“What’s a Hogwarts?” Persephone asks.
“It’s a witch thing,” says Orion confidently.
“A potions ingredient, I think,” Gwen furrows their purple eyebrows, flicking through their notebook. “Ah! Paper cut!”
They screech like a banshee, and everyone in the classroom looks over at our table. I hide my head behind my Book of Shadows, wondering if there’s a spell to make me disappear.
As I duck behind my book, I can’t help glancing over my shoulder at the wooden bench at the far end of the room. The wolf shifter pack are seated silently, no notebooks in sight. My roommate sits with one leg curled up underneath her, head resting on her knee. She left so suddenly the other day, I hope I didn’t do anything to make her uncomfortable. She wouldn’t even tell me her full name.
“Paper isawful!” Penelope sighs dramatically. “Why is there so much paper everywhere? Why is everything about paper up here?” She glares angrily at a bookshelf by the chalkboard, as though it personally jumped off the wall and gave her sibling a paper cut.
“It’s to write down stuff,” Hallie says, trying to be helpful. All three mermaid siblings stare at her in confusion, making her hesitate. “Then you…remember things better…?”
Lydia breezes gracefully into the room, followed by her orange shorthair cat familiar. She waves her hand with a self-assured flourish. Gwen’s finger glows a radiant yellow and their paper cut disappears instantaneously.
Gwen marvels at their perfectly healed finger. “Thank you, Professor!”
“Healing spells aren’t technically on the curriculum, but I’m happy to make an exception.”
My mother, good-natured and glowing with competence, takes her place at the front of the class. Her familiar sits perkily on the desk, his long tail upright. I don’t worship any Deities, but I’m praying to them all that there’s no practical component to today’s lesson. Lydia’s effortless ability and talent are a stark contrast to my awkward ineptitude.
“Good evening, class. My name is Professor Hall. I’ll be teaching your Introductory Charms and Enchantment course this semester. I’m aware that many of you will be at different levels, based on your background and experience, and so I will do my best to ensure that this course meets you all at your level.”
June and her irritating witch friends all smirk in my direction. Hallie pats me on my shoulder.
Persephone also notices. “Don’t worry,” she whispers, far more loudly than appreciated. “You can’t be worse at this than fortune-telling!”
Pantalaimon, curled up on the desk in front of me, fails to stifle his laughter.
My mother continues. “In this class, we’ll be covering some theory and background, but there’s no substitute for practice, so there will be a heavy hands-on component.”
A heavy dread settles in my stomach as she goes on. “I expect all of you to participate to your full capacity. This is the place to experiment and make mistakes. Out in the real world, the consequences could be significant, so listen closely and ask any questions that come to you.”
She magics a piece of chalk to write on the chalkboard and starts going over the history of enchanting. It’s strange to see her this way, like when you see your dentist shopping at the mall. I almost don’t recognize her. She lectures with the ease of a figure-skater, talking animatedly and making eye contact with each student in turn. Even the dolphin shifters perk up and pay attention, asking questions and jotting down notes. June has magicked her feather quill to take notes in her Book of Shadows (which is significantly thicker and more impressive-looking than mine). It darts across the page rapturously. The other witches look at her with envy and admiration.
I hate June. I bet Lydia wishesshewas her daughter instead of me. It would certainly make more sense.
“Now that I’ve bored you with history,” Lydia grins. I roll my eyes. She knows that the entire class has been giddily absorbing every word she’s said so far. “Let’s jump in with a simple exercise.”
The doors of a massive wooden cupboard open and two dozen tapered white candles fly out. Each one lands neatly in front of a student.
“We’re going to practice lighting these candles,” my mother explains. “Remember - this might be easier for witches than for young vampires, merfolk, and shifters, and witches who follow light deities might find it easier still. No matter what level of ability, the important thing is to achieve the correct state of mind for manipulating your environment.”
She pauses, and cups her hands in the air in front of her. A glorious, shining ball of light appears between them. “In order to survive as independent organisms, we must differentiate ourselves from our environment. This provides us with autonomy and creates a boundary between us and the world around us. But this boundary is created entirely by our perception. In order to manipulate energy, we must first alter the boundaries our mind places on the world.
“Cup your hands around the wick of your candle, close your eyes, and imagine the space in between your palms.”
The class follows her instructions.
“Take a moment to notice that space.”
Notice the space?I try my best to direct my attention to the exercise, but my head is filled with the sound of June’s scratching quill…and the smell of campfire and cedar.
“Now imagine what it would be like to be able to feel the space in between your hands. Imagine that there is no boundary between your hands and the space between them…”
I feel like I’m on a meditation retreat that I didn’t sign up for. I open my eyes a crack to see my classmates allhuddled over their candles, eyes closed and contemplative. Hallie’s brow is furrowed intently, like she’s trying to light the candle through willpower alone. Gwen is similarly entranced, their skinny fingers waving unconsciously. The other mermaids are less focused. Orion has a goofy grin on his face and is clearly daydreaming. From across the room, June has already lit her candle and is looking eagerly over at my mother for her approval.
At the end of the classroom, Rae holds her long, graceful fingers out over her candle. Her head is tilted to one side, left eyebrow up. There’s something peaceful about her with her eyes closed. I wish I could be so unselfconscious, so self-assured…
