppa also wore his uniform because he thought he might be bothered patrolling the cruise from time to time with the other prefects.
"There will be a lot of students who are too excited later," said Daejung oppa with a laugh, "we have to make sure there are no explosions on the cruise."
And it turns out Daejung oppa is not alone. At half past eight in the morning, Youngmin appeared at the front door of our unit in full uniform. He looked very handsome in that uniform, like a Yoora School uniform model. His parents once again ordered and entrusted Youngmin to us.
"Don't worry, you can exchange news with Youngmin later via letter because there are no cell phones in the wizarding world," explained Appa with a laugh, "we can bring your letter with a postal owl. Galmi can also come here to pick up letters.”
Galmi, who heard his name called, even though he was in his cage, turned and looked at Appa as if he was ready for his first task. I opened my suitcase anxiously once again. My suitcase was much bigger than all my siblings' suitcases because I was very anxious about leaving behind things that I thought were important.
"Don't worry, if there's anything left behind, we'll send it," said Eomma softly, "remind Galmi to come here tonight."
"Okay, eomma," I said, smiling nervously.
“Eomma will be really alone now… but that's okay. Soyoon will be fine. Youngmin too. You have to look after each other. If anything happens, remember, always look for Daejung.”
"Okay, eomma."
Appa had to hunt me down so as not to take too long to say goodbye to Eomma and started getting into the car at exactly eight in the morning. Youngmin turned to the back seat and his eyes widened.
“I already thought our stuff wouldn't be enough… but how could everything be… wait, why is the back of the car bigger than the front?” Youngmin asked, confused.
"You'll be surprised, Youngmin," said Jungsook Eonni, laughing, "appa bewitched his car so that the width of the right and left at the back increased by half a meter each. And one meter back. Our car's buttocks are so wide.”
"But I didn't see the car's buttocks this big from the outside."
"Of course not for people outside to see or the muggle police will confiscate this car because we will cause traffic jams and confusion," said Appa who was already driving, laughing.
"Or our car will go viral and be on muggle news," laughed Daejung oppa too.
Youngmin is still very confused but this is nothing compared to him having to adapt to his new world later. As usual, the only way to get to Jishik is through Myungkyong Café, but today, the cafe is closed. All the large windows are covered with pitch black curtains. Appa parked his car by sticking the back of the car as close to the cafe entrance as possible after a car in front of him had just left. Several cars are parked patiently on the right and left of the road in this Hongdae area. The roof of their car, like ours, had a bit of snow piled up.
“Maybe you won't know, Youngmin. But those cars must be mostly filled with wizards too. We have to queue when entering Myungkyong, this is quite time consuming," I explained.
We immediately got out of the car and Jungeun oppa and Jungsook eonni rushed inside to push out two large trolleys. The shape of the trolley is the same as the trolleys used in hotels, only a little shorter. Youngmin frowned when he saw Jungsook eonni push it lightly.
“Take this for both of you. I'll take another one," said Jungeun oppa after pushing his trolley towards me and Youngmin, "Daejung hyung has to have one for himself because there's so much stuff."
Youngmin widened his eyes again as he pushed the large trolley. He made me laugh again.
“Very light, right? The trolley has been enchanted. Imagine that 1st graders like us little ones have to push a trolley all the way to the port. Come on, hurry up, let's not make the queue of cars longer."
Galmi's cage hangs neatly on a special cage hanger on a hook on the side of the trolley. Appa hugged us (including Youngmin) one by one and checked the car in case we left something behind. He also seemed nervous.
“Are your wands at your sides? Okay. Appa couldn't accompany you because I had to do something first in the muggle world. All tickets are complete, right?”
"I hold all our tickets, appa," reported Daejung oppa, who was always reliable.
"Good. Have fun this year too!”
"Come on, hurry up, there are only twenty-five minutes left," I said suddenly panicking.
Daejung oppa pushed his trolley, followed by Jungeun oppa with his trolley and Jungsook eonni (who had a cage containing Hyun in a pile on top of a suitcase, sleeping nonchalantly and today his fur was sky blue), then Youngmin pushed both of our trolleys. Jungsook eonni walked behind me as we entered the hallway towards Jishik. As usual, Jishik was always crowded with magicians. But they really care about Yoora's students today.
