The Big Seven

My world has sucked for as long as I can remember. Okay okay, that's a bit dramatic, but I haven't had the best life.

My mum had me as a sixteen year old, and my dad killed himself almost a day after hearing the news. Don't get me wrong though, my mum is the best woman alive. She'd do anything to protect me, and she really has.

Not Ginny and Georgia level things, but she migrated here and became a legal American citizen all for me. So, yeah, Effie Potter is pretty bitching. Anyway, back to how my life sucks.

The world that I live in, it isn't exactly, normal. During September of every year, the kids who are newly joining year nine are assigned an element of nature, which sticks with you for the rest of your life. This element determines literally everything about you, from your appearances to the amount of shit you go through.

As a quick rundown for you, I'll put it like this. The most common element is air manipulation, at a low grade you can maybe blow paper off the desk with your mind, but at the highest rank, you could even create a tornado! That is if you want life in jail, of course.

The second most common is love, which I know isn't a real element in your eyes, but honestly it isn't all bad, that's the one my mum has. At a low level, all you'd do is look slightly more attractive, but at the highest grade, you could make somebody hypnotically in love with you, hopelessly devoted towards you.

One of the middle tier is electricity. Obviously sounds awesome, right? But trust me, it isn't as Pikachu as you're imagining. Small electric shocks at a low level, but at the highest grade, you could cause thunderstorms, turn of the power in the building your in with a blink, which sounds awesome.

Now, onto the big seven. Keep in mind that these haven't showed up for a good three hundred or something years, alright? Each of them are so powerful, that legend has it that God's themselves had to abolish it from this Earth, and now if anybody is destined for it, it should remain dormant in their body and manifest as a more common element.

The first one is water. Sounds basic, I know, but hear it out. The manipulation of water is something that even Posideon himself would fail to comprehend. It can sink ships, drown anything and anybody, freeze, evaporate, manipulate itself. You name it. Water is one of the main elements which if it were to manifest, everybody would know.

Next up is light, which can sound strange, but would make a whole lot more sense if you listened closer. Light can blind or steer people, burn them or give them the warmth and guidance that they need, it was seen as too much of a risk for a mere mortal to possess such strength, that it was revoked one week after the first sighting.

Linking closely to that is shadow, which possesses the same, if not more, strength as light. Shadows follow everybody and everything, and you may forget about it sometimes, but it's still there. The ability of shadows gives you not only the option to make all light dissapear, but they would be able to manipulate the shadows behind anybody, or even sink into them. In the wrong hands, the effects would be monstrous.

Earth is everywhere to us, and I don't know about you, but I love it. Living on a flying rock in space is kind of badass, you know? Anyway, mother nature can never be fully controlled, only worked with. There were two people in history to have been given the earth element, they were sisters, actually. One was kindhearted and loving, whilst the other was cruel and evil. When the evil one betrayed mother nature by using her powers for her own selfish gain, nobody was ever given the element of earth ever again.

The next element is time, which is arguably one of the most important ones of all. The balance of time is sacred, it cannot be tainted nor changed. If anything to do with history was altered, the consequences would be devastating. The only known person to have ever possessed this element was (strangely enough) King Henry the Eighth. How else do you think he got all of those girls?

The penultimate element was spirit, which, yes, sounds stupid when you hear it, but try to understand it. The element of spirit is only given to those who have lost something so dear to them that it's desperately needed. Originally, it would be given to those who had lost children in the medieval times, but when the ghosts no longer wanted to speak with their parents, the element began to fade away. Nobody had ever connected enough with the dead to keep it.

The final element, and definitely the best, in my opinion, is fire. It seems cliche, I know, but come on? The ability to make volcanoes errupt, or even just to light a candle without a match. Surprisingly, there are no known historical figures to have ever owned this element, but in my bloodline, around a thousand generations ago, somebody did have it. His name was Richmond Potter. And no, the last name did not remain that whole time, we had to remarry into it apparently.

My mum would tell me the stories of the elements every day before bed, and I've always wanted to have the fire element. And I know I will get it, after all, I begin year nine in a brand new school next week.

