Am I just doomed to go around rewriting my stuff because my ideas keep changing? I hope not. . .

Anyway, this story is no longer a one-shot, and it no longer feeds into Avenger of Blood! Hopefully this will (when it is eventually finished) become the Ducks' freshman year of high school. I split up the original one-shot into chapter-length cuts, and this is the first cut.

For those of you who are new to this story, it is set in the magical "modern" universe of the Harry Potter books. Because it takes place in America, there will be no characters present from the Harry Potter books, nor will the Ducks be going to Hogwarts.

Summary: What if Eden Hall Academy wasn't the only prestigious high school to award scholarships to the Mighty Ducks? What if a school of magic accepted them? How would it change their lives and the course of magical history? Weston's Academy of Magic begins a top secret, highly controversial experiment known as the Power in Excellence Program, which may well change magical America forever.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot. And the school.

Hello. My name is Charlie Conway, and chances are you've heard of me and my friends the Mighty Ducks. If you have, then you probably know all about how Gordon Bombay basically turned a bunch of kids who could barely skate into peewee hockey champions, and how he did it all over again the next year. Well, okay, there's obviously a little more to the story than that, but this isn't exactly the place and the time for telling it.

But the story I'm about to tell you has little to nothing to do with hockey. It's much more exciting than that. I'm going to tell you the story of how I and my friends the Ducks went from the winners of the 1994 Junior Goodwill Games to some of the most wanted teenagers in America.

Now you may have heard some rumor that Coach Bombay, what with his connections to all the important people in the Minneapolis and St. Paul area, managed to get us Ducks scholarships to Eden Hall Academy, a prestigious high school in Minnesota. This is, in fact, true. We might not have all been exactly keen on going, but the school was known for its outstanding athletic program (its academic program was actually pretty mediocre). We would have been well prepared to play professional hockey if we had gone there.

As far as I was concerned, nothing could have been more perfect. I'd be reunited with the Ducks and with Coach Bombay, whom I liked very much, and we'd all be playing hockey together.

Except that Eden Hall wasn't the only preppy high school to award full scholarships to the Mighty Ducks that year.

It was the evening of August 1, and my mother and I were in the act of clearing up after dinner, when we heard the doorbell ring. "I'll go see who it is," I told Mom, and I went to the peephole to look out.

It was no one that I recognized. A man in a business suit with a briefcase was standing there waiting. Thinking it was some salesman, I opened the door. "Sorry, we're not interested in buying anything," I said politely.

The man smiled at me. He seemed to be in his mid to late thirties, and he positively radiated excitement. "Oh, I'm not selling anything," he said. "I do have an offer to make though, if a Mr. Charles Conway resides at this address."

I tried not to cringe. I was only ever Charles when I was in really big trouble. "That would be me," I said.

"Excellent!" said the visitor. "May I step in?"

I glanced over my shoulder at Mom, who had come onto the living room. She nodded, and I stepped aside to let the guy in. He bounced in like a Labrador retriever about to play fetch and set down his briefcase before turning to us. I introduced my mom, and he shook hands with the two of us before getting down to business. "My name," he said. "is Angus Baldwin, and I'm here to represent a truly unique educational opportunity."

At this point I began wondering how to nicely say no to the guy. I was pretty well covered as far as educational opportunities went.

"Weston's Academy of Magic is this year opening - "

"Excuse me," said Mom curiously. "Did you just say Academy of Magic?"

Baldwin seemed to catch himself. "Oh," he said rather awkwardly. "I guess I did, huh? Great going, Angus." He laughed nervously.

"You're not serious, are you?" I asked. "You're representing a school of magical arts? Like Ouija boards and tarot cards and tea leaves?"

"Tarot cards and tea leaves?" Baldwin looked amused. "Oh, that's only included in Divination! We offer many other studies at Weston's, including a completely new Basic Introduction to Magic, Transfiguration, Herbology, Potions, Charms, Astronomy, History, The Care of Magical Creatures, The Study of Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, and of course Defense Against the Dark Arts."

I glanced at Mom out of the corner of my eye. She seemed just as lost as I was. Was this some big practical joke?

"And these are all formal courses?" said Mom dubiously.

"Certainly, ma'am," Baldwin beamed. "The only courses we do not offer at Weston's would be the discipline of Alchemy and the questionable subject which is commonly known as the Dark Arts."