"Have fun studying, kid, become a great wizard!"
Some wizards even patted Daejung oppa on the back as if he were a future Minister of Magic. It was not easy to push this light trolley along the busy streets of Jishik, especially since the roads were quite slippery because of the snow. I finally helped Youngmin push the trolley. We followed Daejung oppa who was half running straight ahead, the Jishik's Port was at the end of the road. It turned out that after half the journey, we could see other students who were also pushing their trolleys at a run. Finally after ten minutes of running, and passing the vast Hyunjung Wizard Hospital on our right, we saw a large gate open in front of us, at the top of which was a large sign that read THE JISHIK'S PORT in very bright and beaded pink. I recognized several children standing not far to the left of the gate. Jiwoo, who tied her long hair into a ponytail on the right side of her head, looked very cute. Kyungok eonni and Ilsung oppa were also beside her. But I didn't recognize one child standing next to Jiwoo. Her short black hair with bangs was neatly arranged to frame her thin face. In front of them, there were three large trolleys.
“We are waiting for you!” Jiwoo exclaimed, "Youngjae came first, I told him to occupy a room for us, otherwise we might be separated. One room can only accommodate ten people.”
Apparently Jiwoo saw the movement of my eyes which kept looking at the girl. There was something about that girl that seemed different from us.
"Oh yeah, I forgot to introduce you, new friend, what was your name earlier?"
“Annyeonghaseyo, I'm Phayao Jurangkool – just call me Pornthip,” the girl laughed, “it'll be hard to say my name.”
“Ah yes… Pornthip. We met in front of Myungkyong earlier. Pornthip is a muggle born and her parents looked panicked because they didn't know what they should do. Luckily, they met us. This is Kim Soyoon, those are all her siblings (Jiwoo points to Jungsook, Jungeun and Daejung) and this is Cha Youngmin, muggle born too."
“Wow, I'm not alone!” Pornthip exclaimed in relief.
"You'll see a lot of muggle-borns later," I said with a friendly smile.
"We have to go in now before we're late," Kyungok eonni encouraged us slowly.
“Oh yeah, come on in. You brought your boat ticket, right?” Jiwoo asked Pornthip.
Pornthip pulled a ticket from her jeans pocket. Daejung oppa has handed over all our tickets to Kyungok eonni too.
"When your name is called, come in," said Daejung oppa.
“I'll push the trolley,” Youngmin whispered beside me.
I was too busy chatting to notice Yoora Cruise leaning quietly at the end of the pier. No matter how I looked at it, the ancient ship still looked small and fragile. There was quite a thick pile of snow on the masts, even on the surface of the ship, as far as I could see. There were two guards dressed in brown sailor-style clothes standing at the end of the pier to check tickets. A door approximately four meters wide opened in the hull of the ship. Yoora's students whose tickets had been checked entered through that door with their trolleys. Several parents said goodbye to their children along the pier and the atmosphere felt emotional.
“Cha Youngmin. First grade."
The middle-aged officer on the right called Youngmin's name and surprised him as if he had just been summoned to be given a verdict in a court. Youngmin pushed the trolley and advanced past the officer nervously. I motioned for Youngmin to just go ahead and wait for us near the entrance.
“Kim Daejung. Fifth grade.”
Daejung oppa rushed with his trolley.
“You can wait for them here, Youngmin. I have to go first to meet the prefects.”
“Okay, hyung.”
“Kim Jungeun. Fourth grade.”
Jungeun oppa was half running while pushing his trolley and got into the boat following Daejung oppa. Ilsung oppa cursed because he wasn't waiting. Jungsook eonni pushed me.
“You were summoned.”
After my ticket was checked, I rushed to Youngmin's side. The line of students was already very long behind our group. Jungsook eonni was called next and excused herself to go in first.
“Phayao…”
“…Jurangkool,” continued Pornthip quickly because the guard had difficulty pronouncing her name.
"First grade."
Pornthip pushed her trolley while smiling and waiting by my side.
“We'll go in as soon as Jiwoo is called… oh, there she is.”
Jiwoo didn't push the trolley because it seemed like the items were in Ilsung oppa's trolley which looked very full. Jiwoo sandwiched me and Pornthip's arms.