***

"James, hurry!" I could hear my mum shouting from downstairs. It feels kind of weird having a mum who's twenty seven when you're eleven, but what can you do, I guess. "You're going to be late for your first day at Hogwarts School!" Great, my mum signed me up for some fancy boarding school.

I groaned and rolled out of bed, grabbing my glasses and making my way down the stairs, still in my pyjamas and with unbrushed hair.

"James you look like a scruff." My mum fussed as she fiddled with my hair and I picked at my breakfast of pancakes which she had prepared. Oddly enough, she was wearing skinny jeans and a grey sweatshirt, which was unusual compared to her normal tracksuits.

"Why are you dressed like an actual mum?" I asked with a smile.

"I wanted to make a good impression, four different schools since year seven can't have been easy for you, I really want this one to stick." She said, and I jumped into her arms for a warm hug. "Okay, okay, finish your food and get ready, I'm going to bring you in halfway through the day so you can miss all those introductions." She smiled at me, and I nodded greatfully.

A few hours later, I was in the passenger seat of the car, music blasting in my airport as I looked outside and imagined the raindrops racing each other. The school was a two hours drive, not including the McDonalds stop on the way.

I must've fell asleep, because the next thing I knew after I had polished off my cheeseburger was my mum nudging for me to wakeup, dried drool on my chin and one airpod blasting Chapelle Roan whilst the other was nowhere to be seen.

My mum handed me my bags and straightened up my uniform, which was a boring combination of a white button up and black tie with grey slacks. Proper shit if you ask me. We receive our elements after school hours, so after the last lesson the whole school has to meet in some boring assembly room and watch every single student receive their elements.

I had to sign in through the office, and luckily there was a girl in my year there as well complaining about something. She had long, ginger curls and freckles that looked like a painting. Her emerald eyes and elegant smile made me happy, somehow.

"If I have a headache you are legally obligated to give me water!" She shouted at the old office workers, who were rolling their eyes and scoffing. I watched in amusement as she managed to trick them into giving her some water, and right after she finished chugging it, she noticed me stood there.

The girl place her empty paper cup down and looked me up and down. "Your shirt is untucked." The girl said.

Embarassed, I tucked my shirt in before introducing myself. "I'm James Potter, year nine, what about you?"

"Lily Evans, same year." The girl - Lily - smiled, shaking my hand enthusiastically. "Are you in AP English?" She asked with a smile.

"Unfortunately." I responsed, making her giggle. We continued friendly conversation as we walked through the empty hallways, towards what I assumed was English. When we arrived at the classroom, Lily casually guided me in, and walked me to the teacher.

Everybody had their heads hurried inside of a textbook in silence, so it looked like a super boring class. I promised my mum I wouldn't bunk on the first week, though.

"Miss Mcgonnagall, this is James Potter." Lily introduced me, and the old professor with bug eyes didn't even look up from her computer, before she responsed in her thick Scottish accent.

"Very well, sit in the back corner with Sirius, please." I looked into the corner at the only empty seat, and I assumed the boy with shoulder length, shaggy, black hair, an untucked shirt and his legs on the table was Sirius.

Lily had walked over to her friend on the front row, so I had to walk through the aisle alone. Only one person put their head up, a boy with sandy blond hair and scares across his face, he analised me before returning to his book.

I simply sat next to Sirius and turne on my phone under the desk, as they were prohibited. I decided to text my mum and let her know that I was settling in well, but when I looked up, the professor was somehow right in front of me, her hand out as she waited for the phone.

I could feel my cheeks flush as I handed it over, already scoring myself a detention and public humiliation.

"I wouldn't try going on your phone in this lesson if I was you." The rockstar-looking boy next to me commented.

"Yeah, thanks." I responded politely, "James Potter." I offered, putting my hand out for him to shake.

"Sirius Black." He accepted the handshake happily, and I knew from that moment that we were going to be the best of friends.

Sirius gave me a rundown of everybody relevant in the class. In front of us was a black girl with braids and a tanned boy with white hair, their names were Dorcas and Evan. They were friends with Sirius' little brother, who had run away from home with him during the summer break. Right now they were crashing at their cousins house, but it won't last long. I told them that my mum would let them stay at mine, and Sirius thanked me.

