Reminiscing over Luggage
October 29th 1994.
If there was ever going to be a perfect opportunity to transfer out of that backwards ass school called Ilvermorny this would be the chance to grab at. Yes, I’m thirteen and I use that kind of language, but I’ve heard my parents say much worse, so you can chill.
Hogwarts, the school I wanted to attend, was hosting Ilvermorny as part of some kind of Tri-Wizard Tournament (although to be honest with four schools, shouldn’t it be more of a Quad-Wizard Tournament?). This not only would get me free transportation to the school for my first year, but also it’ll provide me with a smoother transition into the British student body. At least that’s what my mom said.
As I pack my bags in the Wampus Dormitory, I look upon the several moving photographs I’ve packed of me and my friends in the underground Blue Hair Society.
FLASHBACK 3 years ago
My first year at this dump, I was a young closeted bisexual from Long Island trying to navigate my way around students from the south, from the Midwest, even from Alaska and Hawaii. I mean seriously, who thought it was a good idea to have one school for this giant mess of a country? That’s when I started noticing certain students who had varying amounts of blue in their hair. They ranged from a mere one or two streaks to full on heads of Blue Hair.
I was curious about this, so at one point, I had managed to track down one of these blue headed students, and asked about this phenomenon.
“Oh, the blue hair? It’s sort of our calling card.” The dark haired boy with half a head of blue hair whispered. “A way for us in the closet to signal to each other without some of the more close minded students catching on.”
“But why blue specifically?” I asked.
“See last year, there was a transgendered boy named Adrian Brown. He was mostly identified by his blue hair. When the student body found out he was trans, he was bullied relentlessly by both the student body and the faculty. Didn’t help that he was also neurodivergent.”
“Typical Ilvermorny.” I scoffed. “What happened to him?”
“Well, there was an…incident in October. I suppose it was straw that broke his back, but he finally fought back, and well, you can guess what happened next?”
“Zero Tolerance Policy?”
“Zero Tolerance Policy. Adrian had a choice. He could either leave of his own accord, or be expelled and have his wand snapped in half. Adrian chose to leave.”
“Damn, that’s quite the story.” I nodded in sympathy, “but that doesn’t explain why you guys are wearing the blue hair.”
The half blue head nodded and continued “Well, at the time, us in the closet knew what was going on to Adrian. I was in my second year at the time, and I was only just beginning to notice my feelings towards other boys, but I knew I had to keep that to myself around here. That’s an attitude most of us kept, so even though we knew what was happening to Adrian, we remained silent in fear that we would be outed too.”
My brow furrowed in disgust. Growing up Jewish, I knew that being a bystander to the crime could oftentimes be just as committing the crime itself. I knew, through the stories about my cousins and great grandparents, that evil triumphs when the good people do nothing.
The half blue haired boy noticed my disgust and sighed “I don’t blame you for thinking less of us. After Adrian left, we all collectively realized what we should’ve done. That’s when we started seeking each other out. It started on an individual scale, and soon we were introducing each other. Soon, we had a full on circle. So we decided to make a pact. We would never let another student end up like Adrian. That’s when we started dying our hair blue.”
“So, what’s your name?” I asked.
“Myles Pierce, and yours?”
“Stacy Wiener.”
END OF FLASHBACK
If it hadn’t been for Myles and the other closeted wizard, I don’t know if would’ve made it through my first 3 years at Ilvermorny. But of course, I just had to slip up near the end of year 3. I just had to have a foolish bit of confidence. I just had to come out. And, just as predicted, my peers did not take it well. It was turning into a second Adrian Brown situation.
Perhaps it might’ve been a lighter version, considering I was coming out as Bi, right? Wrong. The real breaking point for me was when they started attacking me for my Jewish Identity.
When I wrote to my parents about it, I got a howler response from my mom, informing me that she was pulling me out of that school immediately. I was in full blown panic mode wondering where I was going to study magic. Then Myles pulled me aside and took me to the library to study other magical schools.
We had our choices narrowed down to Beauxbatons and Hogwarts. I chose Hogwarts, because I did not speak a lick of French. Besides, Scotland is a beautiful country.
Originally, my parents were going to buy me a plane ticket to London, where I would take the Hogwarts Express at the beginning of the year, but then it was made known at the last minute that Ilvermorny was invited to Hogwarts to participate in the Triwizard Tournament. So a new deal was made. I would attend Ilvermorny for two more months, giving me time to say my goodbyes, and then I would join the sixth and sevenths years on the carriage to Hogwarts, where I will finish the year as a Hogwarts student.
As I finished packing my trunk, and stowing my orange cat, Marmalade, in his carrier, I looked in the mirror one last time to fix my blue highlighted chin length hair. I wonder if this legendary Adrian transferred to any of these schools. If the rumors about him were true, he probably did. Either that or he found some way to continue learning magic.
I heard headmaster call for me, saying the carriage was about to leave. I take one final look at my now empty dorm space, and take a deep breath.
Hogwarts, get ready for the Long Island Transfer Student.