Lunette || ONC 2024

2 - Which Witch?

Lunette sat on Miss Goodweather's desk, reading the notes the headmistress had left on the student application forms:

Harriet McCloud - Solar House - Plays soccer at home. Parents run a small wizardry supply shop. Has a little brother. 
Dante Delmar - Lunar House - Likes astronomy. Mother is a diplomat, older brother is a semi-pro duelist.
Arthur Finch - Solar House - Mother said he is fond of "rambling" - unclear if verbally or perambulatorily. Older sister is in culinary school.
Celeste Eun - Lunar House - Likes reading and collecting pressed flowers. Father is a biologist. Mother missing after magical mishap. 

Lunette looked forward to meeting them all. She stood up and walked across the application forms to the ink stand, where Miss Goodweather kept her pens. Some of the quill pens had shiny feathers, which were fun to play with. Lunette batted one out of the stand, and chased it across the desk. 

Hearing the noise, Malkin hopped up on Miss Goodweather's chair to see what Lunette was up to. Oregano meowed from the floor, urging Lunette to push the quill off the desk so they could all play with it. 

Just then they heard footsteps coming down the hall to the office, and the sound of Miss Goodweather's voice. All the kittens pricked up their ears, and Malkin made a dash for the door. 

The door opened slowly, allowing Malkin to move out of the way. Miss Goodweather ushered the four nervous students into the office. 

"This is Malkin - yes, hello, Malkin. And that's Oregano. Lunette, I would appreciate if you would get off my desk and stop playing with my pens, you have plenty to play with. And - oh, there you are, Selene. Do you need help getting down?" Miss Goodweather stepped over to the bookcase, and Selene jumped down into her arms. 

Lunette abandoned the quill and joined her siblings on the round carpet in the middle of the office as Miss Goodweather introduced the students. 

The kittens' mother Dinah hopped down from the window ledge to examine the students. She wound around their legs, sniffed their shoes, and batted Arthur's untied shoelaces. Harriet tried reaching down to pet her, but Dinah smoothly side-stepped the attempt and wandered under the desk. 

Miss Goodweather cleared her throat. "Selene, Oregano, Malkin, Lunette: It is time for you to decide which young witch you will help along his or her scholarly journey. It is a very important decision. You will be spending a great deal of time with this young person over the next few years, so please think carefully. Lunette, perhaps you would like to go first?"

Feeling very important, Lunette padded forward to look at the children, much as her mother had done. They politely held out their hands to be sniffed. Lunette could smell their nervousness, the toffees and peppermints they had been eating recently, the leather handles of their luggage and the freshly-pressed wool of their uniforms. There was the faint scent of gasoline on the students who had come to the school by car, and coal on those who had come by train. 

They also smelled like magic. Harriet and Arthur had the warm, bright scent of a sunny wheat field. Celeste and Dante had the cooler, glittery scent of a moonlit lake. 

It was all very interesting, and Lunette found it hard to choose.  

Then Selene stepped confidently past, and twined around Celeste's legs, purring. The girl knelt down to pet her, and Selene immediately climbed into her lap, butting her head against Celeste's hand. 

"Is she picking me?" Celeste asked, voice trembling. 

"Yes, it looks like Selene has made up her mind," Miss Goodweather agreed. "You two may go. Remember, don't be late for class tomorrow!"

Lunette felt a little robbed of her important decision, but it was hard to be annoyed when Selene and Celeste looked so happy together.

Oregano and Malkin took their cue to come up and greet the three remaining students as well. Malkin darted from person to person, clearly having as much trouble deciding as Lunette. Oregano seemed particularly interested in Arthur (who happened to smell most strongly of toffee). 

Lunette found she was more drawn to Harriet and Dante, anyway. She wanted to explore, so she thought it would be best to pick a witch who would enjoy exploring with her. Harriet had been the first to move when she tried to pet Dinah, so she seemed a little braver than the others. And with Dante's interest in astronomy, Lunette imagined sneaking out after dark to look at the stars. 

Who does Lunette choose?

➤ Harriet

➤ Dante