Oh Hex No
one
Serena knew she probably shouldn’t have given Meldry Breckerton a rat tail, but the girl was being completely insufferable and was about to ruin the potion that Serena had worked so hard on. Meldry had spent most of the time gossiping with her friend who sat at the lab table behind them, and then had almost thrown in enough frog eyes to blow the whole room to smithereens. Serena hadn’t wanted a partner for this assignment anyway, and she’d had more than enough of Meldry.
Serena completed the potion on her own, then presented it to Professor Ames. The tall woman adjusted her glasses and leaned over to inspect the color and consistency of the potion.
“Very well done, Miss Bellwood.”
Serena bottled the potion into several small vials, and was on her way out the classroom door when the rat spell she’d sneakily cast on Meldry actually took effect.
Meldry shrieked like she was on fire and leaped up from her stool, a skinny pink rat tail peeking out of her skirt. She spun around in frantic circles, making squeaky; distinctly rat-like noises. Her perfectly groomed blonde hair was coming out of its bun and Professor Ames was trying desperately to calm her down. The spell would wear off in a few minutes, so Serena casually let herself out and strolled back to her dorm room.
Her mother and grandfather had made sure to procure her one of the single person rooms, which was really more like a suite than a dorm. They knew how seriously she took school, and arranged for her to have a quiet space to herself to work and study. They’d both been overjoyed when she took the magical altitude test when she was ten and was found to have an affinity for magic, meaning she could be enrolled at Mondhaven Academy for Magics. Her mother had had stars in her eyes when they had to go shopping for school clothes and supplies. Antoinette Bellwood-Dupont could out-shop anyone.
Serena sighed and plucked the purple pointed hat off her head, setting it next to the others. The hats made a rainbow across the dresser. Then she flopped onto her bed, disturbing the mass of soft black fluff that was currently napping in her pillow. Montague raised his head and let out an offended mew.
“It is my bed, you know,” Serena told him, reaching over to scratch him under the chin. “You’re getting cat fur all over my pillow.”
Montague blinked at her with his vibrant green eyes, stretching lazily before resettling on her pillow. Serena rolled her eyes, sitting up and pulling out the glittering dragonfly hair clip that had been holding her dark brown hair back. She set the clip on the nightstand and ran a brush through her hair before digging a heavy book out of her school bag. She was in her twelfth and final year at Mondhaven, which meant her final exams were coming up in a few months.
If she passed, she’d be a full fledged and licensed witch. If she failed, she’d have all her knowledge of magic erased and would have to go attend some boring non-magic college in disgrace. But it was highly unlikely that she would fail; Serena was one of the top students at Mondhaven. That didn’t mean she was about to start slacking off, though. She was determined to pass her final tests with the highest marks possible so that she could have a chance at applying for a coveted role as a Spellmaker.
Serena was sitting cross-legged on her bed casting illusion spells when the crystal ball on her nightstand began to flash, which meant someone was trying to get a hold of her. She waved away the shimmering fake butterflies she’d made and traced a rune over the glowing orb. Her mother's face appeared, her signature wine red lips turning up in a dazzling smile.
“Serena, darling,” she cooed. “I hope I haven’t caught you at a bad time?”
“Just using some down time to practice my spellcasting,” Serena shrugged. “Like always.”
“Your grandfather always said you’d do great things.”
Serena smiled slightly at the way Antoinette beamed proudly at her.
“How is Granddad?” Serena asked. “Has he actually committed to retirement yet?”
Antoinette rolled her eyes, which were the same pale blue shade as Serena’s. But Serena had inherited her father’s wavy dark hair while her mother had hair so blonde it looked like strands of gold pinned neatly up with a sapphire clip.
“You know how Daddy is,” she sighed. “He doesn’t know the meaning of the word relax. He’s always tinkering around with some kind of mechanical something. Anyhoo, darling. I wanted to ask if you’re going to come home to visit when the holiday comes up?”
“Of course,” Serena assured her. “I never miss a chance to visit you and Granddad.”
“Oh, wonderful. I was worried you’d want to stay cooped up in your room and study since it’s your final year. Did you hear that, Thaddeus? Serena is coming home to visit.”
There was a loud squawk in reply; Antoinette’s pet parrot. She had her own small aviary since she’d always had a soft spot for birds.
“Hello, Thaddeus,” Serena called.
“Fuckhead,” Thaddeus squawked back cheerfully.
“Thaddeus,” Antoinette scolded. “You have to stop spending time in Daddy’s shop. He’s taught you too many curse words.”
“I’ll see you in a few weeks, Mom,” Serena said, barely suppressing a snicker. Serena continued studying through the afternoon, glancing up and suddenly realizing it was almost midnight. Serena decided she wanted to do some more intensive practice, but she needed more room. So she put her books aside and fed Montague, then headed down to the dorm kitchen to get a mug of coffee. She carried it with her to the spell labs, setting it on a counter and enchanting the spoon to stir in the obscene amount of sugar and cream by itself.
