A fear of fire in flames.

Saber fidgeted with the hem of her shirt as she followed people into the hall. She was gazing around nervously, worrying about having to be in front of many people. She didn't really know what coven she'd be put in, her mother never told her much about the sorting ceremony or the houses. In their family you learn by doing not listening.

Saber tossed her black braid behind her, keeping her bangs messily in her face. Finally she looked up towards the sorting. Fire?! What? What is this?! Her frosty blue eyes widened as she stared at the fire. It was one of her bigest fears. "Oh my..." She nibbled on her thumb nervously as she stared around at the other student's faces.

When it was her turn, she almost ran away. It's what she wanted to do; run away quickly and hide in the mountains till she could get back to her home in Okanagan Valley. Her Winery and Orchard. She was afraid. But, she tightened her fists into small balls and stepped with grace to the flames, allowing them to swallow her, her eyes clenched tightly.

There flames rose, covered Saber, shrank around her ... and there she was, standing in the middle of a forest, trees everywhere. The ground was a bit soft, but there was a mild chill in the air. In the distance Saber heard running water--a lot of it.

The sky overhead wasn't blue, or red with sunset, or grayish-white with winter. It was a strange pinkish-yellow, almost hallucinatory in a way. And there was a soft wind ... but it sounded like the howling of the damned running along at tree top level.

The brush about 20 meters from Saber split, and out walked a woman. A woman with bright red hair and white skin, wearing a yellow dress and black, heavy, side-buckled boots. She covered the ground leading to Saber quickly; it seemed like only seconds passed before she was standing before the startled girl.

She looked Saber over. "Oh, hey, now," the woman said. "What you doing in my forest? And you better have a good story, or I'm likely to dump you in a bog."

Saber stared around her at the trees, the rushing water in the distance made her feel like she was in a sanctuary. She turned her head quickly to hear the the woman walking out. Fear went through her like electricity.

"Oh, hey, now," the woman said. "What you doing in my forest? And you better have a good story, or I'm likely to dump you in a bog." She gulped and fidgeted with the hem of her shirt,

"I well... I'm new... I stepped in to these flames and now I.. I'm here." She murmured wondering if she'd screwed something else up and was now lost in a world of magic that didn't existed. She bit her lip nervously and looked up at the pinkish sky and back to the woman.

"A-Am I still in Salem?" She whispered lightly.

"Are we in Salem?" The spirit chuckled. "Now we have ourselves a conundrum here, don't we? Technically speaking, you're still in the Summoning Circle in the Dinning Hall ... and yet, you're not." She held out her arm, wide. "Does this look like a dinning hall in the middle of Maine?" She looked at Saber and raise an eyebrow. "Maybe Maine--maybe the middle of the Allagash--"

She turned on the bright smile. "No, my love. This is more like Jamésie, Quebec; all marshy land and dams aplenty." The Phoenix swatted her next. "And bugs." She patted Saber on the right shoulder with a hand that was hot to the touch. "Hell of a long way from the B.C., wouldn't you say?

"So, gimmie your story, sweets." The spirit's demeanor suddenly turned serious. "On thing you should know: don't bore me. Just because you might believe we're still in the dinning hall, my world overlays your reality. You wanna go home, you gotta convince me you're not only worthy of a coven ... but that you're worthy of living.

"So start talkin' ... what's your story?"

"So start talkin'... what's your story?" Saber smiled at the woman, she seemed nice enough.

"Well, I grew up in Okanagan Valley, Canada. That's the wine country of Canada. My family owns an Orchard and Winery. My mother and father raised myself and my brother, Siren - we call him Si." She paused lightly, and smiled, "We have three saint bernards and four horses. I love riding."

"When I was nine my brother got his letter... he's gone to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, actually... Both of my parents are magical... My father went to Hogwarts and my mother went to the Institute. Judith Hendrix, if ou remember her." She paused once more and nibbled on her lip. "I love magic so much... you could do so much with it to save lives..."

"Honestly, I don't know what all to tell you... Is there anything you really want to know?" Saber asked looking up at her, fearing she'd bore the Phoenix.

The Phoenix paused when she heard the mother's name given. "Judith Hendrix; Cernunnos; Mamba Dueling team, Serpents Quidditch team--" The spirit seemed to almost be reciting from a script. "I sorted her in 1986. Tell me, does your mother still have a bubble butt? She really hatted it when I spanked hers." The grin was more of an actual leer. "And that big hair ... what the hell was up with that then?"

She looked Saber over. "So, healing ... you looking to be the next Nurse Tits-a-Lot here at the school? Your mother probably remembers Busty Gallagher; she used to tease the hell out of her." She snorted loudly. "Then again, she probably never told you about that."

SHe blushed lightly, "My mom is so quiet and sweet like now... hard to believe she was ever like that. She's never talked about her school days except that she was a strong woman then and that the Institute is an amazing place."

"I would enjoy very much being a healer... but.." She paused afraid to mention the last bit that was on her mind, but this woman... she seemed as if she was all-knowing anyways. "I really also would be an auror. You could save many people that way as well, too." She shrugged, "I think I'm brave enough to do it." The woman was very nice and rather funny. Saber found her pleasant to be around.

The Phoenix put her almost hot arm about Saber and started walking. "So, auror ... you think you can save a lot of people that way. Just like they did back in the Second Wizarding War ..." She stopped talking, then cast as sideways glance at the the girl. "Oh, wait, no: they didn't. Aurors were pretty much worthless, weren't they?"

She continued walking as she spoke. "They didn't do much during the Second Wizarding War because those that weren't killed right away sided with Death Eater." She smiled again, and tightened her hot grip on Saber. "But, I will say: the ones who preferred death of servitude went out standing up. No denying that."

The spirit turned to Saber, bringing her to a stop. "Tell me," she said, turning her so they could face each other, "you think you could kill someone?"