'Look out!' said two voices simultaneously.
Julie only had to lift her palm into the air to stop the ball that was heading towards her. She smiled faintly when the ball that suddenly stopped in mid-air became a piece of dust that was instantly blown away by the wind.
She folded her arms as two men ran towards her. Both of them caught their breath as they bowed and then straightened up. Julie heard grumbling from both of them.
'Looks like she has eyes in the back of her head, Antoine,' said one of them in a whisper.
'Ough, don't be silly, Lussier! You know I can...' Julie growled.
'Detecting our good looks...thanks, but we've had our fill of fun in your absence...whoa, who's this cutie?' Asked Antoine to Julie.
'Same as you guys, ah... Louis, where's my brother?'
'He's with... ough, that hurts, Antoine!'
Antoine elbowed Louis in the ribs so hard that his twin brother winced in pain. He widened his eyes at Louis not to tell him where Julian was. Louis immediately understood and nodded slowly.
'Don't tell Julie, Julian warned us, Louis!'
'We've sworn to keep our mouths shut, don't use your annoying magic on us,' the Lussier twins said simultaneously.
Julie snorted in annoyance. She didn't have to pry for information from the Lussier twins to know what her brother was up to. She felt Julian's heartbeat quicken as he closed his eyes.
'If only she wasn't Julian's sister, maybe I'd date her. I would have been able to withstand the magic she would have cast on me,' Louis teased after the pain in his ribs receded.
'I heard that, Lussier. Don't expect it even in your dreams!'
'C'mon teens. Skyler will take you to your rooms and in half an hour, meet me in the principal's office,' Kai cut in to stop the trio's argument.
Julie looked flatly at the Lussier twins. She was used to their silliness, to the point of letting them swear at her. She folded her arms across her chest until the Lussier twins disappeared behind the gargoyles.
Julie continued her walk towards the front door of the school building. When she had just opened the door, her steps were halted by a child who rushed into Julie's arms.
'Julie, I missed you. Do you remember my request?'
'I missed you too, Taylor. Of course, this is for you.'
Leaning over, Julie took something out of her bag. Taylor received a long cylindrical jar. She took out a purple flower from the jar, sniffed it for a moment and smiled.
'I'll plant them in the garden. Uhm... Julie, who are they?' Asked Taylor who looked at Leon and Beatrice in turn.
'They'll be staying at school. This is Leon and his sister Beatrice.' Julie replied.
'Hello Taylor,' greeted Leon in a friendly manner.
'Hello Leon. You look radiant. Hi Beatrice. Your black fur is so soft.'
'Taylor is a witch, more like a Muse. A muse can predict the future.'
After explaining, Julie continued her walk towards the second floor. She walked to the right and her steps stopped at one of the doors. She opened it and invited Leon to enter.
'You live alone in this room. The toilet, you can see it, is inside the room. The bathroom is outside at the far end of the corridor. Along this corridor is the boys' dormitory, while along the corridor to the left is the girls' dormitory. I'll pick you up again after ten minutes. Do you have any questions?'
'Where is your room?' Leon asked.
Beatrice cleared her throat softly. She had understood her brother's meaning to the point that she had to cover it with her hand to keep Leon from glaring at her.
'My room is on the third floor.'
'Why aren't you on the same floor as us?'
'Because I was separated on purpose. Me and my brother, Julian. Come on Beatrice, let's go to your room,' Julie told Beatrice to follow her.
Julie escorted Beatrice to her room, leaving Leon in his room. Julie explained to Beatrice that the girl had to room with the same she-wolf as herself, who had just done her first shift at the end of last spring.
Exactly half an hour passed from their parting in the boys' dorm corridor, now Leon was sitting in front of Principal McKirby. Julie smoothly introduced Leon and his sister, Beatrice, to Principal McKirby. Julie explained every detail about Leon and Beatrice to the principal.
'I'll test it,' said McKirby.
