Salem Prologue

Prologue

They say we are the copycats. They say we took magic and destroyed it, ripped it to shreds, until we got it to work our way. They say we do not deserve to live with equal gifts of theirs or with their prodigies. They say our children and nieces and nephews are living in a world of vein that has never faced hardship. They say we are ungrateful of what we have. They say we are polluting magic with our scum.

They do not know how wrong they are.

***

The Salem Institutes of Magic reside in the United States of America. There are three different locations, governed by the same board in the American Ministry of Magic. The first school was developed when the colonies formed; it is located in Massachusets, named after the town of Salem that it resided in. Soon though it's location shifted when population began to grow. It now resides a little off from Salem, but close to nonetheless. The second was created when settlers began to move South and further West. near a town called Winters in the state of Texas. Of course more immigrants arrived and more of them moved further West. In the early 1900s the final school was established around 30 miles North-West of Fresno, California.

Canada and Mexico were allowed to enroll in Salem, but they also had private smaller schools for themselves, which most went to.

Salem is an Eight-Year program which young witches or wizards begin at the age of ten, leaving at eighteen. This leaves a full year or so when one is of legal wizarding age. Salem is a largely modern school; whereas large quantities of magic cause technology to stop working, the Board of Directors, with Ministry approval, created a blocking wall in certain areas for telephones and radios to work (such as the dorms and common rooms). This way we could be in touch with the world outside of the walls of Salem.

Yes, we're different. But because we have to be. We're not copycats; we adjusted. Sometimes we are the same though. Each school has three main towers, each named after a famous inventor. West's are Laverne, Damocles, and Stroulger. Up until your fifth year you're forced to room with every other student of your gender, in a room for your age. It gets difficult living with more than a hundred other girls. So at the end of your fourth year one gives their request for the tower, and with whom to the transfiguration teacher. The final that year is to create your room. We got extra points for creating an undetectable extension charm with the help of one of my friend's older brother. Way advanced.

We have other stuff that's the same as the other schools as well. Our classes were the same, we played quidditch, etc; it was the history that was different. And the way. But that is going to change.