Chapter Text
I strive for excellence and nothing less. It’s unacceptable to not come out at the top.
I’m a solitary witch for the most part; I work alone, and only alone; rarely do I work with anyone else, and when I do, I only work with the best of the best. My mother wants me to be more social, but I won't have it. Others just get in the way anyways…
I walked downstairs, straightening out my skirt as I heard a caw, my familiar; my raven, Ramsey, had perched on my shoulder, nesting there quietly and neatly. I gently pet his head before wiping my hand with a small handkerchief.
My mom waited at the door with my bags. “Do try to smile, dear. You’re finally getting to go to a prestigious school, one of the top three for young witches like you’ve always dreamed.”
She always believed that I was a dreamer, though I never was… was I?
“Dreams are for those who haven't faced the cold hard truth of reality. Now let's go, I don't want to miss the train.” I said, walking out the door, not waiting for a second longer. I felt her eyes burning into the back of my neck, but I stood firmly, opening the car door and getting in, watching as my mother carried my bags and hauled them into the trunk.
She got into the car, glanced at me through the rearview mirror. I break eye contact immediately as I set Ramsey down. His chest feathers puffed out a bit as he purred in his sleep.
We had been riding for hours, and I wanted so badly to go to sleep; looking at nothing but road and trees in the same boring town I’ve been in for years was boring. But I refused, as it would give me morning breath from drooling, but not sleeping would give me tired lines. So I decided that a five-minute nap wouldn't hurt, right?
Wrong, I slept for two hours when my mother tapped me on the shoulder, whispering, “Wake up, dear. Wake up, we’re here.”
I shot up, quickly dampened my handkerchief, and wiped the drool from around my mouth, opening up my compact mirror looking for tired lines. “Good, I don’t have any. Now let's go.” I scooped up Ramsey and hopped out of the car, quickly opened the trunk, and got out the major bags that I’d need for the hour-long ride to school.
My mom had gotten the rest of my bags, hauling them onto the train before looking at me. I stood at the entrance of the train entrance, the conductor looking at me as well, signaling that it was almost time for our departure. My mother walked up to me and hugged me, her arms over my shoulders, I felt her warm breath in my hair. I never understood why she hugged me, or why anyone does it for the matter. I wanted to push her away, spit out an angry insult, something. But for once, I stayed quiet and let her hug me, though I didn’t hug her back. She planted a light kiss on my forehead as she smiled, “I love you, Theodora. I’m gonna miss you.”
“I’m only going to be gone for a few months for school purposes,” I stated flatly.
“I know but 9 to 10 months is a long time.” she sighed.
I didn’t say anything, just turned to get on the train before giving mom one last look. “I love you too.” and without hesitation, I stepped onto the train, giving the conductor my ticket, hearing the door slowly close behind me. I look around, taking the seat farthest to the back, realizing that the train was… rather empty? Odd, I thought more students would’ve taken the train to the campus.
I sat down in an empty seat, setting Ramsey beside me. I looked around, only to be met with another girl’s eyes staring back at me… or my bird?
“Woah! You have a bird! Cool!” she smiled before holding up a large golden retriever puppy, who looked at me, panting and showing off its long tongue.
“I’m Hazel and this is my familiar, Daffodil! Say ‘hi’, Daff!” the odd girl scratched the back of her dog’s ears before the dog ran to me, jumping into my lap.
I let out a mortified shriek. This dog’s paws had dirtied my uniform, licking me all over the face.
“Get this mutt off of me!” I screeched, trying to push the dog off of my lap, or at the very least, away from my face.
The other girl had whistled, “DAFFODIL NOELLE STONE! NO!”
The puppy stopped, looked at its owner, and jumped off of me, running into her arms, barking and wagging its tail. Disgusting.
The girl looked at me as she sincerely apologized, “I am so, so sorry, she’s just like this around new people,” but I wasn’t going to take on any excuses.
“Look, just-” I stopped mid-sentence, suppressing a sigh before continuing. “Just keep your pet away from me, and stay away from me yourself while you’re at it.”
The girl stared at me a moment longer, frowning before taking her ‘familiar’ back to her seat. “Huh, what a familiar indeed” I scoffed under my breath sarcastically.
The rest of the ride went smoothly after that.
An hour later, we arrived at the campus. The sun was already starting to set, with it being seven o’clock in the evening, I already knew that we weren’t going to be able to have any classes, just leaving enough time to be assigned our roommates, if we had any (which I was sure I didn’t at the time)
I got my things, including my bird, and quickly stood up, walking off the train and past that deviant and her pooch, dusting myself off quickly. Luckily it didn’t stain. “Phew,” I sighed with relief as I made my way to the door to be greeted by the principal, who had a bright smile and a piece of paper in his hand. “This is your schedule, and it has your main class number, where you’ll go tonight before going to the mess hall and your dorm.”
