Spellcaster series #1: The Neophyte

The Academy

HEIDI

Locked.

I sighed. I did not travel through space to be locked out. I scanned the shrubbery and bushes around me, looking for anything that might unlock the gates. Maybe it was magic? Could it be a riddle? Maybe it was a test to all new Spellcasters-to-be? I combed through the bushes and reached into one. I thought I saw something silver; a key? A burning sensation suddenly shot through my arm.

Damn! Poison ivy. Of all things.

I walked back to the gates and stared at them. My arm began to swell and itch. Not a good start.

"Hey," a voice came from behind, "um, you need to buzz the guards to let you in."

I turned to see a green-eyed boy staring back at me. His eyes were round and oogly behind rimless glasses. He looked fourteen.

"Oh, yeah, could you help me with that?"

"Sure," the kid shrugged. He moved to an intercom beside the gates—I had not realised it was there—and pushed a button on it. It buzzed and the gates creaked open.

"Welcome to The Academy," he greeted, his voice breaking between a young child and an awkwardly growing teenager.

I was about to thank him when my eyes were greeted by the sight of a massive building that seemed to loom out of nowhere. It stood before us, mystical and daring. There were curved walls and arc doors and windows, black roofs and dark walls. The building was made of stone, spreading fifty-four acres wide.

"You must be new here. I'm Elton," the boy said as he struck out an arm.

"I'm Heidi. Nice to meet you too, kid. Do you know where Jesse White's office might be?"

"I do," he answered and nodded towards someone over my shoulder with his chin. "And you're about to find out. Hello Jesse!"

I turned around to see a tall, sand-coloured-haired, middle-aged man. His wavy locks were tied into a low ponytail and he wore a long blue overcoat that ended at his knees. His cuffs were neatly folded with a sapphire pin on his right cuff. His white collar was straight and sharp, his shirt buttoned up. He looked regal, if I would describe him, and he was exactly how Lord Voltaire said he would look and act.

"Hello Elton, how are you?" Jesse grinned, revealing wrinkles in the corners of his sharp blue eyes. They were as blue as the gem on his cuff.

"I've been practising!" The kid exclaimed.

"Wonderful!" Jesse turned to me, "It's nice to see you again, Miss Danielson. Please, come inside. I'd like to introduce you to a couple of my colleagues for your start here in The Academy."

"That kid sure has a lot of energy," I said in a lower voice, as soon as Elton was far enough while we headed towards Jesse's office through the Gardens. The night sky seemed perpetuating. I scratched my arm.

"Well, he is fourteen—good heavens!" Jesse gasped. I looked up to see him staring at my gnarly arm with his mouth agape. "Did you get poison ivy?"

"Yeah, it's nothing—"

Without hesitation, Jesse held my arm with both of his hands and closed his eyes. At first it was a tingling sensation coming from his fingertips, soon a refreshing feeling overtook the itch and swelling of my arm. The redness disappeared and the swelling calmed down. In a mere minute, my arm reverted back to what it used to look like before.

"Oh, whoa," I uttered.

"I am a healer, as anyone who learns Practical magic would be," Jesse explained. "Soon you will be one too."