"Dark Arts?" Mom repeated.

"Everything is explained fully in this pamphlet," and he drew out of his briefcase a rather thick booklet and laid it on the coffee table. "And that reminds me!" he cried. "I quite forgot your letter of acceptance, Charles!"

"Charlie," I said automatically, but Baldwin had reached back into his briefcase and pulled out an envelope, which he handed to me. "Here you go!" he said.

I looked over the off-white envelope. It looked far too official to be a prank or a scam, but of course I wouldn't know for certain. My address, including my full name, was neatly written (not printed) on the front in vivid blue ink. On the corner where a stamp would be was a coat-of-arms prominently featuring a large "W" and in which the principal colors seemed to be blue and gold.

I looked surreptitiously over at Mom. She gave me a nod, and I tore the thing open. Inside were two folded papers, the first of which was a letter.

Dear Mr. Conway,

We are excited to welcome you to Weston's Academy of Magic as part of our 1994 Power In Excellence Program. You are offered a full ride academic and athletic scholarship. Enclosed with this letter is a list of all necessary supplies.

Term begins on Monday August 30. Please reply no later than Saturday August 28, and arrive no later than Sunday August 29. If no reply is received by August 28, we will assume you are not coming.

Best regards,

Morgan Wilmington, Assistant Program Director

The second paper was the aforementioned list of supplies.

All Freshmen will require the following:

TEXTBOOKS:

An Introduction to the World of Sorcery

Introductory Level Potion-making

Stars, Planets, and Constellations

The Art of Transfiguration

Self-Defense and Martial Magic

Myths, Legends, and Facts: A Short History of Magic, Volume One

The One Thousand and One Magical Plants

The Complete Guide to Charms and Spells, Level One

EQUIPMENT

1 wand

1 cauldron (pewter only)

1 or more pairs of protective gloves (dragon hide strongly recommended)

1 telescope

Set of brass scales

Set of vials (glass permissible but crystal recommended)

Student may also bring a bird of their choice as a pet/mail carrier.

We are not responsible for lost or stolen clothing items.

After reading both papers aloud, I passed them to Mom to let her look over them in silence. Personally, I was still convinced it was a joke. A wand included in a list of school supplies? A cauldron? Dragon hide gloves? And why would I want a bird for carrying mail?

"There!" said Mr. Baldwin cheerfully. "Now we thought that you might want to get a feel beforehand for the kinds of things you'd be learning to do at Weston's. For example, Potions." He reached in into the briefcase and pulled out a little glass bottle of some bright yellow liquid. "This," he went on, "is a brew made from the horn of a biron and the root of a Mandrake which we call the Pepper-Up Potion, and which cures the common cold."

"There's no such thing as a cure for the common cold," I said automatically.

"It makes steam come out of your ears, too," said Angus as if he hadn't heard me. "And speaking of Mandrake - " He reached into the briefcase again and pulled out a bunch of some little dried plant. "Herbology will include learning to classify plant life with magical properties, such as this dried monkshood. And History, of course, will cover all known wizarding history and its involvement with the non-magical world - " (He took a large book from the briefcase) " - and Astronomy will provide extensive knowledge of the heavenly bodies." He pulled a large chart from the briefcase which looked more like an old parchment roll than a piece of paper. "Arithmancy is the discipline of predicting the future using the magical properties of numbers - "

"Numbers have magical properties?" Mom seemed unable to completely rid her voice of a hint of sarcasm.

"Heavens, yes!" cried Baldwin. "Surely it must occur to you that the numbers which always seem to have special significance even in the non-magical community might have actual magical properties!"

Mom and I just looked at each other.

"To continue," said Baldwin, perky as ever. "The study of Ancient Runes will entail a basic survey of the old Latin characters which will assist you in translating the more antiquated writings." He reached yet again into the briefcase for another parchment covered in what must be the old runes. "The Care of Magical Creatures is, of course, an overview of those creatures which are not often seen by the non-magical community."

"Like what?" I asked skeptically. "Fairies?"

"Ah, the fairy!" said Baldwin. "So well-beloved of those who know nothing about them! I am afraid I must disillusion you when it comes to the fairy - the real thing is not nearly as impressive as your stories make out. But you'll learn all about them in your classes, I assure you. And as for Charms - well, a good example would be the Undetectable Extension Charm I've put on my briefcase - it multiplies the space inside, so that I can carry practically anything I like in it."

