The Warlock

1: The Conservatory

The three cousins were standing in front of the gates of the Conservatory, the school where all magicians went once they turned sixteen. The grand gates slowly opened, revealing the magnificent architecture of the school. For a mortal it would look simply like a very preppy private boarding school, but magicians knew better. On the stairs a black shadow appeared. The chatter and teary goodbyes ceased as the shadow took the faint figure of a woman. The parents pushed their children towards the waving shadow. It was time to go.

The firsties followed the shadow into the Conservatory. Asteria and the twins held hands and rushed towards the Auditorium. It was a large hall, full of seats filled with older students and faculty. The only empty seats were in the front. The teenagers watched the shadow fly towards the stage, where it was reunited with its owner. A warm smile appeared on the woman's face as her cold eyes fell on the excited, yet fearful newcomers.

"Welcome! Please, take a seat at the front," said the woman and waved her hand towards the empty chairs.

The firsties began going to the empty seats like a small herd of scared gazelles. Asteria pushed her white hair behind her ears, and rushed her cousins to hurry up, not wanting to sit in the rows close to the stage. In short, the headmistress was intimidating.

"Do you see Aslan anywhere?" Freya, one of the twins, looked around the mass of older students.

Asteria just shook her head. Aslan was her older brother, who was in his last year at the Conservatory. Normally he was easy to spot because of the white hair. However, the Auditorium was dark with all the lights directed towards the stage, making it hard to find him. It didn't help that they were all sitting down, so even his amazing height was of no help.

The murmur ceased as the Headmistress cleared her throat, drawing all of the attention to herself.

"I speak on behalf of all the faculty that we are very excited to welcome you, the newest generation of magicians! All of you have spent sixteen years of your lives surrounded by mortals, in preparation for the Conservatory and the life of a magician." At this the cousins looked at each other with smiles on their faces. "Tonight all of you first years will go through the Choosing Ceremony, and then spend the next three years learning your craft." The Headmistress paused to clear her throat. "Your mornings will be spent in the general academia, and the afternoons you'll be working on your Path."

The woman spoke about the students' responsibilities and the school rules. They were all to be inside the school grounds by midnight and no magic was allowed to be practiced outside of school without a qualified magician present until graduation. After the Choosing Ceremony, everyone was to go to the tower they belonged to. Soon the speech was over and it was time for dinner.

The masses of students and faculty went to the Dining Hall. It was a large hall with piles of food spread over three big tables in the middle and smaller ones around the hall for the students and faculty to dine at. The three girls filled their plates like everyone, and looked around for a free table. Asteria's eyes landed on a round table, where a mop of white hair was seated. It was her brother. She nudged at the twins to follow her, and with a confident stride Asteria went up to her brother's table.

"Aslan!"

At the sound of his name, Aslan turned his head. A large smile appeared on his face, spotting the approaching figure. He quickly got up and embraced his sister and cousins.

"Sit down, guys. We have so much to talk about before the Choosing!" Aslan sad down, and turned towards his companions. "Everyone, this is my sister Asteria and my cousins Freya and Faye. Kind of difficult to distinguish them but you learn."

At this comment the twins shot Aslan glares. Faye crossed her arms and shook her head. Aslan ruffled her hair and pulled her down to the seat next to him.

All the third years, seated at the table, welcomed them with smiles and kind words. Asteria felt a bit threatened by the sight of all the older students. Aslan pointed at each one of them, introducing them to the younger girls.

"So these are some of my friends. If you, kiddos, end up being Sorcerers, you'll be seeing a lot of Nimue!"

Aslan pointed to the girl with pink hair and somewhat sparkling skin. Asteria decided that she was intimidating and did not want to be seeing much of Nimue.

"Now Ellis here is a wizard. He can probably name all the books in the library, seeing as he spends all of his time there."

Ellis threw a french fry at Aslan, who ducked to avoid it. Asteria would have never guessed it, if anything she'd think that he was a warlock. The third year smiled, showing off his dimples. Asteria could feel her face heating up as thoughts of how handsome Ellis was invaded her mind.

"Are you excited for the Choosing?" Asked them Ellis.

Damn, even his voice was hot thought Asteria.

The girls nodded eagerly, mouths full with the tasty food.

"What do you think you'll be?" The question came from Nimue.

Asteria avoided looking at her by letting Freya answer her.

"All of our parents are sorcerers, so I guess we'll be as well."

"You never know. My whole family are witches, and here I am a wizard," sighed Ellis.

"Wherever you kids end up at, I will still love you!" Aslan grinned, and ruffled his sister's hair as she sat on his other side.

"Don't do that!" After a few seconds she added, "And I'm not a kid."

Her brother chuckled again. He and his friends began telling the firsties about the different classes they were going to have. Aslan couldn't stop complaining about how hard Alchemy was, while Nimue opposed him vigorously. Asteria suspected that he was doing this only for the satisfaction of angering Nimue. Asteria knew for a fact that Aslan didn't hate Alchemy as much as he claimed to.

Soon dinner was over. The food disappeared and students began standing up. It was time for the Choosing.

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Hope yall like it! Please leave some feedback, comments, or just saying how you felt!

I was thinking if I should post the songs I listen to while writing? They aren't really related to the story itself but they set me in the mood to write it :)