Six Ways to Spellday

by Samantha Silver

  “Ok,” I said.

  “The first examination is a basic, written test. The second is a practical exam which takes place in the woods and will see you going through a number of tests that will require use of spells. The third examination is only offered to students who do exceptionally well on the second section. It is a test of your overall witching and wizarding instinct, a test to see how well the brain is able to handle challenges that can be solved with spells. It is much more advanced than the first and second examinations, and I wouldn’t worry; I don’t believe anyone expects you to qualify to take the third examination.”

  I gulped. This all sounded very sudden.

  “How do the test results work?”

  “Essentially, they are used by potential employers to see whether or not you fit in with the guidelines they require. Some jobs, like being a magical Fixer, would require extremely high marks on the test, and almost all of the candidates would have done the third examination. Other jobs, however, require a much smaller skillset, and a lower score on the examination would be deemed acceptable.”

  “Could I re-take the examination later if I don’t like my mark?” I asked, and Lita pursed her lips.

  “It’s not normally done, but I suspect we could apply for an exemption from the Witching and Wizarding Council. However, from what Amy tells me, you will not need to re-do the test. She would not have suggested that it be administered if she thought there was any chance you would get a low mark.”

  That surprised me. “Amy suggested it? She hadn’t said a thing about it to me.”

  “That’s right. She didn’t want you to stress, so she wanted me to broach the subject with you. I think you should do the exams in a couple of days.”

  “A couple of days?” I repeated, my mouth dropping open. “No way! That’s way too soon.”

  Lita shrugged. “The examination is designed so that it is difficult to study for. Only the first section is about memorizing spells, potions and herbs. The second section, which counts for a much higher percentage of your mark, requires that you know some spells, yes, but is more about how well you cast them. They are all basic spells that every witch and wizard would have learned as a child. And you forget – Amy has already taken the examinations. She was one of two witches in her age year to have been allowed to get to the third examination. She knows what is expected of students.”

  “With all due respect, I’m not one hundred percent sure Amy is the best judge of whether or not us mere mortals are able to pass an exam.”

  A smile flittered on Lita’s lips momentarily. “Fair enough. All the same, I do trust her judgement, and I think you should do it. May I ask why you seem so hesitant?”

  “Honestly, it’s just so sudden,” I replied. “In the human world, we would never have an exam like this thrust upon us with virtually no notice, and mentally I feel like I’m not prepared for it at all.”

  Lita nodded. “I can understand that. However, in the magical world, the examinations are purposely staggered randomly by student. They can be called upon anytime in the two years after they come of age to take their examination, and are also only given two days’ notice, to prevent any major studying being done.”

  Oh. So this was completely normal, and I wasn’t even going to get to pull the ‘everyone else gets to know when their test is with lots of notice’ card.

  “Alright,” I conceded. “I guess I have no other options.”

  “Good,” Lita said, standing up. “I need you to be here at ten in the morning in two days for your examinations. I’m very impressed – I thought it would have taken you at least a year to reach a level of proficiency that would allow you to take the exams.”

  I nodded, swallowing hard. I really, really would have been ok with waiting another six months before the one exam that apparently decided my entire future as a witch was going to take place. But at the same time, if this meant I would finally be able to get a job after taking the exam and stop living off the kindness of the coven, then I was ok with that, too.

  Hopefully I wasn’t going to completely fail.

  I stepped back out into the main part of coven headquarters and found Amy standing by the door.

  “Why on earth did you tell Lita I was ready to take the exams?” I asked. I was trying not to panic about it, but my voice cracked even as I said those words. I needed more than two days’ notice for the most important exam of my entire life!

  “Because you are,” Amy replied simply. “Why are you panicking? You knew this day would come.”

  “I thought I was going to get more than forty-eight hours’ notice!”

  I received a curious look in reply. “Why?”

  “Because in the human world, when you have an important test coming up, they give you six months, sometimes even a year of notice. You definitely know when you sign up to a class that the exam is going to be at the end of the class. You get more than forty-something hours.”