"I was wondering about that," I couldn't help saying. "That did seem like a lot of stuff to fit in there."

"Ordinarily it is," said Baldwin. "But such is the purpose of a charm - to add some sort of property to an object that it didn't have before. And oh yes - Defense Against the Dark Arts. That's a rather inclusive subject, as it contains elements of History, and - "

"Fascinating as all this is," said Mom. "I'm assuming that this is not a school that is known for its hockey program, or that any college we know of would take us seriously if shown a transcript with classes like Potions and Charms and Divination."

"Not at a non-magical school, granted," said Baldwin. "I assure you, however, that Weston's Academy of Magic has commanded the respect of the wizarding world for nearly two hundred years. Any wizarding university would be honored to accept an alumnus of Weston's."

"Excuse me a minute," I broke in. "You keep on saying things like 'the non-magical community' and 'the wizarding world' and so forth. Do you mean, then, that there's a whole segment of the population that are wizards or magicians or whatever, and the rest of the world doesn't know about them?"

"In a nutshell," said Baldwin cheerfully. "Product of the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy, I'm afraid."

"So," I leaned forward in my seat. "what you're saying is, the reason we've never heard of this 'wizarding community' is because it's against wizarding law for us to know about it?"

"Exactly."

"So why are we hearing about it now?" asked Mom.

"Because the program is in search of students with hitherto unsuspected magical talent."

Mom and I looked at each other again. This was getting more and more like something out of a movie. "Where is the school?" asked Mom.

"In Washington State," said Baldwin. "Don't worry, ma'am, you will be able to contact the school quite easily by letter, and may come to visit as often as you wish, as long as a qualified wizard is available to transport you. You see, performing magic tends to tamper with the electricity needed for telephones - for anything, in fact, that you are used to. That is why I have not actually performed any magic while I have been here."

That sounded like a pretty lame excuse to me. "Well, do some, then," I challenged.

"Certainly, if you don't mind your power flickering," said Baldwin cheerfully. He pulled something out of his briefcase that looked like a long pointed wooden stick, and pointed it at the little bottle of what he claimed was the cure for the common cold. "Wingardium Leviosa!" he said, and instantly the bottle floated up into the air. It rose up until it was on a level with the top of my head, and then stayed there hovering in the air.

The lights did indeed flicker before coming back on again. Angus Baldwin lowered the bottle back onto the table, apparently with that wooden stick (it struck me belatedly that the thing must be a wand). Then he pointed it over my shoulder at the dishes still in the sink and said, "Scourgify!"

I looked over my shoulder just in time to see all the food and grime on them vanish completely. The lights flickered again, but Mom had already seen, and looked impressed. Baldwin then pointed his wand without saying anything at the now clean dishes, and they whizzed through the air toward their respective cabinet and drawer. The drawer and cabinet both opened, and the dishes and silverware sailed right into their places. The cabinet and the drawer both closed.

"Whoa," I couldn't help saying as the power blinked yet again. "Is that the kind of stuff I'll be learning to do?"

"That and more," said Baldwin, looking pleased that he had made a good impression.

"So," Mom was studying him closely, as if he were a rare specimen of something she wanted to collect. "This is actually a way of life for you - using magic."

Baldwin smiled. "You could say that."

And then Mom said exactly what I had hoped she would not say. "Well, Charlie," she said, turning to me. "At this point it's up to you, really."

I was, to say the least, undecided. On the one hand, there was Eden Hall. Coach Bombay had fought to get us Ducks scholarships there, and the other Ducks would be there. I hadn't seen any of them in a long time, even the in-state Ducks. I'd be playing hockey, for crying out loud - how much better could it get?

But then - a whole new world seemed to be waiting for me at Weston's Academy. I had just learned that there was such a thing as magic - and that I could learn to use it. Me, Charlie Conway!

How in the world had I got to the place in my life where I had two preppy secondary schools open themselves up for me to come in?

Well, there might have been certainty at Eden Hall, but there was unmistakable adventure at Weston's, and ultimately the adventure won out for me, illogical as it was.

I lifted my head. "Where exactly do I get stuff like wands and spellbooks and dragon hide gloves?"

Mom's lip curled. Baldwin looked absolutely delighted, as if he had been invited to a party.

"Ha, ha!" He chuckled. "There's only one place in Minnesota where we can get all this!"

And that was that!