Nasia

Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

THE EARLY MORNING buzz in the hallway greets Nasia and Xena as they exit their room. "What's our first class for today again?" Nasia asks. They blended into the crowd and like a school of fish, they traversed through the hallways.

"We have Magic Theory first and the rooms located at the north wing. It's quite a ways away, so we have to hurry." Xena holds her hands and drags her through the busy hallway, hollering at the other students to get out of their way. Thank you, Xena for being the gutsy one in our friendship, she thinks.

After endless twists and turns, they arrived at the north wing. It's a huge empty hall. Some students have already arrived and are seated on the floor. They both took their own seats and waited for the professor. The professor arrived minutes after with a huge book in her hands. "Good morning, young witches. It's a bright day today. Please raise your hand if I call your name. Now, Melissa..." She started calling out everyone's name.

The hall is silent except for the professor. "Lydia." The professor looks up from the paper in her hands and scans the whole room. "Xena." Xena raises her hand to which the professor nods in approval. "Piper," she says.

"Here!" A loud voice rang through the hall and all eyes darted to the culprit. Her bright yellow scarf and curly hair pulled up into twin ponytails caught Nasia's attention. Adding to her bright aura is the dazzling smile she's sporting on her heart-shaped face.

Pretty, Nasia thinks. Out of all the witches in the school, this girl is the only one she's seen smiling so brightly. It looks good on her. "Nasia." She raised her hands after being called. And once again, she received the looks of curiosity and disgust from her classmates. They've never thought to get to witness a witch having no magic at all. But she ignores it. Or she tries to even if it's hard.

The professor finished checking everyone and proceeded to do her lecture. Without a pause, she talked about the different theories of using magic and what it leads to me. Basically, she's teaching them the rules and laws of magic by theory. Nasia jotted down almost every word her professor said - afraid she might miss any important detail. She needs all the information she can get in order to learn and acquire her magic. Can I force my magic to come out? She shook her head and went back to listening.

***

Nasia and Xena headed to the dining hall for lunch. Their Magic Theory professor has let them go earlier than expected which everyone in class rejoiced about. "What's your next class, Xena?" She juggled through the books she hoarded from the library and tried to keep them in her arms, but they were too heavy. Xena helps her carry them, taking five books from her.

"You know, you could have just left this in the library instead of taking them to your room. It's not like they're going to disappear." Xena secured them in her hold while taking out a piece of paper from her side pocket. "My next class is Herbology. How about you?"

Nasia fishes out her class schedule but frowns at the words written on the paper. "It says Wizard Battle here. Do you have that class?" Xena shakes her head and opens the door to the dining hall. "Huh?" They take a seat and place the books beside them.

Only a few students are inside, some are just chatting and some are eating their lunch. "Hi!" The bright girl from their class stood in front of them with her dazzling smile. Nasia stared at her, curious as to why she seemed so happy. "Can I sit with you two?" she asks. They both nod and the girl puts her things beside Xena. She didn't sit though. Still smiling at them, she waited for the two girls.

Xena realized they didn't go grab their meals. "Silly me! Let's go get our meals, Nasia." Nasia understood why the bright girl stood still before them. How did she forget when that's the reason they went to the dining hall in the first place? "So, what's your name? I'm Xena." Xena reaches her hand out to the bright girl.

Nasia watched their interaction. "Piper, right?" She didn't give the bright girl a chance to speak. Her name has been ingrained in her mind since earlier. She couldn't forget Piper, the brightest girl in this somber school.

Piper grinned at her and nodded enthusiastically. "Yes! You remembered?" Nasia hummed in reply and grabbed a tray. They stayed silent as they picked their food. Nasia walked back to their seats first, followed by Xena and Piper. "Piper, if I may ask, what's your next class?" she asked after they all sat down.

"Herbology, why?" Piper munched on her food after replying. Her attention now solely focused on the food in front of her.

Nasia glanced at her class schedule, then back to Piper. "Do you have a class called Wizard Battle?" But before Piper could reply, someone called Nasia. Professor Dahlia stood before them with her warm smile. The three girls stood up and bowed at her. "Good morning, Professor Dahlia." The professor smiled at them and called Nasia again.

"Headmistress Mildred wants to see you in her office. Come with me. I'll take you there." Nasia nods and excused herself. Different scenarios play in her head, but none of them seemed plausible to her. The professor doesn't seem to be upset or anxious. So, maybe this is a good thing. Surely, the headmistress isn't thinking about kicking her out of the school, right? Right? It's true she doesn't have any magic, but she'll get there. That's the reason why she's here in this school.

The professor took her hand, and then they disappeared into thin air. They stumble inside the headmistress' office after that dizzying teleportation. "Good morning, Headmistress Mildred," she says and bows in respect.

"Good morning, Nasia. I called you here to inform you that you will be transferring into a new room and regarding your next class." Nasia listens without missing a single word. "I've invited a very skilled wizard to teach you. Nasia, meet Professor Alrudor. He will be your professor in Wizard Battle."

Nasia raises her hand, brows furrowed together in confusion. "What is wizard battle, Headmistress Mildred?" The three professors look at each other and it is Professor Alrudor who answers her.

"Wizard Battle, young witch, is a class taught to young wizards in order to train them for physical fights. Now, I am going to teach you Wizard Battle in order to substitute your lack of magic for the meantime. I expect you to be ready in an hour for class." Nasia is left open-mouthed at the class information. Goodness, she's not inclined to any physical activities and now she has to train like a wizard. Goddess, help her.