Witchcraft

A young woman sat impatiently staring out the window, her fingers quickly tapping against the windowsill. The woman’s real name was Celestia Winchester, but she would tell people she met that it was Luna. She was waiting for the mailman to come and place that golden envelope that she was praying for in her mailbox.

She had applied to witchcraft academy in the hopes that she might get in. Witchcraft academy was a prestigious school for gifted young witches and those who practiced the magic arts. Very few can get in, but she was hoping beyond hope that she could be one of the lucky few.

How does one get into this school you may ask, well when one applies they send you a letter containing a spell. The applicant then casts a spell onto a magic circle provided in the letter. The magic circle then calculates the applicant’s score, then rushes it off to the school for evaluation.

Once it arrives the school examines the applicants score. If the applicants score is high enough to get in, then they will proceed to determine what subjects have the highest scores out of the main total. From there they assign a specialty to that applicant, and base their classes around that. The test also informs the school of what the applicant’s ability is. Examples include the four main elements, fire, earth, air, and water. And when all of this is finished they send the applicant a golden acceptance letter.

Luna continued to sit there, waiting, growing more impatient each time she checked the time. And then she spotted something in the distance, as it drew closer she started to make out what it was. It was a man on a broomstick, effortlessly flying down the street, unobserved by the neighboring humans. She pressed her face to the window as she watched him come closer and land next to the mailbox. He pulled out two envelopes, a golden one and a black one, checking to see which was the right one. She panicked for a moment at the sight of the black one, until he placed the golden one in her mailbox, and then he took off towards his next stop.

She immediately got up and ran out the front door, grabbing the envelope and slamming the mail box shut. She ran back into the house and straight to her room, shutting the drapes on the windows and lighting a candle. The light flickering across the room as she carefully sliced open the letter, and pulled out it’s contents. Inside were two crisp pieces of paper neatly folded into thirds. She carefully unfolded them, her hands shaking. The first paper was a letter, it read:

Dear Celestia Moon,

We would like to cordially inform you that you have been accepted into Witchcraft Academy. We would like to welcome you to our illustrious school, and we hope that you will enjoy your future stay with us. Our introduction ceremony will take place in two days, giving you a day to settle into your dorms and a chance to make new friends on campus. A schedule and uniform will be provided to you when you arrive on campus. When you’re ready to travel to the campus use the provided magic circle and follow the instructions on the back. You have today to prepare for travel, but if you don’t arrive on campus by 6 p.m. tomorrow your application and acceptance will be forfeit and your place will be given to another applicant.

Signed,

The Student Council

She decided that she would pack tonight and then head straight to the school in the morning. She thought about what the school would be like while she packed her clothes and other small belongings into her suitcase. Her other larger belongings were sent into a pocket dimension to be stored there until her arrival at the school. Once she was finished packing, she got ready for bed and tucked in for the night, excited for tomorrow’s new adventures.

The morning light streamed through the windows, cascading and dancing across Luna’s face. Her eyes slowly opened, blinking a few times as they adjusted to the bright light. She sat up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes as she looked around. Her room was now barren except for the suitcases tucked at the foot of her bed. Everything else that was hers had been packed away, making the room look larger and empty.

She stood up, making the bed before changing into some comfy clothes. She didn’t bother to dress nicely since her new uniform would be provided immediately upon arrival.

As she got ready she thought about the way things used to be. When someone would dress her and choose what she wore, instead of being able to wear whatever she wanted to. And when someone would brush and style her hair for her, instead of being able to do it on her own. And even when she wasn’t allowed to put her shoes on herself. She hated it all, but she was free to do what she pleased now. She was no longer a puppet on her family’s strings, dancing to their tunes, no she was that no more. And then she remembered the painting, the one with the face scratched so badly it could no longer be seen. She remembered the painting and smiled.

She was ready to leave now, she had dressed, eaten, and written her goodbye to her landlady, and she had even tidied up a bit. Her only dilemma now was how to get there. They had provided a magic circle, but in order to activate it it required a blood sacrifice. And that was the one thing she hated about magic circles. Her hands shaking, she pressed the magic dagger they had provided to her wrist, and blood quickly began to trickle down the blade and onto the paper. It pooled and began to spread, filling in the lines of the circle with her blood. It slowly began to turn white, glowing as a swirling white vortex began to appear. The bigger it grew the more she could see of the landscape on the other side.

Once it was done growing it was the size of a door, and she noticed that the cut on her arm had already disappeared. She stood up and grabbed her trunks, pushing the luggage through the portal, probably scaring some poor student that happened to be walking by. She let out a sigh, taking one last look around the place that she had called home for the last year.

“There are some good memories here, but now I think that I’m to turn the page and begin the next chapter in this new adventure.”

And with that she strode through the portal, a smile on her face. At last feeling true freedom, or so she thought.