  “Oh, that’s so strange,” Amy said. “Anyway, try to relax. You’re going to be fine. Do you know how many exams I’ve volunteered to help with, and how many students I’ve seen take them? Hundreds. I know exactly what it takes to pass the examinations, and I’m telling you, you’re going to pass, and you’re going to get a decent mark.”

  I bit my lip. I had never been a phenomenal student. I had certainly never been an Amy-type student. But I always did put at least a little bit of effort into my studies, and my marks weren’t horrible when I was in school.

  I was nervous. Being a part of the paranormal world felt like a fresh start in some ways, and I didn’t want to mess it up. And here was one way that I could mess it up majorly.

  “You’re going to be fine,” Amy said. “Now, come on. I’m going to follow after you, and we’re going to find out who on earth is following you and why.”

  “Thanks,” I said gratefully to Amy. “Will you help me cram for the exam?”

  “No, because you’re not supposed to cram. You’re going to be fine. I promise.”

  I definitely didn’t feel like it was going to be fine, but it looked like I had no other choice.

  “Alright. What do you want me to do, just go home normally?”

  “That’s right. I’m going to cast a spell to make myself invisible to both people and other spells, so that no matter what my presence can’t be detected. Then, I’m going to try and cast some spells to see if there’s anyone else around. If you hear me call out, follow the sound of my voice.”

  “Ok,” I nodded. “So I just need to walk home like nothing’s wrong?”

  “That’s right,” Amy said.

  “What if… you get into trouble?” I asked. I didn’t want to make it sound like I didn’t think Amy knew what she was doing – I was all too aware of just how good she was at casting spells – but I just didn’t have a good feeling about this. I didn’t have a good feeling at all.

  “Don’t worry,” she told me with a smile. “It’ll be fine.”

  “Ok,” I said, taking a deep breath. I wished I could be as confident as Amy. I supposed if anyone had reason to be confident, though, it was her. I probably would be too if I were one of the smartest witches in the entire paranormal world.

  Stepping out into the street, I tried to act casual as I started walking home. In all honesty, I kind of hoped that whoever was following me would have left. After all, the ideal solution to all of this would have been for the followers to give up, and go away on their own.

  Still, it wasn’t to be. As soon I got off the main road and headed back down toward home I got that feeling of tingling on the back of my neck, that instinctive knowledge that someone – or something – was coming after me. I was tempted to slow down my pace, to give Amy some time to catch up to us or to find who was after me, but I knew deep down that wouldn’t be a problem for her. If anything, she would have wanted me to keep going at a normal pace, so I did, all the while keeping my ears open for her to call out.

  It only took about three minutes before
I heard her shout.

  “Tina! Right behind you!”

  I spun around in surprise and spotted Amy, her wand out, pointed at two paranormals bundled up in so much clothing they looked like a couple Michelin men. Amy had obviously cast a spell to stop them from moving; the only part of them that seemed capable of doing anything was their heads. One was a witch, with a gorgeous seashell in her dark brown hair. Her matching eyes glared at Amy; if given the opportunity she looked like she would rip her throat out.

  The other was a wizard, who looked like he had to be related to the witch; he had the same deep-set, intense eyes that she did, and his mouth curled up in one corner in the same way as hers. He glowered at me like I’d done something to him, and yet no matter how hard I wracked my brain, I had absolutely no idea who he was.

  “They were using an invisibility spell to hide from you,” Amy explained. “It was fairly easy to crack, though.”

  The witch spat at Amy, who simply rolled her eyes. “It wasn’t hard to find or stop them. Now, why don’t you tell Tina why you’re here?”

  “We’ll tell you nothing,” the witch snorted in reply.

  “Alright, well then why don’t I give this a shot, and you can tell me if I’m right or wrong. You’re from Kilokilo, aren’t you?” Amy waited for a minute, and then smiled. “I’ll take your silence as an affirmative. Only someone from the tropics would have a seashell in their hair and be dressed this heavily for a Washington winter. It’s not like we’re in the Midwest, this is nothing.”