"Let's go find Youngjae!"
As soon as I entered the door, I felt a bit nervous because this was a part of Yoora School that I had never been to. I'm sure this ship has been enchanted in such a way (maybe it's a bit like the enlarging magic that Appa did for our car's butt but this magic must be more massive because the interior looks three times bigger than it should be). Right in front of us there was a closed door that said AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY – SHIP CREW & KITCHEN. On either side of us was a hallway, and on either side of the hallway there were small rooms whose bottoms were made of wood and the tops were covered in glass. I could see glimpses of Yoora's students in it through the glass: some were standing, some were hugging their friends after a month apart, some were sitting so that only the tops of their heads were visible, there were also tall students whose upper chest was visible when they sat down, and several rooms were still empty.
"Where is Youngjae..." asked Youngmin, who was a little taller than us, looking this way and that.
Youngmin's question was answered – from one of the rooms in the hallway to our left, the second room in the row to the right, which I thought was empty, Youngjae seemed to be kneeling on his chair and waving at us. Youngjae looked as enthusiastic as ever – but he was still wearing casual clothes, while the rest of us were wearing uniforms.
"That's it, come on over there!" I'm excited.
I was only able to really pay attention to the small room when the glass door was pushed open (there was LIMITED TO 10 PEOPLE written on a small board on the door): the room was comfortable like a train compartment, there were two long brown sofas that looked soft and comfortable to sit on facing each other, in front of the sofas there was a long wooden table of the same color, at the back of one of the sofas there was a fairly large room, where I saw there was a trolley there.
"They say there are 30 rooms here, which means more than the number of Yoora students, but I heard that the prefects and head students have their own rooms. I just don't want us to be separated."
I was amazed by Youngjae's agility in getting information.
“Oh yes, the trolley can be placed behind that. There's a trolley hook for ten there. This ship is extraordinary."
Youngmin and Pornthip pushed their trolley and hooked the safety part of the trolley to the iron hook on the wall of the room to lock the trolley safely for the sea journey later. Youngjae sat down again, just plopped himself down on the sofa, leaning against the window. Jiwoo quickly sat in front of him followed by Pornthip and me. Youngmin sat next to Youngjae.
"Even though they say only ten people can sit here, I think fourteen actually fits for first graders like us," Youngjae said with a laugh.
“That's right, I totally agree. It's very spacious for us and it feels like we can both lie down without kicking each other," joked Youngmin.
“Three. We can all lay down later for a nap,” said Pornthip as she lifted her body and bounced a little on her sofa, “how long is the trip to Yoora? Is Yoora on an island?”
“Good question, Pornthip. Yoora's position is on an island which of course is not recorded on muggle maps. The island is quite large and there are also two wizard villages there where children from third grade and above can spend their weekends. Yoora's land alone covers sixty percent of the island.”
“Wow Youngjae, you know a lot. We can rely on you," Jiwoo praised, "my mom doesn't tell me much.”
"It always will be if both your parents are wizards like me."
Suddenly the door slid open and there was a boy pushing his trolley and looking confused.
“Annyeonghaseyo, can I join here? Looks like the other room has been occupied... Cha Youngmin?"
Youngmin waved excitedly, “Seo Seunghoon! Good grief! Come in!”
Youngmin helped Seunghoon to hook up his trolley and return to the sofa. I think I've seen Seunghoon and of course it would be very strange if Youngmin knew a wizard, right? Seunghoon sat across from me and smiled kindly at us.
“Guys, this is Seo Seunghoon, my muggle friend from school. Soyoon, Seunghoon was in the same class as me in third grade," Youngmin introduced Seunghoon excitedly, "this is Lee Youngjae, he is Park Jiwoo, Pornthip and Kim Soyoon."
“Nice to meet you! I think I'll be alone. I felt stupid following the instructions from the letter Yoora sent from buying things to successfully entering here."
"So the three of us didn't go back to our old school this year," I said with a laugh.
