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I checked my phone, sure that it must be late into the night.
But no, I hadn’t even been studying for an hour yet.
And ‘studying’ was an exaggeration. It was more like staring into space as my mind jumped between what had happened with the attack, thinking over everything I had learned about magic so far – which was frustratingly little – and brainstorming ways to figure out what kind of curse my mum was under.
If I hadn’t been paying attention, and I couldn’t focus enough to study this afternoon...
I could afford one day. I was far enough ahead from my summer studying to afford one day.
But if it was more than one... What if I was this distracted for the next week? Or two?
If I fell behind, I would never catch up, and I certainly wouldn’t be able to catch up once I started learning about magic.
What if I failed my A-levels and couldn’t even get into the local red-brick uni?
What if I couldn’t get into uni at all?
I stood up, closing my textbook.
If I couldn’t focus on my work, my mind would choose to focus on my anxieties instead.
I needed to do something else.
I was tempted to open my laptop and start up a game of Civ, but I knew that while it would likely distract me, I would be giving up completely on getting any work done this afternoon.
As much as I knew I probably wouldn’t get any done anyway, I wasn’t ready to give up on it so completely.
I groaned. It would be so much easier if I was learning about magic, instead of boring Human stuff.
Not that I found my chosen subjects boring in and of themselves, but it was as if they chose the most boring parts of it to teach us for our exams.
Sometimes, when I needed the kick, I would look up the parts that interested me on Google Scholar and remind myself why I was interested in the subjects in the first place.
I just had to get through this part first.
But I couldn’t deny that I would much rather be learning about magic.
I frowned, looking down, out of my window, to the building Natalie, Charlotte and Lena had headed to earlier.
Yes, magic classes might not be on my timetable yet, but surely there wouldn’t be a problem with me going early and just observing?
And if it kept my attention, then the afternoon wouldn’t be a total waste.
Not to mention, if I knew more about magic, I would probably understand more about what happened to my mum.
That made the decision for me, and I grabbed my bag before heading out of the room, though I paused and picked up my Bluetooth keyboard.
If they were going to let me use it, I wasn’t going to pass that up.
I headed out of my room and straightened my back as I realised that I was skulking.
I was still in the dormitories. I was allowed to be there. It wasn’t as if I was confined to my room or anything. And if anyone asked where I was going, I could just say the library.
I headed downstairs, only to pause at the sound of people in the common room.
Shouldn’t they all be in classes?
But then I remembered that these were the dormitories for people who had yet to come into their magic.
No one here had afternoon classes.
Maybe someone else had tried to join in the magic classes early before. Or maybe I could find a study partner to keep me on-task with my Human work for now.
I peered into the room and froze as I looked at the girls within.
No one looked over twelve, and they were young twelves at that.
What was it Victoria had said?
Fourteen is late, sixteen is an aberration.
And it looked as if no one else in the school was even a little bit late.
No, no one else here had even hit puberty yet.
I headed out of the room, stalking towards the magical classes building, determination in every step.
If I was so late into my magic, I should be able to sit in the classes so that I wasn’t so behind my peers when I finally broke through.
Of course, once I got into the building, I had no idea which room I should try.
Obviously, I would prefer to be in a class with my new friends, but I had no idea which classes any of them were in.
I peered through the small window in the door to one classroom.
No one seemed to be practicing magic yet, all just sitting and listening to the teacher talk. She was tall and had a kind smile that I could barely see through her mass of curly dark hair.
I was about to knock on the door when I heard a voice from down the hall.
“Hey, you’re Amy, right?”
“Amelia,” I corrected, having grown attached to using my full name, before turning and freezing at the sight in front of me.
At the crimson eyes and the chill that went down my spine.
“You’re a Demon,” I blurted out as he approached, and I caught a glimpse of the school badge pinned to his shirt.
He was a teacher.
He gave a sheepish shrug before pushing a loose strand of hair back into his long ponytail.
