immortality [wizarding world] | ⚐

二十

A month had passed since both Sancho and Praelia felt the shift. It had been a month since Sancho woke up to the world screaming in his ear. A month since things had started to go terribly, terribly wrong. At breakfast the next day, Praelia had made the announcement that extra reinforcements would be set up around the school grounds — Sancho's classmates and fellow students had been perplexed, but understanding. Even they, to some degree, had felt it.

The past month, however, had been the worst month of Sancho's life. He abruptly woke up every morning, and the first thing he did was to check if Felix was still alive. If Felix was still alive, and nothing felt out of order (at least any more than it already was), Sancho allowed himself to take three deep breaths. He would then hurry down to breakfast where Profesora Praelia would be sitting in her seat at the staff table. The two would share a look, and Praelia would nod at Sancho. If his Mentor felt that it was safe, Sancho would sit down with a sigh of relief. It was taxing him mentally to wake up with such strong anxiety every single morning, but it was worth it if it made him more vigilance and ready for something to happen. He had told Felix everything about his meeting with his mentor — choosing to keep out the part where she revealed she had an ability to talk to otherworldly beings — including their encounter in the hallway in the middle of the night. Felix had been concerned for his friend, but also impressed with Sancho's abilities to feel the magic around him so strongly and to sense fluctuations in the balance of their world.

"Did you see the storm brewing outside? I bet we're going to go Thunderbird-spotting in Magizoology." Felix said to Sancho and María Luz. The Second and Third years occasionally had overlapping classes, and the three shared Magizoology on Monday afternoons, right after lunch.

"Oooh, I hope that's what we're doing today, ever since Profesor Raíz mentioned them, I've been so intrigued. Maybe we'll even get to go past the school grounds!" María Luz said excitedly, reaching for some bread. Sancho frowned, pensive.

"Hopefully we don't stray too far," he mumbled. "The jungle hides a lot of secrets." Felix shot him a look, half exasperated and half concerned that his best friend was going a little crazy.

"You know what, Sancho? I bet I'm wrong anyways — it's probably just a natural storm."

"Perhaps."

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Much to María Luz's delight and to Sancho's dread, Felix was correct in his predicting. Their Magizoology teacher excitedly announced to the class that they would be continuing to sketch and label Thunderbirds. Everyone shuffled to pull out their diagrams that they had started two weeks ago when Profesor Raíz had first introduced the creatures in their classroom.

"Today, and with Headmistress Praelia's permission, of course, we'll be stepping out of school grounds and to some clearings nearby," the class broke out into a chatter, clearly delighted to spend some time in the jungle around them. "You'll be split up into groups and you'll be required to continue your drawings of Thunderbirds. Make sure to make detailed observations as I'll be assigning an essay on Thunderbirds soon. Any questions?" He looked around. "No? Well then here are the groups..." He started reading out groups of names, and Sancho was relieved to find out that he was in a group with Felix, who owned a higher quality looking glass. Much to their dismay, however, María Luz was in another group — neither Sancho or Felix were particularly talented artists.

"We can always get her to draw on the minute details after." Felix suggested helpfully as Profesor Raíz lead each group to their clearings, which, to Sancho's relief, weren't very far from each other or the castle grounds. The sky was getting stormier and stormier by the second, and the energy that the class gave off exerted wonder and exhilaration. Sancho closed his eyes and focused on the patch of Light magic their group was giving off. It was innocent and pure, and for a second, Sancho felt as if the balance was back. He felt giddy all of the sudden, and his steps were lighter than they had been in a month.