better next Wednesday.”
Frustrated, I grabbed my coffee and went to class.
In Tools of Magic , we were told to pair up and
make dream catchers. I thought this was a bit arts-and-crafty, until I found
out they actually had some magic behind them. Theo immediately claimed me as
his partner. I wasn’t a fan, but I was probably the only one in the class who
would make sure he pulled his weight in the project. First we had to make a
potion to soak our threads in and another potion to mix into our clay beads
that we were making from scratch. Theo and I worked equally in preparing the
ingredients. Then I did the magic while he prepared the strings and started on
the second potion. We didn’t have time to finish the project, but we had both
potions done and the strings soaking for our return.
I was heading to Mythology when I heard a
scuffle in the adjacent hallway. My instincts drove me towards the sound.
Brian, in his shifted form, was keeping two wizards from getting to Becky. No
one was throwing any magic, at least, but the wizards were about to realize how
quickly a hyena could tear them apart.
“What’s going on?” I asked. Brian stopped growling,
but he didn’t shift back or move away from Becky.
“Becky is a traitor to the council,” one of the
wizards said. Both of them were in their second semester and I didn’t know
their names.
Brian shifted into his person form. “She’s the
daughter of a council member. She hasn’t betrayed anyone, and if she doesn’t
like the new council rules, it’s none of your business! Just leave her alone!”
“Anyone who opposes the council is going to ruin
everything for the rest of us!”
I noticed the mark on his wrist, but it was different
from the ones I saw on Li Na and Theo. “So you’re going to go around and… what?
Kill everyone who opposes the council?”
Both wizards hesitated and glanced at each other.
“Well, no. We just wanted to make her… I don’t know.”
“Brian, move out of the way if you don’t want their
blood splattering all over you,” Becky said.
Since I clearly wasn’t needed, I turned and started
on my way back to class. Becky caught up to me a few minutes later, as we had
class together.
“So what was that about?”
“Everyone thinks that if you don’t take their side,
you’re against them.”
I saw her wrist as she ran her fingers through her
hair. She saw me notice and regarded the unmarked skin. “I refused when my
father wanted me to get the council’s new mark.”
“How come there are different marks?”
“They’re different sides. Some students embrace the
council. They would rather have more rules and less control over themselves in
exchange for supposed superiority over other paranormals. Most of them just do
it because their parents are somehow involved with the council. Now there’s a
group opposing the council and they’re tattooing their wrists with a different
mark to show their rebellion.”
“How does your father feel about this?”
She scoffed. “He forbade me to come here. I know the
council is planning something to make Hunt give up the student records.”
“How do you know that? What are they planning?”
“I don’t know what they’re planning, only that my
father is demented. They’re probably setting up some kind of legal scandal
they’re going to blame on Headmaster Hunt, which is ironic because if anyone
knows about scandals, it’s my father.”
I noticed an exceptionally bitter note. “Has he tried
to set Hunt up before?”
“No. He’s blackmailing me. He says that if I tell my
mother he’s cheating on her, he’s going to have me labeled as a throwback and
try to get me kicked out of school like he tried to do to Darwin.”
“Are you going to tell her?”
“I already have. She knew, but she refuses to leave
him.”
In class, the professor talked about Roman gods.
Summoning Your Familiar was going to be a
difficult class for me because all of the other students were so
Frustrated, I grabbed my coffee and went to class.
In Tools of Magic , we were told to pair up and
make dream catchers. I thought this was a bit arts-and-crafty, until I found
out they actually had some magic behind them. Theo immediately claimed me as
his partner. I wasn’t a fan, but I was probably the only one in the class who
would make sure he pulled his weight in the project. First we had to make a
potion to soak our threads in and another potion to mix into our clay beads
that we were making from scratch. Theo and I worked equally in preparing the
ingredients. Then I did the magic while he prepared the strings and started on
the second potion. We didn’t have time to finish the project, but we had both
potions done and the strings soaking for our return.
I was heading to Mythology when I heard a
scuffle in the adjacent hallway. My instincts drove me towards the sound.
Brian, in his shifted form, was keeping two wizards from getting to Becky. No
one was throwing any magic, at least, but the wizards were about to realize how
quickly a hyena could tear them apart.
“What’s going on?” I asked. Brian stopped growling,
but he didn’t shift back or move away from Becky.
“Becky is a traitor to the council,” one of the
wizards said. Both of them were in their second semester and I didn’t know
their names.
Brian shifted into his person form. “She’s the
daughter of a council member. She hasn’t betrayed anyone, and if she doesn’t
like the new council rules, it’s none of your business! Just leave her alone!”
“Anyone who opposes the council is going to ruin
everything for the rest of us!”
I noticed the mark on his wrist, but it was different
from the ones I saw on Li Na and Theo. “So you’re going to go around and… what?
Kill everyone who opposes the council?”
Both wizards hesitated and glanced at each other.
“Well, no. We just wanted to make her… I don’t know.”
“Brian, move out of the way if you don’t want their
blood splattering all over you,” Becky said.
Since I clearly wasn’t needed, I turned and started
on my way back to class. Becky caught up to me a few minutes later, as we had
class together.
“So what was that about?”
“Everyone thinks that if you don’t take their side,
you’re against them.”
I saw her wrist as she ran her fingers through her
hair. She saw me notice and regarded the unmarked skin. “I refused when my
father wanted me to get the council’s new mark.”
“How come there are different marks?”
“They’re different sides. Some students embrace the
council. They would rather have more rules and less control over themselves in
exchange for supposed superiority over other paranormals. Most of them just do
it because their parents are somehow involved with the council. Now there’s a
group opposing the council and they’re tattooing their wrists with a different
mark to show their rebellion.”
“How does your father feel about this?”
She scoffed. “He forbade me to come here. I know the
council is planning something to make Hunt give up the student records.”
“How do you know that? What are they planning?”
“I don’t know what they’re planning, only that my
father is demented. They’re probably setting up some kind of legal scandal
they’re going to blame on Headmaster Hunt, which is ironic because if anyone
knows about scandals, it’s my father.”
I noticed an exceptionally bitter note. “Has he tried
to set Hunt up before?”
“No. He’s blackmailing me. He says that if I tell my
mother he’s cheating on her, he’s going to have me labeled as a throwback and
try to get me kicked out of school like he tried to do to Darwin.”
“Are you going to tell her?”
“I already have. She knew, but she refuses to leave
him.”
In class, the professor talked about Roman gods.
Summoning Your Familiar was going to be a
difficult class for me because all of the other students were so
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