The Wizarding War, Melissa Nichols [the reading list book .txt] 📗

Beams of colored light shot through spikes of ice that weren’t there before, filling the room in lights similar to a disco club. Fire soon joined the ice and water rained down from the ceiling. Then birds came in through the windows, carrying chunks of ice and glass globes filled with water, which reflected the light as effectively as the ice spikes did. The gymnasium was erupting with excited cheers and applause, the intense noise deafening my ears to the point where I had to cover them with my palms. I turned when I felt a tap on my shoulder and an older man handed me a pair of ear plugs. I smiled in thanks and put them in. Just then, from out of the darkness, a female voice came on the overhead form a microphone.

“Hello, Magicae!”

The crowd screamed, the women’s voices reaching a pitch that probably would have broken a wine glass. Then the lights came back on and everyone quieted. At the center of the massive gymnasium, there was a short woman with floor-length black hair and silver robes.

“Welcome back to another school year. I am Ms. Zenownie, the professor of Basic Icilae 5 and this year’s host of the welcoming celebrations. To you first years, this is the Magicae equivalent of a high school pep rally. First, I’d like to welcome up the largest choir program Magicae has ever seen, directed by our own Mr. Gem.” When she mentioned choir, I perked up. I had been in my last school’s Advanced Chamber for all three years I had attended there.

Then Ms. Zenownie left the floor only to be replaced by hundreds of students, pushing risers across the floor and setting them up while other students brought over some microphones, placed them and tested them. When everything was set, a tall, older man in bright blue robes stepped up and the students filed onto the risers as he faced us.

“Welcome, Magicae! I am Mr. Gem, the choral professor here at Magicae. Before you is the entire combined Advanced choral program, which consists of several classes. There are Advanced Chamber,” many of the students raised their hands silently “a mixture of male and female vocalists with several years of experience and skill. There is also the Advanced Women’s and Advanced Men’s Ensembles,” The remaining students raised their hands. “Both of which are all male or all female, respectively. There is also Beginning Men’s and Women’s Ensembles and Beginning Chamber, all three are non-audition groups and are recommended for potential singers who have little to no experience. The Advanced groups are all auditioned groups. Auditions will open up soon. I will be in that corner,” He pointed to the corner diagonal to the right of my seat. “If you would like more information or a choral packet, which holds information on all six choirs. Now, I’d like to present the Combined Advanced Choir of Magicae in our first song,” He stated the name, turned around, raised his arms and the song began.

The Choir did a fantastic job! They all sang in harmony with perfect pitch and perfect timing. Their voices across sections blended well and they also blended well as a whole choir. They sang with the appropriate volume and emotion, their expressions alive and changing, many of them even bouncing or swaying lightly to the beat of the song. The song itself was tear-jerking and sad, telling the story of two lovers of different magical talents, separated by their tribes, which were engaged in a heated war. As I lost myself in the story, I noticed Kat sniffle and a few tears fall down her cheek. I placed my hand on hers and smiled at her. She looked at me and smiled as well then we turned our attention back to the song as I withdrew my hand.

The Choir sang a total of three songs then they cleared the floor as Mr. Gem followed and Ms. Zenownie came back onto the floor. “Well done, Mr. Gem. Well done!” She shouted and the gymnasium burst into cheers and applause once again, many of them, I noticed, had a silver sheen on their cheeks. When everyone had quieted down, Zenownie spoke again and introduced the next act, the combined force of the school’s dance team. After Dance, it was Colorguard, a group that danced around to music while tossing and spinning flags, then it was the cheerleading squad. Normally the cheer squad would cheer at football games but Magicae doesn’t have football so the squad goes to Wigand Cheer competitions much like the squads of Wageners.

About three hours after the start of the rally, the rally was suspended for lunch, then we reconvened an hour later and all of the classes that had prepared a performance had ended. Now it was onto the inspirational speeches from various people. Some speeches were given by the staff, others by hired professionals, and yet still others were given by students. It was a very boring additional three hours.

Entering our sixth hour, we broke again for dinner then we spent the next three hours playing games to get us piped up again for the new school year. After the games, the rally was concluded and we all went straight to bed, thoroughly exhausted.

Imprint

Text: I own everything in this book and stealing will not be tolerated.
Publication Date: 04-10-2012

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