An Introduction to Magic

[Westbrook Academy]

((OOC Discussion here.))

Whispers and the scratch of chair legs against the floor filled the magic classroom. It was two minutes past the start of class and there was no sign of a teacher. Rumors about Mr. Max had been circling since Mr. Herrera's e-mail. There were also quite a few stories floating around about the “new” magic teacher, Ms. Posie. While some of the freshman had encountered Mr. Max before, they hadn't taken classes with the ancient chemistry teacher.

“I hear Mr. Max got into trouble because of last semester,” a young black-haired witch whispered.

“No way. He's probably off doing something really cool,” countered a lizard boy.

“Or maybe he was kidnaped by a supervillain! That totally happens all the time!” exclaimed a bubbly blonde.

“I'm more interested in our new teacher. I hear she used to get her nails done with Cleopatra,” a sly voice cut in.

A hush fell over the class as the door flung open. In strode Ms. Posie, looking just shy of her two-hundredth birthday wearing a sharp suit and witch hat. Behind her scurried a brunette student carrying several bags and towing an ancient slide projector.

Ms. Posie surveyed the class with steely eyes before zeroing in on the clock. “Hmph. I've been telling them for years that the clock in here is fast. That young Deathrage never listens to me.”

She then turned back to the students.

“This is your Introduction to Magic. If you knew about magic before, I don't want to hear it because you have it all wrong.”

Ms. Posie spun around to face the blackboard. She wrote “Magic” on the board in an overly ornate style. “Magic might look magical but there's strands of reason embedded in it. Magic breathes as if it were uncontrollable but we can bend it. There are tried and true ways to force magic to make sense and that's what we're going to start learning here today. Any questions?”

[Aglakti Hale]

Agkalti was not too pleased about the fact that Mr. Max was "gone". He was the reason for coming to Westbrook in the first place after all. And so he had natural reservations about the new magic teacher. He'd also heard the rumors circulating, but one never really could rely on rumors.

"Shh..." he whispered to the blond next to him as the teacher came in the room. He received a good natured elbow to the side in response and rolled his eyes before they settled on the new teacher.

As she spoke, Ag became more discouraged. Forget everything that he currently knew because it was all wrong? That suggestion, rather that instruction sat about as well with him as everything else that had gone on this week. Cork's death, the strange dog following him and now he was being told that everything he'd learned since he was a small child was wrong. He stood up from his chair.

Instantly all eyes, including those of the teacher, were on him and he felt that familiar blush rising to his cheeks. Was he really about to storm out of class in a huff?

"Mister Hale?"

"With all due respect, ma'am, I do not have it all wrong. Neither do a lot of the kids here. It was likely a mistake to take this class." He didn't wait for a response, simply nodded his head, shouldered his bookbag and walked out into the hallway. He could hear the commotion building behind him, students all talking before Ms. Posie quieted them again. She let him leave, for now.

Ag shuffled through the empty hallways, hands jammed in his pockets. That squeaky voiced, red headed kid Zach the hall monitor caught up with him and slapped a hand on his shoulder. "Hey Aglakti!" His voice was pretty good natured, as it wasn't really usual for Ag to skip class. "Can I see your hall pass man?"

Ag pulled his shoulder away. "Haven't got one." Oh, how rebellious.

"You're gonna have to go back to class then!" He shouted as Ag began to walk off again. "I'll get the principal! You don't want that dude!"

He left the building and wandered outside into the cold without a coat. Who did she think she was to even suggest that he had it all wrong. That his father and grandfather had it all wrong. That centuries worth of tradition was wrong. As he lifted his head he saw a familiar white bird perched on the leafless branch of a near by tree.

~Go back to class, boy.~

"No. You heard her. She said we have it wrong."

~You know that isn't true. Still, her input is not without it's merit. Go back to class.~

"Go away Kaskae." He found himself spitting angrily. "I don't want to talk to you right now."

~Go away?~ The bird dropped out of the tree, looking more massive as it landed on the ground in front of him. ~Don't ever tell me that again. Turn around or I'll go and tell your family what you've done.~

"Fine." Ag turned on his heels and headed back into the warmth of the building. Just inside the doorway, Zach was waiting, arms folded beside Mr. Herrera. "....Crap."

[Arthur Rawlings]

The blond next to Aglakti did a terrible job of hiding his amusement when his boyfriend marched out.

"So," he said into the silence, "that happened. But question: Do we get sorted now or is that more of a midterms thing?"

[Westbrook Academy]

"Children these days. So easily upset. Back when I was in school, you wouldn't even dream about acting up. Just thinking about it would get you sending yourself to detention before your dear teacher even noticed," Ms. Posie said. "And you mister. No nonsense talk in my classroom!"

She paced three steps along the blackboard. "With our first temper tantrum out of the way, let's begin. Magic is both logical and illogical, mutable and rigid. Every rule can be broken in some manner, every law contradicted. The wrong way to one practitioner is the right way for another. The first thing to learn about magic is that if you are going to be rigidly set in a single tradition and refuse to accept that someone will refute everything you've been taught, you'll turn into those useless old bats who've spent their lives mired in pointless squabbling."

[Chris Sloan]

Chris walked into class a few minutes early with a smile. He always entered this class with a smile. One hand stayed in his right pocket, holding onto the shrunken book, while the other held up his backpack and he got ready for class to begin, pulling out whatever books he thought he would need for the day.