Momo tugged at the sleeves of her uncomfortable wizard robe. If there was one thing she disliked about Kobayashi, it was the uniforms. Students were forced to wear what looked like distasteful unisex choir gowns. As an avid shopper and former student of fashion design –back in the good ol’ days of [i]normal[/i] high school– Momo felt quite restricted in her wardrobe options. Still, she did what she could to touch it up. Her raven hair was pinned up halfway with two Dutch braids, and the hair that was left free tumbled over her shoulders in loose waves like an ebony waterfall.

Along with the rest of the student body, Momo was headed to the Cafétorium. The room was a cross between a dining hall (aka: cafeteria) and a meeting center (aka: auditorium), hence the clever name. Today, the population of Kobayashi was gathering to celebrate the start of the new school year and welcome the timid little people known as freshmeat –er… [i]freshmen[/i]. The new students would be divvied up based on their different traits and placed into the House (aka: dormitory) that suits each of them the best.

That was all good and fun, but the best part was the announcement of the House of the Year. The dormitories all competed in annual competitions to win that title because the victors get special privileges [i]all year long[/i]. Last year’s winner would be declared at tonight’s gathering. Momo couldn’t wait. Dragonhart had won for the past two years in a row, but she felt good about Rowanstone’s chances this time. They had put up a strong fight against Dragonhart, and she was fairly certain they won more challenges too. Plus, Rowanstone always had the best academic achievements, as they were the smartest bunch of students at the school.

Momo shuffled through the French doors that lead into the Cafétorium with the other students, trying to avoid getting pushed about in the crowd. She managed to escape from the throng and slip into a seat at her House’s table. The dormitories were all separated into four long tables in the gathering place, each with the House crests hanging above to identify which was which. Starting at the far left, there was Wintercrow, Dragonhart, Rowanstone, and Adderhook.

At the head of the Cafétorium, there was an elevated platform like a stage. In the middle of said stage was a solitary chair. That was where the freshmeat would be put on display for all to see as they took the test to decide which Houses they would be assigned to. Momo hoped Rowanstone would get some competitive kids this year, and not just a group of quiet little bookworms who were just there for the schooling.

She was just piling food onto her plate for dinner, when she heard Tanaka sensei call everyone’s attention. Like the rest of the student body, Momo stood and faced the teachers’ platform. It was positioned just to the left of the stage. On top were six individual podiums, behind which the teachers all stood (except for Mori sensei, who was organizing the freshmeat backstage), looming over the crowd like a panel of judges. The room fell silent as everyone waited in anticipation.

“Students,” Tanaka began. His voice was unnaturally loud, and Momo suspected he was using an enchantment for enhanced vocal projection. “Welcome back. As always, I would like to congratulate you all on a wonderful three trimesters last year–” he was interrupted by an eruption of cheering from the young wizards seated below. “Yes, yes. You all did very well. But, I also wish to stress that you need to try even harder this year. It is always our goal here at Kobayashi to make each year better than the last…”

Momo tuned out the rest of his long-winded speech about how he expected everyone to get perfect scores on their exams and put on spectacular performances in the House competitions. You know; the usual beginning of the year spiel to get everyone pumped up for the coming trimesters. She listened in again when he switched to the topic of incoming freshmen.

“Now for the moment you’ve all been waiting for,” Tanaka said, turning to Yoshida sensei. “If you’d please.” Yoshida nodded silently and crossed from the teachers’ platform to the stage. He muttered a few phrases of a spell and held out one hand toward the chair. A pure white snake materialized, coiling around the chair’s legs and back. The snake was basically a scaly mind reader. It wormed its way into the freshmens’ innermost thoughts and decided which House each one would be placed in. Then it changed colors like a chameleon to reflect the House emblem of the new freshman, so everyone would know. Creepy, right?

“As according to tradition,” Yoshida began. “I will call the freshmen onto the stage in alphabetical order by their surnames. Mori-san will send them each to the chair in turn, where they will be judged and divided into their new Houses.” There was another short burst of whooping from the crowd while Yoshida summoned up a long scroll containing the names of the freshmeat.

The students all took their seats as the initiation process began. Momo sat on the edge of her chair in anticipation. She watched as the unlucky first kid sat down in the chair. She looked like she was about to faint when the snake rested its head on top of hers. After a moment, the snake’s scales rippled from white to royal blue and silver: the colors of Wintercrow. The table on the far left of the room broke out in cheers and sent one of their members up to retrieve the terrified girl.

Momo joined in with the rest of the Houses in a polite applause, and then returned her attention to the stage as the procession of freshmeat continued.