Chapter 22: Salem

Hello people.

I've been doing numbers these days and determined that you guys were right, those who commented that 60,000 gallons was little money for a noble family, were absolutely right.

So I decided to add a 0.

From now on it is 600,000 gallons, it is already updated in the previous chapter for those who want to see it again.

Here are the specific values of the coins in 1976:

1 Gallon = 17 Pounds

1 Pound = 2 Dollars

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A short while after the ship beeped that it was going to set sail on its way to the island where the Salem Witch Institute was located, a person could be heard speaking throughout the ship.

A woman's voice sounded over the entire ship, but there was no speaker or Muggle technology, it was some kind of magic Severus didn't know about, but he already had some guesses.

"All right students, Salem Witches' Institute welcomes you aboard! This is Captian Taylor speaking, and I will be taking us to Salem Witches' Institute on this besutiful day!"

When the voice of the woman who was apparently the captain of the ship was heard, everyone remained silent until her voice continued to broadcast once more on the ship.

"We will be setting sail at this time, so everyone had better have secured a cabin to stay in for the duration of the voyage! If not, you can contact the white and green-clad personnel aboard the ship to assist you with whatever you need. About halfway through the trip, our excellent cook, Miss Dorothy, will offer food and snacks for anyone who wishes to purchase something for the road. All students in the SCoP program must remain on board when we arrive, and a teacher will direct them where to go. Any other high school students will need to move on to their respective Colleges and dorms. Thank you and I hope you enjoy the trip!"

When Captain Taylor's voice quieted down, Severus and Freyja only had to wait a few moments before the ship sailed out of the harbor.

They both took the opportunity to quickly go to a nearby cabin where there was a large window, they both looked out the window, as the sea and the port on land receding filled their views, and only in a few moments the port on land was no longer visible and all that could be seen was only water.

For Severus this was his first experience on a boat, he took a deep breath, and looked beside him at Freyja who was extremely excited and fascinated with the journey.

Severus could only deny the excited witch, he began to envy how she took everything with such enthusiasm, and thinking about it he remembered Lily the first time he met her and he introduced her to magic along with various things of the magical world.

'She reminds me so much of her. Merlin, to think I'm thousands of miles away and I still remember her'

Severus said to himself as he sighed tiredly, he was hoping that this trip would help him clear his feelings and thoughts for Lily a bit.

As they both turned to continue touring the ship, they were bumped by a young wizard out of the blue.

"Bloody hell, don't you two watch where you're walking!" complained the young man who came up behind them and ended up bumping into them.

Severus could tell at a glance that the young man was very cocky, he had already dealt with many people like him and he wasn't interested in engaging in conversation with someone like that.

For the first time in a long time he had no pressure from anyone on his actions, he could decide what to do and who to be with without being judged or bothered.

In Slytherin, he never had much of a choice about who he hung out with, and it was something Lily could never understand, Gryffindor was not Slytherin.

Slytherin house was always isolated from the others, and only had themselves to rely on, so you were either supportive and part of Slytherin or you were isolated from everyone, and it never ended well for those who were isolated, least of all with the war going on.

"Well Excuse me...but my friend and I didn't move from our spot, so the one who wasn't paying attention while walking was you Mr-" said Severus with a piercing look.

"Mr?, PFF... hahaha" laughed the young man, while Severus looked at him with annoyance and Freyja hid behind his back.

"Is he mad?" whispered Freyja to Severus.

"I couldn't tell you for sure," Severus replied.

The young wizard in front of Severus and Freyja had blond hair, light blue eyes, and was of a similar height to Severus, he wore a white shirt with a red tie and a black sleeveless coat along with black pants and shoes.

"Merlin, who calls someone his own age by Mr, that's the funniest thing I've heard in a long time" the young wizard continued to laugh, while Severus and Freyja looked at him like he was retarded.

"O come on, don't look at me like that, you're the weird ones, not me," he said again when he saw the faces the two were giving him

"I'm Ethan by the way and in case you don't know you're the ones in the middle of the road cutting the others off by standing still"

"Well that's good to know. Come on Freyja let's get on with the tour, I'd rather we didn't get bumped by another Ethan for standing still," Severus said in a mocking tone.

Freyja just nodded from behind her back where she was still hidden.

Just as they were about to continue touring the ship, they both heard the young wizard from earlier again.

"Hey wait, wait you two, you didn't tell me your names, it's polite to say your name when someone else introduces themselves."

Severus stopped walking and turned to look at Ethan again.

"You can call me Prince, as for her, she doesn't seem to be interested in talking to you, now if you'll excuse us, we have a ship to sail" Severus replied and continued on his way along with Freyja, leaving the young wizard named Ethan behind.

Luckily for Severus, the young wizard didn't seem to insist anymore and let them continue on their way without saying anything else.