In her Advanced Charms class this year, they’d been learning about altering things. Serena glanced out the window; directly across the small lawn outside was the building that housed injured animals that the school rehabilitated. Then she thought about the rat tail spell she’d cast on Meldry. It gave her an idea. She took a sip of her incredibly sweet coffee, and then began to conjure. Instead of altering a creature that already existed, she summoned forth one from her imagination. She made the alterations as she went, and when she was done she had a white rat the size of a dog, with rabbit ears, a fox tail, and hawk wings. At first it was just made of mist, but with a few carefully placed runes; it became a solid creature.
Serena sat back, grinning. The rat looked around with sharp reptilian eyes, and twitched its bushy tail.
“Well, look at you,” Serena said. “I think I’ll call you Arthur.”
The rat hopped off the counter and began nosing around the room and grabbing things in its oversized rat paws to inspect them more closely.
“What would I even call a thing like you?” Serena asked. “In hindsight, maybe I should’ve just done a two-animal hybrid.”
Arthur suddenly came to a standstill, bunny ears up and fox tail bristling. Someone began to open the door to the lab and Arthur let out a sound somewhere between a squeak and a fox yip, tearing toward the door at a full gallop.
“Oh, shit,” Serena muttered. She scrambled up from the stool where she’d been sitting, just as a boy holding an armful of colorful vials came into the lab. Arthur barrels toward him, making more of those yipping noises. The boy holding the tray of vials had shuffled partway into the room but now stopped short to gape at the mutant animal who was clearly about to attack him.
“Arthur, down!” Serena called, leaping toward the rat. He collided with the legs of the boy holding the vials, trying to nip at his knees.
“What the-“
The tray of vials went flying as he leaped away from Arthur. Serena scrambled forward and caught Arthur by the scruff of his neck, pulling him away from the boy. She whipped her hand out, trying to freeze the vials before they could hit the floor. But Arthur was stronger than he looked and he lunged forward, snatching a vial out of the air and chomping down on it. A puff of blue smoke escaped his mouth and nostrils, and then he began sneezing violently. Then he tripled in size and thrashed as he continued to sneeze violently. As he swung his giant bunny ears around, he knocked a bunch of the other vials out of the air.
They hit the floor and the room was engulfed in colorful smoke and a strong scent like burnt fruit. Serena coughed and waved a hand through the smoke, dissipating a trail through it just in time to see Arthur smash the lab window and try to escape.
“Arthur, no,” she said, hastily tracing several runes in the air. Arthur immediately began to shrink, and by the time an alarmed professor burst into the room, Arthur was just a simple little white rat. Serena picked him up and the boy who’d been carrying the vials was sneezing from the faceful of spell smoke he’d gotten. An irate Professor Jorgenson stood in the doorway, looking rather intimidating even with the nightcap and striped pajamas he was wearing. He glanced at the broken vials and then at the sneezing boy and scowled.
“What the hell happened in here?” he demanded.
Serena completed the potion on her own, then presented it to Professor Ames. The tall woman adjusted her glasses and leaned over to inspect the color and consistency of the potion.
“Very well done, Miss Bellwood.”
Serena bottled the potion into several small vials, and was on her way out the classroom door when the rat spell she’d sneakily cast on Meldry actually took effect.
Meldry shrieked like she was on fire and leaped up from her stool, a skinny pink rat tail peeking out of her skirt. She spun around in frantic circles, making squeaky; distinctly rat-like noises. Her perfectly groomed blonde hair was coming out of its bun and Professor Ames was trying desperately to calm her down. The spell would wear off in a few minutes, so Serena casually let herself out and strolled back to her dorm room.
Her mother and grandfather had made sure to procure her one of the single person rooms, which was really more like a suite than a dorm. They knew how seriously she took school, and arranged for her to have a quiet space to herself to work and study. They’d both been overjoyed when she took the magical altitude test when she was ten and was found to have an affinity for magic, meaning she could be enrolled at Mondhaven Academy for Magics. Her mother had had stars in her eyes when they had to go shopping for school clothes and supplies. Antoinette Bellwood-Dupont could out-shop anyone.
Serena sighed and plucked the purple pointed hat off her head, setting it next to the others. The hats made a rainbow across the dresser. Then she flopped onto her bed, disturbing the mass of soft black fluff that was currently napping in her pillow. Montague raised his head and let out an offended mew.
“It is my bed, you know,” Serena told him, reaching over to scratch him under the chin. “You’re getting cat fur all over my pillow.”
Montague blinked at her with his vibrant green eyes, stretching lazily before resettling on her pillow. Serena rolled her eyes, sitting up and pulling out the glittering dragonfly hair clip that had been holding her dark brown hair back. She set the clip on the nightstand and ran a brush through her hair before digging a heavy book out of her school bag. She was in her twelfth and final year at Mondhaven, which meant her final exams were coming up in a few months.
If she passed, she’d be a full fledged and licensed witch. If she failed, she’d have all her knowledge of magic erased and would have to go attend some boring non-magic college in disgrace. But it was highly unlikely that she would fail; Serena was one of the top students at Mondhaven. That didn’t mean she was about to start slacking off, though. She was determined to pass her final tests with the highest marks possible so that she could have a chance at applying for a coveted role as a Spellmaker.
