Yeri stood in front of door number 23. She paused for a few seconds to catch her breath from climbing the long, winding stairs of the tower. Luckily, Vern had offered to carry her suitcase up for her from the outside. She checked the door. The keyhole was a perfect circle. Yeri frowned and rustled through her pocket to find the key that Vern had given her downstairs. It had worked on the front door, but this lock didn’t seem anything like it, and  it didn't seem like it would fit.

"Well." Yeri said to herself. "It's the only one I have. It's not like anything else has made much sense today." She stuck the key into the hole, and to her surprise she could push it in all the way to the handle without any kind of resistance. She tried twisting the key around, but nothing happened. "I guess I'll have to go back and ask Vern." Yeri sighed. When she tried to pull they key back out of the hole, it wouldn’t budge. She tried twisting the key again, but the whole thing seemed to be frozen stuck inside the lock. 

Then, with a sudden click, the door swung itself open. Yeri froze on the spot. She looked into the doorway. The visible part of the room contained a round table surrounded by five chairs, a counter with variously sized bottles on it and a collection of small paintings and photographs hung on a sandstone brick wall. 

“Hello?” a voice sounded from within the room. “Who’s there?”

 Yeri flinched, but quickly recomposed herself and stepped inside the room towards the sound of the voice. She looked around and spotted a girl laying down on one of the two sofas in the room, a small book in hand. The girl had her hair tied up in a knot, and a round pair of glasses with slim brims rested on her nose. She was looking at Yeri expectantly.

“Oh hey, hi!” Yeri said flustered. “Sorry I didn’t know anyone was going to be inside. I was just messing with the door, it’s a little-” She turned towards the door to retrieve her key, but it had vanished, and the lock with it. “-Stuck. Wait, where’s my key? I just had it!” 

The girl on the couch giggled. “It’s a memory lock.” Yeri turned back around. “A what now?”

“A memory lock.” the girl repeated. “You’ve never used one?” She pointed at the door. “You only have to use your key once, and the lock will remember you. That way only you can get in. Well… You and the rest of our dorm members. But since you were the last to come in, the door has all the information it needs.”

The girl smiled, closed her book and stood up. “Well, judging from the blank stare you’re giving me, I assume you’re a freshman. Welcome to college life, kiddo!” She stuck out her hand. “I’m Seulgi.” 

Yeri shook one hand with Seulgi’s and scratched her head with the other. “Yeri.” she answered. “And yeah, I’m new. Sorry, there’s just been a whole lot going on so far, I’m struggling to keep up sometimes.”

Seulgi laughed. “Ah, don’t worry. Every wizarding student thinks they’ve seen it all after they graduate high school, but university is where the real magic starts. Especially this one! When I came in last year I spent so much time getting lost in the gardens that I missed the entire opening ceremony! 

Yeri laughed at Seulgi’s cheerful response. At least her roommate seemed to be cool. For the first time today, she felt a little more relaxed.

“So, Yeri, was it? Tell me a little about yourself. What brings you to SUMAC? Wait, let me guess…” Seulgi took a step back and eyed Yeri up and down. “You’re a psychic!”

“Ew, what? No.” Yeri answered laughing. “You’re not far off though. My mom is a fortune teller. That’s also exactly the reason why I dropped Clairvoyance as soon as I could in high school.”

Seulgi scratched her chin. “Hmm… So no third eye for you. Demonology then?”

Yeri shook her head. “Nope. Everything with dark magic gives me the jitters. I’m going to do Alchemy.”

“Ah, a moneymaker!” Seulgi said with excitement. “Remind me to keep you close so I can pay off my student loans later.”

Yeri chuckled. “Yeah, right. Come talk to me after I’ve bought my own island in the Bahamas. What about you?”

“Mystical Creatures & Caretaking.” Seulgi replied. She pulled up a medallion from under her shirt and proudly presented it to Yeri. “As of last year I’m a certified level 1 caretaker, so I’m allowed to work with all mystical creatures below knee length. After I get my level 2 certificate this year, I’m going to focus on Dracology.”

“Wow, so you’re going to work with dragons? That’s so cool!”

Seulgi smiled. “Yep! Always loved them since I was a little kid. Oh, and I’m also in the college athletics team, I fly broomstick. But that’s enough about me. Let me show you around a bit. Not that there’s a ton to show…” she added.