In the middle of the journey, they were making they crossed paths with several witches from the institute who apparently were from other schools within the SWI.

Time flew by and the ship was already more than halfway through the journey, so Severus decided to go back to his cabin to order and buy something to eat.

Freyja had no choice but to return to her cabin as well since she could not enter Severus' cabin.

Returning to his cabin Severus opened the door to find Sasaki lying there reading.

Sasaki didn't bother to say hello or turn around to see Severus, he calmly continued his reading as if nothing had happened.

"I'm about to order some food, are you hungry Sasaki?" asked Severus seeing that he probably hadn't even stopped reading since he entered the cabin.

Only then did Sasaki deign to look at him.

"I'm fine."

"Very well" Severus went on to ask for everything that caught his attention in the letter.

A few moments after he ordered the food, a young woman delivered to his booth what he had ordered, payment, and dismissed her with a thank you.

After eating, Severus decided to leave the cabin again.

To his pleasant surprise, Freyja was not waiting for him, which meant that she was still eating or had made new friends in his booth.

Severus didn't think very much about it and quickly set about studying the structure of the ship along with the magical modifications that had been applied to it for its operation.

He was impressed with the magic applied to it and was interested in studying them a bit.

A few hours later, the ship finally arrived at the island where the SWI was located.

Arriving at the magical port on the island, Severus was left waiting inside the ship as were all the other students who were there for the SCoP program.

As all the students from the other SWI Colleges got off the ship and headed to their respective Colleges, the remaining group was approached by a tall, blonde, light blue-eyed woman who was in her late 40's, but despite her age, Severus had to admit that she was very beautiful and to make matters worse, the woman's face looked extremely familiar, but he still couldn't quite place her.

"Alright, students of the SCoP program, my name is Helen Stacy, I am the dean of Salem College of Potions and I will be the one measuring your performance along with the professors throughout this summer, now everyone follows me into the facility." Said the tall, blonde and beautiful dean.

Severus now knew why she sounded familiar, Helen Stacy was a renowned potioneer in the magical world, she had made great contributions with unique and amazing creations.

She was one of the reasons why Severus was so interested in this program. Ever since he learned that she was the Dean and Potions Mistress of SWI, he knew that he could learn and improve a great deal under her tutelage.

Severus' ability to innovate in potions was undoubtedly unique and she was one of the most experienced and capable people when it came to potions innovation.

Once the Dean said those words she turned around and started walking.

The students from the SCoP program wasted no time and followed behind her quickly.

When Severus got off the boat and saw the island they were on, he was surprised by the dense forest in the surrounding area.

After a walk to the SCoP facility.

Dean Stacy spoke again, "Alright students, I'm going to give a brief introduction!"

"At first SWI was formed by witches from all over the world as a refuge, then it became an organization and eventually became a magical institution for witches only, until a few years ago male wizards were not allowed in, but as time went by the institution allowed SCoP to integrate both witches and wizards in its later years."

"Salem Witches High School does not offer extracurricular classes. It specializes only in 7 compulsory subjects that are divided into 7 colleges for each."

"SWI is separated into a total of 7 colleges: SCoA(the school of Alchemy) - SCoT(the school of transfiguration) - SCoE(the school of enchantments) - SCoH(the school of herbology) - SCoV(the school of Flying) - SCoD(the school of defense) - SCoP (the school of potions)"

"Each College has its own staff and Dean, and specializes in one subject, which means that each witch can choose which school to enter depending on the subject she is most interested in"

"Even though each College has a specialization in its own subject, students will have to take all the compulsory subjects corresponding to the 7 schools in the same way."

"SCoP is the only school in SWI that accepts male students in their sixth and seventh years. This is because it is the most internationally outstanding school within the institution and it is also where the best and most renowned potioneers from all over the world usually come from. SCoP has gained worldwide fame as the best potions school in the world for many years now, thus being the dream of many talented wizards and witches to attend this school."

"Due to the great interest shown by wizards and witches from all over the world in attending SCoP, SWI has made an exception to the witch-only rule that the magical institute had and has allowed only SCoP for a few years now to admit both witches and wizards with great potential and talent in potion making, thus making SCoP the only school that allows male wizards into SWI."

"But to get into SCoP, the wizard or witch must go through the summer program that the college does every year, and usually the summer program is very advanced for young wizards. Wizards and witches who participate in this program are usually about to enter their seventh and final year of magical education or even have already completed their magical education and are graduates with a major in the field of potion-making who are looking to further their knowledge in potion-making through the program."

"For all those students who have not completed their magical education and participate in the SCoP summer program, they will have the possibility to finish their studies at SCoP depending on their performance in the program"

"That's all students, I hope I have clarified some doubts, the building in front is where you will be doing the program and in it, you will find on the third floor the rooms that correspond to you with your name and last name on a plaque next to each room, I wish you the best of luck and any questions you can talk to the staff of the building"