Only the image didn’t look right. I blinked, my eyes struggling to focus, and for a moment, I could have sworn that there was a streak of white down the front of his hair, and a tattoo on his wrist.
But a moment later, they were gone.
“Yes, I am. Gail- Ms Griffin needed a new History of Magic teacher on short notice, and I decided to volunteer. Plus, there are more than a few Witches here with Demon blood.”
I nodded, but his words did nothing to soothe the panic coursing through me.
“I’m Mr Stiles. Ms Griffin mentioned that you would be starting this year, but she also said that you didn’t have your magic yet.”
I nodded once more, not trusting myself to speak.
“Well, what are you doing here, then? Did you get lost?”
Part of me wanted to explain why I was there, but I didn’t trust this Demon.
So, I just nodded.
“Well, come on. I’ll escort you back to your room.”
I wanted to argue, but the words wouldn’t come out right, so I just nodded once more.
“Shy one, huh?”
I shrugged.
“That’s fine. I’m used to shy.”
When it was clear that I wasn’t going to say anything, he continued.
“This isn’t my first teaching gig. Plus, my... My partner’s on the shy side, too.”
I tried not to frown, but it was hard. It was obvious that he was censoring his words there, but why? Why was he lying to me, and why had he looked different before?
I tried to focus on him once more, glad that he was looking straight ahead so that he wouldn’t notice my staring.
Once again, my eyes struggled to focus, and I got another flash of white hair and a clearer look at the tattoo.
It looked almost like a dog chasing its tail.
“I guess it must be hard to come to this school all alone. I was in a similar position when I was around your age, but I didn’t have my aunt there with me. And I was more than eager to leave home. Being the youngest sibling is always hard, don’t you think?”
I was about to say that I wouldn’t know, but I was cut off by a gasp of pain, my head feeling as if someone had thrown a harpoon through it.
“Are you all right?” Mr Stiles asked, stepping closer to me.
I backed away. “I’m fine. Just a headache.”
He frowned. “Maybe I should take you to the nurse instead.”
“It’s fine. I’ve got paracetamol in my room.”
“You know, magical painkillers are a little more effective.”
I shook my head, and thankfully, he relented.
“Okay, well, here are the dormitories. I would escort you inside, but I think it’s best if a male teacher stays outside. There aren’t many male Witches, and I don’t think any have enrolled yet. Hopefully when Gail expands the school to other species, the gender balance will even out.”
I just nodded and said, “Thanks,” out of habit more than feeling, before heading back inside.
Part of me was tempted to try to return to the magical classes once Mr Stiles was gone, but my headache refused to budge as I made my way to my room.
I loaded up a game of Civ once I was there, waiting for the painkillers to kick in.
I only looked up from my game when there was a knock at my door, and I realised that it was around dinner time.
I went to answer, only to be taken aback by the teacher whose class I had almost interrupted.
She had the same kind smile as before and coupled with her peach cardigan and light brown dress, it instantly had me at ease. She had a pin just like the other teachers attached to the collar of her cardigan.
“Are you Amelia?”
I nodded.
“I’m Ms Maltere. I saw you outside my class earlier, and I was wondering if you needed me for anything.”
I shrugged, wondering if my request was going to seem silly. But still, I wouldn’t get anywhere if I didn’t ask. “I know I’m not supposed to join magical classes until I have magic, but I also know that I’m older than most without magic. I want to catch up.”
Ms Maltere’s smile widened. “Students who are eager to learn make my job worthwhile. I would love for you to sit in on my classes, but I’m afraid Ms Griffin is quite strict about her structure. For now, I have brought you one of my favourite magical texts. If you’re new to magic, you will likely need a study partner to understand it, but if you can find one, I would suggest starting with this book, and then I’ll give you a list of books in the library to continue with your studies.”
“Thank you,” I managed, staring at the book as she passed it to me, almost afraid to touch it. It looked ancient.
“Don’t worry, it’s spelled to prevent damage. But this is one of the original copies. The library copy has been... edited. There is a belief that some magic is too intense for young Witches, but I do not believe in withholding knowledge.”
