The School of Bermuda - Volume 1 - The hunter's daughter

-17-

The month passed by too quickly for Lili. She did not feel ready at all to participate in this competition, in front of the whole school.

By the time everything started, she had isolated herself in the park, as far away from the forest as possible.

"Frightened?"

The girl jumped and looked up. In front of her stood an adult she had not yet seen. His skin was partially tanned and his hair, strangely blue, fell in a thick fringe over his eyes, completely concealing them. One could make out a green sweater collar under his long black coat. Without saying another word, he sat down on the ground, legs stretched out.

"It's normal," he continued. "I was scared too during my first Pall Elus competition."

"Who are you?" Lili managed to articulate.

"Oh! Sorry, I didn't introduce myself! Riel Wildi, I work here as a detention officer."

Lili observed him for a moment. Judging from his half-hidden face and his wide smile, he didn't really seem sane enough to hold such a position. Lost in her thoughts, Riel suddenly brandished a pair of scissors, cutting a tiny lock of Lili's hair and immediately taking it.

"What are you doing?" exclaimed the little girl.

"Oh, nothing, I'm just adding to my collection."

The hunter's daughter was now convinced that this man was completely crazy. Fortunately for her, Donatello soon joined them.

"Riel!" he scolded. "We all gave you a lock of hair precisely so that you wouldn't take it from the students! You're scaring them with your weird habits!"

Without answering him, the glue charger stood up and pounced on him, cutting a few strands of hair along the way before letting go.

Lili then witnessed an incredible scene. Riel swallowed the few hairs he had stolen from his colleague, and in an instant, he returned to his own appearance. It was both pathetic and amusing to see Professor Tant wriggle and laugh, pleased with his joke, while the real one looked at him, half-furious, half-dejected.

"Riel is a shapeshifter," Donatello suddenly explained, turning to the child. "He is an extremely rare case, the only one I know personally. Shapeshifters don't need transfiguration to change their appearance, just... to swallow the hair of the person they want to resemble."

He glanced at his colleague, who returned to his true appearance and collapsed in laughter.

"Unfortunately, it seems to have made him... how should I put it... a little crazy, and he can't help but collect the hair of every person he meets. Let him have fun on his own, he'll eventually calm down and return to his office. The match is starting, I came to get you."

Lili swallowed her saliva and followed her teacher to the field. He let her go to the locker rooms while he headed towards the stands.

"Who do you think will win, Donatello?" the headmistress asked when he took his seat next to her.

"I don't really know. The fifth years already have experience, but according to Céline, the first years make an excellent team. We'll see, I say both have a chance."

Ingrid Namarié gave him a benevolent smile, then turned her attention back to the stadium when Céline Montlaure blew the whistle to get the crowd's attention.

The two teams took their positions, with the attackers in front, then the defenders, and finally, the goalkeeper guarding the goal. Professor Montlaure stepped forward to release the ball from her bag, starting the match.

Lili, positioned in front of the blue magic ring, never took her eyes off the leather ball. She had often played reflex and agility video games with Martin, which had trained her to follow fast movements.

For long minutes, neither team scored any goals. Lili protected her ring with panache and did not let the ball pass even once. Finally, after long chases and numerous passes, Izãdo managed to score their first points, to the cheers of the spectators. The match immediately became more intense.

Enraged after the third goal by the first years, Drovella, the triplets' older sister, flew to the blue circle to violently collide with Lili, who would have fallen from several meters if Izãdo hadn't rushed to catch her. Unfortunately, the fifth years took advantage of this to score, just as Madame Montlaure stopped the match. Of course, the pink team could only win nine points instead of ten, because of Drovella's action, while Izãdo and his companions won the victory with thirty points.

The headmistress congratulated them warmly. Since her very first entrance to Bermuda School, as a student, she had never seen the first years win. But their team was so well organized and harmonious that there was no doubt about their victory.

The team went to the infirmary to treat the bites. Lili had none, but she accompanied them anyway. After that, they would have to prepare for the ball!

When they arrived in the infirmary, Viktor was present and awake, checking his outfit in a mirror. He looked very elegant in his off-white tuxedo, although he didn't seem satisfied.

"Are you going to the ball?" Lili asked, curious.

"Of course," the nurse replied with a smile. "Since it's organized in the evening, I can go without worry."

"You look very elegant, Viktor."

"Thank you, I had some doubts."

He put on an apron to avoid staining his outfit and began to treat the team.

"I saw the match, you played really well."

"You saw it from here?" Ree wondered.

"Of course. The cook, Axeqa Vargas, held up a mirror so that I could follow everything."

Seeing Lili's questioning expression, Izãdo continued, "Since we can't bring phones into magical places, for fear of being discovered by non-wizards and hunters, we created a remote communication system using mirrors. Usually, we always make sure to have a pocket mirror with us."

Lili signaled that she understood. So she would need to get a small mirror to communicate if she felt like it. She thought of that children's story, where magic mirrors had a rather divinatory purpose, and smiled.

Once the treatments were done, they said goodbye to Viktor and headed to the dormitories to get ready for the wonderful evening that awaited them.