Chapter Text
Dick fidgeted nervously as he waited for his turn to enter the Gordian Knot at Ilvermorny.
It was the first day of term, the day of the sorting, and he was nervous.
“Grayson, Richard.” The Lower School Principal called.
Dick gulped and stepped into the knot.
He could feel the magic under his feet.
After a moment, the Thunderbird flapped its wings, the Wampus roared, and the Pukwudgie raised its arrow.
“Richard Grayson, you have been chosen by the Thunderbird, the Wampus, and the Pukwudgie. It is now your choice which house you will make your home in. Remember that while the sorting determines where you will sleep, we are all members of the Ilvermorny community here.”
Dick gulped. It would have been so much easier if he’d been chosen by just one…
He thought about what he’d read about the houses. Wampus represented the body of the witch or wizard and favored warriors. He was very in tune with his body and he was Robin! He could be a warrior.
Thunderbird represented the soul of the witch or wizard and favored adventurers. He liked the sound of that. He was very adventurous and felt he had a good soul.
Pukwudgie represented the heart of the witch or wizard and represented healers. Everyone said the best part of him was his big heart. And he’d just used it a month or two ago to coerce Wally into making a cure for werewolves. He wanted to heal the pain of the world. Did that make him a healer?
He looked between the three statues nervously. What if he made the wrong choice?
Heart, body or soul? Of the three, which did he value most?
Hesitantly, he stepped towards the Pukwudgie statue.
There was no wrong choice here, just which place he would sleep.
He knew he would be debating whether he made the right choice for months to come, but for now, he chose heart.
After choosing his house, he was led into a hall where a ton of wands were waiting. His eyes darted over them all with awe. Which one would be his?
His gaze darted over to a group of kids his age admiring their own wands before catching sight of the wandmaker approaching him.
“Can you describe yourself to me, son?”
Dick gulped. “Um…”
“It’ll help me narrow down which wands to try.” The wandmaker explained.
“Oh! Um… I’m really acrobatic and… um… I have a good sense of Justice? I know what’s right and wrong?”
“Anything else?”
Dick shrugged. “I’m stubborn?”
The wandmaker sighed. “Alright. That’ll have to do for now.”
It took a good few minutes and Dick could sense a line forming behind him, but eventually he found himself with a maple wand with a Wampus cat hair core.
“What’s it mean?” He asked the wandmaker, but the man had already moved onto the next student.
Dick pouted at the lack of answer, but moved out of the way anyway.
After everyone had been sorted and most students had gotten their wands, a teacher got up on a chair and used a spell to raise her voice.
“Attention new students! I know you’re very excited about your new wands, but we still have one more matter to get through before sending you off to dinner. That is the magical inheritance test.” A wave of renewed chatter filled the room. “Quiet please! Now, as some of you may know, many magical talents can be passed from parent to child. This test will inform us which students have inherited the more common ones and which students may have abilities they need help controlling. We have a one-semester Magical Talents elective for any students interested in harnessing or building on their magical talents starting in 7th grade. We also have tutoring available for any students who need more urgent help controlling their magical talents. If you could please line up in alphabetical order by last name. A-G to my right, your left, H-P in front of me, and Q-Z to my left, your right.”
Dick grinned. Magical talents!
He’d wondered if his inheritances had anything to do with the headaches he’d been getting and the plethora of swirling colors he’d been seeing since arrival.
He huffed when he realized, upon the line forming, that he was wayyyy too close to the back.
If his last name had been spelled GrEyson instead of GrAyson, he would be the back.
It took over an hour for them to get to him. He spent that time examining his wand, counting one magic two magic three magic four magic etc, and mentally wishing the line would move faster.
Finally, he was at the front.
“Dick Grayson!” He told the person writing down names eagerly.
The person paused. “Um… legal name?”
Dick pouted. “Richard Grayson.”
The person checked his name off the list and sent him into the room once the person in front of him, Sydney Gratz, came out.
Dick winced upon entering the room. The examiner made a note at that.
“Why don’t we start with what made you wince?”
“Um… it’s really bright in here and kind of a lot of colors. It’s like a kaleidoscope. Do you know what a kaleidoscope is?”
The examiner seemed to bite back a smile. He handed Dick some triangular tinted glasses. “Put these on.”
“What do they do?” Dick asked as he took them. “Is this a part of the test?”