I smiled. “Me neither.”
“Then I think we’ll get on just fine. I look forward to finally having you in my class, Amelia.”
“I look forward to it too.”
Her smile widened once more. “Well, I should get going. I’ll be making you late for dinner. See you later?”
“Yeah, I’ll see you.”
She turned and left as I headed back to grab my handbag and head downstairs for food.
#
I ARRIVED AT THE DINING hall to see Natalie, Charlotte, and Lena grabbing some paella, and I eagerly joined them.
“Hi,” Natalie said as I approached. “How was your afternoon?”
I gave a sheepish shrug before grabbing a plate and making myself a hefty portion of the vegetarian bowl. “It was okay. Though I might have gotten bored and decided to see if I could join in on the magical classes. I mean, if I’m older than everyone else just starting out, shouldn’t I try to get ahead?”
“How did it go?”
I sighed. “I ran into Mr Stiles before I could get anywhere and... Well, he kind of weirded me out, so I didn’t want to ask him.”
Natalie frowned. “Weirded you out? How? He seemed nice in History of Magic this afternoon.”
I shrugged once more as I grabbed a glass before we headed to a table. “I’m not sure. I just felt... It was like a chill down my spine.”
Charlotte gave me a sympathetic look. “That will likely pass once you come into your magic. He’s a Demon, and a powerful one at that. It’s probably just an instinctual reaction.”
Lena frowned at me as we sat down at the table. “But you said that you met Caroline Raven?”
“Yeah?”
“Well, she’s a Demon, and a powerful one. She used to be Lady Caroline of House Raven before she was exiled, along with Queen Persephone and her brothers.”
“Yeah, you said she was exiled before. Do you know why?”
Lena smirked. “She was involved in an anarchist group trying to take down the monarchy, and apparently Queen Persephone and her younger brother, Lord Gregor, knew and were also in on it from the inside.”
“So... Why would my auntie be friends with her? And why...” I stopped myself before I blurted out that she had suggested that I go to the Underworld for protection. That would lead to questions about why I needed protection. “She didn’t seem to hate the Underworld.”
Lena’s smirk only widened. “I think the real question is why was she only exiled and not executed for treason.”
I shrugged. “Okay, so why is that?”
Charlotte sighed. “It’s just a conspiracy theory, and one that Lena shouldn’t be feeding you when you’re still new to magic. The more important point I think she was originally trying to make was that if Mr Stiles is unsettling you, Caroline probably should have unsettled you as well.”
I frowned at my food as I stabbed my fork into it, pushing the rice from side to side. It wasn’t as if I was thinking clearly when I met Caroline, so maybe she would have had this effect on me.
But I didn’t want to tell my new friends that.
“I only saw her briefly, and she was mostly there to talk to my auntie. I don’t think there was time for me to be unsettled.”
“Then you probably were just unsettled by him being a Demon. Like I said, it will pass when you come into your magic.”
I nodded, though I wasn’t sure that I bought the explanation.
“So,” Natalie said, thankfully changing the subject, “what did you do for the rest of the afternoon?”
I shrugged, not wanting to admit that I’d been slacking off, but also not wanting to add more lies to the necessary ones. “I was playing Civ.”
Natalie gave a small smile. “You like Civ? Me too. I’ll add you on Steam and we can play multiplayer some time.”
I smiled. “Yeah, I’d like that.” I shrugged. “I actually might have forgotten to come down to eat, but Ms Maltere stopped by my room. She’d seen me approaching her class and wanted to ask why. I told her about getting a head start on my studies, and she gave me a book and suggested I get a study partner to go over it with.”
“I’d be happy to help, if you want,” Natalie said. “I was supposed to have Potions all afternoon tomorrow, but we’re working on individual projects and I need a full week for my ingredients to dry, so I have a free lesson. I could go with you to the library and help you out.”
“Yeah, that sounds great.”