 “Where we’re standing right now is the common room. This is where we chill out, eat dinner, that kinda stuff. Over there in the corner behind the counter is the kitchen. I’m not much of a chef myself, but if you’ve got any culinary chops, that’s the spot.” Yeri looked over at the tiny corner surrounded by a bunch of overloaded cupboards and all kinds of pots and pans scattered over the counter. She wondered if she could even fit into the kitchen, let alone cook something in it. 

“Now let’s move on to the bedrooms.” Seulgi said as she pushed open a second door. “There’s three bedrooms over here, but the others have already picked so-” 

“Wait, we’re sharing this dorm with three people?”

“No…” answered Seulgi slowly. “Five, actually.”

“FIVE?!”

“Well, ten if you count pets. Every student is allowed to bring one pet into their dorm. Do you have one?”

Yeri looked back at the common room without answering, and then into one of the three bedrooms that Seulgi had opened, which appeared just as tiny as the rest of the dorm. 

“How do we fit all of that into this dorm? Where am I going to leave my stuff?”

“It’s really not as bad as it seems, trust me.” Seulgi said hastily. “It’s quite cozy, actually. And look!” she opened the giant black cupboard that occupied almost half of the bedrooms free space. “All of our storage cupboards are magically enhanced, so you could fit an entire household worth of stuff in here if you wanted to.”

Yeri looked into the gaping void behind the closet doors and saw books, clothes and other miscellaneous items floating around. She still felt a little uneasy. “Okay, so uhh… do we share bedrooms or?” 

Seulgi nodded. “The single bedroom has already been claimed by the senior that lives with us, and me and my friend are sharing this one, so you’re gonna have to go into the next one, together with the other newcomer.”

“There’s another newcomer sleeping here?” Yeri said with relief. Somehow the thought of having another person around who was just as clueless about this place helped her be more at ease.

Seulgi nodded again. “Yep. I didn’t catch them coming in earlier, but their suitcase is already on the bed.” She walked past Yeri and led her towards the third bedroom. This one was even smaller than the last. 

Yeri was about to let out a heavy sigh, when suddenly the suitcase on one of the beds caught her eye. It was the same green suitcase that she had helped repack earlier today at the station. She raised her eyebrows in surprise.

“What’s up?’ Seulgi asked while trying to follow her gaze. “Is there something wrong with the room?”

“Uh no, no.” Yeri answered absentmindedly. “I just recognize that suitcase, that’s all.”

“Oooh so you know this girl?” Seulgi said, pleasantly surprised. “Why didn’t you two come in together?” 

“Well I don’t exactly KNOW her.” Yeri responded. “I just ran into her at the station earlier today.”

Before Seulgi could respond, they got interrupted by another suitcase getting hoisted up through the window frame. The vine attached to the handle placed it gently on the bedroom floor before untangling itself and slithering back out of the window, but not before waving a gentle greeting towards the two girls.

“Ah, I see you’ve met Vern!” Seulgi said excitedly. “And you even got him to carry your stuff for you. You must have made quite an impression on him!”

Yeri giggled shyly. “Well, he also kind of almost made me cry, so I think he felt a little guilty.”

“What, big old Vern, making people cry? No, no no, he would never do that. He can be a little… exhausting when you first meet him, but he’s a total sweetheart!”

“Yeah, I know.” Yeri responded. “It was more my fault than his, really.” 

“Well I’m glad you two are already getting along. And apparently you and your new roommate already have a head start too! I’m looking forward to seeing her.”

“Uh huh, well, me too I guess.” Yeri said while feeling the little bird earring in her pocket. 

“Anyway, enough of my blabbering.” Seulgi said. “I will leave you to your stuff. You must want to be at the opening ceremony in time.”

Yeri nodded. “Thank you for the showaround. Aren’t you going to come as well, since you missed it last year?”

Seulgi shrugged. “Oh yeah sure I’ll probably stop by. I’m just gonna make a little round on campus first I think.”

Yeri frowned and looked at the time on her phone. “Make a round? But it’s already starting in 15 minutes! You’re going to be late!”

“Oh, don’t you worry about me.” Seulgi said with a cheeky grin. She walked over to the other bedroom and came back with a broomstick in hand. “I can make some VERY quick rounds.” She hopped on the broom and jumped into the window frame, her legs dangling out of the tower. She turned her head and winked. “See you at the ceremony!” She pushed her feet off from the outer wall and leapt out of the window, making a small nosedive before shooting back up and forward at rocket speed.

Yeri watched her silhouette disappear in the distance, wide open. She had seen broomstick flying before, but nothing of this caliber. “Man.” she mumbled to herself while starting to unpack her suitcase. “Some school this is.”