It's fun to spend time with my friends. Youngjae, like the last time we met at Jishik, still always dominated the conversation and he was like a dictionary, knowing everything related to the world of magic and because he was the only pureblood in this room; Youngmin could match Youngjae's enthusiasm when he asked strange questions; Seunghoon was also cheerful and lively and quickly bonded with us; Jiwoo doesn't talk much but always says yes to things at the right time; Pornthip has the same passion as Youngjae and enjoys telling stories about her home country, Thailand; I was silent a lot and just paid attention to their conversation. I've enjoyed getting to know them all and think my first year at Yoora will definitely be fun.
"What time did you say we would arrive at Yoora?" Jiwoo asked.
“Five o'clock,” Youngjae answered, “it will be quite a long journey. We can take a nap first.”
My thoughts were interrupted when someone knocked on the glass door. I glanced at the ancient clock hanging on the wall near the trolleys: 11 o'clock. I looked through the glass door: there was a man dressed as a muggle chef but covered in black wizard robes, pushing a large trolley.
“Open the door, Soyoon,” asked Youngmin, “what is that?”
Seunghoon and I, who were closest to the door, slid the door open. The man smiled kindly.
“Snack or lunch, kids?”
“SNACK TROLLEY!” Youngjae shouted excitedly and suddenly he was standing between me and Seunghoon.
The other children immediately crowded behind us to see what was inside the trolley. The contents were very tempting: there was chocolate, there was candy, there were snacks... suddenly I became very hungry. But what was strange was an empty bowl in the middle of the trolley.
“Is there a gamjatang? If there was rice too…” asked Pornthip shyly, “but I see there are only snacks here…”
“Of course there is.”
The chef waved his wand over the bowl and suddenly there was rice in the bowl. We all gasped. The rice looks warm with smoke still rising. The chef lifted the bowl filled with rice - but strangely, where the bowl was lifted, a new bowl appeared - even though it was clear there was only one bowl. And when he suddenly took out a tray in his left hand (along with cutlery in the form of a spoon and a pair of chopsticks) to place the bowl of rice, the second empty bowl already contained gamjatang – pork backbone stew – which was also warm. He placed it beside the rice bowl on the tray. Seunghoon shifted so the chef could give Pornthip her tray.
“Be careful, it's very hot. "Then just put the tray and cutlery in the gap near your trolley so you can direct it straight to the kitchen."
We all still looked shocked when Pornthip went to put her food on the table.
“I want pudding. Is there Yorkshire Pudding?” Jiwoo asked hesitantly.
“Everything is here kid.”
In less than five minutes, our table was full with one lunch menu and snacks each. Seunghoon seemed to be from a well-to-do family (he took out a large, heavy leather pouch, all filled with geum coins, he said he had also just this morning exchanged them in Deungjeong by following the instructions in Yoora's letter too) and he treated all of us to snacks. My stomach was very full when I drank my second bottle of pumpkin juice, while there were still quite a lot of snacks on our table.
"It was really fun traveling on Yoora Cruise," said Youngmin, "I haven't eaten this much for a long time."
"Yes, it's fitting that the Yoora Cruise has the title 'cruise.' Take a look outside," asked Youngjae.
We all peeked through the window to see that outside it was snowing quite heavily, it even looked like it was almost a storm with the very dark sky and high waves.
“But how is that possible? The ship just swayed a little?”
“That's because Yoora Cruise has been enchanted in such a way as to withstand bad weather. "Maybe this ship will go crazy if there are tsunami waves or a very bad storm outside."
"And even though there's no fireplace in our room, it feels warm," said Youngmin.
"They must have used magic to keep the ship warm."
"Everything in this magical world is so cool," said Seunghoon in awe, "I think Yoora School must be cool."
“Cool, until you start studying. They said the lessons weren't easy," complained Jiwoo worriedly.
“We only need to start worrying when classes start on Monday. We're so lucky today is Friday, so we have the weekend to adapt and relax," said Youngjae while stroking his stomach.
“Oh yeah, I heard about the houses. Can you explain what that is about, Youngjae?” asked Pornthip while chewing chocolate candy.
Youngjae cleared his throat as if he was going to give a long lecture. Jiwoo and I of course know about this too, but it's true that it seems like Youngjae would be able to explain it better.