  My mouth dropped open. “Kilokilo? Then that must mean…”

  “That’s right, they’re from the coven of Titan,” Amy said, and I suddenly felt like I was going to puke. “How on earth did you find out about Tina?”

  The two of them refused to speak, and Amy shrugged. “Fine. We’re going to get this information out of you one way or another, but it might as well be where we’re nice and warm. Come on, Tina. Let’s take these two home.”

  Amy pointed her wand at the couple, and I could tell she was casting a spell. A moment later, they started floating up into the air and they followed along after us, like Amy’s wand was a leash.

  “Put us down, stop this,” the wizard called out. “This is inhumane.”

  “Don’t you dare say anything, Daniel,” the witch muttered. “If you do, you know we’ll suffer when we get back.”

  “I’m not going to say anything, Ashleigh” Daniel hissed in reply. Amy and I walked behind them, Amy keeping them moving with the wand trailed on them.

  “So they’re from my coven?” I whispered, and Amy nodded.

  “Definitely.”

  “They must have found out about me from Karen Voda,” I said, my eyes widening in realization. “At the big meetup between all the broom competition people, Karen was there. Someone pointed out the similarities between us, and she immediately left.”

  “She must have gone back to Kilokilo and told someone there that you existed,” Amy mused. “Someone must have sent these two over to see what they could find out about you.”

  “What are we going to do with them?” I asked. “I mean, it’s not like we’re going to torture them.”

  “No, we’re not,” Amy said, shaking her head. “There’s a truth serum we can use, though. They won’t be able to admit to doing anything illegal – even truth serums can’t get past a person’s need to protect themselves – but anything else we should be able to do. I can whip some up quickly when we get back; I’m pretty sure we have all of the ingredients already.”

  I nodded, getting lost in my own thoughts on the way back. These people were from my coven. Why were they spying on me? What had they planned? Were they going to kill me? Were they just waiting for the right time to introduce themselves? What on earth was going on?

  Chapter 16

  Luckily, we didn’t encounter anyone else on the way back to the house. After all, it probably would have been pretty awkward trying to explain why we were dragging a witch and wizard from another coven through the streets while magically restraining them. When we got into the house, Amy guided the two of them into the living room and placed them in the corner.

  “I’m going to cast a cage spell to hold them while I go into the kitchen and make the potion,” Amy said, and a moment later, the witch and wizard could move once more, but only in a space about three by three feet.

  “This is illegal, and I’ll report you to the head of our coven,” Ashleigh said angrily.

  “And then the head of your coven can explain to the head of our coven why two of their members were sneaking invisibly in our town without reporting to her, first,” Ellie said, crossing her arms. Amy was in the kitchen now, the sounds of cauldrons being set up and glass jars being organized making its way towards us in the living room. As soon as we’d gotten home, Amy and I had explained everything that had happened, and now Ellie and Sara were just as outraged about the fact that I’d been followed by two of Titan’s coven’s members. She was suitably outraged on my behalf. “Why don’t you just tell us why you’re coming after Tina? It’ll save you some trouble.”

  Ashleigh turned her head away from Ellie, but Daniel just sighed.

  “You’re going to have to tell us anyway,” I said to him softly. “Amy’s going to finish the truth potion soon. Come on, just tell me if you were going to hurt me.”

  “We weren’t,” he answered after a moment’s pause. “We weren’t going to hurt you.”

  “Daniel,” the witch hissed angrily.

  “What? It’s not like we’re giving them any actual information. I just want them to know that we weren’t going to hurt them. I’m not telling them anything else.”

  “You certainly are,” Amy said, coming in from the kitchen with a cauldron full of potion. Some sort of dense smoke was coming off the top, like someone had put liquid nitrogen into the potion, only the smoke was rainbow in color, the various shades dancing around one another as the smoke moved towards the floor before eventually dissipating. Ashleigh’s shoulders slumped as she looked at the cauldron.