“It eases the strain from mage sight. Try them.”
“What’s mage sight?” Dick asked as he put the glasses on. A tension he hadn’t realized was there left him as soon as he had them on. “Oh. That’s a lot better. I guess I have mage sight?”
“It could be something else, but that’s the main thing those glasses are meant to help kids with. We’ll need to get them adjusted to fit you specifically later. Now, I want you to grab one of these handles with each hand.” The examiner held out a device that had two handles sticking out of it. Dick obeyed. “Now, I need you to send a burst of magic through these handles into the device. What that means works differently for everyone. For me years ago, I imagined a spark of electricity traveling through my body and striking the handles like lightning. My husband pictured a ray of sunlight shining from his heart into the handles. Whatever works for you.”
Dick thought for a minute. He imagined his hands held a bucket of water and that the handles were Bruce’s head. He then imagined himself dumping the bucket of water on Bruce’s head. He giggled at the image.
The examiner nodded in approval as the device buzzed beneath Dick’s hands. Apparently, Dick’s imagining had worked. “Very good. You can let go now.”
Dick tried to peek at what the machine spit out after letting go, but couldn’t quite see from his angle.
“You do have mage sight, as well as a huge potential for Technomancy. You also have a big affinity for wandless magic. Any others aren’t common enough to show up on the test.” The examiner informed him. “The teachers will set up an appointment for you to get those glasses adjusted to fit you better, but keep them on for now. Alright. You can go. Send the next person in.”
Dick smiled and thanked him.
Outside the room, the other new students who’d already gone were chatting and mingling.
Dick looked around. Who should he try to make friends with?
The question was answered when he saw a girl push another girl down and walk away.
He hurried over to the fallen girl and offered a hand, sending a nasty glare in the direction of the girl who’d pushed her.
The fallen girl hesitated before letting him help her up.
“You okay? What was that about?” Dick asked.
“I’m fine. I just tripped.” The disbelief must’ve been clear on his face, because she sighed and changed her tune. “That was my neighbor, Georgia Septus. She’s a so-called ‘pureblood’ whose family immigrated from England.”
“Oh yeah. I hear the biases there are terrible. My bio-parents are from there.”
“Bio-parents?”
“Teen pregnancy. I was adopted twice.”
The girl looked surprised at his nonchalance in stating such potentially incriminating information.
“I’m Dick Grayson. What’s your name?”
“Kira. Kira Lentil. Um… you should probably know. My… my mom’s a no-maj-born and my dad’s a no-maj.”
“Cool. My first adoptive mom was the daughter of two squibs and her husband was a no-maj. My current adoptive family is completely non-magical.”
Kira looked surprised. “Aren’t you afraid of being judged for it?”
“You know one of the founders of this school was a no-maj, right? This isn’t England. Most magical communities are welcoming of any who have magic these days.”
“But Georgia said…”
“Georgia’s from England. And she’s clearly a bully.”
“Kira!” Another girl ran up to them. “Oh. Um. Sorry for interrupting.”
“It’s okay. Abigail, this is Dick. Dick, Abigail. Abigail and I got to chatting before the ceremony. Her parents are both no-maj-borns, so she’s in basically the same boat as us.”
“Nice to meet you.” Dick said. “I was just telling Kira not to listen to that bully. We’re all wixen here.”
“Attention, students!” All three turned. “In a moment, we will all be entering the dining hall for dinner. You will be separated into your houses for tonight to allow you to get to know your housemates, but on a regular day, this will not be the case and you will be welcome to sit with your friends in other houses. Please separate into your houses now. Pukwudgie, please see me over here. Horned Serpent, over there with Mrs. Janus waving with the brown hair. Thunderbird over by where the wands were given out. See Mr. Gerry with the hideous green hair. Sorry, Mr. Gerry. You really should have picked a different shade.” Everyone laughed. “Wampus, by the examiners tables with Ms. Lingley. Chop chop. I know you’re all very hungry.”
“I’m Pukwudgie. You?” Dick asked his new potential friends.
“I’m Horned Serpent. Kira is Thunderbird.” Abigail answered. “I’m stuck with Georgia. But hopefully she’s not in the same dorm room as me. Wanna sit together for lunch tomorrow?”
“Totally!” Dick agreed. “See you both then.”
They split ways to sit with their houses.