I nodded, taking the paper and following the directions listed on the sheet. I walked down the halls and up the stairs, stopping dead in my tracks once I reached a door. ‘Classroom 6: Potions’ The door was wide open as I slowly stepped inside.
A tall man, who looked like he was in his 40’s or 50’s, greeted me. “Welcome, you must be Theodora, right?” I just nodded curtly. “Okay then, you can go and find your desk with your name card on it, there will be two at each desk, the name beside yours will be your partner for all of your classes for the year.”
I looked around, spotting a large desk. Sitting my stuff down beside it, I sat in my chair. Underneath the desk were all sorts of supplies like small cauldrons, training wands, and potion ingredients. I decided to see who would be my partner for the year as I leaned over, looking at the other tag on the table.
“Huh, Hazel… That name sounds familiar…” I murmured. Soon enough, multiple kids started to flood the classroom with their luggage and familiars if they had one. Then I saw her. That wretched girl and her mutt. My eyes widened in realization and then panic as I saw her coming my way. I closed my eyes tight as I wished, pleaded that she wasn’t gonna be my partner, that she wasn’t gonna sit by me. I heard the chair scrape the floor as I opened one of my eyes, glancing out of the corner of them to find that she sat there, her dog on the other side of her.
I tried my best to hide my frustration as she turned to me with an awkward smile and waved a little. I just ignored her and looked at the teacher as he faced the class.
“Okay, it’s getting late and we want for you all to be able to eat dinner before you head off to bed for the night so I’m gonna call out the room numbers and your roommates for the year. As I call your names, you can leave” he stated.
He had called out the numbers and roommates for several minutes before finally saying my name. At least I wouldn’t have to share a room with Hazel seeing as my mom personally signed me up for a premium room per my request.
“Theodora, you have room number 76 and your roommate is Hazel Stone”
Wait, what?
My heart sunk and I sat there for a few moments. Hazel was grinning and squealing some words, but I didn’t know what she said on account of me tuning her out. I finally snapped out of my trance and slammed my palms on the table.
“THIS IS A MISTAKE, I REQUESTED A PREMIUM ROOM!” Ramsey let out a caw of fear as he flew onto the desk, his feathers fluffed out.
Hazel had jumped back and all eyes were on me. The teacher adjusted his glasses, pushing them up the bridge of his nose as he stated, “That’s not what the form says. Come see for yourself.” I got up and stormed to the front of the room, standing next to the teacher, reading what the paper said in silence. My eyes widened when I saw he was… actually RIGHT! My mom never signed for the premium. And before you say something about financial issues, you’re mistaken, we’re pretty rich!
I stood there, dumbfounded for a minute before getting my bags and my bird and running out of the class and upstairs to our room, not even grabbing dinner.
I sighed as I let Ramsey down before setting up his cage and perch before going and putting my stuff up in the dresser on my side of the room. It was quite roomy, there was at least 2 yards worth of space between me and Hazel’s beds, and even then there was still more room to put my things. I chose my bed and started to cover it in my bedsheets, then went to put up my stuff. Soon enough, I was finished. I fell back onto my bed and rested for a few minutes, scrolling through my phone. I then got a text message from mom. My eyebrows narrowed, I read the message.
Mom < Hi sweetie, how’s school going?
I kept quiet, my thumbs were aching, ready to type an angry message back in regards to her going behind my back and signing me up for this room, but I fought my hands. “Not worth it…” I told myself before typing.
You < I’m doing good mom
Mom < That’s great. Did you meet anyone yet? How’s your room?
My heart grew spitefully cold and distant as I gritted my teeth. How’s your room? Ever since I read those words, I wanted to punch a wall.
You < No, not yet. And it's... okay
Lies.
Mom < Well I hope you have a good night. Love you and miss you
I sat there for a moment, rereading the last few messages we sent before sending my last message to her for the night.
You < Love you too, mom
I love her, that wasn't a lie. But I hated her guts at the same time. How does that work, might you ask? Well, you're asking the wrong person; I don't exactly know, either.
I fell back on my pillow, just staring at the ceiling of the dimly lit room when I heard the creak of the door opening and some barking and panting.
Oh no
Hazel had come inside with her things and her dog and something wrapped up in tinfoil. She set her things down and made her bed, not making any eye contact with me until after she finished putting up her stuff. She walked over to me and set the tinfoil item on my dresser as she stated, “I noticed you didn’t come downstairs to the Mess Hall for dinner so I got you something to eat. And, uhm, sorry about earlier…”
Tch, apologies. Worthless; at least they were back then in my eyes, but I see things differently now.
I turned, facing the wall coldly, scrolling through my phone. I heard a sigh and small footsteps. Hazel had gone to her bed, patting it gently for the golden retriever to lay beside her as she read a book.
I turned off my light and went to sleep. I had school in the morning anyways.