  “You’re going to have to cast a spell to force us to drink it,” she said, crossing her arms.

  “That’s not going to be a problem,” Amy replied casually. She pointed her wand at Daniel and Ashleigh, and a moment later both of them froze in place, their heads leaning back and their mouths open wide. They looked a little bit like a couple of baby birds in the nest waiting for their mother to regurgitate some food for them. Amy pointed her wand at the cauldron, and a moment later about two tablespoons worth of rainbow fluid shot out from the cauldron and directly into Daniel’s mouth. A moment later, Amy repeated the same thing with Ashleigh, before putting the cauldron down and moving to the couch.

  “Alright,” she said, putting her wand away. Daniel and Ashleigh were able to move once more, but they didn’t seem to have nearly as much energy now, and their eyes had glazed over. They stood in place, swaying slightly as if they were overly tired, or a little bit drunk. “Let’s start with the basics. What are your names?”

  “Daniel Kai,” the wizard replied.

  “Ashleigh Kai,” the witch added. Their voices were dull and flat, and I watched the happenings with interest.

  “Why are you here in Western Woods?” Amy asked.

  “We are supposed to follow Tina White,” Daniel said.

  “Why?” Ellie followed up.

  “The head of our coven thinks Tina might be the prophesized daughter of Titan,” Ashleigh answered. The eyes of all the other girls turned to me as my mouth dropped open.

  “What is the prophecy?” Amy asked.

  “The Oracle of Titan declared it thirty years ago,” Daniel said. “It was announced that Titan would have two children in his life. They would be two of the most powerful witches in the world. The second one would live a regular, happy life. But the first child would rise up against Titan and destroy him.”

  “So what happened then?” Ellie asked. “What did Titan do when he found out about the pro
phesy?”

  “Titan had a girlfriend who got pregnant a few years after that. As soon as the baby was born, he had them both killed,” Ashleigh replied. “The bodies were never found. That was the kind of power he had.”

  “He had a second child?”

  “Yes; just before he disappeared, his new girlfriend got pregnant. She gave birth, and raised her daughter herself. The prophesy stated that Titan had nothing to worry from her, and regardless, Titan had disappeared by the time the daughter was born.”

  “Who is the second daughter?” Sara asked, and going by the look on her face we were all simply confirming what we suspected.

  “Karen Voda,” Daniel answered.

  “Am I Titan’s first daughter?” I blurted out. “Is that why you’re following me?”

  “The head of our coven suspects that to be the case, although she does not know” Daniel replied. “Karen Voda went to her and told her that she saw you, and that the two of you looked almost identical. She asked around and found out you were new to the paranormal world, so the head of the coven asked us to look into you discreetly.”

  “Why does he trust you?” Amy asked. “Who are you to the head of the coven of Titan? His security?”

  “We are his children,” Ashleigh replied. “We are the only ones he would trust with a mission that required this kind of discretion.”

  “But the prophecy can’t be right,” Ellie said. “After all, Titan hasn’t been heard from in years. If Tina really is his daughter, then she can’t kill him if he’s already dead.”

  “The prophecy is not wrong,” Daniel said. “The Oracle of Titan is never wrong. If Tina is the first-born daughter of Titan, then she is destined to destroy him.”

  I swallowed hard to try and hide the emotions I was feeling. Frankly, I wasn’t entirely sure all of this had sunk in. There was a prophecy that said I was supposed to destroy Titan, one of the most powerful wizards in the world, that everyone had presumed was dead for the last twenty-five years? And my mom and I were supposed to have been killed after my birth and our bodies hidden? It wasn’t possible. For one thing, even if the prophecy was real, and my mother had managed to hide me, I couldn’t destroy some powerful wizard. I was barely proficient in magic. I could cast a few basic spells, but being able to make an umbrella with magic is a little bit different to destroying a powerful wizard.