Page 6 of Forbidden Magic
12:15pm Mortal Seminar (3rd Tuesday, monthly)
Main Building B-3
3:00pm-5:00 pm Guided Studies
Library
Wednesday
5:00am-8:00 am Duel and Applied Magic
Arena
3:00pm-5:00 pm History of Magic
Main Building B-3
Thursday
5:00am-8:00am Spells and Sorcery
Main Building A-1
3:00pm-5:00 pm Guided Studies
Library
7:00pm-10:00 pm Divination
West Tower
Friday
10:00am-12:00pm Herbology
Summer Hall
4
Sharp Fangs
Clutching the parchment with my dorm number on it, I haul my luggage behind me. The wheels screech against the gravel of the narrow pathway leading to a two-story Victorian home. The house is nestled in the vegetation like a butterfly in its cocoon. The trees haven’t lost their leaves here, and a warm wind breezes between my legs. The wrap-around porch has been invaded by colorful orange strings of honeysuckle. The gabled roof is steep. A round tower with turrets and intricate ornaments stands on one side while the other is an amalgam of nooks of different materials and colors, like a crazy architect peppered in additional rooms at random. The stained-glass windows hide the interior.
I knock on the large green door.
“I won’t let you gnomes cut my hair—” The door opens to a woman frantically waving a baseball bat about two inches from my face. “Oh.” She calms down and rests the tip of the bat on the ground. “You’re my second mortal. Welcome to Summer Hall.”
The woman’s thick, white braid falls past her hips, swaying from her aborted home run. A pale green linen dress reveals an inch of her bare feet. The flowy skirt gives her an ethereal look. “I’m Miss Eillis. I teach herbology.”
Out of habit, I offer her my hand to shake, but she tugs on it and pulls it to her face palm up. Her fingers wrap around my wrist like vines. “Mm. Very interesting. Yes. You’ll mesh in well here.”
I bounce from one foot to the other, wondering if it’s rude to punch a teacher for invading your private space.
She lets go before I decide and motions me inside. “Come in. I’ll show you to your room.”
The interior is as messy and leafy as the exterior, plants growing everywhere. In pots and planters stretching as high as the ceiling. The fresh herbal scents are indistinguishable from one another, but one could easily feel smothered by all the green.
“There are five dorm rooms here, each shared by two students. Six pixies live in the west wing, but they giggle so loudly that nobody can stand them. You’ll room in the south tower with Lydia. Bailey and Blane live below you, but they’re out now. You’ll meet them later.”