The boy who had looked at me earlier was one of Sirius' best friends and his boyfriend since last year. Remus Lupin was his name, and he had apparently received those scars from a power surge from when he was younger. Only the strongest of the strong received power surges at such a young age, and for it to permanently scar must mean that Remus was destined for greatness.

Sirius has another boy in his friend group, Peter. He was in one of the lower classes, though.

Lily's group consisted of a mixed girl named Mary, her fluffy hair was always tied into a bun. She was a hopeless romantic, with a new crush every week. "Almost every guy in our year has kissed her, even the gay ones." Sirius said with a smirk.

Lily's other friend wasn't in the smarter class, but she was close with Sirius. Marlene was apparently one of the most genuine people in this school, except for when it came to realising her emotions. "She's so clearly a lesbian, I mean, nobody's favorite movie is Jennifer's Body unless they have a crush on Megan Fox." Sirius said.

In the other corner was a mysterious boy, who's black curls almost reached his grey eyes. He wasn't reading the textbook, James could tell by the icy look on his face, and the way his pink lips quiverred. Sirius informed me that this mysterious boy was his younger brother, Regulus Black.

As soon as he had finished the descriptions, it was time for the final lesson of the day, PE. Now, usually I would adore PE, it was by far the best subject, but in a new school? I really couldn't be bothered for PE on the first day. Nonetheless, I got changed into my PE clothes, which luckily wasn't apart of the uniform.

The changing room was packed, but that wasn't a problem for me. I quickly threw on my red and gold football jersey paired with my plain black shorts. The teacher had given me my phone back at the end of the lesson, so I opened up TikTok whilst the changing room cleared out. Eventually, even Sirius left, and it was just me, or so I thought.

I heard the door of a shower stall unlock, and a small figure whom I recognised all to well suddenly exited. He looked at me for a moment, and I looked back at him in a minute of awkward silence.

"You excited for element sorting?" I asked out of pure awkwardness.

"No." Regulus responded, coldly. His piercing gaze made me shiver from terror. I nodded, slipping my phone into my pocket and getting up to actually register for PE.

The teacher questioned my lateness, and I used the excuse that I'm a new student and found myself lost and without clothes to change into for this lesson. It was written off as tardiness anyway, and I received a warning for my behaviour, whereas Regulus got nothing! Totally unfair.

Even though I couldn't be asked for PE, I put my everything into it. We were playing football, and that was my exact field. I was an attacker, and I managed to score three times, once being a penalty, tackle four people and only one was written off as a foul, and totally win the game for my team! If this school has a football team, I'd be first in line.

After PE was over, we had to change back into our uniforms for the element ceremony. I got ready with almost no distractions, except for Sirius pointing out my belly button piercing and abs, earning himself a sharp slap from Remus.

After me, Sirius and Remus were ready, we went to their friends maths class to pick him up. Peter was a short, plump boy with blonde hair, and he was friendly enough.

"Do I know you?" He asked me, and that's when it clicked.

"Oh my gosh! You're Pettigrew!" I smiled widely, enveloping him in a hug. Due to the confused looks on the other boys faces, we had to explain our excitement.

"Prongs moved into the house across from me when we were five, we were best friends for two years before he had to leave!" Peter exclaimed happily. We did our secret handshake, and continued talking and updating each other as we made our way to the Hall.

"Why did you call him Prongs?" Remus asked as we were about a minute away from the Hall.

"Oh, in primary I sat on a fork." I said, making Sirius laugh so hard that he basically collapsed. We still arrived at the Hall in time.

All of the year nine students had to line up in front of the entire school, and I was so close to the front that I felt like dying. In front of me were about twenty students that I didn't know the names off, and behind me was about a hundred more. The only ones who I recognised, though, were Peter, Remus, Sirius, Lily, Regulus, and one of his friends. She had dark skin and light blonde braids. She was holding a white rabbit, which didn't seem weird to anybody else, for some reason.

"May the element sorting commence!" The headmaster shouted above all of the chatter, and the first girl stepped forward.