Serena was sitting cross-legged on her bed casting illusion spells when the crystal ball on her nightstand began to flash, which meant someone was trying to get a hold of her. She waved away the shimmering fake butterflies she’d made and traced a rune over the glowing orb. Her mother's face appeared, her signature wine red lips turning up in a dazzling smile.
“Serena, darling,” she cooed. “I hope I haven’t caught you at a bad time?”
“Just using some down time to practice my spellcasting,” Serena shrugged. “Like always.”
“Your grandfather always said you’d do great things.”
Serena smiled slightly at the way Antoinette beamed proudly at her.
“How is Granddad?” Serena asked. “Has he actually committed to retirement yet?”
Antoinette rolled her eyes, which were the same pale blue shade as Serena’s. But Serena had inherited her father’s wavy dark hair while her mother had hair so blonde it looked like strands of gold pinned neatly up with a sapphire clip.
“You know how Daddy is,” she sighed. “He doesn’t know the meaning of the word relax. He’s always tinkering around with some kind of mechanical something. Anyhoo, darling. I wanted to ask if you’re going to come home to visit when the holiday comes up?”
“Of course,” Serena assured her. “I never miss a chance to visit you and Granddad.”
“Oh, wonderful. I was worried you’d want to stay cooped up in your room and study since it’s your final year. Did you hear that, Thaddeus? Serena is coming home to visit.”
There was a loud squawk in reply; Antoinette’s pet parrot. She had her own small aviary since she’d always had a soft spot for birds.
“Hello, Thaddeus,” Serena called.
“Fuckhead,” Thaddeus squawked back cheerfully.
“Thaddeus,” Antoinette scolded. “You have to stop spending time in Daddy’s shop. He’s taught you too many curse words.”
“I’ll see you in a few weeks, Mom,” Serena said, barely suppressing a snicker. Serena continued studying through the afternoon, glancing up and suddenly realizing it was almost midnight. Serena decided she wanted to do some more intensive practice, but she needed more room. So she put her books aside and fed Montague, then headed down to the dorm kitchen to get a mug of coffee. She carried it with her to the spell labs, setting it on a counter and enchanting the spoon to stir in the obscene amount of sugar and cream by itself.
In her Advanced Charms class this year, they’d been learning about altering things. Serena glanced out the window; directly across the small lawn outside was the building that housed injured animals that the school rehabilitated. Then she thought about the rat tail spell she’d cast on Meldry. It gave her an idea. She took a sip of her incredibly sweet coffee, and then began to conjure. Instead of altering a creature that already existed, she summoned forth one from her imagination. She made the alterations as she went, and when she was done she had a white rat the size of a dog, with rabbit ears, a fox tail, and hawk wings. At first it was just made of mist, but with a few carefully placed runes; it became a solid creature.
Serena sat back, grinning. The rat looked around with sharp reptilian eyes, and twitched its bushy tail.
“Well, look at you,” Serena said. “I think I’ll call you Arthur.”
The rat hopped off the counter and began nosing around the room and grabbing things in its oversized rat paws to inspect them more closely.
“What would I even call a thing like you?” Serena asked. “In hindsight, maybe I should’ve just done a two-animal hybrid.”
Arthur suddenly came to a standstill, bunny ears up and fox tail bristling. Someone began to open the door to the lab and Arthur let out a sound somewhere between a squeak and a fox yip, tearing toward the door at a full gallop.
“Oh, shit,” Serena muttered. She scrambled up from the stool where she’d been sitting, just as a boy holding an armful of colorful vials came into the lab. Arthur barrels toward him, making more of those yipping noises. The boy holding the tray of vials had shuffled partway into the room but now stopped short to gape at the mutant animal who was clearly about to attack him.
“Arthur, down!” Serena called, leaping toward the rat. He collided with the legs of the boy holding the vials, trying to nip at his knees.
“What the-“
The tray of vials went flying as he leaped away from Arthur. Serena scrambled forward and caught Arthur by the scruff of his neck, pulling him away from the boy. She whipped her hand out, trying to freeze the vials before they could hit the floor. But Arthur was stronger than he looked and he lunged forward, snatching a vial out of the air and chomping down on it. A puff of blue smoke escaped his mouth and nostrils, and then he began sneezing violently. Then he tripled in size and thrashed as he continued to sneeze violently. As he swung his giant bunny ears around, he knocked a bunch of the other vials out of the air.
They hit the floor and the room was engulfed in colorful smoke and a strong scent like burnt fruit. Serena coughed and waved a hand through the smoke, dissipating a trail through it just in time to see Arthur smash the lab window and try to escape.
“Arthur, no,” she said, hastily tracing several runes in the air. Arthur immediately began to shrink, and by the time an alarmed professor burst into the room, Arthur was just a simple little white rat. Serena picked him up and the boy who’d been carrying the vials was sneezing from the faceful of spell smoke he’d gotten. An irate Professor Jorgenson stood in the doorway, looking rather intimidating even with the nightcap and striped pajamas he was wearing. He glanced at the broken vials and then at the sneezing boy and scowled.
“What the hell happened in here?” he demanded.