'Grandpa, Uncle Kai told me himself that Leon is different. Can't you consider his opinion?'
Julie tried to persuade her grandfather to accept Leon in this school, because the series of tests conducted to prove his identity could not show Leon's true identity.
When Julie's grandfather put one drop of monkshood into Leon's hand, he didn't see any sustained reaction like in a werewolf that becomes painful and numb. Even Leon couldn't be angered by Julie when she strangled him, expecting a witch-like self-defence effect to kick in after he was in danger.
'I'm sorry,' Julie whispered as she lowered her hands.
'It's okay, you were just doing your job,' Leon responded to encourage Julie.
'Even Kai can't tell if Leon is a vampire or not because we can't kill him,' said her grandfather.
'I remember earlier when we had just arrived and met Taylor, she said something about Leon. Taylor said that Leon was luminous,'
'Is that so?' her grandfather turned to look at Kai to confirm Julie's statement.
'Taylor's visions have always been true. Before I went to camp she grabbed my hand and told me that Skyler would be followed by a black wolf,' Kai replied in support of Julie and Leon.
Suddenly, Julie gave Kai an incredulous look. All this time, Kai had known that there would be a werewolf reaching maturity. Kai hid this truth to the point that she didn't know about it.
Julie's grandfather linked his hands together. From behind his round spectacles, his grandfather looked at Leon intently, thoughtfully with a soft chuckle. He sighed and said, 'Well, he can live in this dormitory, but he can't have a roommate yet.'
Julie sighed with relief. In her heart Julie felt happy that her grandfather had finally decided to let Leon live in the dormitory. Unnoticed by Julie, a butterfly flew out from between her hair.
'Julie, why are there butterflies coming out of your head?' Asked Beatrice, who had been listening silently.
'She's feeling very happy because of the charm...''
'Shut up uncle!' Julie hissed.
'Oops, I can barely control my mouth. Sorry, Skyler will get mad if I tell you guys,' Kai joked while chuckling softly.
'Alright, you guys can go back to the dorms. Your uniforms will be available tomorrow. Enjoy your first day at school. Good afternoon,' Julie's grandfather concluded.
The four of them left the principal's office. Kai split up at the end of the corridor to go inside his room. When they were at the top of the stairs on the second floor, Leon held Julie's hand and said, 'Can you show me around the school? I think I'll get bored in my room when I don't know anyone here yet.'
'Alright, free service for the first day; then you'll have to treat me,' Julie joked to break the ice.
'I'm going back to the room,' Beatrice interrupted as she turned to leave them.
'Get some rest, Beatrice. I'll treat you, Julie. I'll make sure of it. So where are we going now?' Said Leon after turning away from Beatrice.
'Third floor. All classes will be held there.'
Julie and Leon climbed the stairs to the third floor. Like any other school, the classrooms Leon passed in had the same shape. Only one class he saw was different and it piqued his curiosity.
'Why is this class different from the others?' Leon asked as he raised his index finger at the class in front of him.
'Because werewolves need a bigger room than the others. The walls will prevent them from changing and moving around.'
'Will I be in the same class as you?'
'Only in some classes. You are still classified as a witch.'
'Why don't you use wands?'
'Wands are only used in the Harry Potter films, we use other media to perform magic; such as blood, pentagrams, crystal balls and others.'
Julie explained in detail every question Leon asked about her school and activities. Leon mentioned Julie and her sister's room. He also asked Julie to show him her room.
'This is my room. Sorry if it's a bit messy. Before I went to camp, I didn't have time to clean up the leftover potions.'
Julie pulled a chair from under the table and invited Leon to sit on it. She snapped her fingers to make the dust in her room disappear. Still busy fixing up her slightly messy room, Julie also neutralised the awkwardness of Leon visiting her room.
'It's still pretty neat for a girl's room,' Leon said sincerely.
'Just tell me you're not up to it, Jules...' said a male voice that was leaning against the doorway of Julie's room.