My Auntie M had given me homework to do. Not actual homework, but Witch homework. It had been a few weeks since she had started working at the school and to be honest; I didn't get to see her as much as I thought I would. Of course I saw her in Chemistry class and at dinner time, occasionally throughout the day but Auntie M had spent most of her time actually working. And investigating the school which had started to bother her.
According to my Auntie M; Saint Augustine's had some weird magical energy thing going on that was "neither here nor there, neither strong or weak" and she couldn't tell if it was good or malevolent, it was just there; and apparently it drew magical beings and other supernatural things in. So said Auntie M's research.
And that was her other, other job. When she wasn't employed in some Chemistry based business or something to do with archaeology both of which usually sent her all over the world; she was investigating places of power, sacred spiritual artefacts and assisting other magic users. In fact her real employment provided her a good reason and cover to do this.
But the school was proving difficult for even her to figure out. Auntie M had said that it may possibly be a magical reservoir, it could even be a magical portal to somewhere unknown. She even toyed with the idea of the school being built atop an incredibly ancient burial ground or even a sacred ritual site. Whatever it was, there was something or maybe even someone near that was causing the energy the fluctuate and recede like it was doing.
Right now though, I was in my Auntie M's room in the teachers dorm, flicking through the family spell book that I had taken to talking to as the thing was apparently sentient. It was a particularly cheeky book, it liked to flick through the pages when you were trying to read something specific, or sometimes it would just shut completely. I whine "aw come on" at the book and it would move its large heavy leather covers in a way that made it seem like it was laughing. It even did this when I sometimes got a feather duster out to clean its cover, the book was ticklish.
I had to try and keep quiet as technically I shouldn't even be in the teachers dorm not without my Aunt being there. But being as powerful as she was, she had constructed a portal in my closet that led directly to her own closet. All I had to do was recite a simple spell to activate the portals then step through them then I was pretty much going in to Narnia. I had to be careful though that nobody saw me, so I timed my visits and always made sure I got back well within time. Auntie M had done this for me as she wanted me to study the spell book and practice my magic in a safe space away from others. I had to practice as next week was the local coven meeting and they wanted to see how far I had come before they officially invited me to join the coven. That's if I wanted to join, the choice was mine. If I did join, then I'd have the support and experience of a dozen person strong coven behind me.
The family spell book I was studying was several hundred years old, some of the pages were illegible but Auntie M had somehow re-written these pages and had magically attached them inside the book. I had written down a few specific healing potion recipes I thought would come in handy; one for headache and fever and one for an upset stomach. I had also found a finding spell, especially for lost objects and a shielding spell which I thought would be complicated but was surprisingly easy. I did manage to practice it one night this week with my Auntie M who had sat with the telly on, chucking ping pong balls at me whilst I concentrated on keeping the spell going and the shield up. The ping pong balls would just hit a wall that was surrounding me a few feet away from my body, so Auntie M would throw something else at me to see what my shield could handle. I could keep the shield up for about a good five seconds and the thing that broke it was an orange. Apparently oranges were my limit.
The more I practised, the more I felt like I was myself. More than myself actually. I felt strong and in control. I felt like I made sense now as a person, like my very existence had been confirmed and I belonged. I remembered earlier on in the week when I was walking through the school corridors on our way to the dining hall for lunch with Katie and Victoria; Francesca Millar-Brown was stood at her locker surrounded by her four minions, laughing and joking and generally being annoying when she made a really horrible, racist remark at Katie. Katie was mixed race; her mother was black and her father was white. Katie was also one of my best friends and after the horrible remark that came out of Francesca's mouth I couldn't just let her get away with it anymore and ignore her like Katie insisted we do every time Francesca said anything awful about her. Katie didn't want to give the horrible girl the satisfaction that she had been riled up.
I however glared at Francesca who had began laughing with her minions at the horrible insult she had said to Katie. She was trying to open her locker and as soon as it opened I concentrated all my energy on the door and screwed up my face slightly. The locker door flew open with such force and speed that it smacked her in the face and I was pretty sure it broke her nose. She was screaming her head off as tears filled her eyes and blood poured out of her nostrils. Her minions had all reached in to their bags to pull out tissues for their leader who was now covered in crimson and had started hurrying her along to the school nurse, which was proving difficult for them as Francesca had started screaming at them now like it was their fault. She really was a horrible person.
Katie, Victoria and Myself all continued walking past and as soon we were out of earshot we all wheezed with stifled giggling.
'What the hell happened there?' Victoria exclaimed. Katie was holding her hand over her mouth in shock trying to keep in a laugh.
'Karma. Karma is what happened.' I smiled coyly, knowing damn well I just did that.
I giggled to myself remembering that. I had told my Auntie M about it; she thought it was brilliant and she told me how proud she was, as combating horrible negative energies and intentions was kind of our thing.
'It seems like you're becoming quite proficient with controlling your powers now.' She had told me. 'You've learnt some basic spells and potions and it's now apparent you can do things without having to recite a chant. I think you're actually ready for the next step.'
'And what is the next step?' I asked.
'Do you have cleaning supplies in your room or your dorm?' She quizzed me.
'Err, yes.' Auntie M smiled at my reply.
'Great! Have you got a broom?'