He moved easily through the crowd of his peers, counting his steps as his parents followed him. He waited his whole life to join those prestigious halls. Kloriara was the top wizarding schools in the world and one of the oldest.

"Mitchell! Wait up, you're going too fast!" The short, brown haired woman yelled from behind him.

"Nellie, give him a minute. The boy's excited. It's not every day a boy gets invited to his dream school." His step father, short, somewhat round with a receding hair line laughed contagiously.

Kloriara ran through his veins. His mother and birth father met here. His step father went there as well. It was only natural that their son would one day be asked to join.

"Name?" The troll of a man stood at the large iron front doors asked. He stood straight and grinned, excited. "Mitchell Grassi, sir! 16, from Arlington, Texas!"

"Ah, yes! The Grassi boy, we've been expecting you." He marked a check by his name and allowed the three to enter. The noise from the others in the hall echoed in his ears. There was a family of 5 standing next to them. All dark haired, green eyed, except the older woman walking with a cane. She looked up and smiled at them, nodding to her husband. He turned and smiled at them.

"The Grassi three! It's so good to see you! I see little Mitchell earned his invitation. Young Avriel did too. Say hello, Av." He slapped his son on the back. He waved before tucking his long brown hair behind his ear.

"Michael, it's good to see you, as well. How's the Ministry treating you?"

"Well it's dismal without you, honestly. Chancellor O misses you though."

The two men laughed as their wives spoke lightly. "Your name's Mitchell?" The voice coming from the boy standing in front was deep. So deep it shocked him.

"M-Mitch. Just call me Mitch."

The boy looked at him quizzically, "Why is your voice so high?"

"Honey, I don't know... Why is yours so deep?"

They laughed for a bit, the two older kids beside Avi rolled their eyes. "This is my older brother Josh, he just graduated. And that's Esther, my sister."

The tall girl with the thick rimmed glasses and the brown hair spoke up, "yes, and lead girl for the Fortem house."

Mitch waved at her and turned around. The crowd around them fell silent as the professors and headmaster began walking down the hall.

"Good afternoon to all, welcome to Kloriara. I am Headmaster Kanipe. If you would find a seat. I'll ask all students to come to the front."

Mitch and Avi walked to the front of the dining hall. A man; scary, bug eyed, and dirty stood in front with a book. Next to him, Headmaster Kanipe smiled as they settled. Kanipe was man of advanced age, no one really knew just how old he was.
His hair was long and gray with ratty ends and small glasses perched on his nose. His robe was purple and gold.

"Welcome, young ones. Kloriara welcomes you to her hollowed halls. For many of you, your parents roamed these halls years ago. Here, you will learn to become a wizard capable to make it in today's society. You'll also be challenged. Make no mistake, we will not tolerate any misbehaving. You are expected to represent our school in every aspect of your life."

"The man to my right is Victor, the groundskeeper. He's been here for some 50 years and Kloriara means more to him than even I do please understand he takes his job very seriously. Behind me, your professors. Each one of them charged with your safety, education, and advancement in the magical arts."

He walked over and grabbed the book. He turned it to the middle. "This book is our history. It tells the story of every witch and wizard who walked through these halls, good and bad. Your destiny has already been written here. Before we begin our feast, you will be sorted and given your wands. Wands are sorted by witch and wizard. If you could, children, make to lines in front of me."

Mitch stood in of Avi and they both were incredibly nervous. Wand selection was a serious deal. It could almost make or break you.

"Avriel Benjamin Kaplan."

Mitch smiled weakly at him as Avi walked up and stood beside Headmaster Kanipe. They shook hands and Kanipe began reading, "Strong, quiet, yet loud in action. You are a person of few words. Your wand, the dragon heartstring, pla-"

"Yes!" Avi made the room laugh as he danced, excited that he was right. The entire Kaplan clan carried dragon heartstring wands.

"PLAINLY decorated will carry you through your life. Fortem House runs through your veins. Congratulations, Avriel."  He reaches out and shakes hands. He, then, turned and stared at Mitch.

The young petite brunette gulped. "Mitchell Coby Michael Grassi.."

Mitch walked on stage and began to shrink under the stares from everyone. Kanipe paused for a second and looked over at him. "The heir to the Grassi Family Guild. The son of the two strongest wizards known to our world." A collective gasp could be heard. Mitch's step father Mike and his mother kept his true parentage a secret. He knew but he was never allowed to speak of the man responsible for giving him life.

Giovanni and Michael Grassi grew up under the helm of Francesco and Valentina Grassi in Italy. In the 1970's as a anti-magic law swept through the land, the Francesco moved his family to America. They quickly proved to be powerful. Valentina taught her sons Light Magic, Magic used for good. Michael took to it quickly and it was through her guidance, he grew to be the great wizard he was. Francesco, however, belonged to the Il Demonio, a group of wizards and witches in Italy who brought on the Il Divieto Della Strega. He took Giovanni in and taught him everything he knew. He groomed his son. Soon, two years after his graduation and a year into his marriage to Nel, he created a group, his own Il Demonio, and they sought supreme power in the Americas.

Michael, together with the Kaplan man, and a few others fought back. They defeated the group and the Ministry banished them all to the deepest darkest parts of the world. Soon after Nel discovered she was pregnant. Michael, once forced to watch the love of his life marry his brother, immediately married Nel. He vowed to raise young Mitchell as his own.

Kanipe had been apart of the resistance, in fact they all had, and now the boy who once was the prince of the greatest dark magic guild stood before them. Kanipe began reading from the book. "You're persistent. Visually weak but strong where it counts. Born to do harm but raised for good. You're special. You have the power to unite us and divide us."

From the pile of wands marked 'Witch', a single box rose, flying through the air. Once the box found its way into his space, it opened. A wand, light brown, ornately craved, a fiery red feather burned on to it's side. "A Male Witch, one capable of wielding a Phoenix feather wand..." He paused, clearly trying to rectify the image of the boy beside him with image of the powerful witch painted in his head. "You, my son, are special indeed. It's rare to have a male destined to have a feminine wand. Even more rare, the genetics you have."

By this time, Mitch was acutely aware of the stares, the whispers, the looks. He certainly did not look like the strong boy described by Kanipe. "You'll need the help of those around you. Bravery doesn't describe you now, but it will. Fortem!"