“So,” Youngjae started, “when we study at Yoora, we will be divided into four houses. In each class, there are only 40 students who will be divided into the four houses. Later you will see that each class in each house has five male students and five female students. For example, if we assume we all go to one dormitory, then there will be an additional two men and two more women. So, as long as we go to school until we graduate, we will stay in that house. The first house is the Chaeksong house, a house that has a special color green and the house guardian is Cerberus – a large three-headed dog that guards the entrance to Hades' place. Usually the residents of this house have several characteristics such as being responsible and respecting other people. I think your siblings are like that, Jiwoo and Soyoon?”
I thought about Daejung oppa and nodded.
"The second house is Chingeng, their house color is blue and their house guardian is the Greek Pegasus - a winged horse that can fly, you know that? Usually good and thoughtful students - on average they are intelligent - will enter Chingeng. Their own house is in one of the towers.”
“One of the towers?” Youngmin asked, "Are there many towers there?"
Youngjae laughed, “you don't expect 280 students studying in just one tower, right? And the third house is Gongjong which is orange. The guardian of their house is a Centaur – a half-human, half-horse creature. Their students are usually talented and very enthusiastic – I heard they are very cheerful.”
"Then you might enter Gongjong, Youngjae," said Jiwoo with a laugh.
"Maybe. Well, their house is a large hall which is said to look like a one-story guest house. The last one, namely Sinsol. Their color is red and their guardian is the Griffin – a creature that is half eagle and half lion. Their students were usually trustworthy and brave – often getting into trouble, it was said. They also live in one of the towers. So more or less the explanation is like that."
"It would definitely be sad if we were all separated," complained Jiwoo.
“However, some classes are held simultaneously, so perhaps we will meet again. I heard that there are classes taking place with only one house, some with two houses or even four houses joining together.”
“A class with four houses joining together would be really exciting! Imagine there are 40 students!” Pornthip exclaimed excitedly.
“And imagine studying a subject you don't like with just 10 people. Even if you yawn, you'll be discovered," I complained.
Youngjae clapped his hands, “don't worry about that yet! I think our agenda when we arrive will be a nice dinner and house selection.”
“How will we be selected?” Youngmin asked, maybe this was his fiftieth question throughout this trip.
“We're going into the fireplace. Don't worry, we won't be burned. So it's a bit like Floo Powder but Yoora's fireplace is made of eternal fire which always burns every March 1st. Our names will be called one by one and we will enter the fireplace until the fire changes color – red, green, blue or orange – and then a voice will announce the name of our house. So after that we have to sit at a long table for each house.”
“It looks like it's going to be really fun. Even though our houses will be separate, let's meet on the weekend," said Seunghoon.
“There are many hangout places that you will like in Yoora: they have the blessed fountain surrounded by long chairs; there is a park with picnic mats and I heard we can grow crops in this park; there is an area consisting of a small gazebo and a pond; there is the North lake with picnic mats too; and for bookworms you can read in its large library.”
"Then Yoora must be really big," said Jiwoo, "I forgot to ask my oppa and eonni, but I heard that oppa used to get lost a lot."
Youngjae laughed again before continuing, “The Uncharted Island – this place we are going to, as I said earlier, only consists of one harbor, two wizard villages – where third graders and above can spend their weekends within a certain time limit – one forests and a volcano, and of course our school.”
“Is Yoora shaped like a big castle?” asked Pornthip with her already big eyes becoming even rounder.
"Well, about this, I've asked everyone I can, but they always refuse to answer my questions, including my parents."
"I remember I asked Appa this too, but Appa didn't want to answer either," I complained, "Why?"
“Maybe later we will just ask our teacher or whoever. Looks like Yoora School's form is very mysterious," Jiwoo nodded.
I yawned as drowsiness took over my brain. It's only one o'clock now and it will still be another four hours before we arrive at Yoora.
"I think we can take a nap," Youngjae also yawned, "but don't forget to change into uniforms... Seunghoon and I have to change into uniforms before the ship arrives."
Before I closed my eyes – we changed positions, Pornthip sat next to the window and I next to her while Jiwoo who wasn't sleepy sat at the end of the chair – I saw Seunghoon and Youngmin across from me also asleep – Youngmin leaned against the window – while Youngjae and Jiwoo seemed to be busy playing wizard card. I need my energy restored before who knows what adventures await us all later.
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